Author: Alfred Ezman

On Wednesday, Arizona Wildcats star guard Caleb Love announced his return to Tuscon for another season of college basketball. Love recently announced that he would put his name in the NBA draft to test the waters of turning professional. But, an announcement came on social media that was in the form of a heartfelt video message stating how grateful he was to be a part of the Arizona program and was thrilled with how welcoming the fan base was to him. https://twitter.com/caleb2love/status/1795930541004366212 Arizona once again puts themselves in the driver’s seat that could result in another very successful season with…

It was a pedestrian season in Tallahassee for college basketball. The Florida State Seminoles finished 17-16 overall and were 10-10 in ACC play. When it was all said and done, the Seminoles improved from their disastrous 2022-23 season when the team went 9-23, their lowest win total since the 2000-01 season. However, news broke last week of FSU’s forward Jamir Watkins declaring for the NBA draft. He made a graphic post thanking many people including his family and the university, as well as his previous school VCU which was his playing destination before transferring to Florida State. https://twitter.com/EasyVeazeyNG/status/1783233131450859939 Watkins was…

On Sunday, former Duke Blue Devil guard Jeremy Roach committed to Baylor after spending four seasons in Durham with Duke. During his time with the Blue Devils, Roach improved steadily every season and became an all-around great guard in 2023. He averaged 14 points a game on 46.8% shooting from the field. He was in double figures during every game that Duke played in during March Madness. Roach also became a very lethal three-point shooter this season hitting them at a 42.9% mark. This was improved by 8.6% from a season ago and it is over a 10% improvement from…

With the college basketball season now at a close, the offseason is now upon us. With this comes the transfer portal and players who are searching for new opportunities at other schools for the next step in their young careers. One of these players is the biggest name thus far in the portal is former Arizona Wildcats center Oumar Ballo. The big man is not new to the portal as he transferred to Tuscon from Gonzaga before the beginning of the 2021-22 season. https://twitter.com/On3sports/status/1777390525219234221 Ballo played in very few minutes with Gonzaga in his first college basketball season with just…

The 2024 SEC Tournament was filled with many top seeds getting upset in the quarterfinal round. This included the Alabama Crimson Tide who suffered a bad loss to the Florida Gators in the quarterfinal round. The Gators held one of the best offenses in college basketball just enough to explode onto a 102-88 and send the Crimson Tide home from Nashville early. However, that was just the beginning of a historic Alabama postseason run. With a 21-11 record and a 13-5 record in SEC play, the Crimson Tide were set for another NCAA tournament appearance. They landed the 4th seed…

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have been great for a long time. The program has made the NCAA tournament since the 1998-99 season (excludes 2019-20 due to COVID-19). In 14 of those seasons, Gonzaga made at least the sweet sixteen which is also something they have done for the past nine times dating back to the 2014-15 season. That streak was kept alive and extended to nine years this season. Mark Few Continues Winning with Gonzaga This big-time success has been thanks to head coach Mark Few. He has been with the team in Spokane, Washington since the 1999-2000 season taking over…

March Madness usually creates some of the best stories in sports that revolve around an underdog team’s climb to the mountain top. This is the case with the Duquesne Dukes who recently won the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn, New York. It is their first tournament title since 1977 when the first Atlantic 10 tournament took place. Thus, Duquesne finds itself in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977 and it is the sixth time in program history they have made the big dance. The Dukes made the Final Four in two tournaments during the 1939-40 and 1951-52 seasons.…

If there are any, there are not many college basketball programs with the esteem Duke has when it comes to the success needed to attract recruits to their fold. Jon Scheyer Continues Krzyzewski’s Winning Ways Former head coach Mike Krzyzewski left a monumental legacy of 5 national championships, 14 ACC regular season titles, 15 ACC tournament titles (most in conference history), 38 All-Americans, and 9 national players of the year. He also produced 55 NBA draft picks while being at Duke. In short, he created a culture of team success and player success that attracts high school prospects to come…

The West Coast Conference tournament is set to begin on Thursday, March 7th with a matchup between Pepperdine and Pacific in Las Vegas, Nevada. For one Saint Mary’s Gaels team, they can wait until Monday, March 11th to play as the team earned the WCC regular season title. Thus, they have the one seed during the conference tournament in Las Vegas. It is the second straight year the Gaels have won the West Coast Conference as they split the regular season title last season with Gonzaga. However, this is the first time Saint Mary’s has solely won the WCC since…

The Florida Gators have found themselves in a close battle to earn a NCAA tournament spot. As of March 1st, before their tough 82-76 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Gators are a 7th seed according to ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi. However, Florida has held up decently well this season looking at it in its entirety. With a 20-9 overall mark and 10-6 in SEC play, the Gators sit sixth in the SEC after accomplishing their 7th 20-win season in the past ten years. A tournament berth would be the fifth over that same stretch of time. The Gators…

Washington State has put together an excellent-looking college basketball season. They have hit the 20-win mark for just the third time in 16 seasons and have been ranked 19th in the country according to the latest AP Poll. Despite losing their latest game to the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday 73-61, the previous game saw the Cougars win a huge matchup in Tuscon over Arizona 77-74. The Wildcats have sat in the top five for a lot of this season, but they dropped down to 6th in the recent poll. https://twitter.com/WSUCougarsMBB/status/1760922932086558972 The Arizona win marked the end of a…

A big-time win over the Florida Atlantic Owls is enough to put the country on notice about the South Florida Bulls. Last Saturday, Tampa Bay’s college basketball team knocked off a ranked Owls team loaded with talent. USF’s 11th straight win moves them to 12-1 overall in American Athletic Conference play. South Florida now sits at 19-5 overall and ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi has them in the NCAA tournament as a 13th seed in the East region. If all holds on as it is according to Lunardi’s predictions, it would be the first time the Bulls have made it to…

The Houston Cougars have continued to impress the college basketball world in 2023-24. As of right now, they sit at 21-3 overall with an 8-3 Big 12 record that is only tied with Iowa State atop the conference. The Cougs also find themselves ranked number three overall in the country. The answer to Houston’s great season has been their defense. According to the Kenpom metrics, they have the best defense in basketball and that has gotten them to become the number one most efficient team in the country according to the metric. In non-conference play, they held 11 out of their…

The Marquette Golden Eagles are soaring with a six-game win streak during the beef of conference play. At this point, there is no secret that the special ingredient to all of this success is their senior guard Tyler Kolek. Kolek is building off of a first team All-Big East nomination during the 2022-23 season and has been even better in his third season in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His scoring numbers are up to 15.1 points per game on 48.6% shooting with field goals and a three-point percentage that sits right around 38% a game. Kolek has also really stepped up rebounding…

The Dayton Flyers are putting together a great 2023-24 season as they sit atop the Atlantic 10. They currently sit 21st overall in the AP Poll and are winners in 14 of their last 15 games. They have won by double digits in 9 of those 14 games. The Flyers seem to be cruising through the season even as we are deep into conference play. But, is this team a threat come March? Dayton is looking to make it to the big dance for the first time since 2017 when they were knocked out by Wichita State in the first round.…