Michigan State's Boylen to take over at Utah
Updated: March 26, 2007, 5:57 PM ET
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
The University of Utah will hire Michigan State assistant Jim Boylen as men's basketball coach.
It's unclear when an announcement will come, but sources told the Salt Lake Tribune an introductory press conference is expected Tuesday.
The move was first reported by the Tribune. Spartans head coach Tom Izzo confirmed it in a conversation with ESPN.com's Andy Katz.
The Utah job will be the first head coaching stint for Boylen, who has spent 13 years as an NBA assistant including 11 years with the Houston Rockets. He also coached for Golden State and Milwaukee.
Boylen called a former boss, ex-Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, with the news Monday.
"I believe in this guy. He's always done a great job," Tomjanovich said.
Boylen interviewed for the job last week, which became available when Ray Giacoletti resigned after three seasons. Other candidates known to have interviewed for the job were Kent State's Jim Christian and Westminster College's Tommy Connor, but there were believed to be up to five serious candidates.
Boylen is the next in a generation of Izzo assistants to go on to head coaching jobs. Tom Crean (Marquette), Mike Garland (Cleveland State), Brian Gregory (Dayton), Stan Heath (Kent State), Stan Joplin (Toledo) and Doug Wojcik (Tulsa) all were previously employed by Izzo.
Those six former Izzo assistants have a combined 598-436 career record that includes eight NCAA Tournament berths and a Final Four appearance. Crean led Marquette to the 2003 Final Four.
Boylen began his coaching career at Michigan State as a graduate assistant to Jud Heathcoate.
Giacoletti announced the day before the Utes closed the regular season at BYU that he was stepping down. He took a job as an assistant at Gonzaga.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Georgetown, Carolina in 1982 reprise
None of the players on North Carolina and Georgetown remember when the schools met for the national title 25 years ago. But both coaches do.
On Sunday, Roy Williams will lead top-seeded North Carolina against John Thompson III and second-seeded Georgetown in the East Region final at East Rutherford, New Jersey, with a Final four berth at stake.
Williams was an assistant under Dean Smith on North Carolina's 1982 squad. He has always been a creature of habit, which almost got him in a whole bunch of trouble that night in New Orleans.
"I kept a candy bar in my pocket before every game down the stretch and I would always buy it at the arena," said Williams, who guided the Tar Heels to the 2005 title. "Believe it or not, the Superdome in New Orleans in 1982 didn't sell candy, and so I went to one of the gates and I walked out, went across the street in New Orleans to buy a candy bar.
"I came back to the door and the person, the guard that was there changed and they weren't going to let me come back in. My biggest memory is how doggone scared I am, I'm helping coach a team in the national championship game and I'm not even going to get into the freaking arena."
Williams got back into the building and helped the Tar Heels squeeze out a 63-62 win over the Hoyas in one of the better championship games in recent memory.
"There's been a few more of those games, but when you're talking about most memorable national championship games, you don't go very far before you get to that one," Williams said.
North Carolina overcame the dominant defensive presence of Georgetown freshman center Patrick Ewing as junior James Worthy began authoring his reputation as "Big Game James" with 28 points and freshman Michael Jordan made the first of many game-winning shots.
The Hoyas had a chance to win, but guard Fred Brown lost his bearings and threw a pass right to Worthy, who dribbled away most of the clock before being fouled. His free throws sealed Smith's first championship.
"The Lord told Freddy to throw it to James, so that was it," Williams said. "That's all I can say."
Thompson, the son of legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson, was barely a teenager at the time but felt his father's pain.
"I don't know if I have a sappy story that you want," the younger Thompson said. "But I remember everything about it. It was a tough game."
The game aired on ESPN Classic on Saturday night, but most of the players are more concerned with Sunday's matchup.
"I don't think it's too much of Georgetown vs. North Carolina," Tar Heels forward Tyler Hansbrough said. "I think it's more we just want to win and go to the Final Four."
"I've watched it before," Georgetown center Roy Hibbert said. "We don't have ESPN Classic in our hotel room, so I won't be watching that, unfortunately. I'll be in bed."
Hibbert and Hansbrough comprise Sunday's key matchup. Although Hibbert had foul trouble in Friday's 66-65 win over Vanderbilt, he still registered his third double-double of the tournament.
Hansbrough scored a season-low five points in Friday's 74-64 victory over Southern California but had 33 in Carolina's second-round win over Michigan State.
"Once the ball gets thrown into him, he's not passing it," Hibbert said. "He's very good around the basket. He's very good at getting his own rebounds. I'm gonna have my hands full."
Hansbrough may feel the same way with the 7-2 Hibbert.
