Cal picked up a big win over Oregon State in Haas Pavilion on Saturday night, and the exclamation point was this emphatic dunk from Jaylen Brown:
POSTERIZED: Cal’s Jaylen Brown has his dunk contest entry
Kentucky moves scrimmage to Eastern Kentucky for flood relief
Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK
LEXINGTON, Ky. â Kentucky will play its annual Blue-White menâs basketball scrimmage in Eastern Kentucky to benefit victims of the devastating summer floods.
The school announced that the Oct. 22 event at Appalachian Wireless Arena in Pikeville will feature a pregame Fan Fest. Ticket proceeds will go through Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief.
Wildcat players will also participate in a community service activity with local organizations in the relief effort.
Kentucky coach John Calipari said the team was excited to play for Eastern Kentucky fans and added, âWe hope we can provide a temporary escape with basketball and community engagement.â
The scrimmage traditionally is held at Rupp Arena. It will occur eight days after its Big Blue Madness public workout at Rupp.
Kentucky’s Tionna Herron recovering from open-heart surgery
Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times/USA TODAY NETWORK
LEXINGTON, Ky. â Kentucky coach Kyra Elzy says freshman Tionna Herron is recovering from open-heart surgery to correct a structural abnormality.
The 6-foot-4 post player learned of her condition after arriving at school in June and received other opinions before surgery was recommended. Senior trainer Courtney Jones said in a release that Herron underwent surgery Aug. 24 at Texas Childrenâs Hospital in Houston and is recovering at home in DeSoto, Texas.
Elzy said Herron âis the definition of a warriorâ and all are grateful to be on the other side of the playerâs surgery. Herron is expected back on campus early next month and will continue rehabilitation until sheâs cleared to return to normal activity.
âHer will and determination to eventually return to the court is inspiring, and itâs that `game-onâ attitude that is what makes her such a perfect fit in our program,â Elzy said in a release. âWe are so thrilled for Tionnaâs return to our locker room; itâs not the same without our full team together.â
Herron committed to Kentucky during last fallâs early signing period, rated as a four-star prospect and a top-70 player in last yearâs class. Kentucky won last yearâs Southeastern Conference Tournament and reached the NCAA Tournamentâs first round.
Emoni Bates charged with 2 felonies
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SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Mich â Emoni Bates, a former basketball prodigy who transferred to Eastern Michigan from Memphis, was charged with two felonies after police found a gun in a car during a traffic stop.
The 18-year-old Bates failed to stop at an intersection Sunday night and a search turned up the weapon, said Derrick Jackson, a spokesman for the Washtenaw County sheriffâs office.
Defense attorney Steve Haney told The Associated Press that the vehicle and the gun didnât belong to Bates.
âI hope people can reserve judgment and understand thereâs a presumption of innocence,â Haney said. âThis was not his vehicle. This was not his gun. ⊠Weâre still gathering facts, too.â
Bates was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and altering identification marks on a firearm. He was released after his lawyer entered a not guilty plea. Batesâ next court hearing is Oct. 6.
âThis is his first brush with the law,â Haney said in court. âHe poses no threat or risk to society.â
Less than a month ago, the 6-foot-9 Bates transferred to Eastern Michigan to play for his hometown Eagles. Bates averaged nearly 10 points a game last season as a freshman at Memphis, where he enrolled after reclassifying to skip a year of high school and join the class of 2021.
âWe are aware of a situation involving one of our student athletes,â EMU spokesman Greg Steiner said. âWe are working to gather more details and will have further comment when more information is available.â
Bates was the first sophomore to win the Gatorade national player of the year award in high school basketball in 2020, beating out Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley. Detroit drafted Cunningham No. 1 overall last year, two spots before Cleveland took Mobley in the 2021 NBA draft.
Bates committed to playing for Tom Izzo at Michigan State two years ago, later de-committed and signed with Memphis. Bates played in 18 games for the Tigers, who finished 22-11 under Penny Hardaway. Bates missed much of the season with a back injury before appearing in Memphisâ two NCAA Tournament games.
In 2019, as a high school freshman, the slender and skilled guard led Ypsilanti Lincoln to a state title and was named Michiganâs Division 1 Player of the Year by The Associated Press. His sophomore season was cut short by the pandemic and he attended Ypsi Prep Academy as a junior, his final year of high school.
UConn to pay Kevin Ollie another $3.9 million over firing
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STORRS, Conn. â UConn announced Thursday it has agreed to pay former menâs basketball coach Kevin Ollie another $3.9 million to settle discrimination claims surrounding his 2018 firing.
The money is in addition to the more than $11.1 million in back salary Ollie has already been paid after an arbitrator ruled in January that he was improperly fired under the schoolâs agreement with its professorâs union.
âI am grateful that we were able to reach agreement,â Ollie said in a statement Thursday. âMy time at UConn as a student-athlete and coach is something I will always cherish. I am pleased that this matter is now fully and finally resolved.â
Ollie, a former UConn point guard who guided the Huskies to a 127-79 record and the 2014 national championship in six seasons as head coach, was let go after two losing seasons. UConn also stopped paying him under his contract, citing numerous NCAA violations in terminating the deal.
In 2019, the NCAA placed UConn on probation for two years and Ollie was sanctioned individually for violations, which the NCAA found occurred between 2013 and 2018. Ollieâs attorneys, Jacques Parenteau and William Madsen, accused UConn of making false claims to the NCAA for the purpose of firing Ollie âwith cause.â
The school had argued that Ollieâs transgressions were serious and that his individual contract superseded those union protections.
Ollieâs lawyers had argued that white coaches, including Hall-of-Famers Jim Calhoun and womenâs coach Geno Auriemma, had also committed NCAA violations, without being fired, and indicated they were planning to file a federal civil rights lawsuit.
The school and Ollie said in a joint statement Thursday they were settling âto avoid further costly and protracted litigation.â
Both sides declined to comment further.
Ollie, who faced three years of restrictions from the NCAA on becoming a college basketball coach again, is currently coaching for Overtime Elite, a league that prepares top prospects who are not attending college for the pros.
Dream’s McDonald returning to Arizona to coach under Barnes
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TUCSON, Ariz. â Atlanta Dream guard Aari McDonald is returning to Arizona to work under coach Adia Barnes.
The school announced that McDonald will serve as director of recruiting operations while continuing to fulfill her WNBA commitments. She will oversee all recruiting logistics, assist with on-campus visits, manage recruit information and social media content at Arizona.
McDonald was one of the best players in Arizona history after transferring from Washington as a sophomore. She was an All-American and the Pac-12 player of the year in 2020-21, leading the Wildcats to the national championship game, which they lost to Stanford.
McDonald broke Barnesâ single-season scoring record and had the highest career scoring average in school history before being selected by the Dream with the third overall pick of the 2021 WNBA draft.