usf – Rush The Court

Ten Questions to Consider: Early Conference Action? Edition

Matt Eisenberg — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 19:15:35 +0000

As November comes to a close, we are starting to have an idea of what teams will look like this season. Here are 10 questions I have for a group heading into this weekend’s action.

Michigan and Purdue Meet in an Early Monster Big Ten Match-Up (USA Today Images)

Can the Badgers end their skid against the Hawkeyes? (Wisconsin @ Iowa, Friday 8 PM EST, Big Ten Network) Wisconsin begins Big Ten play on the last day of November with a trip to Iowa. The Badgers come to Iowa City having lost two straight to the Hawkeyes. In last season’s defeat, the [...]

Morning Five: 07.21.16 Edition

nvr1983 — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 14:25:35 +0000

Conference media days are usually full of mundane questions and people trying to make big stories out of mostly irrelevant issues, but the Big 12 appears to be an exception to that this year as it announced that it has decided to explore expanding. That announcement has led to plenty of speculation as to what schools would be the best fit. With the conference expected to add either two or four schools in a bid to not only become bigger/expand its geographic footprint, but also possibly move towards having its own television network (see below), the most commonly mentioned options [...]

Opening Weekend Takeaways from the American

Jared Kotler — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 15:01:35 +0000

The American Athletic Conference opened with 11 contests featuring league squads over the weekend — including two victories for Cincinnati and an easy win for the AAC’s only ranked team at the moment. While exceptionally early, it’s never too soon to make some initial observations. Here are five such thoughts from over the weekend.

UConn, Cincinnati and SMU are the Teams to Beat: Since the American’s existence as a conference, there has been a clear divide between the top and bottom halves of the league. From this weekend’s results, it appears as if there will be a clear divide between the top three teams and [...]

Other 26 Previews: West Coast Conference

Michael Vernetti — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 19:03:17 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the Rush the Court’s correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

2015-16 Projected Order of Finish

Same As It Ever Was in 2015 as Gonzaga Won Another WCC Trophy

Gonzaga (35-3, 17-1 in the WCC) BYU (25-10, 13-5) Saint Mary’s (21-10, 13-5) Pepperdine (18-14, 10-8) San Diego (15-16, 8-10) Santa Clara (14-18, 7-11) San Francisco (14-18, 7-11) Pacific (12-19, 4-14) Portland (17-16, 7-11) LMU (8-23, 4-14)

Player of the Year

Kyle Wiltjer, 6’10” senior forward, Gonzaga

Rookie of the Year

Anthony Townes, 6’6″ freshman forward, Pacific

All-Conference First Team

Kyle Collinsworth, G, BYU, 6’6″, 210 Jared Brownridge, G, Santa Clara, 6’2″, 190 Josh Perkins, G, Gonzaga, 6’3″, 185 Stacy Davis, F, Pepperdine, 6’6″, 235 Kyle Wiltjer, F, Gonzaga, [...]

AAC Exhibition Impressions: Part II

Mike Lemaire — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:31:40 +0000

Yesterday we offered our initial impressions of UConn, Cincinnati, Memphis, and UCF in recent exhibition games. Today we are back with more quick-trigger analysis of games that hardly matter.

Depth May be an Issue for Tulsa Head Coach Frank Haith. Haith has never been afraid to roll with a very short rotation if his team lacks depth, and the Golden Hurricane may actually be better off playing that way this season because of the quality of their starters. In a recent exhibition game against Southwest Oklahoma State, the Tulsa starters played a lot of minutes and his bench looked painfully thin. Haith used an eight-man rotation that night but Keondre Dew [...]

USF Lures Orlando Antigua in Hopes of Bringing In Florida Talent

CD Bradley — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:31:39 +0000

USF has its man, again. The school on Tuesday announced the hiring of Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua as its new head coach, less than a week after it nearly hired Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello. “I think I was my wife’s second choice too, but that’s worked out; we’ve been together for 20 years,” Antigua said during an introductory news conference held during his brief stay in Tampa. Just hours after landing, he took off again, returning to Lexington for a practice ahead of this weekend’s Final Four. He will return to Tampa for good once the Wildcats’ season ends.

Orlando [...]

AAC M5: 04.01.14 Edition

Will Tucker — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 13:00:14 +0000

Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News writes that Russ Smith cemented his legacy as “a competitor and gentleman” with the gracious post-game remarks he delivered after Louisville’s disappointing 74-69 loss to Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen. The senior guard’s wide-ranging comments, a transcript of which WDRB (Louisville) columnist Eric Crawford posted on Twitter, expressed gratitude to everyone from his teammates, coaches, managers, trainers, to UK’s program and current team, whom he described as “a great group of guys” and praised individually by name. He also credited Rick Pitino for shaping him into a man and apologized to Louisville fans, saying, “I wish I could have given them the win. I’m [...]

