October 31, 2001

 

NBA TOP PERFORMERS

New Jersey forward Keith Van Horn was ten of 21 from the field and finished with 26 points and seven rebounds in the Nets’ 103-97 win over Indiana. Van Horn made four three-pointers.

 

Teammate Jason Kidd shined in his Nets’ debut as he nearly had a triple-double. He had 14 points, ten rebounds and nine assists.

 

Pacers small forward Jalen Rose scored 43 points in the loss as he made 18 of 27 shots from the field.

 

Los Angeles center Shaquille O’Neal made ten of 23 shots from the field and nine of 16 from the line as he finished with 29 points and 18 rebounds in the Lakers’ 98-87 win over Portland. He added five assists and five blocked shots

 

Teammate Kobe Bryant also had 29 points in the Lakers’ win. He finished with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 

Milwaukee guard Ray Allen made eleven of 21 shots and all six free throws as he finished with 32 points in the Bucks 119-112 overtime win over Utah.

 

Teammate Glenn Robinson was also eleven of 21 from the field in a 28-point effort.

 

Dallas guard Michael Finley made 14 of 28 shots as he scored 34 points in the Mavericks’ 94-87 win over Detroit. 

 

ROBINSON TO SIT OUT SEASON FOR BUCKEYES

Ohio State basketball player Doylan Robinson will sit out his senior season to concentrate on academics. Robinson was academically ineligible for the first quarter this year and would not have been able to play until January. He sat out the 1998-99 season as a non-qualifier after being Division I Player of the Year for Akron (OH) Butchel. Robinson played in 31 games and averaged 1.6 points per game as a sophomore. He was injured in a car accident Dec. 3, 2000, and appeared in only nine games as a junior, averaging 1.1 points per game. The Buckeyes finished 20-11 last season and were 11-5 in Big Ten play, third in the conference. Ohio State has made it to the NCAA tournament the past three seasons. They return eight of their top nine scorers, losing just center Ken Johnson.

 

October 30, 2001

 

SCHILLING WILL TRANSFER

Junior shooting guard Shane Schilling will not return to the Gophers men's basketball team and will transfer to another school

He started 31 games last season and averaged 8.4 points per game, but was suspended indefinitely Saturday by Gophers coach Dan Monson for undisclosed violations of team rules. The loss of Schilling leaves the Gophers with only nine scholarship players and weakens an already suspect backcourt. Kevin Burleson, Kerwin Fleming, Travarus Bennett, Steve Esselink and Maurice Hargrow will be candidates for playing time at shooting guard. Burleson started ten games last season at point guard and averaged 6.3 points per game. Fleming had one start and scored 6.8 points per contest. Bennett had seven starts and averaged 4.5 points per game. Esselink transferred from Augustana, where he averaged 6.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in 1999-2000 as a freshman. He sat out last season and shined this summer during the Howard Pulley Summer League. Esselink is presently a walk-on, but he may receive a scholarship with Schilling gone. Hargrow averaged 24.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game as a senior at St. Paul (MN) Highland Park. It was expected that he would be redshirted, but that could change now.

 

The Gophers finished 17-10 last season and were 5-9 in Big Ten play. Minnesota start the 2000-01 season 15-4, but faltered down the stretch as starting forwards Mike Bauer and John Blair-Bickerstaff. The Gophers have received two verbal commitments so far from 6-10 center Aliou Kane of Dyke (VA) Blue Ridge School and 6-7 forward Stanley Gaines from Providence (IL) St. Mel's. Minnesota has three Division I transfers sitting out the season as walk-ons. They are Ben Johnson from Northwestern, Matt Smriga of Kent State and Brent Lawson from St. Francis (PA). All three are Minnesota natives, who decided to transfer closer to home. Johnson started all 30 games season for the Wildcats and averaged 10.7 points per game. However, since he transferred from another Big Ten school, he can’t receive a scholarship.  

 

The Gophers open the season November 17th at home against Mercer.

 

October 27, 2001

 

BLUE RIBBON COLLEGE BASKETBALL YEARBOOK TO HIT NEWSTANDS

The 21st edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is hot off the presses and available now through its new publisher, Brassey¹s Inc. Fans of the 384-page "Bible" of college basketball, which features profiles on every Division I team, can order the book by calling 800-775-2518, or by going to Brassey¹s website, Brasseysinc.com. The book will also be available in bookstores around the country, including Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Walden¹s and Borders.

