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NCAA Basketball

Boston College Signs with New Balance

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CHESTNUT HILL – (Source: Official Joint News Release) – Boston College athletics signed a 10-year agreement with Boston-based New Balance Athletics to become the Official Footwear and Apparel Provider for the Eagles. The deal will begin on June 1, 2021.

The largest financial footwear and apparel agreement in Boston College athletics history gives New Balance the right to provide uniforms, apparel, and footwear for 30 of BC’s 31 varsity sports. The partnership will also include the opportunity for Boston College student-athletes to be part of an annual internship program at New Balance.

“This partnership will be an absolute game-changer for Boston College athletics and our student-athletes,” said William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Pat Kraft. “This is not just a historic deal in terms of the financial value and amount of apparel for our department. The opportunities for our student-athletes to assist in product design and development of the footwear and apparel they will actually wear and compete in will be transformational.”

As New Balance looks to continue its growth with New Balance Basketball, a key element in this partnership focuses on the innovation and investment in the men’s and women’s basketball programs. New Balance will work closely with both programs to aid in design and product enhancements and is dedicated to their success both on and off the court.

“This progressive collaboration joins two world-class Boston-based teams with strong synergies at our core and enables a broad spectrum of initiatives that will drive innovation, performance and creativity,” says Ray Hilvert, Vice President of Global Team Sports at New Balance. “Boston College athletics is known for its historic commitment to excellence and we look forward to working with Pat Kraft, Father Leahy and the entire Boston College team to build a strong and dynamic relationship that benefits student-athletes and our shared communities.”

The partnership will grant several BC teams access to the new state-of-the-art TRACK@New Balance that is currently under construction. The new sports complex at Boston Landing will feature a 200-meter hydraulically banked track, seating for more than 5,000 spectators, and facilities for training, events, and recovery.

Officially licensed Boston College apparel will be available online this summer on BCEagles.com and New Balance.com in addition to both New Balance Boston retail locations and the Boston College Bookstore.

Boston College cited its longstanding appreciation for New Balance’s history and corporate mission as factors in its decision to seek the agreement. Since 1972, when the company was purchased by Jim Davis, New Balance has grown from six employees manufacturing 30 pairs of shoes per day in a single location to a global brand with more than 7,000 associates worldwide and global annual sales of $3.3 billion in 2020.

Headquartered in Boston, New Balance owns and operates four factories in New England and one in the United Kingdom, and New Balance Foundation– established by Jim and Anne Davis in 1981–has donated more than $110 million in total grants to non-profit organizations to develop high-impact, long-term, sustainable initiatives that enrich the lives of children, their families and their communities.

Hill Named Managing Director of USA Basketball’s Men’s Senior National Team

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Hill to Replace Jerry Colangelo as Head of Men’s Senior National Team After Tokyo Summer Olympics

COLORADO SPRINGS – (SOURCE: OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE) – Olympic gold medalist and 19-year NBA standout Grant Hill has been approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors as the next managing director of the USA Men’s National Team. Hill will succeed current managing director Jerry Colangelo after the Tokyo Olympics.

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“It is a tremendous honor to serve as managing director of USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team. I am looking forward to working with the USA Basketball staff and Board of Directors to lead this program so uniquely positioned for continued growth and for developing and promoting our top talent in events around the world,” said Hill. “As a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, I know the thrill and responsibility it is to represent our country. I am confident USA Basketball will continue to showcase the top talent and highest character players in our country.”

“We are very excited that Grant Hill will join USA Basketball as our USA Men’s National Team managing director. Grant is a proven leader of consequence and character who will continue to help us achieve on our twin goals of winning international competitions and representing our country with honor” said USA Basketball Board of Directors chair and retired General Martin Dempsey. “In making this announcement, I also want to emphasize how much everyone associated with USA Basketball appreciates Jerry Colangelo for everything he did for USA Basketball over the past 15 years.”

Taking control in 2005 of a USA National Team that hadn’t won a major international competition since 2000, Colangelo rebuilt the program from the bottom up. Under Colangelo, the USA men have compiled a remarkable 97-4 overall record and have claimed top honors in six of eight FIBA or FIBA Americas competitions, including Olympic championships in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Hill played for five USA Basketball teams, won two gold medals and one bronze medal and compiled an overall record of 26-1 (.963 winning percentage). He was a member of the gold medalist 1996 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team and the 5-0 1996 USA National Team. Hill as a collegian was a part of the 1992 USA Developmental Team that trained against the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team, the bronze medalist 1991 USA Pan American Games Team and the gold medalist 1990 USA U18 Championship Team.

Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018, Hill’s NBA career covered 19 seasons, and he was a seven-time NBA All-Star and a five-time All-NBA selection. Playing four collegiate seasons at Duke University, he helped lead the Blue Devils to back-to-back NCAA national titles in 1991 and 1992 and to a runner-up finish in 1994.

USBWA Honor Iowa’s Luke Garza

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Garza Wins Oscar Robertson Award as NCAA Player of Year

INDIANAPOLIS – (Source Official USBWA press release) – Iowa center Luka Garza, a unanimous All-America selection and the nation’s leader in total points and field goals made, has been named the winner of the 2020-21 Oscar Robertson Trophy as the National Player of the Year in voting by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. The senior from Washington, D.C., was honored in a virtual presentation in conjunction with the men’s Final Four in Indianapolis.

The 6-11, 265-pounder is a two-time First Team USBWA All-American after leading the nation in total points (747), field goals made (281), 30-point games (8) and 20-point games (22). He is fifth nationally in free throw attempts (199), 10th in free throw makes (141) and tied for 11th in double-doubles (13). His 747 points extended the single-season school record he set last season.

Garza earned the Trophy over two other finalists, junior guard Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois and senior forward Corey Kispert of Gonzaga.

Iowa ranked consistently among the top 10 teams in the national polls throughout the 2020-21 season behind Garza, the District VI Player of the Year who repeated as the Big Ten’s Player of the Year, becoming only the third player in conference history to win the award in consecutive seasons. The Hawkeyes closed at 22-9, falling to Oregon 95-80 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament despite 36 points from Garza, who tied a 65-year-old school record for points in an NCAA Tournament game on 14-of-20 shooting from the field with three three-pointers.

Iowa’s career scoring leader and only its second USBWA All-American (Jarrod Uthof in 2015-16), Garza is the school’s first Oscar Robertson Trophy winner and the first from the Big Ten since Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky in the 2014-15 season. He is the eighth player and the ninth overall honoree from the Big Ten. Following a 15-year hiatus between 1995-2009, the Big Ten has now claimed four of the last 12 awards.

Garza was a unanimous All-American as determined by the four major awarding organizations: the USBWA, Associated Press, NABC and The Sporting News.

The Oscar Robertson Trophy is voted on by the entire membership of the association, which consists of more than 900 journalists. It is the nation’s oldest award. “The Big O” won the USBWA’s first two national player of the year awards in 1959 and 1960 and was the consensus national player of the year as a sophomore in 1958, the year before USBWA started giving its player of the year award. The USBWA renamed the award the Oscar Robertson Trophy in 1998.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season.

Basketball Africa League: Debuts in May

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DAKAR – (Source: Official FIBA News Release) – The Basketball Africa League (BAL) announced that the league’s historic inaugural season will tip off Sunday, May 16 at the Kigali Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, with 12 teams from the continent of Africa competing in the new professional league.

The BAL, a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), builds on the foundation of club competitions FIBA Regional Office Africa has organized on the continent and marks the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside of North America. The first BAL Finals will be held Sunday, May 30.

The BAL has created robust health and safety protocols for the 12 teams and personnel traveling to Rwanda, based on guidance from the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, with advice from public health officials and medical experts.

“We are thrilled that the inaugural Basketball Africa League season will take place at the world-class Kigali Arena,” said BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall. “Through the BAL, we will provide a platform for elite players from across the continent to showcase their talent and inspire fans of all ages, use basketball as an economic growth engine across Africa, and shine a light on Africa’s vibrant sporting culture.”

“We are extremely happy to finally launch the highly anticipated first season of the BAL,” said FIBA Africa and BAL Board President Anibal Manave. “FIBA and the NBA have been working closely together to develop protocols to address the health and safety of all players, coaches and officials. The experience of hosting the FIBA AfroBasket 2021 Qualifiers in Rwanda late last year will contribute to a safe and successful inaugural BAL season.”

The league today also announced an adjusted competition format for the inaugural season, which will feature a total of 26 games at the Kigali Arena. The competition will tip off with an 18-game group phase with the 12 teams divided into three groups of four. During the group phase, each team will face the three other teams in its group once. The top eight teams from the group phase will qualify for the playoffs, which will be single elimination in all three rounds.

