Hokies

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle has been named the 2024&ndash;25 NBA Rookie of the Year, marking the second consecutive season a Spurs player has earned the honor, following Victor Wembanyama's win last year. Castle secured 92 of 100 first-place votes, totaling 482 points in the voting, ahead of Atlanta's Zaccharie Risacher and Memphis' Jaylen Wells.&nbsp;
Selected fourth overall in the 2024 NBA Draft from the University of Connecticut, Castle led all rookies with 14.7 points per game, adding 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 74 steals across 81 games, including 47 starts. He also made 95 three-pointers, showcasing his offensive versatility.&nbsp;
Castle's performance intensified late in the season, especially with Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox sidelined. Over the final 30 games, he averaged 22.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per 36 minutes, a feat matched only by LeBron James, Luka Dončić, and LaMelo Ball before turning 21.
His accolades include being named MVP of the 2025 Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend and earning Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors in January and March.
Castle joins Spurs legends David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Wembanyama as Rookie of the Year recipients, solidifying San Antonio's reputation for developing top-tier talent.
With this award, Castle becomes the first UConn alum to win Rookie of the Year since Emeka Okafor in 2005, adding to his impressive resume that includes a 2024 NCAA championship and Big East Freshman of the Year honors.
Castle's emergence as a cornerstone for the Spurs signals a promising future for the franchise, building upon its storied history of nurturing young talent.

San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle has been named the 2024–25 NBA Rookie of the Year.

Stephon Castle captures 2024–25 NBA Rookie of the Year award

In a remarkable display of superb basketball, the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will feature all four No. 1 seeds&mdash;Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers, Duke Blue Devils, and Houston Cougars&mdash;advancing to the Final Four. This marks the first occurrence since 2008 that all top seeds have reached this stage.​
The Final Four matchups are set to take place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, April 5. The semifinal games feature Florida facing Auburn at 5:09 p.m. ET, followed by Houston against Duke at 7:49 p.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast on CBS and streamed on March Madness Live and Paramount+.​
Each team's path through the Elite Eight was marked by decisive victories. The Florida Gators secured their Final Four berth by defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders with a final score of 84-79. The Auburn Tigers overcame the Michigan State Spartans in a 70-64 contest despite a scare from star player Johni Broome, who suffered an elbow injury during the game. Broome returned to contribute crucial points, helping Auburn advance and keep dancing in March Madness.
The Duke Blue Devils dominated the Alabama Crimson Tide with an 85-65 win led by standout freshman Cooper Flagg. The Houston Cougars delivered a commanding 69-50 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers. The Cougars' strong defense and cohesive play have been instrumental in their journey, and this will once again be needed for them to win in the Final Four.
In the Final Four, each team will bring a compelling narrative to the tournament.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Florida Gators: Making their first Final Four appearance since 2014, the Gators aim to capture their third national title.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Auburn Tigers: Under the leadership of Coach Bruce Pearl, Auburn seeks its first national championship, adding to the excitement surrounding their journey.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Duke Blue Devils: Led by standout freshman Cooper Flagg, Duke continues its storied tradition in the tournament, with insights from Coach K and current coach Jon Scheyer highlighting their path to the Final Four.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Houston Cougars: With a strong bond and loyalty praised by alumnus and legendary broadcaster Jim Nantz, Houston aims for its biggest achievement since the 1980s.</li>
</ul>
This convergence of top seeds sets the stage for an electrifying conclusion to March Madness 2025, as fans eagerly anticipate which team will emerge as the national champion.​

In a remarkable display of superb basketball, the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will feature all four No. 1 seeds.

March Madness 2025: All No. 1 Seeds Advance to Final Four

The East Asia Super League (EASL) will feature two B.LEAGUE teams in its 2025 Final Four, as both the Ryukyu Golden Kings and the Hiroshima Dragonflies have clinched their spots in the prestigious tournament.
The Ryukyu Golden Kings were the first to secure their place, achieving an 82-74 victory over the New Taipei Kings on December 25, 2024. This win propelled Ryukyu to a 4-0 record in Group B, ensuring their advancement with two regular-season games remaining. Keve Aluma has been instrumental for the team, leading with an average of 27.5 points per game. Ryuichi Kishimoto earned Player of the Game honors against New Taipei, contributing 20 points, including six three-pointers.&nbsp;
Following suit, the Hiroshima Dragonflies clinched their Final Four berth with a commanding 94-63 win over the San Miguel Beermen on January 8, 2025. This victory improved Hiroshima's record to 4-1 in Group A. Kerry Blackshear Jr. narrowly missed a triple-double in the game, recording 12 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. The Dragonflies' balanced offense saw five players scoring in double figures, with Nick Mayo and Keijiro Mitani combining for 36 points.&nbsp;
The EASL Final Four 2025 is scheduled for March 7-9 at the Studio City Event Center in Macau. The champion will receive a $1 million prize, with $500,000 awarded to the runner-up and $250,000 for third place. This marks the first time two B.LEAGUE teams have reached the EASL Final Four simultaneously, highlighting the league's growing prominence in Asian basketball.&nbsp;
Both Ryukyu and Hiroshima have demonstrated exceptional performance throughout the season, and their upcoming participation in the Final Four is highly anticipated by fans and analysts alike.&nbsp;

The East Asia Super League (EASL) will feature two B.LEAGUE teams in its 2025 Final Four: Ryukyu and Hiroshima.

Ryukyu Golden Kings and Hiroshima Dragonflies Secure Spots in EASL Final Four 2025

Ryukyu Golden Kings 96, Macau Black Bears 93
The Ryukyu Golden Kings extended their undefeated run in Group B of the East Asia Super League (EASL) with a thrilling 96-93 victory over the Macau Black Bears. Ryukyu showcased their resilience and ability to perform under pressure, surviving a late-game push from the Black Bears to secure the win.
Keve Aluma made a significant impact in his season debut, scoring 29 points and providing a crucial spark in the fourth quarter. Jack Cooley also played a pivotal role, contributing 24 points and grabbing 19 rebounds, demonstrating his dominance on both ends of the floor.
Macau fought valiantly, led by Damian Chong Qui, who scored 24 points, and William Artino, who secured 20 rebounds. Despite their efforts, they fell short as Ryukyu&rsquo;s defense held strong in the closing moments.
The game&rsquo;s turning point came when Ryukyu launched an 8-2 run late in the fourth quarter, ultimately keeping the Black Bears at bay. This victory keeps the Golden Kings at the top of Group B standings with a 2-0 record​
Hiroshima Dragonflies 88, Hong Kong Eastern 75
In the second matchup of the day, the Hiroshima Dragonflies cruised to a 88-75 victory over Hong Kong Eastern, earning their second consecutive win in the EASL. Hiroshima displayed a balanced offensive attack and tenacious defense, overwhelming Eastern from start to finish.
Kerry Blackshear Jr. led the Dragonflies with a stellar performance, scoring 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, solidifying his position as a standout player in the tournament.&nbsp;
Hiroshima's three-point shooting was particularly impressive, connecting on 9 shots from beyond the arc, while Hong Kong struggled significantly, managing only 4 successful three-pointers throughout the game.
Christopher McLaughlin was the bright spot for Eastern, scoring 24 points, but the team was unable to overcome the Dragonflies&rsquo; defensive pressure, which forced 14 turnovers​.
This commanding win keeps Hiroshima undefeated in the tournament, and they look poised to continue their success as the season progresses.
Both Ryukyu and Hiroshima have established themselves as frontrunners in the EASL, setting the stage for an exciting continuation of the season. The Golden Kings will aim to maintain their momentum, while Eastern will seek to regroup and find their footing in the upcoming matches.

