College Basketball

LEXINGTON — Regardless of how things shake out on the court in 2024-25, Kentucky basketball’s upcoming season will be one for the ages. That’s because, for the first time since the end of the 2008-09 campaign, someone other than John Calipari is guiding the program. Mark Pope, an alum and a team captain of the 1996 squad that won the …

Three major networks and multiple national cable outlets will carry Providence College men’s basketball games in the 2024-25 season. CBS, Fox and NBC will feature at least a combined four games in Big East play — two against former coaches, two against the two-time national champions. The Friars could also see their regular-season finale flexed from FS1 to Fox if …

Rutgers Latham Sommerville and Emmanuel Ogbole talk during break in action. Rutgers Intrasquad Scrimmage at Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, NJ on September 28. 2024. PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It was the kind of dime you’d expect to see from a playmaking guard — a one-handed skip pass from the top of the key that hit cutting wing P.J. Hayes perfectly …

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball’s non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season has its share of high-profile matchups. The Jayhawks have North Carolina coming to Lawrence in early November. Not many days later, they’ll face Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Atlanta. Later that month, they’ll tip off in Las Vegas against Duke. But all of that comes before what will …

Can you really say someone’s coaching career has ended prematurely when they are 75 years old and they’ve been doing it for 45 years? The 2020-21 basketball season would have been Steve Konchalski’s 46th and final one at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., and he was supposed to transition the head coaching job over to Tyrell Vernon. Instead, …

Oct. 2—Eric McClellan, an entertaining follow on social media, recently posted snapshots of himself and John Jakus during a Florida Atlantic basketball practice wearing T-shirts reading: “Relationships over everything.” It’s not some random cookie-cutter slogan for the two. It’s essentially the reason McClellan revitalized his playing career after transferring to Gonzaga and how he became an FAU graduate assistant under …

Oct. 2—Gonzaga’s schedule release on Wednesday didn’t reveal anything new in terms of opponents, dates or destinations, but viewing the Zags’ 13 nonconference opponents on one page may have given fans and college basketball purveyors a better sense of what Mark Few’s team is up against this season. The official schedule, sent out via social media platforms on Wednesday morning, …

NCAA Basketball The NCAA is sticking with two regionals for the women’s basketball tournament through at least 2028. Las Vegas and Philadelphia will host the two 2027 regionals and Portland, Oregon, and Washington will be the sites for the 2028 Sweet 16. The NCAA switched to a two-region format in 2023. “The selection of Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland, and Washington …

One of the most-anticipated seasons in recent memory was celebrated Tuesday evening at Fifth Third Arena as the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball program held its Tip-Off dinner to donors and season ticket holders. Proceeds went to UC’s Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) collective, Cincy Reigns. The event was presented by the Herche Family Foundation. UC head coach Wes Miller helped …

BLOOMINGTON – Here goes nothing. That’s how one esteemed voter in this year’s media-organized preseason Big Ten men’s basketball poll led into their ballot this fall. And with good reason. Ballooned to 18 teams and chockablock with transfers and intriguing freshmen, I can’t remember a time when the conference was so hard to forecast. The schedule has never been more …

Dawn Staley COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina already is on the way to leading women’s college basketball in average attendance for an 11th straight season. The defending national champion Gamecocks have sold out their allotment of season tickets, a program-record 13,046 at 18,000-seat Colonial Life Arena. The school said the rest of the available seats would be sold on a …

NBC Sports and Peacock’s coverage of Big East men’s basketball begins during the 2024-25 season with 30 total games. NBC will carry two regular season games that will also be simulstreamed on Peacock; in addition, Peacock will have exclusive rights to 25 other regular season games as well as the first round and quarterfinal double-header of the Big East Tournament. …

Chris Jeffrey, a four-star point guard from Brooklyn, New York, verbally committed to Maryland men’s basketball on Wednesday. Jeffrey, who picked Maryland over Texas A&M and Mississippi State, announced the news on his Instagram account. Jeffrey becomes the second member of coach Kevin Willard’s 2025 recruiting class, joining Baltimore native Marcus Jackson, a 6-foot-8 forward-center. Jackson picked Maryland over Auburn …

