Showing posts with label Kelvin Sampson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kelvin Sampson. Show all posts

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Dancing with Hoosiers

After two unsuccessful tries, Randy Wittman's son Ryan has finally put Cornell into the next round. Ben Allen helped St Marys shock everyone by beating Villanova to advance to the 3rd round. North Carolina and Tyler Zeller have advanced to the NIT's Elite 8. The Butler Bulldogs took care of UTEP and Murray State, and are now halfway home. Who can forget Ohio's Armon Bassett's amazing March performance? Like Allen, Meezy played for Kelvin Sampson a couple years ago, as did Jordan Crawford - probably best known as that kid that dunked over LeBron James, now has Xavier looking to make another Regional Finals appearance.
Purdue Boilermakers have shushed all doubters by advancing to their 2nd consecutive Sweet Sixteen.
Ohio State and Michigan St are also representing the BigTen, with Northern Iowa/Tennessee standing in the way of a trip to Indy. However, not all is bright in the Schrockstar Galaxy of Stars: Notre Dame lost in the first round to Old Dominion; IUPUI lost the league championship to Oakland; and Indiana, Ball State, Evansville, Indiana State, Valparaiso and Vincenses were not even invited.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Sampsonite Rejects -- Where are they now?

Here's a look at nine players that were on IU's basketball rosters in the last couple years...

1. JAMARCUS ELLIS --- The 6-5 senior forward is playing at Oklahoma City University, the No. 1 ranked NAIA team in the nation. He's the second leading scorer on the team through five games with a 15.8 scoring average and he's averaging 4.5 rebounds. He has made two starts and is averaging 32.5 minutes per game. His Oklahoma City University team has a couple of other familiar names on it, too. Former Illinois player Rodney Alexander is a senior forward, as is 6-10 senior center Ricardo De Ben from Texas Tech.

2. DeANDRE THOMAS --- When he left Indiana, everyone said that DeAndre the Giant was headed to Robert Morris. There was some confusion, however, between the university in Pennsylania and the college in the Chicago area. The truth is Thomas is at Robert Morris College, an NAIA school in Chicago. The athletic department website doesn't give season statistics but a few stories on-line indicate that Thomas has had a couple of double-digit scoring nights in the early going. He had 14 against Calumet College of St. Joseph and 12 versus Indiana Wesleyan. The Eagles are 5-2 at this point of the season. The website lists him at 6-8 but doesn't give his weight. He still looks very large in the individual photo on the page.

3. BRANDON McGEE --- Brandon is at Auburn where he's sitting out this season and then will have three years of eligibility remaining. He's listed on Auburn's roster as a 6-7 220 pound sophomore.

4. JORDAN CRAWFORD --- Jordan is at Xavier, where he is also sitting out this season and then will have three years of eligibility remaining. He's listed at 6-4, 195.

5. ELI HOLMAN --- Eli followed Ray McCallum to Detroit Mercy and the 6-9, 250-pounder is also sitting out this season and will then have three years of eligiblity. There was talk that Holman might find a way to get eligible right away this season but that did not materialize.

6. ARMON BASSETT --- Bassett originally signed to play for Mike Davis at Indiana. Now, he will play his final two seasons for Davis at Alabama-Birmingham. The 6-1, 175-pounder will sit out this season and then have two years remaining.

7. XAVIER KEELING --- X played for IU in Kelvin Sampson's first season and then transferred to Wallace State (Ala.) Community College. He then transferred to Detroit Mercy when Ray McCallum became the coach, and through five games is the Titans' leading scorer with a 12.8 average. He is also averaging 6.6 rebounds. He had 21 points and nine rebounds the other night in a 62-57 victory over Saint Louis University. He's listed on the roster as a 6-7, 235-pound junior forward.

8. JOEY SHAW --- Joey played a year of JUCO ball out west after leaving Indiana following Sampson's first season. He's now listed as a 6-6, 205-pound junior forward at the University of Nevada. He's averaging 9.8 points and 4 rebounds in 21.8 minutes of playing time for the Wolfpack. He has a season-high 16 points against San Diego, and had 15 points in a 79-71 victory over Oregon State.

9. BEN ALLEN --- Allen played two seasons at Indiana before sitting out last year at Saint Mary's in California. This season, the 6-11, 250-pound center is averaging 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds in 14 minutes of action per game. He hit double figures in scoring with 10 against Fresno State and 10 points and six rebounds against Vanguard. The Gaels are 5-1 this season.

via Hutch

Friday, February 17, 2006

An exhaustive search starts...

Thad Matta, Ohio State
Has expressed an interest in Indiana in the past, but considering his #1 ranked class coming in, who could walk away from that? Only if the NCAA cripples them with (overdue) sanctions would he want to leave O$U.
Mark Few, Gonzaga
Great success at Gonzaga and a hot prospect. He currently holds the best D1 winning percentage in the land (.811). Could he work the same magic in Bloomington as he has in Spokane?
Bruce Pearl, Tennessee
Great job this year getting the Vols talking basketball again. Also did marvelous job at UWM and Indiana St. Pearl was the 2nd fastest D1 coach to reach 300 wins; only UNC's Roy Williams was faster. Might be too soon to expect him to make a job switch.
Tom Crean, Marquette
Solid coach who could thrive running a top program like this one. And he knows the Big Ten (former MSU assistant).
Skip Prosser, Wake Forest
Whenever a big job opens, he always seems to end up on people's short lists.
Rick Majerus, former Utah coach
He sounded like he was lobbying for the job when he did the IU-Iowa telecast on Saturday. Health issues could come into play.
Steve Wojciechowski, Duke assistant
The market hasn't been good to Coach K disciples. With all of the other possibilities, this probably wouldn't be a strong bet.
Keepin' it in the family...
Randy Wittman, Orlando Magic assistant
Former IU All-American has NBA experience but no college coaching experience. Still, he has always been a favorite with the IU faithful.
Steve Alford, Iowa
Some IU fans want him simply because he was a great player 20 years ago. Those short-sighted fans forget that this is the Hawkeyes first successful season of the century. In fact, the man IU just forced out (Davis) has a better record the past 6 years. IU should wait to see what Alford can do without his super-seniors this year.
Keith Smart, Golden State Warriors assistant
Forever immortalized by "The Shot" that won the NCAA championship in 1987, Smart has NBA coaching experience, but not college.
Mike Woodson, Atlanta Hawks
An NBA coach, an 11-year NBA veteran and a two-time IU All-American. But would IU really be the right fit for him?
Dan Dakich, Bowling Green
Spent past nine years at Bowling Green. But he could have his third losing season in past four years.
Lawrence Frank, New Jersey Nets
IU background and solid NBA pedigree, but like Woodson, would he really be a good fit as a college coach with this storied program?
Ron Hunter, IUPUI
He's the hottest Division I coach in the state and considered by many to be a rising star.
Dane Fife, IPFW
First year as a college head coach. If this job opens in 2016, Fife could be the man.

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