San Francisco

San Francisco Adds Manhattan Transfer Rashad Green

Press Release — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:55:20 -0700

(San Francisco) - Rashad Green, a 6-4, 195 pound wing from Babylon, New York has signed a scholarship agreement to play basketball at the University of San Francisco, as announced today by head coach Rex Walters. Under NCAA transfer rules, Green will sit out the entire 2008-09 season after completing a successful freshman season at Manhattan in 2007-08.

"We're really fortunate to get someone that has accomplished some very good things at the Division I level in his freshman year at Manhattan," Walters said. "He is a tough, hard-nosed young man from New York who is looking forward to competing in the West Coast Conference. He can pass, handle and shoot the ball. I'm really excited to coach him and think he can do some great things for us here and help get USF going again."

Green turned in a solid season competing for the Jaspers, averaging 7.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. A three-time MAAC Basketball Rookie of the Week, Green started 27 games in his inaugural collegiate season and led the team in rebounding and was the club's fourth-leading scorer. Green established career highs with 21-point, 11 rebound effort against Canisius and turned in another double-double in Manhattan's first-ever road win at Princeton, finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds and five steals.

A highly decorated prep player, Green averaged 11.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while helping Bridgton Academy to a 34-5 record and its third straight NEPSAC Championship in 2007. The 2006 Long Island, Newsday and Nassau County Player of the Year, Green competed in the ABCD All-Star Game and played AAU ball with the New York Panthers.

Green comes from an athletic family. His brother Danny Jr., is a senior guard at North Carolina. Green's second cousin Gerald Green, plays in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Welser Wonders: Will Purdue's Run End?

Joel Welser — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:14:37 -0800

What makes college sports so great is the fans. And who enjoys dressing up like an idiot more than college students? Or was that just me during my college days? My hat goes off to the little fan club of Stanley Pringle of Penn State. The guys wear full body size boxes of Pringles. Not only does it make me want to eat Pringles, but it’s just plain fun. Maybe I just don’t look in the crowd enough to notice or I’m too quick to flip to a different game when they show the crowd shots, but why don’t more people do this type of thing? There are tons of great names out there, although maybe none which lend themselves to such brilliance as the Pringles, but if Pringle can do it, so can the two Mayo’s in the NCAA. However, that has little to do with what “Welser Wonders…”

…when Eddie Sutton will get win number 801?

I would say ‘if’ Eddie Sutton is going to get win number 801, but ‘if’ doesn’t start with a ‘w’ so it doesn’t quite work with this arrangement. It was largely believed that once Coach Sutton got number 800, his temporary team of Dons would relax a bit and start reeling off a few victories. But that didn’t happen.

There are only five games left in the regular season for San Francisco, but the good news is four of them are at the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym and three of those are against teams that are 2-7 in conference right now. The Dons should be able to get a victory against Portland, Loyola Marymount or Pepperdine to get Coach Sutton up to at least 801. Really the team could be considered somewhat lucky to get a couple road wins at Portland and Pepperdine earlier in the season. Otherwise right now we would be wondering if Coach Sutton was even going to get the two wins he needed.

…what the deal is with the SEC?

Kentucky’s non-conference portion of the schedule went so poorly that even a 6-3 record in conference play has them well outside of the bubble. Getting absolutely slaughtered by Vanderbilt on Tuesday doesn’t help either. Mississippi, after winning their first 13 games, is 3-5 in conference play and in danger of missing out on dancing if things continue to go how they have been recently. Mississippi State is in a similar position as Kentucky. The Bulldogs started out really slow, but have since won 11 of their last 13.

Mississippi State should be in right now, but they could lose that with a poor showing in February and early March. Tennessee and Vanderbilt are pretty much locks and Arkansas and Florida have a pretty good shot. In all likelihood we are looking at five teams and it will be a fierce battle down the stretch. There are a ton of important games left in the SEC, but none may end up being as big as the hardwood version of the Egg Bowl on February 20^th. Mississippi State won the first leg at home by 20 and Mississippi needs to defend the home floor if they want to stay in the race for an NCAA Tournament bid.

…who the winless teams are in conference play?

