PointGuard

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  1. Coaches Evaluation of their teams (Part 2 of 5): Here’s how the combined media prognostication picked the five teams to do within their respective conferences this season: Conf U—Alcorn State--1st, Arkansas-Pine Bluff--7th Conf V—MD-Eastern Shore--2nd, Western Illinois--4th, UC-San Diego--5th So let’s hear what each of the five coaches have to say about their teams: Terry Morillo, Western Illinois Leathernecks, Conference V: We’re strong at all 5 positions this year and I believe we can do as well or better than the 4th place the media picked us for in Conference V. Leading the way is PF Guillermo Cabrera, a 6-11 senior who averaged 12.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg last season in his first year as a starter. He’s also very strong defensively. Our starting C will be 6-7 junior Jamar Curtis who transferred to us after starting 2 years for Kent State where he averaged 13.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg. I’m expecting Guillermo and Jamar to be a dynamic duo who do a lot of damage inside for us. At SF will be 6-6 senior Daniel Blair. Daniel played 2 years of JC ball and then was a key reserve for us last season when he averaged 4.1 ppg. Daniel could be a good mid-range scorer for us. Our starting SG will be 6-1 senior Mohamed White. He started last season and while he didn’t score too much (4.1 ppg), he’s good at finding open players and also positions well for rebounds while playing strong defensively. 6-4 sophomore Tom Daniel did a good job last season coming off the bench (5.0 ppg and 3.7 apg) and moves up to start at PG this year. Our key reserves will be: 6-10 senior C Jamaal Adams who averaged 5.7 ppg and 4.1 rpg, coming off the bench but also starting 3 games last season; 6-4 junior SF Brian Manheimer who transferred from Milwaukee, sat our his required season and came off the bench for us last season but has continued to improve every year; 6-2 senior SG Duany Vaughn who started 5 games for us last year, averaging 11.8 ppg and 4.4 apg, before tearing his Achilles tendon and will finish his rehab about a month into this season and could then challenge to get back his starting role; and 6-8 freshman PF Craig Grant who may (or may not) be strong offensively but is definitely a good defender. The team and coaches are dedicated to creating an air of excitement within the Leatherneck fans this season and hopefully treating them to some good post-season tournament action and earning a promotion to Conference U next year.
  2. Coaches Evaluation of their teams (Part 1 of 5): Here’s how the combined media prognostication picked the five teams to do within their respective conferences this season: Conf U—Alcorn State--1st, Arkansas-Pine Bluff--7th Conf V—MD-Eastern Shore--2nd, Western Illinois--4th, UC-San Diego--5th So let’s hear what each of the five coaches have to say about their teams: Mike Williams, MD-Eastern Shore Hawks, Conference V: We’ve been picked to finish 2nd this season in Conference V. I’m not ready to say where we’ll end up, but I’m pretty pleased with how our team looks on paper. Actually I also liked how our practices have gone thus far. If you’ve been following the Hawks recently and look at our starting lineup this season, you’re probably asking, “Who are THOSE guys???” Only 1 of our 5 starters have ever played a single minute of a game for us. That guy is senior SG Frank Davis who didn’t play much as a freshman or sophomore but last season he started every game and averaged 14.1 ppg while hitting a pretty high percentage of his shots. So who ARE the other guys and why am I pleased to have them starting. 2 of them are transfer players who had to sit out last season, another comes to us this year after playing 2 years of JC ball, and the final guy is a walk-on who previously played ball for a Division III team. When we tried out walk-on players, I was impressed by what he could do. Starting at C will be junior Romolo Pantani who comes from France but started two seasons for Tennessee Tech. Romolo averaged 15.6 ppg over those 2 seasons. He’s a good inside and mid-distance scorer and is very strong defensively. His rebounding was ok for Tennessee Tech, but I think he became stronger last season while practicing with our team. His backups will be junior Joe Carson who started for us last season and senior Kent Evans who did a good job subbing for us last season. At PF we have sophomore Dwayne Bullet, a transfer from Belmont where he started as a freshman and averaged 7.1 ppg and did a good job on the boards. He can put the ball in the basket from all over the court and is a very good defender. He’ll be backed up by sophomore Tony Rueter who started for us last season, averaging 9.3 ppg and 6.0 rpg. At SF is JC transfer Frank Reed. Frank has a sweet outside shot and attacks the board well but isn’t yet a good defender. Coming off the bench at SF will be Junior Sarchet who started for us as a freshman and subbed last season. He has average skills but is a hard worker and wants to play. At PG is senior Matt Brown. Matt attended and played ball for a Division III school. We picked him up as a walk-on because of his excellent passing skills and good ball handling. The hole in his game is defense…that’s a big concern, but hopefully we can improve that. His backup will be sophomore Ewald Leitenberger who comes from Germany and transferred to us from Lehigh where he played just a little as a freshman and still needs to work on developing his skills. Coming off the bench to back up SG Frank Davis will be another player from France, sophomore Edouard Gaultier. He transferred from Mississippi Valley where he played very little as a freshman but is a good scorer and defender. So, if we can gel with so many new players and get them playing up to their potential, we could be formidable and I’m confident we will improve on last year’s 12-17 record. My main challenge will be to get the team playing together as a productive unit during our pre-conference games so that we’re ready for Conference V competition and finish high enough to be promoted next year. And yes, I’d really like for our team to get into the best possible post-season tournament.
  3. Omari Aura My team, the Providence Friars, is having a terrific season. We’ve got a 18-1 season record and our 9-1 Big East record puts has us in a tie with Creighton for 1st place in the conference. We’re ranked #3 in the polls and our NET ranking is 4th best in the nation. We had very strong teams the first two years I was at Providence, but I think this is the strongest team we’ve had, and I believe we have a good chance to go much deeper in the NCAA Tournament than we did my first 2 years here. Of course, a lot of the credit goes to SG Zack Watkins. He’s so talented and in his freshman season he’s leading all Division I scorers by averaging 29.5 ppg. He’s also pulling down 7.8 rpg and dishing out 2.5 apg while recording 1.5 bpg and 1.9 spg. He should be the front-runner for the Norton Award, but his grades are low and that is keeping him from being considered. I’m concerned that he’ll opt to declare early for the pro draft. I’d sure like to have him playing for us next season when I’ll be a senior. Pro scouts are checking out a lot of our games and I know they’re not looking at me. Coach Parker has worked me more into the offense recently. That’s allowed me to score in double figures in 5 of the last 7 games and score 9 points in one of the two other games. My season averages are now 7.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.2 spg, and 0.5 bpg which isn’t too bad for a SF. I’ve had a sore knee the past week which has cut down on my rebounds. My dad has been on me to keep getting treatments from the athletic trainers…and it’s starting to feel much better so I think I’ll be back to 100% for our next game. Gotta because 2 of my teammates are also nursing injuries. My dad’s team has hit a bump in the road, losing 2 of their last 3 games. But I’m sure he’ll relight the fire and get the Eagles knocking off their opponents again. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet up with Boston College again in the NCAA Tourney.