BLOOMINGTON – Here goes nothing. That’s how one esteemed voter in this year’s media-organized preseason Big Ten men’s basketball poll led into their ballot this fall. And with good reason. Ballooned to 18 teams and chockablock with transfers and intriguing freshmen, I can’t remember a time when the conference was so hard to forecast. The schedule has never been more …

Evansville was selected ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball preseason poll on Wednesday. The Aces received 199 points to finish ahead of Valparaiso, Missouri State and Illinois-Chicago. Bradley was the overwhelming preseason favorite choice with 46 of a possible 49 first-place votes. The poll is voted on by Valley head coaches, communications directors and a media panel. More: …

MADISON – The Wisconsin men’s basketball team won’t carry the weight of high expectations into the season. The Badgers are picked to finish in a tie with Nebraska for 12th place in a preseason poll of media who cover the Big Ten Conference. The poll, which is conducted by the Indianapolis Star and Columbus Dispatch, ranks the 18 teams in …

Inside Moody Center, local reporters Tuesday got their first glimpse of the revamped Texas basketball team that includes 10 new faces. But what head coach Rodney Terry saw while conducting a high-tempo practice just a month out of the Nov. 4 season opener against Ohio State in Las Vegas came as no surprise. “It’s first impressions for you guys a …

Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad, center, celebrates with teammates after sinking the game-winning shot in overtime against Michigan last December, Shelstad was named to the all-Big Ten Conference preseason second team Wednesday. Jackson Shelstad’s reputation as a playmaker on the rise is following him to the Big Ten Conference. The sophomore point guard for the Oregon men’s basketball team was named to …

The Illinois basketball team will be among the best in the Big Ten Conference, while Purdue will repeat as the conference’s elite men’s basketball team, according to a media preseason poll released Wednesday. Illinois was tabbed to finish fourth in the 2024-25 season, in a poll that saw five teams draw first-place votes and the top five-ranked teams finish within …

John Calipari Even if John Calipari wins big at Arkansas, he cautions that he might not win quickly. “It normally takes my programs two or three years to really get stuff established the way you want it,” Calipari said. The former Kentucky coach arrived in April, sending shockwaves across college basketball. Only days before he showed up, Arkansas was considered …

BLOOMINGTON – Here goes nothing. That’s how one esteemed voter in this year’s media-organized preseason Big Ten men’s basketball poll led into their ballot this fall. And with good reason. Ballooned to 18 teams and chockablock with transfers and intriguing freshmen, I can’t remember a time when the conference was so hard to forecast. The schedule has never been more …

PEORIA — Bradley basketball has a special team theme this year. “Prove ’em,” said senior center Darius Hannah at practice Tuesday. “That’s what we say to each other. It’s who we are.” They were given something to prove Wednesday morning when the Braves were declared a near-consensus No. 1 pick in the annual Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll. It was …

Iowa basketball forward Payton Sandfort has been named to the 10-member preseason 2024-25 All-Big Ten team. Voted upon by a media panel, Sandfort’s preseason All-Big Ten honor means that the Hawkeyes have now been represented in five of the last six seasons. Sandfort joins Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp (2019), Luka Garza (2020), Keegan Murray (2021) and Kris Murray (2022) in that …

The last time Cuonzo Martin coached Missouri State basketball, he threw his arms into the air in celebration as the Bears won their first Missouri Valley Conference title. Thirteen years later, as Martin returns to the Bears’ sideline, expectations are much lower as his program plays its final season in the Valley. The Valley released its preseason poll on Wednesday …

Zero Wisconsin men’s basketball players earned a spot on the 2024-25 preseason All-Big Ten team on Tuesday. The first-team includes Indiana center Oumar Ballo, Iowa forward Payton Sandfort, Minnesota forward Dawson Garcia, Northwestern guard Brooks Barnhizer, Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton, Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad, Penn State guard Ace Baldwin Jr., Purdue guard Braden Smith, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper and …