Tag: Andy Katz

Draymond Green named no. 4 best basketball IQ in NCAA since 2000

Draymond Green ranked No. 4 among the top ten best basketball IQ’s according to Andy Katz of NCAA.com. Read more details here.

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Andy Katz of NCAA.com ranked all of the top ten best basketball IQ’s since 2000 on one of the recent March Madness 365 podcast episodes. Of course, Michigan State’s Draymond Green ranked on this list at the No. 4 spot.

You can listen to the March Madness 365 podcast in its entirety here.

Love him or not, Draymond Green is an exquisite basketball talent. The NBA titles, Defensive Player of the Year Award, and multiple NBA All-Defensive First Team accolades speak for themselves.

No surprise Draymond is on this list especially since his basketball IQ is a valuable part of his game. This is true for both sides of the floor on offense and defense.

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Cassius Winston named No. 6 best playmaker in NCAA basketball since 2011

Cassius Winston has been named Michigan State’s 6th best playmaker in NCAA basketball since the year 2011. Read more details here.

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Cassius Winston is one of the most beloved and popular Michigan State basketball players in the history of the program. Furthermore, he is also one of the most talented playmakers to rock the Green & White.

Andy Katz of NCAA.com recently ranked the best rebounders and best shooters in the NCAA since 2011 on his March Madness 365 podcast. Now, he has ranked the best playmakers since 2011 and Cassius Winston is No. 6 on this list.

You can check out the entire podcast here.

I am biased but Cassius should definitely be higher on this list. Frank Mason? I’m not here for it. Especially since Cassius Winston set the record all-time Big Ten assists.

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Tom Izzo joins host Andy Katz on March Madness 365 Podcast

Michigan State Basketball HC Tom Izzo sat down with host Andy Katz on the March Madness 365 show. Check out this podcast here.

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Michigan State Basketball HC Tom Izzo has put in work during the offseason, landing some of the top recruits in just the past two weeks. He has also joined a number of hosts on podcasts. This time, Izzo joins NCAA.com’s Andy Katz on the March Madness 365 Podcast.

I won’t spoil the entire conversation but trust me, this podcast is a great listen for any die-hard Michigan State Basketball fan. Katz asks Izzo to build his Spartan dream player and the answer is quite a treat. Highly recommend any and all fans check out this interview.

You can listen to the entire episode here.

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Draymond Green named No. 4 best rebounder in NCAA basketball since 2011

Andy Katz of NCAA.com named Draymond Green as the fourth-best rebounder in college basketball since 2011.

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Since Draymond Green left Michigan State in 2012, he has become known as a triple-double threat and one of the best defenders in the NBA, in addition to being a multi-time world champion with the Golden State Warriors. Before heading to the NBA, Green was a formidable big man for the Spartans, where he was named First-Team All-Big Ten in 2012. While Green’s NBA career tends to overshadow his NCAA accomplishments, MSU fans remember his amazing play for the Spartans, and so does NCAA.com’s Andy Katz. This week, Katz named Green the fourth-best rebounder in men’s college basketball since 2011.

Only Kenneth Faried, Jordan Murphy, and Ethan Happ ranked above Green on the list, which Katz released on his podcast which you can find here.

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Andy Katz of NCAA.com lists Cassius Winston’s 5 best performances at Michigan State

Andy Katz of NCAA.com sat down with Cassius Winston and they listed out Winston’s 5 best performances at Michigan State.

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Cassius Winston is arguably the most beloved and venerated Michigan State basketball player in recent memory. Andy Katz of NCAA.com hosted Winston on his March Madness 365 podcast. Katz and Winston chose the best 5 games from Cassius during his time as a Spartan. Check out the entire March Madness 365 podcast episode here.

Here is a full breakdown of the five best performances chose by Katz & Winston:

  • Michigan State vs. Ohio State – March 8, 2020
  • Michigan State vs. Michigan – March 9, 2019
  • Michigan State at Michigan – Feb. 24, 2019
  • Michigan State vs. Michigan – Jan. 5, 2020
  • Michigan State vs. Duke – March 31, 2019

Do you agree with Katz and Winston? Vote on our fan poll below:

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You can check out highlights from every single game on this list on YouTube. I highly recommend rewatching these moments during this time devoid of all sports.

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NCAA: Uniformed Start to College Football Season Unlikely

On Friday night NCAA President Mark Emmert stated the unlikelihood of there being a uniformed start to college football in 2020.

NCAA President Mark Emmert spent a good portion of his Friday night discussing the outlook of the 2020 college football season as he and NCAA Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Brian Hainline appeared together for an interview that aired on the NCAA’s official Twitter account.

You can watch that video in full here and/or read the cliff-notes below.

The Highlights:

  • Emmert says it’s unlikely all schools will be ready to resume athletics at the same time
  • Emmert states the goal is for all teams to have an equal amount of preparation time before the season starts, something that could be thrown off by the variance of when each specific school opens
  • On the college football season potentially lacking a uniformed start date Emmert said: “I think we should assume thatโ€™s going to be the case”
  • Hainline stated there will be no national time when everyone can start pre-season activities
  • Emmert also made it crystal-clear that NCAA athletic events won’t be taking place on campus until students return to campus as well: โ€œIf you donโ€™t have students on campus, you donโ€™t have student-athletes on campus,โ€ he said. โ€œThat doesnโ€™t mean it has to be up and running in the full normal model, but youโ€™ve got to treat the health and well-being of the athletes at least as much as the regular students. So if a school doesnโ€™t reopen, then theyโ€™re not going to be playing sports. Itโ€™s really that simple.โ€

Andy Katz: Xavier Tillman, Aaron Henry ‘on the fence’ to stay in NBA Draft

According to the opinion and insight of Andy Katz, Michigan State’s Tillman and Henry are “on the fence” to stay in the NBA Draft.

