If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
Jeff Hathaway is out at UConn: After a long power battle Hathaway is out and Paul Pendergast is replacing him as the interim athletic director. (The UConn Blog: Part 1 and Part 2)
Lithuania 76, USA 74: “For the second time in less than two months a Lithuanian team eliminated an American team from medal consideration in an international tournament, as the Americans dropped a two point decision, 74-76, to that Baltic Republic in the World University Games held at Shenzhen University.” (Villanova by the Numbers and Kentucky Sports Radio)
USA 94, Romania 73: “A change in the starting five brought a change of fortunes at Shenzhen University Sunday as Team USA posted a 21 point win over fellow quarter final loser Team Romania, and advanced to a showdown with Team Germany for fifth place at the World University Games.” (Villanova by the Numbers)
Georgetown Hoyas Defeat Liaoning Dinosaurs 91-69 in Shanghai: “In their first game since the infamous game ending brawl with the Bayi Rockets, the Georgetown Hoyas got another win against a professional Chinese team, defeating the Dinosaurs of Liaoning by a score of 91-69.” (Casual Hoya)
Cal Men’s Basketball Beats Danes, 81-73: The Bears defeated the Danish National Team behind 21 points from Robert Thurman. (California Golden Blogs)
Cal Men’s Basketball Has Room for Seconds, Polishes off Danish 95-78: “For the weekend re-match against the Danish national team, the Golden Bears would have to get it done without starting big men Harper Kamp (knee) and Richard Solomon (eye). Although both players could probably have made a go of it for a regular season game, it was a great experience for the youngsters to step up.” (California Golden Blogs)
Gonzaga Conference Schedule: A look at the current schedule with times and TV appearances. (The Slipper Still Fits)
Blackshear and Ware good to go, Swop nearing 100%: Rick Pitino offers some updates on the eligibility of several players. (Card Chronicle)
Pac-12 Basketball Tournament May Be Moving: “Larry Scott talked to ESPN.com earlier this week about some of the changes that have come to the conference since he bacame commissioner two years ago. While the conference’s expansion and the two massive media deals were the lead topics of the discussion, Scott teased that he is rethinking how the Pac-12 basketball tournament is organized, including its current home in LA.” (Bruins Nation)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
USA 94, Israel 84: “Team USA ended their Group D competition by defeating Israel 94-84, finishing with a 5-0 record. Team Israel gave Team USA its best competition to date.” (Villanova by the Numbers and Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
SEC Schedules Released: A look at the conference schedules for Kentucky and Vanderbilt. (A Sea of Blue and Anchors of Gold)
Virginia Tech sweeps Windsor: Recaps of the Hokies two victories over the Canadian school. (Tech Hoops: Game 1 and Game 2)
It’s official. USC point guard and best returning player Jio Fontanwill miss the entire 2011-12 season with a torn ACL in his left knee suffered during an exhibition game in Brazil earlier this week. Fontan was flown back to the US for an MRI, but word leaking out of the USC camp all week indicated that this was a rather concerning injury rather than a simple sprain. Fontan was to be the Trojans’ only returning starter from a team that snuck into the NCAA Tournament as a member of the inaugural First Four, and as the captain and floor leader, he was going to be relied upon to shoulder much of the responsibility in leading a young team. Head coach Kevin O’Neill will now have to hope that incoming freshman guard Alexis Moore, a three-star player from nearby Long Beach, will be up to the task. The only possible silver lining Trojan fans can draw from this is that next year’s team will develop considerable experience on the fly so that when Fontan hopefully returns in 2012-13, USC will be in a much better position to make another run at the postseason.
Duke’s next great freshman made his debut in China this week during the Blue Devils’ exhibition tour, and although he did not manage to get into a chair-throwing brawl, he had his ups and downs. In two exhibitions against the Chinese junior national team, Austin Rivers had 18 points (8-15 FG) and five assists in a 77-64 victory Wednesday, followed by a 12-point (5-16 FG), seven-turnover performance in a 76-66 victory on Thursday. Duke won both games despite a herculean effort on the part of the Chinese referees (yes, we may have discovered the one place in the world…) — in their two games, China shot 72 free throws to a Duke total of 25, nearly a 3:1 ratio (you may recall that Georgetown got a little perturbed by a similar officiating pattern in its game on Wednesday). Notwithstanding the choppy play of Rivers, it has been Duke’s junior forward, Ryan Kelly, who has looked fantastic thus far. Kelly has averaged 17/11 while shooting a scorching 75% from the floor in the two games. Considering that China has significant size in its lineup and that the frontcourt represents Mike Krzyzewski’s greatest area of concern heading into next season, Kelly’s play is tremendous news for Duke fans worldwide.