Memphis gets their fair share of publicity for being undefeated. Duke, Drake, Cornell, Davidson and Oral Roberts are added to the list when you talk about undefeated teams in conference play. But what about the other end of the spectrum?

Independent New Jersey Institute of Technology, better known (sort of) as NJIT, is currently 0-25. The closest the Highlanders have gotten to a win is a couple nine point defeats. They only have four games left and that best shot to avoid a winless season is hosting Chicago State on Saturday. North Florida, The Citadel, Northwestern, Rice, Colorado State and Oregon State are also winless in conference play.

Oregon State fired their coach already this year and Colorado State is in rebuilding mode with a new head man. The only other major program on that list is Northwestern. Coach Bill Carmody is a great offensive mind, but it might be time to try something else in Evanston after eight years. Northwestern has never made an NCAA Tournament and certainly Bill Carmody cannot be totally blamed for that failure. The high academic standard is an old excuse. The basketball team only needs to look across the street to the football squad to see that it can be done. Nobody expects consistent top 25 seasons out of Northwestern, but this team should be able to go dancing at some point. But it probably won’t be with Coach Carmody leading the way.

…when it will end for Purdue?

The Boilermakers were supposed to be a decent team, but now they are looking at a Big Ten title. And don’t give me the Big Ten is down junk. This is a team that just beat Wisconsin in Madison. That doesn’t happen everyday. Even teams like Iowa and Penn State have had decent moments. It is very impressive to be on top of the Big Ten with an 11-1 record.

Purdue is a young team and they just keep getting better and better. Freshmen Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore have already become superstars in the Big Ten and will be taking the rest of the nation by storm soon enough. Purdue might be a little slim in the paint, but the size of their guards puts plenty of mismatches in their favor. Most of that is in the form of 6-8 Hummel. The guy can make opposing power forwards look incompetent on defense if that is how the match-ups work out.

The big game left is against rival and fellow one-loss team Indiana. The winner of that game will likely be the Big Ten champions and earn a nice seed in March.

Mr 800: Eddie Sutton's Season Past the Brink

Jacob White — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:30:50 -0800

If the San Francisco Dons lose the rest of their games this season they will become historically significant. If they win one more game, their coach believes that he will become more historically significant. This is why it is in the best interest of the San Francisco Dons to not win another game this season. If they continue to lose they will captivate the sports world by highlighting the grotesque vanity of pursuing statistical milestones at all costs. If they win, they will be nothing more than an anomaly on the statistical scroll of a hall of fame coach.

In sports, retirement is an art that is debated annually. Whether it is Lance Armstrong leaving on top, Shaq struggling with the inevitable, Favre’s indecision, or Jordan’s flip-flopping, the way in which an athlete ends their career is integral to the legacy they leave behind. Eddie Sutton lost his chance to walk away from college basketball with dignity when he was pulled over for drunk driving last season. His long tenure as Oklahoma State’s coach was likely cut a season or two short and he was forced to go through the Don Imus public charade necessary for “forgiveness.” Sutton had gone through this all before when he was fired from Kentucky, with rumors of drug and alcohol abuse. But he was younger then; he had time to redirect the arc of his coaching career.

After a seemingly innocuous start to San Francisco’s season, the Dons’ coach, Jessie Evans, was forced into a leave of absence. The curmudgeon Eddie Sutton was roused from retirement and placed on the sideline to coach the remainder of the season. The obvious reason for this unneeded resurrection, is to push his win total from 798 to 800, where he will remain the fifth most winningest coach in college basketball history.

The difference between 798 and 800 seems to appease nothing more than vanity. Perhaps Sutton watched Bernie Mac’s “Mr. 3,000” while in rehab and decided that “Mr. 800” may produce lucrative promotional opportunities. I can just picture his mastiff face in front of the neon “Mr. 800” sign. However, Sutton has denied that 800 wins is the reason he accepted the short termed position.

“The thing I missed about coaching is the practice sessions, watching kids mature and grow,” Sutton was quoted as saying about his new team.

Apparently he only wants to watch the Dons mature and grow for a couple of months. Living out of a hotel room in San Francisco, Sutton has made it clear that as soon as the season is done he has no interest in remaining.

