Tag: men’s college basketball

Cooper Flagg’s cramps have Duke’s Jon Scheyer concerned: ‘We got to help him’

Flagg had a double-double in the first half of Duke’s win over Army.

Cooper Flagg probably could’ve had more than the 13 points and 11 rebounds he finished with in No. 7 Duke’s 100-58 rout of Army on Friday night. All of Flagg’s points and all but one rebound came in the first half of the decisive victory for the Blue Devils.

But Flagg was unable to stuff the stat sheet in the second half because he spent the majority of it on the bench. The 17-year-old freshman – a preseason AP All-American projected by many to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft – played just a bit more than five minutes in the second half as he dealt with cramping for the second straight game of his collegiate career.

Flagg exited the game at the 15:39 mark in the second half and began guzzling Gatorade – whom he has a NIL sponsorship deal with – and using a massage tool on the areas above his knees. Flagg reentered the game four minutes later but lasted only a minute before he was back on the bench, grimacing, rubbing his hamstrings, drinking various liquids and talking to a trainer. Flagg didn’t reenter the game, playing less than 25 minutes.

“We got a plan in place, we’re going to follow it,” Flagg said. “We’re going to figure it out, for sure.”

Luckily for Duke, they didn’t need Flagg at full capacity to beat Army as five other Blue Devils scored in double figures in the lopsided win.

But the Blue Devils’ schedule is about to get a whole lot tougher. Of Duke’s next six games, four are against AP-ranked opponents – No. 23 Kentucky, No. 10 Arizona, No. 1 Kansas and No. 11 Auburn. And of those four, three are away from the cozy confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium and Duke’s Crazies.

Simply put, Duke is going to need Flagg healthy to be competitive in those marquee matchups.

And third-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer is going to do everything in his power to make that happen.

“We got to help him. I’m not happy about it, for him. We’ve got to help him, and we will. And right after this, I can promise you I’m going to be meeting (with staff), I don’t care if it’s all night,” Scheyer said. “We can’t have that happening – bottom line. I thought he had it going too. You know, that first half, he was just really controlling the whole game with his rebounding, his passing, his playmaking, his scoring, was assertive shooting the ball. So, that can’t happen. I’m not happy with it, we’re going to fix that.”

Flagg’s first half of play saw him throw down an alley-oop and swish a pair of 3-pointers. He finished the game with three assists, three blocks and two steals in addition to his first collegiate double-double.

In the second half, the expression on his face read “yuck” as he was drinking whatever trainers handed him.

“I’m not even sure what it was,” Flagg said of the shot of seemingly unknown liquid that made his face sour. “There was a couple of things… We had a little pickle juice too, which is something I’ve tried in the past.”

Flagg dealt with cramps in his Duke debut earlier this week too, leaving the Blue Devils’ season-opener against Maine on Monday with under four minutes to play due to cramping in his left calf.

In the postgame press conference, Scheyer put the blame squarely on the shoulders of himself and Duke’s coaching and support staff. And he seemed like a coach willing to try just about anything to make sure he’s getting the most out of his prized star recruit.

“It’s on all of us. It’s me, it’s our coaches, it’s our medical team and sports performance – it’s all of us,” Scheyer said. “He’s doing everything that he needs to in preparation. It’s not like there’s something that he’s not doing. He prepares his butt off. He drinks, he’s eating the right way, he does everything he needs to. We got to help him take care of this now.”

Somewhat strangely, this isn’t the first time in recent memory that a star Duke freshman has dealt with cramping. Paolo Banchero received an IV during a game, more than once, because of it.

Who is Ron Sanchez? Meet UVA’s interim head coach and Tony Bennett’s potential replacement

Ron Sanchez is UVA’s interim head coach, but there’s a strong chance he could be more.

Tony Bennett’s sudden retirement put the University of Virginia in an extremely awkward position.

The men’s college basketball season begins in just a few weeks. By now, Bennett has run a camp with his players and begun formulating plans for the upcoming season.

Now, with Bennett’s retirement, all of that is up in the air.

TONY BENNETT STUNS CBB: The college basketball world was totally caught off guard by his retirement.

Now that his retirement is official, it’s time to discuss his potential replacements. One of them is serving as the interim head coach for the team in Bennett’s stead, the now-former UVA coach told the media on Friday.

Many fans have probably never heard of Sanchez before this moment. That’s where we come in. Here’s everything you need to know about UVA’s new interim head coach and Bennett’s heir apparent.

Who is Ron Sanchez?

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Sanchez has been Tony Bennett’s right hand throughout the majority his coaching career.

