[autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and Notre Dame saw a roster addition on Wednesday when former Harvard defensive lineman Chris Smith announced that he’d be playing football at Notre Dame this season. Smith recorded 40 tackles at Harvard last year while being named to the Ivy League all conference team. He had been a Minnesota commitment previous to visiting South Bend this past weekend.
Smith spoke to 247Sports about what made him choose Notre Dame over Minnesota.
“It was really a combination of everything,” said Smith. “They said they needed help on the inside. They said they loved my tape. Once I visited down there, it was really hard to pass up. Just talking to coach Washington, talking to coach Golden, talking to coach Freeman, they all seemed very genuine and that they wanted me. Just looking at all the resources they had, the scheme of defense, just from what I saw on my visit, I really wanted to be there and I wanted to play there. I knew that they could develop me into what I wanted to do.” – Chris Smith
Before attending Harvard, Smith played high school football at Crankbrook Kingswood high school in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
Notre Dame won’t be just handing over their punter duties to freshman Bryce McPherson after Jay Bramblett‘s departure for LSU. McPherson will have competition for the role in 2022 by graduate-transfer Jon Sot of Harvard.
Sot will graduate from Harvard this spring and then transfer to Notre Dame for the 2022 season. He was voted first-team all Ivy League in 2018 and 2019.
Sot averaged 39.7 yards per punt this past season with a long of 67 yards. He shared the following statement on Twitter upon announcing his decision to attend Notre Dame:
“I would like to thank my teammates, coaches, and the Harvard community for a great 4 years and 3 seasons in Crimson.
I am so fortunate to have been pushed to my full potential day in and day out, and to have developed relationships with some of the most gifted people in the world.
After graduating Harvard University this May, I will be attending the University of Notre Dame as a graduate student transfer for my last season of college football, I can’t wait to get to South Bend and chase a National Championship. All glory is and always will be to God. Go Irish!”
A look at the life of Knoxville’s Lee McClung, college football’s early stars.
Harvard and Yale will play each other in football for the 137th time Saturday.
The rivalry will be played for the first time since Nov. 23, 2019. The 2020 contest was not played due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With the Harvard-Yale rivalry returning Saturday, Vols Wire highlights one of the most decorated players in the series.
Knoxville’s Lee McClung was part of Yale’s early football success. McClung played halfback at Yale from 1888-91 and was viewed as an early star in college football and a creator of cut-back runs.
His father, Frank McClung, is the honoree of the University of Tennessee’s McClung Museum and his great-grandfather, Charles McClung, was a surveyor who laid out the city of Knoxville.
McClung scored 494 points while at Yale. His career began before the University of Tennessee first fielded a football team in 1891.
During his career at Yale, the Knoxvillian played against Harvard three times. In the rivalry known as “The Game,” McClung and Yale were 2-1 in contests against the Crimson.
After McClung’s collegiate career with the Bulldogs, he served as head coach for the University of California’s football team in 1892, guiding the Golden Bears to a 2-1-1 record, and then worked in the railroad, insurance and banking professions.
He would then become appointed by President William Howard Taft as Treasurer of the United States on Sept. 23, 1909. His name appeared on currency printed from 1909-12.
Lee McClung, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Knoxville, Tennessee, April 5, 1963.
A world traveler, McClung would die at age 44 of typhoid on Dec. 19, 1914 in London, England. The Knoxvillian was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963. He was a consensus All-American during the 1890 and 1891 seasons and won the national championship in 1888 and 1891 under head coach Walter Camp.
Below are clippings of McClung’s time at Yale playing against Harvard in “The Game.”
The Irish are after a forward that’s on a bunch of schools’ radars.
Notre Dame is going after a player who has every intention of taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible. For the past two years, forward recruit Alex Karaban has played prep basketball in New Hampton, New Hampshire. As a senior, he will attend the renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. That commitment to excellence was too good for the Irish to ignore, so they decided to become the latest program to make him an offer:
It’s hard to know for certain which direction Karaban is leaning towards. 247Sports believes Penn State and Northwestern, two schools he made official visits to in June, are the top contenders. Rivals forecasts him heading to Indiana. Of course, he also could choose one of the many other schools that have offered him, including Purdue, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Iowa, UConn, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Stanford, LSU, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Creighton and even Harvard.
“Nikola Jokic, No. 15. Positon, whatever you want me to do. School? Uhh … Harvard.”
Under the leadership of superstar Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets have become one of the most exciting teams in the Western Conference.
