UGA Basketball
Scheduling
2022 At a glance opponent preview - St. Joseph’s
A disappointing finish at a school where change doesn’t come easily, may not translate into a hot seat season, but somehow the talented individual pieces didn’t add up to a whole at St. Joe’s last season. And now some of the best have departed.
Still there are a couple of talented players left, a couple of transfers who could help and three freshman, two from top programs who may have a little more grit, exposure, savvy then your typical frosh and that makes you wary about this being a guaranteed W.
There is quality size in the form of Obinna in the paint, plus some other big bodies who could give St. Joseph’s a few solid minutes.
True freshman Fleming from Camden looks to be a talented stretch forward, Brown and Reynolds showed promise on the wings, and Greer a Dayton transfer who sat out according to A10 rules has some skills and Winborne a freshman PG from Baltimore put up numbers in HS.
This is a game where the size, athleticism, experience of the UGA guards should take hold, Bridges and Anselem can more than hang in the paint…the other question is between Abdur-Rahim, Holt, Moncrieffe, and Lindsey, which athletic forward(s) will be consistent PT players? The latter can apply to UGA’s season unless you go with four guards (Hill, McBride, Oquendo, Roberts) or a true 3 outside 2 inside lineup (Bridges and Ingram/Lindsey or a Anselem/Bridges twin towers lineup.
These are times however, when the athletic taller stretch forwards are going to require a athletic skilled matchup.
Win this and UAB/South Florida awaits, vastly different challenges…
St Joe’s Past (3-21-2022)
“Billy Lange is coming back for his fourth year on the Saint Joseph’s sidelines, but the Hawks’ head men’s coach is going to have quite a new look on his roster next season.
Billy Lange (above) will have to try to move St. Joe's forward without his two leading scorers from this year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
When Jordan Hall announced his intention to forgo his final three years of eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft on Friday morning, he became the fourth St. Joe’s player this offseason to depart with years still left to play in a collegiate uniform. Dahmir Bishop and Jack Forrest had already elected to leave earlier this month, while Taylor Funk announced earlier this week his entrance to the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility left.
That quartet takes with it a sizable chunk of St. Joe’s scoring, rebounding, and minutes, especially in the form of Funk and Hall, its two biggest stars.
For both Bishop and Forrest, their transfers will be the second of their respective careers. Both lost their minutes in large part due to freshman Erik Reynolds II, who averaged 12.1 ppg in 28.6 minutes, marking himself as one of the top rookies in the city and the Atlantic 10.
The Hawks ended their 2021-22 campaign losing eight of their final nine, including a defeat at the hands of Big 5 rival La Salle — which just fired its coach, Ashley Howard, after four years — in the opening round of the A-10 tournament, the third time this season the Explorers topped the Hawks.
The last ended Lange’s third season in replacing Phil Martelli, who was fired by new SJU athletic director Jill Bodensteiner in 2019 after a 24-year career that saw him take the program to seven different NCAA Tournaments.
Fan discontent was clear on social media and at games as the season went on, but St. Joe’s was quick to squash any coaching rumblings, issuing a statement the day after the season ended.”
“Grad student forward Ejike Obinna has already announced his intent to return after averaging 12.1 ppg and a team-high 7.9 rpg last year, and Reynolds has given no indication he’ll be anywhere but Hawk Hill next year. Cameron Brown (8.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg) makes it three starters back, and the hope is that Dayton transfer Lynn Greer III, the Roman Catholic grad who sat out last season after transferring, will provide some pop to the backcourt.
The college transfer market is going to be hot every spring, and so the departures are not an immediate sign that Lange’s program is in danger of totally falling apart. But playing the game this time of year has become an important part of most D-I programs' success, and what the Hawks’ staff is able to do in the next 4-6 weeks will be crucial towards taking that program step forward in 2022-23.