Below are the 12 club teams from 12 African countries that will compete in the inaugural BAL season:

COUNTRY TEAM
Algeria GSP (Groupement Sportif des Pétroliers) **
Angola Petro de Luanda (Clube Atlético Petroleos de Luanda) *
Cameroon FAP (Forces Armées et Police Basketball) **
Egypt Zamalek*
Madagascar GNBC (Gendarmerie Nationale Basketball Club)**
Mali AS Police (Association Sportive de la Police Nationale) **
Morocco AS Salé (Association Sportive de Salé) *
Mozambique Ferroviàrio de Maputo**
Nigeria Rivers Hoopers BC (Rivers Hoopers Basketball Club)*
Rwanda Patriots BC (Patriots Basketball Club)**
Senegal AS Douanes (Association Sportive des Douanes) *
Tunisia US Monastir (Union Sportive Monastirienne)*
*Champion from national league that earned representation in the inaugural BAL season
**Secured participation in the inaugural BAL season through a BAL qualifying tournament

Champions from the national leagues in Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia earned their participation in the inaugural season.  The remaining six teams, which come from Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Rwanda, secured their participation through BAL qualifying tournaments conducted by FIBA Regional Office Africa across the continent in late 2019.

The BAL groups and additional details about the league will be announced at a later date.

US Basketball Writers Honor Oklahoma State’s Cade Cunningham

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Official News Release from the USBWA) – Oklahoma State point guard Cade Cunningham, a freshman who electrified the Big 12 Conference and led the Cowboys’ late-season surge to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2009, was named winner of the 2020-21 Wayman Tisdale Award, honoring the National Freshman Player of the Year based on voting by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

The lone freshman on USBWA’s 2020-21 All-America first team, Cunningham led the Big 12 in scoring at 20.2 points per game and was a nine-time recipient of the Big 12 Player and/or Newcomer of the Week honor, the most by any player this season and the most in school history. A USBWA All-District VI selection, he is just the fourth Big 12 player to sweep the conference’s player of the year and freshman of the year awards and was the second-highest-scoring freshman nationally.

Cunningham won the Tisdale Award over three other finalists, all fellow USBWA All-Americans: Michigan center Hunter Dickinson, USC forward Evan Mobley and Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs. He is the fifth Big 12 player to win the Wayman Tisdale Award and the 22nd USBWA All-American from OSU, its first since Jawun Evans in 2017.

The award is based on regular-season performance. But Cunningham helped take the fourth-seeded Cowboys into the NCAA’s second round, falling Sunday night to Oregon State 80-70 to finish at 21-9 on the season. His 24 points against Oregon State playing all 40 minutes included four three-pointers. He scored 15 points in OSU’s first-round win over Liberty, including nine straight in the final minutes of its 69-60 win. He finished the season averaging 20.1 points on 43.8 percent shooting, with 62 three-pointers on 40.0 percent shooting outside the arc, 6.2 rebounds per game, 132 free throws made on 84.6 percent accuracy, and a team-high 94 assists and 43 steals.

Cunningham is Oklahoma State’s first USBWA All-American since Marcus Smart in the 2012-13. He joins a trio of previous USBWA National Freshman of the Year Award winners – Smart (2013), Texas’ Kevin Durant (2007) and Kansas State’s Michael Beasley (2008) – in an exclusive group of players to also be chosen as the Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season. He became OSU’s all-time leading freshman scorer during the NCAA Tournament finishing with 544 points, only the program’s third player to score 500 points in a season. Should Cunningham declare his eligibility, he is expected to be among the top picks in the 2021 NBA Draft.

The Wayman Tisdale Award is voted on by the entire membership of the association. The USBWA has chosen a national freshman of the year award since the 1988-89 season. It was named the Wayman Tisdale Award in the 2010-11 season in honor of the late three-time USBWA All-American at Oklahoma and the first freshman to receive first-team All-America honors from the USBWA.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season

 

Big East’s Villanova & Creighton Advance to NCAA Sweet 16

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Official News Release from BIG EAST) – Villanova and Creighton, the BIG EAST’s top two teams in the regular season, have advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Championship. The Wildcats, who were ranked 18th in last week’s Associated Press poll, will meet Baylor, the top seed in the South Region, on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. ET. The Bluejays, No. 19 by AP, also meet a No. 1 seed, Gonzaga in a West Region semifinal at 2:10 p.m.

Gonzaga is ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, while Baylor is No. 3.

