Trae Young Sets Commitment Date
Trae Young, the 6-foot-2 point guard from
Kansas basketball players Josh Jackson and Lagerald
ROSELLE, N.J. — Another look at The Patrick School just wasn’t enough to secure a victory for Roselle Catholic, as the Lions dropped their second consecutive game to their rivals, 64-58.
Despite dropping this contest on their home court Thursday night, Roselle Catholic managed to make the second matchup with The Patrick School much more competitive.
The first meeting between these two powerhouses last month ended in an 18-point win for The Patrick School at Kean University.
Kentucky-bound big man Nick Richards led the charge against Roselle Catholic with a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double. Richards also swatted two shots out of the air.
In this week's episode, hosts Adam Zagoria
When Derrick Jones’ named was first linked to the Slam Dunk Contest, some national reporters didn’t even know who he was.
Now that it’s official that the former UNLV wing from Archbishop Carroll (Pa.) will compete against Aaron Gordon, DeAndre Jordan and Glenn Robinson III, Jones could end up taking home the title.
Nicknamed “Airplane Mode” for his leaping ability, Jones has split time this season between the Suns and their NBA Development League affiliate, the Northern Arizona Suns. The 6-7 rookie forward will become the first player to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk competition and play in the NBA D-League in the same season.
Who’s ready to see Derrick Jones Jr. in the dunk contest? #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/6YOtYI74NV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 14, 2017
In 2014, Jones won the dunk contest at the Under Armour Elite 24 Game and even impressed Dominique Wilkins with his dunking exploits.
In 2015, Jones pulled out a truly special slam, jumping over four players, including 7-footer Josh Sharma, to win the Dunk Contest at the Mary Kline Classic.
“I did it before so I just said I’m going to do it again,” Jones said that night.
By JOE MANDAK
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Herb Pope, a Pennsylvania high school basketball prospect who later starred at Seton Hall and hoped to play professionally in the NBA or overseas, leaving behind a sometimes-troubled life, pleaded guilty Thursday to robbing a bank last year.
Pope’s plea before a federal judge in Pittsburgh is perhaps the saddest, most serious chapter in his 28 years.
Pope, who is 6-foot-9, stood a full head taller than his defense attorney, Stephen Misko. Pope wore red jail scrubs, orange rubber clogs and leg irons as he pleaded guilty to charges of bank robbery, armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm during a violent crime for the Feb. 16 heist at Sewickley Savings Bank.
Because he pleaded guilty to brandishing a gun during the heist — which netted slightly more than $3,500 — Pope faces at least seven years in prison tacked onto whatever sentence U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon gives him for the robbery charges. Misko said he expects that to be about 2½ years, meaning Pope would face nearly 10 years in prison, and perhaps more, when he’s sentenced May 19.
Pope’s half brother, Tyler Bridges, 31, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial for his alleged role in that heist and another four days earlier at a WesBanco Bank branch in Ambridge. Pope was indicted in the earlier robbery, too, though federal prosecutors later determined they couldn’t prove his involvement and dropped those charges.
Bridges’ attorney declined to comment.
Pope starred a few miles away at Aliquippa Junior-Senior High School and was a Pittsburgh-area sensation, starting on an Amateur Athletic Union team that also featured DeJuan Blair, D.J. Kennedy, Terrelle Pryor and Jon Baldwin. Blair and Kennedy wound up in the NBA, while Pryor and Baldwin went to the NFL.
Academic issues stunted Pope’s college career at New Mexico State, though he transferred to Seton Hall in New Jersey and led the Big East in rebounding in 2010 and eventually graduated in 2013.
But four gunshot wounds almost ended Pope’s college career before it started.
Pope was at a party and argued with another man as they left. A third man intervened and shot Pope twice in the abdomen, once in the left arm and once in the thigh early March 31, 2007.
Pope, then an 18-year-old high school senior, had been scheduled to fly to Chicago hours later to play in the Roundball Classic, an all-star game that includes top high school players nationwide.
Pope was arrested, and later convicted, of drunken driving that December and was arrested for allegedly pulling a weapon on a bartender in Ambridge on New Year’s Eve 2012. He later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, salvaging his career at Seton Hall.
When the NBA passed on his skills, Pope arranged to play professionally in Slovenia, but ran into trouble when his passport expired, among other issues.
“Herb had some drug and alcohol problems in the early part of 2016” when Bridges “got him involved” in the bank heist, Misko said after the guilty plea. “That’s not the kind of person he is.”
Misko contends Pope is a “very intelligent young man” who hopes to counsel youths in his hardscrabble hometown of Aliquippa once he’s out of prison.
“I know he wants to get back and be involved in the community,” Misko said.
By JOEDY McCREARY
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Mike Krzyzewski is returning this weekend to coach his Duke Blue Devils.
The Hall of Fame coach made the announcement Thursday night on his weekly radio show that he will make his return Saturday against Pittsburgh after back surgery kept him out for four weeks.
His return falls in line with the four-week timeline the school projected when his leave of absence was announced on Jan. 2.
Duke (17-5, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) went 4-3 with associate head coach Jeff Capel running the team in Krzyzewski’s absence. The No. 21 Blue Devils won two road games in 48 hours — at Wake Forest and at No. 20 Notre Dame — after losing three of their first five games without the winningest men’s coach in Division I history.