Villanova rising junior and team captain Isaiah Armwoodannounced on Thursday that he will be transferring out of the program. Although he started in every game on VU’s recent exhibition trip to Europe and is considered a key “heart and soul” type of player, it didn’t appear that the minutes were going to be there for him in a crowded frontcourt next season. The Wildcats return an improved Mouphtau Yarou and adds freshmen Markus Kennedy and JayVaughn Pinkston (back from suspension), so Armwood perhaps saw the writing on the wall in deciding to leave. He will have two years of eligibility remaining and is reportedly looking at schools such as Maryland, George Washington, Iowa and Texas Tech. Armwood hails from the Baltimore/DC corridor and has ties to former VU assistant coaches now at Iowa and TTU.
Thursday the MAC announced that it would be changing its 2012 MAC Tournament format to give its two best teams byes to the conference tourney semifinals in the hopes that one of its best teams will ultimately win the league and represent itself well in the NCAA Tournament. This mirrors what the Horizon League has done for the better part of a decade, and although there’s no Butler in the MAC, five of the last seven MAC Tournament champions were seeded #4 or worse coming into the postseason. The new format will give the top two seeds a significantly greater chance of winning the coveted automatic bid, and presumably, a better chance to do some damage in the NCAAs (although #9 seed Ohio still says hello, Georgetown). We’re on board with this idea in principle — whatever these smaller conferences can do to make the regular season more meaningful is a good thing from our view.
The Lapchick Character Award is given annually to coaches who “have shown the characterand coaching ability of [St. John’s and New York Knicks head coach] Hall of Famer Joe Lapchick.” This year’s trio is no exception, and well known to students of the game: former Princeton legend Pete Carril, former Mt. St. Mary’s head coach Jim Phelan, and former Virginia women’s head coach Debbie Ryan. The three will be honored at a ceremony on November 17 at Madison Square Garden during the 2kSports Classic (of which St. John’s is a participant). They collectively won over 2,000 games — Phelan, 814; Ryan, 739; Carril, 514 — and never ran afoul of any ethical behavior over their many years of coaching. A deserving honor to three tremendous coaches.
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
Amir Garrett signs with the Cincinnati Reds, will play for St. John’s: “When we didn’t hear word about Amir Garrett signing with the Cincinnati Reds, who drafted him a few months back in the MLB draft, it seemed that perhaps the two parties wouldn’t come to an agreement by the August 15th deadline. Garrett, who has not yet enrolled in classes at St. John’s, has been in Philadelphia with Norvel Pelle and Jakarr Sampson, playing in the Chosen League and getting ready for college hoops. Late last evening, word came about Amir Garrett’s baseball career. Amir Garrett tweeted that he was blessed to be able to play basketball for the St. John’s Red Storm and play baseball for the Reds.” (Rumble in the Garden)
Draymond Green at the World University Games Update: A look at Green’s performance. (The Only Colors)
Europe 2011 — Through a Looking Glass: A look at Villanova’s performance in Europe through advanced metrics. (Villanova by the Numbers)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
USA 108, Mexico 67: “The USA men’s team opened their play in Group D with a solid 41 point win over Team Mexico.” (Villanova by the Numbers and The Daily Gopher)
USA 102, Hungary 53: “After opening the World University Games with a win over Mexico, Team USA moved on in pool play to face Hungary and the result wasn’t much different as the Red, White and Blue coasted to a 102-53 win.” (Kentucky Sports Radio)
Villanova Upended by Netherlands: “At 2:00 pm the Nova Nation again turned to twitter to follow the action in Almere, Netherlands as Villanova faced off against the Netherlands National Team. Like Friday, the fans hung on to every tweet but listened glumly as Villanova fell to the Dutch, 75-63.” (Villanova by the Numbers and VU Hoops with video)
Villanova loses to Georgia 54-87: “Ice cold shooting was the theme for the Wildcats over the last two games. Villanova shot just 26.6% from the floor in today’s 54-87 loss to the senior national team of Georgia” (VU Hoops)
Second half of Boost Mobile Elite 24 roster announced: “In an attempt to add to the nonexistent drama surrounding the selection of high school basketball all-star teams, ESPN Rise has released the names of the final 12 selections for the Boost Mobile Elite 24, which will take place August 26-27 in the city that fake gave us Hulk Hogan, Venice Beach, CA.” (Kentucky Sports Radio)
