Tag: NCAAB

Men’s college basketball breakout Robbie Avila gave an understandable reason for transferring to St. Louis

Robbie Avila has picked his new team, and it makes a ton of sense as to why.

One of this past men’s college basketball season’s breakout stars has found a new team.

Former Indiana State center Robbie Avila, the man with the best nicknames in the game, shared with The Field of 68 on Saturday that he’ll be following coach Josh Schertz to St. Louis to join the Billikens this upcoming season as a transfer.

Avila said he got attention from Power 5 schools, but he chose to stick with the coach he played for these past few seasons at Indiana State.

It’s a very understandable decision for Avila, as he’ll be joining a coach he’s got intense familiarity with as he tries to improve his game and perhaps make it at the NBA level one day.

St. Louis will absolutely benefit from adding one of the real mid-major stars from this past year, as we won’t be shocked if the Billikens go dancing next spring in 2025’s March Madness.

We’re very excited to see what’s next for Avila as his college basketball legend will grow in the Show Me State.

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Dawn Staley said Caitlin Clark is ‘the sole reason’ for the ratings boost in women’s college basketball

Dawn Staley said that Caitlin Clark is the sole reason for the ratings boost in women’s college hoops.

While South Carolina topped Iowa in the women’s NCAA national championship game this month, Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley is giving sole credit to former Hawkeyes superstar Caitlin Clark for the recent ratings boost in the sport.

Indeed, this year’s tournament drew in record numbers when Clark was on the court. To Staley, the impact that the new Indiana Fever guard had on women’s basketball is immense.

Speaking with 670 The Score about spreading awareness for the sport, Staley argued that Clark is “the sole reason” for the ratings boost the game has experienced recently, and that her popularity helps bring awareness to other deserving athletes in the sport when they play each other.

“Caitlin Clark is the sole reason why viewership has shot through the roof for our game,” Staley told the radio show. “And I think the decision-makers are following suit in making sure that other games are being played besides Caitlin Clark because, if you play Caitlin Clark, you’re going to run up against somebody that you might find that’s pretty good.”

Staley’s sentiments make sense in the way that rising tides lift all boats, and Clark’s popularity absolutely drew audiences in and exposed them to more of the college game’s bright stars.

However, others might argue that while Clark may have been the main reason for the recent ratings boost, there were other standouts in the game that played a key role in the recent elevation of awareness.

Either way, Staley is an authoritative voice in women’s college basketball, and her praise of Clark’s impact on the game holds major credence.

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Geno Auriemma says changing the WNBA eligibility rules could ruin women’s college basketball

Geno Auriemma thinks WNBA eligibility rules should stay exactly as they are to preserve women’s college hoops.

Women’s college basketball is in a place of high interest right now after the careers of stars like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso and UConn’s Paige Bueckers.

In fact, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James spoke recently about how that familiarity has generated more star power for the women’s side than the men’s side of the sport.

However, the odds of losing one of those premiere talents after a year could ruin the women’s college hoops altogether, at least to UConn coaching legend Geno Auriemma told ESPN Radio’s “UnSportsmanLike” this week.

As of 2022, domestic women’s college players who are graduating seniors or are at least 22 years old can be eligible for the WNBA Draft. Meanwhile, men’s college basketball players only have to play for a year pre-NBA before turning pro.

To Auriemma, giving women’s basketball athletes the chance to leave after only a year could prove catastrophic.

“It depends whether you want the game to grow or you want to kill it,” Auriemma shared on the show. “If you want to kill it, then let the kids leave after freshman year.

“On the men’s side, it’s become transactional. Everybody’s a free agent. Everybody’s a mercenary. It’s not the kids’ fault. … To me, what helped the women’s game grow is the people in Iowa got to grow up with Caitlin Clark. The people of Connecticut got to grow up with all of my great players. There’s something to be said for that.”

While we’re not sure what the future holds for WNBA eligibility, we do know that Auriemma joins the group who feels things should stay exactly as they are.

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Kentucky’s reported men’s basketball coaching candidate list unsurprisingly features big names like Dan Hurley

Kentucky’s reported list of men’s basketball coaching candidates is not a surprise.

Kentucky’s reported list of possible men’s basketball coaching candidates to replace John Calipari is about what you’d expect it to be.

Kentucky Sports Radio’s Matt Jones shared on Tuesday night a ranked list of candidates for the school, which understandably had UConn’s Dan Hurley at the top.

Hurley downplayed the idea of him joining the Wildcats after winning his second national title with the Huskies on Monday night, but he didn’t say no outright. It’s very possible that Kentucky could make a Godfather-style offer that Hurley couldn’t refuse, but so could UConn, hypothetically.

Baylor’s Scott Drew was second on the list as a primary backup to Hurley, and Jones added he’d be “very surprised” if that list got past the second option.

Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan was third, as he’d make a leap back to the college ranks after nearly a decade in the NBA if he decided to take the Kentucky job.

Hurley leaving UConn feels like a shaky proposition after the massive success he’s found at the school, making Drew the most likely option for the job at this juncture to Jones.

Drew won a championship with Baylor in 2021 and has spent more than two decades with the school. However, he’s only 53 and has plenty of coaching ahead of him. Hurley is the slam dunk in this situation, but Drew offers a ton of experience and would be very smart for its own reasons.

We’ll see how this all shakes out, but it’s not surprising to see these three major names linked to one of the biggest college jobs in the country.

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Caitlin Clark praised Paige Bueckers ahead of Iowa and UConn’s Final Four game

Caitlin Clark has tremendous respect for Paige Bueckers and how she plays the game.

Ahead of their 2024 women’s NCAA Final Four game, Iowa women’s basketball’s Caitlin Clark praised UConn’s Paige Bueckers and what she’s been able to accomplish in her career.