Three new faces are already slated to join the program faces: Harcum College (Pa.) transfer Louis Bleechmore, who will have three years of eligibility remaining; and a pair of true freshmen, guard Christian Winborne (Gilman School, Md.) and forward Rasheer Fleming (Camden, N.J.).”
www.cityofbasketballlove.com
2022-2023 Roster
G 6'0" 175 LBS 0.0 0.0 0.0
BRIAN GEATENS
JR. HARLEYSVILLE, PA SAINT JOSEPH'S PREP
PG 6'1" 190 LBS TR Dayton 2.7 1.4 1.3 2020-2021
LYNN GREER III
SO. PHILADELPHIA, PA ROMAN CATHOLIC / IMG ACADEMY
SG 6'2" 175 LBS 12.1 2.1 2.3
ERIK REYNOLDS II
SO. TEMPLE HILLS, MD THE BULLIS SCHOOL
PG 6'2" 185 LBS
CHRISTIAN WINBORNE
FR. BALTIMORE, MD GILMAN SCHOOL
A 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard, Winborne is the first commitment for Lange and his staff in the Class of 2022. And it’s a good one: offers this spring included St. Joe’s, Rutgers, VCU and Yale, with Northwestern, Seton Hall, Nebraska, Penn, Harvard
SG 6'2" 200 LBS
QUIN BERGER
FR. MALVERN, PA WESTTOWN SCHOOL
A strong-bodied guard who’s a plus 3-point shooter
G 6'3" 180 LBS
COOPER VOGEL
JR. HOWELL, NJ HOWELL
G 6'3" 200 LBS 0.4 0.4 0.0
CHRIS ARIZIN
JR. MEDIA, PA SAINT JOSEPH'S PREP
SG/SF 6'5" 200 LBS TR Harcum College 12.8 50% career FG
LOUIS BLEECHMORE
JR. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA SCOTLAND CAMPUS SPORTS
"Louis Bleechmore is a budding 3-and-D wing who has a defensive-first mentality and who has no issue doing the grunge work,” said Tom Keller of ELITE High School Scouting. “He’s effective on the glass and has soft touch around the rim. He is able to make plays in the open floor. Bleechmore is an exceptional athlete who is a threat in transition to score above the rim."
SG/SF 6'5" 220 LBS 8.3 4.3 1.8
CAMERON BROWN
SR. LAUREL, MD ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
PF 6'9" 220 LBS
RASHEER FLEMING
FR. CAMDEN, NJ CAMDEN
“I’m like a stretch four because I can pretty much do everything. I can knock it down from three, post-up game, and I can handle the ball well,” Fleming said. “For St. Joe’s, I know that’s a shooting team, so I want to make sure I knock down shots when I go there and play with the same intensity as I do now.”
. "He is just beginning to sense the potential he has as a basketball player, and will provide versatility as a player on the outside and inside as he develops. He has a very high ceiling as a defensive player as well. He will benefit from his senior year on a nationally-ranked Camden High School team, and learning from a great teacher in coach Rick Brunson."
SG/SF 6'8" 230 LBS 1.5 1.5 0.8
KACPER KLACZEK
SO. CHORZOW, POLAND LONG ISLAND LUTHERAN
PF/C 6'10" 245 LBS 12.1 7.9 0.7
EJIKE OBINNA
GR. ENUGU, NIGERIA VIRGINIA ACADEMY
C 6'11" 250 LBS 0.9 1.1 0.1
ANTON JANSSON
JR. STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN GOLDEN STATE PREP (CALIF.)
PF/C 7'0" 245 LBS 2.3 2.8 0.4
CHARLES COLEMAN
R-JR. BOSTON, MA DEXTER SOUTHFIELD
Projected Lineup
PG Greer 6-1 190 SO TR DAY 2.7 1.4 1.3
SG Reynolds 6-2 175 SO 12.1 2.1 2.3
SG Brown 6-5 220 SR 8.3 4.3 1.8
PF Fleming 6-9 220 FR
0C Obinna 6-10 245 GR 12.1 7.9 0.7
Bench
PG Winborne 6-2 185 FR
SG Berger 6-2 200 FR
SG Bleechmore 6-5 200 JR TR
PF Klaczek 6-8 230 SO 1.5 1.5 0.8
OC Coleman 7-0 245 JR 2.3 2.8 0.4
OC Jansson 6-11 250 JR 0.9 1.1 0.1
UGA connection at St. Francis
Linehan Named Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
sjuhawks.com
Recruiting
Asa Newell…
SEC
Kentucky
Lexington Herald Leader: He’ll be billed as Kentucky basketball’s 10th man. But he could be ‘something special.’
