Tag: Dick Vitale

Tennessee-Kansas: How to watch, listen

Tennessee will play Kansas Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee (11-3, 5-3 SEC) continues its 2020-21 men’s basketball season Saturday at 6 p.m. EST.

The Vols will play host to Kansas at Thompson-Boling Arena and is part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

ESPN will televise the contest. The Tennessee-Kansas matchup can also be viewed through WatchESPN, accessed through the ESPN App, or online at espn.com/watch.

Bob Wischusen and Dick Vitale will have the call.

The game can also be listened to via local Vol Network affiliates with Bob Kesling and Bert Bertlekamp on the call.

The Vols are 1-4 all-time against Kansas. The series dates back to 2009.

Jan 03, 2009; Lawrence, KS; Tennessee forward Wayne Chism (4) goes up for the shot in the second period at Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS. Kansas won 92-85. Kansas won 92-85. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

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MSU Basketball just outside top 10 in CBS Sports’ preseason rankings

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports released the final batch of his 1-357 preseason rankings on Thursday, with MSU sitting just outside the top 10.

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This is the time of the year where we are bombarded with college basketball preseason rankings from media outlets, and again we are seeing the Spartans just outside the top 10 — this time from CBS Sports.

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports released the final batch of his 1-357 preseason rankings on Thursday, with Michigan State sitting in a familiar spot just outside the top 10. Norlander pegged the Spartans at No. 13 in his rankings, behind three other Big Ten teams — Illinois (No. 4), Wisconsin (No. 8), and Iowa (No. 9).

Norlander offered up his thoughts on the Spartans in his rankings, citing the loss of Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman for why he has MSU outside the top three in the Big Ten. He did, however, point out newcomer forward Joey Hauser as a sneaky good three-point shooting threat.

Here’s some of what Norlander had to say about MSU:

“The Spartans, for the first time in a while, aren’t a sure thing to be a top-three Big Ten team. Yet, I’ll tell you that Tom Izzo’s league contemporaries are not assuming anything with this group. Michigan State lost one of its best players in school history, Cassius Winston, and that is going to sting. Xavier Tillman staying in the draft is also a big hit. But MSU does look fairly durable for players 1-8 heading into Nov. 25.”

Jeff Borzello of ESPN also has MSU at No. 13 in his updated preseason poll that was released last week. It appears that the Spartans’ sweet spot in these preseason rankings will be right in the No. 12 – No. 15 window, but don’t be surprised if some people are higher on MSU — like Dick Vitale who had the green-and-white at No. 7.

Click here to see the rest of Norlander’s rankings and to read more on what he had to say about Michigan State, including his projection for the Spartans’ starting five.

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Andy Katz puts Josh Langford in top 5 for Jerry West Award

Joshua Langford has a lot of eyes on him this upcoming season in his return. Including Andy Katz who has him as an award contender.

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Andy Katz has ranked his top 20 candidates for the Jerry West Award.  The Jerry West Award is for the best Shooting Guard in college basketball.  Katz has put MSU’s very own Joshua Langford number three in his rankings.    He announced his rankings on his March Madness 365 podcast available on Spotify or Apple.

Katz put Kentucky freshman BJ Boston and Northern Iowa’s AJ Green ahead of Langford.  Boston is a highly touted prospect and will have a lot of eyes on him as he is a projected lottery pick in 2021.  NBA Draft Room, even has him going 3rd to the Detroit Pistons.  Green is entering his junior year at Northern Iowa and averaged 19.7 PPG on 41.6 percent shooting from field.

Langford is gearing up for his upcoming comeback season after missing the better part of the past two seasons.  Last week, Dick Vitale tweeted that he is hoping for a good and healthy season for Langford.

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Xavier Tillman discusses decision to stay in the 2020 NBA draft

Former Michigan State Forward Xavier Tillman spoke to the media about his 2020 NBA draft decision and the infamous Dick Vitale tweet.

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Today, former Michigan State basketball player Xavier Tillman spoke to the media about his decision to stay in the 2020 NBA draft. In particular, Tillman spoke to the infamous Dick Vitale Tweet from back in mid-July.

In his Tweet, Vitale wrote about a rumor that Tillman would return to East Lansing for another season under coach Tom Izzo. Xavier Tillman says this Vitale Tweet caught the attention of an NBA team representative.

Here is a summary from Kyle Austin of MLive below:

You can read more about this situation in Kyle Austin’s MLive story here.

I find this situation extraordinarily funny. First of all, this makes total sense why Tillman quickly dismissed the rumors of a return. Secondly, it is just ridiculously comical this Tweet kept Tillman in the draft.

