Wednesday night made for one of the better nights we’ve had so far in this year’s college basketball season. It’s holiday tournament time — the three days in Maui were capped, the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off got underway, and a host of other tournaments across the country start today. Trophies were raised and big performances were necessary… and Syracuse and Baylor made it tough to appreciate having 20/20 vision in what I like to call “the day-glow game.”

Let’s take it to the best tweets of the night, shall we?

The top games on the night came in Madison Square Garden, with Duke taking Alabama after Arizona got all it could want from Drexel, and in the Lahaina Civic Center, with Syracuse and Baylor playing for all of the surfboards in Maui. As far as the Blue Devils’ play was concerned, it wasn’t the start they envisioned.

Duke off to a slow start. Not Arizona slow, but slow.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) November 28, 2013

Arizona also fought back after trailing by as much as 19 to the Dragons, pulling away very late for the win. Drexel suffered more than a loss on its record, with one of their better players in Damion Lee exiting the game in the second half with a knee injury. The good news is that Dragons’ head coach Bruiser Flint said the team doesn’t believe there’s any serious damage.

Bruiser Flint says doctors "didn't think anything was structurally wrong” with Damion Lee’s knee, but says he’s not sure of true damage.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) November 28, 2013

And before things got underway in the Maui title game, Dayton proved its worth in the third place game, beating California, 82-64. As possibly the most impressive team in the tournament, you’d expect this to be a huge confidence boost for Devin Oliver, coach Archie Miller and the rest of the Flyers.

They didn’t win the event but a very productive three days for Dayton in Maui. Impressive performance tonight.

— Raphielle Johnson (@raphiellej) November 28, 2013

Staying in Hawaii, Syracuse started fast against Baylor, thanks mainly to Tournament MVP C.J. Fair’s scoring and Tyler Ennis being the steady presence at the point.

The Orange on fire early. #CUSEvsBAY

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) November 28, 2013

Oh, and between the Orange and Baylor’s uniforms, the television was tough to look at.

They didn’t win the event but a very productive three days for Dayton in Maui. Impressive performance tonight.

— Raphielle Johnson (@raphiellej) November 28, 2013

Syracuse and Baylor are playing and my eyeballs just disintegrated. pic.twitter.com/8Eyqp2vowL

— Derek Schultz (@Schultz1260) November 28, 2013

We cut back to Duke and Alabama, where midway through the first half, Blue Devils’ wunderkind Jabari Parker hit possibly the most impressive shot of the night, with a turnaround, baseline fadeaway over a defender that made so many in attendance and watching on TV say “that’s an NBA elite-level shot.” Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve seen about two weeks of the college basketball season fly by, and between ESPN’s 24 Hours of College Basketball, the State Farm Champions Classic, and the bevy of compelling storylines, there’s been no shortage of great things to discuss. So this week’s College Basketball by the Tweets focuses on Tuesday night, with a strong slate of games to choose from and an unlimited supply of tweets to embed. The night belonged to the scorers — the men who eschewed passing and got their shots up. When it was all said and done, seven players finished with more than 30 points, led by Wisconsin forward Frank Kaminsky‘s 43, which was a school record. Jahii Carson poured in 40 as well for Arizona State. What were some of the reactions around the Twitter-verse?

Jahii Carson. 40.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) November 20, 2013

Ariz St finishes off UNLV. Jahii Carson had 40 points and 7 assts. Not a bad night at the office.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 20, 2013

True "@raphiellej: "@MedcalfByESPN: UNLV just can't do anything with Carson. Wow." Not many can."

— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) November 20, 2013

Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky scored a total of 63 points in his freshman year. He scored 43 points against North Dakota tonight. Wow.

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) November 20, 2013

Tell me the Avatar photo isn't terrific of Frank "The Tank" Kaminsky. Take a close look. It's phenomenal.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) November 20, 2013

Also, lost in all this is the play of North Dakota’s Troy Huff, who scored 37 points of his own in the 103-85 loss to the Badgers.

Troy Huff came off the bench to score 37 pts in 28 mins. @GMT_ronreezy also scored 19 off the bench on 7/10 FG. Crazy offensive numbers.