Mississippi
Rashaud Marshall, a 2023 4-star 6-foot-9 center, announces SEC basketball commitment
www.saturdaydownsouth.com
College Basketball
DePaul
DePaul keeps adding late, GT and others were interested
LIU
AP: Former Knicks PG Rod Strickland hired as LIU basketball coach
greaterlongisland.com
Louisville
Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville men's basketball's Mike James savors small steps and big leaps in injury return
Memphis
Tigers Add Longtime College Coach Frank Haith to Staff
gotigersgo.com
Virginia
Richmond Times Dispatch: ACC imperiled as Hokies, UVA and others explore all options
“I’m probably perpetually uncomfortable [with ACC finances] because we want to compete at the highest levels as a football program, as a men’s basketball program, as a women’s basketball program,” Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said last month. “Go down the list [of sports]. We want to compete at the highest levels.
“We also want the conference to do well because that helps us. ... So, no, I mean, we’ve got work to do. But that’s what makes it fun. It’s a big challenge, a big challenge.”
“Anyone who doesn’t believe that multiple, perhaps most, ACC schools aren’t parsing the grant of rights for loopholes and hoping for an invitation from the SEC or Big Ten is naive.”
“The consensus is this latest round of realignment will pause until the Fighting Irish chart their course. If they remain independent, everyone might well stand down.
If they join a conference ...
“We’re getting to a two-solar system model here,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said as he emerged from the final session of the ACC’s spring meetings in Florida. “You have two suns with all the gravitational pull — the Big Ten and the SEC. People are going to have to figure out how to align with one or the other.”
Yes, an ACC AD, mere moments after huddling with his colleagues on league business, essentially forecasted the group’s splintering. It was remarkable to hear and in no way coerced.
Swarbrick’s candor also spoke to residual anger over the ACC helping to derail the College Football Playoff expansion plan that he, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and others spent years crafting.
The 12-team format, which precluded independents such as Notre Dame from receiving a first-round bye, appeared destined for approval and 2024 implementation before the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten insisted on a pause.
Was it frustrating to have countless hours of work, conducted during the heart of a pandemic, suddenly upended?
“You have no idea,” Swarbrick said that morning in Florida.
The parlor game now is projecting whether Swarbrick, Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren will re-engage on the 12-team playoff, or whether they’ll take their two super conferences to market and stage a private championship bracket.
Phillips was the point man of the ACC’s objections, observing that college athletics needed to address an array of other issues — length of season, athlete safety, transfer portal, NIL compensation, NCAA restructuring — before finalizing a CFP format. He even went so far as to forge an “Alliance” with the Pac-12 and Big Ten, in part to stabilize a landscape shaken by Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC.
But the Big Ten’s Warren nuked the Alliance’s very premise by raiding the Pac-12’s Los Angeles cornerstones. And he could do the same to Phillips and the ACC.
But understand that in lobbying for a delay of playoff expansion, Phillips, a former Big Ten athletic director at Northwestern, was voicing the concerns of his constituents, none more vocal than Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. The cruel irony is that potential lack of playoff access for the ACC could drive Clemson and others to desert the conference.”
richmond.com
Weber State
Standard-Examiner: Old-school 2022 forward Daniel Rouzan commits to Weber State basketball after arduous recruiting journey
www.standard.net
NBA Basketball
Brooklyn
LA Clippers
The Ringer: Do the Clippers Have Too Much of a Good Thing?
www.theringer.com
Euros Hoops
The Guardian: A free ticket to travel’: the Americans forging basketball careers in Europe
How do American players forging careers abroad adapt to life in the European leagues, both on and off the court? The Guardian spoke to several who have played across the continent
amp.theguardian.com
History
Hoops Birthdays 7-08
Jordan Adams SG Atlanta UCLA MEM 2014-2016 7-08-1994 28 YOA
Online Athens: No. 11 UCLA hands Georgia men's basketball team another heartbreaking loss (11–30-2012)
“For the second consecutive night, the Georgia men's basketball team gave a top-25 opponent all it could handle.
And for the second straight night, the Bulldogs finished with a heartbreaking loss.
Shabazz Muhammad scored 20 points and No. 11 UCLA made enough free throws late to hold off Georgia for a 60-56 win Tuesday night in the consolation game of the Legends Classic tournament.”
“The 6-foot-6 Muhammad, one of the most highly sought after high school players last season, was declared eligible by the NCAA on Friday.”
