US College Basketball [Archive]

Durbansandshark

31-10-2008, 08:54 AM

Got a scoop thanks to a PM I got today. Gold Coast native (but born in Sydney) and AIS product Christian Salecich plans to become the latest in this major wave of young Australians coming to the USA for college basketball following a verbal commitment to attend Saint Louis University next fall after a recent visit here. Like Ogilvy and Mills before him, Salecich attended Lake Ginninderra College while being at AIS. Christian as a combo guard, noted by my source, posesses the talent, toughness, and the character to withstand Majerus and fits into his basketball philosophies. What's more is that another Aussies is joining him, but not as a player: Chris Harriman joins Majerus' coaching staff, and his presence could hopefully start an Australian pipeline into SLU as it makes itself into a A10 power as a recruiting channel for future young US-bound Australian basketball players. Harriman previously coached at D2 Nova Southeastern and was incredibly successful in getting a number of Australians playing there.

The last post I wrote here was me writing that there are 341 Division I schools participating in men's basketball. This is actually wrong. 348 schools are getting involved with DI basketball. Many of the schools that were omitted were, not surprisingly, independents. Speaking of which, I was perusing through the top college basketball previews here in St. Louis at bookstores and magazine stands that I go to--the only ones I spotted were Sporting News, Athlon Sports, and Lindy's--of the three I mentioned, the best preview with the usual one-page Independent coverage was Athlon's. Its scouting reports covered ALL of the DI indies including the newbies North Dakota Fighting Sioux, South Dakota Coyotes, Seattle Redhawks, Bryant Bulldogs, Houston Baptist Huskies, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars, and the New Haven Chargers. Sporting News' issue, IMHO the best one of the three, this year wrongfully omits North Dakota, South Dakota, Bryant, New Haven, and even MEAC-bound Winston-Salem St. Lindy's woefully reduces the Independents to a prediction ladder of the 16 schools making up as such, the most amount of Independents in recent memory with the All-Independents Team, Best NBA Prospect, Best Rebounder, Best Guard, etc. at the far rightward quarter of the page. I hope the upcoming EA Sports' NCAA Basketball 2009 video game will include all of the independents, something they wrongfully omit in recent years compared to the now-defunct College Hoops 2K series. A few teams like Bryant and New Haven are playing partial D1 schedules.

Only Alaska has no D1 NCAA representative school. Hopefully in the near future Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves will change this.

Lute Olsen retired suddenly as Arizona's long serving head coach last week because Dr. Steven Knope revealed Tuesday an MRI confirming a stroke he suffered last year resulting in him going through severe depression and impaired judgment, and Knope strongly advised Olsen, though the stroke isn't life-threatning, to retire. This despite Olsen mentioning at the Wildcats Media Day two days before hanging up his whistle for good feeling "energized" about the upcoming season.

SINE

11-11-2008, 05:10 PM

NAME POS HT WT SCHOOL RANK GRADE STATUS NOTES
Jon Smith Power Forward 6-7 185 Grove City H.S. (OH) PF#51 88 Verbal
Christian Salecich Shooting Guard 6-4 195 Australian Institute of Sport (AUS) SG #47 88 Verbal
Cory Remekun Power Forward 6-7 195 Mesquite H.S. (TX) PF #77 86 Verbal
2009 Player Commits
Evaluation

November, 2008: Christian is originally from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia but has spent the past two years at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. The A.I.S. is the premier prep school in Australia which has featured over 20 Division 1 basketball players including former #1 NBA pick Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks), Nathan Jawai (Toronto Raptors) and Luke Longely (Chicago Bulls). He is an athletic guard that is an exceptional shooter with deep range. Christian is the #1 ranked shooting guards in Australia in the '09 class and has a reputation as a big-time defender. Salecich was a member of the Junior Australian National team that beat U.S.A at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany, he was 6-of-13 from the field with 15 points and 5 assists in the 20 point win. He will more than likely compete for Australia at the 19 and Under World Championships in July, 2009. Salecich has a high basketball IQ and will fit in perfectly with Coach Majerus' system .

These gradings and review on Christian were found on ESP Recruiting ,Thought the grading was a bit high #47 , obviously they see something in Christian so must Majerus and staff ,Have seen Christian play many times at Nationals and i always have believed he has alot more to offer on the offensive end besides his passing and dribble penetration needs to have more of a mid range game and be a bit more selfish and attack the basket a lot more,has a first good step and can attack either right or left with ease just needs to use it a bit more ,defensively exeptional can defend the 1-3 spots with ease and has a great passing game either side makes full court passes look easy , If all goes well under Majerus will come out a great all round B/Ball player

stellation

12-11-2008, 04:13 PM

Great start for OJ Ogilvy with 25 points, 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a Vandy exhibition win over Alabama Huntsville. I watched a live feed of the game and he was just flat out dominant, I think he has the best post moves I've seen on an Australian.

He looks to have shed some baby fat and muscled up some more too.

Durbansandshark

13-11-2008, 11:52 AM

ALLSTAR BABY

13-11-2008, 03:28 PM

Any news on Nate Tomlinson? I have heard is close to securing a starting spot with Colorado. Must be performing well.

stellation

13-11-2008, 07:31 PM

Poida

13-11-2008, 09:22 PM

Somona State for the D2 title! :lol: 8)

Durbansandshark

14-11-2008, 09:25 AM

Yes, the season has just started! I'm picking North Carolina to win it all at the Final Four in Detroit's Ford Field. They got everybody who started back from last year after that humiliating loss to eventual champs Kansas (remember their poor shooting in San Antonio in the national semis). Psycho T and his teammates all know there's unfinished business at hand.
C'mon, Durban'- know your audience; it's either Vandy or St Mary's winning this thing, nobody else is close! :lol:

:lol:

I'd be happy if both go for a deep run in the NCAAs come March, let alone winning the title. Of the two, Vandy's got the better shot simply because the Commodores play in a all-around power conference.

On that note Tennessee fans should be thrilled to three schools in the Top 25 rankings; it's great time to be a college basketball fan in the Volunteer State, needless to say.

stellation

16-11-2008, 05:04 PM

Luke Nevill decided to pad his stats early this year- 28 points, 14 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks but the Utes still managed to lose by 1 at home.

RedbackVenom

17-11-2008, 07:55 AM

The Ute's got done by a barrage of trey's - 16/32 from 3PT is hot shooting in any language! Pretty disappintning his team lost to a Div II school, but good number nevertheless.

Also interesting to see a host of AIS players signing letters of intent over the past week for the 2009/10 season.

Jorden Page (St Marys)
Mitchell Young (St Marys)
Matt Dellavedova (St Marys)
Brock Motum (Washington State)
Shane Harris-Tunks (Colorado)

St Mary's will keep their high number of Aussies in their team despite the fact Carlin Hughes and Lucas Walker graduate after this season and with Patty likely to be drafted.

Also, is anyone able to shed any light of why Zac Natoli left Mercer early and is headed home (if not already)?

Good to see the accolades keep coming for Mills and AJ Ogilvy too. Both nominated as pre-season top 50 chances for the Wooden award that Bogut won nto so long ago. And to see Mills tipped by ESPN as a pre-season 2nd team All-American, that's pretty good too (Katz had him in his 1st team!).

jingles

17-11-2008, 06:45 PM

Delly will be hoping Patty Mills gets drafted, otherwise he could see alot of minutes on the bench.

SINE

18-11-2008, 09:06 AM

Delly will be hoping Patty Mills gets drafted, otherwise he could see alot of minutes on the bench.

Page will be in the same position as Delly, both are Point Guards , Delly is the starting P/G for AIS and Aussie team and if the St Marys coach sees it the same way Page could be very limited in playing time if Pat stays

Westie#7

18-11-2008, 08:18 PM

actually scratch that the game is being shown tomorrow night on espn. apologies if it was ruined for anybody...

Poida

19-11-2008, 11:06 AM

Channel 10 just showed highlights of St Marys Vs Fresno State on the morning news.

Teve0

19-11-2008, 11:31 AM

Channel 10 just showed highlights of St Marys Vs Fresno State on the morning news.

i wish i was at home and unemployed like you so i could catch bball highlights on the morning news....

Julian

19-11-2008, 11:53 AM

You'd want to be unemployed in the US with the crazy opening night coverage on offer from ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3699609

Poida

19-11-2008, 12:09 PM

Channel 10 just showed highlights of St Marys Vs Fresno State on the morning news.

i wish i was at home and unemployed like you so i could catch bball highlights on the morning news....

No, you'd rather be on UNI holidays like me instead of lying on the couch, covered in your own shit, with a big packet of chips, thinking about if you should get up to head to the dole office or get balls deep in your pet "Dolly". Gee it must suck to be you :lol:

Durbansandshark

20-11-2008, 09:40 AM

You will never find an arena actually hosting the NCAA Final Fours anytime soon, if ever again. The last couple of times an arena played hosts to that were the Continental Airlines Arena (now the Izod Center) in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1996 and since-demolished McNichols Sports Arena in Denver in 1990. With the high demand for such an eagerly anticipated event and the hopes of getting some die-hard college hoops fans a chance to see the event in the face of reserving tickets to corporate sponsors, the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches, which meets in their annual convention at the Final Four site), the Final Four schools, domes are the only way to go for many years with NCAA setting the Final Four minimum capacity to 70,000. The NCAA announced the future Final Four sites for 2012-2016:

2012-Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans) March 31 and April 2
2013-Georgia Dome (Atlanta) April 6 and 8
2014-Cowboys Stadium (Dallas-Ft. Worth/Arlington/Irvine) April 5 and 7
2015-Lucas Stadium (Indianapolis) April 4 and 6
2016-Reliant Stadium (Houston) April 2 and 4

Most intriguing venue out of that list is the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which has yet to earn a naming-rights sponsor but surely will, l that is under construction right now, ready to open next year in time for the Cowboys' 2009 season. The stadium costs way over a billion dollars to build. I personally call it Jerry World in hono(u)r of Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones, and this stadium is going to look amazing leaving no expense and innovation unturned as Dallas holds the Final Four, no doubt it'll get when it was even designed, for the first time since 1986 at the Reunion Arena. As a new-generation domed stadium like Lucas Oil Stadium, configuring to basketball games won't be as an issue so that sightlines won't be as bad like the older generations have been for 70,000+ seating, even in the nosebleed seats; people involved in the project have seriously done their homework, having studied all of the arenas, stadiums, and museums all around the world. They indeed do things bigger in Texas! :lol:

Too bad out west the University of Phoenix Stadium will have to wait at least 2017 to get a shot. That means the western region hasn't got a Final Four in over 20 years since Seattle's Kingdome held it in 1995. Kingdome was since demolished.

stellation

20-11-2008, 09:59 AM

Nevill with 20/14 and 3 blocks in a Utes win. Getting his stats up early against the little guys!

RedbackVenom

20-11-2008, 12:40 PM

Nevill with 20/14 and 3 blocks in a Utes win. Getting his stats up early against the little guys!

And he had 3 blocks to go with it too on 7/9 shooting and 6/6 from the line.