Cal Men’s Basketball Defeats Solna Vikings 89-71: “Cal lead this one right from the tip and cruised out to an early 24-13 lead with seven different Bears showing up on the scoreboard. By half, they had built the lead up to 48-30. Allen Crabbe lead the way with 25 points, and new point guard Justin Cobbs had a strong debut with 12 points and 6 assists. Robert Thurman also had a strong game off the bench with 14 points and 8 boards.” (California Golden Blogs)
Recruiting
Alex Poythress visits Kentucky: News about his visit to Lexington. (Kentucky Sports Radio: Part 1 and Part 2)
Stefan Jankovic: A New 2012 Target?: “It’s been a popular assumption that A.J. Hammons and Gary Harris are Matt Painter’s only outstanding targets for the class of 2012. But if 6’10 Stefan Jankovic’s final list is any indication, Matt Painter might be casting a wider net than we all expected. Purdue has made Jankovic’s final list along with Wake Forest, Georgetown, Florida State, and Missouri.” (Hammer & Rails)
Analysis
Conference Expansion and Basketball: “With all this talk of conference expansion, the focus is placed on how these new, potential schools will fit into the football landscape of the SEC. That makes sense because the majority of money generated from college athletics is done so through the football program. The biggest television deals, the biggest postseason payoffs and the largest single school revenues are made through football. However, we are proud members of a basketball school. UK does our football program is a big deal, but it has nowhere near the excitement surrounding it that the basketball program has and it probably never will. So how does SEC expansion affect basketball?” (Kentucky Sports Radio)
Mind the Gap: Louisville basketball: A look at who the Cardinals are returning this season. (Rumble in the Garden)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
Steve Adams Heading to America Soon: “Well, I won’t bury the lead in this. In a story that gushes over Steven Adams is this big, big nugget. ‘Adams is set to graduate High School in New Zealand at the end of this year and will then transfer to Notre Dame Prep for the 2011-12 season to gain some American high school experience. He becomes eligible to play for Pittsburgh in 2012-13.'” (Pitt Blather)
Mark Emmert Says “Thanks But No Thanks” To Pay For Play: The NCAA president opposes the proposed pay for play ideas. (Kentucky Sports Radio)
Villanova Loses to Senegal 69-64: “The Villanova Wildcats opened their summer playing tour in Europe with a loss to the #36 ranked (FIBA) Senegal National Team, 69-64 in a game played in suburban Paris.” (Villanova by the Numbers and VU Hoops)
Cal Men’s Basketball Scrimmage Highlights: Video clips and impressions from the scrimmage. (California Golden Blogs)
Cal Basketball Non-Conference Schedule Features UNLV, SDSU, Georgia: “Whether through luck or planning, Mike Montgomery’s Bears have faced an unusually tough non-conference schedule over the last two years. 2010-11 included eventual top seeds Kansas, Notre Dame and San Diego State. In 2009-10 Cal had Ohio St., Syracuse, Kansas and New Mexico. Both sets of tough schedules were mixed blessings – Cal generally had solid RPI and strength of schedule numbers, but they also suffered a number of early losses that seemed to damage Cal’s national reputation – for whatever that’s worth. For better or worse, that almost certainly won’t be the case next year.” (California Golden Blogs)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
2011-12 Florida Basketball Non-Conference Schedule Includes Ohio State, Arizona, Syracuse: “Billy Donovan’s Florida basketball team won’t be dining on the typical buffet of cupcakes in the 2011-12 non-conference schedule. Instead, these Gators will follow up their Elite Eight run in the 2011 NCAA Tournament by playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in college basketball this coming season.” (Alligator Army)
St. John’s and Arizona to square off in Coaches vs. Cancer Classic: “The 2K Sports Classic revealed Wednesday that the Arizona Wildcats will face the St. John’s Red Storm in the second semifinal game of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament on Nov. 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York.” (Arizona Desert Swarm)
2011 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Bracket Released: “We’ve known the field for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off – Maryland basketball’s preseason tournament this year – for months now, but we had no idea who the Terrapins were going to play. The full bracket was released earlier this morning, and that question has been answered: the Terps will play Alabama in the first round on November 17 at 5:00pm.” (Testudo Times)