NO. 11 UCLA 60, GEORGIA 56
GEORGIA (1-4)
Caldwell-Pope 5-13 3-4 16, Thornton 0-3 0-2 0, V. Williams 1-5 0-0 3, D. Williams 3-5 2-2 8, Djurisic 4-9 0-0 8, Mann 2-5 1-2 5, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Gaines 0-2 0-0 0, Brantley 2-8 0-0 6, Morris 1-1 0-0 2, Cannon 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 22-59 6-10 56.
UCLA (4-1)
Powell 1-4 4-6 7, Anderson 4-7 1-2 9, Drew II 2-4 1-1 5, Muhammad 6-12 8-11 21, T. Wear 4-9 2-4 10, Smith 1-3 2-4 4, Adams 1-6 2-2 4, Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 20-30 60.
Bucky Bockhorn SG Dayton CIN 1958-1965 7-08-1933 89 YOA
Dayton Daily News: Archdeacon: ‘There’s never been a better Flyer than Bucky’ (1-20-2022)
He’s in the UD Hall of Fame, the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame and he’s part of the Flyers All-Century team. After a seven-year NBA career, he became the color commentator for UD radio broadcasts in 1970, lasted a mind-boggling 50 seasons and now has added three more emeritus year
It was the 1940s and he was one of Elvin and Hulda Bockhorn’s 10 kids. They lived on a hardscrabble farm in southern Illinois. His dad worked in a coal mine.
The family was poor and some of the older children were “farmed out” to live with other families. Several of the boys went off to military service and two died in wars.
Junior was killed in the fierce Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II and Gene died eight years later in Korea.
As a kid, Bucky labored like a man in the fields. His dad had no use for sports – he saw them as a diversion from work– but Bucky did manage to get a hoop tacked up on a chicken coop.
Eventually he got all his eggs in the right basket – the one with a net – and became a star at Trico Consolidated High School.
That drew the interest from UD, but when he got an offer from Tom Blackburn, he said: “I was scared…to…death!
“I was a farm boy. I’d never been on a Greyhound bus or a train. I’d never flew. They had to come and get me for Christ’s sake!”
That was in 1952 and – except for an interruptive two years in the Army, which came after his freshman season as a Flyer, and then as a take-no-guff, 6-foot-4 guard with the Cincinnati Royals, with whom he played 474 games, averaged 11.5 points per game and teamed in the backcourt with Oscar Robertson – he never left UD.
“I’m the luckiest guy in America,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been on a 60-year scholarship.”
www.daytondailynews.com
Ashton Hagans PG Cartersville Kentucky MIN 2020-2021 7-08-1999 23 YOA
One time UGA commit…
Hakim Warrick PF Syracuse MEM, MIL, CHI, PHO, NO, CHAR 2005-2013 7-08-1982 40 YOA
Sonny Weems SG Arkansas DEN, TOR, PHO, PHI 2008-2016 7-08-1986 35 YOA
Wang Zhizhi C China DAL, LAC, MIA 7-08-1977 45 YOA
Scheduling
2022 At a glance opponent preview - St. Joseph’s
A disappointing finish at a school where change doesn’t come easily, may not translate into a hot seat season, but somehow the talented individual pieces didn’t add up to a whole at St. Joe’s last season. And now some of the best have departed.
Still there are a couple of talented players left, a couple of transfers who could help and three freshman, two from top programs who may have a little more grit, exposure, savvy then your typical frosh and that makes you wary about this being a guaranteed W.
There is quality size in the form of Obinna in the paint, plus some other big bodies who could give St. Joseph’s a few solid minutes.
True freshman Fleming from Camden looks to be a talented stretch forward, Brown and Reynolds showed promise on the wings, and Greer a Dayton transfer who sat out according to A10 rules has some skills and Winborne a freshman PG from Baltimore put up numbers in HS.
This is a game where the size, athleticism, experience of the UGA guards should take hold, Bridges and Anselem can more than hang in the paint…the other question is between Abdur-Rahim, Holt, Moncrieffe, and Lindsey, which athletic forward(s) will be consistent PT players? The latter can apply to UGA’s season unless you go with four guards (Hill, McBride, Oquendo, Roberts) or a true 3 outside 2 inside lineup (Bridges and Ingram/Lindsey or a Anselem/Bridges twin towers lineup.
These are times however, when the athletic taller stretch forwards are going to require a athletic skilled matchup.
