Potpourri, Mar 15

News Bits

Team Rampage Basketball: "Congrats to Devin Carson on receiving an offer from Vanguard University (D2). Vanguard will make the transition from NAIA to NCAA D2 to join the PacWest Conference! Well deserved!"

A bigtime scorer.

..................................

"To extend ‘Ballad of the Palouse,’ WSU must extend Kyle Smith’s contract"

..................................

..................................

Guard Zyon (College Park High/UC Riverside) Pullin earned First team All-SEC honors playing for Florida in this, his senior season. Good to see him succeed at a major level. He played travel ball for Team Arsenal.

..................................

"This Man Turned the Worst Job in College Basketball Into a Slam Dunk"

Great read. No other coach should ever complain.

..................................

Skyline Basketball: "Great seeing former Trojan Clayton Ladine (Burton HS) at the top of both these lists! Playing ProB in Germany, he leads the league in assists and steals. Clayton has always found every way to contribute to his team’s ability to win."

..................................

Verbal Commits D2: "Stanislaus State G Dontrell Hewlett has entered the transfer portal."

The 6-foot-5 Hewlett is out of Sheldon High and Odessa College (TX). It looks like he has a year of eligibility remaining. He scored 13.1 points and grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game this season.

..................................

UC Davis senior guard Elijah Pepper has earned Big West Player of the Year status for the 2023-24 season. He also recently became the all-time leader in points for UC Davis men's basketball.

"...Pepper started all 31 games and averaged a league-leading 20.5 points per game during the regular season to lead UC Davis to a third-place finish in The Big West with 14-6 conference record (19-12 overall). The senior guard also topped the league in three-pointers made per game (3.0) and free throw percentage (.923), and had 19 instances of scoring 20 points or more..."

..................................

6-foot-9, 220 Jonathan (Heritage High/Eastern Florida State/U. Georgia) Ned produced 13.1 points and 4.0 rebounds a contest for Western Washington alongside 42 steals. He shot 42%, 32% and 76% respectively.

..................................

"...Coleman Hawkins also made a huge jump. After going through the NBA draft process, Hawkins came back to Illinois and showed major improvements despite not being 100 percent. Though Hawkins will need to show a better temperament and body language on the court, his passion is undeniable. Besides wearing his frustrations on his sleeve, Hawkins has shown so much more consistency and confidence with his game. Hawkins has turned into a surefire NBA prospect while averaging 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1 block and 1.6 steals on a very solid 39.2% three-point percentage. 

Hawkins was snubbed from the defensive first team, however, did earn All-Big 10 Third team..."

..................................

"Mike Woodson is destroying an Indiana institution. IU basketball needs an intervention."

It's no-holds-barred in the state where basketball is a religion. This opinion piece comes from THE major newspaper in Indiana.

..................................

Game Scores

NCAA scores, Wed, Mar 13

• Colorado State 72, San Jose State University 62 full box score. CSU enjoyed 42 points in the paint. Spartan highlights: point Alvaro Cardenas played extra large with 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Freshman guard Latrell Davis tallied 16 points.
• Arkansas 90, Vanderbilt 85 full box score. Ezra (Heritage High/UC Davis) Manjon finished with 29 points, six assists and five boards. He likely would have earned an All-SEC nod if Vandy had a better record than 9-23.
• Stanford 87, California 76 OT full box score

..................................

NCAA scores, Thu, Mar 14

• Texas Tech 81, BYU 67 full box score. For TT, Chance (St. Patrick-St. Vincent/Golden State Prep/Grand Canyon) McMillian supplied 17 points plus eight boards.  
• Washington State 79, Stanford 62 full boxscore. Jaylen (Folsom High/Sonoma State) Wells filled the WSU stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
• San Diego State 74, UNLV 71 full box score. Aztec Darrion (St. Ignatius/CCSF/Seattle) Trammell scored 11 points and added five assists and five steals.

..................................