Clark and Bueckers have known each other since middle school, and the former lauded the latter for her competitive spirit and the way she leads her team when she plays.

It’s a really cool reminder from Clark for how much these athletes respect one another, even when the competition gets fierce with a shared goal on the table.

Clark will be headed to the WNBA after the season while Bueckers will stay in school for another year. It sure sounds like Clark will be cheering Bueckers on as she remains one of college basketball’s true stars.

Bueckers also talked about the possibility that she’ll replace Clark as the sport’s biggest star next season, hoping instead that the focus will shift more to all of the great women’s basketball players at the collegiate level.

These were some really cool insights from two of the game’s great players, who are both winners no matter who wins in the Final Four game on Friday.

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Caitlin Clark learned she won AP Player of the Year with a Wheel of Fortune puzzle

It’s certainly not puzzling to see how Caitlin Clark won this award.

Iowa women’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark won her second AP Player of the Year honor this week, and she found out the news in the best way.

During a Hawkeyes team meeting, coach Lisa Bluder revealed a Wheel of Fortune-style game puzzle for Iowa to figure out.

As letters were guessed, it became apparent that it had something to do with Clark, as the team soon celebrated the basketball phenom on her stellar achievement once the puzzle was solved.

If you’re going to find out such fantastic news in your last days as a college basketball player, it might as well be in a fun way like this. Clark looked elated at the recognition, as she definitely earned it for what she’s done this season.

You definitely don’t need a Wheel of Fortune puzzle to remind you of that.

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Michael Phelps loved that he was Caitlin Clark’s screensaver on her phone

One great salutes another.

One all-time athlete paid tribute to another recently, as Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark revealed her phone screensaver is of swimming legend Michael Phelps.

During a “get to know you” video posted by Iowa, Clark revealed that her phone screensaver is a photo of Phelps swimming in the Olympics in 2016.

In particular, it’s the moment where fellow swimmer Chad le Clos got caught looking at Phelps as the latter was about to win the gold medal.

Once Phelps saw that he was Clark’s screensaver, he shared on social media that he was honored to be represented in such a way. “This is so cool!” Phelps shared on Wednesday as he tagged Clark in the post.

How cool indeed, as two sports legends collide in a really neat encounter.

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Paige Bueckers stunned fans with her explosive Elite Eight performance for UConn

Paige Bueckers put on a show in the Elite Eight round.

While Iowa’s Caitlin Clark got plenty of love for her incredible performance against LSU on Monday night, UConn’s Paige Bueckers wowed fans after leading her team past USC in the evening’s second Elite Eight game.

Bueckers scored 28 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Huskies made it to the Final Four over an excellent Trojans team led by the outstanding JuJu Watkins.

This impressive sequence late in the fourth quarter helped UConn pull away from USC, as Bueckers got five very tough points in the clutch.

It’s baskets like this that will help the Huskies guard succeed in the WNBA one day, even though she’s returning to UConn for the 2024-25 season.

 

To make Bueckers’ stellar performance even better, she and the Huskies will take on Iowa and Caitlin Clark on Friday in the Final Four for a chance at the 2024 national title game.

That game should be must-see television for all sports fans.

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A teary Angel Reese reminded everyone she’s just human as teammates passionately defended her

These are powerful messages from Angel Reese and Flau’Jae Johnson.

One of the harder parts of playing sports in front of the national audience is dealing with the attention from fans, media and beyond.

After the LSU women’s basketball team fell to Iowa in the Elite Eight round on Monday night, two of the team’s best players delivered powerful reminders to all willing to listen about the very real human cost of visibility.

Angel Reese and Flau’Jae Johnson both talked about the negative attention that the program, and Reese in particular, have received since the team won the 2023 women’s NCAA national championship.

Reese was moved to tears during both moments, as she reminded her critics that she’s human and detailed some of the hardships she has faced since becoming a national figure.

“I’ve been through so much; I’ve seen so much,” an emotional Reese told reporters after the game. “I’ve been attacked so many times. Death threats, I’ve been sexualized, I’ve been threatened. I’ve been so many things, and I’ve stood strong every single time, and I just try to stand strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to see me down and, like, not be there for them. So, I just want them to always just now, like, I’m still a human.”

Johnson provided a similarly stirring defense of Reese amid any outside criticism, talking about what a role model she is for her teammates. Her words also made Reese quite emotional.

“Y’all don’t know Angel Reese,” Johnson said. “I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person… The crown she [wears] is heavy… She’s the type of teammate that’s going to make you believe in yourself.”

Van Lith also vigorously defended Reese, saying that any hate was not going to get to her.

It’s always an important reminder that we always engage with athletes, especially those playing at the collegiate level, with empathy and respect, as nothing that happens on the court is as important as how those who play are treated away from the game.

It’s clear that LSU has Reese’s back, and you can only hope more people will heed this message and treat all of these athletes with care and class.

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Caitlin Clark showed why she’s a great role model by signing items for thrilled fans after Elite Eight win

Caitlin Clark still made time for some Iowa fans after the Elite Eight game.

Iowa women’s basketball standout Caitlin Clark delivered one of the best performances of her college career on Monday night in the Elite Eight round against LSU.

Clark scored a remarkable 41 points, including nine 3-pointers, as her Hawkeyes got past the Tigers to make another Final Four appearance.

However, Clark still made time for fans after the game to sign various items and greet them as they made their way to Albany, New York, to support the Iowa superstar and her fellow Hawkeyes.

This is such a sweet gesture on Clark’s part, as she clearly made the night of some very fortunate fans who got a little time with a real legend after a legendary performance.

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