Tag: 2021-22 season

Lil Wayne congratulates LSU’s Kim Mulkey on winning AP Coach of the Year

Mulkey received some celebrity congratulations after earning the national coach of the year award.

[autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] completely revitalized LSU’s women’s basketball in just one season. Since an unbelievable stretch where the program made five consecutive Final Fours from 2004-08, the Tigers have made it to the Sweet 16 just twice.

They went 9-13 last season, and athletics director [autotag]Scott Woodward[/autotag] opted to fix things with a big hire: the three-time national championship-winning coach at Baylor.

Mulkey orchestrated arguably the most impressive turnaround in the nation this year, leading the team to a 26-6 record and No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. LSU was upset in the second round by [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag], but Mulkey was still named AP Coach of the Year for her efforts.

She also got some celebrity recognition from Lil Wayne. The world-famous rapper tweeted his congratulations to Mulkey, whom he described as a “dear friend.”

Wayne is a native of New Orleans and a fan of the Tigers, so it’s no surprise he enjoyed their run this season, especially if he has a prior relationship with Mulkey.

It was a bold move for her to leave the program where she won three titles, but like many power conference coaches in other sports over the past few years, she saw an opportunity in Baton Rouge.

LSU’s men’s program may have a questionable future with roster turnover and the shadow of potential NCAA allegations looming, but the women’s program has a very bright future with one of the game’s elite coaches in Mulkey at the helm.

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Colin Castleton named to preseason Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list

Castleton had a breakout junior season, and he’s expected to be one of the nation’s best centers in 2021-22.

Florida’s basketball team has a lot of outgoing talent to replace in 2021-22. Following the loss to Oral Roberts in the NCAA Tournament earlier this year, the program saw six players leave through either the transfer portal or the draft.

The Gators will rely on a lot of newcomers after adding four experienced players in the transfer portal, but they will have one piece of continuity: center Colin Castleton. Expectations weren’t particularly high for Castleton, who was added last year as a transfer after making a minimal impact in his first two years at Michigan.

But he had a breakout season with UF, and he’s expected to be the team’s best player this season. He’s also in the preseason conversation for some hardware.

The senior was named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list on Friday. He was one of 20 players on the preseason watch list for the award, which is given annually to the nation’s best center. Iowa’s Luka Garza, a second-round pick in the 2021 NBA draft, won it last year.

Castleton is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, and he became one of the team’s leaders after veteran forward Keyontae Johnson was lost for the season.

There are three rounds of fan voting for the award, and the watch list of 20 players will be trimmed to 10 in late January and then five in March. That same month, one of the five finalists will be presented with the award. However, this watch list isn’t set in stone, and players can play their ways on and off the list.

Here’s the full watch list.

2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Candidates*

Walker Kessler Auburn
Nick Muszyinski Belmont
Mark Williams Duke
Colin Castleton Florida
Chet Holmgren Gonzaga
Kofi Cockburn Illinois
David McCormack Kansas
Oscar Tshiebwe Kentucky
Ahsan Asadullah Lipscomb
Qudus Wahab Maryland
Jalen Duren Memphis
Hunter Dickinson Michigan
Armando Bacot North Carolina
Moussa Cisse Oklahoma State
Nate Watson Providence
Zach Edey Purdue
Osun Osunniyi St. Bonaventure
Myles Johnson UCLA
Fardaws Aimaq Utah Valley
Liam Robbins Vanderbilt

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NBA news: League announces key dates for 2021-22 season

The NBA announced start dates for the 2020-21 regular season, playoffs and more.

As the 2020-21 NBA playoffs continue, the league is finalizing preparations for the 2021-22 season with key start times announced.

On Sept. 28, teams will begin training camp to get acclimated before the regular season tips off about a month later.

As NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in May, the regular season will start on Oct. 19.

The NBA is returning to its normal 82-game season next year after having a condensed 72-game season this year.

The playoffs will start on April 16 with the first game of the NBA finals slated for June 2. If the series goes to seven games, Game 7 will occur on June 19.

On June 23, four days after a potential Game 7, the 2022 NBA draft will take place.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, this news is a breath of fresh air since it was one of two teams to have only 71 days of rest time last offseason.

With Los Angeles’ early elimination from the playoffs, the new start date gives the team 138 days to rest as injuries piled up throughout the season.

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