During San Francisco’s game with Gonzaga on ESPN’s Big Monday, the announcers expressed amazement that Sutton was at the pre-game practice, and that he had actually stood up and pointed out what the players were doing wrong. Yes, the announcers in an unnecessary amount of words, expressed their amazement that Sutton had been seen coaching his team. Sutton was then shown in the locker room watching Oklahoma State’s game. While his players continued warm-ups on the court, Sutton displayed more interest in Oklahoma’s game than he would in the course of his own.

One would assume that Sutton might approach this awkward situation by displaying some amount of humbleness and gratitude to the players. After all, he has arguably wasted a year of their eligibility for his own gain. Sutton has repaid the players by routinely referring to them as “the worst team I have ever coached.”

Even if this is a true statement, it seems unnecessarily harsh. Sutton has brushed it off as mere honesty; a statement hard to believe when paired with the obvious lies about his motivations for being there. Some may claim that he is attempting reverse psychology, but this is granting Sutton a level of effort that he has simply not shown.

After eight games Sutton’s presence on the bench has led to a record of one and seven. With nine remaining games, the Dons losing the rest of the season may not require a concerted effort on their part. Players are not often so clearly in control of a coach’s legacy. The Dons should seize this opportunity to send their “coach” off the way he deserves, the way that every player who has ever had to endure a coach who was in it for all the wrong reasons has dreamed of doing.

Since getting his 799^th win, sports news organizations began writing articles in anticipation of number 800. For the first time, the Dons’ highlights are being shown on Sports Center. With each successive loss these highlights increase in awkwardness. As the season reaches its end, this awkwardness will likely work its way into a crescendo that will eclipse the excitement of any league championship. I can just imagine the talking heads of PTI and Around the Horn psychoanalyzing Sutton and the over/under on his sobriety.

In watching the final throws of Sutton’s career sports fans are being treated to a combination of the most pondered questions in sports: what weight should be placed on statistics, and when should an athlete retire? Sutton’s return and subsequent failure to reach 800 would be the barometer in which the selfish pursuit of statistics is gauged. If the Dons can do what Sutton has been unable to, put aside their own ego, they will become a sports story far more compelling than a coach with 800 wins instead of 798.

Picture of the Day: Eddie & Scott Sutton

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:52:59 -0800

Picture of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, CHN will feature a Picture of the Day, which might include a newsworthy, funny, or simply interesting subject. At the bottom will be a caption or headline that might be informative or amusing. The possibilities are endless!

Eddie & Scott Sutton

An older picture this afternoon, from better days when Eddie Sutton was a head coach at a top program, and his son Scott was an assistant. Last night, Eddie lost out on his chance to win 800 as San Francisco lost at Gonzaga, while his son's team lost a close affair to Texas. Combined, their two programs are 2-5 in conference play and both have little shot at postseason play.

- Check out recent Pictures of the Day!

Top 10 Teammates in NBA Draft History

Jeff Fox — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:57:42 -0700

The Florida Gators didn’t just make history on the basketball court this past season - they are now poised to make it in the NBA draft. Three Gator teammates – Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Al Horford – are all projected to be top 10 picks in this month’s draft. Three teammates have never gone in the top 10 in the same draft in the history of the draft – that is 60 drafts in total.

Two players from the same team going top 10 in the draft is also quite a feat – it has only been accomplished 26 times in history. Not surprisingly, the North Carolina Tar Heels have had it happen the most to them – five times Heels’ teammates have been snatched by a team in the top 10 in the same season. Ohio State teammates and best friends Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. are poised to add their names to that list this season, as both could very well be gone by the time pick #11 rolls around.

Since we’re dealing with 10s, here is the top 10 list of top 10 draft pick teammates of all time (or something like that).

10) 2004 – Connecticut – Emeka Okafor (pick #2) & Ben Gordon (#3)

It’s still pretty early in their careers to rate these two guys, but after winning the 2004 NCAA championship, Okafor and Gordon haven’t missed a beat and are both all-star caliber talents.