Both Ryukyu and Hiroshima have established themselves as frontrunners in the EASL for an exciting continuation of the season.

EASL Game Day #4 recap: Ryukyu Edges Macau; Hiroshima Soars Past Hong Kong

NBA breaking news reporting and journalism will never be the same again.
In a shocking move that rocked the NBA world, heralded NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski has decided to retire and step out of NBA reporting and journalism altogether after an illustrious career that spanned over 37 years.
ESPN&rsquo;s head NBA reporter and insider announced his decision via X in a heartfelt message felt around the NBA landscape.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve decided to retire from ESPN and the news industry,&rdquo; Wojnarowski revealed in his letter. &ldquo;I understand the commitment required in my role and it&rsquo;s an investment that I&rsquo;m no longer driven to make. Time isn&rsquo;t in endless supply and I want to spend mine in ways that are more personally meaningful.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Woj&rdquo;, as he is fondly known by his peers and the entire NBA media, teams, and players, is most known for his &lsquo;Woj bombs&rsquo; as the main source of NBA insider info and being probably the best breaking news reporter over the past few years. He leaves NBA news reporting a huge gap considering how he has changed the landscape over time, as he&rsquo;s considered the best and most trusted source of all things NBA.
Following his retirement from ESPN, Wojnarowski will assume the general manager position for the St. Bonaventure&rsquo;s Men&rsquo;s Basketball program &ndash; his alma mater.&nbsp;
In this new position, Woj will handle NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) allocation and recruiting efforts for the Bonnies. He&rsquo;ll also work closely with head coach Mark Schmidt to further elevate the program.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: Adrian Wojnarowski is stepping away from ESPN and the news industry. The NBA insider has agreed to become the General Manager of St. Bonaventure&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s basketball program, a role he&rsquo;s excited to take on. In this new position, Woj will handle NIL (Name, Image, and&hellip; <a href="https://t.co/JcYlEktCQD">pic.twitter.com/JcYlEktCQD</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1836417586969612692?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2024</a>
<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
</blockquote>
&nbsp;

In a shocking move that rocked the NBA, heralded NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski has decided to retire from NBA reporting.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announces sudden retirement

Today, the NBA announced the 28 players who have earned spots to compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 16 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of NBA All-Star 2024. The annual showcase of premier young talent, featuring a mini-tournament with four teams and three games, will air live at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.
The player pool consists of 11 NBA rookies, 10 second-year NBA players and seven NBA G League players. The 21 NBA players, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, will comprise the fourth team.
Six-time NBA All-Star and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Pau Gasol will return as one of the four honorary head coaches after leading his team to the Rising Stars championship last year. Joining Gasol as honorary head coaches are Indiana Fever legend and 10-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings and former Indiana Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf.
Catchings, a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, led the Fever to the 2012 WNBA championship. Rose helped the Pacers reach the 2000 NBA Finals and was the Kia NBA Most Improved Player that season. Schrempf, a three-time NBA All-Star, won back-to-back Kia NBA Sixth Man Awards with the Pacers in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Gasol (Team Pau), Catchings (Team Tamika) and Rose (Team Jalen) will select their teams through the Rising Stars Draft, which will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. ET and stream live on the NBA App.&nbsp; Schrempf (Team Detlef) will coach the team of NBA G League players.
All three games in Panini Rising Stars will be played to a Final Target Score, meaning each game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of with the clock running out. The semifinal games will be played to a Final Target Score of 40. The championship game will be played to a Final Target Score of 25.
Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal (Game 1), and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal (Game 2). The winner of Game 1 will meet the winner of Game 2 in the championship (Game 3).&nbsp; The semifinal matchups will be announced at a later date.
In selecting the NBA players for Panini Rising Stars, each NBA team submitted one ballot per coaching staff. Each coaching staff selected four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players at either position, in order of preference, for the rookie ballot and the sophomore ballot. Coaches were not permitted to vote for any player on their team.
The NBA participants for Panini Rising Stars were determined by the total points each player received from the ballots. Points were awarded based on where a player was ranked on each ballot. The player pool includes one more rookie than sophomore based on total points received.
Assistant coaches from the NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs will join the honorary head coaches in coaching the Panini Rising Stars teams. The NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs for both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference have yet to be determined.&nbsp;
Tickets for Panini Rising Stars are available at NBAEvents.com and through the NBA Events App, which can be downloaded in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nba-events/id1488976283" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nba-events/id1488976283&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1706738146537000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3KdgVz_lJtn5rLaTz7eq7b">Apple Store</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greencopper.nbaallstar&amp;hl=en_US&amp;gl=US&amp;pli=1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id%3Dcom.greencopper.nbaallstar%26hl%3Den_US%26gl%3DUS%26pli%3D1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1706738146537000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0-CV5jwdxEhFcuZ8BRrarV">Google Play Store</a>.
Below is the player pool for the 2024 Panini Rising Stars.
<table style="width: 719px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="607">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 704.431px;" colspan="3">
PANINI RISING STARS: NBA PLAYERS
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 358.75px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
NBA Rookies
</td>
<td style="width: 324.604px; text-align: center;">
NBA Sophomores
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 362.625px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Bilal Coulibaly (Guard | Washington Wizards)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.271px; text-align: center;">
Paolo Banchero (Frontcourt | Orlando Magic)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.59px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Keyonte George (Guard | Utah Jazz)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.701px; text-align: center;">
Dyson Daniels (Guard | New Orleans Pelicans)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.826px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Jordan Hawkins (Guard | New Orleans Pelicans)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.812px; text-align: center;">
Jalen Duren (Frontcourt | Detroit Pistons)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.875px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Scoot Henderson (Guard | Portland Trail Blazers)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.847px; text-align: center;">
Jaden Ivey (Guard | Detroit Pistons)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Chet Holmgren (Frontcourt | Oklahoma City Thunder)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.854px; text-align: center;">
Walker Kessler (Frontcourt | Utah Jazz)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Frontcourt | Miami Heat)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Bennedict Mathurin (Guard | Indiana Pacers)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Dereck Lively II (Frontcourt | Dallas Mavericks)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Keegan Murray (Frontcourt | Sacramento Kings)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Brandon Miller (Frontcourt | Charlotte Hornets)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Shaedon Sharpe (Guard | Portland Trail Blazers)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Brandin Podziemski (Guard | Golden State Warriors)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Jabari Smith Jr. (Frontcourt | Houston Rockets)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Cason Wallace (Guard | Oklahoma City Thunder)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">
Jalen Williams (Frontcourt | Oklahoma City Thunder)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 363.889px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">
Victor Wembanyama (Frontcourt | San Antonio Spurs)
</td>
<td style="width: 326.861px; text-align: center;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
<table style="height: 454px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="438">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
PANINI RISING STARS: NBA G LEAGUE PLAYERS
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Izan Almansa (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Matas Buzelis (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Ron Holland (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Mac McClung (Guard | Osceola Magic)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Tyler Smith (Frontcourt | G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Oscar Tshiebwe (Frontcourt | Indiana Mad Ants)*
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 54px;">
<td style="width: 423.431px; height: 54px;">
Alondes Williams (Guard | Sioux Falls Skyforce)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Two-Way Player

The NBA announced the 28 players who have earned spots to compete in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars.