Coaching Carousel a Thrill Ride for AAC Programs

CD Bradley — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:21:01 +0000

While 16 teams remain alive in the chase for a championship – including AAC members UConn and Louisville – several other teams are chasing the new coaches that they hope might get them to the Sweet Sixteen some day. USF and Houston have now found their way onto this year’s coaching carousel, and their candidate pools say a lot about where the conference stands and where it’s going. USF fired Stan Heath after the AAC Tournament, and Houston announced Monday that James Dickey had stepped down to deal with a family matter. Reports on Tuesday morning indicate that Manhattan head [...]

AAC M5: 03.19.14 Edition

CD Bradley — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 13:01:01 +0000

Louisville has become a trendy pick to repeat as national champions, including by renowned political prognosticator, Nate Silver. Silver’s revamped FiveThirtyEight.com launched Monday with a bracket projection model giving the Cardinals a 15 percent chance to cut down the nets again — the highest percentage of any team — and a 38 percent chance of reaching the Final Four, good for third. Silver’s model gives no other AAC team even a one percent chance of winning a title; it likes UConn the most, giving the Huskies a six percent chance of reaching the final weekend. Cincinnati gets a three percent [...]

AAC Tournament: Wednesday Recap/Thursday Preview

Will Tucker — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 15:45:46 +0000

With the first round of the AAC Tournament in the books, we take a look at a few of the big takeaways from Wednesday night, as well as story lines to keep in mind on Thursday.

What went down on Wednesday

Rutgers completed a three-win sweep of South Florida, making the Bulls the only AAC team who failed to beat the Scarlet Knights this season. It was a frustrating loss for USF fans, whose team missed six consecutive free throws in the second half and couldn’t quite get over the hump. Victor Rudd had 22 points and seven rebounds but ended his [...]

AAC Roundtable: Regular Season Wrap

CD Bradley, Will Tucker & Ross Schulz — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:45:48 +0000

As we head into the postseason, RTC AAC Microwriters C.D. Bradley, Will Tucker and Ross Schulz take a look back at the regular season that was in the American through the prism of four key questions.

1. In its inaugural season, the American offered plenty of storylines — notably, the transient nature of its membership and the huge gap between haves and have-nots — but none was bigger than the race for conference POY. Some observers suggest that the conference’s trio of elite guards — Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, UConn’s Shabazz Napier, and Louisville’s Russ Smith — may be First Team All-Americans. [...]

Conference Tournament Primer: West Coast Conference

Michael Vernetti — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:31:31 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the Rush the Court’s correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

Tournament Preview

There are some new contenders, some elevated expectations and the hint of upset in the air. But, in the end, will it add up to someone other than Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s winning the WCC Tournament title next Tuesday and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament? Those two have played in the championship game for the past five years – Gonzaga winning three – and the first change in 2014 is that they will not repeat that engagement. The Gaels and the Zags are in the [...]

AAC M5: 03.06.14 Edition

Will Tucker — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 14:01:17 +0000

Russ Smith made his case for AAC Player of the Year last night by guiding Louisville to an 84-71 victory over SMU, stringing together a 26-point, six-rebound, five-assist performance in a very inhospitable Moody Coliseum. WDRB [Louisville] columnist Rick Bozich recalls that Larry Brown was quick to dismiss comparisons between Smith and his former player Allen Iverson at AAC Media Day last October. Louisville’s senior guard gave Brown more than a few reasons to reconsider, though, after he orchestrated a masterful second half to hand SMU its first and only home loss of the season – on senior night, no [...]

AAC M5: 03.03.14 Edition

Will Tucker — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 14:01:58 +0000

Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, UConn’s Shabazz Napier, and Louisville’s Russ Smith have been named among the 15 finalists for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s (USBWA) Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Trophy. The ACC paced the American Conference with three finalists – two of whom play for Syracuse – while the SEC, Big 12 and Pac-12 each placed two players on the list. The AAC trio was also included on the list of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Award. The announcements, along with recently placing half of its members in the top 25, represent a measure of vindication for a league [...]

Checking in on… the WCC

Michael Vernetti — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 19:01:17 +0000

Michael Vernetti is the Rush the Court’s correspondent for the West Coast Conference.

Looking Back

Perris Blackwell is pulling down rebounds for Washington, De’End Parker is leading Cal State San Marcos to the top of NAIA ranks, and Cody Doolin is plotting his comeback next year at UNLV. But Rex Walters has commanded a resolute Gang of Six anchored by senior forward Cole Dickerson to propel San Francisco to the brink of second place in the WCC with an outside chance of tying for the title. By holding off hapless Saint Mary’s and still-struggling Pacific at home last week, the Dons moved to 11-5 in conference play [...]