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With its win at the Hoop Group Regional Showcase, a New Jersey powerhouse looks like an early favorite for 2009. |
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Among the few team tournaments held in late June was the improved Team Boston Elite Invitational. |
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A former college star has become an official, and now has a new outlook on the game he played for years. |
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We look back at the Rumble in the Bronx, which had plenty of good talent as usual. |
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Matt checks in with notes from a quarterfinal game at Rumble in the Bronx. |
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An unfortunate incident this weekend serves as a reminder that athleticism and skills aren't everything. |
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A recent story reminded Jay how delicate the role of an analyst is no matter what the sport. |
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Jay shares some thoughts on officiating, which has become a topic of discussion lately. |
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Sunday was a day of championships at the New England AAU Regional Qualifier in Mansfield. |
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Matthew Moll recaps the MAAC 2007-08 season, with few surprises and Saints winning for the little guys. |
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Florida Atlantic is closing in on a candidate for its coaching vacancy, one Jay says would be a good hire. |
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New England players tried out for Reebok's big summer events at its second annual Headliner Camp. |
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With the backdrop of the recent story with O.J. Mayo, Jay looks at the role of money in college sports. |
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We look at the Massachusetts 16-under and 17-under AAU tournaments, held over two weekends. |
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Jay Pearlman recaps the Colonial 2007-08 season, with youth and competitive balance as the top stories. |
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For a lot of reasons, proposal 2007-30-C will hopefully never go into effect. |
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If proposal 2007-30-C ultimately goes into effect, next April will have no live weekends for college coaches. |
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Michael Lyle recaps the 2007-08 MEAC season, where two teams kept playing and guards reaped the honors. |
Cowboys Let Adams Leave: Oklahoma State rising sophomore forward Martavius Adams will leave the Cowboys to transfer to another school. Adams and coach Travis Ford met recently and agreed that Adams should leave the team. In his freshman season, Adams averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. [7/02/08]
UCLA Extends Howland's Contract: UCLA has extended coach Ben Howland's contract by a season and given Howland a pay raise. Howland's contract will keep him in Westwood through the 2013-14 season and pay him $1.97 million next season, rising to $2.3 million by the final season of the contract. Under Howland's direction, the Bruins have reached three consecutive Final Fours. They reached the championship game in 2005-06 before losing to Florida. [7/01/08]
Indiana President Says Sampson Was a Mistake: Indiana President Michael McRobbie told the NCAA Infractions Committee that the Hoosiers made a mistake in hiring former coach Kelvin Sampson, who arrived in Bloomington in 2006 on probation for making improper phone calls to recruits while at Oklahoma. McRobbie told the committee that hiring Sampson was not worth the risk. Sampson resigned in February amid a developing investigation into more recruiting violations. As a result of Sampson's actions, the school has taken away a scholarship for the upcoming season. In addition, athletic director Rick Greenspan, who hired Sampson, resigned last week. New coach Tom Crean must rebuild a program from scratch, with only one returning scholarship player from last season's squad. [6/30/08]
Ohio Stays In State to Replace O'Shea: Ohio has hired Ohio State assistant coach John Groce to be the Bobcats' next head coach. Groce replaces Tim O'Shea, who left a 20-win team to become head coach at Bryant University in Rhode Island. The Bobcats had a 20-13 record and competed for a top finish in the MAC. Groce has worked at Ohio State for the past four seasons, and he also has experience at Xavier and Butler as an assistant. [6/29/08]
Davidson Locks Up McKillop Through 2016: Davidson coach Bob McKillop received a three-year contract extension that will keep him with the Wildcats through the 2015-16 season. McKillop has a 340-225 record in 19 seasons with the Wildcats. The team's most celebrated run came this past season when Davidson reached the Elite Eight and challenged eventual national champion Kansas to the final possession. [6/28/08]
NCAA Tacks on Another Violation: The NCAA Infractions Committee decided to add another charge -- failure to monitor -- to the laundry list of violations committed at Indiana during the tenure of former coach Kelvin Sampson. The committee decided that the university neglected to adequately monitor Sampson's recruiting activities, which is especially noteworthy because he was already on probation for similar problems at Oklahoma. With the Sooners, Sampson and his staff made nearly 600 improper phone calls to recruits. He and his staff continued to evade the rules with the Hoosiers, making nearly 100 improper phone calls. Those included 10 three-way calls involving Sampson, which were prohibited under the terms of his probation.