NBA announces 2024 Rising Stars participants

Today, the NBA announced that the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers will face off in the league&rsquo;s third regular-season game in Paris at the Accor Arena on Jan. 11, 2024.
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will mark the Nets&rsquo; second game in Paris, having played a preseason game in the French capital in 2008. Brooklyn currently features 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive First Team and 2023 Team USA member Mikal Bridges, 2023 Team USA member Cam Johnson and three-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons. The Nets have made five consecutive playoff appearances.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re extremely excited to have the opportunity to compete in The NBA Paris Game 2024 and bring Nets basketball to an international stage," Nets general manager Sean Marks said. "Our players and coaches will benefit greatly from the experience of immersing themselves in Paris&rsquo;s rich culture off the court.&rdquo;
The Cavaliers will be playing their first game in Europe. Cleveland currently features four-time NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell, 2022 NBA All-Stars Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, and 2022-23 NBA All-Defensive First Team member Evan Mobley. The Cavaliers won their first NBA championship in 2016 and made four consecutive NBA Finals appearances from 2015 to 2018.
&ldquo;We are extremely honored as an organization to showcase the Cleveland Cavaliers in Paris," Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said. "This unique opportunity will provide our players, coaches, staff and families an experience into a different culture, all while creating memories both on and off the court that will last a lifetime. We also recognize the universal appeal basketball inspires and we take great pride in our stewardship of the game. As proud representatives of the city of Cleveland and all of Northeast Ohio, we look forward to establishing a personal level of engagement with our fans overseas, as well as partnering with the NBA in our collective effort to elevate basketball on the international stage.&rdquo;
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will air live on beIN SPORTS and NBA League Pass, reaching fans in more than 200 countries and territories on television, digital media and social media. The league and its partners will conduct interactive fan activities, NBA Cares community outreach initiatives and Jr. NBA youth basketball development programming to bring the NBA experience to fans in the French capital. The game and surrounding events will be supported by a roster of marketing partners, including Foot Locker, La Fran&ccedil;aise des Jeux, Nike and Tissot.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re thrilled to be bringing the live NBA experience back to Paris with two exciting teams in the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers," said Mark Tatum, the NBA's deputy commissioner and chief operating officer. "This game has become a destination for our passionate fans across Europe and will build on the incredible momentum around basketball and the NBA in France and throughout the region.&rdquo;
Tickets for The NBA Paris Game 2024 will go on sale at a later date, but fans can <a href="NBAEvents.com/ParisGame" target="_blank" rel="noopener">register here</a> to receive presale information. NBA ID members will get priority access to the pre-sale.&nbsp;
There have been more NBA players from France than from any other country outside North America, including 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs). Live NBA games and related programming air in France on beIN SPORTS and NBA League Pass, including 45 weekend games in primetime last season as part of the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays&rdquo; European primetime initiative.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The City of Paris is delighted to host another thrilling NBA regular-season game and extend a warm welcome to two remarkable teams, the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers," said Pierre Rabadan, the deputy mayor of Paris who's in charge of sports. "Our love and passion for the sport of basketball drive us to provide an unforgettable experience for players and fans alike. Paris has always been a special place for basketball and continues to be, as its rich culture steadily thrives and spreads within the city.&rdquo;

The Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers will face off in the league’s third regular-season game in Paris on Jan. 11, 2024.

Nets, Cavaliers to play regular-season game in Paris in January 2024

The NBA announced today that Hall-of-Famer Mike Krzyzewski, the all-time wins leader in NCAA Division I men&rsquo;s basketball and a six-time gold medalist as head coach of the USA Basketball Men&rsquo;s Senior National Team, has been appointed special adviser to basketball operations.
In his new role, Krzyzewski will provide counsel to the league office, NBA team executives and other leaders across the league on a host of issues related to the game. He will begin in this consulting capacity by attending a meeting of NBA general managers next week in Chicago.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;We are honored to have Coach K join the NBA family and share his vast experience and expertise with the league and our teams,&rdquo; said NBA president, league operations Byron Spruell. &ldquo;As a preeminent coach and renowned leader who cares deeply about the game of basketball, he is uniquely suited to drive discussions and offer insights about the present and future of the NBA.&rdquo;
&ldquo;This is a tremendous opportunity to deepen my connection to the NBA and participate in conversations about further strengthening the league and the game,&rdquo; said Krzyzewski. &ldquo;Even in my retirement from coaching, my passion for the sport has never been higher.&nbsp; This role will enable me to stay engaged with basketball at the highest level.&rdquo;
Krzyzewski joins the NBA one year after completing a storied 47-year career as a college basketball head coach, including 42 seasons at Duke (1980-2022) and five seasons at his alma mater, Army West Point (1975-80). He went 1202-368 (.766) overall and 1129-309 (.785) with the Blue Devils, making him the winningest men&rsquo;s coach in NCAA history and at one school.
During his extraordinary tenure at Duke, Krzyzewski won five national championships and set the NCAA record for Final Four appearances by a head coach with 13. He also holds NCAA Tournament records for the most victories (101) and appearances (36) by a head coach.
Duke averaged nearly 27 victories per season under Krzyzewski, who won a national Coach of the Year award in eight different seasons and was selected as the ACC Coach of the Year five times. The Blue Devils spent 127 weeks ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 College Basketball Poll, the most by a head coach in poll history. Krzyzewski tutored 73 NBA Draft selections at Duke, including 46 first-round picks and four No. 1 overall picks.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
In addition to his historic college coaching career, Krzyzewski made his mark in international competition as head coach of USA Basketball Men&rsquo;s Senior National Team from 2005-16. He guided the program to an 88-1 record, including a 24-0 mark in the Olympics.&nbsp;
With Krzyzewski at the helm, the United States won three gold medals in the Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016), two in the FIBA Basketball World Cup (2010 and 2014) and one in the FIBA AmeriCup (2007).&nbsp; Krzyzewski is the only basketball head coach to lead a nation to three consecutive Olympic championships, and he helped the United States earn back-to-back titles at the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time.&nbsp; He was named the USA Basketball National Coach of the Year a record seven times.
Among his other accolades, Krzyzewski was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.&nbsp; The Chicago native was also enshrined in the Army Sports Hall of Fame (2009), the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame (2010) and the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame (2011).&nbsp;
A West Point graduate and three-year letterman on the basketball team, Krzyzewski served as an Army officer and attained the rank of Captain before moving into college coaching.&nbsp; In recognition of his service to the United States, Krzyzewski was honored with the Distinguished Graduate Award by the United States Military Academy in 2005 and the George Catlett Marshall Medal by the Association of the United States Army in 2014.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Hall-of-Famer Mike Krzyzewski is joining the NBA league office as a special adviser to basketball operations.