  4. Jan. 25, 2030: #2 ranked Duke Blue Devils (20-1, 9-0) vs #5 ranked Boston College Eagles (16-3, 7-1) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA 2nd Assistant Coach Chris Evans Duke’s a game-and-a-half ahead of us in the standings. Their defense (53.9 ppg) is awesome and has been responsible for them outscoring their opponents this season by an average of 21 points. C Brian Taylor is back for the 3rd year against us. This season, though, freshman SG Trent Coleman has been the Blue Devils primary scorer, averaging 23.5 ppg. In Duke’s 21 games, Coleman has scored 20+ points 14 times and in 7 of those 14 he scored 30+ points. So while Taylor is still dominant on the boards (10.4 rpg) he’s now the secondary offensive weapon, averaging 11.7 ppg. But we’ve beaten Duke 4 out of 5 times the past two years and intend to break their 17-game win streak tonight. We’re starting Glen Robinson at SG rather than Corey Graham. Robinson is stronger defensively so hopefully he will have some success against Coleman. Graham will still get plenty of playing time, though, since we will need to keep fresh legs on the floor to combat Coleman’s aggressiveness. The game’s about to begin. Let’s see how it goes. Two intercepted passes turn into easy breakaway scores for Duke, but C Courtland Reese counteracts the Blue Devils scoring as he scores on all 4 of his shots in the first 3 minutes. Both teams hit a high percentage of their shots but Duke’s defense is causing us to make too many turnovers. We trail 24-20 with 9 minutes to play in the half. Both teams played tough the entire half. We came away with a slim 38-37 halftime advantage. Both teams hit 50% of their shots. We turned the ball over 9 times but our defense forced Duke to make 8 turnovers. We held a 14-11 rebounding advantage. C Courtland Reese was our top scorer with 9 points. Even though we double-teamed Duke’s Trent Coleman he still scored 14 points. The lead shifted back and forth for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. We then hit a dry spell offensively and the Blue Devils took a 6 point lead with 6-1/2 minutes to go. We battled back to cut Duke’s lead to just 2 at the last media time out. We trailed by 4 with 1:35 to go and Glen Robinson was called for a technical, a major error on his part…that put us down by 6. We then had to foul…but couldn’t catch up and lost 69-63. The team stats were extremely close with the exception of free throws which favored Duke by 6 points, the difference in the final score. There were 16 lead changes and 8 ties in the game. SG Trent Coleman scored 22 and had 6 steals to lead Duke. C Courtland Reese had 16 points and 8 rebounds, SG Corey Graham hit for 14, and PG Bobby Grannum scored 10 and pulled down 8 boards. A disappointing loss, particularly at home, in a game we had a good chance of winning. We’re now 2-1/2 games behind Duke with several teams breathing down our necks for 2nd place in the ACC.
  5. Coach Records thus far: Mike McMillan 2030-31: 8-7 (MD-Eastern State) 2031-32: 6-9 (MD-Eastern State) 2032-33: 12-17 (MD-Eastern State) 2033-34: 12-17 (MD-Eastern State) Career: 38-50, .432 Ken Yamoto 2030-31: 3-12 (Tarleton State) 2031-32: 2-13 (Tarleton State) 2032-33: 6-9 (Tarleton State) 2033-34: 10-17 (UC=San Diego) Career: 21-51, .292 Dontell Spencer 2030-31: 6-10 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) 2031-32: 9-7 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) [NIT, 1st Rnd] 2032-33: 11-8 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) [NIT, Semifinals] 2033-34: 25-6 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) [NCAA, 1st Rnd] Career: 51-31, .622 Terry Morillo 2030-31: 4-11 (Dixie State) 2031-32: 7-8 (Dixie State) 2032-33: 4-11 (Dixie State) 2033-34: 13-16 (Western Illinois) Career: 28-46, .378 Ramon Montez: 2030-31: 8-7 (Alcorn State) 2031-32: 14-14 (Alcorn State) 2032-33: 14-16 (Alcorn State) 2033-34: 18-14 (Alcorn State) [CIT, 2nd Rnd] Career: 54-51, .514
  6. Jan. 20, 2030: #5 ranked Boston College Eagles (15-3, 6-1) vs Louisville Cardinals (5-10, 1-5) at KFC Yumi Center in Louisville, KY C Courtland Reese Following regular participation in the NCAA tournament over the years, last season the Cardinals could only qualify for the NIT and this season has thus far been a much further slip down the ladder of success. Louisville’s offense has been anemic and they have hit a low percentage of their shots. We need to clamp down defensively early to keep them from gaining confidence. My primary responsibility is to not let Adam Crenshaw, who is their best scorer, from doing much damage. He’s a freshman who came to the Cardinals as a highly touted recruit and has produced including a couple recent 20+ points games Crenshaw scored Louisville’s first 4 points, but a little later I drew an offensive foul from him. We shot well early and raced to a 21-7 lead after 8 minutes of play. We built a 20 point lead with 6 minutes remaining in the half. We had an extremely strong defense for the first 10 minutes of the game, but the Cardinals began hitting some shots after that. The half ended with us on top 42-24. PG Bobby Grannum led us offensively with 10 points. I failed in controlling Crenshaw…he scored 13 of their 24 points by hitting all 6 of his shots. We had a horribly tough time getting the ball in the hoop for the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half and Louisville cut our lead to 44-33. Our shooting only improved slightly, and we slowly rebuilt a 20 point lead with 5 minutes to go. We let the Cardinals eat away at our lead the rest of the way but still came away with a 67-57 win. Both teams hit less than 40% of their FGA’s. SF/SG Glen Robinson, PG Bobby Grannum and I each scored 11 points. I also had 13 rebounds , 3 steals and a block. But Adam Crenshaw scored 21 points for Louisville. He’s really good at working his way into the basket. Now it’s time for us to prepare for Duke.