Win this and UAB/South Florida awaits, vastly different challenges…
St Joe’s Past (3-21-2022)
“Billy Lange is coming back for his fourth year on the Saint Joseph’s sidelines, but the Hawks’ head men’s coach is going to have quite a new look on his roster next season.
Billy Lange (above) will have to try to move St. Joe's forward without his two leading scorers from this year. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
When Jordan Hall announced his intention to forgo his final three years of eligibility and declare for the NBA Draft on Friday morning, he became the fourth St. Joe’s player this offseason to depart with years still left to play in a collegiate uniform. Dahmir Bishop and Jack Forrest had already elected to leave earlier this month, while Taylor Funk announced earlier this week his entrance to the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility left.
That quartet takes with it a sizable chunk of St. Joe’s scoring, rebounding, and minutes, especially in the form of Funk and Hall, its two biggest stars.
For both Bishop and Forrest, their transfers will be the second of their respective careers. Both lost their minutes in large part due to freshman Erik Reynolds II, who averaged 12.1 ppg in 28.6 minutes, marking himself as one of the top rookies in the city and the Atlantic 10.
The Hawks ended their 2021-22 campaign losing eight of their final nine, including a defeat at the hands of Big 5 rival La Salle — which just fired its coach, Ashley Howard, after four years — in the opening round of the A-10 tournament, the third time this season the Explorers topped the Hawks.
The last ended Lange’s third season in replacing Phil Martelli, who was fired by new SJU athletic director Jill Bodensteiner in 2019 after a 24-year career that saw him take the program to seven different NCAA Tournaments.
Fan discontent was clear on social media and at games as the season went on, but St. Joe’s was quick to squash any coaching rumblings, issuing a statement the day after the season ended.”
“Grad student forward Ejike Obinna has already announced his intent to return after averaging 12.1 ppg and a team-high 7.9 rpg last year, and Reynolds has given no indication he’ll be anywhere but Hawk Hill next year. Cameron Brown (8.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg) makes it three starters back, and the hope is that Dayton transfer Lynn Greer III, the Roman Catholic grad who sat out last season after transferring, will provide some pop to the backcourt.
The college transfer market is going to be hot every spring, and so the departures are not an immediate sign that Lange’s program is in danger of totally falling apart. But playing the game this time of year has become an important part of most D-I programs' success, and what the Hawks’ staff is able to do in the next 4-6 weeks will be crucial towards taking that program step forward in 2022-23.
Three new faces are already slated to join the program faces: Harcum College (Pa.) transfer Louis Bleechmore, who will have three years of eligibility remaining; and a pair of true freshmen, guard Christian Winborne (Gilman School, Md.) and forward Rasheer Fleming (Camden, N.J.).”
St. Joe's men facing significant turnover this offseason
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) Billy Lange is coming back for his fourth year on the Saint Joseph’s sidelines, but the Hawks’ head men’s coach is going to have quite a new look on his roster next season.
2022-2023 Roster
G 6'0" 175 LBS 0.0 0.0 0.0
BRIAN GEATENS
JR. HARLEYSVILLE, PA SAINT JOSEPH'S PREP
PG 6'1" 190 LBS TR Dayton 2.7 1.4 1.3 2020-2021
LYNN GREER III
SO. PHILADELPHIA, PA ROMAN CATHOLIC / IMG ACADEMY
SG 6'2" 175 LBS 12.1 2.1 2.3
ERIK REYNOLDS II
SO. TEMPLE HILLS, MD THE BULLIS SCHOOL
PG 6'2" 185 LBS
CHRISTIAN WINBORNE
FR. BALTIMORE, MD GILMAN SCHOOL
A 6-foot-2, 180-pound point guard, Winborne is the first commitment for Lange and his staff in the Class of 2022. And it’s a good one: offers this spring included St. Joe’s, Rutgers, VCU and Yale, with Northwestern, Seton Hall, Nebraska, Penn, Harvard
SG 6'2" 200 LBS
QUIN BERGER
FR. MALVERN, PA WESTTOWN SCHOOL
A strong-bodied guard who’s a plus 3-point shooter
G 6'3" 180 LBS
COOPER VOGEL
JR. HOWELL, NJ HOWELL
G 6'3" 200 LBS 0.4 0.4 0.0
CHRIS ARIZIN
JR. MEDIA, PA SAINT JOSEPH'S PREP
SG/SF 6'5" 200 LBS TR Harcum College 12.8 50% career FG
LOUIS BLEECHMORE
JR. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA SCOTLAND CAMPUS SPORTS
"Louis Bleechmore is a budding 3-and-D wing who has a defensive-first mentality and who has no issue doing the grunge work,” said Tom Keller of ELITE High School Scouting. “He’s effective on the glass and has soft touch around the rim. He is able to make plays in the open floor. Bleechmore is an exceptional athlete who is a threat in transition to score above the rim."
