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NCAA

Duke’s Brown Wins Media Award

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff Report from Official Press Release) – In recognition of his long service to the game of women’s basketball, Duke’s Lindy Brown has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Mary Jo Haverbeck Award winner for 2023. He will be presented the award at the Final Four in Dallas.

Brown joined the Duke communications office in November 1999 and rose to Senior Associate Director of Sports Communications, currently overseeing women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s golf. In 2019, Brown received the CoSIDA Achievement Award for the University Division and has been honored multiple times for his women’s basketball media guides. He has been part of multiple women’s sports championships and achievements at Duke, including three women’s basketball Final Four appearances (2002, ’03 and ’06).

“Nobody worked harder to promote and elevate Duke women’s basketball than Lindy, whose knack for spotting and pitching good stories made it an easy program to cover,” said USBWA president Luke DeCock, a sports columnist for the (Raleigh) News & Observer. “The fact that he for many years organized the annual media basketball game at Cameron is entirely incidental.”

A 1996 graduate from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C., Brown received a Bachelor of Science degree in sport management and worked in the sports information office during college. Before joining Duke, he served as the Sports Information Director and Marketing and Promotions Coordinator for the University of South Carolina Aiken. Brown resides in his hometown of Raleigh with his wife Christine and their two children, Jordan and Olivia.

The award is presented annually and named after the late Mary Jo Haverbeck, the longtime women’s sports communications director at Penn State who passed away in January 2014. The award pays tribute to Haverbeck for her pioneering and visionary work among the first women to work in the sports communication profession.

The USBWA 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.

Minton Named Bunn Award Winner

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CLEVELAND – (Staff Report from official News Release) – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame named Reggie Minton as the winner of the 2022 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award. Minton, a longtime military officer, men’s basketball coach and former executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Minton will be honored at the Hall of Fame Tip Off Celebration and Awards Gala during Enshrinement Weekend in September.

The Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award was instituted by the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Board of Trustees in 1973 and is the most prestigious award presented by the Hall of Fame outside of Enshrinement. Named in honor of Hall of Famer John W. Bunn (Class of 1964), the first chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame Committee who served from 1949-1964, the award honors coaches, players and contributors whose outstanding accomplishments have impacted the high school, college, professional and/or the international game.

“The Basketball Hall of Fame honored to recognize Reggie Minton as the recipient of this year’s Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Mr. Minton embodies what it means to be a person of integrity and character. From his time honorably serving our country to the passion and knowledge he brought to the gym as a coach, he left a wonderful impact on everyone who he came into contact with. We look forward to honoring his legacy in Springfield this September.”

A native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Minton was an all-state selection at Bridgeport Central High School and was a collegiate standout at the College of Wooster. Following his graduation, he honorably served more than 20 years in the United States Air Force.

After concluding his military career, Minton turned to coaching where he was the head coach at Dartmouth (1983-1984) and the Air Force Academy (1984-2000), where his 16 years still stand as the longest coaching tenure in school history.

Minton joined the NABC staff as the associate executive director in 2000 and was elevated to deputy executive director in 2004. During his time with the NABC, he focused on issues that impacted college basketball and its coaches, legislative actions, and other matters pertaining to the NCAA. He was also the association’s liaison in its partnership with the American Cancer Society in the Coaches vs. Cancer program, which has raised over $100 million since its inception. Throughout his career, Minton was active with USA Basketball, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees and the NIT selection committee. He also served on several NCAA committees, including a term as chair of the rules committee and a consultant to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Issues Committee.

Minton will be honored with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award at the Hall of Fame Tip Off Celebration during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend September 9-10, 2022

USC Fires Helton

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and wire service reports) – University of Southern California coach Clay Helton was fired on Monday. The dismissal came two days after then-No. 14 Trojans were upset, 42-28, by rival Stanford. Assistant Donte Williams will serve as interim head coach as the search for a new head coach begins this week.

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“This afternoon I informed Clay Helton of my decision to make a change in the leadership of our football program,” athletic director Mike Bohn said in a statement. “Clay is one of the finest human beings I have met in this industry, and he has been a tremendous role model and mentor to our young men.”

Helton went 46-24 at USC, including seasons of 10-3 in 2016 and 11-3 in 2017. However, the Trojans are just 19-14 since the end of the 2017 season and Saturday’s loss signaled to Bohn, who became athletic director 22 months ago, that action was needed.

