EDITOR’S NOTE: This post was updated on June 18 to reflect the news of the torn ACL suffered by Georgetown’s Greg Whittington.***
This isn’t your father’s Big East Conference.
The Big East Conference of 2013-14 won’t have traditional Final Four contenders Syracuse and Louisville. The Jimmy and Ricky Show has moved on to a Denny’s somewhere near Greensboro (Rick Pitino will have to wait until Louisville joins the ACC in 2014 for that).
Six other schools — Cincinnati, UConn, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh Rutgers and USF — are also gone.
Enter Butler, Creighton and Xavier to the new 10-team Big East that managed to keep the conference name and the postseason tournament at Madison Square Garden when it broke off with the football schools. To read more of this story, click here
Georgetown sophomore forward Greg Whittington has a torn ACL in his left knee, the school announced Tuesday.
“Greg will return when he is 100 percent healthy,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said in a statement. “I feel for Greg because he’s worked extremely hard to prepare for the coming season, on and off the court. I’m confident this is just another setback that in the end will make him even stronger. At this point, there is no specific timetable for his return.”
The news was previously reported by CasualHoya.com and ESPN.com.
Whittington averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds last season, but was ruled academically ineligible Jan. 12. He was expected to return to the team this season and was a major reason why SNY ranked Georgetown No. 1 in our Preseason Big East rankings.
Without Whittington, Georgetown now falls to No. 3 behind No. 1 Marquette and No. 2 St. John’s.
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Harry Giles, arguably the top player in the Class of 2016, has a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus, according to Kenny Beck of WXII in North Carolina.
Giles injured the knee during his second game with the USA U16 team at the FIBA Americas Championship in Uruguay, and Beck quoted him as saying he will come back “way better” than before.
The 6-foot-9, 210-pound Giles out of Wesleyan (N.C.) Christian was unable to play as the U16s won the gold medal in Uruguay.
“I’m just cheering them on,” he said. “I’m still part of this team, even though I’m injured. So I just cheered them on like I was on the court with them.”
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UCLA released its schedule Tuesday and it is highlighted by a game against Duke on Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden.
The matchup will pit two storied programs that have won a total of 15 national championships, 11 for UCLA and four for Duke.
The game will allow New Jersey forward Kyle Anderson to play close to home for a second straight year. Last season, UCLA played in the Legends Classic in Brooklyn.
In all, UCLA will play non-conference games against four teams that finished the 2012-13 regular season with an RPI of better than 80, Duke (1), Missouri (42), Alabama (64) and Weber State (78). To read more of this story, click here
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Gorgui Dieng touches base with Louisville coach Rick Pitino on a daily basis.
Pitino knows a thing or two about the machinations of the NBA Draft, having coached the Knicks and the Celtics and famously missing out on Tim Duncan in 1997.
“He just said I can go anywhere from 12 to 20,” the 6-foot-11 Dieng said of Pitino following his Knicks’ workout Tuesday.
“I just need to be myself and play the way that he tells me, which is compete and just bring a lot of energy and effort. He said that’s all people want to see – energy and effort. So when i step on the court it’s like second nature to me. I can be tired when I step on the court but once I get going I just keep going. Actually, I play better against competition than against myself.” To read more of this story, click here
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Gorgui Dieng won an NCAA championship with Louisville this past April, but the big man believes the Cardinals will be even better in 2013-14.
“I think they’re going to have a better team this year,” the 6-foot-11 Dieng said Tuesday following his Knicks workout.
“It’s tough to believe but I think they’re going to have a better team. They have a lot of guards and the biggest guy on the team is 6-8. So they’re going to do the things that they are known (for), which is like press, press more, press more because they have a lot of guards. Last year we had a lot of bigs but this year we have more guards. We have four, five guys coming in.” To read more of this story, click here
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Jordan Henriquez didn’t have to travel far to work out for the Knicks on Monday.
A Port Chester, N.Y., native, Henriquez worked out for Knicks’ brass less than 10 miles from where he grew up.
“It’s a great feeling, just knowing that I had the opportunity given to me,” the 7-footer said following a closed workout. “For them to fly me all the way out from L.A., I know that was pretty expensive on short notice so it’s a blessing.”
The 6-foot-11 Henriquez has been training on the West Coast with Norvel Pelle and Josiah Turner. The trio are all represented by agent Greg Nunn, although the 6-10 Pelle — a former St. John’s and Iona commit — withdrew from the NBA Draft, according to DraftExpress.com. To read more of this story, click here
Two rising high school seniors and two incoming college freshman highlighted the 12-man USA Basketball U19 World Championship Team roster that was announced Monday.
Friends, roommates and possible future college teammates Jahlil Okafor of Chicago Whitney Young and Justise Winslow of Houston St. John’s made the final cut, as did acrobatic incoming Arizona forward Aaron Gordon of San Jose (Calif.) Archbishop Mitty and Washington-bound point guard Nigel Williams-Goss of Findlay Prep.
Also selected for the USA U19 World Championship Team were Michael Frazier (University of Florida/Tampa, Fla.); Jerami Grant (Syracuse University/Bowie, Md.); Montrezl Harrell (University of Louisville/Tarboro, N.C.); Elfrid Payton(University of Louisiana at Lafayette); Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State University/Flower Mound, Texas); Jarnell Stokes (University of Tennessee/Memphis, Tenn.); Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke University/Houston, Texas); and Mike Tobey (University of Virginia/Monroe, N.Y.). To read more of this story, click here
The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind for 2015 big man Stephen Zimmerman.
The 7-foot Bishop Gorman (LV) High School star picked up a Kentucky offer Monday morning and has been courted by Duke, St. John’s, UCLA, Arizona and Ohio State, among others.
“Just got offered a scholarship to play basketball from the University of Kentucky!!,” Zimmerman tweeted.
During a phone interview Monday night, Lori Stevens, Stephen’s mom, told SNY.tv that her son spoke Sunday night with Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua, and then head coach John Calipari called Lori Monday morning and “extended the offer to Steven through me.”
“That’s such an honor,” she added. “Kentucky with their history and Coach Cal, it feels like Stephen’s worked so hard to get to where he is and keeps working. It just kind of validates for him that his hard work is paying off and people are seeing it.” To read more of this story, click here
By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The fact that Jamal Olasewere put together a tremendous resume consisting of individual and team accolades over four years at LIU-Brooklyn is indisputable.
The 1,490 points, 110 games played, three NEC championships, three NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2013 NEC Player of the Year as a senior are all a part of the 6-foot-7 small forward’s legacy, but can the resume and the game he has cultivated help deliver him to an NBA roster?
“I did have a good career and I just thank God for that,” Olasewere told SNY.tv after working out for the Nets on Monday morning, his first NBA workout. “He put me in a great place where I had the opportunity to flourish and I hope with the type of resume I put together, it can open the eyes at someone’s NBA workout.”
To read more of this story, click here
By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When Nurideen Lindsey played basketball at Overbrook High School, the alma mater of Wilt Chamberlain, he says he did so not with visions of becoming a professional, but because he wanted to stay off the streets. That, plus one other very good reason.
“I never had any idea that I would be working out for an NBA team,” Lindsey told SNY.tv after working out for the Nets. “I didn’t play basketball in high school to be a professional. I did it because my younger brother enjoyed watching me do it. He loved it and it kept me out of trouble.”
To read more of this story, click here