NBA names Mike Krzyzewski a special adviser to basketball operations

On Tuesday afternoon, the NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine, which will take place at the Wintrust Arena and Marriott Marquis in Chicago from May 15-21.
Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five games as well as shooting and strength-and-agility drills. Coverage of the 2023 NBA Draft Combine will begin May 17 on ESPN2 from 2-6 p.m. ET and continues May 18 from 4-8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
The NBA Draft Combine will also be available on the ESPN App. Strength-and-agility drills and shooting drills will be broadcast live on the NBA App on May 15 from 3-5 p.m. ET.
Additionally, a select number of standout players from the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-g-league-announces-45-draft-prospects-competing-in-g-league-elite-camp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 NBA G League Elite Camp</a>, which takes place May 13-14 at Wintrust Arena, will be invited to participate in the NBA Draft Combine.
Unfortunately, projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama won't be in attendance at the 2023 NBA Draft Combine as he has yet to finish his season overseas with Metropolitans 92.
Below is a list of expected attendees for the 2023 NBA Draft Combine:
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trey Alexander (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Seth Lundy (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Amari Bailey (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kevin McCullar (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Mike Miles Jr. (TCU)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Reece Beekman (Virginia)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Anthony Black (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Miller (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adem Bona (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Leonard Miller (G League Ignite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Brown (Missouri)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Judah Mintz (Syracuse)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Kobe Bufkin (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Toumani Camara (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Omari Moore (San Jose State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Kris Murray (Iowa)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Noah Clowney (Alabama)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
James Nnaji (Barcelona [Spain] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ricky Council IV (Arkansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Phillips (Tennessee)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Gradey Dick (Kansas)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Nikola Djurisic (Mega [Serbia] )
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Zach Edey (Purdue)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Marquette)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Adam Flagler (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Rayan Rupert (New Zealand Breakers [Oceania] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyonte George (Baylor)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mouhamed Gueye (Washington State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Marcus Sasser (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Coleman Hawkins (Illinois)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jordan Hawkins (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Slawson (Furman)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Terquavion Smith (North Carolina State)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jett Howard (Michigan)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Julian Strawther (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Andre Jackson Jr. (Connecticut)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Amen Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
GG Jackson II (South Carolina)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Colby Jones (Xavier)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan [Serbia] )
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jarace Walker (Houston)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Arthur Kaluma (Creighton)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Mojave King (G League Ignite)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Bobi Klintman (Wake Forest)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Dereck Lively II (Duke)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="312">
Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="354">
Isaiah Wong (Miami)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The NBA announced the 78 players who are expected to attend the 2023 NBA Draft Combine.

NBA announces 78 Draft Combine participants, but no Victor Wembanyama

Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair has been named the NBA's 2022-23 Executive of the Year, the league announced today.
In just his third season as an NBA general manager, McNair assembled a team that went 48-34 &ndash; securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and ending the Kings' 16-year playoff drought.
McNair hired Kings head coach Mike Brown, who was the unanimous winner of the NBA's 2022-23 Coach of the Year award. He built the team around the star tandem of De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, and his key offseason additions included Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk and No. 4 overall pick Keegan Murray.
McNair received 16 first-place votes and 98 total voting points. Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman was the runner-up, receiving seven first-place votes and 63 total voting points.
Utah Jazz GM Justin Zanik (20 total points), Denver Nuggets GM Calvin Booth (20 total points) and Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens (13 total points) rounded out the top-five.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/exec1.png" alt="" width="748" height="316" />
Other executives who received at least one vote were Jon Horst (Milwaukee Bucks), James Jones (Phoenix Suns), Leon Rose (New York Knicks), Zach Kleiman (Memphis Grizzlies), Sean Marks (Brooklyn Nets), Rob Pelinka (Los Angeles Lakers), Sam Presti (Oklahoma City Thunder), Daryl Morey (Philadelphia 76ers), David Griffin (New Orleans Pelicans) and Tim Connelly (Minnesota Timberwolves).
Unlike the other end-of-season awards that are voted on by media members, the voting panel for the Executive of the Year award consisted of front-office executives across the NBA. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm Ernst and Young LLP.

Sacramento Kings general manager Monte McNair has been named the NBA's 2022-23 Executive of the Year.

Sacramento's Monte McNair named NBA's 2022-23 Executive of the Year

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

Spencer Davies speaks with Taqwa Pinero about his life journey and how he's preparing both the future and current hoop generations.

Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) &mdash; Former NBA guard Ben Gordon was arrested on weapons and threatening charges after he began behaving erratically in a Connecticut juice shop, police said.
The episode started just before 10 a.m. Tuesday when several 911 callers reported &ldquo;a male acting aggressively and in a bizarre manner&rdquo; inside a juice shop in Stamford, the city&rsquo;s assistant police chief, Richard Conklin, said Thursday.
The man, identified as Gordon, continued to act erratically when officers arrived and tried to take him into custody, Conklin said.
The officers eventually subdued Gordon and placed him under arrest. They found a folding knife clipped to Gordon&rsquo;s pocket, and a stun gun and brass knuckles in his backpack, Conklin said.
Gordon was arrested on charges including carrying a dangerous weapon, second-degree threatening and interfering with an officer.
The former basketball star, who played for the University of Connecticut before a decade-long NBA career that ended with the 2014-2015 Orlando Magic, was taken to the police detention center and then to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, Conklin said.
Gordon was released late Tuesday on $10,000 bond, he said. A message seeking comment was left with Gordon&rsquo;s attorney.
It&rsquo;s not Gordon&rsquo;s first brush with the law. Last October, he was charged with punching his son at New York&rsquo;s LaGuardia Airport. And in November, he was charged with a misdemeanor in Chicago for allegedly punching a McDonald&rsquo;s security guard.
This week&rsquo;s arrest came hours after Gordon&rsquo;s alma mater, UConn, defeated San Diego State University 76-59 to win the school&rsquo;s fifth NCAA championship. Gordon was on the UConn team that won the championship in 2004.
Tuesday, the day Gordon was arrested, was also his 40th birthday.

Gordon was arrested on weapons and threatening charges after he began behaving erratically in a Connecticut juice shop.

