On The Horizon

Jim Squire

Metro & state: Channel 38 to air Detroit Mercy-Michigan game from 1977 on June 25--The Detroit Free Press
Detroit Men's Basketball Season Ticket Renewal Information--detroittitans.com

Basketball team adds forward from Spain--UIC News

2014-15 #PhlashForward: Roster Breakdown--GreenBayPhoenix.com

20th Annual Prevea Fore Hoops Golf Classic Set for June 24--GreenBayPhoenix.com

Jim Squire

2013-14 Horizon League Post-Mortem--Hoopville
Some winners and losers from the NBA draft combine--The Dagger

Other winners: Alec Brown, F, Green Bay (Performed like the best-shooting big man in the draft during drills);

Report: Bryn Forbes Could Transfer from Cleveland State to Michigan State--Mid-Major Madness
Chris Bosh’s struggles continue in Miami Heat’s Game 3 win over Indiana Pacers--Miami Herald

The offense Bosh was supposed to provide — spreading the floor with his three-point shooting — was picked up by Ray Allen (16 points, 4 of 4 on three-point shooting), Norris Cole (9 points, 1 of 2 from three) and even Dwyane Wade, who hit a pair of rare three-pointers.

Miami Heat’s LeBron James, Dwyane Wade get the best of Paul George, Lance Stephenson in Game 3--Miami Herald

Miami soon opened things up, and led by 11 with 4:58 left when Norris Cole stripped George as he drove the lane. The Heat worked the ball back up court with Ray Allen hitting another three-pointer to give the Heat its biggest lead — to that point — of the night.

Greg Cote: Miami Heat, fans show up big time in Game 3--Miami Herald

A smaller late lineup featuring Allen and Norris Cole opened the floor with speed for the offense, but it was defense that led the comeback.

Miami Heat overcomes 15-point deficit to beat Indiana Pacers, take 2-1 lead in series--Miami Herald

Wade had 23 points and carried the Heat for long periods while the rest of the team struggled to find rhythm. Bosh and Norris Cole both finished with nine points. The Heat was 10 of 18 from three-point range.
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The lead changed eight times in less than six minutes in the third quarter, but the Heat led 71-64 entering the fourth quarter after a 10-3 run. Three free throws by Allen after being fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer started the run and Cole followed with a lightning-quick reverse layup. Wade entered the third quarter for James with five seconds to play and nailed a three-pointer to end the period. Wade then started the fourth quarter with another three-pointer.

Fourth-quarter flexibility favors Miami Heat when it matters most against Indiana Pacers--Miami Herald
Lance Stephenson, Roy Hibbert succumb to Miami Heat’s pressure in Game 4--Miami Herald

Cole said Monday morning: “Sometimes LeBron gets in that gear when he has to prove a point. Paul Pierce did it [two weeks ago] and LeBron had 49. It doesn’t take much.”

Miami Heat throttles Indiana Pacers, takes 3-1 lead in Eastern Conference Finals--Miami Herald

A block by Norris Cole on a three-point attempt by Stephenson then triggered another breakaway and Stephenson picked up his fourth foul rather than give James another highlight. Cole made both foul shots to extend the 7-0 run.

The Heat’s lead hit 19 points with 19 seconds left in the third quarter when Cole found space for an 18-foot jumper.

Dan Le Batard: Trust is the reason LeBron James covets playing in Miami more than anywhere else--Miami Herald

It was late against the Pacers in Game 2. Miami was down and in danger. Lance Stephenson was, according to Jeff Van Gundy, the best player on the court during a sizzling third quarter. The angry noise that has consumed this Miami franchise for four years — a noise that has been quieter than it has ever been since Game 7 of last year — was about to return. Amid this, James told Spoelstra to put Norris Cole on Stephenson. It was an unconventional move. Cole hadn’t been very good for Miami this postseason. But Spoelstra listened. And never mind scoring again. Stephenson didn’t get inside the three-point line with the ball after that. Miami has cruised since.

Dictating style is goal for Heat in conference finals--South Florida Sun Sentinel

"We have to play our style of basketball," guard Norris Cole said. "We have to impose our will on the game. We do that with our athleticism, our pressure, our ability to play in the fullcourt as well as the halfcourt. I think we have to take advantage of that."

Winderman's view: Heat 102, Pacers 90--South Florida Sun Sentinel

-- And Norris Cole provided the bench spark on a night Birdman couldn’t be there to do it himself.

Cleveland State's Bryn Forbes given permission to talk with Michigan State about possible transfer--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland State extends AD John Parry through 2017--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Could Bryn Forbes Take His Talents to East Lansing?--Cleveland State Hoops

Top Mid-Major Impact Transfers: Immediately Eligible--Mid-Major Madness

Max Hooper, Oakland: Travis Bader's heir apparent is St. John's transfer Max Hooper. Hooper started his career at Harvard and has only participated in two seasons so he'll have tow left. Last year he averaged 9 minutes and 3.2 points per game for the Red Storm. Hooper will be an immediate threat from behind the arc in the Horizon League.

