UGA MBB
New PWO Markel Jennings Athens Academy 6-0 PG/SG 13.4 PPG
Thanks to Charley Trippy for this:
Recruiting
UGA
Contacted:
Amaree Abram PG Mississippi 6-4 190 FR TX 8.0 2.0 2.0
Ta’lon Cooper PG Minnesota 6-4 190 SR+ SC 9.8 4.0 6.3
Damian Dunn SG Temple 6-5 195 SO NC
15.3 3.7 3.0
John Hugley PF Pittsburgh 6-8 265 JR OH 8.0 3.6 0.8
Chris Ledlum PF Harvard 6-6 225 SR NY 18.8 8.4 1.6
Ishmael Leggett SG Rhode Island 6-3 190 SO MD 16.4 5.8 2.4
BJ Mack PF Wofford 6-8 245 SR NC 16.6 5.6 1.4
Jordan Minor PF Merrimack 6-8 240 SR MA 17.4 9.4 2.3
Johnny O’Neil PF American 6-9 200 JR FL 11.3 6.6 1.4
Jackson Paveletzke PG Wofford 6-3 185 FR WI 15.1 2.7 3.7
Kowacie Reeves SF Florida 6-6 192 SO 8.5 2.6 0.5
Myles Stute SF Vanderbilt 6-7 215 JR DC 8.4 4.6 0.6
Evan Taylor SG Lehigh 6-6 205 SR IL 14.2 6.5 1.1
Jayden Taylor SG Butler 6-4 195 SO IN 12.9 3.8 1.3
Nicolas Timberlake SG Towson 6-4 205 SR MA 17.7 3.9 2.4
Tedrick Wilcox SG St. Francis, NY 6-6 188 SR RI 11.3 3.7 2.1
Probable Contacts:
Josh Cohen PF St. Francis
UGA Follows on Twitter:
Amaree Abram PG Mississippi
Ricky Bradley PG VMI
Jaemyn Brakefield SF Mississippi
Blue Cain SG IMG (Georgia Tech)
Nate Calmese SG Lamar
Josh Cohen PF St. Francis. NY
Bradley Dean SG UVA Wise
Jared Garcia PF Salt Lake CC
EJ Jarvis PF Yale
Maxwell Land SG St. Francis, Pa
Chris Ledlum PF Harvard
Ishmael Leggett SG Rhode Island
Mike Meadows SG Portland
Johnny O’Neil PF American
Jackson Paveletzke PG Wofford
Isaiah Pope SG Utah Tech
Myles Stute SF Vanderbilt
Nicolas Timberlake SG Towson
Jaykwon Walton SF Wichita State
UGA Followers on Twitter:
Amaree Abram PG Mississippi
Ricky Bradley PG VMI
Blue Cain SG IMG (Georgia Tech)
Josh Cohen PF St. Francis, NY
Bradley Dean SG UVA Wise
Jared Garcia PF Salt Lake CC
Robert Jennings PF Texas Tech
Maxwell Land SG St. Francis, Pa
Mike Meadows SG Portland
***Jackson Paveletzke PG Wofford (following 3 UGA coaches)
Isaiah Pope SG Utah Tech
Myles Stute SF Vanderbilt
2023 HS Signees affected by coaching changes we would love to talk to:
Contacted: Blue Cain SG IMG - Georgia Tech (NIL release) 6-4 180 (UGA follows him and his parents on social media and they follow back)
Brandon Gardner PF Christ the King - St.John’s (Originally from Waynesboro
Committed Elsewhere:
Tyler Houser C VMI - Delaware
Xander Rice PG Bucknell - Monmouth
UGA WBB
Gadogs.com: Georgia falls to Iowa in NCAA Second Round, 74-66
georgiadogs.com
Transcript
“Q. It seems like things kind of fell apart there in the final 2 minutes with those 3 consecutive turnovers. What do you think went wrong there?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
Well, let me say first, Diamond was the best player on the floor tonight. She had -- how many points did she have? Diamond had 21 points. So I mean, she was the reason why we were doing what we were doing. So, you know, I think, you know, our team played and did an amazing job, and played great defense, played suffocating defense. And down the stretch down is not anything indicative of the game.
