It did not take long for Ja Morant to get on One Shining Moment.
The Murray State star, in the midst of a dominant performance against No. 5 Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament, threw down a monster dunk on Sam Hauser:
And yes, we need another angle on that:
NCAA vice president for regulatory affairs Stan Wilcox told CBS Sports last week that at least six schools will receive notice of allegations stemming from evidence and testimony that emanated from the federal government’s probe into corruption in college basketball, with two schools likely to be served early next month.
“We’re moving forward and you’ll see consequences,” Wilcox said.
If one of those schools is Kansas, which was often at the center of developments in the saga, it’s unknown to Jayhawks coach Bill Self.
“I have no knowledge of who he was talking about or anything like that,” Self said Monday, according to the Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World. “But certainly the fan bases of all the (programs) that were mentioned, I’m sure, are very interested in what he meant by that.”
It’s not surprising that Self wouldn’t be in the know here, but his comments echo those made by others critical of Wilcox’s statements, with allegations of prejudgement by the NCAA given allegations haven’t even been formally submitted to schools.
“So now that’s it over, we’re going to be moving forward with a number of Level I cases that will help people realize that, ‘Yeah, the enforcement staff was in a position to move forward,'” Wilcox told CBS Sports.
Upwards of 20 schools were mentioned in the federal probe.
“I just think to predetermine what’s going to happen before investigations are done, I think that comes pretty strong,” Self said, per the Journal-World. “I was shocked to read that something could be said that was not specifically intended for anyone, but it made all 20 schools that were mentioned in the FBI deal and their fan base feel like it was.”
Wilcox did confirm, however, that the NCAA will not have access to a reported wiretap that was alleged to feature Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend discussing financial arrangements around the recruitment of Zion Williamson, who ultimately went to Duke and is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft later this week. No such wiretap was entered into evidence during a trial.
Wilcox’s statements regarding the investigations were atypical, and symbolic of the situation the NCAA finds itself in. The government announced its investigation nearly two years ago, and the twists, turns and revelations of that probe have played out publicly in court rooms, legal documents and news reports over that whole time while the NCAA, understandably, sat out its hands while the legal process was playing out. That leaves many wondering when and how the governing body of the sport will react while the NCAA likely wants to send a message that programs can’t act with impunity. But when you’re judge and jury, as the NCAA is, any whiff of a decision being made before the conclusion of its own investigation is going to draw justified criticism – particularly from the schools whom it effects the most.
LaMelo Ball will never make it to a college campus after all.
Lonzo’s youngest brother and the baby of the Ball family announced on Monday afternoon that he will be continuing his professional career playing for the Illawarra Hawks of the Australian National Basketball League. He previously suited up for a professional team in Lithuania. There had been some speculation that he would try to get himself cleared to play collegiately, but few believed there was any real possibility of getting cleared by the NCAA.
Which means that LaMelo will be heading down under before entering the 2020 NBA Draft.
And I am sure that the family name and memories that we all have of a 6-foot-nothing LaMelo Ball cherry-picking to try and score 100 points while shooting ridiculous, off-balance, step-back threes every possession will make the majority of people reading this scoff at the idea of LaMelo getting drafted, but the truth of the matter is that he is a very real NBA prospect.
He’s 6-foot-7 now. He has the passing, the deep shooting range and the ball-handling to be projectable as a wing player in the NBA. He’s still just 17 years old, believe it or not, and there is still room for him to grow into his still-developing frame. The big concern with him is two-fold — toughness and defense — and those questions are going to get answered playing in the NBL, a league that is much more physical than its Aussie reputation would lead you to believe.
Ball has very limited experience playing against that level of competition. Even when he was in Lithuania, he was not playing against the top tier of the nation’s professional teams. He is going to be tested and required to prove himself if he wants to be a first round pick, but I feel very confident in saying this: Every 2020 mock draft that you read this week is going to include Ball’s name in there somewhere. That’s the kind of potential that he has.
Derryck Thornton is heading back to the ACC.