“As I committed to upon my arrival at USC, during the past two off-seasons we provided every resource necessary for our football program to compete for championships,” Bohn said. “The added resources significantly increased expectations for our team’s performance, and it is already evident that, despite the enhancements, those expectations would not be met without a change in leadership.”

Former USC stars Keyshawn Johnson, Matt Leinart and a host of alumni were among those expressing disappointment in the overall program after the loss to Stanford. Bohn asserted he will seek a coach who can turn the program back to a national championship contender. The Trojans have won 11 national titles with the most recent being in 2004.

“Over the next few months, we will conduct a national search for our new head coach,” Bohn said. “We will actively and patiently pursue a coach who will deliver on the championship aspirations and expectations we all share for our football program.”

Williams, who was a defensive backfield coach, is in his second season on the USC staff. He does not have head coaching experience and will debut this Saturday (Sept 18) at Washington State.

“Donte is an experienced and well-respected coach who is renowned for his ability to develop relationships with student-athletes and I appreciate his willingness to take on this challenge,” Bohn said. “With 10 games left, we still have control of our own destiny in the Pac-12 conference.”

While We’re Young (Ideas) – July 4th

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WE’RE SICK OF NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS AND IT HASN’T EVEN STARTED

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – With all due respect to Hamilton – The Musical, let’s hope they don’t throw away their shot.

They fought for it.

They wrote about it.

They talked about it.

They protested over it.

They sued for the rights to it.

Yes, they were young, scrappy and hungry and on Thursday the NCAA finally caved and folded the deck on the issue of “Name, Image and Likeness” (NIL) as their hand was forced by the clock striking midnight leading into July 1st.

The NCAA directives, this week, came after the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled (9-0) Monday in favor of student athletes and as at least 10 States had adopted laws or were ready to enforce executive orders (of State Governors or Governments) to allow student-athletes the right to “make money” from their Name, Image or Likeness (NIL).

The decisions tossed the collegiate sports world into a land of uncertainty with no clear guidance from the law or the NCAA.

First, the NCAA noted that schools in States that have passed laws related to NIL would be “responsible for determining whether” athletes’ NIL activities “are consistent with state law,” their statement said.

The statement also called for athletes (and schools) in States without an NIL law, athletes would be able to engage in NIL activities without violating NCAA rules that so far have heavily limited those activities. The areas to be fair game now include having endorsement deals, leveraging social media for pay, and making money from coaching or signing autographs and autographed memorabilia.

Sports marketers didn’t “exactly” jump into the fray, but one deal – struck by Fresno State women’s basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, hoop-it-up twins who’ve built up an impressive, hard-earned following and rocked their social media channels and TikTok, in particular – received quite a bit of attention with a timely Boost Mobile endorsement to open an NCAA NIL Pandora’s box.

Twitter avatar for @CavinderHannaHanna Cavinder @CavinderHanna

ON A BILLBOARD IN TIME SQUARE 😭 WHAT IS LIFE… blessed❤️ Image

July 1st 2021

By September, another 15 States are expected to have NIL legislation in place and the remaining States will then be pressured to act as soon as possible. Somewhat like sports gambling, their is no Federal guideline and the entire category for sports marketers has fast become “the Wild, Wild West” of yesteryear, with administrators making up their rules on a case-by-case basis and totally on the fly.

“With the variety of State laws adopted across the country, we will continue to work with Congress to develop a solution that will provide clarity on a national level,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert in a statement. “The current environment – both legal and legislative – prevents us from providing a more permanent solution and the level of detail student-athletes deserve.”

Somewhat like the ambiguity caused by the lack of Federal guideline on the issue of legalized sports gambling, the colleges, their administrators, the student athletes, marketers and marketing agents have been left to figure out the non-existent rules as they go along. Certainly, the unscrupulous underworld of collegiate sports will rear it ugly head to bend the rules or blasts through them – one-by-one. Leniency in one State can provide an advantage to the recruiting practices of schools in that particular State over their neighboring and sometimes rival State.

It’s almost unfathomable that the legal system and the NCAA have allowed the issue to remain unresolved, as the 2015 O’Bannon case started the boulder rolling downhill. To refresh your memory, in 2016 the Supreme Court of the United States failed to take up an appeal to a 2015 Ninth Circuit Court ruling in favor of former UCLA men’s basketball player, Ed O’Bannon, now a retired NBA professional. In the ruling, the three-judge Ninth Circuit panel – consisting of Judges Sidney Thomas, Jay Bybee and Gordon Quist – found that certain NCAA amateurism rules violate federal antirust law.

