Basketball Page 998 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

So That's Why Everyone Hates Duke
Duke basketball is quite good, but not like Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong good. They haven't won the ACC conference since 2006, they haven't been to the Final Four since 2004, and they haven't won the title since 2001. So it's not like there aren't other squads that are equally deserving targets of...

More Failed Shoplifting Tales From Not-So-Smart Athletes
A 20-year-old Binghamton University basketball player has been booted off the team after being charged with shoplifting from an incident on October 26. 20-year-old Malik Alvin was confronted by Wal-Mart security after he attempted to abscond with 36 condoms shoved down his pants. Alvin (Al-viiiin!) ...

College Basketball Returns—Now With Lower Field Goal Percentages!
Everyone's favorite team will open the college basketball season tonight, and by "tonight" I mean 4:00 p.m. this afternoon and by "favorite team" I mean "Georgia Southern," who will tip off against Houston in the first round of the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament that formally begins the NCAA year. To...

Lute Olson Soap Opera Gets A Little More Creepy
It's safe to say that the last couple years of Lute Olson's life have been difficult. Health problems and a nasty public divorce led him to miss most of last season on the bench at Arizona and walk out on his team just before this one began. But it seems that the split from his wife, Christine, is e...

The Real Question Here Is, Who Felt The Need To Foul Him?
Last month we told you about Ken Mink, the wrinkly, onion-belted gentleman who made it onto the Roane State Community College basketball roster with dreams of greatness and foggy recollections involving the Truman administration. On Monday, 52 years after his last college game, Mink made it to th...

It's North Carolina Against The World
College basketball gets underway sooner than you expect, so it's probably time to roll out our 341-day team-by-team preview of the forthcoming season. But then we woke up this morning and realized there's no point to that. In fact, there's no point to even having a season at all, because the titles,...

Dean Wormer Would Be Horrified
I suppose if one attends a conservative Christian school such as John Brown University in Arkansas, where students are required to sign a pledge that prohibits profanity, pornography, extramarital sex, tobacco, alcohol, gambling and even dancing, then activities like this are sure to be the result. ...

Arizona Basketball Is Kind Of A Mess Right Now
See update below ... Late yesterday, Lute Olson finally made it official—he's dunzo at the University of Arizona. (That also means Dick Vitale was ... *shudder* ... correct.) Yesterday was just the latest misstep, however, in an awkward, drawn out and at times ugly exit for a legendary coach who has...

Lute Olson Leaving Arizona ... Or Not
ESPN's Dick Vitale reported on the SportsCenter this morning that Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson is stepping down because of failing health and that Arizona will "conduct a national search" for a new coach. Olson did miss practice yesterday and also failed to show up at an annual Rotary C...

Septuagenarian Shooting Guard Suits Up For College Hoops Team
Who says college basketball doesn't have great seniors anymore? Meet smooth shooting two guard Ken Wink from Roane State (TN) Community College in Tennessee. Experts say he reminds them of young Jerry West—except that he's actually three years older than Jerry West is now. Mink, a spry 73 years old,...

Huge Setback For Nation's Tallest College Hoops Player
It always amused me that, in just about every game story where he was involved, UNC Asheville's 7-foot-9, 375-pound Kenny George was always referred to as "UNC Asheville center Kenny George ..." Yeah, I'm glad you clarified his position; I thought he might be the point guard. George may have been a ...

Welcome To Midnight (Or Anytime You Want, Really) Madness
It's that time of year again ... the time when your favorite college basketball program gets you super-pumped up with a glorified pep rally then makes you sit on your hands for three weeks waiting for the big tip off against Marathon Oil. Go team! This institutionalized blue balls is brought to you ...

Behold The Majesty Of The God Shammgod Basketball Card
If you're like me, you've never considered your sports card collection complete without an autographed God Shammgod. But does such a card even exist? At last, proof that it does. And what a glorious piece of cardboard it is. From Sportscards Uncensored: ...

Candace Parker First To Sweep WNBA Honors
Candace Parker took home the WNBA MVP award on Friday, making her the first player to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Add that to a list of credits that include College Player of the Year, a national college championship, and an Olympic gold medal. I'd say she's doing alright. ...

The Home Of Your New WNBA Champions: Ypsilanti!
If you're the kind of person who pays attention to such things, you may have noticed that the Detroit Shock will not be playing their WNBA Finals games in Detroit or Auburn Hills or any place else within the I-275 belt. Instead, their playoffs are being held in beautiful and spacious Ypsilanti, Mich...

Lady Vols Coach Taken Out By Ninja Raccoon
Like many top-flight athletes Tennessee women's hoops coach Pat Summitt underwent the offseason peril of arthroscopic shoulder surgery. No, she didn't dislocate the joint while a dunking a basketball (ha! can you imagine!?), but she had been suffering from "instability" problems after heroically sav...

Tallest College Basketball Player Ever, 7'7 370 pound Kenny George, Out For Season
Kenny George plays for UNC-Asheville. Last season he averaged 12.4 points and 7 rebounds per game while leading the nation with a 69.6% shooting percentage. But his massive size has always been a problem for his feet. And now, after a second foot surgery this offseason, the AP says, he's out for th...

Craig Robinson Introduces Michelle Obama: Pac-10 Represent
Aquatic dam-building mammals everywhere were glued to their sets on Monday as Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson spoke at the Democratic National Convention, introducing his younger sister Michelle Obama. Fairly unremarkable as introductions go, although it did include possibly the first-e...

Wow! Top Basketball Recruit's Mom Overcame 190,000-1 Odds to Receive a Call From FedEx's CEO
And FedEx's CEO just happens to be a huge Memphis basketball booster—having donated at least $500k to Memphis athletics. What a happy coincidence! Man, it's amazing how these things work out. This is so shocking. Because prior to this instance Memphis head coach John Calipari has had such a squeaky...

West Virginia Basketball Players Arrested at Pittsburgh Pirates Game
It's almost as if Bob Huggins doesn't have control of his players. Even when they're at Pittsburgh Pirates-Colorado Rockies baseball games. Hey, if you can't get drunk and fight at a baseball game what kind of country do we live in? Joe Mazzula and Cameron Thoroughman face several charges. Cue the ...