 

Blue Ribbon is a must-read for the true basketball fan with the most in-depth coverage in the coverage. I have written for Blue Ribbon for many years and I rely on it throughout the season. I have every back issue and enjoy looking back at the college basketball’s past and history. I strongly recommend that you pick up a copy of Blue Ribbon today

 

LUKE ANDERSON TO TRANSFER TO MINNESOTA STATE MANKATO

6-6 shooting guard Luke Anderson of Eagan (MN) High has decided to go to a school closer to home as he will sit out the season at Minnesota State Mankato (my alma mater) after signing with Montana State last fall. Anderson had verbally committed to Minnesota before his senior season, but signed with Montana State after it became apparent that the hometown Gophers wanted him to walk-on his first season. He played at the Nike All-American camp in 2000 and played with the Howard Pulley Panthers. His older brother, John, played at Division III Augsburg.  Anderson is an excellent outside shooter and is a better athlete than given credit for. He’ll sit out the season and be eligible next season. The Mavericks previously  added three Division I transfers.

 

5-10 guard Jevin Budde played in just five games at Creighton and averaged 1.8 points and 0.6 rebounds per game this season. He redshirted the 1999-2000 season. Budde is a native of Bettendorf, Iowa, who was named a first-team all-state selection in his senior season and led his team to three straight state tournament appearances, including a third-place finish during his junior campaign. Recently named Maverick head coach Matt Margenthaler recruited Budde as an assistant coach at South Dakota State.

 

6-10 center Chris Johnson averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game this season for Eastern Washington. His numbers dropped from 4.3 points and 3.8 caroms per game in 1999-2000 as a redshirt freshman when he started seven contests.   University team for the past two seasons. In his time with the Eagles, Johnson, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, appeared in 53 games , averaging 3.1 ppg and 2.6 rpg. A 1998 graduate of Thomas Doherty High School, Johnson was a honorable mention all-area selection as a junior and played in the Southern Colorado All-Star game.

 

6-4 forward Jermaine Brown played two seasons at Bradley. Brown, a native of Bellwood, Ill., averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds, while shooting 50.0% from the field in 17 games in the 1999-2000 season. He is the younger brother of ten-year NBA veteran Randy Brown, a member of three World Championship teams with the Chicago Bulls and currently with the Boston Celtics.

 

October 26, 2001

 

ACADEMY NATIONAL INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT SETS ITS FIELD

The first annual Academy National Invitational may be new, but the event appears to be loaded with of the country’s top teams and players plus plenty of local Houston talent. The event will be held December 26th through the 29th with the Texas high school division championship at 7:00 p.m. and the national high school division championship at 8:30 p.m. The venue is the Campbell Center near Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport and it seats 4,700 fans.

 

There are several outstanding matchups in the national division. St. Patrick’s (NJ) High is led by 6-8 power forward Paul Williams, 6-5 Mawel Soler, 6-10 junior center Grant Billmeier, and 6-1 junior point guard Michael Nardi. They were 21-7 last season. Midwest City (OK) High is paced by College Basketball News’ number six senior Shelden Williams and #39 DeAngelo Alexander. Williams committed to Duke, while Alexander, who verballed to Oklahoma, is reportedly considering his options. Midwest City claimed its second consecutive 6A title with a 71-61 victory over Putnam City last season. The Bombers have won 35 straight games vs. Oklahoma schools and were 26-2 last year. They finished sixth in the final USA Today poll.

 

Westchester (CA) High won the Los Angeles section for the fifth time and captured the prestigious City of Palms Tournament in Fort Myers, Fla. They were 28-2 last year and finished 12th in the final USA Today poll. Westchester has three players among College Basketball News’ top 100 seniors in #98 Brandon Bowman (who committed to Georgetown), #70 Brandon Heath and #19 Hassan Adams. They also have New Meixco commitment Ashanti Cook and standout junior Trevor Ariza. Louisville (KY) Male won their seventh Region championship, but lost in the state finals to Lafayette (Lexington) 54-49. They finished 32-4 and ended 14th in the final USA Today poll.  Male is led by 6-6 small forward Lavar Carter and College Basketball News’ number 22 junior Mike Bush, who might be Kentucky’s best football player.