In total, Sanchez spent 12 years at Bennett’s side as an assistant on his coaching staff. He spent three years with Bennett at Washington State and then spent nine more years with Bennett at UVA.

He was promoted to associated head coach at UVA in 2015 before leaving three seasons later for greener pastures.

Has Sanchez been a head coach before?

Before returning to UVA in 2023, Sanchez spent five years coaching at Charlotte.

He amassed a 72-78 record with the 49ers, which doesn’t sound like a great tenure on the surface. However, he did see some historic success with the program.

He led Charlotte to its first-ever postseason tournament title in 2023 at the CBI championship before returning to Bennett’s side at UVA. Charlotte seemed to be a trail run for what could be next at UVA.

Is Sanchez going to be the official head coach at UVA?

It’s impossible to know the answer to that now. But, as far as his resume goes, there’s probably not a better option out there.

Again, Sanchez was Bennett’s right hand. He knows his system and is likely the person in the best position to keep things stable for this season at the very least. He spent years on Bennett’s staff before returning and also got a bit of head coaching experience in a situation where he saw relative success.

There are certainly other coaching candidates out there UVA could take a look at. But if they’re looking to stick with the Bennett coaching tree, Sanchez is probably the best choice moving forward.

Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper will make college basketball fun again

There’s finally some star power back in the game.

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, folks! Happy Friday. Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you.

Folks, we might actually have a bit of fun with men’s college basketball this season for the first time in a long time. There are a couple of reasons why.

First things first — Tony Bennett and his milquetoast offense are retiring. I’m just kidding, UVA fans. Kind of. I’ll miss Tony, but Virginia basketball was basically the equivalent of Iowa football. If you know, you know.

REPLACING TONY BENNETT: Here are four coaching candidates who could replace the UVA legend on the fly.

Anyway, in all seriousness, men’s basketball is getting an infusion of star power this season that it hasn’t seen since 2018, when the madness surrounding Zion Williamson was at its peak.

We’ve got three big names: Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.

You already know about Flagg. He’s the dude who was taking it to actual NBA players in Team USA training camp this summer. He’ll play at Duke this season and is currently mocked in most places as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. But that’s no guarantee, as he’s got some steep competition potentially looking to take that spot, too.

You probably don’t know about Bailey and Harper. These two freshmen are playing together at Rutgers this season, and they already look incredible. We got a glimpse of them playing together in a Rutgers and St. John’s charity game on Thursday night. The two looked like they might already be the best duo in college basketball.

The combination of size, athleticism and skill they process is unreal. They combined for 45 points against St. John’s on buckets like these (albeit in a losing effort).

This sort of star power in college hoops is exciting. It’s the thing that has pushed women’s college basketball to its absolute peak. The rise of star power behind names like Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Juju Watkins, Aliyah Boston and more over these last few years has been a major boon for the sport.

Men’s college basketball hasn’t had that and it likely won’t in the long-term. The thing about the women’s side that makes it special is that the prospects have to stick around for, at least, three seasons before bouncing out to the pro ranks.

The men’s basketball system is the complete opposite. One-and-done players have dominated for most of the last two decades. Plus, between the NBA G-League and overseas teams, a lot of the talent has been plucked away from the NCAA.

But the G-League Ignite team is no more and name, image and likeness rights have made it more fiscally responsible to choose the NCAA over the other options out there.

Now, because of this new landscape, we’ve got some star freshman getting ready to take over the sport again. And I can’t wait to watch them over these next few months.

The Guardians are on the board

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

And David Fry sure does love playing the hero, doesn’t he?

He steps up to the plate. Two out, one on. The count falls to 1-2 on him in the bottom of the 10th. This is his last strike.

But if there’s one thing we know about Fry, it’s that he sure does love to be at a disadvantage. After all, he is the best in baseball when battling back from an 0-2 count.

So it should come as no surprise that he turned that 1-2 count into a walk-off two-run homer.

You could hear the crowd roar from miles away. Fry gave the Guardians life again. Falling down in the series 0-3 to the Yankees would’ve been nearly impossible to come back from. A 1-2 series whole is still tough, but you’re just one game away from tying things up.

The Guardians have hope now, thanks to Fry’s heroics. If they win this series, the city will never forget this moment.

THE RADIO CALL IS BETTER: Listen to the call on Fry’s homer here.

Are we sure the Saints aren’t cursed?

(Photo by Gus Stark/Getty Images)

And are we sure the Cowboys didn’t do it? Ever since New Orleans put that whoopin’ on Dallas they haven’t won a single game.

Thursday night’s loss was probably New Orleans’ most embarrassing one yet. Sean Payton’s Broncos put up 33 points against the Saints, who could only manage to score 10 after being the most potent offense in the league for the first two weeks of the season.