Rose Grabs the No. 1 Spot: The Chicago Bulls selected Memphis freshman point guard Derrick Rose with the first pick in the NBA Draft, cementing Rose's status as the best freshman in one of the most talented classes in NCAA history. Rose averaged 14.9 points, 4.5 points and 4.7 assists per game in leading the Tigers to the national championship game. He joins a guard-heavy lineup in Chicago. Rose passed Kansas State phenom Michael Beasley in draft status partially because of character concerns about Beasley. [6/26/08]
Beasley Goes No. 2: Miami Heat took college basketball's most celebrated freshman in selecting Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley with the second pick of the NBA Draft. Beasley was a monster with the Wildcats, averaging 26.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per game. Beasley will team with Dwyane Wade and Shawn Marion to form a potent trio for the Heat. There was speculation that the Heat would pass over Beasley because coach Pat Riley wanted a point guard to pair with Wade and worried about Beasley's character issues. [6/26/08]
West Coast Feel to Nos. 3-5: The Pac-10 proved its elite talent did not go unnoticed as USC's O.J. Mayo went No. 3 to Minnesota, Russell Westbrook went No. 4 to Seattle, and Kevin Love finished the trifecta when Memphis drafted him No. 5. The Bruins' back-to-back picks guided UCLA to another Final Four, the team's third trip in three seasons. Mayo led the trio in scoring with 20.7 points per game. Love was the most dominant in the post, averaging 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. [6/26/08]
Kings Pick First Senior of Draft: The Sacramento Kings are hoping Rider's Jason Thompson will follow in the footsteps of Western Carolina's Kevin Martin, who led the Kings with 23.7 points per game last season. Thompson is the first senior to go in the NBA Draft. He averaged 20.4 points and 12.1 rebounds per game for the Broncs in his last season. Thompson is the first collegiate player from a non-major conference team to go in the draft.
[6/26/08]
Lopez Twins Part Ways: Stanford's Brook and Robin Lopez will be the third set of active twins to play in the NBA next season. Brook Lopez will be playing for the New Jersey Nets, who picked Brook No. 10, while Phoenix picked Robin Lopez No. 15. Brook is the more NBA-ready contributor and averaged 19.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Robin will bring toughness to the Suns, but he needs to improve on his 10.2 points and 5.7 rebonds per game. [6/26/08]
Duquesne Extends Everhart Through 2013-14: Happy with the program's positive momentum, Duquesne officials have decided to extended coach Ron Everhart's contract by three years through 2013-14. Everhart has made the Dukes competitive in only two seasons after the team finished 3-24 in former coach Danny Nee's final season in 2005-06. In addition to improving the results on the court, Everhart is bringing more heralded recruits to Pittsburgh. The Dukes have not reached the NCAA Tournament in 31 years. [6/25/08]
Syracuse Adds a Cyclone: Iowa State forward Wesley Johnson has decided to transfer to Syracuse. The rising junior picked the Orange after visiting the university, liking it so much that he opted to cancel visits to Ohio State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Johnson averaged 12.4 points per game last season for the Cyclones. [6/25/08]
Delta Devils Give Woods First Head Coaching Job: Mississippi Valley State has hired Sean Woods to be the Delta Devils' coach. Woods most recently worked as an assistant coach at TCU. He worked two years at TCU as director of basketball operations and an assistant after starting his coaching career at Texas A&M Corpus Christi as an assistant for one season. [6/24/08]
Gregory Looks to MAC for Assistant: Dayton coach Brian Gregory has hired Western Michigan assistant coach Cornell Mann to join his staff. Mann replaces Anthony Solomon, who left Dayton to work at Notre Dame. A veteran of the Mid-American Conference, Mann played for Akron for three seasons and worked at Central Michigan for two seasons before his most recent five-year stint with the Broncos. [6/24/08]
Demon Deacons Will Start Without Skeen: Wake Forest sophomore forward Jamie Skeen will miss the first semester of his junior season because he violated an academic policy. Skeen averaged 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season. On a young team that returns all its major pieces, Skeen needs to provide some veteran leadership. [6/24/08]
Paladin Junior Transfers to D-II Team: Furman junior forward Stanley Jones will leave the Paladins to transfer to Francis Marion, a Division II school. Jones saw his playing time diminish during the past two seasons after starting 26 games in his freshman season. Jones averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in eight games this past season. [6/24/08]
Center on Blue Devils' First Tourney Team Dies: Former Duke Blue Devil Junior Morgan, 74, died Saturday of prostate cancer. Morgan led the Blue Devils in 1954-55 with 9.1 rebounds per game, which helped guide Duke to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in team history. The Blue Devils lost the first game in the tournament against Villanova. [6/24/08]
