To keep Dwight Howard, the Lakers will have to sell him on a vision for 2014 and beyond. As a result, if championships are his goal, the Rockets are the safer bet for a whole host of reasons. Read More. Written by Jonathan Tjarks on May 23, 2013
The event gives front offices the opportunity to evaluate D-League players with the possibility of offering Summer League or training camp invites. Read More.
Tyus Jones, the No. 2 overall recruit for 2014 and an excellent point guard, was selected by Paul Biancardi, Adam Finkelstein and John Stovall. Read More.
Adonis Thomas plans to sign with an agent and declare for the NBA draft.
Thomas, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward, averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 rebounds for Memphis this season.
"I think he'll have a long career in the NBA. He's gonna do great. I'm excited to put his life-size picture up in the Finch Center, our practice facility, with him wearing that NBA uniform," Tigers coach Josh Pastner said of Thomas. "He's going to have a great, long career. He's a very good player, but his character is at the very, very highest level.
"I will always support the decision, so I believe it's the right decision for Adonis and I'm going to back him 100 percent."
Memphis defeated Southern Miss 91-79 to win the 2013 Conference-USA Tournament.
Chris Crawford of the Tigers was named Tournament MVP, and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by D.J. Stephens, Adonis Thomas, Dwayne Davis and Scottie Haralson.
Joe Jackson of Memphis has been named the 2013 Conference-USA Player of the Year.
Jackson was joined on the C-USA All-Conference First Team by Dwayne Davis of Southern Miss, Tulane's Josh Davis, East Carolina's Maurice Kemp, UCF's Isaiah Sykes and Houston's TaShawn Thomas.
D.J. Stephens of Memphis was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Danuel House of Houston won Freshman of the Year.
Southern Methodist University is showcasing Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown in an effort to break out of relative obscurity.
"We're using it every way from fund raising, to creating exclusive or intimate interactions with Larry and our staff, to developing excitement on campus, getting him in front of fraternities, sororities, campus organizations," says Rick Hart, SMU's athletic director. "We're trying to showcase coach Brown and utilize not just his talents and abilities, but his reputation and accomplishments to create for our program."
All of the off-court attention has startled Brown.
"I'm like a trophy here now at SMU," Brown says. "I'm doing a lot of things outside of basketball, but in the NBA, it's all basketball."
Brown, 72, will continue making public appearances, even though he doesn't particularly enjoy talking about himself.
"I realized I don't like being the face of the program,” Brown says. “That's the thing that makes me uncomfortable. I want SMU basketball to be relevant, not me being head coach."
Tulsa has signed Stevie Repichowski, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Lansing, Mich., to a letter of intent.
"Stevie is a talented wing with good size," Golden Hurricanes coach Danny Manning said. "He has sneaky athleticism and is a very good shooter. Coach (Joel) Hannagan's teams at Kingdom Prep are well-coached, they play the game the right way, and they are very team-oriented.
Stevie is a good young man, and he will be a very good addition to our program."
Repichowski is coming off a junior season when he averaged 18 points per game and was a Michigan Class B All-State selection.
Yanick Moreira, a 6-foot-10 center who plays at South Plains Community College in Texas, has given an oral commitment to Southern Methodist University.
Moreira, who chose the Mustangs over Baylor, is considered one of the nation’s top JUCO prospects.
Sterling Brown has verbally committed to play for SMU for the 2013-14 season.
“This was just the best fit for him,” says Sterling Brown’s father, Chris Brown. “He feels he can learn, grow and develop as a player under Larry Brown. He’s comfortable there. It’s a great atmosphere there and a great opportunity for him.”
Sterling is the younger brother of Phoenix Suns guard Shannon Brown.
Austin Nichols will visit Memphis for Midnight Madness this weekend.
"I just want to know how the Tiger fans would act at one more Memphis Madness (with me in attendance)," Nichols said.
Nichols, a 6-foot-8 forward rated as a top-20 prospect in his 2013 class, has narrowed his list to six schools: Memphis, Tennessee, Duke, Virginia, Auburn, and Vanderbilt.
Nichols has previously officially visited Virginia, Vanderbilt, and Duke.