Q. Coach, every time Iowa made a run in this game you seemed to have a response. Can you talk about your team's resiliency?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: We made a lot of runs. I know everything is going to be about Iowa right now. But my team is really good. They are really good. We came in here, we fought like crazy, we were the underdogs, but there was no underdog here today. We represented Georgia really, really well. And it was a tight ball game. We made runs. We went up. They cut it. They made some runs, we cut it back. It was an even game the whole game. The whole game. The last 2 minutes is not the game. So, you know, I mean we had two really really good teams on the floor today. And one of them was Georgia. For sure.
Q. Along those lines, what does it mean big picture for the program? In year one you are able to be as competitive as you were with a really talented Iowa team?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
It means my coaches are amazing, and we have a really good coaching staff, and we took 15 players and got them to this point, which is unbelievable. That's why I say Georgia was here too, everybody. And they are a seasoned veteran team. And they are good. And we were here. We were here. And we almost won the game. We were close enough to win that game. And I'm proud of our team. We brought a bunch of kids together. They bought in. Some of the Georgia players stayed. I brought kids from UCF. Some of the kids like Audrey Warren wanted to transfer because she wanted to be a part of greatness. So the Georgia brand is there, and I'm just really really proud of them to do this this year with 15 brand new players and our coaching staff. That's why I keep saying that Georgia is here today.
Q. Your bench outscored Iowa 24-0. Have they been that consistent all year?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
Yep. Yep. You guys just don't watch us. We play in the SEC. The SEC is tough. They are tough, tough, tough, tough. Our defense has been the same. Our defense has held people down. Our defense held a lot of people down to their lowest scoring. And obviously, offensively, you know, we have a lot of weapons. So a lot of people were high-scoring today, and obviously, Diamond Battles led the way for us. Diamond Battles is a pro. She's a pro. I know her name is not going to be out there. Caitlin is a pro for sure, but so is Diamond Battles. She is the reason we have gotten this far. I mean, she is -- comes to UCF with me, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year. All that. Then she comes here and makes Second Team, All-Defensive Team, plays one year here for us, and was the best player, in my opinion. She was leading everyone in scoring today. And played great defense and got steals and tips and all that. I feel like Javyn played well, Brittney played well, Audrey played well, Zoe played well. Everybody that went in really represented. And understand that a lot of them haven't been -- there's probably five of them, six of them that have never been in the NCAA Tournament. So we did an amazing job.
Q. The other day you mentioned that you guys kind of go into games defensively with a goal in mind of how many points you want to give up for every team. Was 74 points near the goal is that what you guys were looking forward today?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
We had them down before the last 2 minutes of a bunch of free throws. I mean, you know, when we played LSU we held them down to lowest scoring and everything. I mean, yeah. We had them right there. Yeah, I'm not going to give you the number.
Q. You are saying goodbye to many fifth-year seniors. What's it mean to do it with this group of players, many that came with you from UCF. And what can everyone expect from the future of Georgia Basketball?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
You just saw it. There's going to be a lot of young kids that are going to want to play for us because winning is written all over Georgia. It's been in the past. Andy Landers built Georgia. And to talk about the five seniors. That's hard. Diamond Battles I have known since she was a junior in high school. So it's probably been eight years. Brittney Smith I have known since she was a junior in high school. Eight years for her. Lish has probably been four years. Our freshmen I've known. None of them have played, but they are all coming back next year. And they are good and they are talented. I've known them for a long time. The only ones I really haven't known for a long time were the ones that decided to stay at Georgia and trusted as a coaching staff. It's just going to be really hard to lose, especially Brittney and Diamond because they came to Georgia and they, you know, were like us, and they helped us build this. Reload this, I should say. Reload this.
Q. How proud are you of your team?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
I'm very proud. I mean, I'm very proud. Like all the things I've said, I'm very proud of them. Anybody could have won this game for sure. Hopefully next year we'll come back and we can host. That would be awesome.
Q. How did the scout on Gabbie Marshall's shooting ability play out today?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
I don't know, what did she have? Gabbie Marshall, my pretty-eyed girl. Good. I think good. I think the scouting report on Caitlin was great. She had 16 points. So she finished with a lot because she had some free throws. She had 16 points. Scouting report. And she averages 27 points a game, that's a lot. I think we did a great job on her. And I think their role players really stepped up.”