  7. RECRUITING PLANS AND RESULTS [PointGuard note: All recruiting done by the AI for all 5 teams.] Here’s comments from the coaches on their upcoming recruiting. All 5 have full rosters going into this season so will not be going after any transfer players. Following each of their comments about what the type of recruits they want to get, you’ll see their comments five month later at the conclusion of the summer/autumn recruiting: Coach Ramon Montez at Alcorn State: June: We have 3 seniors graduating and hope to pick up 2 SG’s and a PF as new recruits. October: Not bad, but not great. We have commitments from 2 recruits so we still need to get one more. Our new recruits are: (1) PF B.J. Jefferson from Noxapater, MS…the #840 ranked recruit…very good rebounder and good shooting skills, defense needs a lot of work; and (2) SF Jermaine Wheeler from York, ME…ranked #1441…good shooting skills but doesn’t shoot enough, good rebounder, great athleticism. We don’t have a lot of money left in our budget, but I think enough to get a guy (hopefully a guard) this spring from our list of recruits who already have at least some level of interest. Coach Terry Morillo at Western Illinois: June: We’ve got a huge recruiting job to do. We need to fill 6 scholarships. Our goal is to land a PG, two SG’s, a SF, a PF, and with the remaining scholarship either a G or SF October: We got half-way there. Picked up 3 recruits but have 3 scholarships that aren’t yet filled. We still have a pretty decent budget left and a lot of guys on our watch and call lists, some with interest, more we still need to work on. Here’s who we have thus far: (1) C Larry McClain from Ferndale, MI…the #1269 ranked recruit, he’s a very good inside scorer and a strong rebounder but poor defensively; (2) SG Mohamed Ammons from Wilmette, IL…ranked #1500 as a recruit…a good scorer with a sweet shot from outside but also able to score inside as well, strong athleticism, so-so defender, but for 6’5” not a good rebounder; (3) PG Jonathan Bailey from Chicago…ranked #1050 as a recruit…I like his outside shot but he doesn’t shoo that much, very good passer, weak defensively. I’d really like to get at least a SG and SF with he 3 remaining scholarships. Coach Ken Yamoto at UC-San Diego: June: After last season when we only had 1 scholarship to fill, this year we need to fill 4 scholarships. Our effort will focus on adding a PG, a SG, and two PF’s October: I’m feeling FINE! Have commitments for all 4 available scholarships and should one of them not meet our SAT requirements, we still have a lot of money and some highly interested recruits remaining on our watch/call lists. We fill the slots exactly as I’d hoped as well with: (1) PF Brad Sanders from Sutter, CA…he’s the 594th ranked recruit…a very strong rebounder and pretty good scorer from inside but not strong defensively; (2) PF Jared Keating from Atherton, CA who ranks as the #1233rd recruit…excellent inside scorer, is only 6’6” so not expected to be much of a rebounder but has the bulk and muscle so may eventually develop; (3) PG Lance Rhodes from Culver City, CA…ranked #1562…excellent passer and ball handler with a very nice outside shot but needs a lot of work defensively; (4) SG Brad Young from Placer, CA…#1596 in the recruit rankings…outstanding outside shooter and very good passer and ball handler with good athleticism, ok defensively but doesn’t rebound worth a dang even though he’s 6’4”. Coach Mike McMillan at MD-Eastern Shore: June: During our recruiting efforts to fill 4 scholarships, we will aim at getting a PG, two SG’s, and an interior player as our new recruits. October: Man, I’m disheartened. We went through our entire recruiting budget from June through October and we came up empty. Yeah, that’s right. We made offers to 5 recruits, but were unable to get any commitments. So no recruits and no more budget. We’ve still got a number of guys on our watch list and will make calls this winter and scholarship offers this spring. But without the money to go after them, I really don’t expect we will be able to fill those two scholarships. That means we’ll be active in going after transfer players next June. My recruiting assistant, 2nd Asst Coach Torrey Wright, has the skills but just didn’t close the deals this year. Yeah, I’m bummed. Coach Dontell Spender at Arkansas Pine Bluff: June: We’ve only 2 scholarships to offer and our need is to 2 a C and either a C or PF. October: Hooray! We got 2 guys. They better meet our SAT minimums, because it took every dollar in our limited recruiting budget to get them. Here’s who’s coming to deliver: (1) SF Randy Kickert from Greenland, AR (that name for a town in Arkansas just seems so wrong)…the #1486 ranked recruit…Excellent outside shot but needs to put the ball up more often, strong rebounder who may also play some PF for us; (2) C Delvon Palmer from Jacksonville, AR…ranked #1256…good inside shooting skills but would like him to be a stronger rebounder.
  8. 2034-2035 SEASON Recruit Class Rankings of the 5 schools: #74—Western Illinois #123—Alcorn State #149—Arkansas-Pine Bluff #270—MD-Eastern Shore #272—UC-San Diego Promotion/Relgation Here’s the teams that were promoted and relegated for this season: Promoted to Conf. A: Kansas State North Carolina Virginia Duke Relegated to Conf. B: Seton Hall Purdue Louisville Villanova Promoted to Conf. B: Providence Brigham Young Connecticut Florida Relegated to Conf. C : Baylor Ohio State Tennessee Gonzaga Promoted to Conf. C : Oklahoma State St. Bonaventure Utah State Nebraska Relegated to Conf. D : Temple Utah Iowa State Florida State Promoted to Conf. D : Minnesota Vermont Auburn Washington Relegated to Conf. E: Georgia Miami (FL) Arizona State Boise State Promoted to Conf. E: Texas A&M Buffalo Saint Louis Penn State Relegated to Conf. F: Houston Davidson Dayton Indiana Promoted to Conf. F: Ohio Central Florida Wright State Murray State Relegated to Conf. G: Mississippi Wake Forest Washington State Saint Mary’s Promoted to Conf. G: Old Dominion Oregon State Western Michigan Pacific Relegated to Conf. H: DePaul St. John’s Toledo Western Kentucky Promoted to Conf. H: Milwaukee Bowling Green Duquesne Louisiana State Relegated to Conf. I: East Tennessee State Wyoming LaSalle Drake Promoted to Conf. I: Furman Oral Roberts Drexel Marshall Relegated to Conf. J: North Dakota State Northern Iowa Hofstra Saint Joseph’s Promoted to Conf. J: Louisiana-Lafayette Weber State Montana Detroit Mercy Relegated to Conf. K: Santa Clara San Francisco North Texas Miami (OH) Promoted to Conf. K: Stony Brook Holy Cross Chattanooga Sam Houston State Relegated to Conf. L: Air Force William & Mary Lehigh Charlotte Promoted to Conf. L: Towson Little Rock MD-Baltimore County Morehead State Relegated to Conf. M: Ball State Southern Illinois Iona Portland State Promoted to Conf. M: Florida Gulf Coast Liberty Central Michigan Cal State Fullerton Relegated to Conf. N: Texas-San Antonio Coastal Carolina Oakland Rice Promoted to Conf. N: Elon Manhattan Marist Eastern Michigan Relegated to Conf. O: Arkansas State UC-Riverside Siena Robert Morris Promoted to Conf. O: Cal Poly Florida Atlantic Brown Eastern Kentucky Relegated to Conf. P: Appalachian State Cal State Bakersfield Northern Illinois Denver Promoted to Conf. P: SE Louisiana Texas State Louisiana-Monroe Northwestern State Relegated to Conf. Q: Troy St. Peter’s Delaware San Jose State Promoted to Conf. Q: Samford Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Sacramento State Northern Arizona Relegated to Conf. R: Canisius Fordham Columbia Northern Colorado Promoted to Conf. R: Lamar Fairleigh Dickinson Texas-Rio Grande VMI Relegated to Conf. S: Western Carolina Tennessee Tech Kansas City Hampton Promoted to Conf. S: Incarnate Word Bethune-Cookman Jacksonville UC Davis Relegated to Conf. T: Texas Southern Sacred Heart Saint Francis (PA) Bellarmine Promoted to Conf. T: Jackson State McNeese State Omaha Chicago State Relegated to Conf. U: Morgan State South Carolina State Delaware State Jackson State Promoted to Conf. U: Arkansas-Pine Bluff Alcorn State Seattle North Dakota Relegated to Conf. V: Mississippi Valley Kennesaw State Eastern Illinois Houston Baptist Promoted to Conf. V: Presbyterian Relegated to Independent: Coppin State
  9. JJ Conroy, BeanTownSports Blog Ewww! What’s that foul odor? Seems it’s coming from Chapel Hill, NC. Ohhh, it must be the Boston College Eagles late 2nd half rancid play. They simply were putrid while allowing North Carolina to score 19 unanswered points. Yes, unanswered….as in scoring zero points while giving up 19. Not only did the Eagles offense stink but their vaunted defense gave up 29 points in 7 short minutes at the end of the game. During that time they surrendered an 8 point lead to fall to a bruising crash landing loss that was more ungainly than a gooney bird’s crash landing. The strengths of the Boston College team (defense and rebounding) took a real beating. And their inability to score points to a really serious deficiency of the Eagles team. That’s their shooting. Their FG% is only 131st best in the country. And their 3-point shooing percentage is 226th best. Those aren’t stats that point to consistent success this season. So it’s no wonder their rebounding seems to be a strength…they pull down the 12th most rebounds per game of any Division I team. Well, that’s because their defense makes their opponents normally shoot poorly…and the Eagles themselves create even more possible rebounds by shooting poorly. This isn’t a problem that can be fixed overnight. If most of your team are low percentage shooters, you may HOPE for improvement, but the likelihood of actually accomplishing that is very low. This spells out something most Eagles fans don’t want to accept. This year’s team is going to have an extremely tough time going up against top-flight competition in the tournaments at the end of the season. So if you’re the biggest Eagles supporter on your block, you may just have to hold your nose as you root for them and see them occasionally stink up the gym the rest of this season. Meanwhile, the Duke Blue Devils are playing like real champs. Their defense it tops in Division I basketball, giving up just 53.9 ppg. The Blue Devils have won 17 straight games and now are a full 2 games ahead of 2nd place Boston College in the ACC standings. Their 9 wins in the ACC have been by margins of 16, 33, 30, 15, 10, 18, 23, 11, and 26 points. So they’re making the rest of the ACC look like high school teams. Duke and Boston College play each other next week. I’m picking the Blue Devils, but since the game is at BC’s Conte Forum, the Eagles at least have a chance if they can avoid another complete collapse. But BC plays in Durham 3 weeks later…and the Blue Devils will singe the tail feathers of the Eagles in that one.
