Tag: Big Ten Basketball

Future Big Ten member unveils new basketball court

The Oregon Ducks have unveiled a new court design at Matthew Knight Arena. 

On August 2, the Big Ten Conference will add four new teams to its ranks, and one of those schools is already making changes in preparation for the big move. The Oregon Ducks have unveiled a new court design at Matthew Knight Arena.

Zachary Neel of Ducks Wire was on hand for the new look court in Eugene, Oregon.

Out is the brownish tint of the evergreen trees in MKA’s old “Deep in the Woods” design that was unveiled in 2011, and in is a new, vibrant green and yellow masterpiece that is innovative and fresh.

Designer Quinn Van Horne of Van Horne Designs told Ducks Wire that the new design is all about what makes Oregon special.

“You don’t want to feel like you’re just walking into a basketball arena,” Quinn Van Horne said. “You’re walking into a microcosm of what makes Oregon special, and what makes Oregon great. We’re reiterating those stories and those passions of what really makes us proud to be Oregon Ducks and proud to be Oregonians.”

Oregon will be joined by USC, UCLA, and Washington when the four teams officially join the Big Ten later this summer.

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Wisconsin basketball misses final schools for top-100 class of 2025 power forward

Wisconsin basketball misses final schools for top-100 class of 2025 power forward

Wisconsin basketball did not make the final five schools for top-ranked 2025 power forward Trent Sisley on Friday.

The 6-foot-7, 205-pounder included Iowa, Indiana, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Purdue in his top five. Wisconsin extended its offer back in May 2023, per Rivals.

247Sports ranks the Lincoln City, Indiana product as the No. 73 overall recruit, No. 19 power forward and No. 4 prospect from his home state of Indiana for the class of 2025.

A rising senior at Heritage Hills High School, Sisley is considered a four-star across all major recruiting platforms. His first batch of offers arrived during his freshman year, and a majority of them trickled in from programs scattered throughout the Midwest.

UCF, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Louisville, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State and Wisconsin rounded out his extensive list of offers. Of his seven Big Ten opportunities, only Wisconsin and Ohio State failed to make the top five.

Wisconsin’s current class of 2025 ranks No. 6 in the nation with two commitments thus far: four-star shooting guard Zach Kinziger and three-star center Will Garlock.

Nebraska basketball offers 2025 Wyoming guard Abdul Bashir

The Huskers are making offers for the 2025-2026 basketball season. Abdul Bashir, a guard from Casper (Wyo.) College earned an offer from Nebraska. Bashir is a Nebraska native. He hails from Omaha and plays for Omaha Central. He made an unofficial …

The Huskers are making offers for the 2025-2026 basketball season. Abdul Bashir, a guard from Casper (Wyo.) College earned an offer from Nebraska.

Bashir is a Nebraska native. He hails from Omaha and plays for Omaha Central. He made an unofficial visit to Lincoln on Thursday. The 6-foot, 7-inch freshman completed his first season at Casper College.

The guard played in 33 games and earned 32 starts. He averaged 19.4 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists per game. He also shot 46.3% from the field, 45.3% from three-point range, and 78.5% from the free-throw line.

Bashir’s highest-scoring game of the season occurred three times over the span of three weeks, dropping 33 points in each. His last big game occurred in the team’s Region IX North Sub-Region Play-In Game, leading his team with 33 points.

Bashir and the Thunderbirds reached the Region IX Tourney in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, but fell to Western Nebraska Community College. He led the team in the loss, scoring 18 points, going 7-of-15 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.

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Rutgers basketball recruiting – Nigel James cuts down to a top four

Nigel James has a cutdown to four teams.

Four-star guard Nigel James has a top four, with Rutgers basketball making the cutdown for one of the nation’s top players. Rutgers was the only Big Ten program to make the list.

In addition to Rutgers, James included Georgia, Georgia Tech and Marquette. He is a member of the class of 2025.

James is ranked the No. 76 player in the country in the ESPN 300 and the No. 16 point guard in this class. He attends Long Island Lutheran (Glen Head, New York).