NCAA Hoops:
Rothstein: The Breakfast Buffet: Markquis Nowell, Gonzaga/UCLA, Norchad Omier
https://collegehoopstoday.com/index...t-markquis-nowell-gonzaga-ucla-norchad-omier/
The Ringer: Winners and Losers of the NCAA Tournament Round 2
“Loser: 3-Point Shooting
The official sound of this NCAA men’s tournament is CLANG! The best teams in college basketball can’t hit a 3. The two biggest upsets of the tourney—16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson over 1-seed Purdue and 15-seed Princeton over 2-seed Arizona in the first round—featured the higher-ranked teams going ice-cold from behind the arc: The Boilermakers went 5-for-26 from 3-point range, and the Wildcats shot 3-for-16.
Through the first 42 games of the tournament, teams shot 30.6 percent from 3, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium. That’s significantly below the Division I average this season of 34 percent. You’d expect the opposite to be true, since most teams that get into March Madness are, you know, good at shooting. The field of 68 included three of the top four teams in 3-point shooting percentage, five of the top 10, and 19 of the top 50; 36 of the tourney teams shot above that national average, while just 21 were below it. (San Diego State made exactly 34 percent of its 3-point attempts heading into the tournament.)
By my count, eight teams (Colgate, Iowa State, NC State, Northern Kentucky, Texas, Texas Southern, Virginia, and Xavier) had their worst 3-point shooting games of the year in this tournament. Colgate was the only team in Division I to shoot over 40 percent from 3 for the season; it went 3-for-15 against Texas.
It feels like there are two possible explanations: The first is that the tourney is played in some arenas that aren’t typically used for college basketball—like Legacy Arena in Birmingham and Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Four balls got stuck in the rim at Des Moines, and arena officials in Greensboro had to repeatedly adjust the rim to ensure it was level. But the poor shooting is also happening at sites where both NBA and college teams do play.
The culprit could also be the ball. Last year, fans noticed that the ball used at the NCAA tournament was extremely orange, and it turned out they were onto something. Wilson had debuted a new ball for the tournament and chose to make it highlighter orange so it showed up better on TV. Then, last year’s men’s tournament had the worst 3-point percentage of any tourney since the 3-point line was introduced—it will be the second worst if this year’s trend continues. During the regular season, home teams provide their own balls, and studies have found that players shoot worse when playing against an opponent that uses a different brand of balls (leading to some coaches choosing to use obscure brands for additional home-court advantage). But some schools do use normal orange versions of the Wilson ball during the regular season, and those teams are also shooting poorly in the tourney.
Whatever the explanation is, the 3-point shooting stinks. Good defense is fun to watch—but that’s not what’s happening. Teams are simply missing their deep shots.”
https://www.theringer.com/march-mad...rs-2023-ncaa-tournament-round-2-march-madness
Bradley
Central Florida
Florida
Jason Jitaboh backup post is in the portal, 6-11 300 senior averaged 3.1 1.5 last year, the year before under Mike White 4.1 2.4.
Kowacie Reeves has had virtual visits with both Boston College and Loyola of Chicago,
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Schultz The Athletic: ‘The Tech Way’ lately has been replacing everyone — will it make a difference?
theathletic.com
Indiana
Daily Hoosier: It’s fair to call this IU basketball season a success, and the future uncertain
“What we know — Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Miller Kopp are all done for sure. And Hood-Schifino is almost certain to to go the NBA. That’s more than 50 points per game off the board.
Four of this season’s original starting five will be gone — and it’s no certainty yet Johnson will be back either.
And that’s all before we even begin to speculate on who from Indiana will enter the transfer portal. We won’t speculate, but you know it’s coming. That’s just the reality of college basketball in 2023.
The bottom line is that there is a massive production void to fill via the transfer portal, and no longer can IU count on Jackson-Davis to save them.”
https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/its...ll-season-a-success-and-the-future-uncertain/
Kansas
Topeka Capital-Journal: Marcus Adams Jr. decides to reclassify, join KU men’s basketball’s 2023 recruiting class
https://www.cjonline.com/story/spor...asketballs-2023-recruiting-class/70026708007/
Kansas State
DeCourcy TSN: K-State's littlest 'dude' Markquis Nowell conjures huge performance to put Kentucky out of March Madness
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nca...ormance-kentucky-out/o1ldzmgqurkrau8zzzpazecc
Kentucky
Louisville Courier Journal: What's ahead for John Calipari and Kentucky basketball after early NCAA Tournament exit?