— Jonathan Reed (@bigskybball) November 20, 2013

We also saw those same freshman we were introduced to last week, and they backed up their first big-time performance with solid games on Tuesday night. Jabari Parker, for instance, went end-to-end for a huge dunk the Duke’s 83-74 victory over East Carolina. And Twitter went off. Read the rest of this entry »

Tyrone Garland, one of the best sixth men in the country, is from Southwest Philadelphia. If you didn’t already know that, then you most certainly made the connection following his postgame interview after Garland lifted La Salle past Ole Miss into the Sweet Sixteen. The basked, he called it, was his possibly patented #SouthwestPhillyFloater, which quickly became a usable hashtag and will certainly get some run leading up to the Explorers’ upcoming match-up against Wichita State. This is something I can get on board with, unlike #layupgang.

Florida Gulf Coast, A #15 Seed, Is In The Sweet 16

So far, this is the best story of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. And unless the national championship game ends in a buzzer-beater, it is unlikely it will be topped. Representing the Atlantic Sun Conference, Florida Gulf Coast is the first #15 seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen. To add a bit more weight to this story, it is a school that was founded in the 1990s and only been eligible to play in this grand tournament in 2009. You cannot make this stuff up, but you can get FGCU trending on Twitter through the weekend.

@jimrome “Come out the Florida Gulf Coast, we’ll get together, have a few dunks.”

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) March 25, 2013

STOP RUNNING UP THE SCORE FLORIDA GULF COAST SHOW SOME MERCY

— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) March 25, 2013

I need to borrow adjectives.Please send some.

— Dana O’Neil (@ESPNDanaOneil) March 25, 2013

#FGCU‘s website is slow or down due to people looking up school. You know someone is panicking- has to get on for homework due tomorrow.

— Kevin Nogle (@thephinsider) March 25, 2013

Heading in to the work week, it will be very interesting to track the media coverage the school gets. Will the jokes about this being an online university continue? Will we focus on the actual talent Andy Enfield has assembled? Will we just drool over his wife Amanda?

what athletics bring to higher ed: U. Of Phoenix spends $100 M on ads for nat’l exposure. FGCU did the same thing for prob less than $100k

— Jordan Bell (@jmichaelbell) March 23, 2013

jim delany isn’t going to miss out on the next florida gulf coast so expect a formal offer to devry university on tuesday

— Martin Rickman (@martinrickman) March 25, 2013

Verdict still out on Strayer and Everest RT @jmoney_1914: We now know that ICDC, Phoenix, Argosy, and FGCU are not in the same conference.

— Django 2Chained (@_TR3Y_) March 25, 2013

Following the win, the most competitive pissing match was to see who could come up with the most retweeted play on words. A collection of the ones I could bear to read…

@mattnorlander So they’ve officially signed the Dunklaration of Independence?

— Chase from GYERO (@Chase_TCP) March 25, 2013

H/T on “Florida GIF Coast” to about 17 people on twitter. That’s outstanding DANCING: is.gd/1O7u6A DUNKING: is.gd/xYH5Vz

— Jason McIntyre (@TheBigLead) March 25, 2013

The FGCU website server actually lobs the information to your computer.

— Mark Ennis (@Mengus22) March 25, 2013

It’s like FGCU is shooting the ball into the ocean. From its dorms.

— Mark Ennis (@Mengus22) March 25, 2013

FGCU crowd chanting “Dunk City.” So surreal. Now “Sweet 16”

— Pete Thamel(@SIPeteThamel) March 25, 2013

Oh… and… Tunechi. He got involved too.

How kome Florida Gulf Coast didn’t have any plays on Sportscenter top ten plays?!!1 of those lobs should’ve made it!

— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) March 23, 2013

Marquette Draws America’s Ire

Forget Duke. Somehow the Marquette Golden Eagles have become the team America loves to hate, after squeaking past two non-power conference teams America has grown to love over the past five years. Buzz Williams’ team advanced to its third straight Sweet Sixteen over the weekend, but it took a bit of luck and last second heroics to get past both Davidson and Butler, and nobody is forgetting that.

Seriously, stop Marquette. -America

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) March 24, 2013

DIE MARQUETTE DIE

— TheUConnBlog (@theuconnblog) March 24, 2013

Marquette is like a cat. Always seem to land on their feet. Nine lives.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 24, 2013

A chick dumped Josh Smith to date Davante Gardner because he’s low maintenance. #Probably

— Run the Floor (@RunTheFloor) March 24, 2013

The Golden Eagles are the epitome of “survive and advance.” Two wins, a three-point total margin of victory, and one sloppy play after another in the game’s final minutes (save Vander Blue’s smooth left handed lay-in with seconds remaining to down the Wildcats).

This. RT @ericlilly7 No one in college can 1) Inbounds the ball and 2) get off a quality final shot

— Brian Otskey (@botskey) March 24, 2013

Why did they have to have Verbal Kent shoot the final shot?

