sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 25,267
- Like
- 109,091
Welcome to World Afro Day!
World Afro Day is a global day of change that educates about and celebrates Afro hair, culture, and identity. Founder Michelle de Leon has stated that the vision for the day is "to create a platform to celebrate and educate people about Afro hair," and that "through annual events and a worldwide educational network, we will unite people globally in raising Afro hair to world class status through positive awareness and academic excellence." Historically, there has been bias against Afro hair in society, which has increased exclusion and feelings of inferiority and caused lasting effects on health and economic opportunity. Conversely, straight hair has been associated with success and beauty. As Afro hair is not regularly celebrated, especially on a global scale, the aim of World Afro Day is to change this.
After hearing her daughter sing about her natural hair, de Leon decided to start the day, because she wanted all children of African descent to feel positively about their hair like her daughter did. Once the mission of the day was established, a date had to be chosen. On September 15, 2016, a federal court ruled on a case in Alabama, deciding that companies could deny people employment if they had dreadlocks. Essentially, it ruled against Afro hair. De Leon, who is from London, England, decided that the first World Afro Day should be held on September 15, 2017, "to mark this dreadful law." During that first year, the day was endorsed by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, it hosted a World Hair Education Lesson with 400 children and teachers taking part, and notables such as Miss USA 2016 Deshauna Barber and celebrity hairstylist Vernon François took part.
SU News
Syracuse hoops commit Benny Williams upgraded to a 5-star prospect, top-25 recruit (Cnycentral.com; Hauswirth)
A future Syracuse University men's basketball player received some good news Monday afternoon.
Benny Williams, a 6-foot-8 forward out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, was upgraded to a five-star prospect on virtually every national recruiting service throughout the country.
The high-flyer was a four-star recruit when he committed to the Orange over the summer, earning a big boost in the eyes of national recruiting experts.
Rivals, 247 Sports and ESPN have the senior ranked inside the top-25 best players in America.
recruiting expert Corey Evans was one of the first to report Williams' commitment to Syracuse, writing the following article on his upside moving forward.
Williams has been a busy man. He just graduated from high school and enrolled at IMG Academy for a prep year and, throughout it all, has continued to improve, which is why he climbed 29 spots in the latest Rivals150. Williams has filled out well into his frame during the quarantine and still has further room for weight gain.
He is the ideal perimeter wing scorer for Jim Boeheim’s offense. Williams needs to refine his ball skills and extend the range on his jumper but all of the abilities are there. He is no longer just a down-the-road type of prospect but now a five-star that, if he continues to progress, could knock on the door of one-and-done status following his freshman campaign at Syracuse.
...
ACC Basketball: Biggest needs for each team’s 2021 recruiting class (bustingbrackets.com; Freeman)
The ACC Basketball programs have already gotten started on their respective 2021 recruiting classes. What are their biggest remaining needs?
When it comes to recruiting in hopes, no conference takes it as seriously as ACC Basketball. A big part of that involves the fact that the league sends a number of early entrants to the NBA Draft each year, led by both Duke and North Carolina. Others come programs such as Virginia, Florida State, and Louisville as well.
With players sometimes leaving unexpectedly, that creates at times a need to land commits in the Spring to fill in some holes. Otherwise, a team can fall back several spots in the ACC standings.
When it comes to the 2021 class, in particular, teams have already made strides, since players aren’t currently taking official visits to schools. So far, there are 20 total commits in the ACC, with Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Virginia Tech the only ones without landing anyone.
Those programs certainly need to fill out some roster needs, as well as some of the others. Everyone can improve their respective rosters, so here’s a look at the biggest remaining needs for each ACC Basketball team.
Boston College Eagles
Biggest needs: Center
USC and DePaul got most of the national attention on their huge efforts in the transfer portal, the Eagles quietly landed four graduate transfers this offseason themselves. Three of them are in the frontcourt, who along with starting forward Steffon Mitchell, will all be gone after next season. With the team having sophomores Wynston Tabbs and Jay Heath for a couple more years, they’ll be fine in the backcourt.
Even with top-200 power forward Gianni Thompson already committed, Boston College could add 2-3 more frontcourt players to avoid having clear holes inside. Top-100 forward Kok Yat would have a clear shot at starting if he picked the Eagles. Another top-100 recruit the team is after is Carter Whitt, a four-star point guard from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.
...
Toeing The Line (DBR; Jacobs)
He spoke often of the importance of rebounding, but “the key statistic,” a fellow from Kansas named Dean Smith once said, “is still to get to the foul line.” Another Hall of Fame coach from the ACC, Maryland’s Gary Williams, was likewise open about stressing scoring opportunities via free throw, a pursuit at which his Terrapins excelled.
They were only two among many.
A third was the 2020 ACC coach who was ultimately fired, Danny Manning, a former All-American and all-pro forward. The last of Manning’s six Wake Forest clubs made more free throws than any other program in the league and earned a higher portion of its scoring from the line than anyone else by a 2.71-point margin.
Helping the Deacs cash in, they also were more efficient converting foul shots than all but the league’s Florida representatives. It was the fourth-straight season Wake made at least 72 percent of its free throws.
Miami’s league-leading foul shooting accuracy in 2020 was the best at the school (.759) since 2002 under Perry Clark, the former Georgia Tech assistant. The man Clark succeeded at Coral Gables, Leonard Hamilton, led Florida State to its best free throw accuracy since 2008 (.750).
Mike Krzyzewski, yet another Hall of Fame devotee of line production, saw the percent of Duke’s points via free throw (19.59) escalate in 2020 compared to recent years. This was in keeping with his view that last season’s team would present a more old-fashioned profile. Only Wake made more free throws per game than the Blue Devils (16.1 average).
...
Other
Best colleges ranked: See list of Upstate NY schools for 2021 (PS; $; Herbert)
U.S. News & World Report is out with its 2021 list of the best colleges in America.
Princeton University ranked No. 1 overall in the new rankings, released Monday, followed by Harvard University and Columbia University. MIT and Yale University tied for fourth, rounding out the top five.
Cornell University was the top-ranked school in Upstate New York. The Ithaca school was named No. 18 overall, No. 7 for business programs, No. 4 for veterans, and No. 25 for best value.
Six other Upstate NY schools ranked in the top 100 nationally. The University of Rochester was named No. 34 overall, followed by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy at No. 53, and Syracuse University at No. 58. A handful of colleges tied for No. 88, including three SUNY schools: Binghamton University, Stony Brook University and the University at Buffalo.
Syracuse also received recognition for its study abroad programs, ranking seventh in the country with notable programs in Madrid, Spain; Strasbourg, France; and Florence, Italy.
Ithaca College tied for ninth best among Regional Universities North schools. Le Moyne College ranked No. 17 in the same category.
Cazenovia College ranked second among “best value” schools for the Regional Colleges North, followed by Elmira College in third place.
Canisius College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute--Albany/Utica, St. Bonaventure University, Niagara University, Le Moyne and SUNY Oswego all ranked in the top 10 for “best value” among Regional Universities North.
...