“Coming in: Calipari needs to find a 3-point marksmen in the transfer portal to replace Fredrick, Reeves, Toppin and Wallace. Expect more names to enter the portal after the season, but one of the best available shooters right now is former Towson star Nicolas Timberlake. The 6-foot-4 guard shot nearly 42% (92 of 221) from deep during the 2022-23 season. Guard Denver Anglin could be another option. Anglin struggled from beyond the arc in his lone season at Georgetown, making 5 of 29, but made 50 3s in three of his four high school seasons; the only exception came during a pandemic-shortened campaign.
In a throwback to previous years of the Calipari era, Kentucky next season brings in the consensus No. 1 recruiting class. The group includes four five-star prospects — point guard Robert Dillingham, combo guard DJ Wagner, wing Justin Edwards and center Aaron Bradshaw — and four-star North Laurel High School guard Reed Sheppard.”
https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...ar-whats-ahead-for-john-calipari/70008737007/
Michigan
Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball forward Isaiah Barnes enters transfer portal
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...aiah-barnes-ncaa-transfer-portal/70027149007/
Michigan State
Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball reaches Sweet 16 with upset win over Marquette in NCAA tournament
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...adness-marquette-ncaa-tournament/70026438007/
Penn State
Rivals: Penn State set to host high-scoring transfer big man Josh Cohen
https://pennstate.rivals.com/news/penn-state-set-to-host-high-scoring-forward-transfer
St. John’s
NYP: Rick Pitino offered job to be next St. John’s coach as waiting game begins
https://nypost.com/2023/03/19/rick-pitino-offered-job-to-be-next-st-johns-head-coach/
Temple
History
El Paso Times: Willie Cager of Texas Western 1966 national championship team dies on anniversary of historic win
“Cager started in that game and scored eight points, including making 6-of-7 free throws to help the Miners clinch the national title. Texas Western would later become the University of Texas at El Paso.”
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/s...-national-championship-team-dies/70026999007/
New PWO Markel Jennings Athens Academy 6-0 PG/SG 13.4 PPG
Thanks to Charley Trippy for this:
Recruiting
UGA
Contacted:
Amaree Abram PG Mississippi 6-4 190 FR TX 8.0 2.0 2.0
Ta’lon Cooper PG Minnesota 6-4 190 SR+ SC 9.8 4.0 6.3
Damian Dunn SG Temple 6-5 195 SO NC
15.3 3.7 3.0
John Hugley PF Pittsburgh 6-8 265 JR OH 8.0 3.6 0.8
Chris Ledlum PF Harvard 6-6 225 SR NY 18.8 8.4 1.6
Ishmael Leggett SG Rhode Island 6-3 190 SO MD 16.4 5.8 2.4
BJ Mack PF Wofford 6-8 245 SR NC 16.6 5.6 1.4
Jordan Minor PF Merrimack 6-8 240 SR MA 17.4 9.4 2.3
Johnny O’Neil PF American 6-9 200 JR FL 11.3 6.6 1.4
Jackson Paveletzke PG Wofford 6-3 185 FR WI 15.1 2.7 3.7
Kowacie Reeves SF Florida 6-6 192 SO 8.5 2.6 0.5
Myles Stute SF Vanderbilt 6-7 215 JR DC 8.4 4.6 0.6
Evan Taylor SG Lehigh 6-6 205 SR IL 14.2 6.5 1.1
Jayden Taylor SG Butler 6-4 195 SO IN 12.9 3.8 1.3
Nicolas Timberlake SG Towson 6-4 205 SR MA 17.7 3.9 2.4
Tedrick Wilcox SG St. Francis, NY 6-6 188 SR RI 11.3 3.7 2.1
Probable Contacts:
Josh Cohen PF St. Francis
UGA Follows on Twitter:
Amaree Abram PG Mississippi
Ricky Bradley PG VMI
Jaemyn Brakefield SF Mississippi
Blue Cain SG IMG (Georgia Tech)
Nate Calmese SG Lamar
Josh Cohen PF St. Francis. NY
Bradley Dean SG UVA Wise
Jared Garcia PF Salt Lake CC
EJ Jarvis PF Yale
Maxwell Land SG St. Francis, Pa
Chris Ledlum PF Harvard
Ishmael Leggett SG Rhode Island
Mike Meadows SG Portland
Johnny O’Neil PF American
Jackson Paveletzke PG Wofford
Isaiah Pope SG Utah Tech
Myles Stute SF Vanderbilt
Nicolas Timberlake SG Towson
Jaykwon Walton SF Wichita State
UGA Followers on Twitter:
Amaree Abram PG Mississippi
Ricky Bradley PG VMI
Blue Cain SG IMG (Georgia Tech)
Josh Cohen PF St. Francis, NY
Bradley Dean SG UVA Wise
Jared Garcia PF Salt Lake CC
Robert Jennings PF Texas Tech
Maxwell Land SG St. Francis, Pa
Mike Meadows SG Portland
***Jackson Paveletzke PG Wofford (following 3 UGA coaches)
Isaiah Pope SG Utah Tech
Myles Stute SF Vanderbilt
