college-basketball Page 187 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

George Washington Colonials
1. Either the Team Is Hot Or the League Is Not. GW had two first-team All-Atlantic 10 players (Pops Mensah-Bonsu and J.R. Pinnock), two second-team All-A 10 guys (Mike Hall and Carl Elliott) and the A-10's sixth man of the year (Maureece Rice). So not only did they go undefeated in the A-10 regular ...

Iona Gaels
1. Don t Give Up, Don t Ever Give Up. Even before he frantically ran around the court looking for someone to hug when he won his national championship at NC State, Jim Valvano was a hug-seeker as the Iona head coach (1975-80). Valvano's biggest recruit (literally and figuratively) was Jeff Ruland, n...

Arkansas Razorbacks
1. Razorbacks Are Bad Asses. In the summer of 1977, school mascot Big Red III escaped from an animal exhibit near Eureka Springs. He ravaged the countryside before an irate farmer gunned him down. The following mascot, Ragnar, killed a coyote, a 450-pound domestic pig and seven rattlesnakes. Ragnar ...

Kansas Jayhawks
1. Those Crazy Rush Brothers. Kansas star freshman Brandon Rush attended four high schools. His brothers, Jaron (most famous for drinking his way out of basketball) and the Charlotte Bobcats' Kareem, both attended Pembroke Hill, an small private high school. While in Kansas City, Brandon attended We...

Ohio State Buckeyes
1. Wait Till Next Year. The Buckeyes are poised to make a nice run this month, but things will get really interesting next year when the "Thad Five" come to town. Ohio State has five highly rated recruits incoming, led by seven-footer Greg Oden out of Indianapolis. Oden is sure to be the biggest thi...

Michigan State Spartans
1. They ve Got The Family On Their Side. Michigan State has its fair share of notable alumni, but perhaps none has the cool quotient of James Caan. (Not even Bubba Smith — and he played Moses Hightower.) And yes, we re basing that simply on the theory that anyone involved in The Godfather has a cool...

UNC Wilmington Seahawks
1. Road Trip! Wilmington, North Carolina — hometown of news anchor David Brinkley and NFL quarterbacks Sonny Jurgensen and Roman Gabriel — is a pleasant little beach town that is also the eastern-most point of Interstate 40. There's a sign at the start of the I-40 that reads Barstow, Calif. 2554. Ha...

Monmouth Hawks
1. It's A Reality TV Training Ground. Life in the jungles of West Long Branch prepared alumni Stephenie LaGrossa and Katie Gallagher, both 2002 graduates, for their stints on Survivor: Palau. Gallagher finished second....

Murray State Racers
1. They Think They're An Ivy League School. Murray State bills itself as "Kentucky s Public Ivy," which is a little like billing yourself as "World s Tallest Little Person." For a school that guarantees admission to any Kentucky graduating senior who scores an 18 composite on their ACT (SAT equivale...

Kent State Golden Flashes
1. More Likely To Get Attention From Mel Kiper Than Tim Legler. Only one Kent State basketball player is currently in the NBA. That lucky gentleman is Atlanta Hawks backup center John Edwards. KSU's hoops team has produced a slightly more recognizable athlete in the NFL: Chargers' tight end Antonio ...

Alabama-Birmingham Blazers
1. Tom Penders Is Not Coming To Birmingham. When Arkansas gave Nolan Richardson the boot, his assistant coach Mike Anderson found his home at UAB. Fortunately for UAB, Anderson brought the up tempo offense used at Arkansas and not Richardson's "t-shirt under the blazer" wardrobe. Due to Anderson's s...

Indiana Hoosiers
1. Van Arsdale Twins. Tom and Dick Van Arsdale are the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen of Indiana Basketball. These bruthas from the same mutha were co-Mr. Basketballs in Indiana and played together at IU from 1963-1965 with each identical twin earning All-American and Academic All-American honors. As Ho...

San Diego State Aztecs
1. Tony Gwynn Was Not Always Fat. Former Padre and current SDSU baseball coach Tony Gwynn was an All-America baseball player for the Aztecs. But Gwynn was an all-conference point guard, too. In fact, Gwynn had gone to school to concentrate on basketball before Bobby Meacham convinced then-coach Jim ...

Georgetown Hoyas
1. Ewing, Mutombo, Mourning, Iverson... Green and Hibbert? G'town used to be an NBA factory and may have a couple Association stars-in-waiting on the current roster. According to NBADraft.net, sophomores Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert are projected to go 11th and 26th overall in 2007. Green was Big East...

Northwestern State Demons
1. Vic The Demon Is Named That For A Reason. In one of the most noted mascot brawls in sports history, in October 1992, NSU mascot Vic the Demon got into it with Louisiana-Monroe mascot Chief Brave Spirit, after playful sparring on the sidelines turned into an ugly brawl. The Shreveport Times report...

Texas A&M Aggies
1. Texas A&M Has No Cheerleaders. The Aggie Dictionary will inform you that the school has no cheerleaders, but they do have a dance team, none of whom are particularly good looking. 2. The Coach Is Dull. Head coach Billy Gillispie has his own Web site, where you can learn such things as "Billy Gil...

Syracuse Orange
1. The Real Slim Shady. Tattooed Orange frosh Eric Devendorf was born in Bay City, Mich., about 115 miles north of Detroit. He guards the perimeter in Syracuse's standard 2-3 while talking trash, which draws comparisons to some other white guy from Motown. Growing up, players labeled the 6-foot-4 co...

Florida Gators
1. Joakim Noah Is A Fancy Man. Everyone knows Joakim Noah is the son of French tennis great Yannick Noah. Joakim not only inherited his father's athletic ability, but apparently he picked up some European style from Yannick as well. Joakim was once photographed on campus wearing some sort of fancy, ...

Bradley Braves
1. They Have Eddy Curry's Old Sidekick. Patrick O'Bryant is Tyson Chandler if Tyson Chandler would have gone to a mid-major college instead of straight to The Association after high school. He's the Missouri Valley's Defensive Player of the Year, and the 7-foot, 260-pound sophomore is long, athletic...

Kentucky Wildcats
1. Fill the Tubb. You already know that Kentucky coach Tubby Smith won a national championship in his first year at Kentucky, and you likely already know that he has been rewarded for that achievement with a constant stream of Kentucky fans who hope to have him fired. But you likely did not know tha...