— Ben Swain (@thedevilwolf) March 24, 2013

Do you like late-game execution? Too bad!

— SB Nation (@sbnation) March 24, 2013

Aaron Craft Goes Iso, Defeats ISU

After Aaron Craft went dagger on Iowa State, all of the following tweets were published within seven seconds of each other. I counted.

Aaron Craft can’t shoot. LOL.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) March 24, 2013

Killa Craft.

— Evan Silva (@evansilva) March 24, 2013

lol

— Mark Ennis (@Mengus22) March 24, 2013

https://twitter.com/raphiellej/status/315893271698239490

Nevermind

— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) March 24, 2013

Austin Rivers nods in approval.

— Nick Fasulo (@nickfasuloSBN) March 24, 2013

https://twitter.com/DaveKrupinski/status/315893308482256897

CRAFT. ONIONS.

— Adam Rowe (@DukeHoopBlog) March 24, 2013

https://twitter.com/Peter_R_Casey/status/315893413436338176

https://twitter.com/eamonnbrennan/status/315893423695597568

ALSDJFL;ADJFL;AJFL;ADSJFL;ADSFJ

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) March 24, 2013

AARON CRAFT!!!! #GoBucks

— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 24, 2013

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/315893542419591168

Game: blouses.

Thanks to Kentucky’s follies, we have to open this up by paying a bit of attention to the NIT.

I’m sure Cal will encourage Harrow to go pro in something other than sports.

— Mark Ennis (@Mengus22) March 20, 2013

OK we good? Got that out of your system? We can’t let them completely hijack this post. Moving on.

Georgetown is a Joke

In a year where we were all afraid that there would be absolutely insanity, where the unpredictable would reign supreme, and your bracket would be in the toilet by Friday afternoon, we actually got something we can rely on: John Thompson III laying an egg in the NCAA Tournament.

Fact = Hoyas have lost 4 years in a row to a DOUBLE DIGIT SEED!FGCU – NCST -VCU -OHIO =OUCH

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 23, 2013

Seriously. Vitale may be the master of the obvious, but it there are not enough ALL CAPS on your keyboard to use when talking about how bad Georgetown has been in recent NCAA Tournaments.

It’s going to be interesting to watch Georgetown fans document their lunch when all they can eat is a bowl of failure and tears.

— TheUConnBlog (@theuconnblog) March 23, 2013

FGCU’s coach married a hot woman that he met while he was working on Wall Street? He’s living the Georgetown dream!

— Bobby Big Wheel (@BobbyBigWheel) March 23, 2013

“You know, I also got into Stanford.” – every Georgetown grad tonight

— sir broosk (@celebrityhottub) March 23, 2013

“I don’t wanna be the number 1 pick”- Otto Porter and Marcus Smart

— Stannis Baratheon (@actionpollock) March 23, 2013

Something gotta change

— Austin Freeman (@_SugarFree5) March 23, 2013

Following the loss, many Syracuse fans shared a beer, and then a huge, breathless belly laugh.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

— Hoya Suxa (@HoyaSuxa) March 23, 2013

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA [lost to a school that probably doesn’t exist] HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

— Hoya Suxa (@HoyaSuxa) March 23, 2013

[breathes]

— Hoya Suxa (@HoyaSuxa) March 23, 2013

But on the other side of the upset, Florida Gulf Coast University, which has only been eligible for the NCAA Tournament for four years, and was founded in 1991 (think about that, very bizarre) celebrated while Twitter played jokes on their “famous alum” and a made up mission statement.

Timeline’s full of folks mocking Florida GC. Seems like the target should be the high seed they’re crushing.

— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelCBS) March 23, 2013

The Eagles received a lot of low blows last night. We won’t share those here. They won; the Hoyas lost, thus the joke is on the underachieving, established basketball program.

Marshall Henderson Wins a Tournament Game

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Before I go to bed, I always, always, always put my phone on silent. I don’t want to come out of my slumber for any reason, so part of my nightly routine is to flip that switch on my phone before flipping the light off and hitting the hay. Inexplicably, that critical step to setting my phone to silent was missed the other night, and around one in the morning, my phone started buzzing.

https://twitter.com/BobbyBancroft/status/308805192328048640

And kept buzzing.

https://twitter.com/TroyMachir/status/308805349845118976

Then buzzed some more.

https://twitter.com/RobDauster/status/308805700279230464

I’ll be sure to never make that mistake again, especially in March, when old Syracuse tape seems to always be rolling as late night programming.