2023 HS Signees affected by coaching changes we would love to talk to:
Contacted: Blue Cain SG IMG - Georgia Tech (NIL release) 6-4 180 (UGA follows him and his parents on social media and they follow back)
Brandon Gardner PF Christ the King - St.John’s (Originally from Waynesboro
Committed Elsewhere:
Tyler Houser C VMI - Delaware
Xander Rice PG Bucknell - Monmouth
UGA WBB
Gadogs.com: Georgia falls to Iowa in NCAA Second Round, 74-66
University of Georgia Athletics
Transcript
“Q. It seems like things kind of fell apart there in the final 2 minutes with those 3 consecutive turnovers. What do you think went wrong there?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
Well, let me say first, Diamond was the best player on the floor tonight. She had -- how many points did she have? Diamond had 21 points. So I mean, she was the reason why we were doing what we were doing. So, you know, I think, you know, our team played and did an amazing job, and played great defense, played suffocating defense. And down the stretch down is not anything indicative of the game.
Q. Coach, every time Iowa made a run in this game you seemed to have a response. Can you talk about your team's resiliency?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON: We made a lot of runs. I know everything is going to be about Iowa right now. But my team is really good. They are really good. We came in here, we fought like crazy, we were the underdogs, but there was no underdog here today. We represented Georgia really, really well. And it was a tight ball game. We made runs. We went up. They cut it. They made some runs, we cut it back. It was an even game the whole game. The whole game. The last 2 minutes is not the game. So, you know, I mean we had two really really good teams on the floor today. And one of them was Georgia. For sure.
Q. Along those lines, what does it mean big picture for the program? In year one you are able to be as competitive as you were with a really talented Iowa team?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
It means my coaches are amazing, and we have a really good coaching staff, and we took 15 players and got them to this point, which is unbelievable. That's why I say Georgia was here too, everybody. And they are a seasoned veteran team. And they are good. And we were here. We were here. And we almost won the game. We were close enough to win that game. And I'm proud of our team. We brought a bunch of kids together. They bought in. Some of the Georgia players stayed. I brought kids from UCF. Some of the kids like Audrey Warren wanted to transfer because she wanted to be a part of greatness. So the Georgia brand is there, and I'm just really really proud of them to do this this year with 15 brand new players and our coaching staff. That's why I keep saying that Georgia is here today.
Q. Your bench outscored Iowa 24-0. Have they been that consistent all year?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
Yep. Yep. You guys just don't watch us. We play in the SEC. The SEC is tough. They are tough, tough, tough, tough. Our defense has been the same. Our defense has held people down. Our defense held a lot of people down to their lowest scoring. And obviously, offensively, you know, we have a lot of weapons. So a lot of people were high-scoring today, and obviously, Diamond Battles led the way for us. Diamond Battles is a pro. She's a pro. I know her name is not going to be out there. Caitlin is a pro for sure, but so is Diamond Battles. She is the reason we have gotten this far. I mean, she is -- comes to UCF with me, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year. All that. Then she comes here and makes Second Team, All-Defensive Team, plays one year here for us, and was the best player, in my opinion. She was leading everyone in scoring today. And played great defense and got steals and tips and all that. I feel like Javyn played well, Brittney played well, Audrey played well, Zoe played well. Everybody that went in really represented. And understand that a lot of them haven't been -- there's probably five of them, six of them that have never been in the NCAA Tournament. So we did an amazing job.