Baynes also had a solid game yesterday with 8 points (4/8), 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in the Wazzu's win. Looks like another WSU season that is based on defence in the 55-33 victory.

RedbackVenom

21-11-2008, 03:34 PM

AJ Ogilvy had 13 points (5/11 shooting), 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in Vanderbilt's loss to Illinois today. In two games so far his production is well below that of last year. Hopefully he can pick it up soon.

stellation

21-11-2008, 04:05 PM

Awww c'mon man, he had 25 points in the other one :lol:

stellation

24-11-2008, 12:52 PM

Kudos to Luke Nevill- the Utes won the pre-season tournament they have been playing in and Luke was named MVP of the tournament. It's the first pre-season tournament win for Utah in 30 years (and I'm pretty sure they go in one every year) and it's the first championship win of any kind fo this team.

Utah are now 3-1, that 1 loss being against a Div2 team that beat them by 1 in a huge upset at home... I hadn't checked before, but that Div 2 team that beat them hit 16/32 3 point attempts versus Utah's 4/12, and going by the play by play they had 10 seconds to take the final shot to win but it missed then a last second offensive board was grabbed but the layup missed. They could be sitting at 4-0, win the first couple of games when conference play kicks in and people might start to talk about them again.

Luke's now averaging 18.5 ppg (64%fg), 11 rpg, 2 apg and 2.25 bpg. If he can keep close to that up against opposing centres >6'5" it'll be interesting to see what becomes of him.

stellation

25-11-2008, 08:09 AM

Gaels beat Vanguard by 31, all 5 Australians scored. Nice game from Ben Allen (10 points, 6 boards, 2 blocks).

stellation

25-11-2008, 03:15 PM

AJ with a nice line in a win for Vandy today, 19 points, 11 boards and 3 blocks in 31 minutes.

To just highlight the insanity of what these kids that go to the big colleges get- that was a pre-season game and the attendance figure was 12,502. What was the size of the crowd at AJ's high school teammate Julian's last game?

jingles

25-11-2008, 06:52 PM

Great game by AJ!

Keep those individual game scores coming guys.

Particularly Ogilvy, Mills and Nevill

HunterPirates

25-11-2008, 08:44 PM

12,502. What was the size of the crowd at AJ's high school teammate Julian's last game?

Just drop the 2 off the end; 1250.

RedbackVenom

26-11-2008, 08:36 AM

Mills won his first award of the season - WCC player of the week! Just reward for a great start to the season.

http://wccsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/112408aad.html

http://www.smcgaels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=101619&SPID=12536&DB_OEM_ID=21400&ATCLID=3622655

Mills is playing with greater confidence and increased maturity following a great showing at the Olympics. :D

Last week, Mills averaged 21.5 points while leading Saint Mary's to a 2-0 record following wins over Fresno State (99-85) and Vanguard (86-54). He connected on 16-of-31 shots overall, to shoot 51.6 percent from the floor, and averaged 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals. Additionally, he connected on 5-of-12 shots from behind to arc, to shoot 41.6 percent from 3-point range.
For the season, Mills is averaging 19.3 points, 5.0 assists and 3.3 steals per game, while shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point land.

RedbackVenom

26-11-2008, 08:46 AM

Also, Luke Nevill won the MWC player of the week as well to keep the Aussie flavour going! :aus:

http://themwc.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/112408aaf.html

Nevill, named a Preseason All-MWC selection and a second-team All-MWC choice last year, is leading the conference in total rebounding (11.0 rpg), offensive rebounds (4.5 per game), defensive rebounds (6.5 per game) and blocked shots (2.25 bpg). He is also ranked third in scoring (18.5 ppg) and his field goal percentage (.644) is ranked ninth.

If he can keep those numbers up, a 2nd round NBA draft selection is likely to become a reality.

Durbansandshark

26-11-2008, 09:47 AM

Sorry to interrupt this Aussie basketball love in the NCAAs that surely is deserving to Mills, Ogilvy, and Neville for now. But there's something I want to bring here for a while. But I will talk about a new D1 basketball conference starting next year.

After four seasons as just a football-only conference, the Great West announced over this past summer it will encompass all sports, including basketball, starting in the fall of 2009. This is great news for several of the D1 independents who are all too often forced to play each other when their time playing non-conference games against the bigger schools are up. Plus, there it's nice for them to have a more permanent home to go to, including a couple of schools that left their previous conferences to go indie. Charter basketball members are Houston Baptist, Texas-Pan American, North Dakota, South Dakota, Chicago St., Utah Valley University (formerly Utah Valley St.), and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Chicago St. joined the conference on October 22. Seattle is considering to join too as of this writing.

A conference this stretched out from potentially Washington all the way to New Jersey is very odd, geographically speaking living up to its name. How will they cope with travel and expenses? More on this conference after the Thanksgiving holiday here, as numerous schools get ready for the upcoming tournaments coming.

Locally, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars, new to Division 1 basketball this year, will join the Ohio Valley Conference in the 2011-12 season, seemingly to replace Samford Bearkats, who left after last season for the Southern Conference. To be more precise, the Cougars are currently in transitional mode from D2 sports while still an active member of the Ohio Valley.

Cal State-Bakersfield Roadrunners has hopes of joining the Big West Conference, currently an all-California school conference, after its time as an independent in its transition. Many of its old rivals are in the Big West.

RedbackVenom

26-11-2008, 10:32 AM

[quote="Durbansandshark"]Sorry to interrupt this Aussie basketball love in the NCAAs that surely is deserving to Mills, Ogilvy, and Neville for now. But there's something I want to bring here for a while. But I will talk about a new D1 basketball conference starting next year.[quote="Durbansandshark"]

Interrupt you have! :wink:

Should be some interesting times with this new D1 conference and to see how the schools fit in and deal with the geographical changes. Can schools then look to move on to a more local conference after a season (or so as an example)?

On another note, Aron Baynes and his Washington State team play today. Senior Baynes is leading the 3-0 Wazzu in points and rebounds per game (11.7 ppg @ 65.2% from the field and 6.3rpg) so far. That record should improve to 4-0 today as they should beat Canisius.

There is still a lot of press surrounding #2 ranked UConn and the anticipated arrival of "Aussie" Ater Majok. It would be great to see him have an immediate impact as well.

Da Houndawg #55

27-11-2008, 02:40 AM

Durbansandshark

27-11-2008, 05:58 AM

RedbackVenom

27-11-2008, 08:23 AM

Stephen Curry had the good sense to not try and force shit in a game where he was double teamed from start to finish, showing humility to take only 3 shots and go scoreless and letting his teammates exploit the extra man as Davidson cruised to an easy 20 point win over Loyola.
Its good to see.

I'm with ha Houndawg...pretty bloody impressive for a zero score if you ask me. Curry showed plenty of maturity in how he handled a tough individual situation. I thought the Loyola coach was a bit of a dingbat, particularly with his comments after the game on his tactics of double-teaming Curry.

jingles

27-11-2008, 07:56 PM

Bit of an ordinary one for AJ today. 10 points, 8 boards.

RedbackVenom

01-12-2008, 07:26 AM

Bit of an ordinary one for AJ today. 10 points, 8 boards.

Whilst his scoring was down, he got into foul trouble and played less minutes. He seems to be picking up early fouls recently and thus his court time is being somewhat limited.

Mills had a good game on the weekend with 21 points.

Both AJ and Patty play today Australian time.

jingles

01-12-2008, 07:27 PM

Great game from Ogilvy today: 25 points (2/2 3pts) 7 boards.

Mills a nice one to: 24 points, 3 assists

GO AUSSIES!!!!

RedbackVenom

02-12-2008, 08:44 AM

Great game from Ogilvy today: 25 points (2/2 3pts) 7 boards.

Mills a nice one to: 24 points, 3 assists

GO AUSSIES!!!!

AJ had a great game which was great to see. Howeveer upon further analysis the opposing team had no bonafide centre. However hopwefully this kick-starts AJ into some serious form.

Patty was brilliant yesterday. He continues to get better and better.

jingles

02-12-2008, 06:23 PM

Worked out some season stats for anyone interested:

Ogilvy 7 games, 13.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 0apg
Mills 7 games, 17.0ppg, 3.5apg, 2.1rpg
Nevill 5 games, 17.4ppg, 9.8rpg, 2.0apg

RedbackVenom

05-12-2008, 07:44 AM

AJ had 14 points on 5/13 shooting (1/2 3PT), along with 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 4 blocks in Vanderbilts loss to Illinois-Chicago.

Nevill had 18 points (8/10 FG), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks in 34min of action in the 'Utes win against Oregon.

Mills plays today against Kent State.

A Really Bad Bass Player

05-12-2008, 08:38 AM

watched the Spartans V Tar Heels game today.

The raised floor at Ford Field concerned me. One player jumped off it whn chasing a loose ball...

Durbansandshark

05-12-2008, 08:53 AM

watched the Spartans V Tar Heels game today.

The raised floor at Ford Field concerned me. One player jumped off it whn chasing a loose ball...

I share that concern too.

Most of the current-gen domed stadiums all supposedly will have raised basketball courts for NCAA tournament games placed at the center of the field as it was last season's. Not at near the end zones like it has been in the past.

Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota too has an elevated floor, but it was the only college in D1 that has that. And it's been like that for many, many years. So players are accustomed to that.

RedbackVenom

10-12-2008, 12:35 PM

Mills has just earned his second WCC Player of the Week award.

Nevill continues to dominate and do well, and Ogilvy is still playing solid and scoring around a 1/4 of his team's points.

djrod

10-12-2008, 01:06 PM

watched the Spartans V Tar Heels game today.

The raised floor at Ford Field concerned me. One player jumped off it whn chasing a loose ball...

i don't understand the reason behind the raised floor... I assume it is a basketball court in a football stadium, but it just looks silly and it appears to serve no purpose.

Durbansandshark

18-12-2008, 12:47 PM

We all know about Stephen Curry. Now get to know his younger brother Seth, a freshman at Liberty University. Both were spurned by their dad's alma mater Virginia Tech.
www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/d ... 0659.story (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/depaul/chi-17-depaul-seth-currydec17,0,4240659.story)

RedbackVenom

23-12-2008, 12:14 PM

Ogilvy is in action again today, and takes on fellow Aussie centre Opacic who plays for Furman.

Nevill is in action also as his Ute's take on Utah State.

How good was Uconn's three at the death to send the game against the Zag's into OT? Majok is heading into a really good situation at Uconn.

RedbackVenom

23-12-2008, 03:22 PM

Individually, it was a good day at the office for the Aussies.

- Nevill had a 25 point, 11 rebound game today in a loss to Utah State.
- AJ Ogilvy recorded 22 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Furman.

Patty Mills is back in action tomorrow (our time) against Pacific. He is averaging 19.8ppg and 3.6apg so far on the season.

On another note, #22 BU's Curtis Jerrells recorded a triple double today, scoring 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He is widely slated to be a second round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Fair stats line that one.

Aussie Freshman Nate Tomlinson is leading Colorado in assists per game at 3.6apg. Hope he continues to develop and do well.

