Tag: VCU

Notre Dame reportedly to take part in 2026 Maui Invitational

The Irish are gonna get some sun before they get some turkey in a couple of years.

Imagine being a college basketball fan and knowing part of your team’s schedule two years in advance. It’s not college football when you often know who your team is playing a decade or more in advance. Both sports are just different.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein, Notre Dame is among seven teams that will take part in the 2026 Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving week. Also participating are Ole Miss, Maryland, Providence, BYU, VCU and Arizona. The eighth team that will round out the field is not yet known.

This will be the Irish’s fifth appearance in the tournament, in which they have an all-time record of 8-5. They last competed in 2021 when COVID-19 forced the tournament to be relocated from Hawaii to Las Vegas. They won this tournament in 2017 with [autotag]Matt Farrell[/autotag] receiving tournament MVP honors.

So if you love Notre Dame hoops and want to do something during Thanksgiving week two years from now, might we suggest making the trip to Hawaii to watch these games?

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Top 10 Notre Dame women’s basketball players according to ChatGPT

Does the bot know women’s basketball?

I asked AI information bot ChatGPT to list what it believes are Notre Dame’s top 10 men’s basketball players. It only makes sense for me to give the women equal treatment. Plus the women have both a better recent past and future than the men. You know people want to know who’s made the program so special.

Please note that ChatGPT’s knowledge cuts off at September 2021, so you won’t find [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] on this list. Heck, she probably wouldn’t have made it anyway since she just completed her sophomore season. She still has a legacy to complete.

Here is ChatGPT’s disclaimer regarding the list:

“As a language model, I do not have personal opinions or beliefs, and my responses are generated based on data and information available to me. However, I can provide you with a list of some of the most notable Notre Dame women’s basketball players, based on their achievements, accolades, and impact on the program.”

It also says this:

“Please note that this list is not exhaustive and is subject to personal opinions and interpretations. There have been many talented and accomplished players in Notre Dame women’s basketball history, and different people may have different criteria for their top 10 selections.”

With that out of the way, let’s see who the information bot has deemed worthy of making this list and what it had to say about each player:

Mike Rhoades rumored to be next coach of Penn State basketball

Penn State coaching rumors suggest VCU’s Mike Rhoades could be the next coach of the Nittany Lions.

On Sunday, Penn State met with the current VCU head coach [autotag]Mike Rhoades[/autotag] about their open position. He’s been at VCU for six years boasting a 129-60 overall record and three NCAA Tournament appearances. This past season he led the Rams to an A-10 Conference regular season and postseason title.

Rhoades is a Pennsylvania native from Mahanoy City about two hours from State College. He has a very experienced background, coaching at the Division 3 level before becoming an assistant under Shaka Smart at VCU. He took over the head coaching position at Rice for three years before coming back to VCU in 2017.

It’s clear that jumping to the Big Ten would be a step up for Rhoades. The A-10 is a one-bid conference for the winners of the conference tournament. The Big Ten got eight teams into the NCAA Tournament this season.

Penn State is reportedly willing to pay around $4 million annually for their next head coach. This would be a major commitment of resources that the athletic department had not made in the past.

It’s expected that a contract around that range could get Rhoades to come to State College.

Rhoades would be a good hire for Penn State. He’s been a good coach at the mid-major level and proved that he can build a sustainable program. Getting to the tournament in a one-bid league is hard to do and he accomplished it three times in six seasons.

We’ll see if Rhoades decides to leave Virginia to come back home to Pennsylvania, but it’s certainly looking like Penn State has found its next head coach of the basketball program.

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March Madness: Players to watch in West Region

The Hogs have the talent to make some noise, but here is a list of the other big-time players to watch for in the West division. 

Arkansas was announced as the eighth seed in the West region, lining up to match up with top-seeded Kansas.

Arkansas is blessed with a roster of NBA talent and top players in the country. Eric Musselman can pick from a good group of guys to lean on.

Nick Smith Jr.’s return has given the Hogs a spark. Despite the team’s inconsistent performances, Smith Jr. found a groove that landed him back in the starting spot.

Ricky Council IV is one of the best scorers in the SEC and has the mockup to be a player Musselman can lean on during the tournament. Anthony Black and Devo Davis can create opportunities for the scorers on the floor but take a game over on either end of the court.

The Hogs have the talent to make some noise, but here is a list of the other big-time players to watch for in the West division.

WATCH: Notre Dame Baseball coach Shawn Stiffler mic’d up at practice

The team looks relaxed and ready

The [autotag]Notre Dame Baseball[/autotag] team is a month away from first pitch, but it seems like first-year head coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] is already in mid-season form. The initial season from the new Irish coach should be very telling as to where the program is headed.

