Tag: NCAAB

Where are the Stetson Hatters located… and are they named after the hat?

Or, how a land grant institution took its nickname from a popular piece of menswear.

The Stetson Hatters bring one of the most unusual mascot names in college sports to the NCAA men’s tournament. In a field with Peacocks, Zips, Lopes and, uh, Beach, that’s an accomplishment.

And, yes, they’re named after the guy who created the Stetson hat. John B. Stetson was not only the master of the Boss of the Plains style chapeau, but also a major benefactor to the university and a founding trustee from back when it was DeLand Academy.

DeLand, Florida, uncoincidentally, happens to be where Stetson University is located — a city of 37,000 in central Florida, roughly 41 miles north of Orlando.

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Here’s how much Kentucky would owe John Calipari if it wants to hire a new coach

Kentucky might not be able to afford firing John Calipari after its March Madness loss to Oakland.

If you’re a Kentucky fan and you’re hoping to move on from the John Calipari era of Wildcats basketball, you might want to sit down.

After another underwhelming March Madness appearance with a loss to 14 seed Oakland, Calipari is now firmly on the hot seat after 15 seasons leading one of the most prominent programs in college basketball.

Calipari hasn’t taken Kentucky past the Elite Eight since the 2015 men’s NCAA tournament and has lost twice in the first round in the last three tournaments, including 2021’s loss to 15 seed St. Peter’s.

However, thanks to the 10-year contract that Kentucky gave Calipari back in 2019, the school would reportedly owe Calipari $34,968,749 to buy out his contract through a firing without cause, per The Courier Journal.

That is a lot of money to fire a coach, which is probably why Kentucky will ultimately stomach yet another March Madness misfire and keep Calipari on for the 2024-25 season.

Losing to Oakland stings, but firing your coach and paying more than $34 million to do so stings even more.

Correction: This post originally referenced a report that Calipari’s buyout is $33.3 million.

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Jack Gohlke made a defiant Cinderella statement after Oakland’s upset of Kentucky

Jack Gohlke doesn’t think Oakland is a Cinderella team in the slightest.

After obliterating Kentucky from the arc, sensational Oakland guard Jack Gohlke told the country that he doesn’t think his Golden Grizzlies are a Cinderella team in the slightest.

The Horizon League champions stunned three-seeded Kentucky on Thursday in an 80-76 upset victory in the opening round of the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament.

The Golden Grizzlies were led by Gohlke’s 32 points. The sharpshooter scored 30 of those points from 3-pointers, making his March Madness debut all the more staggering.

In a postgame interview, Gohlke pushed against the idea that Oakland is a Cinderella team, doubling down on the notion that the 14 seed deserves to be looked at in the same light as a traditional powerhouse like Kentucky.

After Thursday’s mind-blowing performance, we’re inclined to agree.

Now that’s the kind of major statement that makes a team like Oakland a fan favorite in the tournament, as the Golden Grizzlies will now head to the Round of 32 as Kentucky heads home with yet another shocking tournament loss.

After that game, it’s Gohlke and Oakland’s world, and we’re just happily living in it.

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Who is Jack Gohlke? Meet Oakland basketball’s March Madness star who shrugged off first-half dominance

Meet Jack Gohlke, the Oakland sensation who hit some stellar 3-pointers against Kentucky.

During Thursday night’s opening round of 2024 March Madness, a new mid-major hero arrived. His name was Jack Gohlke.

The Oakland sixth-year graduate guard put on a show in the first half of his team’s game against Kentucky, scoring a game-high 21 points and hitting seven 3-point buckets as his Golden Grizzlies led the Wildcats 38-35 at half.

The Pewaukee, Wisconsin, native transferred to Oakland this season after spending time at D-II program Hillsdale College and has made a huge impact on his new team.

Gohlke has been one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation this season along with his teammate Blake Lampman.

Ahead of Thursday’s game, Gohlke told Kentucky Sports Radio that he felt confident he could carry his sharpshooting over into the tournament.

“If I caught it at half-court and I was open, I feel like I could put it up,” Gohlke said ahead of the matchup. “I have faith in my teammates and I’m going to get them the ball, as well, but I think they know I’ll put it up from anywhere. Coach (Greg) Kampe and my teammates, they give me the ultimate confidence and ultimate green light. I just go out there and play free.”

At least from the first half, it looks like Gohlke wasn’t kidding. He took full advantage of his “One Shining Moment.”

He had such a dominant first half, all he could do was shrug it off.

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Illinois’ Marcus Domask made March Madness history with rare triple-double in first-round win

Illinois’ Marcus Domask joined elite company in March Madness history on Thursday.

Illinois guard/forward Marcus Domask made some pretty impressive March Madness history on Thursday during his team’s first-round victory over Morehead State.

Domask posted up a triple-double in the victory (12 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists), making him the first player to do so in the men’s NCAA tournament since Ja Morant’s appearance with Murray State in 2019.

It’s also only the 10th time in the tournament’s history on the men’s side that a triple-double has been recorded during a March Madness game. How about that?

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green also netted a couple of triple-doubles in the NCAA tournament while he was at Michigan State, as he’s the only player in men’s history with two to his name.

This is just such a cool accomplishment for Domask as he led his third-seeded Illinois past a fierce effort from Morehead State to the Round of 32.

We’ll see if Domask can keep his hot streak alive when Illinois plays again on Saturday, opponent to be determined.

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Meet Creighton’s Mason Miller, the son of a 2-time NBA championship winner

If Creighton’s Mason Miller seems familiar, it’s because you remember his dad’s NBA days.

