Maria Sharapova Pulls Out of US Open
NEW YORK -- Maria Sharapova, the No.
NEW YORK -- Maria Sharapova, the No.
Dwayne “Tiny” Morton is leaving his position as an assistant at Seton Hall and appears to be headed back to high school.
“I’m a teacher and I’m going back to teach,” Morton told SNY.tv by text Saturday night. “If Lincoln [High School] accepts me back, I will be honored. This is in no way a basketball thing.”
Prior to coming to Seton Hall in 2014, Morton was a math teacher at Shirley Tanyhill School and was the head boys basketball coach at Lincoln High School, both in Brooklyn.
On Monday, Seton Hall issued a press release with the following comments from head coach Kevin Willard and Morton.
“I want to thank Dwayne for his contributions to our program over the last year,” Willard said. “He is a terrific coach and mentor for student-athletes, and I understand that he feels his calling is back in teaching. I wish him all the best as he pursues his dream job.”
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera considered putting his name into the NBA Draft after Georgetown’s disappointing loss to Utah in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
But when he had time to settle down and think it over, the 6-foot-3 guard reversed course and opted to return to Georgetown for his senior season.
“I considered it a lot,” Smith-Rivera, who averaged 16.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists last season, told SNY.tv by phone on Thursday. “It was a big decision that boiled down to myself and what I felt was best for me. And I think at the end of the day I made the right decision based off of getting my degree and being a with a great group of guys, a special group that I think could very well turn that corner that everyone seems to talk about.”
By JACK LeGWIN
Payton Pritchard, one of the top point guards in the Class of 2016, has committed to Oregon.
Reggie Rankin of ESPN was the first to report the news.
Oregon is getting the No. 48 ranked player in the nation by 247 Sports, and the No. 8 overall point guard. He initially committed to Oklahoma, but reopened his recruitment in July.
“[I] wanted to stay and play for my state and I have a really good relationship with coach [Dana] Altman,” Pritchard, who also considered Michigan, Arizona State, Cal, Wisconsin, and Villanova, told Scout.
In between appearances this month in the Big Strick Classic and the Under Armour Elite 24 Game, Billy Preston took an unofficial visit to Maryland.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward from Los Angeles was one of several high-profile visitors to Maryland this month, along with Josh Jackson, Taurean Thompson and Trevon Duval.
“The visit at Maryland was great, I loved it,” Preston told SNY.tv on Friday by phone from California. “The coaches showed me around the whole campus. The basketball facility was nice, the campus was nice. The educational part was nice. Everything was nice about it.
Malik Monk has cut his college list but has yet to announce it to the basketball world.
He is expected to do so next week on his brother Marcus Monk’s radio program.
“I got my list cut down but my brother hasn’t released it yet,” the 6-foot-3 Malik Monk out of Bentonville (AR) told Scout.com during the recent Nike Select Team event in the Bahamas. “I think whenever him and my mom talk, and me too, and we feel comfortable, we’ll just release it.”
Monk was named Tournament MVP at the Nike Global Challenge in July and is ranked No. 6 in the Class of 2016 by Scout.com and No. 5 by ESPN.com.
Jimmy Connors working with Genie Bouchard on Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty Images
NEW YORK — Genie Bouchard obviously needs something — or someone — to turn around her tennis season.
Is Jimmy Connors that someone?
Connors was seen Thursday working with Bouchard at the U.S. Open.
“We’re just friends,” Connors said, according to Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times.
“I’m not sure, but he was on the court today,” Bouchard said.
“I’m looking for someone who can help me improve all areas of my game,” Bouchard said earlier this month after parting ways with former coach Sam Sumyk. “I think it’s very important to be able to address the technical side, the tactical side, the mental side and the physical side.”