Q. The other day you mentioned that you guys kind of go into games defensively with a goal in mind of how many points you want to give up for every team. Was 74 points near the goal is that what you guys were looking forward today?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
We had them down before the last 2 minutes of a bunch of free throws. I mean, you know, when we played LSU we held them down to lowest scoring and everything. I mean, yeah. We had them right there. Yeah, I'm not going to give you the number.
Q. You are saying goodbye to many fifth-year seniors. What's it mean to do it with this group of players, many that came with you from UCF. And what can everyone expect from the future of Georgia Basketball?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
You just saw it. There's going to be a lot of young kids that are going to want to play for us because winning is written all over Georgia. It's been in the past. Andy Landers built Georgia. And to talk about the five seniors. That's hard. Diamond Battles I have known since she was a junior in high school. So it's probably been eight years. Brittney Smith I have known since she was a junior in high school. Eight years for her. Lish has probably been four years. Our freshmen I've known. None of them have played, but they are all coming back next year. And they are good and they are talented. I've known them for a long time. The only ones I really haven't known for a long time were the ones that decided to stay at Georgia and trusted as a coaching staff. It's just going to be really hard to lose, especially Brittney and Diamond because they came to Georgia and they, you know, were like us, and they helped us build this. Reload this, I should say. Reload this.
Q. How proud are you of your team?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
I'm very proud. I mean, I'm very proud. Like all the things I've said, I'm very proud of them. Anybody could have won this game for sure. Hopefully next year we'll come back and we can host. That would be awesome.
Q. How did the scout on Gabbie Marshall's shooting ability play out today?
COACH ABRAHAMSON-HENDERSON:
I don't know, what did she have? Gabbie Marshall, my pretty-eyed girl. Good. I think good. I think the scouting report on Caitlin was great. She had 16 points. So she finished with a lot because she had some free throws. She had 16 points. Scouting report. And she averages 27 points a game, that's a lot. I think we did a great job on her. And I think their role players really stepped up.”
NCAA Hoops:
Rothstein: The Breakfast Buffet: Markquis Nowell, Gonzaga/UCLA, Norchad Omier
https://collegehoopstoday.com/index...t-markquis-nowell-gonzaga-ucla-norchad-omier/
The Ringer: Winners and Losers of the NCAA Tournament Round 2
“Loser: 3-Point Shooting
The official sound of this NCAA men’s tournament is CLANG! The best teams in college basketball can’t hit a 3. The two biggest upsets of the tourney—16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson over 1-seed Purdue and 15-seed Princeton over 2-seed Arizona in the first round—featured the higher-ranked teams going ice-cold from behind the arc: The Boilermakers went 5-for-26 from 3-point range, and the Wildcats shot 3-for-16.
Through the first 42 games of the tournament, teams shot 30.6 percent from 3, according to Jeff Goodman of Stadium. That’s significantly below the Division I average this season of 34 percent. You’d expect the opposite to be true, since most teams that get into March Madness are, you know, good at shooting. The field of 68 included three of the top four teams in 3-point shooting percentage, five of the top 10, and 19 of the top 50; 36 of the tourney teams shot above that national average, while just 21 were below it. (San Diego State made exactly 34 percent of its 3-point attempts heading into the tournament.)
By my count, eight teams (Colgate, Iowa State, NC State, Northern Kentucky, Texas, Texas Southern, Virginia, and Xavier) had their worst 3-point shooting games of the year in this tournament. Colgate was the only team in Division I to shoot over 40 percent from 3 for the season; it went 3-for-15 against Texas.
It feels like there are two possible explanations: The first is that the tourney is played in some arenas that aren’t typically used for college basketball—like Legacy Arena in Birmingham and Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Four balls got stuck in the rim at Des Moines, and arena officials in Greensboro had to repeatedly adjust the rim to ensure it was level. But the poor shooting is also happening at sites where both NBA and college teams do play.
The culprit could also be the ball. Last year, fans noticed that the ball used at the NCAA tournament was extremely orange, and it turned out they were onto something. Wilson had debuted a new ball for the tournament and chose to make it highlighter orange so it showed up better on TV. Then, last year’s men’s tournament had the worst 3-point percentage of any tourney since the 3-point line was introduced—it will be the second worst if this year’s trend continues. During the regular season, home teams provide their own balls, and studies have found that players shoot worse when playing against an opponent that uses a different brand of balls (leading to some coaches choosing to use obscure brands for additional home-court advantage). But some schools do use normal orange versions of the Wilson ball during the regular season, and those teams are also shooting poorly in the tourney.