 

Beaumont Ozen (TX) High defeated Lanier (San Antonio) 58-42 to claim the 4A state title and finish the season 35-0. College Basketball News’ number two junior Kendrick Perkins, a 6-11 center, shined at this summer’s adidas ABCD camp. He will face a talented big man in 7-2 Shagari Alleyne of New York (NY) Rice. Rice was just 13-11 last season, but they return their entire starting five. 6-0 point Jason Wingate is an excellent floor general.

 

Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy is the defending USA Today national champion after finishing 33-0 last season. They lost their three top players, but are still loaded with College Basketball News’ number two senior Carmelo Anthony, who committed to Syracuse and #10 Sani Ibrahim, who is considering the NBA draft. They also have #42 6-2 point guard Chadd Moore, who committed to Cincinnati, #75 6-1 point guard Justin Gray, who committed to Wake Forest, 6-7 small forward Antywane Robinson, (Temple), Ian Johnson (Davidson), 6-3 Eric Wilkins (Miami of Florida) and 6-5 Richard Joyce (Wake Forest). The Warriors will face Concord (CA) De La Salle. De La Salle finished 27-5 last season and

won its third straight CIF North Coast Division and fourth straight Bay Valley Athletic League titles.

 

NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION BRACKET

 

Wednesday December 26th

St. Patrick’s (NJ) vs. Midwest City (OK) 7:00 p.m.

Thursday December 27th

Westchester (CA) vs. Louisville Male (KY) 2:30 p.m.

Beaumont Ozen (TX) vs. Rice (NY) 7:00 p.m.

Mouth of Wilson (VA) Oak Hill Academy vs. DeLaSalle (CA) 8:30 p.m.

 

TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION BRACKET

 

Thursday December 27th

Westbury Christian vs. Texas City 11:30 a.m.

Cypress Springs vs. Aldine Nimitz 1:00 p.m.

Heritage Christian vs. Clements 4:00 p.m.

Eisenhower vs. Westfield 5:30 p.m.

 

 

WILDCAT FAN TO GO EARLY SNEAK PEEK AT THEIR RECRUITS

The three future Kentucky Wildcat players are scheduled to play in Lexington in December. 6-5 shooting guard Antwain Barbour of Wabash Valley (IL) CC, 5-9 point guard Brandon Stockton from Glasgow (KY) High and 6-9 power forward Bernard Cote of St. Lambert (Ontario) Champlain will participate in the inaugural Adolph Rupp Classic on December 14-15 at Lexington Catholic. Barbour is considered among the top two JC players in the country. He shined at the U.S. Trails this summer. Stockton is the early favorite for Mr. Basketball in the state of Kentucky and is College Basketball News’ #68 senior.

 

The schedule:

Friday, Dec. 14

Lexington Catholic (KY) vs. Schenectady (NY) 6 p.m.

DeMatha Catholic (Md) vs. Scott County (KY) 7:30 p.m.

Wabash Valley College (IL) vs. St. Catharine College (KY) 9:15 p.m.

 

Saturday, Dec. 15

Schenectady (NY) vs. Scott County (KY), 4 p.m.

Madison Central (KY) vs. Glasgow (KY), 5:30 p.m.

Lexington Catholic (KY) vs. DeMatha Catholic (MD), 7 p.m.

Champlain St. Lambert (Canada) vs. Pleasure Ridge Park (KY), 8:30 p.m.

 

HANOUR LEAVES ARIZONA

Sophomore guard Travis Hanour has decided to leave the program immediately due to personal reasons. Hanour, a 6-6, 188-pound guard from Laguna Beach, California, averaged 3.1 points and 1.4 rebounds, while shooting .339 from the floor in 20 games last season. Hanour was the team’s third leading returning scorer for the Wildcats. Arizona now returns just four players from last year’s 28-8 team that advanced to the NCAA Championship game. They welcome back just one starter, Jason Gardner.

Arizona opens the 2001-02 season against Maryland on November 8 at the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic in New York, N.Y.  The game will be televised by ESPN2.

