Archives › Mike Miller
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When coach Billy Gillispie was hired as the head coach at Texas Tech, the 2011 recruiting class for the Red Raiders included either 10 verbally committed or signed players during a tumultuous off-season. With the recent addition of former Mississippi State signee Josh Gray, a talented point guard, the Red Raiders now have an expected…
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Live period allows regional schools to evaluate talent, find sleepers
May 2, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT
The wise move of the NCAA to bring back live evaluation periods to April will hopefully have the effect of under-the-radar players landing offers that they wouldn’t have otherwise snagged in the previously packed July evaluation period. While many recruiting websites focus, and rightly so, on Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League and other big name…
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Recruiting rundown: Rick Ray starts fast at Mississippi St.
May 2, 2012, 11:03 AM EDT
While new head coach Rick Ray may not have even had time fully outfit his new office at Mississippi State, he’s got a great reason, as he’s been active on the recruiting trail building the Bulldogs’ roster for next season. In less than a month on the job, Ray added two guards and a forward…
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Mark Lyons views his transfer from Xavier as “a business decision.” Coach Chris Mack has a slightly different take. Once the Musketeers’ season ended against Baylor in the Sweet 16, the senior guard told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he “wanted the keys to the car” to he could work on improving his NBA draft stock.…
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Ah, more conference realignment. It wouldn’t be the college hoops offseason without it. Conference USA – constantly evolving and shifting – will add six schools starting in 2013, according to a report by Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com. The league loses four schools to the Big East for next season (Houston, SMU, UCF and Memphis), but…
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President Obama didn’t pick Kentucky to win the 2012 NCAA tournament. There are probably be a few friendly barbs tossed his way on Friday reminding him, too. Obama will welcome Kentucky to the White House on Friday afternoon, continuing a tradition of NCAA champs being greeted by the president. The visit normally doesn’t occur until…
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Despite plane crashes, Michigan recruit Austin Hatch still focused on hoops
May 1, 2012, 2:02 PM EDT
Austin Hatch isn’t letting tragedy or plane crashes prevent him from playing college basketball. Not when that what he and his dad envisioned. This story from the Detroit Free Press provides an excellent update on Hatch, the Ft. Wayne, Ind., player who was in a plane crash last June that killed his father and stepmother.…
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Indiana (7:1), Louisville (8:1) and Kentucky (10:1) are the three favorites to win the 2013 NCAA tournament, per odds from Sportsbook.com. It’s the rest of the field that’s more interesting. More power programs are right behind the top three (Kansas, Michigan State, Ohio State and Syracuse are all 15:1), while Duke, Missouri and North Carolina…
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Tubby Smith got a new boss this week. So he wants everyone to know that despite his status as an elder statesman (he’s 60) and his tenure (this will be his sixth season in Minnesota) that he’s “fired up” about next season. Provided a few things get done. Smith was no doubt pleased to hear…
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When Trent Johnson departed campus at LSU, he didn’t exactly leave with a large selection of potential recruits in the pipeline. Only in-state shooting guard Malik Morgan was signed to join the team next year when new coach Johnny Jones took the reins. Luckily, Jones was able to snag two recruits who had pre-existing ties…
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Recruiting rundown: ‘Live’ weekend showed off Nike’s talent
Apr 25, 2012, 1:50 PM EDT
The first April weekend in three years that college coaches were allowed to attend events and evaluate players also allowed Nike, adidas and Under Armour to hold competing events for their respective sponsored teams in Minneapolis, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. While adidas has some talented grassroots basketball teams wearing their stripes, and Under Armour has…
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European player channels J.R. Rider on this wild shot [VIDEO]
Apr 25, 2012, 1:19 PM EDT
This isn’t college hoops, but this shot’s too good not to post. Watch Armands Skele of BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn chases down a ball during an Estonia League semifinal against Tarvas on Monday. If you’re reminded of J.R. Rider, there’s a reason why. Skele scored 19 points in a 92-84 win and hit all three 3-pointers.…
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Illinois lands Drake transfer (and Champaign native) Rayvonte Rice
Apr 25, 2012, 12:46 PM EDT
