Three teams that participated in the 2016 NIT, including tourney champion George Washington University, will join Kansas University in the 2016 CBE Hall of Fame Classic, Nov. 21-22, in Sprint Center, the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced Tuesday.
Pairings and game times involving KU, GWU, Georgia and Alabama-Birmingham will be announced at a later date.
“The CBE Hall of Fame Classic has a solid field, and this event is a great way to showcase the College Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies in Kansas City (Nov. 18 induction ceremony),” KU coach Bill Self said. “UAB, Georgia and George Washington are all great programs. Sprint Center is a second home for us, and we hope to have that continued support in November.”
Tickets will be available starting at 10 a.m., Aug. 6, through axs.com, cbehalloffameclassic.com, by calling 1-888-929-7849 or at the Sprint Center box office.
LJW
Think back for a minute, if you will, to the summer of 2009, when Barack Obama was in his first year in the White House, the swine flu was causing a panic throughout the United States, the world said goodbye to Michael Jackson and the Kansas basketball program was irrelevant in the NBA Draft lottery.
That’s right. What has become somewhat of an annual ritual around here in the years since — and several years before it — was almost completely irrelevant during the summer of 2009, when KU fans had absolutely no reason to tune in to the NBA Draft.
Matt Kleinmann and Brennan Bechard were the only seniors on that 2008-09 team, junior Sherron Collins made a no-brainer choice to return to school and sophomore Cole Aldrich and freshmen Makieff and Marcus Morris still were coming into their own as future NBA lottery picks.
That makes this summer the first since that ‘09 draft that KU will not have some kind of presence in the lottery.
LJW Tait
Congrats to @PElliz for making graduating with honors look like a layup #kubball pic.twitter.com/EgKLJDktYb
— KAKE Shane Ewing (@ShaneEwing) May 17, 2016
Graduating today □□□□□□
— udoka tim (@TimUdoka) May 19, 2016
Self is generally considered the highest paid state employee in Kansas, although his compensation is paid with private dollars. KU, of course, is a public institution that relies on tax dollars for a portion of its funding.
“I like Bill Self,” Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, of Topeka, told KCUR. “He’s a great coach. KU people, obviously, like him very much. But it’s bad policy when you’ve got the highest paid state employee in the state not paying any income taxes into the state of Kansas.”
In response, KU officials differentiated between employees of the university and employees of Kansas Athletics Inc., a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with KU.
Self is one of three KU coaches partially compensated through an LLC, university spokesman Joe Monaco said. He said head football coach David Beaty and women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider have similar arrangements.
All KU coaches are employed by and paid from operating revenue of Kansas Athletics, Monaco said. He said paying some of coaches’ compensation to LLCs was not unusual among peers.
“Generally speaking, this is done in light of the tremendous amount of educational, public relations, and promotional duties those coaches are assigned by the athletics director that fall outside their normal coaching responsibilities,” Monaco said. “This is common practice nationally among universities and their football and basketball coaches.”
Self formed his LLC — called BCLT II LLC — long before Brownback and the Legislature approved the tax cuts. According to documents on file with the Kansas Secretary of State’s office, BCLT II LLC was organized in 2000 in Illinois, when Self was coach at University of Illinois, and registered in Kansas in 2003, the year he was named head coach at KU.
The tax breaks Self has received from the change in law, though, have been significant.
LJW
Happy Birthday to 1988 #WoodenAward winner @CoachDManning of @KUHoops and @TieDyeNation! pic.twitter.com/WOuNe7WcXx
— John R. Wooden Award (@WoodenAward) May 17, 2016
#LFK #SurvivorFinale pic.twitter.com/ndLPdPqIwW
— Scot Pollard (@ScotPollard31) May 18, 2016
'Hawks in NBA | Did Drew Gooden REALLY sneak into White House to play basketball? https://t.co/3Re4O1dDWE #kubball pic.twitter.com/T8z7inkBHb
— Benton Smith (@BentonASmith) May 18, 2016
Lol he scared RT @TRelly12: I wish @BRush_25 would of did the thizzle dance in the new beats commercial
— Mario Chalmers (@mchalmers15) May 19, 2016
Join us in wishing @mchalmers15 a HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY! #NBABDAY pic.twitter.com/2EqZZqTHDC
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2016
Celebrating with a Pitcher of Shirley Temples #ShirleyTemplesdidthis
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) May 18, 2016
Former KU forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris have teamed with ex-Jayhawk forward Thomas Robinson and guard Mario Little to form a team for the upcoming The Basketball Tournament, which awards winner-take-all-prize-money of $2 million to players on the championship team.
Team FOE will consist of the Morris twins, Robinson, Little, former St. John’s player Sean Evans and former Drexel player Scott Rodgers.