Pat Birt to transfer from UIC--The Catch and Shoot
Talented Spanish forward David Ramon joins UIC--The Catch and Shoot
New basketball player brings ‘high energy’ to court--UIC News
UIC Basketball Adds 6-8 Forward David Ramon From Spain--uicflames.com

Mid-Major Catchup: Who are the best teams from outside the top conferences?--CollegeBasketballTalk

TEN MORE TO KEEP AN EYE ON:

Green Bay: The Phoenix lose Alec Brown to graduation, but they return the majority of their rotation players, including star point guard Kiefer Sykes, who is back for his senior season

Keifer Sykes mixtape shows why Green Bay will be top mid-major (VIDEO)--CollegeBasketballTalk

Registration Open for Women's Basketball Summer Camps--GreenBayPhoenix.com

Morning Five: 05.16.14 Edition--Rush The Court

The NCAA released its APR scores on Wednesday revealing that eight schools–Alabama State, Appalachian State, Florida A&M, Houston Baptist, Lamar, San Jose State, Central Arkansas, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee–will be ineligible for the 2015 NCAA Tournament. None of these names comes close to having an effect on the national title picture so Mark Emmert won’t get called out at the 2016 Final Four by any of the players from these teams, but there are a couple of notable things about this group. The first is that three of the schools are from the Southland Conference meaning that over 20% of the conference cannot play in the NCAA Tournament. The other is that Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which won the Horizon League Conference Tournament last year after going 7-9 in conference regular season play will also be ineligible. Outside of that we have to wonder how much some schools are getting players to graduate or not count against their score just to keep themselves eligible rather than helping the student-athlete. We assume that some schools are already doing this and that the ones that are failing to meet the scores probably just are not doing a good enough job of it.

Justin Jordan rounds out basketball 2014 class--PantherU
A Look Back At A Special Season For Milwaukee Basketball--uwmpanthers.com
Take The Milwaukee Panther Basketball Fan Survey--uwmpanthers.com

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: Ken Rochlitz remembers taking VU hoops to NCAA Division I level--The NWI Times

Vest excited, humbled to land pro contract--Dayton Daily News

Ball State lands Youngstown State transfer Ryan Weber--CollegeBasketballTalk
Men’s Basketball Signs Vaughn to NLI, Adds Transfers Kaufman, Strollo--ysusports.com

Jim Squire

Conference Recruiting Update: Horizon League--Hoopniks
Look back, look ahead: Others--College Basketball Nation Blog

In-conference upsets didn’t help. Heavy favorite Toledo lost to Western Michigan in the MAC tournament final. Green Bay, a 24-game winner, fell to Milwaukee, in the Horizon semifinals. Robert Morris, which upset Kentucky in last year’s NIT, was the victim this time around, beaten by Mount St. Mary’s in the NEC tourney final, and Belmont never made it out of the Ohio Valley Conference tourney.

Eight Teams Face APR Postseason Ban for 2014-15 College Basketball Season--Mid-Major Madness

Alabama State, Appalachian State, Florida A&M, Houston Baptist, Lamar, San Jose State, Central Arkansas and Milwaukee, will all sit out the 2014-15 postseason by failing to meet the four-year average of 930. Appalachian State has filed a waiver request that is still pending according to the NCAA website.
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Other schools that did not meet the threshold but avoided a ban are Alcorn State, Bakersfield, Binghamton (practice reduction), Fresno State, Cal State Fullerton (practice reduction), Coppin State, Fairleigh Dickinson (practice reduction), Florida International (practice reduction and other restrictions), Grambling, Idaho State, Mississippi Valley State, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, Southern Illinois, Tennessee State, Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Towson, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Cal Riverside, UIC, Louisiana-Monroe, Maryland-Eastern Shore, New Orleans (practice reduction and other restrictions), Charlotte (practice reductions), UNC-Wilmington, Tennessee-Martin (practice reductions), and Utah Valley.

Morning Five: 05.08.14 Edition--Rush The Court

Nick Faust‘s announcement that he was longer committed to Oregon State after Craig Robinson should hardly be a surprise. What is surprising is that he committed to a school with such an unstable coach and that the school waited this long to fire Robinson with how much a late firing could affect recruiting. While Faust says he is “open to everyone” his most likely destinations would appear to be Richmond, Cleveland State, Siena, UCLA, George Mason, and George Washington, which were the other schools that he considered before committing to Oregon State. Out of those the only one that we would be surprised by him going to is UCLA because we can’t envision a scenario where a player of Faust’s caliber would decide to play at Oregon State instead of UCLA particularly with how poorly the Beavers played under Robinson. Faust also has not closed the door on going to Oregon State in the end depending on who Robinson’s replacement is.

Oregon State transfer Nick Faust reopening his recruitment--CollegeBasketballTalk

Faust mentioned UCLA, George Washington, Richmond, George Mason, Siena and Cleveland State were all being considered at the time he committed to the Beavers.