NCAA Discussion

[Deleted]

I’m not a huge follower of college basketball, but I do keep an eye on it mostly on the teams that have British players playing for them, does anyone route for a particular team? I’m guessing this thread is not going to be super active so my plan is just to spam it with updates on the British players and then hopefully when March comes around more people will get involved and we can all have a mess around with our predictions

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Jeremy Sochan had one of his best performances of the season for Baylor tonight, although the defending champions lost to Alabama, Jeremy’s draft stock continues to rise though and he is now featuring on most mock drafts, often in the first round, his defence, length and athleticism are all NBA ready and his potential is crazy

Cam Hildreth has lost his place in the rotation at Wake Forest, who are performing above expectations this year so understandably it’s hard for the freshman to find minutes during conference play, Still though he’s had a good season all in all, I’ve been impressed with his defence and at times his passing, Hopefully next year he can cement his place in the rotation

Also have Ethan Price and Josh Uduje starting as freshmen on decent teams, Ethan especially looks a really bright prospect

Tosan Evbuomwan is having a great season at unbeaten Princeton and is currently the clear favourite for Ivy League MVP, and have to mention Montana state and their 3 Brits who are going well near the top of their division

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In terms of favourites to win it all Gonzaga seem very good again, so maybe this will be the year, beyond that there doesn’t seem to be any real standout teams this year (yet)

[voise]

Sochan's first game back after an ankle injury, so 30 mins 17 pts and 8 rebounds is a very promising return. Tosan averaging 15 and 6 at Princeton, but lost to rivals for the auto bid Yale last night. Eytle-Rock starting for the Aggies of Utah State. Amari Williams has stepped up into the starting forward spot for Drexel with a big jump in numbers.

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Cam and Matt Marsh both got good minutes in Wake Forests loss to Clemson last night, they did lose the game however and it looks like they’re going to miss out on March madness after their recent poor run

[SamH]

I don't watch much college ball but what are people's view on the shot clock being 30 seconds? Better than the 35 it used to be but still too long, surely? I don't know many sports where top amateur level has these different rules to make it easier compared to the professional game. We don't have it here in the lower divisions of the NBL.

I'm not sure it helps guys preparing for the pros. I think 24 should be enough for anyone really. But I don't watch much so maybe they do often need longer and the standard of the product would drop with that?

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Cam looks to be getting back into the rotation and both Amari and Tosan had game winning baskets over the weekend too, Jeremy Sochan had possibly his best game of the season too, lots going on recently

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I also saw that the cheapest tickets for coach K’s final home game as Duke coach are over 2 grand, absolute madness

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Jubrile Belo named Big Sky player of the year, As well as defensive player of the year, Ethan Price wins rookie of the year in the same conference

Amari Williams won AAC DPOY, imagine Tosan Evbuomwan will be the Ivy League MVP when it’s announced

I know we’ve been helped by the extra year of eligibility but it seems like a very strong year for Brits in college

[isthaturinal]

I know absolutely nothing about College Ball,
But one thing I do know is I’ll be in Las Vegas between March 28th - April 7th,
So hopefully I can catch some of the games in the many sports bars in all the hotels / Casinos

[LTfan]

Mar 10, 2022 18:28:37 GMT isthaturinal said:

I know absolutely nothing about College Ball,
But one thing I do know is I’ll be in Las Vegas between March 28th - April 7th,
So hopefully I can catch some of the games in the many sports bars in all the hotels / Casinos

Enjoy. The atmosphere will be great, trust me.

[isthaturinal]

Mar 11, 2022 13:08:16 GMT LTfan said:

Mar 10, 2022 18:28:37 GMT isthaturinal said:

I know absolutely nothing about College Ball,
But one thing I do know is I’ll be in Las Vegas between March 28th - April 7th,
So hopefully I can catch some of the games in the many sports bars in all the hotels / Casinos

Enjoy. The atmosphere will be great, trust me.

Thanks, i will do,
I’ve been Vegas many time before, but never when March madness has been on.

[mansfieldmike]

Mar 11, 2022 15:32:49 GMT isthaturinal said:

Mar 11, 2022 13:08:16 GMT LTfan said:

Enjoy. The atmosphere will be great, trust me.

Thanks, i will do,
I’ve been Vegas many time before, but never when March madness has been on.

You can't play poker and watch basketball at the same time m8.

[Deleted]

www.nj.com/sports/2022/03/the-most-interesting-man-in-march-madness-is-drawing-nba-scouts-to-nj.html

Really good and quite long article on Tosan and his career, mentions NBA scouts been looking at him

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Also Montana state I’ve just one there semi-final so I just won came away from March madness

[Deleted]

Princeton miss out on the Ivy league title and subsequently on March madness, a big shame for Tosan, but he absolutely carried them in this game when no one else can make shots, apparently Brad Stevens the Boston Celtics general manager was in attendance today possibly scouting Tosan, he seems to have a real shot at making the NBA whether he stays for his final year at college or not

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They were down 10 with 50 seconds left when I type that, they got it down to 2 and had possession for the final shot but they somehow messed it up so badly they didn’t even get a shot off, absolutely incredibly inept ending to a really good season for them

[hayesboy]

Feb 24, 2022 23:45:38 GMT SamH said:

I don't watch much college ball but what are people's view on the shot clock being 30 seconds? Better than the 35 it used to be but still too long, surely? I don't know many sports where top amateur level has these different rules to make it easier compared to the professional game. We don't have it here in the lower divisions of the NBL.

I'm not sure it helps guys preparing for the pros. I think 24 should be enough for anyone really. But I don't watch much so maybe they do often need longer and the standard of the product would drop with that?

Every so often I try and fail to get into college basketball.

So many people tell me its brilliant but I struggle to see the attraction. Firstly it is the antiquated rules including the 30 second shot clock. Some of the games can be exciting but not always for the right reasons.
The one and done superstars (not to mention those forgoing college for foreign leagues) for me massively dilutes the quality. The NCAA is not about the players, it is about the coaches and that is what needs to change. 30 second offences just play to their vanity.

I think there is a broader question here about the overall entertainment factor of the two most popular basketball competitions - NCAA and NBA. For me the format of FIBA is the best but the quality of the players in the NBA wins out. At the very least I would like to see NCAA adopt FIBA rules as a better preparation for the pro leagues (including the NBA). 

[Deleted]

Nice game winning play involving Cam Hildreth and Matt Marsh yesterday

[Deleted]

There’s NCAA D1 basketball at the Copperbox tomorrow and Saturday, Tosan Evbuomwan and Princeton are headlining the 4 way competition, pretty cool to be having it in London, but I’ve just had a look and the cheapest tickets are nearly £40, incredibly unsurprisingly. It doesn’t look like very many have been sold at all I really wonder what they were thinking with that kind of price point, you could literally go to every Lions game for a month for the same price

The good news for anyone interested in watching it is, it will be streamed on Hoopsfix website