Programs such as Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Providence, St. John’s, Syracuse Wake Forest and Virginia Tech did not make the cutdown from James.

In October, James took an official visit to Rutgers. The top four was announced via On3:

 

Rutgers does not have any commits in the class of 2025.

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The class of 2024 was a tremendous one for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have a top-10 national class that features two players in forward Ace Bailey and point guard Dylan Harper who are each ranked as five-star recruits.

The Rutgers class is top three in the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Wisconsin basketball to play Butler in neutral site game in 2024-25

Wisconsin basketball to play Butler in neutral site game in 2024-25

Wisconsin basketball will play a neutral site game against Butler this season at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.

The game is added to an out-of-conference schedule that has been a challenge for the Badgers in recent years. The 2024-25 slate now includes a home battle with top-ranked Arizona, the Greenbrier Tip-Off, this game against Butler and the annual rivalry matchup with Marquette.

Related: Where every member of Wisconsin’s record-breaking recruiting class of 2021 is now

That is all in addition to a conference slate that now includes contests against  USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. Wisconsin’s recent schedules have been among the toughest in the nation (No. 3-toughest in 2023-24). The current direction of the sport and the team’s tendency to schedule top teams could see those schedules become even more difficult.

This new addition to the schedule is another meeting with longtime Ohio State head coach Thad Matta. His Butler program went 18-15 in his second year in charge in 2023-24. He has the program trending in the right direction after years of struggles after the Brad Stevens (2007-2013) and Chris Holtmann (2014-2017) eras.

 

Wisconsin, meanwhile, reworked its roster this offseason in preparation for the 2024-25 season. It landed three transfers — Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter, Missouri guard John Tonje and Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos. Greg Gard and his staff did well given the circumstances of A.J. Storr (transfer portal), Chucky Hepburn (transfer portal) and Tyler Wahl (graduation) all departing after the 2023-24 season.

The Badgers roster appears to be in good shape entering what will be a challenging 2024-25 campaign.

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Rutgers basketball forward Mawot Mag cuts down his transfer portal list

Mawot Mag is down to five schools.

Former Rutgers basketball forward Mawot Mag is down to five schools in the transfer portal with one Big Ten program in the mix.

According to CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Mag has narrowed her list to BYU, Clemson, San Diego State, USC and Southern Mississippi. Mag was a multi-year starter at Rutgers.

Last year in 17 games played, Mag scored a career-high 9.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. He averaged 26.8 minutes per game last year, also a career-high.

A rugged and tough defender, Mag uses his length well and developed into a solid scorer in the Big Ten. Mag joined Rutgers as part of the 2020 class where he was a three-star recruit.

According to On3, he was the No. 233 player in the nation.

Rothstein tweeted about Mag’s possible destination on Wednesday night:

 

Rutgers heads into the upcoming season with plenty of potential.

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In the latest CBS Sports top 25, Rutgers checked in at No. 21 in the preseason ranking.

 

Former Wisconsin basketball star selected to FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame

Former Wisconsin basketball star selected to FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame

Former Wisconsin men’s basketball standout Kirk Penney will be inducted 2024 FIBA Hall of Fame Class, according to a release on Tuesday.

Now serving as a special assistant to head coach Greg Gard on the Badgers staff, Penney is slated to join eight other 2024 inductees at an enshrinement ceremony in September in Singapore.

Penney represented New Zealand at a pair of Olympic Games and four FIBA Basketball World Cups. He becomes the second New Zealand native to enter the FIBA Hall of Fame alongside 2017 inductee and infamous coach Pero Cameron.

“Being selected to the FIBA Hall of Fame is an incredible honor for me,” Penney said to uwbadgers.com. “More than anything, it is a testament to all the hard work done by a great group of people over 15 years. Traveling across the globe together representing New Zealand and battling the best. It was always the honor of a lifetime, so this Hall of Fame induction is uniquely special.

Penney was a two-time Big Ten champion at Wisconsin and the first Badger to pocket consecutive first-team All-Big Ten honors (2002-03) in over 50 years.