Alvin Kamara only managed 10 yards on 7 carries (much to the chagrin of my fantasy football squad). Spencer Rattler still looks like a deer in headlights out there.

We do have to shoot New Orleans a bit of bail. This team isn’t healthy right now. Derek Carr isn’t great, but he’s the team’s best quarterback option, and he had a solid season before going down.

There’s still plenty of football left to play, but at 2-5 you have to wonder what New Orleans has left to play for other than to figure out who will be around next season.

Photo Friday: Cycling is awesome

(Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Here’s team Switzerland competing in the Track Cycling World Championship qualifiers. This looks so awesome. Somebody get me a bike. I’d like to give it a shot.

Quick hits: Happy trails, Tony Bennett … Ranking NHL jerseys … and more

— Here’s Meg Hall on Tony Bennett’s retirement shocking the college basketball world.

— Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with replacements for UVA’s head coach.

— Here’s Mary Clarke’s ranking of all NHL home jerseys from worst to first.

— Christian D’Andrea has the best bets for Week 7 in the NFL right here for you.

— And Prince Grimes has the best player props for the week, including a big game for Saquon Barkley against the Giants.

— Here’s Charles Curtis on the location for ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you. Have a great weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

NCAA committees propose new first contest dates for D-I basketball seasons

NCAA committees propose new first contest dates for D-I basketball seasons

The NCAA’s Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees proposed new first contest dates starting in 2025-26 on Thursday.

As of July 18, the 2025-26 season will commence on Tuesday, Nov. 11 for both men and women. The proposed alteration would move the first game of the season to Nov. 5 for the D-I men and Nov. 3 for the D-I women.

Not only would this blueprint standardize the college basketball campaign to 22 weeks each year, but it would also stagger first contest dates for the men and women to overcome television roadblocks and venue issues.

The Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee also believes switching first game days will provide D-I women’s basketball extra marketing exposure, per NCAA Associate Director of Communications Greg Johnson.

As of the 2024-25 season, both the men’s and women’s campaigns range between 21 and 22 weeks. This proposal would ultimately eliminate fluctuating timetables and provide stability regardless of championship schedules.

The committees have manufactured an outline for what the ensuing six seasons of NCAA Division I basketball could look like in their proposal. In each year, the women would begin their seasons two days earlier than the men.

Wisconsin’s men’s basketball team kick-started its 2023-24 season on Nov. 6 last year while Marisa Moseley’s crew began their slate on Nov. 7. Both games were held at the Kohl Center.

Wisconsin basketball lands among KenPom’s top 12 programs since 2015

Wisconsin basketball lands among KenPom’s top 12 programs since 2015

Over the past decade, Wisconsin’s men’s basketball program has personified consistency in college hoops. Its average KenPom finish of 29.8 ranks No. 12 in the nation, behind prestigious programs including Gonzaga, Kansas, Duke, Purdue, Villanova, North Carolina and Michigan State.

Following the departure of infamous Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan in 2015, former assistant coach Greg Gard ignited his tenure as UW’s leader on the sidelines.

Since then, Gard has captained the Badgers to six 20-plus-win seasons in eight years and two Big Ten regular season titles in 2020 and 2022. Wisconsin has clinched six NCAA Tournaments births and reached the Sweet Sixteen in both 2016 and 2017.

Under Gard, UW has amassed an overall mark of 186-107, plus five of the top 19 winningest seasons in program history.

Wisconsin has also witnessed three of its athletes earn prestigious conference honors during their tenure.

Future Euroleage superstar Nigel Hayes earned a first-team All-Big Ten nod in 2016 before big man Ethan Happ received first-team All-Big Ten nods in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Future Washington Wizard Johnny Davis was a consensus All-American, the Big Ten Player of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten in 2022.

Despite the headlines and hubbub, deep postseason success has yet to follow UW’s 2017 finish in the Big Dance. The program has not reached the Sweet Sixteen since Gard’s second season as head coach and failed to make the NCAA Tournament entirely in 2018 and 2023.

With the addition of three top transfers, Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter, Missouri guard John Tonje and Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos, ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, Wisconsin will look to right the ship and return to its place alongside college basketball’s best.

Wisconsin basketball to play in-state rival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Dec. 7

Wisconsin basketball to play in-state rival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Dec. 7

The Wisconsin Badgers will square off against the in-state rival Marquette Golden Eagles for their annual I-94 rivalry on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The two Wisconsin powerhouses will face off for the 131st time this winter following a 75-64 Badger victory in 2023 at the Kohl Center. UW boasts a 71-59 edge in the series, and UW has played the Golden Eagles in every season since 1958.