Former KU guard Josh Selby has also entered a team named TeamBDB. Members: Selby, John Wall (Washington Wizards, Kentucky) Lacedarius Dunn (Baylor), Kris Clark (Utah State), Justin Jackson (Cincinnati), Travis Hyman (Bowie State), Yancy Gates (Cincinnati), Daishon Knight (Illinois State), Cleveland Melvin (DePaul), Durant Scott (Miami), Andre Oupoh (Texas State). To learn about the tourney and how to vote for Team FOE and BDB (teams need a certain amount of fan votes to assure entry), go to https://www.thetournament.com/about
LJW
NBA All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh along with the Miami HEAT return to Sprint Center on Oct. 8 to face former Kansas Jayhawk Andrew Wiggins, Rookie of the Year Karl Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Tickets for the Timberwolves vs. HEAT go on sale Friday, May 20 at Noon and online at SprintCenter.com, Price Chopper Box Office at Sprint Center and charge-by-phone at 888.929.7849. For a limited time, discounts for groups of 10 or more may be available by calling 816.949.7177 or emailing grouptickets@sprintcenter.com.
Sprint Center
Join us June 4th for a Celebrity Basketball Game, benefitting former #KUBBALL player, @Aleonjam!!#HoopsforHopeKC pic.twitter.com/MAIRIzzL06
— Hoops For Hope (@Hoops4HopeKC) May 6, 2016
.@CoachBillSelf's Summer Basketball Camps are coming up in June! Info and registration at: https://t.co/lWXHqV8Axz. pic.twitter.com/ywyavvJ7ky
— Kansas Basketball (@KUHoops) May 5, 2016
Tickets are now on sale for the 2016 Rock Chalk Roundball Classic. June 16th at Free State High School. #kubball pic.twitter.com/089flzx6cC
— Rock Chalk Roundball (@RCRClassic) May 9, 2016
Kansas Athletics' Andrea Hudy and the University of Kansas School of Business will team up for "The Business of Sports: Branding Matters" conference on Friday, June 10 in the new Capitol Federal Hall located east of Allen Fieldhouse across Naismith Drive.
…Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self will give the opening remarks at the conference.
KUAD
“Pay Heed. The game you love began here. Respect those who came before you. Make their legacy your own. Because destiny favors the dedicated. And rings don’t replace work. In this game you don’t get what you want. You get what you earn. We are Kansas. Together we rise. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!”
BIG 12/COLLEGE NEWS
Well-respected Hartford Courant columnist Jeff Jacobs says that a certain Connecticut-based entertainment company might have the clout to help boost the school's Big 12 hopes. And he has a point.
ESPN has a long relationship working with the conference since its formative stages. Jacobs hints that ESPN should do what it could to help push the Big 12 to seriously consider UConn as an expansion member.
"One person could argue with some merit that ESPN could help UConn best behind closed doors, away from the media, and the less said the better," Jacobs wrote. "That sounds great. Yet the school is also 0-for-realignment, so another person could argue ESPN hasn't done nearly enough."
Jacobs mentions a serious of tax breaks that ESPN has received from the state of Connecticut that helped them build their campus in Bristol at a reduced cost from other places in the nation.
"In the end, ESPN is going to do what's most profitable for ESPN, but should ESPN then push even harder for its home state university?" Jacobs said. "It's absurd to believe ESPN doesn't wield great influence.
"Right or wrong, there are a lot of taxpayers who won't be happy if ESPN doesn't do all it could with the future of UConn sports in the balance. And they'd have at least $260 million reasons in tax breaks and credit to be angry.
"Just saying."
With the Big Ten hinting it could be moving more games to the Fox network and away from ESPN, the network could be looking for more Power Five programming. Maybe more exposures for the Big 12 at a higher contract might be possible.
But what if that offer came with a promise involved: the inclusion of UConn to the Big 12 in the upcoming expansion.
Just saying, it might be hard for Bob Bowlsby and the Big 12 to say no to that, if ESPN should decide to push for the Huskies.
San Antonio Express
The Big 12 is slowly moving toward a decision to expand or not and with that decision looming teams from the non-power leagues are hoping to catch the last train out of town and join a league that will forever change a school's athletics program.
Colorado State is already known to have sent info to the Big 12 and according to some as one of four teams in consideration, based on the Denver market and a conference TV network to join the Big 12.
What we did not know is exactly what was sent, well we do know. SB Nation has obtained the 12-page document that Colorado State sent to the Big 12.
Link
Ever since Fox Sports reared its head on the Big Ten media rights scene last month, all eyes have been on where the other half of the conference's package might land.
On Wednesday, Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips addressed the possibility that ABC/ESPN — which has long kicked off its college football Saturdays with Big Ten games and has made conference basketball games a centerpiece of its weekly schedule — will not be part of the remaining package.
Phillips' comments come via a Chicago Tribune story:
“The Big Ten will do what’s best for the Big Ten, and ESPN has to take that same position. Everyone is watching what’s happening in the television world, the un-bundling that’s taking place, different platforms available now that maybe weren’t in the last go-around for TV contracts. This isn’t pointing a finger at ESPN in any way, stating you have to or don’t have to participate as a partner of the Big Ten. It’s more about: Can the two groups come together?