Surely, there was time to put Federal guidelines in place. Now, the Feds have too much on their plate and the June 28th SCOTUS ruling – while just and correct – dumped a whole load of problems – TikTok – onto the laps of college sports administrators who all knew they were coming.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: USA Basketball is cranking up the engines and the men’s U-19 team, competing in the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Latvia started the summertime activities off in a big way. The USA team posted an 11-0 run to start their first game, and never looked back en route to their decisive, 83-54, victory over Turkey (0-1) Saturday in Riga. … After opening the game with that 11-0 run, the Americans closed the first 10 minutes with a 15-2 surge that covered the final 4:13 of the quarter. Jaden Ivey (Purdue/Mishawaka, Indiana) scored 10 of the USA’s last 15 points in the first period which led the USA securing a 20-point lead (29-9) going into the second quarter. … The USA U-19 squad will continue with preliminary round July 4, at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) versus Mali and will wrap-up the round robin play on Tuesday, July 6, at 1:30 p.m. EDT vs. Australia.

HOOP, HOOP, HOO-RAY: The USA men’s senior national team will soon dress as Olympians but before they do, they’ll practice against a newly named USA Select team that includes some of the NBA’s brightest young stars. The Select roster will include:

  • Saddiq Bey (Detroit Pistons/Villanova)
  • Miles Bridges (Charlotte Hornets/Michigan State)
  • Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves/Georgia)
  • Darius Garland(Cleveland Cavaliers/Vanderbilt)
  • Tyrese Haliburton (Sacramento Kings/Iowa State)
  • Tyler Herro (Miami Heat/Kentucky)
  • John Jenkins (Bilbao Basket, Italy/Vanderbilt)
  • Keldon Johnson (San Antonio Spurs/Kentucky)
  • Josh Magette (Darüşşafaka Tekfen, Turkey/Alabama-Huntsville)
  • Dakota Mathias (Philadelphia 76ers/Purdue)
  • Immanuel Quickly (New York Knicks/Kentucky)
  • Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves/LSU)
  • Cam Reynolds (Houston Rockets/Tulane)
  • Isaiah Stewart (Detroit Pistons/Washington)
  • Obi Toppin (New York Knicks/Dayton)
  • P.J. Washington (Charlotte Hornets/Kentucky)
  • Patrick Williams (Chicago Bulls/Florida State)

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will serve as head coach of the 2021 USA Select Team, The assistant coaches will be Gonzaga University head coach Mark Few, who served as an assistant coach with the 2019 USA Select Team and head coach of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games Team and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley, who served as an assistant coach at the 2018 USA National Team minicamp.

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UMass Takes Its First Frozen Four Title

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PITTSBURGH – The University of Massachusetts soundly defeated St. Cloud State of Minnesota, 5-0, in Saturday night’s men’s ice hockey national championship. For the UMass Minutemen, it’s was their first Frozen Four title win in program history.

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The scoring started a little over seven minutes into the first period when Aaron Bohlinger found himself on a 2-on-0 and cashed in to make it 1-0 UMass. With 1:04 left in the first 20 minutes, Reed Lebster tapped one past St. Cloud G David Hrenak to give UMass a 2-0 lead entering the first intermission.

With St. Cloud State on the power play five minutes into the second frame, Phil Lagunov dangled around Nick Perbix to score a shorthanded goal. Matt Kessel added a power play goal in the back half of the second period to make it 4-0.

UMass’ Bobby Trivigno made it 5-0 when he sniped one past David Hrenak early in the third period.

UMass was on a mission to improve one slot heading into the 2021-21 season. The Minutemen finished as 2019 championship runner-ups (2020 playoff was cancelled). They closed out the 2020-21 regular season winning the program’s first-ever Hockey East title and advanced to the championship game after an overtime thriller in the Frozen Four semifinals against Minnesota Duluth,

UMass goaltender Filip Linberg made 25 saves to earn the shut-out.

 

 

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

2021 Boston College Football Schedule

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CHESTNUT HILL, MASS – (Official News Release) – Boston College and the Atlantic Coast Conference announced the 2021 football schedule. The BC Eagles play six home games at Alumni Stadium, including the first game of the season versus Colgate on Saturday, Sept. 4.

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Second-year head coach Jeff Hafley won more games than any other first-year Power Five coach a season ago as the Eagles bring back 19 starters in 2021.

