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Nebraska basketball played hard defense and crashed the glass early in Sunday night’s win over Rutgers. The early energy certainly helped boost the Huskers. It also captured the attention of a special guest in the Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd — NBA Hall of Famer Kevin McHale. McHale was in Lincoln to take in the Husker game because of his relationship with Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg. McHale coached Hoiberg in Minnesota and worked alongside Hoiberg when he transitioned to a front office job.
Joel Ntambwe, who has declared for the NBA Draft but can opt out May 29, selected Texas Tech over interest from UConn, Nebraska, TCU, Boston College and Rutgers.
Mike Rice is taking the first step toward rehabilitation by spending a month with basketball wellness guru John Lucas in Houston. Lucas told ESPN.com Monday that the former Rutgers coach is receiving anger management counseling and working with former college players who are going through Lucas’ pre-NBA draft camp. “He’s doing great,” Lucas told ESPN.com. “His attitude has been phenomenal and our kids live his intensity and his passion for the game. He’s happy to be having this chance to give back a little bit.”
The Lakers grossly underachieved despite assembling a star-studded roster with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. Jordan accepted the job with Rutgers before the Lakers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. “Mike Brown hired me. He was awesome. He allowed me to do a lot in a large role and when he was gone, Mike D’Antoni was gracious enough to keep me there and I really appreciate both those guys hiring me and retaining me. [Former Bullets/Wizards coach] Bernie Bickerstaff and I were reassigned to the back of the bench and we were okay. We were happy to be a part of it,” Jordan said. “It was a season of injuries, non-chemistry, getting to know each other as the season went along. Clashes of personalities and approaches and then it was more injuries. The injury factor and chemistry kept it dysfunctional to where you couldn’t have great success.”
The New Jersey Nets are donating $75,000 to a fund to help paralyzed Rutgers' football player Eric LeGrand. The teams says it is giving the money to the "Eric LeGrand Believe Fund" to raise awareness of the player's plight. Nets general manager Billy King said Monday that the money was raised in conjunction with point guard Devin Harris' 34 Ways to Assist Foundation and through contributions from the Nets' players, coaches, front office personnel and ownership.
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