College Basketball

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 …

FAYETTEVILLE — DJ Wagner left New Jersey’s Camden High School with unenviable expectations. Now a sophomore with Arkansas basketball, Wagner ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the country by ESPN and 247Sports when he enrolled at Kentucky in 2023. He was thought of as a potential top-five draft pick, but Wagner was up-and-down offensively in his only season with …

LAWRENCE — Kansas basketball will enter the 2024-25 season as one of the favorites to win a national championship, if not the favorite. The Jayhawks are led by head coach Bill Self, who has won a pair of national titles already during his tenure at KU. They have a trio of high-profile returning starters in graduate center Hunter Dickinson, senior …

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — 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 Tuesday. The former Kentucky coach arrived in April, sending shockwaves across college basketball. Only days before he showed up, …

Oct. 1—Four former Gonzaga basketball players from across the spectrum of the program’s rise to national powerhouse gave the school high marks for its decision to join the Pac-12 Conference in 2026-27. The former Zags said the Pac-12 should represent a sizable step up in competition, beef up the home conference schedule, boost the school’s ability to generate revenue, including …

Oct. 1—After more than four decades in the West Coast Conference, Gonzaga’s athletic programs will have a new home beginning in the fall of 2026. The Bulldogs accepted an invitation to the Pac-12 Conference on Tuesday morning, adding a strong basketball presence to the newly-formed league that now has eight members and seven full-time football members. Gonzaga is joining a …

Oct. 1—Gonzaga was at the epicenter of the conference realignment world on Tuesday, formally joining the reconstructed Pac-12 Conference as its eighth member, and only nonfootball member. With its future secured, it could be a while before Gonzaga’s name resurfaces in conference realignment and expansion conversations — a drastic change from the past decade-plus, when the Spokane school and its …

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few yells from the sideline during the first half of a Sweet 16 college basketball game against Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, March 29, 2024, in Detroit. | Duane Burleson With an announcement Tuesday, the national perspective on the Pac-12, the burgeoning new/old conference that it is, shifted. Dramatically for some, less so for others. …

Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the twin sons of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, and Memphis high school basketball standouts will take the Harding Academy floor Friday and Saturday for Platform Basketball’s Mid-South Basketball Classic. Since 2018, the classic has brought together national teams to compete with some of Memphis’ top talents, attracting the likes of Bronny James — son and …

We’re in the full swing of the college football season, with the Oregon Ducks looking great at 4-0, but we’re also two months away from a college basketball season that could be a memorable one for Oregon. Leading the Ducks will be sophomore point guard Jackson Shelstad, who on Tuesday, was named to the preseason All-Big-Ten team. Shelstad’s selection doesn’t …

It’s never too early for basketball. The Big Ten conference reminded the college basketball world of that Tuesday afternoon, as it announced the conference’s 2024-25 Preseason All-Big Ten Team and the Preseason Player of the Year with just a little over a month to go under opening day. Purdue guard Braden Smith was named the Preseason Player of the Year by …

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas basketball is about to embark on a new era under John Calipari, but there will be plenty of familiar faces along side the longtime Kentucky head coach. The Razorbacks brought in three former Wildcats as transfers and another three high school recruits who were previously committed to Kentucky. Calipari also hired a pair of assistant coaches and a …

The Iowa Hawkeyes are hoping for a return to the NCAA Tournament in the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season. After four straight trips, Iowa missed out on a tourney bid last season en route to a 19-15 (10-10 Big Ten) finish. The Hawkeyes got good news this offseason as leading scorer and rebounder Payton Sandfort elected to return. The senior …

Basketball powerhouse Gonzaga will become the latest member of the rebuilt Pac-12 Conference, the school announced Tuesday. Gonzaga will move from the West Coast Conference where it has dominated for most of the last quarter century into a conference that was being rebuilt around football, but should be pretty stout on the basketball court. Gonzaga will become the eighth member …

Oct. 1—Sorry, Illinois fans, but only five Big Ten teams remain undefeated. Plenty are still in the mix for a College Football playoff spot. Some others? Not so much. Sports Editor Matt Daniels tackles his latest Big Ten football power poll: 1. Ohio State (4-0) ➜ Previous ranking: No. 1 Jeremiah Smith is the next great wide receiver for the …