Potpourri, Mar 25

News Bits

Jeff Goodman: "BREAKING: Stanford has agreed to a deal with Washington State head coach Kyle Smith, sources told TheFieldOf68. Smith has won everywhere he’s been — at difficult spots. Columbia, San Francisco and taking Washington State to the NCAA tourney this season."

Is joining the ACC better than the unknown since the PAC-12 has imploded? Duh. Will WSU join the Mountain West Conference or try to draw in other schools for a new Pac-12? Anyway, Smith will be facing far mightier competition (North Carolina followed by North Carolina State and then Duke the following week) but Stanford recruiting should have an uptick. Look for some of Stanford's recent portal transfer entries to return now that Smith is in place. 

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The Portal Report: "San Jose State transfer Myron Amey has received interest from the following programs:

•  LMU	•  Butler
•  Arkansas	•  Cal
•  Nevada	•  New Mexico
•  ECU	•  Utah State
•  Montana	•  UTEP
•  NAU	•  UC Davis
•  Robert Morris	•  Weber State

California is an interesting pursuer, second or third on this list with most NIL money. Nevada and Utah State are fellow members of the Mountain West Conference, which would hurt even more. UC Davis needs a scoring guard due to losing Elijah Pepper.

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Quinn Denker: "6’3 Guard, 12.5ppg 3.3rpg 3.7apg (season), 13.6 ppg 3.4rpg 4.4apg (conf/ mid-season switch to PG), 1 year left of eligibility*"

Denker is in the Transfer Portal after a season at Idaho (Big Sky Conference).

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"Long Beach State AD says he fired Dan Monson to inspire team"

There's more in the article so do read it in its entirety as the AD makes a claim that is REALLY interesting.

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Hoop Scoop Media: "Pepperdine transfer Cord Stansberry tells us he has heard from:

•  Chattanooga	•  Montana State
•  Weber State	•  Northern Arizona
•  Seattle	•  UC Irvine
•  Cal State Fullerton	•  Portland State
•  Gardner Webb	•  Northeastern
•  UNC Wilmington	•  Portland
•  Sacramento State	•  Western Kentucky
•  Valpo	•  Niagara
•  Stonehill

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UC Davis Men's Basketball: "Elijah Pepper has been named a finalist for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year award, given to the nation’s top mid-major college basketball player!"

Pepper has the uncanny ability of effortlessly putting the ball in the basket. Remarkably smooth. He's shooting 92% on 162 free throws.

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North Carolina State's DJ Burns congratulates Ben Middlebrooks for his play in a recent Wolf Pack game. But yes, the video can easily be misinterpreted as Burns going after and yelling at Middlebrooks. Burns is the heart of the NC State squad. Go here for the video.

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Hoop Scoop Media: "Western Washington transfer Kai Johnson (@LetItFlyKai) tells us he’s heard from:

(averaged 21.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season).

•  Washington State	•  Oregon State
•  Seattle	•  Charleston
•  Montana	•  Evansville
•  Youngstown State	•  UC Davis
•  UC San Diego	•  Denver
•  Marshall	•  Idaho
•  Idaho State	•  Portland State

Here's hoping Johnson chooses UC Davis due to Coach Jim Les and his long line of successful backcourters in the Davis program. Johnson is a showman and the Davis fans will eat his play up.

Kai Johnson video

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Hoop Scoop Media: "VMI transfer Devin Butler tell us he’s heard from:

•  App State	•  UNC Asheville
•  Western Kentucky	•  IUPUI
•  Alabama State	•  The Citadel
•  Texas A&M Commerce	•  Sacramento State
•  Southern Indiana	•  NJIT
•  Missouri State	•  NC A&T
•  Incarnate Word	•  Albany
•  North Dakota State	•  Portland State
•  Maine	•  Jacksonville
•  North Alabama	•  Stonehill
•  Southern Miss	•  Illinois State
•  Liberty	•  Flagler

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Game Scores

NCAA scores, Fri, Mar 22 - Big Dance games

• Grand Canyon 75, St. Mary's 66 full box score. The Gaels shot 38%, 28% and 58% respectively and the Canyon-ites earned 36 foul shots to 12 for St. Mary's. A 12-seed took down a five-seed.

NCAA scores, Sat, Mar 23 - Big Dance games

• Arizona 78, Dayton 68 full box scores. Keshad (Envision Academy/San Leandro High) Johnson enjoyed 13 points and seven rebounds for the victors.
• Iowa State 67, Washington State 56 full box score.Jaylen (Folsom High/Sonoma State) Wells scored 20 points for WSU, 16 in the initial half.
• Illinois 89, Duquesne 63 full box score. The score was 50-26 at the half.

NCAA scores, Sun, Mar 24 - Big Dance  & NIT games

• NIT - Indiana State 76, Minnesota 64 full box score. Indiana State won both 20 minute sessions. Mike (Archbishop Mitty/Pepperdine) Mitchell scored 13 points for the Golden Gophers.
• NIT - Montana 82, Presbyterian 70 full box score. Tejon (Salesian/Cal Baptist/CCSF) Sawyer posted a 10 point, eight rebound, two assist line. for The Big Sky Staters. 
• NCAA - San Diego State 85, Yale 57 full box score. Darrion (St. Ignatius High/CCSF/Seattle) Trammell scored 18 points alongside five rebounds, four assists and three steals. He shot 5-7, 4-8 and 4-4 respectively. Yale was down 45-21 at halftime.

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