Wichita State to play Colorado in Puerto Rico Tip-Off: “The brackets have been released, and Wichita State opens the tournament against former assistant coach, Tad Boyle and his Colorado Buffaloes at 6:30 Central, on November 17th.” (Shocker Hoops)
Garrett Green takes final visit to Wichita State: “The recruitment process is coming to a close for Garrett Green, who announced he would leave Louisiana State to play his final season elsewhere on July 18. In the 16 days since that announcement it’s been a whirlwind for Green, who is now on his fourth visit in a little over two weeks. The 6-foot-11 center, who averaged 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in 18 minutes per game last year at LSU, confirmed this morning via Twitter that his current trip to Wichita State will be his final visit.” (Inside the Hall)
Rick Pitino press conference notes: Take-home points from Pitino’s 40-minute press conference. (Card Chronicle)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
McDonald Injury Update: An interview with Leslie McDonald talking about his injury. (Tar Heel Fan)
Lute Olson releases statement on David Salinas involvement, Arizona fans can breathe more easily: Olson says that he did not invest money with Salinas before his retirement. (Arizona Desert Swarm)
Johnson Sidelined for Europe Trip: “Incoming Villanova Freshman Tyrone Johnson will not be able to play during Villanova’s Summer Tour of Europe. The 6’3″ point guard sustained a broken foot during a pickup game last month and had surgery according to Joe Juliano who spoke with Head Coach Jay Wright.” (VU Hoops)
Kansas Prominently Featured As Part Of The 2012 Big 12/ESPN Big Monday Schedule: “SPN released it’s 2012 Big Monday schedule and it’s no surprise that Kansas will once again play a prominent role in one of the premier weekly matchups in conference play. For years Kansas has dominated the Big 12 Big Monday slate and with 4 of 7 slots scheduled this year, that continues.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
Calipari Thinks A Redshirt Could Work Out Well For Hood: “With the news that Kentucky junior Jon Hood tore his ACL in a pickup game Monday came the question of whether or not he would end up taking a redshirt this season while he recovered. The man that will ultimately make the decision, John Calipari, doesn’t think that’s a terrible idea. He’s not sold on it yet, but he’s definitely considering it. Calipari told ESPN’s Andy Katz, ‘We’ll see how it goes. It’s a possibility. It might help him.’ If they end up giving Hood a redshirt, Calipari thinks that it could help his career out in the long run by letting him spend this season working out with the loaded roster the Cats have in place. He would return next season with two years of eligibility remaining.” (Kentucky Sports Radio)
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
General News
Maryland-Kentucky to Play First Game in Nets’ New NYC Stadium?: A look at the rumored game.(Testudo Times)
Josh Pastner takes after John Calipari – Memphis still doesn’t want to play Tennessee: “Look, there’s only one John Calipari, and Josh Pastner has a long, long way to go to even be mentioned in the same breath as the former Memphis, current Kentucky coach in terms of not just wins, but general disdain among Tennessee fans. But he took a step in the right direction today on Sports 180 in Knoxville, commenting on the Tennessee-Memphis rivalry and his desire to discontinue the series.” (Rocky Top Talk)
David Salinas Connected To GU, Now What?: Exploring Gonzaga’s potential connection to Salinas. (The Slipper Still Fits)
Lute Olson tied to investment adviser under investigation for Ponzi scheme: “David Salinas, an investment-adviser and founder of a Houston summer league basketball program, was found dead at the age of 60, according to CBS Sports. The news here is that the report written by Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman says that sources say Salinas might have had a Ponzi scheme going, and the United States Security and Exchange Commission was scrounging around, looking into Salinas’ dealings with several high-profile basketball coaches. One of those named was former Arizona coach Lute Olson.” (Arizona Desert Swarm)
Kenner League Day 6 In Review: An update from the Georgetown summer league. (Casual Hoya)
Europe ’11 — Villanova to Participate in Euro Jam 2011: A preview of the Wildcats trip to Europe next month. (Villanova by the Numbers)
With the completion of the NBA Draft and the annual coaching and transfer carousels nearing their ends, RTC is rolling out a new series, RTC Summer Updates, to give you a crash course on each Division I conference during the summer months. Our Big East update comes from frequent RTC contributor Brian Otskey, co-author of Get to the Point.
