Larry Brown was like your grandfather. Or at least, that’s how everyone around college basketball described him. He was an unchallenged legend, revered as one of the game’s great teachers, a man who could parachute in to an irrelevant program in a borderline-irrelevant conference and turn it into a budding basketball hotbed. He was old (75), small, gentle and soft-spoken. He wore little circle glasses, paced around nervously and looked and acted like an English Lit professor. He talked constantly about teaching kids, teaching
Scotto: Top Recruits Shine Bright in Jordan Brand Classic
BROOKLYN – The Jordan Brand Classic introduced us to the country’s top recruits. From the looks of it, the future of college basketball is bright. Top recruits from Kentucky, Florida State, Arizona and more starred during the event, giving schools hope they can wrestle the NCAA title away from Duke next season. Speaking of wrestling a title away, France’s Jaylen Hoard and Bosnia’s Njegos Sikiras took home MVP honors during the International Game – which has been dominated by the Canadians in
Gonzo: Picking the NCAA Sweet Sixteen matchups
The NCAA Committee really deserves to take a bow with the matchups, storylines and drama they helped provide in picking the field this year. After a very compelling and topsy-turvy first two rounds, now it’s what I like to call “big boy time.” After coaching in a few NCAA tourneys and closely following countless others, one thing I’ve learned through the years is that at this point, it’s usually safe to expect the chalk to advance. We will forever have upsets
Draft: The UCLA dilemma – Three riddles for NBA GMs
As we get closer to the NBA Draft with its four-headed monster at the top (one head is an Aussie, mate!), the headaches GMs are having makes for a sugar rush for the rest of us. Here is a look at the three prospects coming from UCLA who will challenge the NBA’s general managers and scouts in very different ways. [Read more…]
Magic Johnson, Kevin Love, Others Remember Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson, most recently immortalized in last year’s baseball film, 42, is a sports icon—in large part due to the significant contribution he made to all sports in being the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball during racial segregation (prior to the Civil Rights Movement). Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball when he started for the Brooklyn Dodgers 67 years ago on this very day, April 15, 1947. 10 years ago, in 2004, Major League Baseball decided to commemorate Robinson’s
Tweet of the Day: Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook Among NBA Athletes Cheering For Their College Teams
One of the busiest weeks in a basketball fan’s year is underway. Bracket Week always keeps avid followers on their toes as they try to keep up with all the action leading up to Selection Sunday, which takes place tomorrow. Typically Saturday is a quiet day for basketball, but with the N.C.A.A. schedule heating up, today was anything but quiet. NBA players who had some time off were cheering on their former schools. @UCLAMBB let's go!!!!!! — Kevin Love (@kevinlove) March 15, 2014 RT
Updated NBA Mock Lottery — Jayhawks will go 1 and 2; Exum 5th
As the All-Star break and Feb. 20 trade deadline draw near, it’s becoming increasingly clear to the neutral observer which teams are going to compete for the remainder of the regular season, and which teams are content on limping to the finish line. Their hopes will then rest on securing a high lottery pick in this, the much hyped 2014 NBA draft. It’s been a while between mock drafts here at SheridanHoops since Joe Kotoch’s ‘Very Early Mock Lottery‘ was published, and
Zagoria: Countdown to the Early Signing Period: 10 Top Committed and Uncommitted Prep Prospects
The NCAA early signing period for basketball runs from Nov. 13-20, and even with Tuesday’s commitment by Trey Lyles to Kentucky, there’s still a slew of elite prospects and future NBA lottery picks left on the board. Here’s a look at the top 10 uncommitted and committed prospects in the Class of 2014, including perhaps the projected top three overall picks in the 2015 NBA draft. [Read more…]