Former NBA guard Ben Gordon arrested on weapons charge

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Mark Madsen knows the situation he inherited when he was hired to take over a California men&rsquo;s basketball program coming off the worst season in school history.
Instead of focusing on the challenges, Madsen is jumping into the role with the same enthusiasm he had diving on the floor for loose balls as a player.
&ldquo;Having grown up here, I truly believe that Cal is a sleeping giant in terms of men&rsquo;s basketball,&rdquo; Madsen said at his introductory news conference on Monday. &ldquo;This is a sleeping giant. This is a program that can be a nationally ranked program year in and year out. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m excited about.&rdquo;
Madsen is faced with a tough task, taking over a program that went 3-29 this season, which led to the decision to fire coach Mark Fox.
Cal went 38-87 during Fox&rsquo;s tenure, ending his final season on a 16-game losing streak. The Golden Bears haven&rsquo;t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and haven&rsquo;t won a game in the tournament since 2013.
But Madsen doesn&rsquo;t see this as a long-term project thanks in part the the opportunities that come with the transfer portal.
&ldquo;If you can bring in three or four key pieces there, there&rsquo;s several really good players, really talented players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a group of really talented players already in the program. So now you add three or four key players from the portal. You add some players that are already in the program from an existing standpoint, and then you bring in a couple of young guys and you make some tweaks. Good things can happen quickly.&rdquo;&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s been a whirlwind few weeks for Madsen. He coached Utah Valley to the NIT semifinals last week, interviewed and was hired by Cal, and had his fourth child when his wife, Hannah, delivered Anastasia on Sunday.
Madsen downplayed the perception that a lack of institutional support &mdash; no dedicated practice facility and an apathetic fan base that led to an average attendance of 2,155 this season for the lowest mark among any team in the Power 5 or Big East &mdash; may hinder success at Cal.
He focused instead on the opportunities at coaching Cal, although those familiar with the program know it will be a challenge.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be very hard. It&rsquo;s going to be difficult,&rdquo; said former Cal star forward Leon Powe. &ldquo;You come here and it&rsquo;s not an easy job, but somebody&rsquo;s got to do it. And if anybody is up to the task, it&rsquo;s Mark. He&rsquo;s really good at motivating people and bringing people together.&rdquo;
Madsen played at Stanford under Mike Montgomery, who later coached at Cal, from 1996 to 2000 and helped the Cardinal reach the Final Four in 1998.
After a nine-year playing career in the NBA that featured two titles as a backup on the Lakers in 2001-02, Madsen went into coaching.
He spent time in the NBA&rsquo;s developmental league and a year at Stanford before spending five seasons on the Lakers staff.
Madsen then was hired in 2019 to take over Utah Valley. He posted a 70-51 record in four years with a 28-9 mark this season and impressed California athletic director Jim Knowlton throughout the search.
&ldquo;He was on our radar weeks before the season ended,&rdquo; Knowlton said. &ldquo;As we continued to do our homework, he rose to the top faster and faster. ... When we finally got to the Zoom calls, we were absolutely blown away. Then when we got in person and spent three or four hours with him, we said, &lsquo;This is the next coach at Cal.&rsquo;&rdquo;
This is a homecoming for Madsen, who grew up a half-hour away in Danville and went to college across the bay at Stanford, where he had fierce battles with Cal against players such as Tony Gonzalez and Sean Lampley.
Madsen is the third prominent coach to flip sides in recent years in the Bay Area rivalry between Cal and Stanford. The Cardinal hired former Cal quarterback Troy Taylor to take over the football program last season and Bears women&rsquo;s basketball coach Charmin Smith played and coached as an assistant at Stanford.
While Madsen acknowledged that the first trip back to Maples Pavilion might be a bit awkward, he&rsquo;s all aboard at his new school as evidenced by the blue and gold tie he wore Monday.
&ldquo;I love my alma mater,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I love where I went to school. I love every experience that I had. But my excitement is for Cal. My excitement is for building this into a championship program.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Madsen is faced with a tough task, taking over a program that went 3-29 this season, which led to the decision to fire coach Mark Fox.

Mark Madsen hired to restore ‘sleeping giant’ at Cal

HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Certainly, Jim Nantz could fill an evening weaving tales of the great games and buzzer-beaters he&rsquo;s had the privilege to see, and call, over a storytelling career that made his the voice of March Madness for nearly four decades.
But when asked about his favorite moments as he prepared for the 354th and final game of that journey &mdash; Monday&rsquo;s title game &mdash; he brought up Delaware State.
The Hornets were a 16 seed when they made what is still their only NCAA appearance back in 2005. They were going against Duke in a first-round game hardly anyone remembers now. Nantz was certain he&rsquo;d see those Duke players again.
&ldquo;But those Delaware State kids, they&rsquo;re on CBS, and I envisioned that someday, they&rsquo;re going to have the VHS tape to be able to show their grandchildren and say &lsquo;I played in the NCAA Tournament,&lsquo;&rdquo; Nantz said during a courtside conversation with The Associated Press the day before the start of his last Final Four. &ldquo;This tournament is their &lsquo;forever.&rsquo; I always wanted to make sure that I do justice to their story.&rdquo;
The 63-year-old traces his own path to the announcer&rsquo;s table to when he was 9 and living in New Orleans. His dad took him to his first college basketball game.&nbsp;
Working the sideline was a bear of a coach who had a red, polka-dotted towel draped across his shoulder. About 10 years later, that coach, Guy Lewis of the Houston Cougars, would give Nantz, who played golf at the school, a job as the public-address guy for home games at Hofheinz Pavillion. A year after that, Nantz was still living in the dorms at UH when Lewis asked him to host his coach&rsquo;s show.
Nantz&rsquo;s might very well be the voice American sports fans know best. He has guided them through six Super Bowls on CBS and walked with them among the towering pines at the Masters since 1986, when Jack Nicklaus won his sixth green jacket. He&rsquo;ll continue on those assignments for the foreseeable future, but this 37th run through March Madness will be his last.
Some said it might have been perfect if his alma mater, which came into the tournament as a No. 1 seed, was playing in its hometown in the final game of Nantz&rsquo;s basketball journey. That didn&rsquo;t happen, but Nantz believes there&rsquo;s something fitting about a Final Four that came out of the blue like this, with three schools that had never been this far before, and no team seeded better than No. 4 UConn.
He has always loved the underdog tales.
&ldquo;Storytelling paradise,&rdquo; Nantz called it.
It&rsquo;s been wild, emotional and a little awkward for a man who concedes he likes to tell the stories, not be part of them.
He got a key to the city Friday. Two streets on an intersection outside the stadium were renamed &ldquo;Jim Nantz Way&rdquo; and &ldquo;Hello Friends Boulevard.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Hello Friends&rdquo; is the comfy-as-a-slipper welcome he coined about 20 years ago. It gives Nantz a moment to connect with the audience and think of his dad, who passed away in 2008 after a long bout with Alzheimer&rsquo;s. The Nantz National Alzheimer&rsquo;s Center is based in Houston.
Nantz&rsquo;s welcome-in message to the telecasts might be planned. Other things aren&rsquo;t.
His call of Saturday&rsquo;s buzzer-beating shot by San Diego State&rsquo;s Lamont Butler in the semifinals &mdash; Nantz estimates he&rsquo;s had 20-something such last-second winners over his years in the tournament &mdash; plays back like a master class in what his job should be: simple, urgent, much more about the moment than the person talking about it.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Butler. With two seconds. He&rsquo;s gotta put it up. Aaand. He wins it! He wins it! With the jumper!&rdquo; Then, five seconds of silence, followed by, &ldquo;A San Diego State miracle!&rdquo;
Speaking of miracles, there&rsquo;s another announcer who made a name for himself by talking about one. Shortly after this interview was over and Nantz had started talking to some well-wishers, he lifted up his phone and smiled as he showed it to a few folks standing nearby: Al Michaels was calling.
Though many might consider Nantz and the 78-year-old Michaels as contemporaries, there was a sense of the unfiltered excitement Nantz felt about receiving that call. And it gave a glimpse as to why, even after all this time, he has such a strong bond with the millions of people who tune in. In some ways, he&rsquo;s just like us.
Moments earlier, Nantz had recalled hosting the Final Four studio show from the Kingdome in Seattle in 1989 when Magic Johnson popped by for a visit on the set. As Magic and Nantz, both 30 at the time, sat in the corner of the arena, watching the final seconds of the Michigan-Seton Hall title game tick down, the announcer asked Johnson if he ever stopped to soak in everything and reflect on the wonder of all he&rsquo;d been part of.
&ldquo;He nods and just says, &lsquo;All the time,&rsquo;&rdquo; Nantz said. &ldquo;And today, I think about that. I&rsquo;ve had the best seat in the house at the Super Bowl or the Masters or here for my whole career. And I&rsquo;ve never gotten over the fact that I&rsquo;m the one who&rsquo;s blessed with the chance to lend a voice to it, and to tell the story.&rdquo;