"I think it's not just (Hibbert's) size - he's gifted, he's talented," Williams said. "He's gotten better and better, worked extremely hard. Young John has done a good job with him. It's a factor, no question about that."
The Tar Heels also have another bit of history on their side. Since the NCAA started seeding teams in 1979, only four times has the championship game matched two top seeds. North Carolina was involved in three of those matchups (1982, 1993, 2005) and won all three.
The Hoyas have their own history to lean upon, according to Big East Conference Player of the Year Jeff Green, who hit the winning basket in the regional semifinal victory over Vanderbilt.
"It means a lot to be able to say that you were part of the team that brought Georgetown basketball back and to be a part of a great team that had the word 'Georgetown' stitched across your chest just like Patrick Ewing and the other greats," Green said.
The winner plays Ohio State, the top seed in the South Region which reached the Final Four with Saturday's 92-76 victory over Memphis.
Florida, the top seed in the Midwest Region at St. Louis, is chasing its own piece of history, bidding to become the first back-to-back national champions since Duke in 1991-92.
In the only regional matchup not involving the top two seeds, the Gators (32-5) will take on third-seeded Oregon, which reached the regional final in 2002.
After blowing out Jackson State in its tourney opener, Florida has churned out a pair of workmanlike victories over Purdue (74-67) and Butler (65-57).
Oregon (29-7) is much more athletic than either of Florida's previous two foes and is a dangerous shooting team, evidenced by the eight by freshman Tajuan Porter in a 76-72 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas on Friday night.
"I think for every game we've played in this NCAA Tournament thus far, it's been about different styles, from Jackson State to Purdue to Butler," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "And certainly Oregon has got a very, very difficult style of play to go against. They've got some great guards. They're a great shooting team. They have great personnel."
Oregon, the Pac-10 Conference tournament champion, has had one of the easier roads to the regional final, playing teams seeded 14th, 11th and eighth. The Ducks know they will be taking a huge step up in class against the Gators.
"They're just a superb basketball team that's the defending national champions, and we're really going to have to play with an intensity level and an intelligence level that gives ourselves an opportunity to compete with them," Ducks coach Ernie Kent said.
The winner meets UCLA, the second seed in the West Region which advanced with a 68-55 victory over Kansas.
Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved
Hibbert scores 17 points as Georgetown defeats Boston College 62-55
Published: Saturday, March 17, 2007 | 9:51 PM ET
Canadian Press: MIKE CRANSTON
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Boston College's Jared Dudley and Jessie Sapp of Georgetown went up for a rebound and then went nose-to-nose, jawing at each other. Neither was about to back down.
It was like old times again for the former Big East rivals.
After they were separated and double technical fouls were called, the Hoyas asserted their dominance inside, and took another step toward their return to the top of college basketball.
Roy Hibbert scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and added 12 rebounds and Jeff Green converted a pair of three-point plays in the final two minutes as Georgetown rallied to beat Boston College 62-55 on Saturday in the East Regional.
With most of the North Carolina crowd rooting for the Eagles, who bolted the Big East for the ACC two years ago, the Hoyas eventually solved BC's zone defence and coach John Thompson III and the Hoyas (28-6) advanced to the round of 16 for the second straight year.
"That was a Big East game - physical, very physical," Green said. "We had to gut it out. We were down four at halftime, and had to come out and take what they gave us. We made a few good plays and won the game."
Second-seeded Georgetown, which had missed the tournament for four straight years until last season, will play sixth-seed Vanderbilt on Friday at East Rutherford, N.J.
"There was a lot we had to figure out, stick together and work our way through what they were doing," said Thompson, whose father, former Georgetown coaching great John Thompson, broadcast the game on radio. "Our guys did a good job of not getting rattled, and now we're moving on."
Tyrese Rice scored 22 points and Dudley added 19 points and eight rebounds for the seventh-seeded Eagles (21-12). Boston College blew an eight-point, second-half lead and were eliminated from the NCAA tournament by a Big East school for the second straight year.
Boston College, which had a messy divorce with its former league, led by four at halftime and opened up a 39-31 lead early in the second half behind Dudley, the Eagles' emotional, talkative senior leader.
After the Hoyas had rallied to take a 48-46 lead, Dudley and Sapp got tangled up battling for a rebound with about six minutes left.
"I'm undersized and a lot of guys down there might be stronger, so I'm grabbing and I might push," Dudley said. "But I'm getting pushed, too. (Sapp) didn't like it and he said a few words. I didn't walk away."
It was the attitude BC coach Al Skinner thought the Eagles had to have to pull the upset.