9) 1991 – UNLV – Larry Johnson (#1) & Stacey Augmon (#9)

These two brought more than just cool nicknames to the court (Grandmama and Plastic Man). Sadly a bad back cut LJ’s career short, but before he got hurt he was an All-NBA talent. Augmon brought 15 years worth of tough D and highlight reel dunks to the league. In their two seasons together at UNLV they played in two Final Fours, winning the 1990 title

8) 1998 – Kansas – Raef LaFrentz (#3) & Paul Pierce (#10)

LaFrentz has had a solid, yet injured plagued (missed an average of 24 games/year) career thus far. All Pierce brings is 25, 6 and 4 a night and perennial all-star game appearances.

7) 1995 – North Carolina – Jerry Stackhouse (#3) & Rasheed Wallace (#4)

Members of UNC’s 1995 Final Four squad, these two Tar Heels are aging gracefully. Both are key contributors on two of the League’s top squads and both have multiple all-star appearances on their resumes.

6) 1998 – North Carolina – Antawn Jamison (#4) & Vince Carter (#5)

After two straight Final Four appearances (1997 & 1998), Jamison and Carter took their show to the NBA where they have been all-star players. They are linked not just from being college teammates – the two were traded for each other on draft night and are brother-in-laws.

5) 1979 – Michigan State – Magic Johnson (#1) & Greg Kelser (#4)

You know this is a tough list to crack when Magic ends up only in the #5 spot. The duo left college as champions, beating Larry Bird’s Indiana State gang for the 1979 title. Magic just kept on winning in the NBA and became one of the all-time greats. Injuries cut into Kelser’s productivity but he did last six years in the League.

4) 1969 – UCLA – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (#1) & Lucius Allen (#3)

Cap and Allen were teammates on the 1960s UCLA juggernaut (three titles, 88-2 record). Abdul-Jabbar revolutionized the game and is a true all-time great, while Allen had a very solid 10-year career, averaging about 13, 5 and 3 in 702 games.

3) 1984 – North Carolina – Michael Jordan (#3) & Sam Perkins (#4)

Speaking of all-time greats revolutionizing the game, Michael Jordan comes in at spot #3. We all know about Mike, his title-winning jumper as a UNC freshman and his “greatest of all-time” NBA career. On the other hand, Big Smooth Perkins had a very underrated 17-year NBA career after playing in two NCAA title games (1981 and the 1982 championship team).

2) 1962 – Ohio State – Jerry Lucas (#6) & John Havlicek (#9)

These teammates did Perkins one-up, playing in three NCAA title games and winning the 1960 championship. Both are also Hall of Famers, with Lucas making First or Second Team All-NBA five times. Hondo earned the honor 11 times to go along with eight selections to the All-Defensive First or Second Teams.

1) 1956 – San Francisco – Bill Russell (#2) & K.C. Jones (#9)

All these two guys did together was win titles. Two in college (1955 & 1956) while running up a 57-1 record, and eight NBA titles in the nine seasons they played together for the Boston Celtics. And not surprisingly, both are in the Hall of Fame.

Antonio Kellogg Leaving San Francisco

Jeff Borzello — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 03:27:35 -0700

WCC Conference Preview

CHN — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 21:00:03 -0800

Conference Previews | Top 144 | 06-07 Preview Home

WCC Preview

Conference Rank: 13th

Conference Page

All-Conference

Player of the Year - Matthew Knight, LMU, F/C

Armando Surratt, San Francisco, G

Derek Raivio, Gonzaga, G

Brandon Worthy, LMU, G

Alan Wiggins, San Francisco, F

2nd Team

Michael Gerrity, Pepperdine, G

Ross DeRogatis, San Diego, G

Darren Cooper, Portland, G

Diamon Simpson, Saint Mary's, F

Josh Heytvelt, Gonzaga, F

Nat'l	Team (Click for Preview)	Conf	Tourney
25	Gonzaga	1	NCAA
78	St. Mary's	2	NIT
104	San Francisco	3
126	Loyola Marymount	4
152	Santa Clara	5
192	Pepperdine	6
221	San Diego	7
264	Portland	8

CUSA Preview Articles:

WCC Preseason Coaches Poll & All-Conference

Preseason Polls:

Best Mid-Major Team?

2006-07 Preview: Team's #101-110

Joel Welser — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:44:48 -0700

Capsules of Teams #101 to 110 in CHN's 144 Teams in 144 Days Preseason Preview.