Whatever the explanation is, the 3-point shooting stinks. Good defense is fun to watch—but that’s not what’s happening. Teams are simply missing their deep shots.”
https://www.theringer.com/march-mad...rs-2023-ncaa-tournament-round-2-march-madness
Bradley
Central Florida
Florida
Jason Jitaboh backup post is in the portal, 6-11 300 senior averaged 3.1 1.5 last year, the year before under Mike White 4.1 2.4.
Kowacie Reeves has had virtual visits with both Boston College and Loyola of Chicago,
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Schultz The Athletic: ‘The Tech Way’ lately has been replacing everyone — will it make a difference?
'The Tech Way' lately has been replacing everyone — will it make a difference?
The direction of basketball and football will be interesting to see, and not just whether Damon Stoudamire and Brent Key will be good hires.
theathletic.com
Indiana
Daily Hoosier: It’s fair to call this IU basketball season a success, and the future uncertain
“What we know — Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Miller Kopp are all done for sure. And Hood-Schifino is almost certain to to go the NBA. That’s more than 50 points per game off the board.
Four of this season’s original starting five will be gone — and it’s no certainty yet Johnson will be back either.
And that’s all before we even begin to speculate on who from Indiana will enter the transfer portal. We won’t speculate, but you know it’s coming. That’s just the reality of college basketball in 2023.
The bottom line is that there is a massive production void to fill via the transfer portal, and no longer can IU count on Jackson-Davis to save them.”
https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/its...ll-season-a-success-and-the-future-uncertain/
Kansas
Topeka Capital-Journal: Marcus Adams Jr. decides to reclassify, join KU men’s basketball’s 2023 recruiting class
https://www.cjonline.com/story/spor...asketballs-2023-recruiting-class/70026708007/
Kansas State
DeCourcy TSN: K-State's littlest 'dude' Markquis Nowell conjures huge performance to put Kentucky out of March Madness
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nca...ormance-kentucky-out/o1ldzmgqurkrau8zzzpazecc
Kentucky
Louisville Courier Journal: What's ahead for John Calipari and Kentucky basketball after early NCAA Tournament exit?
“Coming in: Calipari needs to find a 3-point marksmen in the transfer portal to replace Fredrick, Reeves, Toppin and Wallace. Expect more names to enter the portal after the season, but one of the best available shooters right now is former Towson star Nicolas Timberlake. The 6-foot-4 guard shot nearly 42% (92 of 221) from deep during the 2022-23 season. Guard Denver Anglin could be another option. Anglin struggled from beyond the arc in his lone season at Georgetown, making 5 of 29, but made 50 3s in three of his four high school seasons; the only exception came during a pandemic-shortened campaign.
In a throwback to previous years of the Calipari era, Kentucky next season brings in the consensus No. 1 recruiting class. The group includes four five-star prospects — point guard Robert Dillingham, combo guard DJ Wagner, wing Justin Edwards and center Aaron Bradshaw — and four-star North Laurel High School guard Reed Sheppard.”
https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...ar-whats-ahead-for-john-calipari/70008737007/
Michigan
Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball forward Isaiah Barnes enters transfer portal
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...aiah-barnes-ncaa-transfer-portal/70027149007/
Michigan State
Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball reaches Sweet 16 with upset win over Marquette in NCAA tournament
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/...adness-marquette-ncaa-tournament/70026438007/
Penn State
Rivals: Penn State set to host high-scoring transfer big man Josh Cohen
https://pennstate.rivals.com/news/penn-state-set-to-host-high-scoring-forward-transfer
St. John’s
NYP: Rick Pitino offered job to be next St. John’s coach as waiting game begins
https://nypost.com/2023/03/19/rick-pitino-offered-job-to-be-next-st-johns-head-coach/
Temple
History
El Paso Times: Willie Cager of Texas Western 1966 national championship team dies on anniversary of historic win
“Cager started in that game and scored eight points, including making 6-of-7 free throws to help the Miners clinch the national title. Texas Western would later become the University of Texas at El Paso.”
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/s...-national-championship-team-dies/70026999007/
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