December 2014 | Page 9 of 21

By JACK LeGWIN

Troy Brown‘s recruitment has taken off in the past year, and for good reason.

This past weekend, the 6-foot-6 Brown scored 28 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and added in 3 assists in a win in front of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend. Despite the stat line, Brown remains low key about the game.

“It wasn’t too crazy because I didn’t even realize they were there,” Brown, the No. 2 player in the 247Sports composite rankings in the Class of 2017 told SNY.tv. “I just played my game and it all happened really quick.”

Articles, Kentucky

Calipari Will Tweak Platoons in Wake of Poythress Injury

December 18, 2014

author: Adam Zagoria

John Calipari says he will tweak his famous platoon system in the wake of the season-ending ACL injury to junior forward Alex Poythress.

Derek Willis or Dominique Hawkins could get a chance to become the 10th man in the platoon, beginning with Saturday’s game against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.

“Well, what we’ve done is we’re still platooning,” Calipari said Thursday on a conference call. “And what I’m doing is we’ll platoon nine, and we’re going to have time to see if Derek Willis or Dom Hawkins deserve to be in the rotation of 10. I’m not going to take minutes away from any player just to platoon. That’s not the idea. We were platooning for one reason: to try to take care of 10 players.”

Articles, Rutgers, St. Patrick

Kevin Boyle Says Rutgers Can Be Fixed

December 18, 2014

author: Adam Zagoria

The idea that Rutgers basketball can somehow be “fixed” by a magical savior has floated around for years and years.

It’s been a popular theme since at least the time I started working for New Jersey newspapers in 1997.

Kevin Bannon, Gary Waters, Fred Hill Jr., Mike Rice and now Eddie Jordan have all tried to get New Jersey’s state university turned around.

“Why can’t it be UConn?” one person recently asked me.

Theoretically, Rutgers should be good. It’s the state university of New Jersey and can draw upon talent from New York through New Jersey and Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. The school is now part of the Big Ten.

Articles

Key Midseason Additions: SMU Waiting on Kennedy, St. John’s on Big Men

December 18, 2014

author: Adam Zagoria

It’s that time of year, the mid-semester break, where colleges are adding key players for the second half of the 2014-15 season.

Rob Dauster of NBCSports.com recently put up an excellent list of the “Ten Most Important Midseason Additions.” Here are some additional names and details.

MARKUS KENNEDY, 6-9, RS Jr. F, SMU

Academic issues kept Kennedy off the court for the Mustangs in the first semester, but an SMU source said they hoped to learn his fate soon. Ideally, Kennedy, who averaged 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds last season, would suit up for Saturday’s nationally televised game at Michigan. SMU coach Larry Brown can only wonder what his team might look like if it had both Kennedy and Emmanuel Mudiay, now playing in China.

Articles, Louisville, Recruiting

Louisville Offers Derryck Thornton, Considering Reclassification

December 18, 2014

author: Adam Zagoria

By CHIP MILLER

Just one day after Louisville head man Rick Pitino met with 2016 Henderson (NV) Findlay Prep point guard Derryck Thornton, news surfaced that Louisville has offered the five-star point guard not only for the 2016 year, which is his current classification, but for the 2015-16 season.

“Louisville has only been recruiting the 6-2, 165-pound point guard for about a week,” Jerry Meyer wrote Wednesday, “but Pitino has not only offered Thornton a scholarship but has also offered him one as a 2015 prospect.”

Articles