“No one has amnesia about the relationship we have had with ESPN. (ESPN president) John Skipper and that group, they have been a wonderful partner. But we’re at a different place and I think they’re at a different place in 2016 than we were in the last round (of negotiations).
"That doesn’t mean we can’t get to the altar together and get married again. But we’re at the dating stage right now. And that’s a process. You’d love to continue to stay married with that partner but ultimately you have to do what’s in the best interests of the 14 institutions and that’s where (Big Ten commissioner) Jim (Delany) is tremendous. He has the support and confidence of not only the athletic directors, but more important, the presidents. He will move us forward.”
Sporting News
Kansas State's Bruce Weber has hired Missouri State's Brad Korn as an assistant, source told @CBSSports. Replaces Alvin Brooks.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 19, 2016
The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee on Friday recommended a proposal to allow head coaches to call timeouts while that coach’s team is in the process of inbounding the ball, starting in the 2016-17 season.
Before becoming final, all rules changes must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss the basketball proposal via conference call June 15.
…The committee made an adjustment to an interpretation of the restricted-area rule when it involves secondary defenders who are airborne.
The committee is clarifying that a secondary defender in the restricted area will be allowed to jump straight up to block a shot.
In this specific case, the restricted-area rule is not in effect, and the play should be officiated as any other basketball play.
Secondary defenders who remain on the ground will still be called for blocking fouls if they are inside the restricted area and make contact with an offensive player driving to the basket.
“This revised interpretation will ensure that defensive players will be able to block shots and defend the rim when they leave floor from the restricted area as long as they adhere to the verticality rules,” said committee chair Keith Dambrot, men’s basketball coach at the University of Akron.
…Committee members are still concerned about physical post play in men’s basketball.
The committee issued a directive to NCAA National Coordinator of Officials J.D. Collins to instruct officials to call fouls on defensive players who clutch and grab to get position and on offensive players who ward off defenders with a straight arm.
Committee members would also like to see officials watch the physical play that takes place in the lane on free-throw attempts and to officiate sportsmanship issues between players more closely.
ncaa.com
Small Ball: It's liberating big men according to legendary @HoustonRockets center @DR34M. https://t.co/tEo8T0xpIg pic.twitter.com/SXjROtvv1G
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) May 17, 2016
John Calipari is getting ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary treatment, a publicist for the network and the University of Kentucky confirmed Tuesday.
David Scott, co-author of Calipari’s 2009 book “Bounce Back” who now works in ESPN’s public relations department, broke the news on Twitter that a film about the Wildcats’ coach, directed by award-winning Jonathan Hock, is coming in the fall. UK spokesman Eric Lindsey confirmed it.
The documentary is still in production – with no official title or release date – but shooting began at Calipari’s Naismith Hall of Fame induction ceremony last September in Springfield, Mass., and continued through last season at Kentucky, Lindsey said. A film crew got behind-the-scenes access at several home and away games and has still not finished shooting.
LCJ
Three ways the NCAA could improve the NBA draft process for its players (by @SethDavisHoops) https://t.co/j9NjjLmFw1 pic.twitter.com/tBTXpGt693
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 18, 2016
NBA Draft/Early Entry Guidelines for 2016
Find out the tournament history for specific seeds, teams, coaches or conferences.
NCAA Tournament Brackets and History interactive tool
CBS Interactive Tool: Pick two teams to compare record, RPI and SOS details head to head. By default, the top two teams in RPI are shown.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/bracketology/team-comparison
NCAA stats
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RECRUITING
VIDEO: DeAndre Ayton continues EYBL dominance in Hampton, per @MakePlayz_com: https://t.co/ZXLAOTeeWb pic.twitter.com/4KdEyStTzO
— D1 Circuit (@D1Circuit) May 17, 2016
Michael Porter Jr. and Trae Young, two of the top basketball prospects in the recruiting Class of 2017, will be playing for Mokan Elite EYBL at this weekend’s KC Classic at Sports Pavilion Lawrence…
Mokan Elite EYBL will play the Michigan Threat at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the pavilion. The tourney will begin at 7 p.m. Friday and run through late Sunday afternoon. For tourney schedule information, go to hardwoodevents.com
…A second highly acclaimed point guard has decided to transfer from a blueblood basketball program after his freshman year.
Charles Matthews, a 6-foot-6 freshman out of Chicago St. Rita High, on Wednesday announced plans to leave Kentucky. Matthews was the No. 48-ranked player in the Class of 2015 according to Rivals.com.
LJW
Matthews was the first player from the high school class of 2015 to commit to Kentucky. Then came such guards as Jamal Murray and Isaiah Briscoe, plus junior-college transfer Mychal Mulder.
If that prepared the ground for the subsequent decision to transfer, Matthews did not betray this feeling.
“It’s great,” Matthews said. “We get to compete, now. I get to train with them.”
Matthews followed such Chicago-area players as DeAndre Liggins, Anthony Davis and Tyler Ulis to UK. He was likened to Liggins as a role player who could provide defense. It was a comparison he embraced.
“I feel I’m a very great defensive player,” Matthews said before this past season began.
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