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Charles Bassey took his time to make an NBA draft decision, but for Western Kentucky fans, it was worth the wait. Bassey, the reigning Conference USA Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, is returning to WKU for his sophomore season, the school announced at 12:50 a.m. (Eastern time) Thursday morning.
Marshall announced Monday afternoon that Jon Elmore, who led the Herd to a Conference USA tournament title and a first-round NCAA tournament upset of Wichita State, will declare for the draft and not sign with an agent. That will allow him to withdraw his name and return to school up to 10 days after the NBA draft combine.
The Cavs will fill out their training camp roster with JaCorey Williams with their 20th and final spot, a team source tells ESPN. Williams, a rangy 6-8 forward, was named Conference USA's Player of the Year last season while putting up 17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for Middle Tennessee State University.
The Grizzlies will be the seventh team the 6-6, 175-pound (Will) Barton has worked out for. Conference USA's Player of the Year as a sophomore last season, Barton, who led Memphis in scoring (18 ppg) and rebounding (8 rpg), has also worked out for Boston, Miami, Cleveland, Houston, Golden State and Chicago.
According to most experts, Barton is currently projected to be either a late first round or early second round selection, in the 22- 37 range depending how the chips fall. Barton, who led Memphis to a Conference USA title this past season and a second round NCAA Tournament appearance, is using his middling early draft projection as a motivational tool to ultimately prove his doubters wrong. “No doubt,” Barton responded to HOOPSWORLD about whether he’s being underestimated leading up to the draft. “That shows that I don’t get enough credit and my name should be higher. I feel like I should be higher in the draft and it definitely puts a chip on my shoulder. If you look at stats across the board, I’m talking about every stat, every stat and you compare me to every shooting guard or even a small forward if you want to say. All the wings no matter which guys you choose, Kentucky, North Carolina, Washington, all those guys, I was clear cut better at every stat. Not one, not two, but every stat. Averaged the most assists, averaged the most points, averaged the most rebounds and we were winning. It’s not like we were losing, we were winning. My field goal percentages were higher, I shot the best percentages from the field. My three point percentage was right up there with guys. I just don’t understand it. It definitely keeps me motivated, keeps me working hard.”
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Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown has been hired by Southern Methodist. Brown, 71, says he's looking forward to the challenge with the Mustangs, who are moving from Conference USA to the much-tougher Big East Conference after next season. It is his first college job in nearly a quarter-century.
Rice coach Ben Braun has a freshman from Germany on his team, but he knows Jarelle Reischel from Frankfurt probably isn’t going to be quite as talented as the tall, skinny kid Braun recruited from Wurzburg in the late ’90s. Braun, who had a long run at the University of California, was right in the middle of the Dirk Nowitzki sweepstakes when he was considering U.S. colleges in 1997 and ’98. “I recruited Dirk really hard,” Braun said Tuesday at the Conference USA basketball media day. “And at one point, Dirk even committed to play for me back at Cal. Nobody recruited Dirk harder than I did. I visited Germany a couple times, he’d been to our campus and he really liked it. I got to know his coach really well, Holger Geschwindner, and he thought Cal would be a wonderful place for Dirk.”
For now, Walton said his mindset is in Memphis, where he has moved for the time being. "But I'm aware that if the lockout ends, I'm going back to L.A. and rooting for the Tigers," Walton said. Until that happens, Walton is banking on coaching Tiger headliners Black, Joe Jackson and Will Barton in a season in which the Tigers are the unquestioned Conference USA favorite and will likely start the season in the top 15 nationally. And Walton knows he could be in Memphis to see the whole season through. "There is a really good chance that does happen," he said. "Obviously as a player I want to play basketball. But I'm in a situation that I enjoy in Memphis and I feel we can have an extremely successful season. I see this team making a Final Four run. And that would be so much fun to be a part of. This is a good situation. I'm not sitting around thinking about the lockout."
After not hearing his name called at the NBA Draft on Thursday, former Miner Randy Culpepper could soon be heading overseas. The former C-USA Player of the Year is reportedly close to signing a deal to play for a top professional European league. Details of the contract have yet to be finalized.
Stone, a 6-foot-7 pass-first guard, is Conference USA's all-time assists leader. He passed Tim Hardaway on UTEP's assists chart and is the lone player in school history to compile more than 500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. He has worked out for New York and New Jersey and has scheduled sessions in Los Angeles, Denver and Sacramento, but he was well aware of his fit alongside the Warriors' undersized guards. "Any team that takes me is going to get a big true point guard who can defend three positions," Stone said. "I can be on the court with a smaller '2' guard, because I can defend the opponent's bigger '2.' "Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry are great players, but they don't have much size. A player like me likes to pass and allow those guys to do what they do on offense. On defense, I can help them avoid mismatches."
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