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“I really don’t have too much of a life outside of basketball, and that was literally a choice up to me because of just how good I wanted to be,” Johnson said. He traces his love for the sport to his father, Richard Johnson Jr., who played college ball at Baylor before he transferred to Midwestern State (Texas), a Division II school, for his junior and senior seasons. As a child, Tre would pore through old VHS tapes of his dad’s college games and watch him play in pickup games against adults. Richard taught physical education and worked as an assistant boys basketball coach at Dallas’ Lake Highlands, where Tre spent his first three years of high school and led the team to a state title as a junior.
King first joined Colorado’s basketball program during the 2013-14 season. White transferred to Colorado from Division II University of Colorado Colorado Springs in 2015 and redshirted his first season with one year of eligibility remaining. King didn’t see anything during White’s redshirt season that suggested he could be an NBA player. King added that White was quiet and focused on adjusting to Division I basketball. “I knew that he was good. I knew that he had size and athleticism. But did I see what he is now? An Olympian? I did not personally. And that’s just God, and that’s a testament to him and his game,” King said about White.
One of the most famous names to play for the Generals is Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, who suited up for the Generals in the 1980s. Lieberman was the first woman to play for the Generals. Kayla Gabor is on the team now and is the second woman to play for the Generals. Gabor is a former all-conference guard from Division II Lake Erie College in Ohio, a leading scorer during the 2016-17 season for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. “I’m a General, which is very unique,” Gabor said. “Nancy Lieberman, I believe, was 1977 to ’78, so for me, bringing back the female on the opponent’s side is a unique spotlight. I know in the past, we’re villainous and supposed to just be the enemy, but I always came in like, ‘OK, we don’t win every game, but I set personal goals.’ My personal goals are to get the crowd on my side. “I always like to try and find people out of the audience to be like, ‘Watch this!’ and hit a couple 3s in a row. I’ll do it for them. Seriously, it is motivation for me.”
Erik Spoelstra is always seeking out original thinkers. Four years ago, the NBA’s fourth-winningest active coach found one a 45-minute drive north of the Miami Heat’s facilities. Since then, Spoelstra has visited Nova Southeastern University regularly for an up-close look at the unique stylings of Jim Crutchfield, the Division II school’s 69-year-old basketball coach.
Erik Slater: The Nets have agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with Emmanuel guard KJ Jones II, a source confirmed. Jones (6'6") averaged 26.2 PPG on 48/39/87 shooting splits over his last two seasons. He was named the 2023-24 Division II Player of the Year.
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His long journey took him from the Division III JUCO ranks through Division II hoops and eventually to Marist. It even took him as far as this summer’s FIBA World Cup. And now, to the G League Long Island Nets. “Well, that’s a great thing you just brought up, because I do remember when coach Cluess did say that about me,” Gardner told Sports+ with a wry smile. “I’m trying to focus on the moment, but sometimes, when you think about how far you’ve come — just after practice or on the bus or something — you kind of think about how grateful you are to [be here], that I’m in a position like this and how far I’ve come. But it wasn’t easy, and there’s still a long way to go.”
In April 2012, a man by the name of Jeff Culver changed the course of White's life. Culver had previously recruited the guard to an NAIA school, Johnson & Wales, and had then become the head coach at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, a Division II program. And he asked White to join him. But there was a catch: Culver's offer came late in the recruiting process, so all he could give White was a partial scholarship with a $3,000 room stipend toward housing; White and his father took out a $17,000 loan to cover the rest. White wore No. 14, a reference to all the schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference that didn't recruit him, and, before games, he'd remind himself why he wore it: "They said I wasn't good enough."
Bobby Manning: Joe Mazzulla: 34-years-old Celtics asst. since '19 Division II Fairmont State head coach 2017-19 2016-17 Red Claws assistant One of the youngest #NBA head coaches of all time is taking over a team with title aspirations and will need to a be a voice through this difficult time
The roster is even thinner for the rematch. General manager Bob Myers, who played collegiately at UCLA and is said to have scored 40 points in one of these games, was sidelined this time with a nagging hip injury. Assistant coach Chris DeMarco, who stands 6-foot-7, was a late scratch. In their absence were four players making their San Quentin debuts: Warriors player development coach Hilton Armstrong, who stands 6-11 and was a first-round pick in the 2006 NBA draft; Santa Cruz Warriors assistant coach Noel Hightower, who stands 6-5 and played collegiately at a Division II school; and, for the first time, two women – Warriors manager of player rehabilitation Danielle Langford and data analyst Hannah Heiring.
Adrian Wojnarowski: The Houston Rockets are signing NW Missouri State G Trevor Hudgins to a two-way contract, his agent @GeorgeLangberg tells ESPN. A 2-time Division II Player of the Year.
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As Smith's 50th reunion for his Kentucky Wesleyan NCAA Division II championship approached five years ago, he called the Dropping Dimes Foundation, which helps struggling ABA players and their families. Smith didn't have the money to get to his reunion, he told Dropping Dimes CEO and founder Scott Tarter. He needed a loan, and insisted it be a loan, for $250. Dropping Dimes gave him the money and told him it was a gift, not a loan.
Max Strus and Capel Henshaw were shooting around after practice during Strus’s freshman year at Lewis University when Henshaw, a sophomore guard, asked Strus between shots and swishes what he wanted to do after playing Division II basketball. “I remember Max telling me, ‘I want to play basketball as long as I can’,” Henshaw said.
It was an aspirational goal, but attainable. After all, plenty of Division II hoopers have gone on to have rewarding careers overseas. Maybe one day, Henshaw thought, Strus could even play at one of the top international leagues in Europe. The two kept shooting, and Henshaw didn’t think much of it. Then Strus kept shooting, and shooting, and shooting until, eight years after lighting up Division II scoreboards, he became a starting shooting guard in the NBA. Now the overlooked recruit from Southside Chicago who spent five years in college, was cut twice from NBA teams and tore his ACL before ever finding his footing in the league is playing a key role for the Miami Heat as they get set to face the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. It’s hard to see any of it happening without the springboard of Division II basketball. “Great story,” said Scott Trost, his head coach at Lewis. “It’s not a common path.”
Jon Walker: Former Northwest Missouri State guard Trevor Hudgins, the reigning back-to-back Division II Player of the Year, has a workout with the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. The three-time national champ worked out for the Houston Rockets on Monday.
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