"I don't want him to walk away. That's not how you're going to handle yourself," Skinner said. "It's up to the officials to control it."
But the undersized Eagles had already started to wear down as it became apparent they missed six-foot-10 centre Sean Williams, who was kicked off the team in January. The Eagles, who frustrated the Hoyas early with their zone, couldn't prevent the seven-foot-two Hibbert and Green from getting free late.
Hibbert's two free throws completed a 10-0 run to give the Hoyas the lead. After Rice hit a three and two free throws to get the Eagles within one, Sapp hit a layup and Green's three-point play with 1:26 left put Georgetown ahead 59-53.
Green had another three-point play off a reverse dunk in the final minute and Georgetown advanced to the round of 16 for the 11th time in school history.
But they had to work for it. Georgetown, which came in second in the nation in field goal percentage at nearly 51 per cent, shot only 38 per cent. Green, the Big East player of the year, shot 4-for-12, but had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jonathan Wallace added 15 points for the Hoyas, who have won six straight and 17 of 18.
"Boston College is from the Big East, and they still play with that style," Hibbert said. "That's how the game was - a lot of battles on the boards and so forth. We weren't going to be able to hit them with a 20-point punch. It was going to be a long, drawn out, old-fashioned game. Who was going to be tough enough to get the rebounds and win."
The Eagles, who had lost five of seven before a first-round win over Texas Tech on Saturday, made only nine of 29 shots in the second half and gave up 17 offensive rebounds, seven to Hibbert.
"We just couldn't keep them off the boards," Dudley said. "They are a lot taller than us and a lot more athletic. If we can't get a body on them, boxing out, it's going to happen."
BC, eliminated in the regional semifinals by Villanova last season, couldn't extend Dudley's stellar career. The ACC player of the year played all 40 minutes and became the school's all-time NCAA tournament scoring leader with 150 points, 13 more than John Bagley's old record.
Senior Sean Marshall struggled in his final game, scoring nine points on 4-for-15 shooting.
"They've brought Boston College basketball to a new level," Skinner said of his two seniors. "They've raised the bar here, there's no question about it."
Copyright @ CBC 2007
Hofstra coach won't nit-pick
March 9, 2007
NY Post
SELECTION Sunday just won't be the same in Hempstead this year. There won't be maddened masses huddled around televisions watching the big bracket unfold. No frenzied anticipation as the 65 seeds are named. No carnival-like atmosphere.
"In that sense, there won't be any disappointment, either," Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said with a laugh. "We know where we stand this year and we'll just wait for the call."
The good news for the Pride is that there is a call coming. The bad news is that, most likely, it'll be the same one as last year.
Hofstra, possibly the NCAA tournament's biggest snub last season after posting a 26-7 mark, seems headed back to the NIT after a puzzling, topsy-turvy season. It lost three straight out of the box, rallied to record two six-game win streaks, then bowed out of the CAA tournament unceremoniously in the quarterfinals.
This all from a team that went to the NIT quarterfinals last year, was equipped with the league's top player, and was the preseason pick to win the conference.
"We knew, right from the beginning, that teams were going to be gunning for us," said senior guard Loren Stokes, who was named CAA Player of the Year last week. "I think that affected us early on."
Much to Pecora's dismay. After being chased by Seton Hall for its then-vacant coaching position only to re-up at Hofstra, Pecora surely expected more from this year's bunch.
"I thought we'd be ma- ture enough to handle everything," Pecora said. "That wasn't the case at times."
It hit him right off the bat. Hofstra allowed an average of 82.3 points in consecutive November losses to Charlotte, Manhattan and Hawaii. The Pride (22-9) won 12 out of the next 13, so it's difficult to blame everything on the start. But damage was done nonetheless.
"It's unfortunate in today's game, sometimes the bar gets set so high," Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen said. "Because no matter how you break it down, Hofstra had a great season. Just look at it, they surpassed 20 wins, and remember, they're still playing. A lot of teams out there would love to be able to say that."
Who awaits the Pride, and where, is up for debate. Hofstra, given two home games by the NIT last season, has a terrific homecourt atmosphere, which always piques the committee. But with high-profile teams including UConn headed to the same tournament, the committee may set up a glamour TV matchup for the Pride in a Big East gym.
"We'll be ready either way," said Pecora, whose squad was upset by George Mason, 64-61, in the league tourney. "It's important for our kids to realize this is an opportunity. And it's also important for them to realize if we play like we did in the [CAA] tournament, we're not going to be beat anyone, anywhere."
JOLTIN' JAMAR Albany senior guard Jamar Wilson, a Bronx native, last month became the first player in school history to pass 500 points in three different seasons. Wilson, the Great Danes' all-time leading scorer, also was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches' first team.