Those who listen to their games on the flagship radio broadcast for the Nuggets, Altitude Sports Radio 92.9 FM in Denver, hear a unique way of presenting the starting lineup for the squad. Fans are given a splash of personality for the team as each player announces their own name, number, position and school.
It is a standard rundown for a basketball team explaining the simple task of where they played college basketball. Jamal Murray identifies himself as a guard from Kentucky, where he set the record for most points per game in program history as a freshman. Will Barton calls himself a forward from Memphis, where he won Conference USA Player of the Year in 2012.
Jokic doesn’t say where he plays on the floor because, as the league’s assist leader with 10.4 assists per game, he represents the modern poster child for positionless basketball. Then, when asked about his university, Jokic says that he went to Harvard.
Except, here is the thing, Jokic was certainly never a student at Harvard.
Jokic, who was selected in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft, was born and raised in Serbia. He was a draft-and-stash prospect who played for Mega Bemax in the Adriatic League. Before he joined Mega, Jokic played youth basketball for Vojvodina Srbijagas in Novi Sad, Serbia.
So if you’re reading this, Jeremy Lin, don’t worry. Your place in history as the best basketball player to ever attend Harvard has not changed. Joel Embiid, however, may have to worry about his place as the funniest big man in the NBA as Jokic is clearly giving him a run for his money.
Auburn added some much-needed depth at offensive line on Tuesday with the commitment of Harvard transfer Eric Wilson.
Auburn is always in need of more offensive line depth, so they went to the easiest place to find help: the transfer portal.
Eric Wilson, a graduate transfer offensive lineman from Harvard, announced his commitment to the Tigers Tuesday morning, selecting them over a list of offers that also included LSU, Florida State, Minnesota and N.C. State.
2020 has been full of surprises. After graduating in May, I will be moving to Auburn, AL as a grad student and to play football for the Auburn Tigers. Thanks so much to my teammates, friends, and coaches at Harvard who have made these four years unforgettable. #10000men#WarDamnpic.twitter.com/tlN5VRyrua
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Wilson told Rivals.com, “I love Auburn. My parents love Auburn. It’s a great school and a great community.”
While he primarily plays guard, earning second-team All-Ivy League honors as a junior last season and was named a semifinalist for the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy this year, he can also play center.
His decision gives Auburn three commits along the offensive line for the 2021 class, 4-star guard Jaeden Roberts and 3-star guard/tackle Garner Langlo.
He will join a group that has just one senior and could return every player, since this year does not count against any player’s elgibility.
Before the Warriors are on the clock in 2020, Warriors Wire is rewinding through Golden State’s draft history to highlight memorable picks.
Before the Golden State Warriors fill out the card for the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Warriors Wire is rewinding through Golden State’s draft history to highlight some of the most memorable picks — trades, surprises, busts, sleepers and everything in between.
Although the Warriors have three picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, there’s a chance Bob Myers and Steve Kerr will be monitoring who goes undrafted. The Warriors have been able to identify undrafted prospects like Damion Lee, Ky Bowman and Mychal Mulder, who’ve developed into contributors. With expensive contracts on the books in Golden State, the duo of Kerr and Myers will need to get creative when it comes to filling out the rest of their roster.
While the Warriors had a pick in the top-10 on draft night in 2010, Keith Smart and Larry Riley were able to bring in a local product as an undrafted free agent that later developed into a breakout phenom.
June 24, 2010
Despite a prospect pool that featured John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward and Paul George, the Golden State Warriors selected Ekpe Udoh with the No. 6 overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft.
With no second-round pick, the Warriors 2010 draft class consisted of only the Baylor product. However, Riley and Smart were active in the undrafted free agent market. Almost a month after the draft, the Warriors signed undrafted free agent Jeremy Lin out of Hardvard to a two-year contract.
During four seasons at Harvard, the point guard was a three-year starter, earning two nods to the All-Ivy League First-Team. Over his career with The Crimson, Lin averaged 12.9 points on 48.1% shooting from the field with 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists per contest.
The Palo Alto native signed with the Warriors following a solid performance in the Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks.
During his first season in the association, Lin bounced back and forth between Golden State’s rotation and the D League. As a rookie, Lin played in 29 games, averaging 2.6 points on 38.9% from the field with 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds per game.
Watch highlights from Lin’s rookie season with the Warriors via YouTube:
After the NBA lockout in 2011, the Warriors waived Lin during preseason training camp. After his time with Golden State, Lin joined the Houston Rockets. However, he was waived again before seeing any game action with Houston.
