Editor’s Note: Whether coaching or forecasting, Bobby Gonzalez knows college basketball. He went 8-0 picking games in the Sweet Sixteen a year ago, 7-1 in that round this year and 3-1 in last weekend’s regional finals. This is not some Bozo. It’s Gonzo. He knows what he’s talking about. It was 1991 and I was standing in the crowd at the Final Four as a New York City high school coach, watching All-American Larry Johnson of the dominant, unbeaten UNLV team
Media pundits argue all of the time about which athletes contain the “clutch gene.” Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Ray Allen, Tom Brady, John Elway rank among the greats in the respective sports. Even players like Tim Tebow have garnered acclaim for playing big in the clutch moments. Kentucky Wildcats guard Aaron Harrison has proven himself to be a major “clutch” player with ice in his veins. For three games in-a-row heading into the NCAA National Championship game, he has hit the go-ahead three-point
With 2.3 seconds remaining and the NCAA Tournament’s last Final Four spot on the line, Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison gave us our tournament moment. A good three feet behind the 3-point line, Harrison rose with confidence over Michigan’s Chris LeVERT, an outstanding defender that was constantly impacting the game on that end of the floor all game. Swish. [Read more…]
The NCAA tournament has given us plenty to talk about after its first weekend. We’ve been treated to six overtime games (the tournament record is seven), big time upsets (Duke, Syracuse and Kansas all failed to win more than one game) and memorable finishes (ask THE University of Dayton). But between all of the madness that has commenced this week, one game has managed to stand above the rest: No. 8 seed Kentucky vs. No. 1 seed Wichita State. [Read more…]
NEW YORK – When the NBA draft lottery ended with the Cleveland Cavaliers owning the No. 1 pick, most observers assumed they would take Kentucky freshman big man Nerlens Noel. But because Noel is not considered a dominant player or a presumptive top pick, there remains speculation that the Cavs might take Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. or Maryland center Alex Len — or consider trading the rights to Noel to Minnesota for Kevin Love. Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore is also considered by some to be worthy of the
This year will mark the 10th anniversary of LeBron James’s grant entrance into the NBA, when he wore an all-white suit (perfect garb for a Savior) to Madison Square Garden and was chosen No. 1 by the Cleveland Cavaliers out of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. Two years later, the NBA and the players union instituted the so-called “one-and-done” rule mandating that players had to be 19 years old and a year removed from their high school graduation class in
College coaches are crisscrossing the country visiting with the top stars in the high school Class of 2013 in hopes of persuading them to choose their schools. In Texas, after Kentucky coach John Calipari showed 6-foot-9 forward Julius Randle his 2012 NCAA championship ring, North Carolina coach Roy Williams one-upped Cal. Or should we say, 29-upped him. Williams brought a case of 30 rings to his home visit with Randle, including Michael Jordan’s 1992 Chicago Bulls championship ring. “He said Jordan gave it to