Readers’ Take
Summer Storylines
Connecticut Revels In National Championship Glory: Connecticut’s storybook year continued on into the offseason as the Huskies were invited to the White House for an event with President Obama on May 16. The team presented the president with a #1 UConn jersey and posed for photographs after being lauded for their remarkable accomplishment. Connecticut made one of the most improbable runs ever en route to the third national championship in school history, all coming since 1999, going 23-0 outside of Big East regular season play. Nobody could have predicted the way last season unfolded and the NCAA Tournament as a whole was a microcosm of that. Connecticut’s national title made up for a lackluster performance by many of the record 11 Big East teams participating in the tournament. Only one other Big East team (Marquette) managed to make it to the second weekend’s Sweet 16. Life without Kemba Walker has begun in Storrs and while the Huskies will be among the 2011-12 Big East favorites, it’ll be very interesting to see who steps up and how the team performs without its warrior. Jeremy Lamb appears to be ready to take over but the way Shabazz Napier and Alex Oriakhi handle their larger roles will be the difference between a team contending for a Big East title and one that finishes fourth or fifth.
Kemba & Co. Celebrated in Style (H-C/B.Hansen)
The Ed Cooley Era Begins In Friartown: After Keno Davis stumbled to an 18-36 Big East record over three seasons in Providence, the Friars desperately needed someone to revive their moribund program. Providence has made only two NCAA Tournaments since its 1997 appearance and the last one was eight seasons ago in 2003-04. Enter Ed Cooley, a Providence-born 41-year-old with the fire in his belly needed to succeed in arguably the toughest job in the Big East Conference. Cooley will instill a system of discipline and fundamentals with a special attention to defense, three attributes of successful programs that were sorely lacking under Davis. Cooley’s Fairfield team ranked #22 in the nation in defensive efficiency last season and he improved the Stags’ record each and every year he was there. Providence, a small Catholic school with hardly any recruiting base along with limited facilities and resources, is an incredibly difficult job even before you have to go up against bigger schools like Syracuse, Louisville and Pittsburgh along with tradition-rich programs such as Georgetown, Villanova and Marquette. Cooley must spend his first season laying the foundation for longer term success. He won’t turn this program around overnight but more discipline on and off the court and hard work on the recruiting trail can turn Providence into a solid Big East competitor. We can’t think of many people better suited than Cooley to get the job done at Providence. While it will be a long and difficult process, brighter days are ahead for the Providence program with Ed Cooley at the helm.
Signs Of Life In The New York Area: New coach Steve Lavin and St. John’s brought the buzz back to the Big Apple last winter as the Red Storm earned its first NCAA bid in nine seasons. “Lavinwood” has moved east, but St. John’s now enters a year full of mixed feelings. Cautious optimism as well as uncertainty rules the day with nine new faces, part of the nation’s second-ranked recruiting class, making their way to Queens in 2011-12. Malik Stith is the only returnee of note after Dwayne Polee, II, decided to transfer closer to home at San Diego State. St. John’s may be the most unpredictable team in the Big East entering this season. The potential exists for a terrific year if Lavin can mold all this raw talent into a cohesive unit capable of playing with any team in the conference. However, issues with young players, commonly involving playing time and egos, are also very possible and it takes only one incident to destroy the locker room and wreck the season. The Johnnies have enough talent to make the NCAA Tournament again, but Lavin will have to totally adjust his approach to make that happen. With hardly any experience on the roster, he can’t simply roll the ball out and hope for the best. This season will be the biggest test of Lavin’s coaching career on the court, but he faced an even more difficult challenge last year, coaching the entire season with prostate cancer while keeping it a secret until this spring. Turning St. John’s around with that constantly in the back of his mind is an a commendable achievement and we obviously wish Coach Lavin the best of luck fighting this awful disease.
Across the Hudson River in New Jersey, Mike Rice and Rutgers appear to be building a program to be reckoned with down the road. The Scarlet Knights have been a dormant program for 20 years, never once enjoying a winning season in any of its 16 years as a Big East member. That may be about to change, although it appears unlikely that Rutgers will crack the .500 mark in league play this season. The fiery Rice reeled in a top 25 recruiting class and now must build on a season of close calls and what-ifs. Rutgers was competitive last year, but could only manage five Big East victories. It’ll take time for the new players to adjust to the collegiate level but bigger and better things should be expected from Rutgers in the years to come. Rutgers, a large state school, has the capability of becoming a pretty good program. All it needs is a commitment from the administration, facility upgrades and great recruiting. Rice is taking care of the latter, now it’s time for the Rutgers brass to provide him with the resources needed to build a top flight program. Rutgers needs major facility upgrades (a RAC renovation has been talked about for over a year), but fundraising has been a major problem. With New Jersey Governor Chris Christie trying to get the state’s financial house in order, there is going to be a lot of resistance to an ambitious project such as this one at the state’s flagship university.