He also played in the NBA with the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

Top Rutgers basketball recruit Dorian Jones is on a Big Ten official visit this weekend

Rutgers basketball recruit Dorian Jones is on a Big Ten official visit.

Four-star guard Dorian Jones, a priority Rutgers basketball recruit, is on an official visit this weekend to Big Ten rival Ohio State.

Jones, a 6-foot-4 guard from Richmond Heights (Cleveland, Ohio), took an official visit to Rutgers this spring. He is the No. 50 recruit in the ESPN 100 in the class of 2025.

According to 247Sports, he is the No. 37 recruit in the nation. In early May, Jones was offered by Michigan.

Jones is an ideal fit for Rutgers. A sharpshooter who can take defenders on via the dribble, he has good range coupled with explosiveness in getting to the rim.

In addition to a well-rounded and balanced offensive game, Jones is an aggressive defender who uses his length well.

He also holds offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Illinois and USC among others.

 

Rutgers had a very strong haul in the 2024 recruiting class. The five-star duo of [autotag]Ace Bailey[/autotag] and [autotag]Dylan Harper[/autotag] were recently ranked second and third in the nation by 247Sports.

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The class finished top-10 in the 247Sports rankings and included four recruits in the top-150 of the nation.

Ohio State basketball Big Ten opponents announced

Which of these games are you the most excited about? #GoBucks

While we all take a collective breath in-between the end of basketball season and what seems like years before the start of another football season, the Big Ten dropped some news Wednesday dealing with the basketball team’s conference opponents for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.

The conference decided to stay with a 20 game conference schedule, even with the inclusion of the new West Coast members, Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, so it’ll mean less home-and-home matchups this year.

In fact, Ohio State will only face three schools twice during the regular season. Only Indiana, Maryland, and Nebraska will be a part of a return trip for all involved.

In addition to that, the Buckeyes will welcome Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oregon, Rutgers and Washington to the Schott, and will travel to play on the road only to Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, Penn State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin.

All of these games will result in the standings that determine the 15-team only conference tournament, meaning three teams will be left out. As more information comes out on the Ohio State basketball schedule, we’ll have it for you.

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WATCH: Wisconsin transfer F Xavier Amos dominated a Big Ten rival in 2023-24

Wisconsin’s newest starting power forward has dominated Big Ten opposition:

Wisconsin Badgers transfer commit Xavier Amos is no stranger to dominating on the Big Ten stage.

The former Northern Illinois forward had a career day in a loss to Wisconsin’s Big Ten rival Northwestern in November 2023. His stat line: 26 points and 7 rebounds on 11/15 shooting and 4/5 from three-point range.

Related: Wisconsin basketball 2024-25 starting lineup and rotation with transfers Camren Hunter and Xavier Amos

The four-star transfer figures to immediately fill the vacant forward spot in Wisconsin’s starting lineup, replacing multi-year starter Tyler Wahl. He joins the Badgers after averaging an impressive 30.9 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.3 blocks on 57% shooting and 38% from three in 2023-24.

Amos brings a high offensive ceiling thanks to the ability to shoot from the outside. That ceiling may be even higher than Wahl’s toward the end of his career. But the only real critique of the transfer’s game, and production at Northern Illinois, is that it hasn’t come against the top competition in the nation.

But there is some evidence that the game will translate. It did against a good Northwestern Wildcats team just last season:

It must be noted that Amos and Northern Illinois also played Iowa in 2023-24. It did not go as well, as the newest Badger scored just 6 points on 2/11 shooting. But his play against Northwestern gives a true glimpse into what Badgers fans could see this season and beyond.

Wisconsin’s starting lineup will look a lot different in 2024-25 than it did last season. Head coach Greg Gard’s recent additions of Amos and point guard Camren Hunter have that unit looking promising entering the offseason, especially if a few more transfer commitments can follow.

For more on Wisconsin’s transfer portal activity this offseason, check out the updated list of its commitments, targets and scheduled visits.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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