Durbansandshark

24-12-2008, 05:56 AM

Time now for some local fare: Tonight here in St. Louis Mizzou and Illinois will duke it out in the Braggin' Rights game at the Scottrade Center. Illinois has defeated the Tigers for eight straight years. And both teams are doing really well with Missouri being the more surprising of the two. They already had the frontcourt, but now coach Mike Anderson has the horses in the backcourt to effectively run the "40 Minutes of Hell" high-pressure system. Opponents turn the ball over at least 20 times a game. The Tigers average about 12.4. You better win Mizzou!

RedbackVenom

24-12-2008, 01:57 PM

justpartofthecrowd

28-12-2008, 03:34 AM

You better win Mizzou!

Sorry to say they lost...and the drought continues.

Mills is in action right nowfor St Mary's. He is is shooting terribly, and is 0-5 from the field, and has just 2 free throws to his name up to half time. The Gael's trail Pacific by 2 at the main break.

What a trooper, he finished with 23 points and the win! Good signs!!!
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... /812240320 (http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081224/A_SPORTS/812240320)

RedbackVenom

30-12-2008, 07:14 AM

What a trooper, he finished with 23 points and the win! Good signs!!!
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... /812240320 (http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081224/A_SPORTS/812240320)

Mills has been having a great season. Although he has had some games where his shooting has been off, he has always bounced back strongly. More importantly his team continues to win games. The fact is though, Mills has been taking over the game down the stretch when his team has been in trouble and he has delivered the goods.

Mills had just 13 points in their latest win over Morgan State, but he also had 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. In his last couple of games he has also turned the ball over a bit with 6 and 5 TO's respectively. I'd like to see him trim back his TO's.

RedbackVenom

30-12-2008, 12:24 PM

#2 Uconn experienced their first loss of the season against #8 Georgetown! Thery went down 63-74.

I'm really looking forward to Saint Marys vs Gonzaga. Huge game.

stellation

04-01-2009, 02:02 PM

RedbackVenom

05-01-2009, 10:53 AM

Speaking of Gonzaga, they lost in a huge upset to Luke Nevill and his Utes. Nevill had 15/8/3 blocks in a game that apparently had quite a few scouts in attendance as Luke went up against another fringe NBA draft pick in Josh Heytvelt. Heytvelt ended with 10/10 in 32 minutes, Luke only played 24 due to some foul trouble.

I also saw that result - a very good one for Nevill. He backed it up with a career-best 29 point, 13 rebound and 5 blocked shot performance against Wyoming yesterday in only 32min of action. He continues to impress.

RedbackVenom

06-01-2009, 07:34 AM

The biggest upset of the season yeserdaty - Boston College imposed the first defeated of the season on UNC to end talk of the "perfect season"

Durbansandshark

06-01-2009, 07:41 AM

Damn, I was going to get into that... :(

Of course, no college basketball team in the US will ever go undefeated in a season, I don't think. And it will appear that the Tar Heels will lose their #1 ranking because of this. UCONN could very well take over after their big win yesterday.

And BC was slated to finish 12th in the Big East.

RedbackVenom

06-01-2009, 08:04 AM

Sorry mate to steal your thunder! I still can't get over the fact they lost to Boston!
Pittspurgh has replaced UNC at #1 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. UConn dropped down the list a few nothces due to their hiccups over the past week.

The new rankings for both polls whcih have also been released today are exactly the same up to #7:
1. Pittsburgh
2. Duke
3. North Carolina
4. Wake Forest
5. Connecticut
6. Oklahoma
7. Texas

Also, Luke Nevill has been duly recognised for hsi continued good performances by being announced as MWC player of the week for the second straight week and third time overall this season.

RedbackVenom

06-01-2009, 08:06 AM

Also, Gonzaga got dumped from the top 25 for the first time this year. Whilst Patty Mills' Saint Mary's team and Gonzaga's WCC rivals are now just a few more consecutiove wins away from nudging their way into the top 25 for the first time this year.

stellation

06-01-2009, 09:40 AM

Also, Luke Nevill has been duly recognised for hsi continued good performances by being announced as MWC player of the week for the second straight week and third time overall this season.
Obviously mock drafts don't usually reflect who gets drafted, and this is possibly the worst of the well known ones- but Luke was added back on to nbadraft.net's last update for the 2009 mock. DX hasn't updated this year, but it will be intersting to see if he starts getting popped on over there too.

He's really started the year well, and it's great to see him put in some solid performances and pick up the MWC POTW award again with games against teams that had some big bodies on them.

Durbansandshark

07-01-2009, 07:46 AM

Pittspurgh has replaced UNC at #1 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. UConn dropped down the list a few nothces due to their hiccups over the past week.

The new rankings for both polls whcih have also been released today are exactly the same up to #7:
1. Pittsburgh

I think this is the first time ever the Pittsburgh Panthers are #1 in the rankings. In any case, it's a great accomplishment for Jaime Dixon and his boys. That said, when you look up and down the roster, nobody on it certainly screams bonafide first round NBA draft pick, let alone lottery pick. But that's OK, Pitt plays lunch pail hard working, physical, and tough, a nice nod to the city they play in.

RedbackVenom

07-01-2009, 03:37 PM

Nevill has another big game today in a big win over LSU.

He had 17 points in the first half and ended with 23 (11/13 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal. He is on fire right now! Hope he can keep it up.

Durbansandshark

09-01-2009, 07:05 AM

After giving North Carolina a loss on Sunday, #24 Boston College comes crashing back to Earth last night with a loss of their own ...to Harvard from nearby Cambridge 82-70 in the metropolitan Boston area at home. This is Harvard's first ever win over a ranked opponent. And BC will get off from the Top 25 rankings. I understand the Golden Eagles kids were on a high after the knockout on UNC, but to lose to Harvard? Unacceptable on their part. Coach Al Skinner tried to pre-warn them about this.

elton branded

11-01-2009, 01:38 AM

Well I had to leave at half time of St Mary's v Santa Clara. Good game to be shown because of the Oz contingent. So i get home to check the score and it's a thriller. Shit, shit, shit!!! Mills hit's a huge bomb for the W! Needed to come alive in the second half as his first half wasn't great - I think he was 2 of 7 on 3's, and 4 out of 5 misses weren't even close. Nearly mangled himself trying to steal an outlet pass at the half time horn, took what looked to have been a pretty hard fall, must've been ok. Dowdell was ok in the minutes he got for Santa Clara. Wish'd i'd caught the second half.... :x

edan

11-01-2009, 08:30 AM

Great finish to an average game. Patty came up big when it counted, huge three to win the game (after what may have been a push-off). St Mary's shot the ball terribly all night, settling for too many outside shots. Mills looks so much better when taking to the rim, he takes the contact and float those lay-ups over the bigs with ease.

I was also impressed with Mickey McConnell's play at the point, he seems to be taking Carlin Hughes' minutes, but deserves it judging from the way he played last night.

Dunkin' Dan

11-01-2009, 02:39 PM

I'm a fan of his but Carlin shouldn't have been starting in the first place. He's an awesome energy guy off the bench but IMO is just too erratic to be starting. Love the man of mystery poster though :lol:
McConnell seems to complement Mills nicely when the game settles down, although when the game is being played at breakneck speed I do like Patty having the ball in his hands. They miss Golden's reliability spotting up on the perimeter.

Only just got around to watching this game ... it really was disorganised & sloppy by the Gaels. Patty needs to ease up on those 3's - he's not nearly reliable enough a shooter to be jacking them at that rate against the momentum. He was 2/11 from outside before he hit that one to tie the game. Love his work on the dribble though, and that effort on half time would have to be a contender for mark of the year.

I really didn't think they were going to get that one. Foster was stroking 3s any time St Mary's made a run, until Patty hit that massive shot to win it. Awesome finish :D

angry ant

11-01-2009, 03:47 PM

Last 6 minutes of the St Marys-Santa Clara match http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=nMV0y4z5pJM

stellation

11-01-2009, 07:20 PM

Thanks for posting the link, I missed the game. Did the freshman that went off do all of that scoring on Patty?

RedbackVenom

12-01-2009, 07:31 AM

Thanks AA for the link.

Nevill also played another good game on the weekend with 17 points in a loss to San Diego state.

Ogilvy missed Vanderbilt's 10-point loss to Kentucky due to the "aggravation of a heel injury." Hope AJ is back sooner rather than later.

A Really Bad Bass Player

14-01-2009, 05:40 PM

can someone please tell me why there is always one guy on the bench holding his teammates back? Ben Dowdell was doing it in the Santa Clara - SMC game and I saw it again in the Tennesse - Kentucky game.

Clips

14-01-2009, 05:43 PM

they grab each other and say DAAAAAAAYUMMM!!

puzzle_12

15-01-2009, 10:44 AM

its so none of them jump onto the court. dowdell was pulling everyone back onto their seat

hendrix

16-01-2009, 07:06 AM

Anyone else fortunate enough to catch Kentucky's game and see Jodie Meeks score 54 points?
amazing shooting performance!
I'd never heard of him before is he on any draft radars at all?

SINE

16-01-2009, 07:26 AM

Aussie hoopster Ellis picks Billikens
by Tom Kensler on January 14, 2009

Colorado apparently has missed out on 6-foot-8 forward Cody Ellis of the Australian Institute of Sport.

Internet recruiting sites have reported that Ellis has given an oral commitment to Saint Louis University coach Rick Majerus.

The most famous Aussie basketball player, Andrew Bogut, was coached by Majerus at the University of Utah.

Ellis, a member of the Australian 19-under national team, visited Colorado, Saint Louis and Wake Forest with his family in December. His father, Mike Ellis, wrote in an email to The Denver Post last week that Cody was struggling with making a decision.

Ellis is expected to sign with the Billikens during the spring signing period in April. During the November signing period, Saint Louis signed another Australian, guard Christian Salecich. Colorado also signed an Aussie in November: 6-11 center Shane Harris-Tunks.

Came across this on the Denver Post , If true 2 Aussies at SLU.

djrod

16-01-2009, 07:40 AM

Anyone else fortunate enough to catch Kentucky's game and see Jodie Meeks score 54 points?
amazing shooting performance!
I'd never heard of him before is he on any draft radars at all?

he is now!!! awesome performance... I loved the look in his eyes during the game. He has the killer instinct.

fan since the old snakepit

16-01-2009, 07:42 AM

Might start to see a bit more of an Aussie connection at the Billikens. Former Illawarra junior, Augusta State and NBL'er with Hunter, Chris Harriman is an assisstant coach there and has been a regular visitor back to our shores to scout at junior nationals, so has a good handle on our young talent.

Durbansandshark

16-01-2009, 08:09 AM

I was informed by a few SLU players at my job that Salecich has already made his on-campus visit appearance late last year. I'm sure another is coming--forgot his name right now.

SINE

16-01-2009, 08:42 AM

I was informed by a few SLU players at my job that Salecich has already made his on-campus visit appearance late last year. I'm sure another is coming--forgot his name right now.

Young Ellis was at SLU over Xmas and a couple of other Colleges during his trip and as the article from The Denver has stated he has commited to SLU , 2 very good pickups by Harriman for SLU and Majerus.