Victor Oladipo Blowing Our Minds

The Internet has run out of real words to describe Victor Oladipo’s hops. This, coming after he shocked the heck out of Ohio State’s Shannon Scott in transition Tuesday night. Oladipo took off from two steps within the free throw line, put his head level with the hoop and covered what looked like 100 square feet in the matter of a second for the clean swat.

https://twitter.com/jeffborzello/status/309145175312175104

https://twitter.com/natekotisso/status/309145183377838080

https://twitter.com/ESPNDanaOneil/status/309145195872661504

https://twitter.com/eamonnbrennan/status/309145214965149696

https://twitter.com/ShitHoosiersSay/status/309145177447079936

Ben Howland Plays Beer Pong

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Before I go to bed, I always, always, always put my phone on silent. I don’t want to come out of my slumber for any reason, so part of my nightly routine is to flip that switch on my phone before flipping the light off and hitting the hay. Inexplicably, that critical step to setting my phone to silent was missed the other night, and around one in the morning, my phone started buzzing.

@nickfasulosbn I found Billy Edelin.He’s on ESPN Classic right now.

— Bobby Bancroft (@BobbyBancroft) March 5, 2013

And kept buzzing.

Hahahahahaha RT @bobbybancroft @nickfasulosbn I found Billy Edelin. He’s on ESPN Classic right now.

— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) March 5, 2013

Then buzzed some more.

Lololol RT @bobbybancroft: @nickfasulosbn I found Billy Edelin.He’s on ESPN Classic right now.

— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) March 5, 2013

I’ll be sure to never make that mistake again, especially in March, when old Syracuse tape seems to always be rolling as late night programming.

Victor Oladipo Blowing Our Minds

The Internet has run out of real words to describe Victor Oladipo’s hops. This, coming after he shocked the heck out of Ohio State’s Shannon Scott in transition Tuesday night. Oladipo took off from two steps within the free throw line, put his head level with the hoop and covered what looked like 100 square feet in the matter of a second for the clean swat.

Ohmygoladipo.

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 6, 2013

OH-LAH-DEE-PUH

— Nate Kotisso (@natekotisso) March 6, 2013

How does Victor Oladipo do that?

— Dana O’Neil (@ESPNDanaOneil) March 6, 2013

VICTOR OH MY GAWWWW

— Eamonn Brennan (@eamonnbrennan) March 6, 2013

Oladipo say no no no.

— ShitHoosiersSay (@ShitHoosiersSay) March 6, 2013

Ben Howland Plays Beer Pong

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember back in the fall when North Carolina State was the trendy pick to contend for a Final Four berth? Following a Sweet Sixteen appearance, C.J. Leslie was coming back to lead a team with a solid point guard and top flight freshman class. Everything was coming up roses in Raleigh. Then the Wolfpack even seemed to meet expectations, too, opening the season 14-2, including a win over then No. 1 and undefeated Duke. But on Saturday Mark Gottfried’s team lost to its rival North Carolina, a team who was supposed to be trending down this season. They’re now 8-6 in ACC play and have the look of a team whose fangs have been blunted, becoming the latest casualty to the rigors of conference play.

Anyone need a hotel room in Atlanta in early April, check Raleigh’s Craigslist.

— Ben Swain (@thedevilwolf) February 23, 2013

Sometimes, you gotta peel back the onion before assuming a team is solid on paper.

Bill Self and the Tremendously Fast Cycle of Twitter

Last week Kansas took on Kansas State. The highlight? That would be Bill Self dancing. Or shuffling. Or Harlem Shaking. Or intuitively doing something to spark a flurry of social media activity. The response is a perfect case study in how sports GIFs and memes are digested at a rapid pace. Take a look:

Here was the immediate reaction.

Bill Self Electric Slide dot gif

— Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner) February 21, 2013

Bill Self shuffle dot gif.

— Adam Rowe (@DukeHoopBlog) February 21, 2013

Bill Self shimmie dot gif

— Nate Kotisso (@natekotisso) February 21, 2013

Followed by the delayed reaction, which in Internet time is like 20 seconds after the event occured.

Bill Self clearly learned proper footwork

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 21, 2013

Bill Self, please come dance at my wedding.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 21, 2013

Then, if it is worthy, @Bubbaprog hops into action.

ANIMATED: BILL SELF HAMMERTIME 30fram.es/Xmj1Mh

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) February 21, 2013

Followed by a someone asking for something more.