It’s been wild, emotional and a little awkward for Jim Nantz, who concedes he likes to tell the stories, not be part of them.

Jim Nantz bids a fond farewell to March Madness

Dusty May&rsquo;s March Madness run with FAU likely was one few saw coming.
May had, to be fair, not much better than minimal name recognition when he took the Florida Atlantic job five years ago. That wasn&rsquo;t the case with almost all the other FAU coaches over the years, names like Mike Jarvis and Matt Doherty and Michael Curry and Sidney Green and Rex Walters.
Curry had been an NBA coach and played for years in the league. Green was an NBA lottery pick. Doherty coached at North Carolina, his alma mater, and Notre Dame. Jarvis had been at three other schools and coached a high schooler named Patrick Ewing. Walters was a Big 8 star at Kansas and played in the NBA.
And their FAU resumes don&rsquo;t compare &mdash; some don&rsquo;t come even close &mdash; to what May has done.
A school that used to be known for coaches looking to rebound now has a team headed to the Final Four, led by a coach whose claim to fame when he entered coaching was that he was a student manager for Bob Knight at Indiana.
&ldquo;I think Coach May obviously has done an incredible job building this program from humble beginnings,&rdquo; FAU athletic director Brian White said. &ldquo;I think it is a great sign for the whole university and the athletic department that FAU is a place where you can come and build something special.&rdquo;
The Final Four &mdash; FAU (35-3) plays San Diego State (31-6) on Saturday in Houston, before Miami (29-7) plays UConn (29-8) in the other national semifinal &mdash; is rarefied air for the Owls. Truly. Before this year, the last time the Owls were in the final four of any postseason tournament was 2002, and that was the ASun Conference Tournament.
Think about that. Go two decades without so much as a trip to a conference final four, and end up this year in the Final Four. It&rsquo;s a crazy ride orchestrated by the only coach to win 100 games at FAU, someone who hadn&rsquo;t played in the NBA or been a head coach anywhere else, big-time or even small-time.
&ldquo;Florida Atlantic is a new university,&rdquo; May said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been booming before I got here. One of the reasons I took it was because it was the right place at the right time, and it&rsquo;s growing exponentially. So we&rsquo;ve talked about it. We&rsquo;ve just never had that moment as a university.&rdquo;
Until now.
There&rsquo;s no Division I men&rsquo;s basketball team in the country that has a better record this season than FAU. No team with more wins. No team with a longer winning streak. No team with a better home record, either.
All that would have been hard to envision five years ago. Or five months ago, for that matter.
The excitement on FAU&rsquo;s campus was felt most at the campus bookstore Tuesday. The Owls&rsquo; Final Four apparel arrived late that morning, and students, alumni and fans walked around the store looking for their March Madness gear.
Some students stood on FaceTime with their parents, asking what size t-shirts to bring home to them.
&ldquo;Gotta spend some money here and support,&rdquo; Chas Kaplan said as he checked out with a couple red and grey shirts.
And he&rsquo;s not even a student. Kaplan&rsquo;s aunt works at the university, and he traveled from Columbus, Ohio, to FAU to tour of the school&rsquo;s athletic department and support the Owls&rsquo; tournament run.
FAU has tended to be a school where coaches go with hopes of winning, yes, but also reviving their own careers. It worked out for all sides during Lane Kiffin&rsquo;s three years as football coach at the school; the Owls won two Conference USA championships and Kiffin landed the Ole Miss job. He&rsquo;s been the exception to the rule; FAU wasn&rsquo;t exactly a springboard back to the biggest levels of big-time for other coaches who made their way to Boca Raton.
It didn&rsquo;t work for Willie Taggart, who was fired at Florida State and then got fired last fall by FAU after being unable to come close to matching Kiffin&rsquo;s success. The jury is out on Tom Herman, the former Houston football coach who&rsquo;ll coach his first game for the Owls this fall. Kiffin arrived with the burden of expectation and delivered. Taggart didn&rsquo;t. Time will tell on Herman.
&ldquo;At Florida Atlantic, we will see great things happen,&rdquo; Kiffin said on the day he got hired at FAU. &ldquo;For us to do the impossible, we have to see the invisible.&rdquo;
May saw the invisible. He has done the improbable. He&rsquo;s two wins away from the impossible.
He arrived at FAU five years ago for his first chance at being a head coach and inherited &mdash; to be polite &mdash; less-than-stellar facilities and a program with almost no basketball history to speak of.
The facilities are better now, with more upgrades on the way in the coming months. The Owls&rsquo; home arena, which can hold about 3,000 fans if the fire marshal isn&rsquo;t looking, might sell out next season. And some people might not know how to pronounce Boca Raton &mdash; it&rsquo;s Ra-tone, by the way &mdash; but certainly more people in the basketball world now know what&rsquo;s capable at FAU.
&ldquo;The brand enhancement is just phenomenal and that&rsquo;s the reason we have Division I athletics, to be the front porch for the university,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;Then exposure that we&rsquo;ve gotten during this run for the whole university, you just can&rsquo;t buy that.&rdquo;
___
AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames in Boca Raton, Florida contributed.

Dusty May’s March Madness run with Florida Atlantic likely was one few saw coming.