  10. Jan. 18, 2030: #5 ranked Boston College Eagles (15-2, 6-0) vs #4 ranked North Carolina (16-4, 4-3) at Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC Biff Conroy, WRKO Radio Sports Talk Host Hey sports maniacs, glad to have you listening in. The focus for this hour is Boston College basketball. And in particular, their game tonight against North Carolina. It’s a contest pitting #4 against #5 in the polls. The Tar Heels come into the game 2-1/2 games behind the Eagles in the ACC standings, but one place above the Eagles in the polls and a 9-1/2 point favorite by the sports books. I don’t often do this but I’m encouraging you to watch the game on TV and call into me to discuss the game as it proceeds. Not much time before tipoff but let’s kick things off. Jerry is on the line. Jerry: Whats up with the polls…how could they rank North Carolina above BC since the Eagles had a better record and a higher NET Ranking…and BC ripped the Tar Heels when they played up here last month? Biff: I agree it doesn’t make sense, but the polls are nothing more than the poll participants’ opinions and biases. And you gotta know that a lot of them begins and ends in Durham and Chapel Hill. Next we have Roger calling in. Roger: I think BC is the better all-around team but they’re playing in Chapel Hill so I don’t think the Tar Heels being the favorites tonight is out of line. And North Carolina has those two highly rated freshmen big guys who could give BC fits inside. Jake: Aura needs to shake his guys up. They’re just not protecting the ball at all. At least when they DO hold onto the ball, they’re hitting some shots so they’re only behind 10-9. Robert: Knight looks as good as they say he is. He’s taking it to Reese inside. Kenny: Nice 11-2 run by the Eagles. Took them most of the hais clf to get untracked but they’re now up 29-25. Biff: Yeah, and it all started when Reese came back into the game. Jake: I think Aura took me up on my suggestion. The Eagles seemed to finally realize they needed to play ball or they were going to go home with an “L” on their record. And I agree that after Reese took a breather, he came back with a vengeance…made 5 of 5 didn’t he? Biff: Yes, he finished the half with 11 points, all but one of those in the Eagles’ late run that took them to their 31-25 halftime lead. Alex: Yeah, they got their offense of track alright, but really it was their defense that gave them their lead…holding the Tar Heels shooting to 37% and forcing 9 turnovers…too bad BC made one more than that though. Otherwise they’d have a big lead. Rebecca: If Graham, Robinson, and Toliver can begin scoring like they didn’t in the first half, I think BC will do alright. Biff: Coach Aura definitely relied on his starters in the first half. I think he’s going to have to get the bench more involved in the 2nd half. I also don’t think he can count on Knight carrying North Carolina. I believe the Tar Heels will make some adjustments to get their other players doing some more scoring. OK, let’s see if BC can hold on in the 2nd half. JJ: Damn, The Eagles come out stone cold and North Carolina ties up the score after BC is unable to score in the first 3 minutes of the half. Frankie: That’s what BC needed to do, keep working the ball inside to Reese and forcing Knight to defend. Now he’s got 3 fouls on himself and is having to warm the bench. Biff: That was a short rest for Knight. I don’t think he was out of the game over a minute. Maybe North Carolina is getting nervous now that they trail 37-31. Frankie: Hah! That’ll teach the Tar Heels coaching staff. They put Knight back in the game and quick as a wink he’s got 4 fouls. Biff: Well this is one helluva defensive battle. BC’s D is just a little better thus far and that accounts for their 48-38 lead. But there’s 8 more minutes to go. Carlos: Just when it looked like BC would take this one, North Carolina goes on a 19-0 run. The Eagles are going to have a tough time making up the 8 point lead with 2-1/2 minutes to go. The refs are making things really tough on BC right now. Biff: But mainly it’s that North Carolina, after shooting poorly the entire game, now can not miss a shot. The crowd’s really helping the Tar Heels. Ray: The Eagles let that one get away. Their defense completely evaporated in the final 7 minutes. The Tar Heels scored 29 points during that short period of time. Biff: Yes, it was an extremely disappointing 72-66 loss. But ultimately North Carolina won it at the line, scoring 13 more points than BC on foul shots. Stan: Four North Carolina players scored in double figures. Just two Eagles did…15 for Courtland Reese and 14 for Bobby Grannum. Bri: 18 turnovers by Boston College certainly didn’t help either. The Eagles are now 1-1/2 games behind Duke. Biff: I still think Boston College is the better team. The Eagles and Tar Heels may meet again in the conference tournament and on a neutral court, I think the Eagles will win.