SG/SF 6'5" 220 LBS 8.3 4.3 1.8
CAMERON BROWN
SR. LAUREL, MD ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
PF 6'9" 220 LBS
RASHEER FLEMING
FR. CAMDEN, NJ CAMDEN
“I’m like a stretch four because I can pretty much do everything. I can knock it down from three, post-up game, and I can handle the ball well,” Fleming said. “For St. Joe’s, I know that’s a shooting team, so I want to make sure I knock down shots when I go there and play with the same intensity as I do now.”
. "He is just beginning to sense the potential he has as a basketball player, and will provide versatility as a player on the outside and inside as he develops. He has a very high ceiling as a defensive player as well. He will benefit from his senior year on a nationally-ranked Camden High School team, and learning from a great teacher in coach Rick Brunson."
SG/SF 6'8" 230 LBS 1.5 1.5 0.8
KACPER KLACZEK
SO. CHORZOW, POLAND LONG ISLAND LUTHERAN
PF/C 6'10" 245 LBS 12.1 7.9 0.7
EJIKE OBINNA
GR. ENUGU, NIGERIA VIRGINIA ACADEMY
C 6'11" 250 LBS 0.9 1.1 0.1
ANTON JANSSON
JR. STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN GOLDEN STATE PREP (CALIF.)
PF/C 7'0" 245 LBS 2.3 2.8 0.4
CHARLES COLEMAN
R-JR. BOSTON, MA DEXTER SOUTHFIELD
Projected Lineup
PG Greer 6-1 190 SO TR DAY 2.7 1.4 1.3
SG Reynolds 6-2 175 SO 12.1 2.1 2.3
SG Brown 6-5 220 SR 8.3 4.3 1.8
PF Fleming 6-9 220 FR
0C Obinna 6-10 245 GR 12.1 7.9 0.7
Bench
PG Winborne 6-2 185 FR
SG Berger 6-2 200 FR
SG Bleechmore 6-5 200 JR TR
PF Klaczek 6-8 230 SO 1.5 1.5 0.8
OC Coleman 7-0 245 JR 2.3 2.8 0.4
OC Jansson 6-11 250 JR 0.9 1.1 0.1
UGA connection at St. Francis
Linehan Named Men's Basketball Assistant Coach
Linehan Named Men's Basketball Assistant Coach - Saint Joseph's University
John Linehan has been named an assistant coach for the Saint Joseph's men's basketball program, head coach Billy Lange announced today.
sjuhawks.com
Recruiting
Asa Newell…
SEC
Kentucky
Lexington Herald Leader: He’ll be billed as Kentucky basketball’s 10th man. But he could be ‘something special.’
Mississippi
Rashaud Marshall, a 2023 4-star 6-foot-9 center, announces SEC basketball commitment
Rashaud Marshall, a 4-star 6-foot-9 center, announces SEC basketball commitment
Rashaud Marshall has developed into a key recruit this cycle.
www.saturdaydownsouth.com
College Basketball
DePaul
DePaul keeps adding late, GT and others were interested
LIU
AP: Former Knicks PG Rod Strickland hired as LIU basketball coach
Former Knicks PG Rod Strickland hired as LIU basketball coach
Strickland was hired Thursday to replace Derek Kellogg, who led the Sharks to a 16-14 record last season.
greaterlongisland.com
Louisville
Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville men's basketball's Mike James savors small steps and big leaps in injury return
Louisville men's basketball's Mike James savors small steps and big leaps in injury return
The 6-foot-6 James missed his freshman season with an Achilles injury, but he's working his way back on the court — and above the rim.
www.courier-journal.com
Memphis
Tigers Add Longtime College Coach Frank Haith to Staff
Tigers Add Longtime College Coach Frank Haith to Staff - University of Memphis Athletics
Memphis Tiger head men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway has added longtime college basketball coach Frank Haith to his staff as an assistant coach.