Whoever is in charge of putting James Brown music to Bill Self shuffle – go on ahead and do that now.

— Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) February 21, 2013

And suddenly, the wish is granted, thanks to a random dude with the right resources and the right level of initiative.

GIF w/ Sound: Bill Self does M.C. Hammer bit.ly/13jsdkd

— Andrew DeWitt (@DeWittCBS) February 21, 2013

OK you win. RT @matt_guilder: @eamonnbrennan heres bill self dancing with cant touch this music bit.ly/15wM03F

— Eamonn Brennan (@eamonnbrennan) February 21, 2013

Seriously. This took all of 27 minutes to unfold. The Internet has evolved so prolifically that its current state is analogous to passing against a defense rather than trying to dribble through. It’s so much faster and effective.

#NCAAOscars

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

So this Harlem Shake viral phenomenon. You’ve heard of it. I shouldn’t have to explain it. Heck, there’s a chance you’ve made one or been forced to watch your co-workers’ rendition in the last seven days. Anyway… from the Soulja Boy Superman to the Dougie to Gangnam Style, college basketball always has a say in the direction and popularity of dance crazes. So with the latest flash in the pan fad reaching its apex over the weekend, naturally it pervaded DI to NAIA gyms and arenas over the weekend. Like, literally.

Every single college basketball game I’ve watched this weekend has played the Harlem Shake at least five times

— Colin Crowley (@Colin_Crowley_4) February 17, 2013

Based on my observations, Colin is not exaggerating.

Mike Montgomery Shoves Alan Crabbe

In sports today, almost any altercation, whether physical or verbal, is going to spark conversation on Twitter. Drama moves the needle, and the latest occurrence of that was Saturday when Cal head coach Mike Montgomery shoved his star player, Alan Crabbe. Video shows nothing too aggressive, but a love jolt enough to upset Crabbe and cause a bit of short-lived dissent among the team. Some quickly compared the act to that of Morehead State’s Sean Woods, who verbally abused a player earlier this season The difference is that Sean Woods humiliated his player because of how personal Morehead’s game against Kentucky was. Woods is a former Wildcats star whose jersey hangs in the Rupp Arena rafters, now coaching against his alma mater and trying to squeeze as much out of his players as he could. But only for his own good. Montgomery was passionate and truly trying to motivate, unfortunately displaying that passion in a not-so-ideal manner. Many people saw it the same way.

California Coach M. Montgomery shoving Alan Crabbe isn’t a big deal. It wasn’t malicious N anyway. Theres a certain way a Coach can do that.

— 1 LIVE STEW® (@1livestew) February 18, 2013

See absolutely nothing wrong with the way Mike Montgomery motivated Allen Crabbe. We have to stop micro analyzing everything. #passion

— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) February 19, 2013

Surprised at the hoopla over Montgomery pushing Crabbe. I didn’t have a problem with it. Dealt w/worse in HS. I must be old.

— Charles Kilburn (@CharlesInNM) February 19, 2013

Haven’t heard a former player take issue w/Monty jolting Crabbe back into the game- lotta guys w/ pens/twitter handles

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) February 19, 2013

So I think we can agree that the action was understandable. We can give Montgomery a pass. But what he said in his postgame press conference probably didn’t award him a get-out-of-jail free card, thus leading to the undisclosed punishment.

Montgomery should be suspended bc his immediate reaction was “it worked, didn’t it?” instead of “my bad, I fraked up” #Cal #Crabbe

— (author) Paul West (@firstcausenyc) February 19, 2013

Oh yeah, and, Montgomery’s act sort of worked, as Crabbe led the Golden Bears’ comeback against the Trojans, and also this…

Congratulations to Allen Crabbe, who was just named the @pac12 Player of the Week for the second-straight week #BerkeleyRepresent

— Cal Men’s Basketball (@CalMensBBall) February 18, 2013

Assuming Montgomery has spoken to Crabbe privately about this, I’ll tip my cap to the heady coach.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

When NC State beat Duke in Raleigh back in January, fans rushed the court, C.J Leslie was deemed a hero, and we were all supposed to think it was an ACC power-shifting victory for the Wolfpack. Then Mark Gottfried’s club took a return trip to Durham, and were beaten decisively, restoring reality and balance to the top of the league. Following the game, this was the scene at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Rushing the court twitter.com/thedevilwolf/s…
— Ben Swain (@thedevilwolf) February 8, 2013

Yes that’s right, just another day in the office for the Blue Devils

A Faux Chant About Tyler Lewis’s Grandmother

There’s nothing worse than a baseless rumor that lives and dies on Twitter… but when one occurs in the college basketball world, we have to at least trace its arc. Following said loss to Duke last week, NC State Wolfpack fans, or alumni, or beat writers, or maybe just Blue Devil haters, started something nasty declaring that the Cameron Crazies started a chant about Tyler Lewis’s grandmother, who passed away just days before. Totally awful, right? Absolutely, but ultimately something totally awful that likely never actually happened. The seeds were planted after it got in front of a former Wolfpack star with a bit of clout and a few thousand followers.