Durbansandshark

30-01-2009, 06:10 AM

Got a lot of stuff coming up next week in the NCAA. Look for it!

RedbackVenom

30-01-2009, 01:35 PM

Big game for Patty Mills today. His Gael's take on the Zag's in arguably the biggest WCC match in a long long time.

The BA website has advertised a number of links to catch the game. Definitely worthwhile.

Hope Patty plays a blinder in front of a national TV audience and all those NBA scouts courtside today.

Luke Nevill played a blinder the other day, scoring a career-high 32 points on 10/12 shooting and 12/14 from the line. He also picked up 10 rebounds in a big overtime win over BYU. A very good game and win for UTah who also happen to boast a win over the Zag's tghis year. On RPI, Utah are inside the top 25 teams!

RedbackVenom

30-01-2009, 04:10 PM

Mills was awesome today, hitting 6/8 trey's in the first half before injuring what appeared to be his right hand/wrist just before half time. He did not return to the game and ended with a game high 18 points in a 5 point loss to the Zag's.

Mills would have caught the attention of the scouts on hand with his performance in the first half for sure and is sure to be a talking point over the next day or so, particulary with his injury.

CoachYT

31-01-2009, 05:45 PM

Mills injury confirmed as a broken hand, will be out for 4 weeks. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3872758

He needs to decide whether to undergo surgery or let it heal naturally. I always choose nature, but in the big business of college basketball that decision may be made for him.

Clips

31-01-2009, 10:59 PM

Not good at all. All the best to him. :(

RedbackVenom

03-02-2009, 07:48 AM

Gael's missing Mills badly, going down to lowly Portland without him. Hope he recovers soon and comes back just as good if not better.

Luke Nevill won his 4th player of the week award in the Mountain West Conference. He recorded a career-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds in an OT win against BYU - his 8th double-double of the season. He backed it up with 12 points, 4 blocks, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in a good win over New Mexico. His team now sits equal top of the MWC.

Durbansandshark

20-02-2009, 08:18 AM

The Great West Conference has a new member in New York Institute of Technology joining this year. But the NYIT Bears will not be a full-fledged member, only to appear in baseball (too bad). Maybe in a few years, say 2012, its basketball programs may join.

stellation

20-02-2009, 04:40 PM

Luke Nevill went into Utah's game against SDSU with 64 blocks for the season, 1 behind Andrew Bogut's single season Utes record of 65- he finished the game on... 71 blocks for the season :shock: He now is the all time leading shot blocker at Utah, his 7 in the game tied Utah's best ever single game performance and also obviously holds the single season shot blocking record.

He had a lazy 23 points, 14 boards and 7 blocks. Utes won and are still on top of the MWC table.

jingles

23-02-2009, 07:00 PM

And no NBA teams seem to have any interest in him.

Absolutely incredible.

Come home big fella, you would look awesome in red in your own country :)

stellation

24-02-2009, 05:56 AM

Nevill was named the MWC POTW for the 5th time. Wowzers he is having a good senior season.

There was an interesting article on draftexpress.com a little while ago that included a write up on Luke, in a nutshell it said that NBA teams aren't as hungry for him as his numbers would argue they should be because a lot of his points come from playing against much smaller players in the MWC (the same argument was made against Bogut, Luke has lined up against a few big boys this season and his play hasn't dropped at all) and it said his post moves were mechanical- however they did say they expect him to either go late or definitely at least get workout/summer league invites and may get on a roster from there. If Dan Gadzuric can play in the NBA (and somehow have picked up $6 million per for 6 years!) I don't particuarly see why Luke can't.

RedbackVenom

24-02-2009, 08:05 AM

Nevill is having an absolute blinder of a season and surely will get picked up as a 3rd big on an NBA roster??? Othjerwise Europe and the Euro may come calling. I honestly can't see him coming back to Australia to play just yet Jingles.

By the way, Nevill's Utah Utes are now on the verge of cracking the top 25 for the first time since the days of Bogut. they are ranked 26 in this week's updated AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. Saint Mary's continyue to figure as well, picking up votes in both polls and in 38th and 37th place respectively.

Utah have all but secured an NCAA tourney berth by sitting atop the MWC 2 games clear and with an outstanding RPI, whilst Saint Mary's will have to probably do well in the WCC Tourney (probably make the final if not win it to seal the deal) and/or prove that Mill's is fit to return in time for the NCAA Tourney to receive an at large berth.

Durbansandshark

26-02-2009, 08:24 AM

Pitt was number one in the country again for a few days...and the Panthers had to lose to Big East rival Providence last night on the Friars' Senior Night. It seems with North Carolina, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest all really don't want to be number 1 in the NCAAs. So you can see in the case of both the ACC and the Big East, when teams enter the Big Dance come March, you're going to battle-tested when things get challenging as you go along, ranked #1 or not. But the Big East has a tendency to eat its own because of how large and deep the conference is. Some mid-to-low ranked programs like DePaul, Rutgers, and South Florida, if they were elsewhere, would be atop their conferences or close to it. Georgetown disappoints. Notre Dame is fading fast. Syracuse can hang on if it could make a good run in New York--congrats to Jim Boeheim for earning his 31st 20+ win season with the Orange(men), a record. All of the latter three were ranked in the Top 10 at siome point this season but all lost a combined total of at least 19 games so far.

Don't look now but Memphis has quietly ascended in the Top Ten rankings.

We're coming into the homestretch with conference tournaments coming. So it will be a good time to catch up on the smaller conferences like the Missouri Valley (soon to have the conference tournament here in St. Louis), shall we? :) Creighton and Illinois St. look good. Northern Iowa Panthers faded for a while for contention but helped themselves for NCAA contention with a win at Illinois St. the other day.

The Mountain West could have more than two teams going in for March: BYU, Utah, New Mexico, and UNLV. San Diego St. would have a shot but things are sputtering for them lately.

As far as my region is concerned, #8 Mizzou is a lock for the NCAA. Good on them! :) Illinois has a shot. SLU has to win the Atlantic 10 tournament outright to get in. SEMO (Southeast Missouri St.) Redhawks are undergoing a 17-game losing streak. Neither will Southwest Missouri St. A more detailed aspect is coming soon.

Washington St. beats UCLA for the second ever in Los Angeles over the weekend...but still have 51 losses in LA against them.

Last year at this time Michigan Wolverines women's basketball coach Kevin Dorseth comically ranted after a loss to Wisconsin--what an entrance (click here to watch that again or see it in case you missed it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvo5XO1kH1c)). Now we got UCONN's Jim Calhoun in a postgame press conference going after an activist posing under the guise of a freelance reporter an important question. The activist was asking about how can Calhoun, as the richest state employee, be making at least $1.2 million (actually more) annually when the state of Connecticut is running a deficit, including the university. Calhoun's manner of handling this wasn't really right (I probrably would've done that too), but I understand his mounting frustrations with the activist, who was being disrespectful and rude to badger him. But I also understand the activist's position. I gotta say there is an additional $5.5 mil as part of incentives that can total upwards to $12 million (could be wrong about the stats); he makes numerous speaking engagements raking in money, booster bucks for taking the program to prominence and keeping the Huskies there, has his own weekly radio and TV shows, and endorsements like Nike, and the like. So much of that money is private. His team (and Geno Auriemma's #1 women's program for that matter) generates a lot of revenue for the university. UCONN is very lucky to have both programs doing very well over the years--not many basketball programs nationwide can say that; so many prospective recruits have so many options to attend and play school (as a reminder though, the program exists because the SCHOOL exists), and Calhoun is a proven college basketball head coach over the years winning titles jacking up his value, which in part justifies his salary. In a big state school in a major conference like that and like Ohio St. can do subsidizing that for other less revenue-generating sports like shooting and swimming. A smaller school would have serious issues like Southern Utah. The real questions the activist should've been asking is how in the hell the state government officials there would have their heads up their self-entitled asses paying Calhoun that much in the first place, and should he be allowed to keep it. All part of the realities of the realities of living in a free market society.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdz05ql-j_E

Keep an eye on Virginia Military Institute. I'll discuss them and more next week.

devils

27-02-2009, 10:10 AM

Although seeing little of him play, Neville's stats are very impressive, but seems to gain little interest from scouts.

He is hitting form at the right time though, if the utes make the NCAA tournament and he has a couple of big games he could beome hot property.

Any word on mills hand injury? it originally was classified as 4 weeks max, and its almost been 4 weeks now....I assume its taking longer, otherwise we would be hearing more about his return.

Wallitron

27-02-2009, 10:24 AM

Any word on mills hand injury? it originally was classified as 4 weeks max, and its almost been 4 weeks now....I assume its taking longer, otherwise we would be hearing more about his return.

When the Canberra-born point guard broke two bones in his right hand Jan. 29, the team earmarked the WCC tournament as a possible return date. Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett remains hopeful Mills will be back by the March 6 start, but he is realistic. There are no guarantees.

Mills went to the doctor on Monday and continues to see improvement in his right hand, which was surgically repaired Feb. 4. He has yet to start shooting, but his range of motion is noticeably better than it was last week. That said, Bennett is not rushing Mills and calls his presence on the floor at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas "a bonus."

"You won't know until that last week," he said. "If we're not sure it's ready, we won't do anything for the conference tournament. ... We have to approach it like, 'Hey, we don't have him.' We have to play in the conference tournament with or without him. That's the only way we can approach it."

Full Story
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_11788268

RedbackVenom

27-02-2009, 12:35 PM

I can also add that Mills had the stitches removed in his hand early last week and all things going well should return to on-court action at the WCC tourney. Saint Mary's play Pepperdine today and need to win to keep their name up in front of the NCAA tourney selection committee, a loss could well see them drop out of contention for a place at the NCAA Tourney.

As for Nevill and his Utah team, after their win against UNLV this week, ESPN have today reported that the Ute's now have a lock on a berth at the NCAA tourney and are no longer "on the bubble". Also look for them to be ranked in the top 25 if they win their game against BYU this Sunday.

patm

28-02-2009, 10:51 AM

It's interesting there seems to be no mention of franga chick Kelly Bowen, tearing things up as a freshman at division 1 west coast uni Gonzaga.
I having trouble finding what I want on the NCAA website - I think she is averaging 8.1 points per game and 5.1 rebounds - although that has jumped in the last few games since getting more court time after an injury to another key player.
Rather than try to rewrite what has already been written, here are some links to the best articles/discussions.
She was a member of what I believe to be the only ever franga VC champion team, U14 or U16?, under coach Dave Hankin.
I must say I'm a little disappointed there is no mention of where she actually started playing as that 6 year old - the mighty Langwarrin Park Lazers !!!

http://media.www.gonzagabulletin.com/media/storage/paper375/news/2009/02/13/Sports/Australian.Sensation.Freshman.Bowen.Flourishing-3629514.shtml
http://gozags.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/051608aab.html
http://www.guboards.spokesmanreview.com/showthread.php?t=12477&highlight=bowen

Durbansandshark

08-03-2009, 06:42 AM

#1 UCONN just fell to #3 Pittsburgh again at Pittsburgh's boisterous Petersen Events Center on Senior Day 70-60 this afternoon. So Connecticut will certainly lose their #1 ranking after this while Pitt hopes West Virginia smacks down Louisville later today to boost Pitt back to #1. If not Louisville will take that top spot.