Virginia
Richmond Times Dispatch: ACC imperiled as Hokies, UVA and others explore all options
“I’m probably perpetually uncomfortable [with ACC finances] because we want to compete at the highest levels as a football program, as a men’s basketball program, as a women’s basketball program,” Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said last month. “Go down the list [of sports]. We want to compete at the highest levels.
“We also want the conference to do well because that helps us. ... So, no, I mean, we’ve got work to do. But that’s what makes it fun. It’s a big challenge, a big challenge.”
“Anyone who doesn’t believe that multiple, perhaps most, ACC schools aren’t parsing the grant of rights for loopholes and hoping for an invitation from the SEC or Big Ten is naive.”
“The consensus is this latest round of realignment will pause until the Fighting Irish chart their course. If they remain independent, everyone might well stand down.
If they join a conference ...
“We’re getting to a two-solar system model here,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said as he emerged from the final session of the ACC’s spring meetings in Florida. “You have two suns with all the gravitational pull — the Big Ten and the SEC. People are going to have to figure out how to align with one or the other.”
Yes, an ACC AD, mere moments after huddling with his colleagues on league business, essentially forecasted the group’s splintering. It was remarkable to hear and in no way coerced.
Swarbrick’s candor also spoke to residual anger over the ACC helping to derail the College Football Playoff expansion plan that he, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and others spent years crafting.
The 12-team format, which precluded independents such as Notre Dame from receiving a first-round bye, appeared destined for approval and 2024 implementation before the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten insisted on a pause.
Was it frustrating to have countless hours of work, conducted during the heart of a pandemic, suddenly upended?
“You have no idea,” Swarbrick said that morning in Florida.
The parlor game now is projecting whether Swarbrick, Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren will re-engage on the 12-team playoff, or whether they’ll take their two super conferences to market and stage a private championship bracket.
Phillips was the point man of the ACC’s objections, observing that college athletics needed to address an array of other issues — length of season, athlete safety, transfer portal, NIL compensation, NCAA restructuring — before finalizing a CFP format. He even went so far as to forge an “Alliance” with the Pac-12 and Big Ten, in part to stabilize a landscape shaken by Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC.
But the Big Ten’s Warren nuked the Alliance’s very premise by raiding the Pac-12’s Los Angeles cornerstones. And he could do the same to Phillips and the ACC.
But understand that in lobbying for a delay of playoff expansion, Phillips, a former Big Ten athletic director at Northwestern, was voicing the concerns of his constituents, none more vocal than Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. The cruel irony is that potential lack of playoff access for the ACC could drive Clemson and others to desert the conference.”
Teel: Three-fold challenge for imperiled ACC in wake of latest conference realignment
As panic ensues during the Faber homecoming parade in “Animal House,” ROTC cadet Chip Diller, aka Kevin Bacon, attempts to quell the masses.
Weber State
Standard-Examiner: Old-school 2022 forward Daniel Rouzan commits to Weber State basketball after arduous recruiting journey
Old-school forward Daniel Rouzan commits to Weber State basketball after arduous recruiting journey
For a player whose recruitment restarted multiple times, Daniel Rouzan is happy with where he's ending up. The 6-foot-9 Las Vegas native committed to Weber State men's basketball this week, which he announced publicly Thursday afternoon, to complete WSU's 2022 recruiting class. After a long...
NBA Basketball
Brooklyn
LA Clippers
The Ringer: Do the Clippers Have Too Much of a Good Thing?
Do the Clippers Have Too Much of a Good Thing?
Despite making only minor moves in free agency, the Clippers might be the early favorites heading into next season. But to make good on their promise this time around, they’ll need to figure out how to manage one of the deepest rosters in recent memory.
www.theringer.com
Euros Hoops
The Guardian: A free ticket to travel’: the Americans forging basketball careers in Europe
How do American players forging careers abroad adapt to life in the European leagues, both on and off the court? The Guardian spoke to several who have played across the continent
‘A free ticket to travel’: the Americans forging basketball careers in Europe
How do American players forging careers abroad adapt to life in the European leagues, both on and off the court? The Guardian spoke to several who have played across the continent
History
Hoops Birthdays 7-08
Jordan Adams SG Atlanta UCLA MEM 2014-2016 7-08-1994 28 YOA
Online Athens: No. 11 UCLA hands Georgia men's basketball team another heartbreaking loss (11–30-2012)
“For the second consecutive night, the Georgia men's basketball team gave a top-25 opponent all it could handle.
