Tag: NCAAB

Bryce James continues family tradition of spurning Ohio State with Arizona commitment

Bryce James is officially an Arizona Wildcat.

Bryce James, the son of NBA superstar LeBron James, has officially committed to a college basketball program.

On Wednesday, the young James shared on Instagram that Arizona will be his next stop once he finishes his playing days at Sierra Canyon.

Bryce James follows in the college basketball footsteps of his brother, Bronny James, who played a season at USC before joining his dad in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Funny enough, Ohio State was one of the teams trying to land Bryce James, who will now play for Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats.

Outside of Ohio State, Notre Dame and Duquesne also offered Bryce James ahead of his Arizona commitment, per Rivals.

Tough luck, Buckeye fans.

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Greg Gumbel dies: Sports fans pay tribute to CBS broadcaster

The longtime CBS Sports broadcaster and host of the NCAA tournament selection show died at the age of 78 on Friday.

Greg Gumbel, a broadcaster who worked for CBS Sports from 1988-94 and again since 1998, died on Friday at the age of 78  after a battle with cancer. Gumbel’s family announced his passing with a statement, which was released by CBS Sports.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved husband and father, Greg Gumbel,” the statement read. “He passed away peacefully surrounded by much love after a courageous battle with cancer.  Greg approached his illness like one would expect he would, with stoicism, grace, and positivity.

“He leaves behind a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication to over 50 extraordinary years in the sports broadcast industry; and his iconic voice will never be forgotten.

“Greg’s memory will forever be treasured by his family, dearest friends, colleagues and all who loved him.”

Gumbel, who also worked for NBC from 1994-98, was a seasoned play-by-play broadcaster who called two Super Bowls during his career. He was well-known in recent years as the voice of the NCAA tournament selection show and the head of CBS’ tournament panel.

Gumbel was absent from CBS tournament coverage in 2024 as he dealt with what was described at the time as an undisclosed “health issue.”

After Gumbel’s death, tributes to him poured in from across the sports media world.

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A Lipscomb walk-on immediately broke down during surprise reveal of a full scholarship

This is pretty powerful.

Lipscomb men’s basketball guard Jack Ingold lived into the hope all walk-ons have on Tuesday by earning a full scholarship, and his reaction to it will make you a bit misty.

Ingold, a senior from West Virginia, wrote for the school’s athletics website about wanting to play for the Bisons after a fifth-grade trip to see the campus. He’d eventually attend the school and latch on with the men’s basketball program, though not as a player at first.

After working his way up from being a team manager to a walk-on, Ingold finally saw his basketball dream come true this week.

Ingold read a note of encouragement that Lipscomb coach Lennie Acuff wrote about him during a team meeting, one that ended with the revelation of the former landing a full scholarship.

Ingold could barely get through the reading after reaching the big news before he broke down in tears and was immediately swarmed by his teammates in a heartfelt celebration.

Like, c’mon, how can you not be moved by this?

It’s always powerful to watch a walk-on be given a full scholarship, but the raw emotion in Ingold’s reaction to it will warm your heart for the rest of winter. Just the look on his face alone as he processes the reveal is a wallop.

What a cool gesture from the team to a guy who sure seems like he’s earned it and then some.

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Loyola players not greeting Sister Jean on way to tunnel wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked

Don’t rush to judgment here!

A bummer of a video surfaced this week of a few Loyola men’s basketball players completely missing Sister Jean, the school’s beloved supporter and chaplain, as she extended a greeting as they headed for the tunnel.

Sister Jean gained national prominence during the 2018 men’s NCAA tournament when 11-seeded Loyola made the Final Four on an unforgettable Cinderella run.

Even at 105, she still makes it out to cheer for the Ramblers. However, this viral moment sparked lots of surprise, as it looked like Sister Jean was left in the cold as she tried to give the team some love after its Tuesday home win over Eastern Michigan.

If you really look hard, you can see in the brief snippet that one player does greet Sister Jean as they’re headed to the tunnel and the two who don’t greet her are distracted by something and seem to unintentionally miss her entirely.

Nobody likes seeing Sister Jean left hanging, but this really isn’t a big deal. We’re pretty confident in saying nobody on Loyola’s men’s basketball team was intentionally trying to ignore her. As you were.

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Hunter Dickinson getting ejected from Kansas-Duke surprised ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla

Did Hunter Dickinson deserve to get ejected for this?

During one of the biggest men’s college basketball games of the 2024 season so far, Kansas star center Hunter Dickinson was assessed a flagrant 2 technical foul and ejected from the contest against Duke.

The two college hoops powerhouses faced off in the Terry’s Chocolate Vegas Showdown on Tuesday night.

Late in the game’s second half, Dickinson and Duke forward Maliq Brown got tangled up on the ground after what was a foul on the latter.

However, the entire sequence got upended when Dickinson’s foot struck Brown in the head while the two were down on the court.

The officiating crew judged that Dickinson’s action was bad enough for an ejection and sent him out of the game early with the flagrant 2 technical foul, which surprised ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla.

“The rule is it has to be severe and extreme. I would’ve given it a flagrant 1,” Fraschilla said on the game broadcast. “I’m surprised it’s a flagrant 2.”

Kansas still held on for a razor-thin victory against Duke, 75-72, but Dickinson’s ejection will loom large over this whole affair.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN. 

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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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