If you are interested in participating, send your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com as we will be updating these posts throughout the day.
General News
- Momo Jones will leave Arizona Wildcats, destination unknown: “So Jones will likely head back home, and might avoid sitting out a year by filling out a waiver due to a sick family member, Goodman says. An easy to guess destination for Jones is St. John’s, which is close to home and has former Rice High School coach Moe Hicks acting as director of basketball operations. With the news, Arizona now stands on par as far as scholarships go, making for no screwy situations in Miller’s over-recruiting.” (Arizona Desert Swarm)
- Lamont Momo Jones to transfer to St. John’s? (possibly): “Jeff Goodman tweeted earlier this evening that Arizona Wildcats starting point guard Lamont Jones – better known as Momo – will be transferring from the Wildcats program. AND that Momo Jones might seek a waiver to play immediately due to family illness… and he’d look to play for the St. John’s Red Storm. That’s just a rumor from sources, but in college ball, sources often know what they are talking about. Adding credence to the rumor: Jones is from New York, and played under current St. John’s Director of Basketball Operations Moe Hicks when Hicks was the coach at Rice High School in the Bronx.” (Rumble in the Garden)
- Report: Maryland Hires Dalonte Hill: “InsideMDSports is reporting that Kansas State assistant Dalonte Hill has accepted a job as an assistant coach on Mark Turgeon’s staff. No official word yet from MD, but you’d think they have to announce the full staff soon.” (Testudo Times)
- Star Baltimore Guard Nick Faust Recommitts to Maryland: “It’s Faustival 2011, everybody! Maryland’s star recruit, Nick Faust, had asked out of his LOI with the Terrapins’ two other recruits after Gary Williams retired. But now it appears he’s back in the fold.” (Testudo Times)
- Sterling Gibbs to Texas Provides Another 2011 Point Guard: “It’s been a long time since there was any good news coming out of the Texas basketball program. Well, if you aren’t Rick Barnes, that is, who received a recent $200k raise. Since late in the second-round tournament game against Arizona, everything has seemingly been downhill, culminating in the losses of Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton, and the unexpected departure of Cory Joseph to the NBA draft. Monday evening, former Maryland commit and Rivals three-star prospect Sterlilng Gibbs gave suffering Longhorn roundball fans something to feel good about after a difficult two months.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
- George Washington Wants To Play Georgetown: “First it was Maryland AD Kevin Anderson clamoring for a piece of Hoyas action, and now, incoming George Washington AD Patrick Nero wants the Hoyas to face off against our friendly yet not as intelligent neighbor in Foggy Bottom. According to the DC Sports Bog, GW would like Georgetown to get involved in the BB&T Classic Basketball Tournament so that DC could have its own version of the “Big 5″” in Philadelphia.” (Casual Hoya)
- Cal Introduced as Dominican Coach: Coverage of John Calipari’s conference where he was announced as the coach of the Dominican Republic national team. (Kentucky Sports Radio)
- Vee Sanford is visiting Dayton today: “Former Lexington Catholic guard and Billy Gillispie recruit Vee Sanford is visiting Dayton today. He also plans to visit Loyola-Chicago and Marshall. Sanford spent last season at Georgetown University where he averaged 2.4 points in 6.6 minutes per game. Sanford decided to transfer because of the lack of playing time and the lack of opportunities to earn more.” (Kentucky Sports Radio)
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
- 2011 ACC/Big Ten Challenge: The Quick Picks: A brief breakdown and prediction for every game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. (Hammer and Rails)
- Maryland Will Host Illinois in ACC-Big Ten Challenge: “The Terrapins will be hosting Illinois on Tuesday, November 29 for their leg of this year’s challenge; the Illini are the first big names on Maryland’s schedule, past the crapshoot that will be the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Also, it’s about time: the past two years in the ACC-B10, the Terps made trips to Indiana (when they sucked horribly) and Penn St., two hardly-relevant (at the time) teams on the road. Getting a home game against a legitimate team is a welcome change.” (Testudo Times)
- UNC To Host Wisconsin For ACC-Big 10/11/12: “First off, UNC did not get Ohio St. which I thought might happen but it is just as well that it didn’t. UNC already has a road game at Kentucky, Michigan St in San Diego on an aircraft carrier and two games at the Las Vegas Invitational. That is a lot of travel for early in the season not to mention playing both UK and Ohio St would be insane. This is a better deal. UNC gets a home game versus a quality, well coached non-conference team in a serious clash of styles.” (Tar Heel Fan)