The team under [autotag]Link Jarrett[/autotag] went 86-32 during two full seasons and the shortened COVID-19 2020 campaign. One can argue that was the greatest stretch ever for Notre Dame Baseball, even though it was short-lived.

When Jarrett opted to return to his alma mater, [autotag]Florida State[/autotag], he left a massive hole that Stiffler is expected to fill. The new Irish coach seems like a very likable leader and his record at [autotag]VCU[/autotag] was very impressive at 352-207.

If the Irish play as loose as they seem in this video of Stiffler mic’d up, then it should bode very well for the first season with him as the head coach.

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Former Tiger to join Bradley LeCroy’s staff at VCU

Former Tiger and Clemson coach Bradley LeCroy won’t be the only Tiger on the staff at VCU. LeCroy was recently hired as the head coach and we have confirmed that he will be joined by one of his former players. Andrew Cox will be an assistant coach …

Former Tiger and Clemson coach Bradley LeCroy won’t be the only Tiger on the staff at VCU.  LeCroy was recently hired as the head coach and we have confirmed that he will be joined by one of his former players.

Andrew Cox will be an assistant coach for VCU.  Last month Cox was hired as an assistant at UNC Greensboro but will now be making the move to Virginia.

Cox spent the last two season as an assistant with Western Carolina.  Before heading to Western Carolina Cox spent two years at Furman as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.

LeCroy lands first head coaching job

Former Clemson player and long time assistant Bradley LeCroy has landed his first head coaching job. The Clemson Insider has confirmed that LeCroy will be the next head coach at VCU. From 2003-05, LeCroy served as a volunteer assistant for the …

Former Clemson player and long time assistant Bradley LeCroy has landed his first head coaching job.  The Clemson Insider has confirmed that LeCroy will be the next head coach at VCU.

From 2003-05, LeCroy served as a volunteer assistant for the Tigers. In 2007, he spent a year at Western Carolina, then three at Tennessee. In 2011, he returned to Clemson. Since 2011, he has served as recruiting coordinator and infielders coach as well as working with the hitters.

LeCroy played at Clemson from 1997-2000, was a member of Clemson’s 2000 College World Series team and was on four NCAA Tournament teams. LeCroy hit .266 in 173 career games and 395 at-bats.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Report: Shawn Stiffler hired as Notre Dame baseball coach

Like the hire?College World Series

With Link Jarrett moving within the ACC to Florida State, Notre Dame needed a new coach to build upon its College World Series berth. Less than three weeks after the end of the 2022 season, the Irish appear to have found their man. According to Matt Fortuna of The Athletic, VCU coach [autotag]Shawn Stiffler[/autotag] has been tabbed as the Irish’s next coach.

Stiffler just completed his 10th season as Rams coach, accumulating a 352-207 record during that time, including a 42-20 record in 2022. Stiffler has led the Rams to the Atlantic 10 Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two years and in 2015. They also won the regular-season title in 2019, and Stiffler was named the conference’ coach of the year.

During Stiffler’s tenure, the Rams produced four All-Americans, five Freshman All-Americans and 43 all-conference players. Here’s hoping that success will carry over against the arguably tougher competition that will come with this new job.

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Former Michigan basketball player transfers to new school

Best of luck to him!

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It seems to happen every year, for every team, in college athletics — transfers. Michigan basketball lost Zab Jackson on Saturday.

Jackson went to Twitter to announce his new basketball home on Saturday, where he chose to go to VCU.

Jackson only played in four games this season for Michigan. Jackson missed several games to a non-COVID-19 illness, but even when healthy, he couldn’t carve out a consistent role in the rotation.

Jackson, a sophomore, was a former 4-star prospect that chose Michigan two years ago. He averaged 3.3 points-per-game this season and averaged 1.5 points-per-game in his career with the Wolverines.

Michigan will be losing guards Devante’ Jones, Eli Brooks, and officially Zeb Jackson from this year’s team. The Wolverines have guard Dug McDaniel coming in as the lone guard for next year. Coach Juwan Howard may be looking into the transfer portal once again to find some help.

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Notre Dame gives offer to guard recruit Lawrent Rice

The Irish are after a combo guard.

With Prentiss Hubb entering his senior season, Notre Dame might be a little anxious to figure out its future point guard situation. Whatever the case, the Irish are not waiting for someone in the wings to suddenly appear out of nowhere and say they’ll be all right at that position after Hubb leaves. In fact, they’re going a step further and going after a combo guard. They have presented an offer to Lawrent Rice, who will be going into his junior year at Wayne, which is not far from Dayton, Ohio:

Hours later, Rice announced an offer from Arizona State. It shouldn’t be surprising that he also has received an offer from Dayton along with fellow Buckeye State programs Ohio State and Ohio. He also has offers lined up from such programs as Louisville, Purdue, Marquette, West Virginia and VCU. There’s little doubt that more offers are coming his way, and he has a lot of time to consider his options.