May Madness: This March, FAU coach has Owls on cusp of title

The Cleveland Cavaliers can finally say they are headed to the NBA Playoffs.
On Sunday evening, the organization officially punched its ticket to the postseason for the first time in five years. As has been said repeatedly, and rightfully so, it&rsquo;s also the first time the Cavs have accomplished such a feat without LeBron James in 25 years.
&ldquo;I think organizationally this is a big deal to come from where we came from and every year continue to take steps in the right direction, in a positive direction. All the hard work that people in this organization have put in to help get us here should be acknowledged,&rdquo; Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, following up with the phrase &ldquo;from the top down.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Before going into his players, he offered praise for Cavs president Koby Altman, general manager Mike Gansey and the front office, then once more for the training staff and strength and conditioning groups. He later thanked Cleveland&rsquo;s chairman Dan Gilbert.
&ldquo;Obviously, our guys have bought into something bigger than themselves. It's unique for a young team to do that at such a rapid pace. Typically, young guys are so worried about figuring out themselves that the team is secondary. We've got a bunch of guys where the team is the primary thing and the only thing. And whatever individual awards, rewards, glory, (it) all comes because of the team's success, and our guys have bought in and committed to that. This is something that has been done as a collective.
&ldquo;And again, we told the guys to enjoy this, but we ain't done yet. And I think that's the mindset we&rsquo;ve got to continue to have. We're still on the road of this process, and we&rsquo;ve got to keep taking it step by step until we get to where we want to be.&rdquo;
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For Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, Lamar Stevens, Dean Wade and Dylan Windler, all of whom have been with the organization for at least three full years (Garland four), it will be their first time tasting the playoff stage. The same goes for Evan Mobley, who&rsquo;s only in his second season.
&ldquo;It means a lot. I mean, [clinching] first playoffs feels good. Excited to play. We still got work to do,&rdquo; Mobley echoed in agreement with Bickerstaff.
It&rsquo;s been two years, two months and one week since Jarrett Allen first put on his wine-and-gold jersey. Plagued by injuries, inconsistencies and inexperience, that 2020-21 version of the team finished with a 22-50 record. So, coming from that, a Play-In Tournament appearance that came up empty last year and seeing where the group is now, it&rsquo;s not surprising that he took some time to smell the roses for one night.
&ldquo;I think we're able to take a moment to celebrate. This is definitely a big thing for the Cavaliers and for all of us. Not everybody has made it to the playoffs, so we're taking a moment in celebration, but [then] it's time to get back to work,&rdquo; Allen said.&nbsp;
"Not everyone gets that shot," Mobley added. "Not everyone gets on teams and have team camaraderie like we do, how we play together, everything. So it feels good. We've just got to keep that going."
Allen made sure to credit Altman and his former teammate Lauri Markkanen for helping establish big ball, which has evolved into just him and his partner Mobley holding down the fort.
&ldquo;The first year I got traded here, it was rough. We didn't have much to play towards the end of the season and then traded for Lauri and then just a lot of things were getting put into place,&rdquo; said Allen, who also shouted out Kevin Love as being another big-man building block.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Koby in the front office did a good job to help motivate us, so that we know we have more to play for. And then, year after or that year went on and didn't end it how we wanted to, saying we left a lot on the table. How many times you heard that? But finally this year, we finally are taking everything off the table.&rdquo;
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(Note: It&rsquo;s also hard not to think of Collin Sexton, who was the first Cavs rookie post-LeBron and worked his way to being one of the top young scoring guards in the NBA. Cleveland doesn&rsquo;t have Donovan Mitchell to accelerate the process if not for Sexton, who was a crucial part of that trade with the Utah Jazz.)
Having been there from the true beginning of Cleveland&rsquo;s renaissance in the 2019-20 season, Garland shared the same sentiments.
&ldquo;It was really tough,&rdquo; Garland <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2023/03/cavs-have-bigger-goals-in-mind-after-securing-playoff-spot-for-first-time-in-25-years-without-lebron-james-we-aint-done-yet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Cleveland.com on Sunday</a>. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m lowkey speechless because I&rsquo;ve been here for the longest and I&rsquo;ve seen it from the mud. It&rsquo;s great to be here now. It&rsquo;s a step in the right direction. But not done yet.&rdquo;
Basketball News asked Allen in particular what it took for the Cavs to grow and get over the hump as a franchise.
&ldquo;Confidence that we can do it. I think that's a big thing in this league. Confidence that you can play with the top teams, confidence that you can beat the teams and make it to the playoffs,&rdquo; Allen said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s bad to say, but I'm going to say it anyway &mdash; there's a lot of teams that don't have the confidence, but every team has very talented guys that can be one of those top players. That's what I believe. Every team has talented players. It's just playing as a team, understanding that you can do it together.&rdquo;
Unlike the rest of his teammates, Mitchell has not missed the playoffs even once in his career. From his rookie campaign until now, with the Jazz and now the Cavs, he&rsquo;ll have appeared in six consecutive postseasons.
&ldquo;You know, you want to appreciate every step along the way. It's definitely a blessing. I don't want to downplay the moment, but in the same token, and I told the guys in there &mdash; this is what you just come to expect,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;You made your first one. Appreciate and enjoy it. Celebrate it for the city, for the organization, for your individual guys who have made it.
&ldquo;But in the same token, the three seed&rsquo;s in play &mdash; that's the goal. That's the focus. And we should come to a point now where that's expected of us making the playoffs and continuously being here and continuously pushing forward.&rdquo;
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Cleveland currently is seated in the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference with a five-game lead on the New York Knicks, who the team will host on Friday evening. The Cavs have also crept to just one-and-a-half games back of the No. 3 seed Philadelphia 76ers, who all of a sudden have a couple of minor injuries to major players and will have to face competition still fighting for positioning and/or a way into the mix. And even after that is settled, there are higher aspirations.
&ldquo;We got six more games to play. We're not a finished product. And just the question about where we started, we've got bigger places to go and this is a start for us to be able to clinch a playoff spot. But as we think about this and as we put this team together, we all have one end goal, and those end goals don't come and happen overnight,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said. &ldquo;So we've got to continue to get better. We've got to continue to grow. Coaches, players, everybody has to continue, and that's why we say it's, we're not a finished product.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I think we can beat anybody,&rdquo; Garland <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2023/03/cavs-have-bigger-goals-in-mind-after-securing-playoff-spot-for-first-time-in-25-years-without-lebron-james-we-aint-done-yet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Cleveland.com</a>. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how good we are. I&rsquo;m ready for a long postseason.&rdquo;
Mitchell is impressed with his younger teammates&rsquo; mindset of wanting more than just being there. He brought up his rookie season in Utah where an underdog Jazz squad rallied from a 17-26 record to unexpectedly earn a playoff berth.
To him, in Cleveland, this was the expectation.
&ldquo;I think the mindset, honestly is just like, &lsquo;Alright, it's just a step.&rsquo; One step to feel like we're not satisfied,&rdquo; Mitchell said. &ldquo;Understanding that we have a bigger goal at stake, not just making the playoffs, not just winning a first round, second round, third round. Making it all the way, it's going to be tough. There's going to be guys teams that have a lot of experience and have been there, but I think we're up for that challenge. We have that hunger. "All that's talked about is our experience. But we have that hunger and you see it with this group, and on a night-to-night basis, continuing to prepare and continue to play all the way until June.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies highlights the Cavaliers' reactions to clinching their first playoff berth in five years (and first without LeBron since '97-98).