New Illinois coach John Groce landed a player who’ll be awfully familiar to the Champaign fans. Former Drake star Rayvonte Rice will transfer to the Illini, multiple sites reported Wednesday. The Champaign (Ill.) native wasn’t a highly sought-after recruit in high school – Illinois didn’t offer him a scholarship, but neither did any other Big…
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Randolph Childress joins Wake’s hoops staff; cue the McInnis crossover
Apr 25, 2012, 12:02 PM EDT
One of Wake Forest’s greatest players just joined its basketball staff. And I couldn’t be happier about it. Randolph Childress is the Demon Deacons’ new director of player development, a transition from his previous job as an assistant to athletic director Ron Wellman. It’s a standard move to help former players transition to assistant coaching…
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Recruiting Rundown: St. John’s depth grows with under-the-radar commits
Apr 25, 2012, 11:10 AM EDT
There’s been a clear emphasis at St. John’s for coach Steve Lavin and his assistants to build the program through depth. Failures to obtain eligibility, transfers and NBA early entry all prevented this year’s Red Storm team from gaining traction, but if the current trend continues, St. John’s could have all hands on deck for…
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Seth Greenberg’s Virginia Tech tenure ended after yet another NCAA tournament miss. But that wasn’t the only thing that cost the Hokies coach his job. His temper also got the best of him. Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver made no secret of that during his press conference announcing the decision on Monday. He noted…
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Pat Summitt’s putting pen to paper. With some help by Sally Jenkins. The Tennessee women’s head coach emeritus has a book deal to write her memoirs that will cover her “full life journey.” Jenkins, a columnist for the Washington Post who also has collaborated on books with Lance Armstrong, has written two previous books with…
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Indiana’s top ’13 recruit has ‘no problem’ trying to be next Cody Zeller
Apr 24, 2012, 2:40 PM EDT
Here’s a chance for Indiana fans to dream big: Luke Fischer is the next Cody Zeller. It’ll be another year before we’ll know if that’s even close to reality. But that’s Fischer’s goal. Good to know he’s not scared of monstrous expectations. Zeller’s merely an All-American candidate and future NBA lottery pick. “Coach (Tom) Crean…
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Baylor knew it’d lose at least two starters from its 30-8 Elite Eight team. Now make it three. Freshman Quincy Miller will enter the NBA draft, per a report by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. That leaves the Bears only its starting backcourt of Pierre Jackson and Brady Heslip intact – and not much…
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North Texas hires Marquette associate head coach Tony Benford
Apr 24, 2012, 1:07 PM EDT
North Texas will make Marquette associate head coach Tony Benford its new coach, Jeff Goodman reported. Benford beat out ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla for the job and will be introduced at a news conference later this week. He replaces Johnny Jones, who was 190-146 in 11 seasons at North Texas, including two NCAA appearances. Jones…
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Villanova snagged a point guard. Some things never change. Rice’s Dylan Ennis tweeted on Tuesday that he’ll transfer to Villanova, giving coach Jay Wright approximately the 1,371st point guard during his tenure*. Ennis will sit out a season per NCAA transfer rules, but he’s excited about the chance to have an immediate impact after that.…
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All the cool kids want to be friends with Mark Lyons. That’s what happens when you’re an experienced guard who can score, play defense and will be eligible to play during the 2012-13 season. No waiting for a potential starter? Sounds great to Arizona, Kansas and Kentucky, among others. Those are the top three schools…
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Savon Goodman could be a welcome addition to a school’s 2012-13 roster. The 6-6 wing boasts an impressive build, is aggressive to the basket and would be capable of boosting a defense. If he enters college. Goodman is considering spending a year in prep school and reclassifying to the class of 2013, according to Jeff…
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Iowa State didn’t have much playing room for center Jordan Railey last season. (An off-the-court incident last summer also didn’t help.) Maybe a trip to the West Coast will help. The 6-10 will transfer to Washington State, per Jeff Goodman. Ken Bone’s team could use the size – seems that’s been true for every Pac-12…
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N.C. State’s not about to mess with the good thing it’s got going. So it’s aiming to keep everyone happy. It announced a promotion for assistant Bobby Lutz on Friday, making him associate head coach. That likely includes a pay bump and some added responsibilities, but it’s mostly a reflection of how the team views…
