Tag: Cal State Fullerton Titans

BREAKING: Alabama MBB lands commitment from Cal State Fullerton transfer Latrell Wrightsell Jr.

Alabama is mopping up in the transfer portal this offseason. Nate Oats and the coaching staff landed its third transfer with Cal State Fullerton transfer Latrell Wrightsell Jr. committing to the Tide.

Cal State Fullerton guard transfer Latrell Wrightsell Jr. announced his commitment to Alabama on Sunday.

Wrightsell Jr. spent the past three seasons with the Titans. As a junior, he was named to the All-Big West First Team. Wrightsell Jr. averaged 16.3 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 2.4 assists per game. Another interesting stat to post out is that he averaged 1.5 steals per game.

Two of the things that Alabama head coach Nate Oats likes his players to do is play aggressive on defense and knock down shots. Wrightsell Jr. can do both and do it consistently.

Last season, he shot 42.4% from the field and 38.3% from beyond-the-arc. He scored double-digits in 29 of the 33 games that he played in a season ago. His ability to be productive on both ends of the floor is invaluable in Oats’ system. He should relish in his role at Alabama next season.

Several other transfers that are poised to do the same are Wichita State transfer Jaykwon Walton and Hofstra transfer Aaron Estrada. Both joined the program this offseason and have a lot of upside, as Wrightsell Jr. does.

Wrightsell Jr. will likely join a backcourt consisting of Mark Sears, Jahvon Quinerly, Rylan Griffen, Davin Cosby Jr. and Aaron Estrada. That could make for one of the best backcourts in the conference next season.

 

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the Alabama basketball program and its involvement in the transfer portal.

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Top 20 schools with the most College World Series appearances

With the College World Series set to get underway, here’s a look at the 20 schools with the most appearances all-time. Where do the Sooners 11 appearances rank?

The Oklahoma Sooners are set to embark on another quest in their journey to become the 2022 national champions. Opening the College World Series against Texas A&M, the Sooners look to continue the level of play that carried them to a Big 12 tournament title and to series wins on the road in Gainesville and Blacksburg.

The Sooners haven’t had the easy path but they’ve made a habit of rising to the challenge of being the underdog and head to Omaha in the same boat. But with their performance on the field, they’ve shown that they’re a team to be reckoned with in the College World Series and have just as good a shot as anyone in the field.

The Sooners haven’t been to the College World Series since 2010. They’re one of three teams in the history of college baseball to make more than 10 appearances but hold a losing record in the CWS. The other two are Florida and Mississippi State. The Sooners have a chance to get to .500 record with a win against Texas A&M on Friday and remove themselves from that distinction.

The Texas Longhorns are No. 1 all-time with 38 appearances and have the most CWS wins in the history of the sport with 88. Texas also holds the dubious distinction for most losses in the College World Series with 63.

Among schools with at least 10 appearances, the USC Trojans hold the best winning percentage at .740 and the most CWS titles.

As the College World Series gets underway on Friday, here are the 20 teams with the most College World Series appearances all-time.

Badger moments: Wisconsin restores order vs Cal St Fullerton in 2008

The Badgers get back on track

The 2006 Wisconsin Badgers were blown out by Arizona in an 8-9 game. The 2007 Wisconsin Badgers were a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history… and they lost to UNLV in the second round. As the 2008 NCAA Tournament dawned, Wisconsin needed a good showing in America’s favorite bracketed tournament. Bo Ryan and any other coach who goes through a few disappointing NCAA Tournaments — it happens to everyone in the business — need a good result in March to relieve pressure and get rid of the notion that March is a haunted month.

Programs don’t want to be tagged with a reputation for choking in March; if a label sticks, players can suffer under the burden created by past teams, even though it is patently unfair to saddle one team with the results of its predecessors.

It happens, though: Syracuse had a lot of highly-seeded teams which struggled in March, one year after the next. Syracuse and Jim Boeheim didn’t significantly improve their March reputation until recently, when the program found the ability to go on dangerous runs as a double-digit seed.

Arizona has struggled over the past two decades in March. So has Maryland. So have many other programs which have labored under the burden of March expectations.

Wisconsin, heading into the 2008 NCAA Tournament, had a point to prove… and a burden to escape from… after its disappointments in 2006 and 2007.

The Badgers got their big opportunity against Cal State Fullerton in the opening round of the 2008 Dance.

Their balance and their defense won the day in Omaha against the Titans.

Brian Butch scored 14 points. Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon scored 13 apiece. Wisconsin received at least eight points from six different players. At the other end of the floor, UW limited Fullerton to 36-percent shooting from the field, forcing 14 Titan turnovers.

Given all these realities, the 71-56 final score for Wisconsin would suggest this was a routine win for the Badgers.

Not quite.

Fullerton was feisty in this game, which was a two-point contest (30-28) at the half. Though Wisconsin did gain more leverage in the second half, Fullerton crept within eight points on several occasions, the last one being with 3:50 left. UW led 62-54. Josh Akognon delivered the kind of superstar performance which enables a No. 14 seed to stay with a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Akognon hit a majority of Fullerton’s made field goals (11 of the team’s 21), threes (5 of the team’s 7) and free throws (4 of the team’s 7). Wisconsin needed a well-rounded team performance to fend off Akognon.

It also needed its defense.

The Badgers limited the Titans to just two points in the final 3:50, enabling them to put Fullerton to bed, once and for all. This wasn’t a cakewalk, but Wisconsin consistently did what it needed to do as it restored order at the 2008 NCAA Tournament.