Unsatisfied, but grateful: Cavs open up on tough road back to playoffs

They&rsquo;re refining skills of young prospects at the NBA Academy in Africa. The vocabulary, too.
&ldquo;There is a word that really we don&rsquo;t like, which is &lsquo;raw,&lsquo;&rdquo; said Franck Traore, head of basketball operations for NBA Africa. &ldquo;When you have an African player going to the U.S., they say &lsquo;raw.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Several academy prospects are playing in the new season of the Basketball Africa League, hoping to gain valuable experience in a professional setting and show that their game is more polished than many think.
Now in its third season, the league was created by the NBA in partnership with FIBA to help grow the sport in Africa. It&rsquo;s a three-month, Champions League-style competition for African club teams.
They added a twist last season with each of the 12 teams being assigned an academy prospect &mdash; called the &ldquo;BAL Elevate&rdquo; program that&rsquo;s in place this campaign, too.
The young players have to earn minutes on rosters full of veterans. It&rsquo;s another opportunity &mdash; along with various tournaments that the NBA Academy shuttles the kids to around the world &mdash; for the prospects prove themselves.
Academy alum Babacar Sane played in the BAL and other events last year and jumped to the G League Ignite, where the 6-foot-6 Senegalese player is in the first season of a two-year contract. Thierry Darlan, a 6-foot-7 point guard from the Central African Republic, is expected to do the same.
Sane and Darlan &mdash; both considered future NBA draft picks &mdash; are helping change the profile of African recruits.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a hurtful word or anything,&rdquo; Traore said of the &ldquo;raw&rdquo; tag. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re trying to develop programs so when an African player developed here on the continent gets to the U.S. or anywhere else in the world they have the skillset &mdash; the same or even better than what we have in the U.S. We&rsquo;re getting to that point at this moment.&rdquo;
GAME CHANGE?
At 6-foot-3, Joy Ighovodja isn&rsquo;t the typical recruit out of Africa. The 18-year-old Nigerian will be playing next season at Oral Roberts, which lost to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve not really seen point guards coming out of Nigeria,&rdquo; said Ighovodja, whose 6-foot-10 wingspan intrigued scouts last summer at the NBA Academy Games in Atlanta.
&ldquo;The normal thing people think is Nigeria, Africa as a whole, we&rsquo;re good on defense, run the floor,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The mentality is they have these big strong guys that get rebounds and play in the paint &mdash; not point guards.&rdquo;
Ighovodja, who is playing with the Abidjan team for the BAL season, is a lefty who started playing basketball four years ago, initially as a shooting guard. Coaches like him as a point guard, he said, &ldquo;to create opportunities for myself and my teammates&rdquo; with his speed, athleticism and ball-handling.
His team, the ABC Fighters, has advanced to the playoffs in May but the teenager has played in only one game so far under coach Liz Mills.
&ldquo;I just have to gain the coach&rsquo;s trust. I&rsquo;m getting there,&rdquo; Ighovodja said recently.
Other academy guards include Modou Thiam, who averaged 7.8 points per game for Nigerian team Kwara, and Aginaldo Neto. Although Neto is not playing in BAL, the Angolan is &ldquo;one of the best upcoming point guards that we have,&rdquo; Traore said.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just looking at everybody &mdash; it&rsquo;s not even size or position,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;Right now, the game is going position-less. Here, we identify by potential.&rdquo;
BAL GAMES
The academy has bigs in the BAL, too.
Rueben Chinyelu (6-foot-10) is making significant contributions with Stade Malien before the 19-year-old Nigerian heads to Washington State. He is averaging 5.4 points and a team-high 8.8 rebounds per game. More than half of his rebounds have been on the offensive end.
Ulrich Chomche (6-foot-11) is averaging 1.6 blocks and 20.5 minutes per game for Rwandan team REG, along with five points and seven rebounds per game. The 17-year-old Cameroonian also played in BAL last year and does not lack confidence.
Khaman Maluach (7-foot-1) of South Sudan is only 16 and helped Senegalese team A.S. Douanes advance to the playoffs. Maluach is a strong finisher, a rim protector and has flashed 3-point range.

Several academy prospects are playing in the new season of the Basketball Africa League, hoping to gain valuable experience.

Prospects get chance to shine in Basketball Africa League

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Darrion Trammell converted a go-ahead free throw after he was fouled on a floater with 1.2 seconds left, and San Diego State muscled its way into its first Final Four, grinding out a 57-56 victory over Creighton on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament&rsquo;s South Region final.
Lamont Butler scored 18 points and Trammell had 12 for the fifth-seeded Aztecs (31-6), who slowed down the high-scoring, sixth-seeded Bluejays (24-13) and became the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the national semifinals.
The experienced Aztecs, in their sixth season under coach Brian Dutcher, will play the surprising East Region champion, ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic, on Saturday in Houston for a spot in the national title game.
With the game tied at 56-all on San Diego State&rsquo;s final possession, Trammell drove toward the free-throw line, elevated for the shot and was fouled by Creighton&rsquo;s Ryan Nembhard. Trammell missed the first free throw but converted the second.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been dreaming this my whole life, grateful to be here and thankful to everyone who believed in me,&rdquo; Trammell said.
Creighton&rsquo;s Baylor Scheierman threw the ensuing inbound pass the length of the floor. San Diego State&rsquo;s Aguek Arop and Creighton&rsquo;s Arthur Kaluma both jumped for it and the ball deflected out of bounds. Officials reviewed the play and determined that time had expired, and the celebration was on for the Aztecs.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t given an explanation other than there was no time on the clock,&rdquo; Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. &ldquo;They made no call on the floor but officiating is part of the game and we&rsquo;re not gonna go there.&rdquo;
Scheierman had tied the game at 56-all when he stole an inbounds pass and converted a layup with 34 seconds remaining.
Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 17 points and Scheierman and Kaluma had 12 apiece for the Bluejays, who went 2 of 17 from 3-point range.
The Aztecs, who got this far thanks to defense and physical play, held the Bluejays to 23 second-half points on 28% shooting as they won for the 14th time in 15 games. Creighton shot 40% overall.
San Diego State shot 38% but got clutch baskets from Nathan Mensah, whose jumper gave the Aztecs a 56-54 lead with 1:37 left, and Arop, who made two straight shots for a 54-50 advantage with 3:03 remaining.
Creighton, which beat San Diego State in overtime in the first round of last year&rsquo;s NCAA Tournament, fell just short of joining Big East rival UConn in the Final Four.
The teams didn&rsquo;t appear to share any hard feelings from last year&rsquo;s meeting. They shared a round-trip flight to Hawaii last fall for the Maui Invitational, and there were no dustups during a tight, physical game in which no team led by more than eight points.
DIVIDED LOYALTIES
Kaluma played against his brother, San Diego State&rsquo;s Adam Seiko. Their parents sat a few rows up at midcourt, sitting quietly before joining Seiko to celebrate.
BIG PICTURE
Creighton&rsquo;s offense started well enough as the Bluejays built a 33-28 halftime lead and extended their advantage to seven in the second half. But Creighton didn&rsquo;t make a single 3-pointer after halftime.
San Diego State proved again that defense matters, especially since the Aztecs also scuffled for points. Their experience as depth showed as Mensah and Arop, who averaged just 6.1 and 4.5 points per game respectively, converted the last three baskets.

With a clutch Darrion Trammell free throw with 1.2 seconds left to go, the Aztecs ended up grinding out a 57-56 victory over Creighton.

San Diego State muscles past Creighton, makes first Final Four

Spencer Davies tells the complex story of Eban Hyams, the first Indian-born international professional basketball player.