  11. Awards Conference V Coach of the Year: Dontell Spencer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff Conference V 1st Team All-Conference: Roy Hampton, Western Illinois Conference V 1st Team All-Conference: Imari McDonald, Arkansas-Pine Bluff Conference V 2nd Team All-Conference: Marcus Huld, Arkansas-Pine Bluff Conference V 2nd Team All-Conference: Gabriel Atwood, Alcorn State Coaching Changes All 5 head coaches remaining at the same schools. 3 assistant coach vacancies…following hires were made: UC-San Diego: Maurice Elleby was hired to fill the vacant 2nd Assistant (recruiting) job. MD-Eastern Shore: Jalen Waterman was hired to fill the vacant 3rd Assistant (Scouting) job Western Illinois: Craig Bennem was hired to fill the vacant 1st Assistant (recruiting) job. Meeting with the Boards: Requests for funding increases were denied for 4 of the programs. But Mike McMillan’s request got approved at MD-Eastern Shore, and his budget was increased by nearly $6700. Dontell Spencer was overheard during a phone conversation with Ramon Montez saying, “Ya know Ramon, my team wins 25 games, finishes on top of the conference standings, wins the conference tourney, makes it to the Big Dance, and earns a promotion up the ranks for the 2nd straight year. And I still can’t get this chicken-s**t university’s board to approve a modest increase to our budget. Maybe they think it would cost ‘em one of their blow-out board parties. I tell ya, it makes me wonder why I’m sticking it out here. Hell, all five of us been coaching Division I ball for 4 years, got up from Independent status to Conference play…and you and me got our programs promoted from Independent to Conference V and now to Conference U…and we’re getting no respect at all.” Team Prestige MD-Eastern Shore: 4 (Same) Arkansas-Pine Bluff-11 (+5) UC-San Diego-8 (Same) Western Illinois-10 (-2) Alcorn State-5 (+2) Western Illinois’ long losing streak the latter half of last season was responsible for the hit on their prestige.
  12. Post-Season Tournaments CIT Round 1 Longwood (#7, South)-73, Northern Arizona-66 Alcorn State (#4, South)-78, Duquesne-56 (Virgil Brown-17 pts/3 reb/1 ast/1 stl Louisiana Lafayette-77, North Dakota (#5, West)-58 Round 2 Rhode Island-83, Alcorn State-70 (Virgil Brown-13 pts/5 reb/5 ast/1 stl/1 blk) Brown-77, Longwood-67 CBI Round 1 Oklahoma-69, Binghamton (#8, West)-62 NCAA Round 1 Texas-El Paso-74, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (#7, East)-63 (Dexter Thorne-17 pts/5 reb/2 blk; Jaraan Daniels-13 pts/6 reb/2 ast) Tournament Champions: CIT: Rhode Island CBI: Oklahoma NIT: Baylor NCAA: Notre Dame
  13. Jan. 13, 2030: Pittsburgh Panthers (9-6, 2-4) vs #8 ranked Boston College Eagles (14-2, 5-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA Jason Braxton, Athletic Director I’d like to say this is a game we should win with ease, but two players on the Panthers could make a statement like that look foolish: freshman C Marques Mohr is a beast inside, averaging 16.3 ppg and 9.7 rpg; and junior SF John Mahorn averages 11.2 ppg and 4.8 rpg and has knocked down 56% of his FGA’s. I’d include junior PG Rodney Winston with them since he has hit 63% of his FGA’s, but he’s nursing an injury so his effectiveness is likely to be hampered. Even though Pittsburgh isn’t a power in the ACC this season, the success of the Eagles the past few years and this season are keeping the Forum seats filled. That’s a big plus, not only for us financially, but also as support for the team during our games here. Coach Aura has been playing the bench more of late so our starters’ stats have suffered a bit, but it’s good to have the team’s depth improved in the event there is an injury and as readiness for next season. Our 3 freshman are acquitting themselves well. PG Bobby Grannum is a star. He’s averaging 12.4 ppg, 6.4 apg, and 3.1 rpg. C Tim Cotton has consistently improved as the season progresses and is now averaging 4.7 ppg and 3.2 rpg while playing just 11.9 mpg. He needs to work hard on his defense, though. SF Maynard Gardner, although yet very inconsistent, has shown glimpses of what will eventually be brilliance. Coach Aura has been trying to find more time for him to gain game experience. If he develops the way we expect, he will solve the persistent weakness we’ve had over the past several years at SF. Pitt scores the first 2 points on free throws, but then Danny Toliver takes Mohr to the hoop to score a dunk and be fouled. Then on Bobby Grannum picks off a pass and drives for the basket. Mohr keeps him from scoring but picks up his 2nd foul at the 18:56 mark…and to the bench he goes. The refs even things up by calling a series of picky fouls on us and Bobby Grannum goes is whistled off with 2 fouls just 5-1/2 minutes into the game. Lots of early turnovers by both teams. Pittsburgh is burning up the nets and takes 5 point lead with 9 minutes to go in the half. Two minutes later we recapture the lead. But Pittsburgh hangs with us the entire half and we go to the locker room with just a 41-40 edge. We hit 50% of our shots, but the Panthers chipped in 58% of theirs. Courtland Reese leads our scoring with 11 points, but Pittsburgh’s C John Mahorn has 12 points. Word is that Corey Graham has some sort of knee injury. We have no success in cooling the Panthers shooting early in the 2nd half and the game remains tightly contested. But we go on a run midway through the half and finally gain a double digit lead at 67-55 with 8:47 to go. We’re up by 20 with 7 minutes left. Pittsburgh cuts into our lead with our bench on the floor but there is no serious threat. We come away with an 87-74 victory due to our surge in the middle of the 2nd half. Pittsburgh kept the game interesting by hitting 60% of their FG’s. Four of our starters score in double figures: C Courtland Reese-19 points, PF Danny Toliver-12 points, SF/SG Glen Robinson-11 points, and PG Bobby Grannum-10 points. All 7 of our reserves who played scored, and totaled 33 points. Pittsburgh C John Mahorn topped all scorers with 20 points. Follow up 2 days later: We just found out that we’ve moved up to #5 in both polls after our 7th straight victory. The ACC is well-represented in the polls. Duke remains #2, North Carolina is #4, Notre Daye is #8, Florida State is #11, and North Carolina State is #20.