Despite bouncing around, Lin broke out in his sophomore season as a member of the New York Knicks. In a February tilt against the New Jersey Nets, “Linsanity” was born. The former Warrior point guard exploded for 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field with seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Following his breakout game for New York, Lin scored 20 or more points in the next nine of 10 games. In 2011-12, Lin recorded seven double-doubles in 35 games. Lin’s impressive stint thrust the young guard into a starting role inside Madison Square Garden. After only averaging 9.8 minutes per game in Golden State, Lin started 25 games with New York, playing 26.9 minutes per contest.
After his breakout campaign with the Knicks, Lin signed a multi-year deal with the Houston Rockets to be their starting point guard. During his nine-year career in the NBA, Lin made stops in Los Angeles, Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Toronto.
In 2019, Lin matched up with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals as a member of the Toronto Raptors.
Other notable prospects from the 2010 draft class included Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley, Patrick Patterson, Ed Davis, Al-Farouq Aminu and Lance Stephenson.
Tim Murphy discusses friendship with Johnny Majors.
The Ivy League announced July 8 that the conference will not field athletic competitions during the 2020 fall semester.
A decision on fielding winter and spring sports, and whether fall sports competition would be feasible in the spring, will be determined at a later date.
Tim Murphy has been Harvard’s head coach since 1994. He joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” to discuss not playing football this fall and the time that former UT head coach and player Johnny Majors asked to attend the Harvard-Yale rivalry game.
Murphy also discussed his experience coaching at Neyland Stadium. He was the head coach at Cincinnati in 1992 when the Bearcats played at Tennessee.
The Ivy League has canceled all sports for the fall of 2020. Is it a sign of things to come for the rest of college football?
The Ivy League announced on Wednesday that they will not be playing any sports this coming fall, football included. They’re the first Division 1 conference to announce such a decision while no announcement about winter or spring sports for the conference was made.
The Ivy League was the first conference to cancel their basketball tournament back in March and many seem to think they’re again setting the precedent that other conferences and schools will soon follow.
Sources: Ivy League programs have been informed that fall sports have been cancelled.
The conference will not entertain any sports being played until after January 1st.
Winter sports will have an update in mid-July on their respective practice schedules.
One different way to look at this though and what makes it different for the Ivy League versus the majority of the rest of college football is the money element. Ivy League schools and athletic departments don’t rely on football funding for nearly as much as the major college football programs do.
Although I have trouble thinking this means major college football isn’t going to get played in 2020 because the Ivy League acted quickly and first, I’d be lying if I said this announcement made me feel good about the chances college football starts on time for the rest of the nation.
The Ivy League announced it is canceling all fall sports for 2020.
There will be no football or other sports in the Ivy League this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced Wednesday.
Consistent with campus health & safety policies across the League, The Ivy League Presidents outline phased-in approach to intercollegiate athletics activity, including no competition prior to the end of the fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The eight schools that comprise the conference could be looking at a spring schedule — possibly playing against each other. However, no decision has been made regarding that possibility.
“The feeling is that once we made the decision to postpone fall sports, we will have some time to assess the situation (pandemic) before making a decision about playing next spring,” one Ivy League source told SI.com.
The release:
With the safety and well-being of students as their highest priority, Ivy League institutions are implementing campus-wide policies including restrictions on student and staff travel, requirements for social distancing, limits on group gatherings, and regulations for visitors to campus. As athletics is expected to operate consistent with campus policies, it will not be possible for Ivy League teams to participate in intercollegiate athletics competition prior to the end of the fall semester.
Practice and other athletic training opportunities for enrolled student-athletes will be permitted provided they are structured in accordance with each institution’s procedures and applicable state regulations. The Ivy League will also issue guidelines on a phased approach to conditioning and practice activities to allow for interaction among student-athletes and coaches that will begin with limited individual and small group workouts and build to small group practice sessions, if public health conditions permit.
Fall sport student-athletes will not use a season of Ivy League or NCAA eligibility in the fall, whether or not they enroll. Students who wish to pursue competition during a fifth-year will need to work with their institutions in accordance with campus policy to determine their options beyond their current anticipated graduation date.
The question in the bigger picture is will this decision have an impact on college football as a whole.
The Ivy League is officially the first conference to postpone fall sports — just like it was the first conference to cancel its conference tournament back in March. Last time, everybody else followed the Ivy’s lead. So it’ll be interesting to see if the same thing happens again.