O'Shea Returns to New England for a Challenge: Ohio coach Tim O'Shea is leaving the Bobcats to coach Bryant University in Rhode Island. The Division II program will begin the transition to Division I play this season. It has an invitation to join the Northeast Conference after the four-year transition period. O'Shea has experience working in New England as an assistant coach at Rhode Island and Boston College. He replaces Max Good, who left the school to become an assistant at Loyola Marymount. [6/23/08]
Recruiting Resolution Dealt a Blow: Proposal 2007-30-C, which would eliminate the April live periods for Division I coaches starting in 2009, will not go into effect as it has received the necessary 30 override requests. The proposal was adopted on April 25 and was in a 60-day override period, which was to end on June 23. Many of the override requests came in the past three weeks. The legislation isn't quite dead at the moment, as the NCAA Board of Directors could decide in August to make its fate decided by a vote of the membership during the NCAA Convention in January 2009. [6/11/08]
Anderson Returns to Memphis: After testing the NBA Draft waters, Memphis junior guard Antonio Anderson will return to the Tigers for his senior season. Anderson averaged 8.6 points per game in addition to totaling 136 assists and 49 steals. Anderson said the projections placed him as a second-round pick, and he wants to improve his game to become a first-round pick. [5/24/08]
Williams Moves Closer to Home: Former Providence sophomore guard Dwain Williams has decided to transfer to Long Beach State to be closer to his family in California. Williams is from San Diego originally. He averaged 11.0 points and 2.3 assists per game. Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said he is excited to get a guard with Big East experience. [5/24/08]
Jarvis Returns to Coaching: Florida Atlantic has hired Mike Jarvis to be the Owls' next coach. Jarvis has been out of coaching since St. John's fired him in 2003. Jarvis has experience as the head coach of St. John's and George Washington. He also coached Patrick Ewing in high school. Jarvis replaces Rex Walters, who left Florida Atlantic to become San Francisco's coach. [5/24/08]
Agent Drops Mayo Amid Recruiting Allegations: Bill Duffy Associates and agent Calvin Andrews have dropped USC freshman O.J. Mayo from the firm's roster of athletes as allegations swirl that Mayo received gifts and money from BDA Sports funneled through an events promoter. Mayo is a likely top five pick in the NBA Draft, with some projections having him going as high as No. 2 to Miami. Bill Duffy Associates said they want Mayo to enjoy the NBA Draft process rather than having to address the potential scandal about improper gifts while in school. The firm also asked the NBA Players Association to waive the 15-day period that prevents another agent from signing Mayo. [5/23/08]
Caracter Is Academically Ineligible: Louisville coach Rick Pitino had declared Derrick Caracter academically ineligible. Caracter announced he would enter the NBA Draft in March, and Pitino thought a professional career might help Caracter mature. But Caracter has decided to return school, and Pitino doesn't think he's a good fit for the Cardinals. The sophomore averaged 8.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, but he often battles weight and concentration issues. [5/23/08]
McNeal Returns to Fulfill Goals: Marquette junior guard Jerel McNeal has pulled his name out of the NBA Draft. McNeal said he considered his options and decided that he still had collegiate goals that he'd like to fulfill. McNeal averaged 14.9 points, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He joins returning guard Dominic James to form one of the most talented backcourts in the country. [5/23/08]
Crean Continues to Clean House: Indiana coach Tom Crean has dismissed freshman forward Brandon McGee, leaving the Hoosiers with only three returning players from former coach Kelvin Sampson's last squad. McGee averaged 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds per game. With McGee off the team, the only holdovers are Jordan Crawford, Kyle Taber and Brett Finkelmeier. [5/23/08]
Gee Decides to Return to Tide: Alabama junior forward Alonzo Gee will not remain in the NBA Draft. After getting feedback from scouts, Gee has decided to return for his senior season. He averaged about 15 points and seven rebounds per game last season for the Crimson Tide. [5/23/08]
Horn Dismisses Sophomore Swingman: South Carolina coach Darrin Horn has dismissed sophomore swingman Chad Gray for repeatedly violating team rules. Gray was a reserve who averaged 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. Horn said he was disappointed by Gray's actions but wished him well. [5/23/08]
Class-Action Suit Challenges Ticket Distribution: Ticketmaster and the NCAA are named in a class-action lawsuit that states that the organizations are essentially running a lottery that takes "millions of dollars out of consumers' pockets." The NCAA said it has not seen the lawsuit, and a spokesman said the NCAA follows standard industry practices for "excess demand for an event." For the Final Four, fans must apply to win the opportunity to buy tickets, and the application includes a $10 fee and $6 handling free per application, with as many as 10 applications. However, even successful applicants can only win once, and they don't get their money back for unsuccessful applications. [5/23/08]