  14. RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds Best’s and Worst’s Let’s take a look at the Eagles principal players’ best and worst games: PG Bobby Grannum: Best is tough…he had 26 and 25 points against Syracuse and Oklahoma and 12 assists vs UCLA, but I think his best overall game was when playing North Carolina: 19 points on 7 out of 10 from the field with 9 assists. Worst was in the game against Oregon when he played 40 minutes, hit 0 of 10 FG’s and scored just 2 points but he did have 4 rebounds and 6 assists to offset 5 turnovers. SG Corey Graham: He scored 27 vs Michigan and 26 vs Florida State, but didn’t do that much elsewise in those games. But I am picking his play in game against LSU when he only scored 14 points but hit 6 of 10 FG’s and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc (and would have scored more had he gotten to the foul line) and had 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. Worst was against Oregon…no points, 1 rebound, 1 block (only played 15 minutes though). SF Darius Hein: Best was against Creighton when he hit 7 of 9 FG’s and scored 16 points plus had 5 rebounds, a steal and a block. Worst: In the first 2 games of the season he scored a total of 1 points, but that was offset by 6 rebounds and 6 assists in a total of 32 minutes of play in the 2 games…so I believe worst was his 20 minutes of play vs Syracuse (2 points, 2 rebounds). PF Danny Toliver: Best was Eagles’ game against Miami in which he scored 14 points and had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block. Worst offensively was vs Syracuse with just 2 points but he did get 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks so very good defensively. That just shows that Danny is a solid player who produces pretty well every game…no huge highs but no terrible games either. C Courtland Reese: He has 4 double-double games and 2 games in which he scored 20 points, but the game I’m picking was against UCLA when he scored 16 on 8 of 10 shooting, pulled down 9 boards, and had 2 blocks. Worst? North Carolina State: scored just 6 points and had only 5 rebounds…actually hit 3 of 4 FG’s but the Wolfpack’s defense sort of neutralized him. SF/SG/PG Glen Robinson: His top game was against Syracuse when he dropped in 7 of 10 FG’s including 6 of 9 from 3 point range, scored 23. The worst was one of his three starts…this one against Butler…19 minutes, 0 points, just 3 rebounds. C Tim Cotton: Best game was against Arkansas…15 points on 7 of 9 shooting plus 5 rebounds. Worst: Just 1 rebound and nothing else in 10 minutes of play against Missouri. PF Winston Minahan: In the game against North Carolina, he played just 13 minutes but had 7 points and 6 rebounds. Worst was the first game of the season against Colorado when he played 14 minutes and scored just 2 points but recorded no other positive stats. The rest of the subs get into most games, but don’t get enough playing time to record a lot of positive stats. I think both SG Adrian Moss and SF Maynard Gardner have the potential to have a breakout game sometime this season if they get enough time on the court to do so. I’d also like to see the two walkons, PG Ramond Keep and SF Andy Dawson, both of whom are pretty talented, each get a chance to prove what they can do at some point. But I imagine that won’t happen just because Coach Aura is struggling to provide his non-starting scholarship players enough playing time to keep them from becoming disgruntled. On another note: Here’s who has the top stats in the ACC thus far: PPG: SG Trent Coleman, Duke—23.1 ppg RPG: C Brian Taylor, Duke—10.2 rpg APG: PG Darius Rose, Virginia Tech—6.7 apg BPG: PF Morris Blackmon, North Carolina—2.6 bpg SPG: C Marv Hunter, Virginia Tech—3.5 spg
  15. Statistics for the 5 teams (Part 5 of 5): UC-San Diego Tritons coached by Ken Yamoto Season record: 10-17; Conference V record: 6-10, 11th place tie, NET Ranking: 311 Team PPG: 75.6, Opponent PPG: 78.8 Stats for Primary Players (G/GS/MPG--PPG/RPG/APG Donte Madison (JR): 27/27/28.7--12.9/3.2/3.1 Dave Rush (JR): 27/27/28.2--10.9/4.2/2.0 Chris Ratliff (SO): 27/26/26.0--8.4/1.6/4.1 Shannon Van Hook (SO): 27/27/23.8--8.2/6.9/1.6 Joe Houston (SR): 23/18/23.5--10.8/4.2/1.7 Byron Kelley (JR): 27/9/17.0--4.4/4.1/0.9 Joe Roland (SO): 27/0/14.3--6.4/2.3/1.4 Brian Thomas (SO): 27/0/14.2--5.1/1.5/2.1 Chris Williams (FR): 27/1/10.3--3.1/0.8/0.8
  16. Statistics for the 5 teams (Part 4 of 5): Western Illinois Leathernecks coached by Terry Morillo Season record: 13-16; Conference V record: 6-10, 11th place tie; NET Ranking:197 Team PPG: 73.4, Opponent PPG: 75.8 Stats for Primary Players (G/GS/MPG--PPG/RPG/APG Roy Hampton (SR): 29/29/30.0--15.7/6.8/2.6 Guillermo Cabrera (JR): 29/29/28.8--12.7/5.1/1.4 Duany Vaughn (JR): 5/5/25.6--11.8/1.2/4.4 Earl Cue (SR); 29/23/23.9--8.6/2.7/3.2 Nate Roland (SR): 29/26/22.6--10.0/4.8/1.1 Mohamed White (JR): 29/29/22.4--4.1/2.7/2.2 Jamaal Adams (JR): 29/3/18.8--5.7/4.1/1.1 Daniel Bair (JR): 29/0/16.8--4.1/2.4/1.4 Tom Daniel (FR): 29/0/14.3--5.0/0.8/2.7
  17. Jan. 11, 2030: #8 ranked Boston College Eagles (13-2, 4-0) vs #9 ranked Florida State Seminoles (13-2, 2-2) at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, FL Rob Cavanaugh, Student Manager The game’s about to start. I’m a freshman at BC and so get most of the scut jobs amongst the basketball team’s student managers. I’ve already hauled in the bags from the hotel to the bus and then from the bus to the locker room, set things up for the players in the locker room, filled the Gatorade tubs, run numerous errands, made sure the chairs for players and coaches were set up just right, readied the timeout chairs so they can be brought out quickly, made sure the whiteboards and felt pens are right between Coach Fed’s and Asst. Coach Montgonery’s chairs, got the towels and water bottles readied and placed where they need to be. I’ll be doing support work for the players throughout the game (kind of whatever is needed…don’t worry, I won’t bore you with all that), so I don’t get to chart hustle plays and whatever other obscure stats the coaches want for the game. Most of the players are great guys, but a few are a bit demanding. Since I’ll be busy, I won’t be able to give you a blow-by-blow about the game, but hopefully some of the highlights. I do know we’re 3-1/2 point underdogs for this game, but I think our guys will pull it out. We got the ball on the tip-off, Grannum got the ball into Reese on the left side of the key, Reese used a great cross-over dribble to get past his man and hammer down a huge dunk…nice way to start. Got busy but next thing I knew we’re up 10-2 and they’re calling the first media timeout..gotta run. 6 minutes into the game and C.J. (another student manager) tells me Florida State has already made 6 turnovers…Coach Fed’s gonna be happy with our guys about that and the overall defense so far…just 4 points by the Seminoles. 3 subs going in a couple minutes later…gotta pass out drinks and towels to players coming off the court. Second media timeout…we’re ahead 18-6…athletic trainer worked on charley horse on Graham…Coach replaced Graham with Moss. Coach Fed’s getting on the refs about fouls even though we have a 22-6 lead at midpoint of half. Oh-oh, Coach not happy that Moss let his man hit back-to-back 3’s. Whoa! Great 3 by Glen Robinson making it 27-12. Reese back on the court and really working down low…hits a shot on which he was fouled, made the free throw to put us ahead by 20 at 34-14. Last media time out with us ahead 40-16…Hein spilled entire drink…cleanup time for me. Halftime and we lead 48-21. Stat’s look great…We outshot the Seminoles 60% to 23%, out-rebounded them 19-15, made just 6 turnovers to their 12, and scored 20 points in the paint to their 6. 14 points by Graham, 13 by Reese (plus 6 rebounds). Coach Fed has already put 12 guys into the game. Some of my friends think I’m crazy to be a gopher and do all this work for nothing, but others understand I get to travel, get to hang with the team, see what’s going on in practices…and what’s more I’m making contacts for sports management jobs in the future. Second half: Our shots aren’t falling, theirs are. Coach Fed unhappy with our sloppy play…gets on the guys during 2nd media timeout. That got the guys playing better. Coach Fed empties the bench. We blow out the Seminoles 79-55. We’re tied for 1st in the ACC with Duke. SG Corey Graham tossed in 26 points, C Courtland Reese had 19 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block, PF Danny Toliver had 8 points and 8 boards, PG Bobby Grannum only scored 4 points but had 8 assists. Time for me to collect all the dirty uniforms and towels and get them washed.
