Mac is headed…
Georgetown’s loss is
Texas Tech’s gain, Mac McClung Georgetown announced earlier he was leaving
for greener pastures. There was no further indication as to why he came to this decision. McClung’s
3-point shooting improved in his sophomore year however he was hampered by
injuries. The guy that broke Allen Iverson's Virginia high school scoring record chose Texas Tech over several schools.
Who is Leon Rose?
March 2, 2020 the
Knicks announced the hiring of Leon Rose as president of basketball operations. Who is Leon Rose, he is a former sports agent? His client list was quite extensive at one
time, it included Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, and Joel Embiid to name just
a few. We read no indication as to the why
but like the Lakers Rob Pelinka he left the world of sports agent to run an NBA
franchise.
To help Rose was the
hire of a vice president of basketball and strategic planning, an assistant
general manager for college scouting and another assistant for pro scouting. Are these the “baby steps” required to return
the Knicks franchise to a respectable level?
This is a time issue so Rose and staff must be given adequate time to turn the Knicks around. He needs more time than the previous front office gave Coach David Fizdale.
Scouting report
Did Emoni Bates really
pick up a basketball as a three-year old? It is claimed while in the 4th
grade he played against high school seniors in a rec league. Those are stories only his parents can
confirm. This can be documented; Bates received a scholarship offer to DePaul while in the 8th grade. All this basketball acumen came by way of having a basketball playing father as his trainer and it began at an early age.
As Bates prepares
for his junior year at Ypsilanti (MI) Lincoln High School the basketball eyes
of the nation are focused on the 6-foot 9-inch 205 pound forward. As all are aware Lincoln was unable to defend
its championship after the pandemic caused a nation-wide shut down. With Bates leading the way expect Lincoln to
compete for the honor once again. The
season was cut short however Bates managed to be named Gatorade High School Player
of the Year, quite an achievement for a sophomore.
Canadian basketball
You might tend to
believe a contingent of Canadian basketball players headed south every season might
indicate our northern neighbor does not play the game. That is untrue, you must question why talent
heads to the U.S. rather than remain at home.
Largely untrue as well, the vast amount of talent likely remains home in
Canada. Research informs us there are
six Canadian conferences spread across the nation. Beginning on the Pacific Ocean side we have
the Pacific Western Athletic Association consisting of 9 conference school.
Next up is the Alberta
Colleges Athletic Conference with 17 schools in the provinces of Alberta
and Saskatchewan. The Manitoba Colleges
Athletic Conference with its 6 schools and the Ontario Colleges Athletic
Association contains 27 schools.
The Quebec Student Sports
Network with its 32 schools followed by the Atlantic Collegiate
Athletic Association and the 9 schools in its conference. There is a national championship like the
NCAA Championship played every season. So,
there you have it, collegiate basketball is indeed played in Canada.
The Hall of Fame ceremony
The Naismith Hall of
Fame becomes one more victim of the pandemic.
As most are aware the enshrinement ceremony is held annually in August
and that appears out of the question for 2020 based on the current climate. Jerry Colangelo responsible for the
tournament indicates his committee will meet to determine a date for a spring
2021 time. Colangelo also made it known the
Class of 2020 and 2021 will not be combined just because they will be held in
the same calendar year. Our guess a spring 2021 date for the Class of 2021 and later in August the Class of 2021 will be enshrined.
