USF Fires Orlando Antigua, Murray Bartow Named Interim Coach
South Florida has fired basketball coach Orlando
South Florida has fired basketball coach Orlando
St. John’s freshman Shamorie Ponds on Monday was named the Big East Freshman of the Week for the third time in the last month, raising the possibility that he could become the third Red Storm player in the last six years to win Big East Freshman of the Year honors.
Moe Harkless (Trail Blazers) won the award in 2012 and JaKarr Sampson (Iowa Energy) captured it in 2013.
Only one other rookie in the league, Justin Patton of Creighton, has claimed Big East Freshman of the Week honors on multiple occasions this season (Nov. 28 and Dec. 5).
Ponds, a rookie out of Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson High School, became the first Big East rookie this season to claim the league’s freshman of the week honors three times following a stretch that saw he and Bashir Ahmed lead the Red Storm to victories over No.13 Butler at Carnesecca Arena and DePaul on the road. The win over the Bulldogs marked the first triumph for the Red Storm on campus against a ranked opponent since 1998 and the first win overall against a Top 25 opponent since a victory over Doug McDermott and Creighton on Feb. 9, 2014.
By JIM O’CONNELL
Villanova’s impressive win at No. 10 Creighton kept the Wildcats at No. 1 for a fifth straight week, while Baylor made the jump from fourth to second.
The only new member of The Associated Press Top 25 is Virginia Tech, which beat Duke 89-75. The Hokies (12-1) jump in at No. 21, their first ranking since the opening week of the 2010-11 season.
Villanova (14-0) received 59 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel Monday to easily outdistance the Bears (13-0), who got the other six votes for No. 1.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says stud freshman Miles Bridges will return on Wednesday against Rutgers, but won’t start.
Bridges has been out since injuring his left ankle on Dec. 1.
Tom Izzo says Miles Bridges expected to play on Wednesday vs Rutgers. Won’t start
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) January 2, 2017
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will undergo lower back surgery on Friday, Jan. 6, to remove a fragment of a herniated disc, the school announced.
The procedure will be performed by Dr. Allan Friedman at Duke University Hospital. The anticipated recovery time for Krzyzewski is up to four weeks.
The last time Coach K stepped away from the team because of back problems — missing 12 games during the 1994-5 season — the Blue Devils failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the only time in the past 33 years. Assistant Pete Gaudet ran the team in Krzyzewski’s absence.
Duke (12-2) is ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll, and it seems unlikely that history will repeat itself because of how deep and loaded this team is.
After utilizing many different conservative treatment options over the last month, it was determined that a surgical procedure was necessary to resolve the problem.
By JOHN MARSHALL
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference has been touted as the best and deepest conference in the nation.
After four of its five ranked teams lost this weekend, it may have the most parity as well.
“Our confidence is sky high right now,” Virginia Tech’s Justin Bibbs said after the Hokies knocked off No. 5 Duke 89-75 on Saturday. “I feel like we can play against anybody, with anybody.”
It was definitely a weekend of hope for teams at the middle and even the bottom of the ACC.