  18. Statistics for the 5 teams (Part 3 of 5): MD-Eastern Shore Hawks coached by Mike McMillan Season record-12-17; Conference V record: 7-9, 10th place; NET Ranking: 295 Team PPG: 72.6, Opponent PPG: 75.2 Stats for Primary Players (G/GS/MPG--PPG/RPG/APG Tony Rueter (FR): 29/29/29.4--9.3/6.0/1.4 Frank Davis (JR): 29/29/28.2--14.1/2.9/1.8 Joe Carson (SO): 29/29/27.8--6.1/4.8/1.3 Omar Briggs (SR): 27/26/26.2--7.0/3.5/4.6 Darius Rychart (FR): 29/29/26.0--10.3/2.1/2.4 Kent Evans (JR): 27/0/19.3--6.2/5.7/1.0 Junior Sarchet (SO): 29/0/13.6--4.4/2.7/1.4 Tyron Adras (SR): 29/1/13.3--5.9/1.1/2.7 Landon Newby (FR): 29/2/12.8--9.8/1.6/1.0
  19. Jan. 9, 2030: Miami (FL) Hurricanes (11-4, 3-1) vs #8 ranked Boston College Eagles (12-2, 3-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA Malik Aura I haven’t been able to get to many of my Dad’s basketball games this season. Often my high school team has games on the same nights but even when that hasn’t been the case, my parents haven’t let up on me about getting my homework finished. So my grades are OK this year and things are going well with my basketball team. No bragging, but I’m doing pretty darned good. I got actively recruited and had a hard time narrowing the field. I finally provided a verbal acceptance to a college, but then wanted to hold off signing an LOI until my SAT scores are revealed in case I don’t qualify. My good friend, Travis Buchanan, who graduated last year and is now playing for Georgia Tech has started every game for the Yellow Jackets and has played fairly well. Travis strongly encouraged me to come to Georgia Tech. My Mom was really against that. I can’t deny that sort of made me consider going there, but even though Georgia Tech recruited me, as you now know from my mom telling you a couple weeks ago,, I chose to go to Georgetown. Travis isn’t happy. But I’m excited. Meanwhile Omari has been starting every game this season for Providence in his junior year there. He’s not been hitting a high percentage of his FG’s yet, but has had 4 double digit scoring games thus far out of the 15 games the team has played. He’s averaging 6.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 1.9 apg. Since Zack Watkins is averaging 29.1 ppg, the Friars aren’t expecting a lot of scoring from Omari. Providence at 15-0, is the only unbeaten team in Division I and is presently ranked #3 in the polls (behind Kansas and Duke). Anyway, I guess you probably want to know more about tonight’s Boston College game against Miami, so here’s what happened: Miami came out firing from beyond the arc. 7 of their first 10 shots were from out there and they hit 3 of them to stay close at 11-9 at the first media timeout. Led by SG Corey Graham as well as a staunch defense that is likely making my Dad happy, the Eagles slowly crept to a 22-13 lead midway through the half. BC’s defense was solid for the entire half, holding Miami’s shooting to just 29% which allowed the Eagles to roll to a 47-28 halftime advantage. BC dominated the boards also to the tune of 27-13. C Courtland Reese played just 10 minutes but scored 9 and hauled in 7 boards. The Eagles scored the first 7 points of the 2nd half to expand their lead to 25, but Miami then went on a 12-2 run. I had to laugh when my Dad got called for a T as he complained about the fouls being called on BC. The lead swung between 12 and 22 points with the Eagles vanquishing the Hurricanes by a final score of 77-63. BC dominated all aspects of the game. PF Danny Toliver was BC’s top scorer with 16 points and C Courtland Reese had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
  20. Statistics for the 5 teams (Part 2 of 5): Alcorn State Braves coach by Ramon Montez Season record: 17-13; Conference V record: 10-6 , 2nd place tie; NET Ranking: 153 Team PPG: 73.9, Opponent PPG: 71.6 Stats for Primary Players (G/GS/MPG--PPG/RPG/APG Mike Gallagher (SR): 30/30/26.7--11.4/2.9/2.2 Todd Young (FR): 30/29/25.6--7.0/1.9/4.1 Will Friel (FR): 30/30/25.1--9.9/5.5/1.1 Gabriel Atwood (SO): 30/30/24.9--13.2/6.3/1.8 Virgil Brown (SO): 30/24/24.2--11.3/3.5/1.5 Bernie Graham (FR): 11/0/17.6--7.5/4.6/1.5 Dana Turner (JR): 30/1/17.5--4.5/1.4/2.6 Benjamin Delk (SR): 30/6/16.8--4.7/3.2/1.4 Jeff Samuel (SR): 29/0/13.5--5.6/3.1/1.3
  21. Jan. 2, 2030: #11 ranked Boston College Eagles (11-2, 2-0) vs #21 ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack (12-1, 2-0) at PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC Hal Fogarty, fan My family and I came down to North Carolina to celebrate the New Year with family and also get some warmer weather. My wife and I grew up down here and many of our family members still live down this way. We had a big New Year’s Eve celebration and a big dinner on New Year’s Day after watching all the football games. But my wife and I met while attending Boston College and then got jobs and stayed in Boston after graduating. So we’re Boston College fans. Since we’re down south we decided to attend the Eagles’ game against the Wolfpack. NC State is surprising everyone this season. They’re presently on a 9-game win streak that includes winning the championship at the Diamond Head Classic. The Wolfpack have accomplished all this with an awesome defense that has allowed just 61.2 ppg. When you look at the talent level and depth for NC State, it becomes clear that they’re a team that can definitely present problems for Boston College. What’s more, with all the victories the Wolfpack have already achieved, they’re playing with a lot of confidence. The national anthem just finished and it’s time for the tip off: SG Corey Graham got things going with 2 quick baskets and the Eagles went on to score the first 11 points of the game to silence the crowd. After falling behind 17-2, NC State finally got their offense flowing and cut the lead to 20-12. But then the Eagles went on a 15 point run to expand their lead to 23 with 7-1/2 minutes left in the half. BC’s alternating man-to-man and zone defenses stymied the Wolfpack. When the half ended, the Eagles held a 47-29 lead. SF/SG/PG Glen Robinson’s sizzling shooting contributed 13 points and SG Corey Graham had 10 points. During halftime we got North Carolina pulled BBQ sandwiches and sweet tea. We still have North Carolina roots. The Eagles had a tough time reigniting their offense while the Wolfpack caught fire in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, and NC State closed to within 51-43. But by the midpoint of the half, BC had re-established their dominance and held a substantial double digit lead. With 5 minutes remaining, the Eagles led 74-54. NC State didn’t roll over and die though. They rallied to whittle away at the lead. There was too little time left though and Boston College came away with an 80-71 road win. So, unlike almost everyone else leaving PNC Arena, we were happy as we exited and returned to our car. Both Glen Robinson and Corey Graham finished the game with 18 points apiece.
