News and Notes: 7/6 07/07/2009
Posted by Brian in News and Notes.Tags: BYU Cougars, John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats, NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, St. John's Red Storm
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ESPN.com’s Andy Katz has an inspirational story on BYU head coach Dave Rose’s harrowing month of June and his incredible recovery from his cancer diagnosis. We wish Coach Rose all the best and hope that he is able to coach what should be a good BYU team this year.
College Hoops Net has begun their annual Top 144 Teams in 144 Days countdown to the college basketball season with #144 Jackson State and #143 Fairfield.
Former Notre Dame associate head coach Sean Kearney has been hired by Holy Cross to replace Ralph Willard who left the Crusaders to become an assistant at Louisville. ND head coach Mike Brey wasted no time in promoting former Notre Dame player and current director of basketball operations Martin Ingelsby to assistant coach.
A component of the NCAA Tournament selection process was taken away this past week as the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee will no longer consider a team’s performance in its last 12 games as a factor in selecting the field of 65. Rivals.com debates this interesting decision.
Jeff Borzello of March Madness All Season has a report on the St. John’s Elite Camp held last Wednesday night. A number of high-D1 recruits were in attendance including many from the basketball-rich New York metro area.
Pat Forde had an article last week on hot rivalries in college basketball and some of his choices, especially the top three, may surprise you (or give you an indication of his bias towards a certain state). Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Graham Watson takes in interesting look at the new trend in college basketball: Social networking.
News and Notes: 6/30 06/30/2009
Posted by Brian in News and Notes.Tags: Duke Blue Devils, Kansas Jayhawks, Kelvin Sampson, Kentucky Wildcats, Xavier Henry
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Some quick hitters late on a Tuesday:
- Coach K maintains his commitment to Duke, saying he will not jump to the NBA and coach the Los Angeles Lakers if Phil Jackson retires. Krzyzewski’s flirtation with the NBA and specifically the Lakers over the years has been odd, but it would be a major shock if he coaches anywhere else but in Durham.
- Andy Katz of ESPN.com takes a look at many of next year’s NBA draft prospects.
- Disgraced former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson’s appeal of penalties levied upon him by the NCAA was rejected today. A little advice for Mr. Sampson: Be happy with your current gig as an NBA assistant and don’t even think about coming back to college. You disgraced a prestigious basketball program which had an ultra-clean reputation for decades. No school in their right mind would ever hire Sampson again, although look what Florida International did with Isiah Thomas.
- Perhaps the biggest news of the day comes to us from Andy Katz. Kansas’ top recruit, Xavier Henry is reportedly wavering on his commitment to Bill Self’s team and may move to John Calipari and Kentucky. In addition, Henry’s older brother C.J., a former minor league baseball player with the New York Yankees organization, could join him in Lexington. As Katz states this could vault Kentucky to the top spot in the preseason polls. It’s been a bizarre few months at Kentucky since Calipari arrived and this potential move would make it all the more crazy.
Summer News And Notes: 6/29 06/29/2009
Posted by Zach in News and Notes.Tags: Arizona Wildcats, Derrick Williams, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Marquette Golden Eagles, Maurice Acker, USC Trojans
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Some news and notes from around college basketball on a summer Monday…
- While many believed Arizona was going to fall into an Indiana-sized hole following the departure of Lute Olson and most of last year’s squad, new coach Sean Miller has been able to pick up the pieces quite nicely. Star point guard Nic Wise opted to return for another season and Miller has added three players from Scout.com’s top 100: center Kyryl Natyazhko, forward Kevin Parrom and ex-USC commit Solomon Hill. News broke today that another talented USC retread will join Miller in Tucson in 6′7 forward Derrick Williams. With Kyle Fogg and Jamelle Horne already returning to the program, it’s possible their consecutive NCAA tournament streak may not end in 2009-10. USC signee Noel Johnson left this month for Clemson.
- Even though Gonzaga has lost the services of Austin Daye, Josh Heytvelt, Jeremy Pargo and Micah Downs for the upcoming season, Mark Few certainly has not shyed away from playing a top notch non-conference slate. They have contests scheduled against Washington State, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest at home, a trip to the Maui Invitational, a game in Seattle vs. Davidson, trips to Memphis and Michigan State, MSG to face Duke and Chicago to face Illinois. The Illini will return the favor with a game in Seattle next year. The Zags will be led by emerging point guard Demetri Goodson, sharp shooter Stephen Gray, scoring guard Matt Bouldin and a thin frontcourt.
- This news came down last week, but I felt like I’d report it now: Marquette guard Maurice Acker, who was expected to take over the starting job this season with the departure of Dominic James and Jerel McNeal, will bypass his final year of eligibility and graduate in December. The 5′8 guard stepped in when James went down midway through the Big East season and did a formidable job for Buzz Williams. The Golden Eagles will be very young this season with the exception of Lazar Hayward and Jimmy Butler. They bring in a strong freshman class with the #9 PG Junior Cadougan, Texas SF Erik Williams, Madison native Jeronne Maymon and JC talent Darius Johnson-Odom and Dwight Buycks.
- On Tuesday I’ll provide some NBA Draft grades and some predictions for how former college standouts will do at the pro level. On Wednesday watch for my top 10 recruiting classes for the upcoming season. Brian is working on his preseason top-25 as I type this.