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With the NBA postponing the NBA Draft Combine and NBA Draft Lottery, we aren’t sure at this point if the NBA Draft will proceed at the same time as scheduled. However, Michigan State fans will be watching any draft-related news like a hawk, because there could potentially be anywhere from one to three Spartans in the Draft this year. Two of those players, Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry, are being categorized by NCAA.com Men’s Basketball analyst Andy Katz as being ‘on the fence’ to either stay in the Draft or head back to MSU for another season.

Here is the video from Katz:

In Katz’s opinion, the decision for Tillman is a toss-up, while he considers Henry to be “strongly” on the fence. This isn’t a major surprise. Tillman has been projected as a second-round pick in multiple NBA Mock Drafts while Henry wasn’t selected in the latest mock from The Athletic.

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Ohio State basketball forward Kyle Young goes 1:1 with Andy Katz

Ohio State basketball forward Kyle Young went 1:1 with BTN’s Andy Katz to provide an update on what’s going on with him during the pandemic.

It’s been what seems like an eternity since we’ve heard from anyone on the Ohio State basketball team. The season ended so abruptly just as the Big Ten Tournament was getting going because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that things felt a little bizarre and unfinished.

Since then, the players have scattered about the country to be with family and take the necessary precautions to stay healthy during this truly crazy time.

BTN’s Andy Katz got an opportunity to speak with Ohio State forward Kyle Young though to find out what’s going on in his life as everyone adjusts to a new normal. The just over six-minute interview was entertaining and engaging.

You can click on the below video shared by BTN and listen to Young discuss the big wins from last year, how he’s going about rehabbing the ankle injury he’s coming off, what the team will look like next year, and his surprise “Sponge Bob” fascination.

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Here’s hoping that things progress enough to where the Buckeye basketball team can get back into the gym and start prepping for a season that I believe might surprise a lot of folks.

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Andy Katz has Ohio State way down his early power 36 college basketball rankings for next season

The Ohio State basketball roster has some significant changes for next season. Andy Katz says nice things but doesn’t rank them very high.

Everybody has an opinion, and some are better than others. Andy Katz is well-regarded as an expert on all things college basketball, so what he says should be taken seriously — to an extent.

The BTN, FOX and NCAA analyst released a very, very early ranking of college basketball teams for next season in hisย Power 36 for the 2020-2021 season. The words are kind from Katz, but the ranking of No. 35 isn’t much of a compliment for Ohio State.

Here’s what Katz says about the Buckeyes’ chances next college basketball season.

“The Buckeyes lost Luther Muhammad to the transfer portal after Kaleb Wesson announced he was declaring for the draft. But the core of Kyle Young, E.J. Liddell, Duane Washington, Cal transfer Justice Sueing and Harvard transfer Seth Towns means the Buckeyes arenโ€™t going anywhere.”

I don’t know that I’d agree with being ranked No. 19 and a likely five seed in the NCAA Tournament and the end of this season, to falling to the 36th best team in the country as “not going anywhere,” but I digress.

Katz’s top five consists of Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova, Creighton, and Iowa. He has three Big Ten teams in the top ten with Michigan also appearing at No. 8.

I know Ohio State lost a trio of players via transfer, and Kaleb Wesson to the NBA, but the ranking of No. 35 seems awfully low when you start looking at what’s still coming back. Seth Towns and Justice Sueing are a talented duo that should plug right into the mix with significant minutes, maybe even start.

You still have C.J. Walker running the point, coming off a season in which he began to be more assertive and provide a boost in scoring, and Duane Washington should be able to fill it up from deep. Also, expect E.J. Liddell to continue the momentum he showed at the tail end of last year, and the team gets Musa Jallow back as well into the rotation.

It should be a pretty deep team with a lot of interchangeable parts. One that can play multiple styles, but does lack a proven, traditional big man.

Either way, there’s a lot of unknowns as far as how this team gels, but that’s almost every team in college basketball. We think things are going to be just fine, and in fact better than what Katz projects, but we’ll just have to see how it all plays out.

Andy Katz loves the Badgersโ€™ chances in 2020-21

College basketball reporter Andy Katz released his โ€œPower 36โ€ rankings for the 2020-21 season a few days ago and has Wisconsin slotted…

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College basketball reporter Andy Katz released his โ€œPower 36โ€ rankings for the 2020-21 season a few days ago and has Wisconsin slotted in at No. 6.

His description of his ranking of the Badgers reads โ€œThe Badgers got a piece of the Big Ten regular-season title in their final game at Indiana. They will be picked with Iowa to make another run by returning the core of the team, a full season from Micah Potter and a heralded recruiting class.โ€

Katz shares a sentiment with countless college basketball writers and analysts that the team returning nearly their entire team from this past season, welcoming in an impressive recruiting class and Micah Potter being able to play the full season all together points to a year with a lot of potential for Head Coach Greg Gardโ€™s team. Unlike the other writers, though, Katz has the Badgers ranked in the top-10 ahead of teams like Kansas, Kentucky, Virginia and Duke.

The Badgers are the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team in the new rankings behind only Iowa who is pegged in at No. 5. The other Big Ten teams included by Katz are Michigan at No. 8, Michigan State at No. 12, Rutgers at No. 13, Illinois at No. 21, Indiana at No. 31, Purdue at No. 33 and Ohio State at No. 35.

The only teams placed ahead of Gardโ€™s unit in order are Gonzaga, Baylor, Villanova, Creighton and, again, Iowa.

Though rosters are bound to change a lot before the season tips off, Katzโ€™s ranking of Wisconsin gives Badger fans something to look forward to in todayโ€™s uncertain time.