I hope the “national media” or Swofford makes a deal about the #cameroncrazies chanting “How’s your grandmother” to Tyler Lewis. RIP ma’am

— Julius Hodge (@Follow24Hodge) February 8, 2013

Within minutes many had immediately jumped at how horrible it sounded, while some took a second to think that it was probably not true.

First tweets about Tyler Lewis chant came from @vortmax and @_austin_parker. Were either of you at game?

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) February 8, 2013

Checking their timelines, and neither seem confident enough to deliver an earnest and clear response. So from there, all the Dookie fans got defensive, and rightfully so, and pretty quickly it was clear that this was a Twitter troll with a very short life span.

No, we didn’t. RT @alexkennedynba: Tyler Lewis’ grandmother died last Friday. Duke fans chanted “How’s your grandma?”

— Crazie-Talk (@crazietalker) February 8, 2013

RT @joeovies: RE: Tyler Lewis chants – folks on press row from multiple locations would have noticed something like that.

— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) February 8, 2013

And finally.

So everyone says that Tyler Lewis ‘grandma’ chants didn’t happen except NC State fans and a student reporter for the NC State school paper.

— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) February 8, 2013

Apparently Duke chant was actually “past your bedtime.” Incredibly lame, but still better than incredibly cruel.

— Mike Rutherford (@CardChronicle) February 8, 2013

Sigh. Oh and, by the way. Rodney Purvis checked Twitter, saw what was going on, posted his thoughts completely based on hearsay, looked like a clown, then deleted his tweet. All in the span of 45 seconds.

Rodney reads Twitter RT @rpurvis_0: Duke fans are some disrespectful clowns. Who chants about a kids grandmother who passed away recently?

— Crazie-Talk (@crazietalker) February 8, 2013

Let’s face it, NC State was just bitter. This did not happen or it would have had legs in the general media over the following days.  The Cameron Crazies have hurled some not-so-flattering chants at opponents over the years, but rarely have they leapt over the line like this.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Bill Walton Comedy Hour

There’s almost nothing better then the glee and unbridled joy Bill Walton spews into his microphone when calling a basketball game. Formerly an NBA-only announcer for ESPN, Walton has resurfaced this season calling Pac-12 games for the Worldwide Leader, and we’re all better for it. He’s a bit kooky, sure, but what’s most enjoyable about Walton is his unique ability to criticize and praise a player or coach with a positive tone of voice. Take Ben Howland, for example. While he’ll say it with a smile on his face, Walton is quick to judge the coach of his alma mater, and it was never more prevalent than last Thursday during the Bruins’ game against Arizona.

If you drank for every Bill Walton jab at Howland, you’d have passed out 10 minutes ago.

— Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg) January 25, 2013

Drink. Drank. Drunk. Thanks, Bill.

Duke Gets Wrecked By Hurricanes

It feels like it happened eons ago, but we can’t forget that the Blue Devils were embarrassed by Miami last week, potentially turning Coach K’s team in to national championship pretenders and Jim Larranaga’s team into real ACC contenders.

Duke paying a nice homage to then NCAA here, failing to do its job correctly in Miami.

— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) January 24, 2013

You used to laugh at him, but perhaps an injury to one of Duke’s best players will define his worth as he watches from the sidelines.

Ryan Kelly: 2013 National Player of the Year.

— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) January 24, 2013

Since Ryan Kelly went down with a busted foot, the Blue Devils are 2-2, and while that shouldn’t change the magnitude of the victory for The U, the annual rules of court rushing were brought to the Twitter table from the moment the game was all but over.

IF ANY OF YOU MIAMI STUDENTS STORMI HOPE YOU KNOW YOU WILL HAVE TO ANSWER TO BLOGGERS ON TWITTER

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) January 24, 2013

We all have our opinions on when this student celebration should and should not be warranted, but much like your fantasy football team, nobody else really cares to hear about it.

The Week of Marshall Henderson

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