Like UW, Marquette’s roster will appear much differently this fall. Stars Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodara are slated to make the jump to the NBA while Wisconsin’s fav-favorite point guard Chucky Hepburn (transfer), star guard A.J. Storr (transfer) and veteran Tyler Wahl (graduation) departed Madison this spring.

Greg Gard and company also added three top transfers: Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter, Missouri guard John Tonje and Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos.

Serbian signee Andrija Vukovic, point guard Daniel Freitag and guard Jack Robison will also don the scarlet and red as freshmen during the 2024-25 season. Freitag, a top-ranked class of 2024 prospect, will look to ignite UW’s backcourt in a now-loaded 18-team conference.

The Badgers will also participate in the 2024-25 Greenbrier Tip-Off event featuring LSU, Pittsburgh and UCF, face Butler in a neutral site contest and reportedly open with this season with Holy Cross at home.

Fox Sports announces new college basketball tournament to compete with NIT

Fox Sports announced the College Basketball Crown on Wednesday, a 16-team men’s college basketball tournament in Las Vegas meant to compete with the NIT.

The college basketball postseason structure could look different in 2025.

Fox Sports announced its newest creation on Wednesday, the “College Basketball Crown,” a tournament intended to compete with the NIT.

According to reports, the 16-team tournament will take place in Las Vegas and feature teams who aren’t selected for the NCAA Tournament.

The Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East will get two automatic bids for the best teams left out of March Madness. No other automatic bids will be granted, so the remaining 10 squads will be at-large teams.

The College Basketball Crown is intended to debut next spring. The tournament will begin on Monday, March 31, and go through Sunday, April 6, meaning the final game will be the day between next year’s Final Four and NCAA Tournament title game.

Fox and FS1 will broadcast games.

In recent years, more teams have passed on the NIT, the tournament intended to be the NCAA Tournament’s consolation bracket, due to the, well, consolation nature of the tournament. It remains to be seen if the lure of Vegas and Fox will be enough to convince some bigger programs to accept invitations.

If you count the NCAA Tournament, NIT, and College Basketball Crown, there are now 116 postseason spots up for grabs in men’s college basketball.

USC’s Bronny James received standing ovation after checking in for the first time since cardiac arrest

Pops LeBron James was excited to see Bronny make his debut against Long Beach State.

On Sunday afternoon, Bronny James checked into a college basketball game for the first time as his USC Trojans faced Long Beach State. James received a standing ovation and rousing applause from the home crowd, which included his NBA superstar father, LeBron James.

Bronny’s playing future was surrounded with questions after he suffered a cardiac arrest back in July during practice. Although Bronny missed the first team practice in September, he was expected to be able to make his collegiate debut this season. LeBron James was elated to see his son enter the game, filming on his phone from court side.

It didn’t take long for the son to look like his father, getting back in transition to block a shot off the backboard.

And later, Bronny scored his first ever points in college on a nice transitional three-pointer!

It is so good to see him back out on the court. Here’s to many more highlight reels.

13 men’s college basketball coaches joining new programs for the 2023-2024 season

These 13 head coaches should definitely be on your radar.

The 2023-2024 men’s college basketball season starts on November 6th, and with the new season comes fresh new faces, all vying to improve their programs.

Per ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, 61 schools welcomed new leadership to their staff, a change that started with vacancies at several large programs. Some of those openings were filled with mid-major coaches, creating a chain reaction of teams shuffling the best talent that Division I basketball has to offer, all for a chance at post-season glory.

With basketball just days away, there are 13 new coaches that you’ll want to keep an eye on, including some who are jumping into head coaching for the first time.

UConn mascot Jonathan the Husky finally made it to the Final Four despite flight drama

UConn’s very good boy has made it to Houston.

Fret not, UConn fans and animal lovers: Jonathan the Husky has made it to Houston for the Final Four.

The Huskies are the only team left that has not only made a Final Four, but also won a men’s NCAA title. Connecticut’s last men’s basketball national championship came under Kevin Ollie after an unprecedented run in 2014.

The live mascot of the University of Connecticut — officially named Jonathan the XIV — seemingly wasn’t going to be able to take the trip due to being just a very big boy with lots of fluffy fur. A tweet from the official account of the mascot shared a picture of a very sad Jonathan.

Immediately, the powers that be mobilized. Just three days after the initial tweet, the same account shared a smiling Jonathan aboard a flight to Houston, thanking UConn, the NCAA and Delta for making his pooch dreams come true.

Since arriving in Houston, Jonathan has become a tourist and has taken to the streets to see all the sights.

Congrats on the biggest win of the tournament, UConn. Here’s hoping Jonathan has the absolute most fun.