We already have one team into NCAA Tournament, and that team comes from the Ivy League as the regular season champion, since that conference does not have a postseason tourney. For second consecutive season, the 20-9 Cornell Big Red men, under the leadership of star Ivy League MVP junior Ryan Wittman, demolished the Penn Quakers at home last night 83-58, again being the first team into the NCAAs . Wittman had 25 points. After going unbeaten last season in the Ivy League (13-0), Cornell appreciates this more after three loses this campaign. 64 more to go.

A greater detailed post is coming from me next week with (but not limited to) insights on the Missouri Valley and a few other conferences, Virginia Military Institute, and a look at the women's game.

Durbansandshark

10-03-2009, 05:29 AM

#14 Gonzaga, #1 tournament seed undefeated in conference play at 14-0, now is in their 12th consecutive West Coast Conference tournament final after beating Santa Clara in Las Vegas 94-58. And guess who's facing them tonight? Patty Mills and the #2 seed St. Mary's (CA) Gaels. Mills is just now back in its lineup after five weeks with that hand injury he suffered at Gonzaga's Kennel. Should be a goody. Gonzaga's in regardless, so St. Mary's needs this victory tonight bad.

Looks like the tournament lovers will miss last year's darling the Stephen Curry-led Davidson Wildcats after they lost in the Southern Conference tournament final to the Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs. It's tough for a mid-major like the Southern Conference to get multiple teams repped in the NCAAs--I'll discuss that next time. Regardless here, Davidson's bubble has been burst, unless the torunament selection committee really, really wants Stephen Curry back to display his talents again this year.

Michigan St. won the Big 10 regular season title this year. Utah and Luke Neville are now locks out of the Mountain West.

Four teams have punched their tickets into the NCAA tournament this year. I just mentioned Tennessee-Chattanooga. Now Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley), East Tennessee St. (Atlantic Sun), and Morehead St. (Ohio Valley) all are in. 60 more to go (not counting at-large locks)...

Wallitron

10-03-2009, 01:16 PM

stellation

10-03-2009, 02:31 PM

Nevill was named the MWC POTY and Defensive POTY, he's the first person to ever pick up both in the one season (no idea how long they've been doing the DPOTY for though). Utah took an equal share of the MWC regular season championship.

Durbansandshark

11-03-2009, 07:20 AM

See you in the NIT, St. Mary's. I'm thinking too it was a rush job on Mills' situation.

I forgot to add Radford (Big South, ranked #1 in the tournament) on my original list. Also winning their conference tourneys yesterday are Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial Athletic Association, a very good and underrated conference--remember VCU knocked off Duke in 2006, which made Poida happy), Siena (Metro Atlantic), and of course Gonzaga (West Coast). I lucked on Tennessee-Chattanooga. They actually won last night over College of Charleston in the final. Davidson lost to College of Charleston in the semis.

Today, conference winners will come out from the Summit League (#1 North Dakota St./#3 Oakland winner), Horizon League (#1 Butler/#3 Cleveland St. winner) and Sun Belt (#1 Western Kentucky/#6 South Alabama winner). Wednesday will see the winner of the Mount St. Mary's(#2)/Robert Morris(#1) winner repping the Northeast and another coming from the Big Sky.

Big East, Mid-American, MEAC, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big 10, Western Athletic, Mountain West, Big West, Southeastern, Conference USA, ACC, Southland, Pac-10, and the Southwestern Athletic all will their respective tournaments starting either now or in the next few days.

On the women's side, here's the roster of teams in the 2009 NCAA Women's tournament that have clinched the 31 automatic conference bids on the road to St. Louis so far:

UNC-Charlotte (Atlantic 10)
Maryland (ACC)
Austin Peay (Ohio Valley)
East Tennessee St. (Atlantic Sun)
Gonzaga (West Coast)
Marist (Metro Atlantic)
Central Florida (Conference USA)
Ohio St. (Big 10)
Western Carolina (Southern)
Vanderbilt (SEC)

UCONN looks to smite away the Louisville Cardinals in the Big East tournament final tonight in Hartford as they march towards another season of perfection and the annuals of great UCONN teams. Regardless, a #1 seed in the East region is locked up.

Division III NCAA basketball tournament is actually underway. DII's starts theirs later this weekend.

To be continued...

stellation

11-03-2009, 03:45 PM

AJ was named second team all-SEC, not bad considering he's struggled with injuries this year. Blurb below from the press release, of note is that he managed to drag his averages up to around that stellar freshman year. Well done to him!

NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy was named to the 2009 All-SEC Second Team and freshman Jeffery Taylor was selected to the All-Freshman team by the league's 12 coaches in an announcement made today by the SEC Office in Birmingham.

Ogilvy, who leads the Commodores with 15.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game this year, was named to the second team for the second time in his career. The 6'11 sophomore from Sydney, Australia, has been especially good as of late, tallying career highs in scoring in two out of his last three games. Included in that stretch was a 33-point, 10-rebound performance in a road win over 2009 SEC Regular Season Champions LSU. Ogilvy was joined on the second team by Alonzo Gee of Alabama, Michael Washington of Arkansas, Korvotney Barber of Auburn, Garrett Temple of LSU, David Huertas and Terrico White of Ole Miss, Dominque Archie and Zam Fredrick of South Carolina, and Wayne Chism of Tennessee.

Durbansandshark

12-03-2009, 05:49 AM

In their first-ever appearance in the Summit League postseason tournament being eligible for it following their transition from Division II to Division I, 26-6 North Dakota St. reached the, well, summit to go dancing in the NCAAs. The Bison won over the Oakland Grizzlies 66-64 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in a thrilling game. Senior Ben Woodside's 17-foot jumper at the top of the key with 3 seconds remaining sealed it for North Dakota St., capping an 18-4 run and coming from behind by 12 points under 10 minutes. Woodside, Summit League's Player of the Year, is among five seniors who redshirted as freshmen for NDSU, the regular season champs. We should've seen this coming when last season the Bison upset Wisconsin on the road at the Kohl Center. Last time a team made the NCAA tournament in their first year of eligibity? ESPN Radio reports Long Beach St. 49ERS coached by Jerry Tarkanian (when he had some hair!) in 1970. But ESPN's website says it's Southwest Louisiana (now Louisiana-Lafayette but I refuse to call it that) in 1972.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290692449

Back in 1986 when I was a little kid, Cleveland St. captured my fancy when they went up to the Sweet 16 East Regional in East Rutherford, New Jersey, when the Vikings, as a 14 seed, thankfully upset Bobby Knight's Indiana and St. Joesph's in Syracuse. Kevin Mackey was the coach (and he was thrilled when Cleveland St. knocked off Indiana afterwards) and had a player many Aussie pro basketball fans should know, Kenny "Mouse" McFadden. Their Cinderella dream crashed when they faced Navy, a team that of course featured a very bright future pro superstar named David Robinson, already a star on the team. Cleveland St.'s now back having won the Horizon League title after falling on some hard times that included an ill-fated and ill-advised Rollie Massimino coaching stint in the 90s. And they won it against Butler on that school's legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse last night. The Vikings became the first team in Horizon since Illinois-Chicago in 2002 to win it as third or lower seed. As for #17 Butler, they're expected to be in as an at-large bid, but this means someone's bubble has been burst from the NCAAs. Cedric Jackson scored a game-high 19 points and the Vikings nailed season high 10 3-pointers in their upset win.

Western Kentucky, another tournament darling from last season, is back by winning a record seventh Sun Belt conference tournament title last night over South Alabama 64-56. Western Kentucky finished six games ahead of the Jaguars and already sweep the regular season series against them. This is the Hilltoppers' 21st NCAA berth.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gamesId=290690098

There's UCONN and everybody else, it seems. #1 in the women's game, Connecticut, to no one's surprise, steamrolled their way through the Big East championship. Their 39-point route over #5 Louisville in the conference tournament title game, resulting in a 75-36 spanking, brings further evidence how damn good they are with their 15th Big East tournament title. Until she was pulled with eight minutes remaining in the second half, All-American and Big East Player of the Year Maya Moore single-handedly outscored the entire Louisville Cardinals team 28-27. They'll find some competition, even an 16-seeder willing to make history on, and gunning for, them, in the NCAA, because so far no team has ever come close to competing against the Huskies. And to think: how even scarier this team would be if Elena Delle Donne stayed way beyond a couple of days in Storrs, Connecticut for summer classes.

Speaking of her, one of final picks for a school, Middle Tennessee St. won the Sun Belt tournament (her older brother was a QB on the football team), their fifth in six years. Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and the nation's leading scorer Alysha Clark will take her high-scoring act to the NCAA tournament--and a few other sharp shooters with her too after she scored 17 points of her 23 points in the second half, and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders beat the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans, fresh from a double-overtime semifinal win over the Denver Pioneers, 74-54, earned their 12th NCAA tournament bid after being absent for a year. The Blue Raiders' other sharp shooters? How about Brandi Brown (25 points) and Chelsia Lymon (16 points, 6 assists, and 7 rebounds). They finished 50% from three-point land.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gamesId=290692393

Like in the men's game, women's Ivy League basketball has no postseason tourney. So the regular season champs get in--and Dartmouth wanted it all (and the automatic NCAA bid) to themselves. Last year, they had to play in a playoff with Harvard to get in, something the Dartmouth Big Green had to do a few other times since 2000. It would've happened again in the form of a one-game playoff had the Crimson won. Not exactly the most offensively potent team in the country, but Dartmouth won 15 of their last 16 games, including a 64-51 win here.

A Dakota state school wins the Summit League tournament in the women's game in its first season as a full-fledged Division I member and knocked off Oakland for it. But it is not North Dakota St. This is from south of that state's border. The South Dakota St. Jackrabbits, ranked #14 and 31-2, will make their NCAA debut themselves winning over the Grizzlies 79-69, capping off a 16-game winning streak as the top tournament seed and regular season champ. Already a 2003 DII national champ, the transition to DI status made them ineligible for postseason play in recent years. The Jackrabbits were cold to start the first half, trailing by 14 on the Oakland Grizzlies' home court. Jennifer Warkentheim produced 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Jackrabbits. Jill Young gave them the lead in the second half with a 3-pointer and Warkentheim started a run of 11 consecutive points to put the Jackrabbits up 71-58 with 3:30 left to play. Teammate Kristen Rotert scored 15 points--12 from the second half. SDSU becomes the first team in the Summit League in a decade to win the tournament as a number one seed. Oakland and Maryland were the only teams to win over them this season...and the Grizzlies enjoyed a 10-game winning streak before this. Its coach Beckie Francis said afterward, having "saw it in their eyes", that her team should not have let up on a team with South Dakota St.'s qualities and "weren't ready for the punch and got punched right there in the second half".