The Eagles return 10 starters on offense, led by junior quarterback Phil Jurkovec and All-ACC wide receiver Zay Flowers. BC’s entire offensive line returns, including All-ACC selections Alec Lindstrom, Ben Petrula, Zion Johnsonand Tyler Vrabel up front.

On defense, BC welcomes back seven starters and 10 players that started multiple games a season ago including All-ACC defensive back Josh DeBerry.

The 2021 season begins at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 4 versus Colgate. It is the first meeting between the two schools.

Following the season opener at home, BC hits the road for a two-week stretch at Massachusetts on Sept. 11 and at Temple on Sept. 18.

The Eagles play in Amherst against the Minutemen for the first time since 1982. BC has won 10 straight in the series and is 22-5 all-time against UMass, including a 9-2 record away from home.

Old Big East foes reunite in Philadelphia as the Eagles play their first game at Lincoln Financial Field since 2004 on Sept. 18. The Eagles last played the Owls in 2018 and came away with a 45-35 victory in Chestnut Hill. All-time, BC is 29-7-2 against Temple, including a 10-4-1 mark in Philadelphia.

BC and Missouri meet for the first time on Sept. 25 as the two schools begin a home-and-home series. The Eagles return the visit to Missouri on Sept, 14, 2024. Missouri is the first SEC team to play at Alumni Stadium since Tennessee on Oct. 31, 1987.

In meetings that date back to 1937, Boston College is 13-19-1 all-time against the Southeastern Conference. The last time the Eagles faced an SEC opponent was in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31, 2008 against Vanderbilt.

ACC play begins on Saturday, Oct. 2 as BC visits defending ACC champion Clemson for the third consecutive season. Last season, BC lost 34-28 at No. 1 Clemson as the Tigers rallied from a 28-13 deficit. In a series that began in 1940, Boston College and Clemson meet for the 31st time with Clemson leading the series 19-9-2. For the 14th time, Boston College and Clemson play for the O’Rourke-McFadden Trophy after the BC Gridiron Club established the award in 2008.

Following a week off, BC hosts NC State on Saturday, Oct. 16 as the two division foes square off for the first time since the Eagles’ 45-24 victory over the Wolfpack in 2019. All-time, BC is 10-7 against the Wolfpack, including a 7-3 record at Alumni Stadium.

Another two-game road swing follows as the Eagles travel to Louisville on October 23 and visit Syracuse for the third straight season on October 30.

Last season, BC captured a 34-27 victory over the Cardinals at Alumni Stadium. In 13 all-time meetings, Louisville leads the series 7-6, but BC has won three of the previous four games.

Boston College won 16-13 inside the Carrier Dome last season. Syracuse leads the all-time series 32-22, including a 20-9 advantage in Syracuse. BC has won three straight games in the Carrier Dome for the first time in series history.

The only Friday night game of the season features an old rival as Virginia Tech travels to Chestnut Hill on November 5. The Hokies defeated BC last season in Blacksburg as they lead the all-time series 19-10. The last time Virginia Tech played at Alumni Stadium, BC opened the 2019 season with a 35-28 victory.

The final road game of the year features BC’s first trip to Georgia Tech since 2007 as the Eagles and Yellow Jackets meet for the second straight season. In 2020, BC rolled to a 48-27 win at home over Georgia Tech. The Eagles are 3-7 all-time against the Yellow Jackets, including a 2-3 mark in Atlanta.

Boston College closes out the regular season with two home games as Florida State comes to the Heights on November 20 and Wake Forest visits on November 27. The Eagles did not play either division opponent last season.

FSU leads the all-time series 13-5 while the Eagles hold a 14-11-2 series lead against the Demon Deacons.

Season tickets will go on sale for the 2021 season starting on Thursday, Feb. 4 on BCEagles.com or by calling 617-552-4622 (GOBC). Kickoff times and broadcast information will be announced at a later date.

2021 Boston College Football Schedule
Sat., Sept. 4                  Colgate
Sat., Sept. 11                at Massachusetts
Sat., Sept. 18                at Temple
Sat., Sept. 25                Missouri
Sat., Oct. 2                    at Clemson*
Sat., Oct. 16                  NC State*
Sat., Oct. 23                  at Louisville*
Sat., Oct. 30                  at Syracuse*
Fri., Nov. 5                    Virginia Tech*
Sat., Nov. 13                  at Georgia Tech*
Sat., Nov. 20                 Florida State*
Sat., Nov. 27                 Wake Forest*

*Denotes ACC game | Home games at Alumni Stadium in bold