- Bring on the Dukies: “It’s also worth pointing out that Ohio State will now face Michigan in football, the Blue Devils in hoops and a potential Big Ten Championship game on the gridiron all within a span of seven days later this fall.” (Eleven Warriors)
- Virginia Tech Draws Minnesota in 2011 ACC/Big Ten Challenge: “The schedule for the 2011 ACC/Big Ten challenge was released today and Virginia Tech will be on the road against Minnesota Wednesday, Nov. 30. The Hokies will try to help the ACC reassert its dominance after dropping the last two challenges. The league won the first 10. The big difference this year is the opportunity for the leagues to split the challenge. The Big Ten has added Nebraska, giving each league 12 teams and the challenge a 12-game slate for the first time in its history. The Huskers won’t get the toughest of initiations into the challenge as they host Wake Forest.” (Gobbler Country)
Recruiting
- adidas May Classic Q & A: Hanner Perea: A brief interview with the Hoosier commit. (Inside the Hall)
- Q&A: 2013 PG Derrick Walton Recaps U-M Unofficial: The rising junior discussed his trip to Ann Arbor. (UM Hoops)
- Recruiting Roundup: May 16th, 2011: An overview of how Wolverine targets have been doing recently. (UM Hoops)
- Jackson talks improvement, interest from Indiana: “After a standout weekend at the Bill Hensley Memorial Spiece Run ‘N Slam All-Star Classic, the list of schools looking to get involved with 2013 Mishawaka Marian point guard Demetrius Jackson has grown significantly. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Jackson averaged 24 points and six assists per game as a sophomore and his rapidly improving game is garnering serious interest from several high-major schools, including Indiana.” (Inside the Hall)
- Donnal commanding high major attention: A look at Mark Donnal, a 6’9″ 200 lbs center. (Inside the Hall)
Analysis
- Depth chart cleared up with Arizona scholarship situation in hand: “With the transfers of Momo Jones and Daniel Bejarano from the Arizona Wildcats basketball team, the scholarship allowance is now even to the NCAA standards, or at least, even for what NCAA sanctions will allow for the school. And providing the depth that the Wildcats still have, it goes to show that the sanctions were really just a slap on the wrist while also alluding to the fact that Sean Miller can still rebuild under the burden of the sanctions. Jones announced his move closer to home Monday, wanting to be closer to an ill family member. So at 12 scholarships, what’s that leave the basketball team’s depth chart looking like?” (Arizona Desert Swarm)
- Thinking about the 2012 Basketball Schedule: Trying to figure out what Kentucky’s schedule might look like next season. (A Sea of Blue)
- Turgeon’s Staff Picture Clearing: Meet Maryland’s New Assistants: “There’s been no word yet from the university, and if we’ve learned anything over the past month it’s that nothing is ever final. But this thing is just about all but finalized. And if this is the group that’ll be helping Turgeon lead the Terps, it’s a strong one; in fact, it’s probably one of the strongest in the country.” (Testudo Times)
- Can Trevor Lacey And DeAndre Daniels Provide The Scoring Punch Kansas Needs?: “Whether or not they announce for Kansas or announce at all remains to be seen, but one things for certain and that’s how these two pieces fit into the puzzle. They can score. Right now Kansas has a team that is thin on experience, thin on proven ability and if we’re being honest, they aren’t proven scorers.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
- Kansas Basketball Roster Set To Take Shape This Week: “It’s a big week for Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks. Following the 2010-2011 season Kansas now sits with SEVEN scholarships due to the early entry of Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris and Josh Selby, the transfer or Royce Wooldridge and the graduation of Brady Morningstar, Mario Little and Tyrel Reed. It’s not often that a coach is tasked with reloading to that level but Bill Self is being asked to do that and he’s looking at doing it very late.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
- Othella Harrington Joins Hoyas Coaching Staff: What It Means For Georgetown: Analyzing what the hire of the former Hoya big man means for the team. (Casual Hoya)
- A Post-Deadline Look at the Big East: Notre Dame Fighting Irish: Last season the Irish shocked the Big East by nearly winning the Big East and taking home much of its hardware, but can they follow-up on that? (Casual Hoya)
- A Post-Deadline Look at the Big East: Marquette Golden Eagles: Taking a look at one of the more surprising teams in the Big East last season. (Casual Hoya)