 

NBDL INVITES 163 PLAYERS

The National Basketball Development League (NBDL) has invited 163 players to the Central Training Camp at the Suwanee Sports Academy in Suwanee, Georgia to compete for one of 88 roster spots with the league's eight teams. The camp will be held from Friday, October 26, through Saturday, November 3rd. Players who have been signed by the league will be attend four days of practice and tryouts (Oct. 27-30), which will be followed by the NBDL's Inaugural Central Training Camp Draft on Wednesday, Oct. 31. Each team's 12 draft selections will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Sports Academy. Teams of 16 (12 draft selections and four allocation players) will then practice for two days (Nov. 1-2) before coaches must cut rosters down to 11 players for individual team training camps beginning Nov. 6. On Nov. 3 the league will conduct a Supplemental Draft, which will include "last cuts" from NBA training camps. Players selected in this draft will join team training camps on Nov. 6 to compete for final roster spots. NBDL teams will open individual training camps in their respective cities on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and must submit their final 11-player roster requests to the NBDL Office by 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 14. Final rosters will consist of at least one "allocation player" and two "first-year professional players." The National Basketball Development League will tip off its inaugural season on Nov. 16, 2001.

 

The Fayetteville Patriots (NC), North Charleston Lowgators (SC), Huntsville Flight (AL), Mobile Revelers (AL), Roanoke Dazzle (VA), Columbus Riverdragons (GA), Greenville Groove (SC), and Asheville Altitude (NC) will compete in a 56-game regular season schedule that runs from mid-November through March, followed by playoffs. A total of 24 games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN, and 19 games will be broadcast regionally on FOX Sports Net South.

 

The following is a look at the 163 players who are invited to the Central Training Camp.

 

#

PLAYER

HT

POS

SCHOOL

109

Kareem Abdul Jabbar Jr.

6-6

SF

Western Kentucky '99

143

Chris Andersen

6-10

PF

Blinn CC '99

110

Harold Arceneaux

6-6

SF

Weber State '00

9

Tezale Archie

6-1

PG

Pepperdine '00

144

Jeff Aubrey

6-10

C

Cornell '99

145

Victor Avila

6-10

PF

Oklahoma '00

146

Chris Bacon

6-10

SF

Nicholls State '01

42

Alan Barksdale

6-3

SG

UALR ' 01

57

Tyrone Barksdale

6-1

PG

IUPUI '98

43

Le'Andrew Bass

6-3

PG

UAB '01

91

J.B. Bickerstaff

6-5

SG

Minnesota '01

183

C.J. Black

6-8

PF

Tennessee '00

76

Anthony Blakes

6-4

SG

Wyoming '00

123

Jeff Boese

6-7

SF

Mesa State '01

111

Keith Booth

6-6

SF

Maryland '97

44

Juan Bragg

6-3

PG

Oklahoma City University '00

92

Geoff Brower

6-5

SG

Lander University 00

32

Lavell Brown

6-2

PG

Cal-State Bakersfield '99

33

Tierre Brown

6-2

SG

McNeese State '01

34

Terik Brown

6-2

PG

Oregon '99

124

Joe Brown

6-7

SG

Coppin State '01

157

Sah-u-rah Brown

6-11

C

Lehigh '01

200

Kris Bruton

6-7

SF

Benedict College '94

158

Michael Canady

6-11

C

Morgan State '01

112

Chris Carrawell

6-6

SF

Duke '00

77

Brett Carey

6-4

SG

UNC-Asheville '01

184

Don Carlisle

6-8

SF

IUPUI '01

93

Ian Chadwick

6-5

SG

Wofford '01

94

Michael Chadwick

6-5

SG

Georgia ' 00

172

Kip Christianson

7-1

C

St. Johns (MN) '97

125

Tony Christie

6-7

SF

Clemson '99

133

Luther Clay

6-9

PF

Rhode Island '00

35

Merl Code

6-2

PG

Clemson '98

95

Eric Coley

6-5

SG

Tulsa '00

45

Jaraan Cornell

6-3

SG

Purdue '00

159

Ben Coupet

6-11

C

Bradley '97

160

Walter Craft

6-11

C

Detroit '01

126

Chris Crosby

6-7

SF

Washington State '00

46

Edwin Daniels

6-3

PG

TCU '01

168

Yinka Dare

7-0

C

George Washington '94

56

Larry Davis

6-3

SG

South Carolina '97

169

Deng D'Awol

7-0

C

Wayland Baptist University '01

36

Harold Deane

6-2

PG

Virginia '97

148

Tate Decker

6-10

F

Oklahoma City University '01

170

Pate Diene

7-0

C

Texas A&M Corpus Christi '01

113

Eugene Edgerson

6-6

PF

Arizona '01

127

Raphael Edwards

6-7

SF

East Carolina '98

173

Neil Edwards

7-1

C

York College '00

96

Tyrone Ellis

6-5

SG