April 10, 2014

PJ Dozier upward star basketball

Harry Giles (PF, 6’9″, 2016) and PJ Dozier (CG, 6’4″, 2015) are two of the top basketball recruits in the nation, with Dozier holding offers from North Carolina, Kansas (among many others) and Giles holding offers from Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Georgetown and pretty much everyone else.

But the recruiting world hasn’t seen them in a while; both had serious injuries that have kept them off of the court for some time. That will change this weekend, as both are participating in the Phenom Hoops Challenge with their respective AAU teams in Greensboro, NC.

While it’s just their first time back in uniform, with such sought-after recruits, there is a lot of interest in how their recovery has gone thus far and how they look on the court.

For fans of Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Kansas or any of the other far-flung schools that are actively recruiting the two players (among several other high profile recruits), many of the games on the final day of the event (Sunday) will be broadcast online at NetCastSports.com.

Full schedule of the day’s broadcast coming soon, and we’ll have more information about the broadcast times – the games being broadcast on Sunday are several of the playoff games for the 17U teams at the tournament, so the final matchups won’t be set until the teams finish pool play. But we’ll work to keep everyone updated. You can also follow @NetCastSports on Twitter for more updates.

University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin Basketball

The hammer has been dropped on the 2014 Horizon League champion; the NCAA has banned the men’s basketball team from postseason play next year due to academic issues:

The school announced Wednesday that it has been informed by the NCAA’s Committee on Academic Performance that it was denied its final appeal of a postseason ban for 2014-’15 because of cumulative Academic Performance Rate (APR) scores.

That means the Panthers won’t be allowed to compete in the Horizon League Tournament, which they unexpectedly won in March, or the NCAA Tournament, which they reached for the first time since 2006.

It’s unfortunate when this happens and it occurs all too often following a big year for a program. However, it must be noted that NCAA academic scoring is not strictly based on grades. There is a formula which also accounts or factors in players who leave before the end of the season, but is dependent on how long they were with the program. Just like everything the NCAA does, it’s possible for schools to do everything by the book and still run afoul of the rules, sometimes after the fact.

—

Want more basketball insight? Follow Basketball Elite on Twitter, right now.

Adam Silver NBA basketball

One thing is for certain; the debate over whether college athletes at high-revenue college programs should be paid is not going away. This, despite the NCAA’s best efforts to frame the conversation with rhetoric about ‘student-athletes’, a term they coined decades ago to justify not paying the players in their employ.

Now the NBA has decides to wade into the fray a bit more, with newly minted commissioner Adam Silver mulling over what they might be able to do for those athletes:

“Rather than focusing on a salary and thinking of them as employees, I would go to their basic necessities,” Silver said. “I think if [Connecticut Huskies guard] Shabazz Napier is saying he is going hungry, my God, it seems hard to believe, but there should be ample food for the players.”

To be clear, the NBA isn’t talking about outright payment of salaries to players but rather a subsidization of any gaps in college attendance. On one hand, it’s good the NBA is paying attention…while on the other, it’s hard to see these comments and wonder why the NBA owners were claiming massive losses during the recent labor agreements if they can offer possible subsidies for thousands of college players. The truth has to lie somewhere in the middle; either the NBA is talking about a limited program, or it’s just more rhetoric designed to give lip service to the issue.

—

Want more basketball insight? Follow Basketball Elite on Twitter, right now!

Tacko Fall basketball

They say you can’t teach height, so players who are over 7′ tall already come with basketball skills most of us will never have. At 7’5″, Tacko Fall, a 2015 Center playing at Lutheran South Academy in Texas, comes in as the current tallest high school basketball player. With interest from Baylor, Texas Southern and Houston, he’s no doubt got a lot of colleges interested in any player who can touch the rim without leaving the floor.

Naturally, just being tall isn’t enough to make you a superstar, but it’s a really good starting point. As a general rule, big men develop their game later than other positions, so it’s often difficult to tell how good a player will be at Tacko’s size.

—

Want more basketball insights? You can follow Basketball Elite on twitter, right now!