Durbansandshark

13-03-2009, 09:17 AM

Robert Morris Colonials returns to the NCAAs in 17 years in a captivating NEC tournament championship game against defending champs Mount St. Mary's 46-48 with a last-second jumper from Dallas Green in his only field goal in the game, thus denying Milan Brown and his Mountaineers crew a return trip to the NCAAs.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gamedId=290702523

But a postseason conference champ from last year certainly earned a return invite to the NCAA. Portland St. stopped the Montana St. Bobcats with a broken free jam from Julius Thomas to win 79-77 to win the Big Sky in Ogden, Utah (home of Weber St.). The Portland St. Vikings, the first repeat Big Sky champs since Montana 2005-06, will make their second straight NCAA tournament appearance and its second ever all time.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290702502

Lehigh Mountain Hawks won the Patriot League women's tournament title last night before a raucous crowd of 2339 at the Stabler Arena over the Lafayette Leopards. Alex Ross nailed six threes in the game.
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gameId=290702329

Durbansandshark

14-03-2009, 01:32 AM

Whoa...6 OVERTIMES at the final Big East quarterfinal on Thursday between Syracuse and Connecticut at New York's Madison Square Garden that Syracuse won 127-117 last night! Instant classic! A show for the ages! Chances are you would have to be truly devoted to sit through thid one! Unbelieveable! :shock: People are going to be talking about this one today, tomorrow, and waaaaaaaay beyond. I don't blame the exhausted players and coaches or the bleary-eyed spectators for not celebrating afterwards. There's going to be a book about this in the years ahead no doubt. People surely don't call it March Madness for nothing.

It indeed was mad yesterday all over the US college basketball tournament scene. Defending champs Kansas stunningly gets bounced out of the Big 12 tournament by Baylor in Oklahoma City--no team has ever successfully defended the NCAA title after getting eliminated in the early round of a conference tournament. Pittsburgh is gone from the Big East, but they could still obtain a #1 regional seed. Villanova (or simply 'Nova) won in a buzzer beater over Marquette. Last place in the ACC Georgia Tech conquers Clemson in Atlanta, home of Georgia Tech. Arizona's longest active consecutive streak of NCAA tournament appearances at 24 lays in jeopardy after losing to state rival Arizona State in the Pac-10 tournament. And the Oklahoma Sooners lost to the Oklahoma St. Cowboys.

Durbansandshark

15-03-2009, 04:16 AM

Memphis just won their fourth consecutive Conference USA tournment title over Tulsa, that extends their Conference USA winning streak to 61, and their 135th win over a five year span. This was no contest at the FedEx Forum: 64-39 Should they a No. 1 seed/ I'd like to see that for them, but the selection committee may presume the Conference USA talent level overall isn't as strong as the Big East or the ACC. Not really Memphis' fault.

Binghamton Bearcats will go dancing for the first ever as the American East champs at home in a 10-point margin over defending champs Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers (15-17) 61-51.

Illinois St. and Arizona St. both stumbled respective women's conference tournaments last night. San Diego St. beat Texas Christian in women's Mountain Valley Conference tournament, but the Horned Frogs should be in the NCAAs regardless. The Aztecs' male counterparts may not be so lucky.

stellation

15-03-2009, 12:39 PM

Utah wins the MWC tourney, Nevill named to the all-touney team and tournament MVP. He put up 18/15 in the championship game.

So he's a 23 yo 5 year player (red shirted his first season as he was going to get zero court time behind Bogut and a returning senior) 7'2" guy who can run the floor, admittedly has limited post moves and not a great leaper (but still solid enough) wins the POTY, DPOTY and tournament MVP for his conference whilst he leads his team to a share of the regular season championship, then the tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament... but zero love from any mock drafts, dx and nbadraft.net both have him going undrafted.

jingles

15-03-2009, 06:01 PM

I couldn't agree more.

Unbelievable.

Wallitron

15-03-2009, 10:12 PM

Dick Vitale threw his weight behind Saint Mary's with customary enthusiasm. "They're in the tournament. Those kids belong there, they will be there," Vitale said. "Tell Randy to relax."

Cram

16-03-2009, 10:48 AM

They didnt make it.

The only active aussie we have (as far as I can tell) is Luke Nevill, who've got themselves a #5 seed, and the #12 Arizona is first up.

Go Utah!

stellation

16-03-2009, 11:42 AM

A fair bit of talk from what I can gather now about St Mary's not getting in.

Cram

16-03-2009, 11:47 AM

Yep, them and Davidson seem to be the ones most unlucky.

stellation

16-03-2009, 12:13 PM

Yep, much talk about Arizona getting in too.

With St Mary's the committee was apparently supposed to take Mills' absence into account, he missed 9 games and St Mary's only lost 2 all season when he was played the whole game.... they even scheduled an extra game purely to prove that he was back and in the swing of things... which he duly put up 19 points in and the Gaels won.

Dunkin' Dan

16-03-2009, 01:20 PM

:argh:

Rank 'Em: Teams Left Out

Team: #1 Votes: Points:
----------------------------------
1 St. Mary's (10,995) 772,776
2 Penn State (9,621) 748,003
3 Creighton (4,930) 724,815
4 San Diego State (5,513) 698,825
5 Davidson (3,832) 682,731
6 Virginia Tech (4,105) 681,051
7 Auburn (3,302) 677,535
8 Florida (2,946) 669,722
9 New Mexico (720) 599,831
10 UNLV (452) 585,675
Total SportsNation Votes: 46,890

djrod

16-03-2009, 03:00 PM

strength of schedule appears to have got them...

plus the WCC was a bit weak this year

Mills to stay in for another year which also might mean Jorden Page may red shirt

Wallitron

16-03-2009, 03:47 PM

Mills to stay in for another year which also might mean Jorden Page may red shirt

Mills staying? Is this opinion or has there been news on this posted?

Durbansandshark

17-03-2009, 05:20 AM

2009 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT (DIVISION I) (all games in NCAA on CBS unless otherwise indicated):

PLAY-IN GAME:
Tuesday, March 17 (Dayton, Ohio)
#16a Alabama St. Hornets (22-9) vs. #16b Morehead St. Eagles (19-15) ESPN

WEST REGIONAL
#1 Connecticut Huskies (27-4) vs. #16 Tennessee-Chattanooga Moccasins (18-16)
#8 Bringham Young Cougars (25-7) vs. #9 Texas A&M Aggies (23-9)--both games at Philadelphia
#5 Purdue Boliermakers (25-7) vs. #12 Northern Iowa Panthers (20-13)
#4 Washington Huskies (25-8) vs. #13 Mississippi St. Bulldogs (23-12)--both games in Portland
#6 Marquette Golden Eagles (24-9) vs. #14 Utah St. Aggies (30-4)
#3 Missouri Tigers (28-6) vs. #13 Cornell Big Red (21-9)--both games in Boise
#7 California Golden Bears (22-10) vs. #10 Maryland Terrapins (20-13)
#2 Memphis Tigers (31-3) vs. #15 Cal St. Northridge Matadors (17-13)--both games in Kansas City

MIDWEST REGIONAL
#1 Louisville Cardinals (28-5) vs. #16 Alabama St./Morehead St. winner (Good. Luck. To. Either. One. Of. You! :wink: )
#8 Ohio St. Buckeyes (22-8) vs. #9 Siena Saints (26-7)--games in Dayton
#5 Utah Utes (24-9) vs. #12 Arizona Wildcats (19-13)
#4 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (24-6) vs. #13 Cleveland St. Vikings (25-10)--both games in Miami
#6 West Virginia Mountaineers (23-11) vs. #11 Dayton Flyers (26-7)
#3 Kansas Jayhawks (25-7) vs. #14 North Dakota St. Bison (26-6)
#7 Boston College Golden Eagles (22-11) vs. #10 Southern California (USC) Trojans (21-12)
#2 Michigan St. Spartans (26-6) vs. #15 Robert Morris Colonials (24-10)--all four games in Minneapolis

SOUTH REGIONAL
#1 North Carolina Tar Heels (28-4) vs. #16 Radford Highlanders (21-11)
#8 LSU (Louisiana St.) Tigers (26-7) vs. #9 Butler Bulldogs (26-5)--both games in Greensboro
#5 Illinois Fighting Illini (24-9) vs. #12 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (24-8)
#4 Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-5) vs. #13 Akron Zips (23-12)--both games in Portland
#6 Arizona St. Sun Devils (24-11) vs. #11 Temple Owls (22-11)
#3 Syracuse Orangemen (26-9) vs. #14 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (24-7)--both games in Miami
#7 Clemson Tigers (23-8) vs. #10 Michigan Wolverines (20-13)
#2 Oklahoma Sooners (27-3) vs #15 Morgan St. Bears (23-11)--both games in Kansas City

EAST REGIONAL
#1 Pittsburgh Panthers (28-4) vs. #16 East Tennessee St. Buccaneers (23-10)
#8 Oklahoma St. Cowboys (22-11) vs. #9 Tennessee Volunteers (21-12)--both games in Dayton
#5 Florida St. Seminoles (25-9) vs. #12 Wisconsin Badgers (19-12)
#4 Xavier (OH) Muskateers (25-7) vs. #13 Portland St. Vikings (23-9)--both games in Portland
#6 UCLA Bruins (25-8) vs. #11 Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) Rams (24-9)
#3 Villanova Wildcats (26-7) vs. #14 American Eagles (24-7)--both games in Philadelphia
#7 Texas Longhorns (22-10) vs. #10 Minnesota Golden Gophers (22-11)
#2 Duke Blue Devils (28-6) vs. #15 Binghamton Bearcats (23-8)--both games in Greensboro

2009 NIT

FIRST ROUND--Tuesday, March 17
#8 Weber St. Wildcats (21-9) @ #1 San Diego St. Aztecs (23-9)
#6 Davidson Wildcats (26-7) @ #3 South Carolina Gamecocks (21-9)
#7 Washington St. Cougars (17-15) @ #2 St. Mary's Gaels (26-6)
#5 UNLV (Nevada-Las Vegas) Runnin' Rebels (21-10) @ # 4 Kentucky Wildcats (20-13)
#6 Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-12) @ #3 New Mexico Lobos (21-11)
#7 UAB (Alabama-Birmingham) Blazers (22-11) @ #2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-14)
#6 Rhode Island Rams (22-10) @ #3 Niagara Purple Eagles (26-8)
#7 George Mason Patriots (22-10) @ #2 Penn St. Nittany Lions (22-11)

FIRST ROUND--Wednesday, March 18
#5 Illinois St. Redbirds (24-8) @ #4 Kansas St. Wildcats (21-11)
#8 Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks (22-9) @ #1 Auburn Tigers (22-11)
#5 Northwestern Wildcats (17-15) @ #4 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (24-10)
#6 Georgetown Hoyas (16-14) @ #3 Baylor Bears (20-14)
#7 Duquense Dukes (21-12) @ #2 Virginia Tech Hokies (or Gobblers) (18-14)
#8 Bowling Green Falcons (19-13) @ #1 Creighton Bluejays (26-7)
#8 Jacksonville Dolphins (18-13) @ #1 Florida Gators (23-10)
#4 Miami (FL) Hurricanes (18-14) @ #5 Providence Friars (19-13)

2009 COLLEGE BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL

Tuesday, March 17
SOUTH REGIONAL
Northeastern Huskies (18-12) @ Wyoming Cowboys (19-13)
UTEP (Texas El Paso) Miners (19-12) @ Nevada-Reno Wolfpack (21-12)

Wednesday, March 18
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Buffalo Bulls (21-12) @ Wichita St. Shockers (16-16)
Boise St. Broncos (19-12) @ Stanford Cardinal (18-13)

WEST REGIONAL
Vermont Catamounts (23-8) @ Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (22-10)
Houston Cougars (21-11) @ Oregon St. Beavers (13-17)

EAST REGIONAL
St. John's Red Storm (16-17) @ Richmond Spiders (18-15)
College of Charleston Cougars (26-8) @ Troy St. Trojans (19-12)

Women's brackets are coming tomorrow. St. Mary's didn't even earn a #1 seed inthe NIT.