But if you ask Wilson, you can have all the personal accolades. He just wants a second consecutive trip to the Big Dance. He gets his shot tomorrow at noon in Burlington, Vt., when Albany (22-9) meets Vermont (25-6) for the America East title on ESPN2.
You may remember Wilson and the Danes, as a No. 16 seed last year, putting a scare into UConn. Wilson had 19 points and staked Albany to a 12-point second-half lead before the Huskies took over and won, 72-59.
HONOR ROLL Fordham junior forward Bryant Dunston had quite a week before he even arrived in Atlantic City for the Atlantic 10 tournament. He was named Monday as the league's Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in two wins. A day later, he was honored as an All-Atlantic 10 second-team member.
tsullivan@nypost.com
Copyright 2006 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
Bruins pick apart Cougars, wrap up 25th Pac-10
March 2, 2007
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports
PULLMAN, Wash. -- UCLA coach Ben Howland challenged his players before the Washington State game with the goal of winning a second consecutive Pacific-10 Conference championship.
The second-ranked Bruins responded, beating No. 13 Washington State 53-45 on Thursday night to wrap up their second straight title, and the 25th in the illustrious history of the Bruins.
Darren Collison said the Bruins remained focused on that goal throughout the grinding defensive battle.
"We were just trying to win the Pac-10 championship," he said.
Arron Afflalo scored 14 points to lead UCLA.
After trailing by one at halftime, UCLA scored the first nine points of the second half during a 15-4 run that all but ended Washington State's hopes of winning the first Pacific-10 championship in its history.
UCLA (26-3, 15-2 Pac-10) had already clinched at least a tie with WSU and the top seed in the tournament before the victory.
Collison said there was no adjustment that accounted for his team's outburst.
"We picked it up and played with more intensity in the second half," said Collison, who had 7 points, 8 assists and only 2 turnovers. "Everybody was talking. That was the difference in the game."
The Bruins made 11 of their first 14 shots to open the second half, while Washington State missed its first six shots and made just one field goal in the opening seven minutes of the second.
The Cougars (23-6, 12-5) fell behind by 10 points, 37-27, and could not make that up during a second half in which they connected on just 8-of-28 shots.
Washington State and No. 23 Southern Cal will play in the regular season finale on Saturday, with the winner claiming second place in the league.
Kyle Weaver, who led WSU with 14 points, said he knew the Cougars needed a lot of results to fall their way in order to tie UCLA for the title.
"We were just trying to play good basketball," Weaver said. "When you get down eight or 10, it feels like 20 against a good team."
The Cougars played well in the first half, when they made 50 percent of their shots and took a 23-22 halftime lead on Daven Harmeling's 3-pointer.
Washington State has the best defense in the Pac-10, and UCLA is second, so points were hard to come by, except during UCLA's second half opening spurt.
Derrick Low, WSU's leading scorer at nearly 14 points per game, was held to 2 points. The Cougars made just 1-of-10 3-pointers, although the Bruins made just 2-of-13 from that range.
"They made it hard for our shooters to get an open look," Low said.
Howland credited his veteran team with keeping its focus in the grinding defensive battle.
"There is no question that success breeds success," Howland said. "Our toughness is the best thing about this team."
UCLA scored the first nine points of the second half on two baskets by Josh Shipp, one by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and a 3-pointer by Afflalo for a 31-23 lead.
Collison's jumper gave UCLA a 45-35 lead.
Washington State scored six straight, with Robbie Cowgill's short jumper cutting the UCLA lead to 47-43 with 3:25 left. But Mbah a Moute, who finished with 10 points, replied immediately with a basket for the Bruins.
Aron Baynes' layup cut UCLA's lead to 49-45 with 2:35 left. But Shipp iced the game with four points from the foul line.
Shipp finished with 12 points for the Bruins, who shot 51 percent in the game and held Washington State to 37 percent.
The Bruins have won five straight since a loss at West Virginia.
In the first, UCLA made its first five shots to take an 11-4 lead. Cowgill's slam for WSU tied the game at 16 with 5:56 left.
Washington State, which leads the conference with only nine turnovers per game, committed 10 turnovers in the first half and 14 in the game.
The Bruins lead the series 91-13, winning 12 in a row in Pullman.
Before the game, WSU presented retired basketball coach Dick Bennett with an honorary alumnus award for the three years he spent rebuilding the problem before turning it over to his son Tony this year.
The crowd of 11,618 tied the largest of the season at WSU, where this year's team has revitalized what had been the most apathetic venue in the league.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
|