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Locked On Spartans Podcast: Xavier Tillman rumors courtesy of DICK VITALE BABY

What to make of Dick Vitale saying he’s heard Tillman will return to Michigan State.

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Wil and Matt talk about Dick Vitale tweeting that he is hearing Xavier Tillman will be returning to Michigan State. They wonder what the 2020 MSU basketball team might look like and Matt is concerned about Emoni Bates for no reason.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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It might not look like much now, but …

Watch: Notre Dame’s Top Ten Men’s Basketball Buzzer-Beaters

Notre Dame has had some classic basketball finishes over the years. Relive the 10 best buzzer-beaters in program history by watching here.

Nothing in basketball is better than a game that comes down to a last second shot.  Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t and sometimes Pat Connaughton leaps out of a gym and stuffs it before it ever has a chance to find the bottom of the net.

In their latest edition of #NDTop10, Notre Dame released their ten best men’s basketball buzzer beaters in program history.  Take the next three minutes and enjoy a couple hand-fulls of epic Fighting Irish basketball finishes.

I love that Rex Pflueger averaged 5.4 points per game during his Notre Dame career but managed to make the list twice, including the top spot.  I still don’t know how the Irish got by Stephen F. Austin that day but I’m not complaining.

Glad to see Torin Francis on the list on what was to me, Chris Thomas’s most-memorable play/assist at Notre Dame.

I still contest that stuffing someone at the buzzer should count for this though.

Dick Vitale names his top four prospects for 2020 NBA Draft

Longtime college basketball announcer Dick Vitale recently shared his top four prospects for the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft.

One of the college basketball constants for decades has been the voice of Dick Vitale. Few associated with the college basketball landscape have seen as many players come through the amateur landscape as Vitale, who has been around as a broadcaster since the early 80s.

So, while he’s certainly not an expert on draft analysis, few have seen as many players through their time than Vitale, meaning his words carry a certain weight with them.

Earlier this week, Vitale shared a mock draft on Twitter by Jeff Goodman of Stadium and added his own top four draft prospects, ranking LaMelo Ball third behind Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman.

Based solely on mock drafts in the recent week, the top three draft picks appear to be settling into a certain order. Edwards, despite his up and down season with Georgia, appears to be the safest of the top three largely due to him playing the full season, something Wiseman nor Ball were able to do.

But with no timetable set for the NBA Draft, much can still change as teams beginning focusing on the prospects more and more in the buildup and predraft process.

Praise for Muffet McGraw Coming from Everywhere

Legendary basketball coach Muffet McGraw retired from coaching Wednesday after a historic run heading the women’s program.  33 years, two national championships and 848 wins later she turned Notre Dame from a women’s basketball afterthought to a blue-blood of the sport.  

Upon announcing her retirement Wednesday, some of the biggest names in sports and at Notre Dame offered well wishes to the hall of fame coach.

Legendary basketball coach Muffet McGraw retired from coaching Wednesday after a historic run heading the women’s program.  33 years, two national championships and 848 wins later she turned Notre Dame from a women’s basketball afterthought to a blue-blood of the sport.

Upon announcing her retirement Wednesday, some of the biggest names in sports and at Notre Dame offered well wishes to the hall of fame coach.

Notre Dame legend and current member of the Dallas Wings, Arike Ogunbowale:

Legendary former Notre Dame basketball coach, Digger Phelps:

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to which she was elected to in 2017:

Current Notre Dame men’s basketball coach, Mike Brey:

More…

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Dick Vitale: Tom Izzo “furious” that NCAA could waive waiting period for transfer players

According to Dick Vitale, Tom Izzo upset that the NCAA could remove the one year waiting period for transfer players.

There have been mutterings this offseason that the NCAA could make some changes to their transfer rules for the 2020-21 season, allowing players to automatically play after transferring schools. According to Dick Vitale, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is “furious” about the potential rule change.

As of right now, players have to sit out for one year after transferring but can file an appeal. However, that appeal process is currently extremely murky and it is unclear what qualifies as an adequate reason to be granted instant eligibility. Michigan State was on the wrong end of this policy last season after they lost their transfer appeal to let Marquette transfer Joey Hauser play during the 2019-20 season.

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Izzo has been frequently outspoken about his distaste for the unclear transfer rules, and his frustration about the Hauser appeal process and decision led to him resigning from the NABC Board of Directors last year.

Here is Dick Vitale’s tweet where he claims Izzo is upset about the proposed rule change:

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