sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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SU News
Syracuse Basketball Profile: Tyler Lydon (isportsweb.com; Moran)
This week’s feature is on Syracuse Basketball’s forward Tyler Lydon. Lydon is a 6′ 9″ power forward from Pine Plains, NY. He helped lead Pine Plains High School to the New York state championship game in 2013 before transferring to New Hampton (NH) prep school. The Huskies went to the semi-finals of the New England Prep School Athletic Council tournament before losing to Brewster Academy. Lydon also played for Albany City Rocks AAU basketball team and was a member of USA Basketball U18 team. ESPN ranked him #14 and he received a score of 93 by 247sports.com.
He joins 2015 recruits Franklin Howard, Malachi Richardson, and Moustapha Diagne for the Orange’s third year in the ACC. Lydon is an excellent outside shooter, blocks shots, and rebounds well within the paint. He has a tall, lanky frame and is working on conditioning and building strength by lifting weights. This is an important aspect of his game to work on if he battles on the boards with more physical players at the four position.
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Favorite Moments as a Student at Western Michigan (hustlebelt.com; Coffin)
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My favorite memory from my fourth year at WMU was the basketball team’s run to the NCAA tournament. The football season hurt. It hurt really bad. Bronco fans needed something to get excited about. The 2013-2014 men’s basketball team was that something. However, I can’t exactly call the entire season a moment, so I’ll settle on one: the NCAA tournament dismantling at the hands of Syracuse.
Of course that moment hurt, but it was my favorite because I had never actually gotten to have that feeling in March before. I grew up a Michigan State Spartan fan, but I found that having not gone to school there meant that the pain of past losses faded from memory rather quickly.
I took in the game at a semi-packed University Roadhouse. Everyone there had sort of fooled themselves into thinking the Broncos could take down Syracuse in Buffalo, including myself. Syracuse was a fading team and WMU had lost only a couple of games in two months. It just felt right. It stopped feeling that way rather quickly though, as the Orange ran away and never looked back. The same man I saw before the game brimming with excitement and confidence was now attacking his cigarette outside, claiming, "Hawkins can't plan against the damn zone." Maybe he was right, but I was more concerned that CBS showed a graphic pegging a Western Kentucky graduate as an alumnus of Western Michigan. Can they even Google?
The team did look too small for the moment. They certainly faded early in that contest, but the pain was as real as the disappointment, but it felt somehow okay. The Broncos were in the NCAA tournament. No other MAC team could say the same that March.
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Athletic 6'9 PF Mamadi Diakite Has Syracuse in Final 10 (dailyprogress.com; Reid)
In Virginia’s long and circuitous recruitment of Blue Ridge School star Mamadi Diakite, one question has popped up time and again.
How much of a say will the freakishly athletic 6-foot-9 forward actually have in his own college choice?
On Wednesday at the NBPA Top 100 Camp at John Paul Jones Arena, Diakite — who moved to the U.S. from Guinea just a couple years ago — cleared things up.
Diakite (pronounced Dee-ah-KEE-tay) said that the decision will be split three ways between himself, basketball advisor Hassan Fofana and his parents.
“[Fofana] has 40 percent, my parents have 50 and I have like 10,” Diakite said.
“I’m new here, and so I’m still learning and I have to listen to them and get more experiences about what to do in a new country.”
The good news for Virginia is that Fofana and Coach Tony Bennett have known each other for several years, dating back to when Bennett tried to recruit Fofana to Washington State.
The bad news is that Fofana — a former player at Maryland and Loyola who helps place African prospects at colleges — is based in California.
On Wednesday, Diakite said that UVa, USC and Washington are the three main schools he’s considering, though he’s still being contacted by a number of others, including Georgetown, Louisville, Syracuse, Indiana, SMU, Providence and San Diego.
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NBA Mock Draft: Porzingis' Stock Continues to Rise (cbssports.com; Parrish)
The more I speak with folks around the league -- scouts, agents, etc. -- the more I'm convinced Kristaps Porzingis will not fall out of the top five of this month's NBA Draft. Most seem to believe he's a future star, the next European great, and I'm told he could go as high as No. 3 to Philadelphia and likely won't get past Orlando at No. 5.
So that's the biggest change with this mock draft.
Porzingis is shooting up the board.
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30. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Chris McCullough, PF, Syracuse: McCullough remains a compelling prospect even though he was mostly injured as a freshman. At this point, for a team already built, he's worth the gamble for the Warriors.
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36. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Rakeem Christmas, C, Syracuse: Christmas finally, as a senior, became the college player he was always supposed to be for the Orange.
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College Basketball News
UL's Onuaku Not the Only Surprise at USA Basketball Junior Trials (sportsnews.com)
Louisville center Chinanu Onuaku’s freshman season began with three double-figure scoring games in his first four and ended with him scoring one more basket at the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional than the rest of us.
Onuaku played a total of 17 minutes in two games at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome as the Cardinals – with an overtime Elite Eight loss to Michigan State — came as close to reaching the Final Four as one possibly can without actually getting there.
It was the end of a disappointing year for Onuaku, but also the start of a promising future. Onuaku is among the 12 players included on USA Basketball’s final roster for the FIBA U-19 World Championships June 27 through July 5. He earned this position with physical play and solid finishing against such esteemed young talents as Harry Giles of Winston-Salem, N.C., Purdue-bound Caleb Swanigan and UCLA freshman Thomas Welsh.
The final cuts made Wednesday eliminated Vanderbilt guard Riley LaChance, Virginia Tech wing Justin Bibbs, Purdue forward Vince Edwards and Utah forward Brekott Chapman. The roster includes high school seniors Giles, Josh Jackson of Southfield, Mich., Terrance Ferguson of Dallas and Jayson Tatum of St. Louis. This is the youngest team the U.S. ever has sent to the U-19 Worlds. Onauku, though he played 18 minutes as a freshman, is one of three college veterans on the squad.
“I just feel more comfortable now,” Onuaku told Sporting News. “I feel like I know what I’m supposed to do and know where I’m supposed to be.”
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