And for the second straight night, the Bulldogs finished with a heartbreaking loss.
Shabazz Muhammad scored 20 points and No. 11 UCLA made enough free throws late to hold off Georgia for a 60-56 win Tuesday night in the consolation game of the Legends Classic tournament.”
“The 6-foot-6 Muhammad, one of the most highly sought after high school players last season, was declared eligible by the NCAA on Friday.”
NO. 11 UCLA 60, GEORGIA 56
GEORGIA (1-4)
Caldwell-Pope 5-13 3-4 16, Thornton 0-3 0-2 0, V. Williams 1-5 0-0 3, D. Williams 3-5 2-2 8, Djurisic 4-9 0-0 8, Mann 2-5 1-2 5, Dixon 0-0 0-0 0, Gaines 0-2 0-0 0, Brantley 2-8 0-0 6, Morris 1-1 0-0 2, Cannon 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 22-59 6-10 56.
UCLA (4-1)
Powell 1-4 4-6 7, Anderson 4-7 1-2 9, Drew II 2-4 1-1 5, Muhammad 6-12 8-11 21, T. Wear 4-9 2-4 10, Smith 1-3 2-4 4, Adams 1-6 2-2 4, Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 20-30 60.
No. 11 UCLA hands Georgia men's basketball team another heartbreaking loss
NEW YORK - For the second consecutive night, the Georgia men's basketball team gave a top-25 opponent all it could handle. And for the second straight night, the Bulldogs finished with a heartbreak…
www.onlineathens.com
Bucky Bockhorn SG Dayton CIN 1958-1965 7-08-1933 89 YOA
Dayton Daily News: Archdeacon: ‘There’s never been a better Flyer than Bucky’ (1-20-2022)
He’s in the UD Hall of Fame, the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame and he’s part of the Flyers All-Century team. After a seven-year NBA career, he became the color commentator for UD radio broadcasts in 1970, lasted a mind-boggling 50 seasons and now has added three more emeritus year
It was the 1940s and he was one of Elvin and Hulda Bockhorn’s 10 kids. They lived on a hardscrabble farm in southern Illinois. His dad worked in a coal mine.
The family was poor and some of the older children were “farmed out” to live with other families. Several of the boys went off to military service and two died in wars.
Junior was killed in the fierce Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II and Gene died eight years later in Korea.
As a kid, Bucky labored like a man in the fields. His dad had no use for sports – he saw them as a diversion from work– but Bucky did manage to get a hoop tacked up on a chicken coop.
Eventually he got all his eggs in the right basket – the one with a net – and became a star at Trico Consolidated High School.
That drew the interest from UD, but when he got an offer from Tom Blackburn, he said: “I was scared…to…death!
“I was a farm boy. I’d never been on a Greyhound bus or a train. I’d never flew. They had to come and get me for Christ’s sake!”
That was in 1952 and – except for an interruptive two years in the Army, which came after his freshman season as a Flyer, and then as a take-no-guff, 6-foot-4 guard with the Cincinnati Royals, with whom he played 474 games, averaged 11.5 points per game and teamed in the backcourt with Oscar Robertson – he never left UD.
“I’m the luckiest guy in America,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been on a 60-year scholarship.”
Archdeacon: ‘There’s never been a better Flyer than Bucky’
It was 30 minutes before the Dayton Flyers would tip off against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night and Bucky Bockhorn – wearing a red sweater and a bit of an overwhelmed look – sat in one of the new Terrace Suites that juts out over the stands at the south end of UD Arena.
Ashton Hagans PG Cartersville Kentucky MIN 2020-2021 7-08-1999 23 YOA
One time UGA commit…
Hakim Warrick PF Syracuse MEM, MIL, CHI, PHO, NO, CHAR 2005-2013 7-08-1982 40 YOA
Sonny Weems SG Arkansas DEN, TOR, PHO, PHI 2008-2016 7-08-1986 35 YOA
Wang Zhizhi C China DAL, LAC, MIA 7-08-1977 45 YOA
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