  22. Dec. 30, 2029: #4 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels (11-1, 1-0) vs #14 ranked Boston College Eagles (10-2, 1-0) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA Andrea Thorsen, WHDH sports reporter (Notes taken to create 11 pm sports report about game) North Carolina’s back as one of the strongest members of the ACC after landing two of the top recruits last season. And the two have lived up to the hype. PF Morris Blackmon is averaging 11.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.5 spg and 2.8 bpg. C Willie Knight leads the team in scoring with 13.2 ppg and is pulling down 8.6 rpg while averaging 1.9 apg, 1.7 spg, and 1.6 bpg. The Tar Heels also have 2 seniors scoring in double figures (PG Jamie Lane with 10.4 ppg and SG Matt Goff with 10.8 ppg). 1st Half: 14:34—BC-10, NC-7—Courtland Reese tagged for 2nd foul. NC’s Blackmon and Knight already have combined for 4 blocks. 12:53—BC-15, NC-12—NC’s Knight picks up 2nd foul. 10:31—BC-17, NC-12—Defense predominating on both ends of court. Both teams shooting in low 30%’s and NC is 0 for 5 from beyond the arc. 7:37—BC-26, NC-15—BC’s Glen Robinson hits a 3 giving him 8 points. 4:42—BC-33, NC-18—BC’s Bobby Grannun sinks a 3...10 points for him. BC has hit 5 of 6 of their 3’s. 0:00—BC-42, NC-27—BC outshot NC 52% to 38% and hit 86% of their 3’s while NC hit just 27% of theirs. BC +6 in rebounding. BC top scorers—Grannum-13, Robinson-8; NC top scorers—Phillips-7, Blackmon-6. 2nd Half: 16:27—BC-46, NC-39—NC’s Knight already has scored 8 points in 2nd half. 3 fouls on BC’s Reese. 13:40—BC-55, NC-39—9-0 run by BC. 0:37—BC-75, NC-59—BC’s Rashon Thorn knocks ball loose, scoops it up and feeds it to Darius Hein for a jam. He was fouled on shot and sinks free throw for 3 point play. 0:00—BC-80, NC-62—BC hit 55% of their FG’s and 9 of 12 of their 3’s and was +10 in rebounding. Players scoring in double figures: BC-Grannum-19 points and also had 9 assists, Reese-13 with 9 rebounds, Robinson-10 points; NC- Knight-16, Phillips-11. Coach Aura: “Great team effort throughout the entire game. Good offense but defense was the key to our winning the game.”
  23. Statistics for the 5 teams (part 1 of 5): Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions coached by Dontell Spencer Season record: 25-5; Conference V record: 14-2, 1st place; NET Ranking: 33; Won Conference Tourney Team PPG: 81.1, Opponent PPG:71.4 Stats for Primary Players (G/GS/MPG--PPG/RPG/APG Milton Cox (SR): 30/30/29.3--8.6/2.8/6.0 Dexter Thorne (SR): 30/30/26.4--10.7/5.2/1.8 Imari McDonald (SR): 30/27/26.4--12.4/7.0/1.8 Marcus Huld (SR): 30/30/26.2--11.3/6.6/1.4 Dwayne Robinson (SO): 30/30/25.6--11.7/3.0/1.8 Danny Logie (SR): 30/0/18.7--10.9/1.8/1.4 Jaraan Daniels (JR): 30/3/18.3--5.4/4.6/1.7 Damian Carrington (JR) 30/0/10.2--3.3/0.6/1.7
  24. Conference V Tournament Results (top 12 teams qualify for the tourney): Round 1 #5 seed Binghamton-81, #12 seed Western Illinois-80 (Nate Roland-13 pts/6 reb/1 stl/2 blk) #6 seed SIU-Edwardsville-92, #11 seed North Alabama-82 #10 seed MD-Eastern Shore-76, #7 seed NC-Central-72 (Tony Rueter-10 pts/13 reb/3 ast/1 blk) #9 seed Florida A&M-87, #8 seed Longwood-69 Round 2 (Quarter-finals) #1 seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff-87, #9 seed Florida A&M-67 (Dexter Thorne-21 pts/7 reb/1 ast/3 blk; Mike Huld-19 pts/11 reb/2 ast/1 stl/1 blk) #2 seed Alcorn State-89, #10 seed MD-Eastern Shore-67 (Alcorn State’s Virgil Brown-23 pts/3 reb/3 ast/1 stl/1 blk and Gabriel Atwood-20 pts/11 reb/1 stl/1 blk: MD-Eastern Shore’s Frank Davis-21 pts/3 reb/1 stl) #3 seed Seattle-72, #6 seed SIU-Edwardsville-64 #4 seed North Dakota-83, #5 seed Binghamton-67 Round 3 (Semi-finals): #1 seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff-84, #4 seed North Dakota-63 (Imari McDonald-20 pts/11 reb/2 ast/2 stl/4 blk) #2 seed Alcorn State-68, #3 seed Seattle-66 (Todd Young-14 pts/2 reb/6 ast/2 stl) Round 4 (Championship): #1 seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff-77, #2 seed Alcorn State-70 (Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Dwayne Robinson-14 pts/5 reb/2 ast/1 stl; Alcorn State’s Gabriel Atwood-17 pts/8 reb/2 ast/1 stl)
  25. Janeka Aura Malik is in his senior year at Boston College High School. After his father talked with him back in March, his attitude gradually improved. His grades still aren’t stellar, but he’s brought them up to a 3.1. He’s the star of his high school basketball team. He’s their top scorer and also is a good rebounder and gets a lot of assists. He’s always been a very good player but has grown to 6’5” in height and developed the past 2 years into what the scouting reports term a 5-star recruit. So he’s been heavily recruited. He made a decision a few months ago but held off signing an Letter of Intent until Christmas day. He said that was his Christmas present to himself. So, while he wanted it all to be hush-hush before signing an LOI, now he’s said we can talk to others about his decision. He's selected Georgetown. Their starting PG and SG are graduating after this season, so he feels he has a good chance to start as a freshman. Fred has confirmed to me that he’s pretty certain Malik will be an immediate starter. Malik also chose Georgetown because the Hoyas are having a good year this season. Presently they are 9 and 3 with 2 of those losses being to highly ranked teams in the polls. The team has a long history of NCAA appearances, but has only been able to go to the NIT and CBI the past 3 seasons. Malik and Fred both agree that the Hoyas are likely to return to the NCAA tournament this season and their future looks bright. But I think another reason Malik chose Georgetown is that he will then be able to go up against his brother since both Georgetown and Providence are in the Big East Conference. Malik also likes the Washington, DC area and really enjoyed his visit to the campus this past summer and felt he’d fit in well with the players on the team and liked the coaches. One of the colleges that was working the hardest to land Malik was Notre Dame. Their head coach seemed to be making weekly calls to Malik and their recruiting coach came to a lot of Malik’s games. While Fred stayed completely out of Malik’s decision-making, I think Fred was happy Malik didn’t pick the Fighting Irish and make Notre Dame an even stronger opponent for Boston College in the ACC. Omari’s been giving Malik a hard time, saying Georgetown will not only be behind Providence in the Big East but also Creighton. But Omari is also is actually supportive of his brother’s choice. While I understood Malik wanted to be out on his own and away from Boston and the family, I was hoping he’d pick a school that was closer so we could get to more of his games. Since I’m not a big fan of flying and going through airports, I’ll just get used to taking Amtrak’s Acela train between Boston and DC. Devany, who is a 6th grader now, said she’s going to enjoy being an “only child” at home, but I think she’ll be sorry to have both of her brothers away at college.