If you watched the Creighton men’s basketball team defeat Akron in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament, you got to watch the son of an NBA legend in action.

Mason Miller, a sophomore forward for Creighton, is the son of former NBA player Mike Miller, a 17-year retired veteran who won two NBA titles with the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013.

The elder Miller played college ball at Florida before being drafted by the Orlando Magic in 2000. He coached Houston High School in Germantown, Tennessee, to a TSAA Class AAA state title in his only season as a coach, where Mason Miller played for his dad before joining Creighton.

Now, the younger Miller will keep playing on in the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament with Creighton, where he scored 10 points for the Bluejays in that team’s opening-round victory.

*This post previously stated that Mike Miller was still the coach of Houston High. He left after the 2020-21 season.

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How LeBron James became Duquesne’s biggest fan during March Madness (hint: their coaches)

Duquesne has one major fan in LeBron James. Here’s why.

The Duquesne men’s basketball team upset BYU on Thursday to win its first March Madness game in 55 years, and LeBron James was as hyped as anyone to see it happen.

Duquesne is led by coach Keith Dambrot, who was James’ high school coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary for two seasons. The team’s associate coach, Dru Joyce III, was one of James’ teammates at the school, and Joyce’s father was a coach and mentor to James when he was 10 years old.

A film about James’ high school days, Shooting Stars, came out last year on Peacock. Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin played Joyce III, while Dermot Mulroney played Dambrot, Oregon basketball player Mookie Cook played James and Wood Harris played Joyce II.

All of those close connections makes James the most notable person cheering Duquesne on in this year’s tournament, as its historic win over BYU on Thursday sparked James to send out a few congratulatory messages on Twitter (X).

James also hooked up the Duquesne team with basketball shoes before its big game on Thursday.

This is a really neat connection that will be worth following for the duration of Duquesne’s March Madness run, one the Los Angeles Lakers superstar (and many more) will be watching intently.

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Long Beach State’s AD shamelessly said firing coach Dan Monson was actually just an inspiration ploy

The Long Beach State coaching fire keeps getting weirder.

In what feels more and more like an episode of Arrested Development, Long Beach State athletic director Bobby Smitheran has given an incredibly strange reason for firing coach Dan Monson right before he led the Beach to the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament.

Per ESPN and the Associated Press, Smitheran said he fired Monson, who had been with the team since 2007, to inspire the Beach to perform on the court.

Yes, really, they apparently fired the head coach to try and encourage the team to play better. That’s the reason the athletic director gave. We’re exactly sure that’s the reason why the Beach made this year’s NCAA tournament:

“My belief and hope is that by doing what I did and the timing of it, they would play inspired, and that’s what they did,” Bobby Smitheran told ESPN/AP on Thursday. “I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but it worked.”

Smitheran doesn’t see Monson as being “fired” because of the arrangement allegedly being a mutually agreed need for a change in leadership.

“I don’t buy into that narrative,” Smitheran said of Monson’s parting of ways being a firing. “I think this is really getting lost on people, that we agreed that a change in leadership was necessary. This was something Coach Monson brought to me.”

Monson was let go before Long Beach State punched its March Madness ticket, but agreed to coach the team through the rest of the season — which now includes Thursday’s first-round game against Arizona.

The temporary coach poked fun at his job arrangement before Thursday’s matchup, comparing it to an episode of Seinfeld.

This is easily the weirdest story to come out of March Madness, and we’re very curious to see where this goes for Monson and Long Beach State.

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March Madness: Where is Creighton located?

Hint: It’s one of the largest cities in the midwest, even if you might know it more for college baseball.

When the Big East added the Creighton Bluejays to its ranks, it wasn’t just adding a private school basketball powerhouse without an FBS football program to a cadre of like-minded schools. It was also adding a notable media market outside the conference’s existing footprint.

That’s because Creighton is located just outside of downtown Omaha, delivering that vital Nebraska/Iowa television market — and, sure, delivering eight men’s NCAA tournament appearances, a pair of Sweet 16s and an Elite Eight finish since joining the Big East in 2013.

That’s a solid showing for the most notable Division I program in the city of nearly 500,000.

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March Madness flagrant foul rules for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in 2024, explained

If you’re wondering about the difference between a flagrant 1 and 2 foul this week, we’ve got you covered.

With the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament set to begin this week, there’s one term you’re likely to hear a few times: flagrant foul. But what exactly constitutes a flagrant foul, and what are the penalties for committing one?

The NCAA adopted the flagrant foul system for both men’s and women’s basketball ahead of the 2011-12 season, but the women’s game abandoned it 2017-18 to adopt the FIBA rules regarding disqualification, instead.

It remains in the men’s game, though, and there are two different levels of flagrant fouls that can be committed.

According to the NCAA, a flagrant 1 foul is one that is “excessive in nature or unnecessary or avoidable, uncalled for or not required by the circumstances of the play.” It results in two free throws and possession of the ball to the other team.

“Intentionally fouling,” or fouling to prevent an easy breakaway basket, falls under the category of a flagrant 1.

A flagrant 2 is more severe. It results in the same penalties as a flagrant 1, but the offending player is also automatically ejected from the game. A flagrant 2 foul is described as “brutal, harsh or cruel or dangerous or punishing.”

Additionally, as of this season, a player will be ejected from the game if they accrue three flagrant 1 fouls.

Flagrant 1 fouls aren’t particularly common, and flagrant 2s even less so, but if you see one this month, you’ll understand why and what to expect.

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