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Wildcat/Bluejay Similarities: Besides being ranked consecutively at 18th (Villanova) and 19th (Creighton) in the AP poll, both teams are No. 5 seeds in their respective regions and will battle the top seeds next. The venue for both teams this weekend will be the same, Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. Both contests will be telecast on CBS. Villanova and Creighton each knocked off No. 12 seeds in the first round and No. 13 seeds in the second round.

Villanova and Creighton shared the BIG EAST regular-season title last year and both were locks for the 2020 NCAA Tournament, if it had been played.

NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

SOUTH REGION
First Round – March 19
No. 5 Villanova 73, No. 12 Winthrop 63

Second Round – March 21
No. 5 Villanova 84, No. 13 North Texas 61

Regional Semifinals – March 27
No. 5 Villanova vs. No. 1 Baylor – CBS 5:15

WEST REGION
First Round – March 20
No. 5 Creighton 63, No. 12 UCSB 62

Second Round – March 22
No. 5 Creighton 72, No. 13 Ohio 58

Regional Semifinals – March 28
No. 5 Creighton vs. No. 1 Gonzaga – CBS 2:10

EAST REGION
First Round – March 20
No. 5 Colorado 96, No. 12 Georgetown 73
No. 10 Maryland 63, No. 7 Connecticut 54

March Madness: 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief

BOSTON – C’mon now, admit it. Every year, after you fill-out your very own NCAA March Madness college basketball bracket, you’re absolutely sure you’ve got them all right. Every single pick looks perfect. Although the odds of picking the correct winning team in each tournament game are 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 (that’s one in 9.2 quintillion), you’re sure this is the year for perfection.

You watched the NCAA Selection Show on CBS Sports and made note of every word uttered by the magnificent Greg Gumbel, who along with his expert commentators – Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis – made quick decisions on the fate of 68 NCAA basketball tournament teams hailing from every corner of the United States of America.

Upon conclusion of the Selection Show, you grabbed the remote to switch from CBS to ESPN so you could learn what Dickie V (Vitale) and Jay Bilashave to say. While Dickie V entertained us from his basement in Lakewood Ranch, Bilas scoured his memory and notes for tiny sound bytes about great defensive schemes and tough match-ups in the first round.

Let’s dig in deeper for 2021, after all, it’s been nearly two years since we last filled out our brackets.

The No. 1 seeds look unbeatable, don’t they? It seems that a No. 16 vs a No. 1 upset is nearly impossible this year as No. 1 overall Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois and Michigan were the top four teams in the Associated Press and college coaches poll rankings with the ‘Zags garnering every single No. 1 vote. Gonzaga is everyone’s pick to win it all and rightfully so with their (26-0) record and big time head coach in Mark Few. Gonzaga, the school Utah Jazz guard and USA Dream Teamer John Stockton put on the map when he was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1984, went wire-to-wire as the nation’s No. 1 college basketball team this season.

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Now – QUICK! 

Name three players from the Gonzaga team.

Okay, I’ll spot you All-American first-teamer Corey Kispert as the 6-7 senior led the Zags in scoring at 19.2 ppm., slightly ahead of 6-10 sophomore forward Drew Timme (18.7). Freshman guard Jalen Suggs is pretty good, too. Wouldn’t you say?

You can take it from there. Here’s the full Gonzaga team roster with stats. And, here’s a full website of information, compiled by an army of SIDs in Spokane, Washington. Knock ‘em dead at the Virtual Zoom/Skype/WebEx water-cooler with your Gonzaga knowledge.

Now, before you fill-out your 2021 NCAA bracket, wouldn’t you like to join me in the same exercise for Baylor? Michigan? Illinois? Then, we can look at the No. 2s which are really no different than the No. 1s, except they face a potential match-up of a No. 3 rather than a No. 4.

Iowa, Alabama, The Ohio State University and Houston earned the No. 2 seeds this year and then the overall quality of clubs fell off to No. 3s in – Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and West Virginia. Hell? West Virginia went 18-9 and grabbed the No. 10 overall seed in this tournament.

In March, alone, West Virginia lost their last two games of the season to Oklahoma State (20-8, a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Regional, and the 15th overall seed in the tournament). On March 2, West Virginia lost a heartbreaker to Baylor, 94-89 in OT. Suffice to say, the tenth best team in the land is really not that great as this tournament begins.