Durbansandshark

17-03-2009, 10:32 AM

Would you believe it? There's actually another and new college basketball tournament ready to play tomorrow after the NCAA, NIT, and CBI! :shock: This one's called the Collegeinsider.com postseason tournament. I'll bring you that tomorrow to post, along with the women's info and DII/DIII.

djrod

17-03-2009, 11:58 AM

Mills to stay in for another year which also might mean Jorden Page may red shirt

Mills staying? Is this opinion or has there been news on this posted?

opinion... apologies :oops:

sydneyhooper

18-03-2009, 10:04 AM

lets go tar heels

Durbansandshark

18-03-2009, 10:04 AM

Due to time constraints and because of the fact I'm on Spring Break right now, I will only do the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament's schedule, the new one that starts tonight in fact. Today's games started right now as I write this. The NCAA women, WNIT, DII, and DIII all will come later, Thursday at the earliest, with more details along with that in the coming days. Isn't it something that the national postseason starts this year on St. Patrick's Day.

Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament

Tuesday, March 17

Kent St. Golden Flashes (19-14) @ Oakland Grizzlies (22-10)
Rider Broncs (19-12) @ Liberty Flames (22-11)

Wednesday, March 18

Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (19-13) @ James Madison Dukes (19-14)
Austin Peay Governors (19-13) @ Bradley Braves (18-14)
Belmont Bears (19-12) @ Evansville Purple Aces (17-13)
Portland Pilots (19-12) @ Pacific Tigers (19-12)
Drake Bulldogs (19-17) @ Idaho Vandals (16-15)

Thursday, March 19

The Citadel Bulldogs (20-12) @ Old Dominion Monarchs (21-10)

Durbansandshark

18-03-2009, 10:11 AM

lets go tar heels

I'm with you there on UNC. But with the way things have been this season, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't win it all.

Durbansandshark

14-04-2009, 07:15 AM

This year's NCAA men's D1 tournament wasn't entirely exciting to me except in a few cases with no breakout, out-of-nowhere teams that went deep and capture the national attention like George Mason and Davidson did recently to talk about. Almost everything followed to form, it seems. Cleveland St. and Siena both came and went after winning in the first round. Mizzou did go into the Elite Eight, which I'm definitely glad about. I'm glad I picked the Tar Heels to win it all like I knew they would and sent Psycho T out a winner following a heavily decorated college career. More of my thoughts NEXT week with all of the trimmings from all of the postseason tourneys from the NCAA to the College Insider.com, D1 to D3, men and women. The NAIA might make an appearance, emphasis on might.

Durbansandshark

16-04-2009, 10:24 AM

Isiah Thomas, by now becoming even more damaged goods in the NBA as an executive and coach (and bringing down the CBA), is now going to take his act to the Florida International University Golden Panthers, a Miami school that has been seen nationally nothing other than as a buried afterthought, Carlos Arroyo notwithstanding. FIU could use all the pub it can get, and it certainly made a splash with this one.

the voice #31

23-04-2009, 02:15 AM

How about a bit of banter on our guys who've signed on in the College system, just read that Brock Motum has signed for Washington State and Angus Brandt has signed a NLI to Oregon State. Anyone know of any others?

Durbansandshark

28-04-2009, 10:27 AM

If GM's restructuring goes forward amid ongoing financial difficulties, we will likely witness the end of the Pontiac brand, especially as a NCAA corporate sponsor for its mainstream athletic performance vehicles. Pontiac is slated for a phase out by the end of 2010 following a personal decision by GM's heads. Should GM wants to retain its place as NCAA sponsor, it will have to be another brand (maybe Buick or Chevrolet) or as just GM. So we can kiss those Pontiac Game Changers of the Day whenever we watch US collegigate sports on TV good bye soon.

Durbansandshark

12-05-2009, 10:03 AM

2009 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

Tuesday, March 17
Oakland 80 Kent St. 74
Liberty 79 Rider 69

Wednesday, March 18
Belmont 92 Evansville 76
James Madison 69 Mount St. Mary's 58
Idaho 69 Drake 67
Bradley 81 Austin Peay 74
Pacific 82 Portland 76

Thursday, March 18
Old Dominion 67 The Citadel 59

Quarterfinals--March 23
James Madison 88 Liberty 65
Old Dominion 70 Belmont 62
Pacific 69 Idaho 59
Bradley 76 Oakland 75

Semifinals--March 25-26
Old Dominion 81 James Madison 43
Bradley 59 Pacific 49

CollegeInsider.com Final--March 31
Old Dominion 66 Bradley 62

Durbansandshark

28-05-2009, 08:19 AM

Just to pass the time away before I get a chance to get back to this hopefully tomorrow with the postseason tournaments, coming in increments, I would like to make a list of schools whose basketball programs that I know of in D1 NCAA are signed to Nike, Adidas, Russell Athletic, and most recently, Under Armour. Starting off with Adidas.

ADIDAS

Indiana
Michigan
Wisconsin
Notre Dame
UCLA
Tennessee
Louisville
Cincinnati
Akron
Nebraska
Kansas
Ohio
UTEP
Arkansas
Texas A&M
Central Florida
North Carolina St.
DePaul
Northwestern
Troy St.
Arkansas St.
Eastern Michigan
SMU

Durbansandshark

14-06-2009, 04:42 AM

NIKE (Part 1):

North Carolina (under the Brand Jordan label, naturally)
Purdue
Minnesota
Michigan St.
Southern California
Florida
Villanova
Texas
Missouri
Southern Illinois-Carbondale
Cornell
Kansas St.
LSU
Georgia
San Diego
Washington
Illinois
Ohio St.
Marquette (under the Converse banner)
Kentucky
Davidson
West Virginia
Clemson
Connecticut
Penn St.
St. Louis
Cleveland St.
Iowa
Nevada
UNLV
Colorado
New Mexico
Georgetown (under the Brand Jordan label)
Virginia
St. John's
Iowa St.
North Dakota St.
Oklahoma
Alabama
Florida St.
Arizona
California
Stanford
Hawaii
Boise St.
Oregon
Oregon St.
Mississippi
Xavier
Providence
Richmond
George Mason
Virginia Tech
Southwest Missouri St.
Utah St.
Baylor
Fresno St.
Penn
Duke
Wake Forest
Vermont
Gonzaga
San Francisco
Old Dominion
Marshall
Memphis

USC Trojans and Memphis both are in hot water for some recruiting violations. The former prompted coach Tim Floyd to resign as coach following an investigation centering on O.J. Mayo. Details next week.

Durbansandshark

24-06-2009, 07:25 AM

The Daily Oklahoman reports this morning that former Oklahoma Sooner All-American and very-soon-to-be-LA Clipper Blake Griffin will adorn the cover for the upcoming NCAA Basketball 2010 video game by EA Sports. I'm not surprised by his selection at all for he is the top college player with the biggest demand in the eyes of NBA teams, though I expected Poplar Bluff, Missouri's Tyler Hansbrough to nab the cover having accomplished everything at Chapel Hill and winning every award out there--Wooden, Naismith, etc. Curry could be the other top college name, but he may not be a first rounder in the NBA Draft judging by the projections. But something tells me Griffin could signal a more defensive direction for EA Sports in its next installment. In any case, as the only college basketball on the market now, I hope the D1 independents get included and/or a Create-A-School feature added similar to its NCAA football cousin game will have, if not (highly unlikely) add the D2 and D3 squads.
http://newsok.com/blake-griffin-to-adorn-cover-of-ea-basketball-game/article/3379839?custom_click=lead_story_title

Durbansandshark

11-07-2009, 06:57 AM

Jeffrey Jordan, son of you-know-who, decided to end his college career at Illinois despite earning an athletic scholarship at Illinois only averaging barely above a point a game this past season to focus on his degree in psychology. His younger brother Marcus, said to be more talented, will be a freshman at Central Florida in the fall.

Durbansandshark

21-08-2009, 10:43 AM

Memphis' games from 2007-08 season are now vacated because Derrick Rose was declared ineligible by the NCAA.

MAIN_MAN

21-08-2009, 12:41 PM

Memphis' games from 2007-08 season are now vacated because Derrick Rose was declared ineligible by the NCAA.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-memphis-vacatedwins&prov=ap&type=lgns

RedbackVenom

28-08-2009, 11:09 AM

AJ Ogilvy is again on the 50 player shortlist for the 2009/10 Wooden Award. He was on this list last season as well.

Durbansandshark

11-09-2009, 11:31 AM

Look for a EA Sports' NCAA Basketball 2010, the one with former Sooner Blake Griffin as the cover boy, release just in time for a November release here in the US and Canada. Not many details has yet to emerge about the game, though I would very much like to see a Create-A-School feature like there is for the latest NCAA Football game, also by EA Sports. Perhaps have the CBI and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament too, let alone the CIS, NCAA D2 and D3 schools.

Durbansandshark

25-09-2009, 07:51 AM

347 Division I schools will play in the upcoming 2009-10 season. Well, actually 349, if you count the two provisional Independents Bryant Bulldogs and New Haven Chargers when you go by Athlon's just-released college basketball preview mentions (more on that in a minute). 32 conferences are set to play including the new (in basketball) Great West Conference, which will not get an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament for several years. I'll talk more about this newbie later.

On Monday, the NCAA announced the sites for the Final Four and the other arenas and domed stadiums for 2011 and 2012:

2011
Final Four--Reliant Stadium (Houston, co-hosted by University of Houston and Rice University)
Play-In Game--University of Dayton Arena (Dayton)

First and Second Rounds
BOK Center--Tulsa (University of Tulsa)
McKale Center--Tuscon (University of Arizona)
Pepsi Center--Denver (Mountain West Conference)
Quicken Loans Arena--Cleveland (Cleveland State University)
St. Pete Times Forum--Tampa (University of South Florida)
Time Warner Cable Arena--Charlotte (University of North Carolina-Charlotte)
Chicago United Center--Chicago (Big Ten Conference)
Verizon Wireless Center--Washington, DC (Georgetown University)

Regionals
Alamodome--San Antonio (Texas-San Antonio)
Honda Center--Anahiem (Big West Conference)
Louisiana Superdome--New Orleans (Tulane University)
Prudential Center--Newark (Seton Hall University)

2012
Final Four--Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, hosted by Tulane)
Play-In Game--University of Dayton Arena (Dayton)

First and Second Rounds
Console Energy Center--Pittsburgh (Duquense University)
Sommet Center--Nashville (Ohio Valley Conference)
University Arena The Pit--Albuquerque (University of New Mexico)
Louisville Arena--Louisville (University of Louisville)
Greensboro Coliseum--Greensboro (Atlantic Coast Conference)
Qwest Arena--Omaha (Creighton University)
Rose Garden--Portland (University of Oregon)
Nationwide Arena--Columbus (Ohio St.)