On Monday, multiple reports surfaced that the USC grad transfer and former Duke point guard would be heading to Boston College for his final season of eligibility. Thornton was a five-star prospect as a high school junior, opting to leave school and enroll at Duke a year early. He was a part of the class that also included Brandon Ingram, Luke Kennard and Chase Jeter, but he left the program after one up-and-down year that saw him start just 20 games and averaged 7.1 points and 2.6 assists.
Thornton headed back west to USC, where he averaged 7.7 points and 4.3 assists as a junior.
His return to the ACC is most notable for who he did not pick. Thornton was initially thought to be a Gonzaga lean, as the Bulldogs are in the market for a veteran point guard after losing Josh Perkins. Thornton was one of their main targets, but he instead opted on heading to the program that turned Jerome Robinson and Ky Bowman into all-league players and, in Robinson’s case, a lottery pick.
That, in theory, is huge for BC, who could use the injection of talent, but even with Thornton in the fold, this doesn’t exactly look like a tournament team.
It’s far more interesting Gonzaga. As it stands, the starting point guard spot looks like it will be Admon Gilder’s — a grad transfer from Texas A&M that would ideally play off-the-ball — if freshman Brock Ravet can’t handle the job. The remaining crop of point guard grad transfers don’t appear to be the kind of players that will be able to impact a season for a team that is expected to be as good as Gonzaga is.
There is so much that is going to happen between now and the time that next season starts that it almost seems foolish to publish a preseason top 25 today.
But we’re doing it anyway!
A couple of notes: Who is going to head to the NBA is very much in the air right now. There are still a number of freshmen that have yet to announce where they are playing their college ball. The transfer market has barely heated up. For decisions that are up in the air, you’ll see an asterisk next to their name. We’re making predictions on what certain players will do and ranking based off of them.
So with all that said, here is the preseason top 25.
Tony Bennett’s first offseason as a national champion coach has come with benefits on the recruiting trail. His first season at Virginia after winning the title, however, will bring challenges.
Five players who helped Virginia beat Texas Tech to capture the first basketball title in school history are gone, and that’s four more than expected. Center Jack Salt graduated, and guards De’Andre Hunter, Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy declared for the NBA draft. Seldom-used Marco Anthony transferred.
Recruiting was already well underway before the Cavaliers won it all, but Bennett said Wednesday the result “certainly can’t hurt and I think it has helped. It validates a lot of good stuff that’s happened in the past.”
Virginia hopes the spoils of those improvements are evident quickly in incoming freshmen guard Casey Morsell, big men Justin McKoy and Kadin Shedrick and junior college shooting guard Tomas Woldetensae.
Virginia opened its summer practice period on Tuesday, and Bennett said he’s not sure just yet who will be ready to contribute.
“Everyone will have ample opportunity, the newcomers, so to speak,” he said. “To say who, you just don’t know. … There are some opportunities out there. So it’s the returners and we can go down the list of the guys we brought in, but I think they’re excited about the opportunity.
“There’s always a learning curve any time you go from whether it’s high school to college or junior college to college or coming from a redshirt to being eligible. … Going up a level and playing in the ACC, for any of these guys, there’s the challenge of the physicality and the level of talent and the speed.”
Woldetensae, a left-handed shooter, averaged 17.3 points per game and shot 47.6 percent from 3-point range last season at Indian Hills Community College.
“We thought we needed to add some experience and a quality player on the perimeter and when he was mentioned and we did our homework and watched film and all those kinds of things,” he said. “His personality came out as a young man of character and we always start there. He seemed wanting to challenge himself at a very high level.”
The Cavaliers were delighted that Mamadi Diakite decided to come back for his senior year after testing the professional waters. And they added senior transfer Sam Hauser, who averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds last season at Marquette. Hauser will be eligible to practice with the team, but won’t be able to play until 2020-21.
Bennett’s offseason included numerous speaking engagements, recruiting, talking to NBA scouts about his players and some time to decompress.
He also checked an item off his bucket list when, with his father, longtime college coach Dick Bennett, he played Augusta National Golf Club, home of The Masters. That, he said, “was amazing.”
Now, it’s back to work.
“I’m grateful for the busy-ness of it,” he said of the offseason. “It means something good happened.”