Yet the beauty of March Madness is just that! As sure as I type these words, West Virginia and their lovable, huggable head coach in Bob Huggins can “march” all the way to the Final Four in a one and done, survive and advance format that has an important and very unique nuance for COVID-19+ 2021 – no travel. Every game is in the basketball-loving State of Indiana, most to be played in downtown Indianapolis.

The bracket gurus offered some advice in picking a perfect bracket or, at least, winning a pool of bracket-filling friends, using the ESPN Tournament Challenge or a.k.a. Bracketville. Here are a few others things to consider.

Helpful Hints for Success:

  1. Don’t even think of doing the No. 16 vs No. 1 thing.
  2. Don’t pick ALL No. 1s into your Final Four
  3. Don’t go too far extreme either as there’s only been two years since 1985 when the Final Four was played without a No. 1 seed in the building.
  4. One No. 1 seed has advanced (41%), while two No. 1s have advanced (38%) of the time since the 64+ team era of Bracketville.
  5. Examine the No. 12s vs No. 5s. Since ‘85, those pesky No. 12s have upset No. 5 a whopping (34.6%) and even better, No. 11s have upset No. 6s (37.5%) and No. 10s have upset No. 7s in (38.2%) of the NCAA Tournament games.
  6. Chances are – the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball championship team will be a No. 1, a No. 2 or maybe a No. 3 seed.

Do you see that Hugs?

While the First Four screwed-up the more traditional Bracket Mania and a Noon deadline on Thursday, this year the First Four is Thursday evening from Mackey Arena in beautiful West Lafayette (Purdue) or Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, (Indiana U.) – rather than the usual and popular Dayton, Ohio setting.

Lastly, if you’re looking to pick those perennial favorites, like Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame, Davidson, Indiana, Temple (fifth all-time winningest program), St. John’s (ninth all-time winningest program), or Arizona, look no further.

They’re all watching the 2021 tournament on TV, just like you.

And, we’ll get more into that on Sunday.

 

Four BIG EAST Teams Go Dancing

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NEW YORK – (Official News Release) Villanova, Creighton, UConn and Georgetown earned NCAA bids.  Villanova, the regular season champion, and runner-up Creighton both are No. 5 seeds.  UConn is a No. 7 seed and Georgetown, the BIG EAST Tournament winner, is a No. 12.

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NO. 8 SEED GEORGETOWN GRABS BIG EAST TOURNEY CROWN

The eighth-seeded Georgetown Hoyas were the surprise winners of the The BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden.  After dispatching No. 9 seed Marquette 68-49 in the first round, the Hoyas edged top-seeded Villanova 72-71 in the quarterfinals.  In the semifinals, coach Patrick Ewing’s team beat No. 5 seed Seton Hall 66-58.  In the finals, the Hoyas handled second-seeded Creighton 73-48.  Georgetown became only the second team in league history to knock off the No. 1 and No. 2 seed in the same year.

BIG EAST HAS AVERAGED MORE THAN FIVE NCAA BIDS PER SEASON

Prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament, the BIG EAST received a total of 32 NCAA Tournament invitations, averaging 5.3 per season in the previous six seasons of its basketball-centric alignment (2014-19),  Villanova won the national championship in 2018 and 2016. In 2017, the BIG EAST had seven NCAA Tournament participants.

UCONN REJOINED BIG EAST FOR 2020-21

Connecticut rejoined the BIG EAST as a full member for the 2020-21 academic year.  One of seven original members of the conference, Connecticut competed as a BIG EAST school for the first 34 years of the Conference’s existence, beginning in 1979-80 and continuing through 2012-13.

SEVERAL BIG EAST TEAMS WERE POISED FOR POSTSEASON IN ‘20

Before the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled, several BIG EAST teams appeared primed for NCAA invitations. Most national bracketologists had six or seven league teams headed to the NCAAs. The BIG EAST was the top rated conference in the NET.

VILLANOVA HAS THE TOP EIGHT-YEAR LEAGUE RECORD

In the eight seasons since conference realignment, Villanova has the best record in conference play with a 114-27 (.808) mark.  The Wildcats have won or shared seven of the eight regular-season titles.  Xavier won outright in 2017-18.

 

CONFERENCE Records (2013-21)

Overall        Pct.

Villanova            114-27        .808

Connecticut         11-6          .647

Xavier                  80-59         .575

Creighton            83-63         .568

Providence          79-66         .545

Seton Hall           76-69         .524

Butler                  72-74         .493

Marquette          68-77         .469

Georgetown        58-84         .409

St. John’s             55-90         .379

DePaul                30-111        .213