Regionals
Edward Jones Dome--St. Louis (St. Louis University)
TD Banknorth Garden--Boston (Boston College)
Georgia Dome--Atlanta (Georgia Tech)
US Airways Arena--Phoenix (Arizona State)

The NCAA has also chosen most of the facilities for the earlier rounds and regionals for 2013: Dayton (play-in), Auburn Hills (Palace of Auburn Hills), Lexington (Rupp Arena), Salt Lake City (Energy Console Arena), San Jose (HP Pavillion), Austin (Frank Erwin Center), Kansas City (Sprint Center), and Philadelphia (Wachovia Center). Regionals are to be in the New $1.3 billion Jerryworld Cowboys Stadium (Dallas-Arlington), Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium), and Los Angeles (Staples Center) with the East regional site yet to be named. Atlanta's Georgia Dome is the home of the 2013 Final Four, the NCAA's 75th.

Durbansandshark

01-10-2009, 06:21 AM

Been checking out the array of just-released college basketball previews that hit the newsstands (newsagents) in the past couple of weeks here in the United States from Athlon Sports, Lindy's Sports, and (more recently) Yahoo Sports.com (formerly CBS Sportsline and back after an apparent year's absence). One of the first things I do when I spot them is check out how these publications treat the Division I Independents. Athlon and Yahoo both gave them a page with each school granted a blurb summing their prospects and a review of last season. Lindy's was the worst offender: like last season all it gave was one column featuring an All-Independent Team, its projection standings, Independent Player of the Year (with photo), and its best players (in skills) and coach of the Independents. Apparently, didn't Athlon and Yahoo get the memo that the Great West Conference makes its debut in Division I basketball this season? They still think NJIT, Chicago St., Utah Valley, North Dakota, South Dakota, Houston Baptist, and Texas-Pan American are still indies, which isn't true. Lindy's acknowledges this, but, not surprisingly, it treats the new conference the same way next to the Independents. On the other hand, being on the low end of the conference pecking order, it's not going to get an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament for some years. Kinda makes sense there. Lindy's is good if you want to see the team's rosters and general records. Maybe they want to save paper. I tried checking out online to see if there's better coverage. Nope. Sporting News' college basketball preview has yet to hit until October, so I'll check that one out, which I usually believe it's better because it's more all around and deals with a preseason and postseason conference tournament schedule, D2 and D3 previews and stats. I only hope Sporting News gives better love to the Great West than offered so far.

Women's college game is largely reduced to a two-page preview of the Top 25 teams on those publications.

Lindy's has a little story on the growing number of young Australian basketball players coming to play in the NCAA and even NAIA. This is similiar in many ways to the SI story back in 2007 about their cultural outlook and how they fit in like recruiting.

Nice segue. I recently talked to SLU's women's coach Shimmy Grey at my Champs Sports job one night as I was selling some shoes to her that she bought. We happen to have three women's basketball players from UMSL on our work roster, who are now back in school as I am and aren't working with us much if at all during the season due to NCAA restrictions. One of the questions I asked her was has she been actively pursuing Australian talents to SLU like Rick Majerus has in the form of Christian Salecich. She responded she tried but attempts have been unsuccessful so far. I think she'll get one. Maybe Grey should hire an Aussie as an assistant to establish a pipeline her way. How about a Kiwi too for her roster? Australians, unlike our high school talent here statesside, don't care about the television exposure, the chance to win it all in the Final Four, or the status of the school in question.

Speaking of Salecich, I have yet to see him in person, but I met a couple of teammates of his on Saturday who is a good friend of his, all decked out in his Nike St. Louis University Bllikens basketball practice gear. So you know it's college basketball time right around the corner! :)

Over a year ago, Game Informer magazine unearthed revelations regarding why 2KSports decided to can College Hoops 2K9. If I can recall correctly, rumour had it that 2K Sports walked away from negotiations with the Collegiate Licensing Company, the company that handles much of the licensing and marketing for all NCAA teams save for Notre Dame, which has its own, when 2K Sports felt the latter was dragging its feet in the process as the terms were expiring with that and EA's March Madness (now NCAA Basketball). Apparently, 2K was getting outbid in money by EA Sports, which was, though never confirmed, aimed for exclusivity. So 2K as a bargaining chip offered the CLC in exchange for 2K9 and afterwards plans for to make games for lacrosse, college baseball, college ice hockey, and, interestingly, rugby. I'd be up for a college lacrosse game even if there's the pro ones added like the NLL and MLL and for NCAA ice hockey and a domestically-made rugby game. Ultimately, CLC went to EA and apparently secured an exclusivity deal for college basketball like college football with the same kind of deal for the iconic Madden NFL series. 2K Sports and its parent company, Take Two, deny EA had something to do with the negotiations breaking down...and EA tried to take over Take Two The consumers suffer in the end. And that's how the 2K Sports stopped being a EA Sports rival in college basketball.

Durbansandshark

06-10-2009, 08:40 AM

Following up on the just-released college basketball previews, I actually saw the Sporting News one this past weekend. And it's pretty much what I expected: the Great West Conference, labeled as a low-major, gets a full page preview in alphabetical order with the other non-major conferences. The independents get a full page too after the West Coast Conference. Sporting News and Lindy's pick South Dakota and Utah Valley to finish one-two in the conference.

TSN also just focuses on the Top 25 in the women's NCAA basketball scene.

The Great West will host its inaugural conference postseason tournament in Orem, Utah, the home of Utah Valley. But as a reminder, with the status as a new low major conference, the NCAA tournament decision makers shouldn't fret, most of the Great West members are ineligible for the big dance until 2020, when all of the member schools have underwent their provisionary requirements. As of now, only Chicago St., Texas-Pan American, and Utah Valley are eligible for the NCAA tournament. NJIT is awaiting news on its report submitted to the NCAA. But it hasn't stopped the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Invitational Tournament, going into its second year of existence, from offering a spot for the Great West champs, regardless of the status among the schools.

The nine-team Western Athletic Conference (WAC) decided to do away with the play-in tournament game and just allow the top eight teams in the tournament. Also instead of just the championship game being in the higher-seeded's home court, Las Vegas' Orleans Arena will host the tournament starting this year.

Staring this 2009-10 upcoming season, the WNIT will expand to the NCAA-like 64-team women's field--the NCAA women's tournament doesn't have a play-in game as of yet--up from 48 teams. 31 spots will still be reserved to the established conferences but it's the at-large field that gets the expansion to 33. The women's game isn't exactly ready to have the three postseason tournaments like in the men. I can't see the CBI getting into the women field yet until they officially say so. But the expansion can help. Hopefully, the Great West will get a spot, even if it's unofficial.

2009 WNIT
OPENING ROUND

March 18
Canisius Golden Griffins (24-8) 65 Syracuse Orange(women) (16-14) 90
Southern (LA) Jaguars (16-13) 44 New Mexico Lobos (22-10) 72

March 19
Tennessee-Chattanooga Moccasins (22-6) 76 Kentucky Wildcats (15-15) 81 OT
Portland Pilots (17-3) 51 Portland St. Vikings (22-9) 57
Butler Bulldogs (19-11) 59 Duquense Dukes (20-11) 58
SMU Mustangs (20-11) 54 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (20-12) 77
Dayton Flyers (20-13) 70 Oakland Grizzlies 55 (26-6)
Central Connecticut St. Blue Devils (18-13) 60 Boston Terriers (24-7) 79
Coppin St. Golden Eagles (14-14) 40 West Virginia Mountaineers (17-14) 70
George Washington Colonials (17-13) 94 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (25-4) 97 2OT

Friday, March 20
Harvard Crimson (19-9) 60 St. John's Red Storm (17-14) 83
Winthrop Eagles (16-15) 45 Georgetown Hoyas (17-13) 73
American Eagles (19-11) 59 James Madison Dukes (23-9) 61
Murray St. Racers (22-8) 67 Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (26-6) 65

Saturday, March 21
Texas-Arlington Mavericks (22-10) 71 Oklahoma St. Cowgirls (16-15) 82
UC Riverside Highlanders (19-11) 51 Creighton Bluejays (21-11) 64

SECOND ROUND

Saturday, March 21
West Virginia 63 St. Bonaventure Bonnies (21-10) 67
Florida Gulf Coast 81 South Florida Bulls (22-10) 88 OT
Portland St. 47 Oregon St. Beavers (19-11) 59

Sunday, March 22
Dayton 57 Indiana Hoosiers (19-10) 59
Kentucky 45 Wisconsin Badgers (18-13) 49
St. John's 70 Hartford Hawks (20-11) 59
James Madison 57 Richmond Spiders (23-9) 59
Georgetown 72 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (19-11) 61
Murray St. 49 Mississippi Rebels (17-14) 87

Monday, March 23
Boston 53 Boston College (20-11) 63
Oklahoma St. 60 Arkansas Razorbacks (17-13) 61 OT
Butler 49 Marquette Golden Eagles (16-15) 58
Creighton 64 Kansas Jayhawks (18-13) 78

Tuesday, March 24
New Mexico 54 Nebraska Cornhuskers (15-15) 43
Louisiana Tech 59 Illinois St. Redbirds (24-7) 73
Syracuse 69 Bowling Green Falcons (28-4) 72

ROUND THREE

Thursday, March 26
Indiana 75 Bowling Green 67
Boston College 68 St. John's 64
South Florida 74 Mississippi 57
Georgetown 65 Richmond 49
St. Bonaventure 56 Wisconsin 51
Kansas 75 Arkansas 59
Illinois St. 51 Marquette 50

Friday, March 27
Oregon St. 56 New Mexico 61

QUARTERFINALS
Sunday, March 28
Georgetown 56 Boston College 65
Kansas 78 Oregon St. 69
South Florida 80 St. Bonaventure 66
Indiana 55 Illinois St. 66

WNIT SEMIFINALS

Wednesday, April 1
South Florida 82 Boston College 65
Kansas 75 Illinois St. 72

WNIT CHAMPIONSHIP
Saturday, April 4
South Florida 75 Kansas 71

South Florida Bulls--2009 WNIT CHAMPS

If there's anybody that can sell the sport of college basketball on TV as an announcer outside of Dickie V, I can think no better person these days than the ever excitable Gus Johnson on CBS, who also covers Knicks games on MSG. His voice is ALL OVER this first in-game look of EA Sports' NCAA Basketball 2010 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlBc-ZWNP1A). It's very likely he'll be the play-by-play announcer for this installment. There's plenty for EA Sports to reveal in the coming months about this game. I know Gus has his detractors, and there are many. But his passion, delivery, and excitability definitely make games riveting to the end. My, look how good Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of the 2010 Final Four, at the beginning as a next-gen domed stadium for basketball! "Rise and fire!" indeed.