Evolution Of College Basketball

Junior Guard Jonathan Norfleet has taken the basketball scene by storm this past season. Maybe he was being taken for granted before but after this season everyone should know his name. Norfleet led Salem all the way to the semifinals in this year’s playoffs. Norfleet has put everyone on notice after he stepped up in many big games this season. Most notable battles were against conference foes in Green Run and Maury where we saw Norfleet is capable of playing with the best talent around. Norfleet has received most of his recognition from the AAU side.

Since Rick Hahn made his decision to rebuild clear, the new names acquired have been building anticipation. The likes of Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, and Reynaldo Lopez have South Side fans thinking big. Adding onto that, the late season success of Carlos Rodon flashed signs of big potential only made the anticipation greater. It is only fair considering not every team has four top-100 pitching prospects. However, the excitement should go beyond just the new faces. Somewhere buried in the Chicago White Sox system are the players that used to hold the label of “the future”. These players have been around only to be eventually overlooked by fans because of the new wave of prospects coming in. The most notable of these players is the glasses wearing, flame throwing right-handed pitcher Carson Fulmer.

“I am happy to see these three recognized for their hard work this season,” head coach Leanne Williamson said. “Together they led our team in many difficult situations and I am proud of their continued desire to get better each day.

The “one and done” has changed college basketball traumatically. The trend of college basketball players wanting to leave the university that they committed to play for four seasons after their freshman year has taken its toll. The style that college basketball the past several seasons is just pathetic compared to the college basketball of previous years. The game is sloppier, the average score is lower, and flat out the game is more boring to watch. This a result from college basketball players not staying until their graduating class of college. These under experienced players are thrown into games because the players before them are now playing in the National Basketball Association, and not for their college. This a problem that can easily

That fall I made a hard decision. I had to decide whether to choose to play football and baseball or just do the select team. Finally, my decision was made, I was going to play baseball instead of playing football. It was hard because it meant that I wouldn’t get to see all of my friends and I would not get to experience the wild Friday nights with the either. As the season came closer and we played our first games I started getting to know everyone better It got easier to know what to do at certain times. When we got close to the end I could remember how much I struggled pitching. There would be times that I would throw amazingly but other times I would completely struggle. After the season was over my mom had forwarded an email to me explaining what an off-season training would be for the people who were on the select

“I’d love Brock to stay, before I came here I was a big fan of the way he played,” Pearce said.

“I’m really excited about this group. This is probably … well, this is the best we’ve been since I’ve been here at that position,” Jim McElwain said. “Obviously, there was some numbers issues as far as just what was there, and that’s nothing against anybody. It just kind of is what it is. You had some guys leave early, you had some guys due to injury that weren’t able to finish out their careers. And yet, that group has consistently gotten a little better. I’ve got to tell you, this spring,

He started out producing promising results, albeit as a setup man, but a hand injury has him headed in for an MRI. Perdomo rolled through June, winning three of his five starting opportunities. He evened his season record at 5-5 after 4 July starts. However, Perdomo appears to be becoming increasingly more hittable, maybe starting to wear down from his first full season at the big league level.

Seniors Dan Clapp, Terrance King, Blair Ramsey, Duane Johnson and Gerald Bridges are five of the most decorated Warriors in ESU’s history, and they played like it in their last regular season game at Koehler Fieldhouse.

            The college basketball program suffers from players leaving early to play in the NBA. College coaches are used to recruiting players, but now they have to concentrate on keeping the players. Many players are leaving college early and now there are few seniors on the teams. "There are no great upperclassmen anymore," said Purdue coach Gene Keady (Curtis). Coaches have begun to develop schemes not just on how to attract star players but also how to keep them. Former Kentucky coach, Rick Pitino, is in favor of making freshmen ineligible for varsity competition. Making freshmen ineligible for varsity competition would make the college program more structured. "Quite frankly I think the college game is in serious trouble. I think the NBA is in serious trouble in the long run," said Pitino.

Also returning is sophomore forward Travis Ward. Ward led the Profs with eight goals last year and 18 total points.

Auburn University's basketball team was caught in a difficult time in earning their spot in the NCAA tournament. For over a decade, Auburn's basketball team has been lacking chemistry and communication within each

The father of the “one and done” player, the student-athletes that commit to a sports program for one year then move on to the professional leagues. This particular team of Calapari’s was extremely talented with athletic, but young players. At times during the season, the team started five freshman which is not seen too often in any sport, and definitely not somewhere like Kentucky where basketball championships are expected. Being a coach at any level is somewhat like being a manager in the work place. In collegiate Division I sports, the pressure to win is extreme and the revenue for the universities can be millions of dollars. Calapari is the head coach of the basketball program and he oversees the basketball staff (assistant coaches) and the student-athletes. His duties range from creating practice plans, to scouting and recruiting players, to public relations for the university and the team, to coaching the players during practice and games. Coach Calipari wears many hats to coach at the University of Kentucky. Any good manager knows that to make a company or team work smoothly it has to be a well-oiled machine, making sure everyone is on the same page through coordination and communication so that goals can be achieved. Calapari knows how to assess his team and make decisions that improve the potential for success. He is constantly analyzing his teams’ strengths and weaknesses prior

Plenty of others could be on this list, including number-2 pick Nolan Patrick, sniper Brock Boeser, OHL MVP Dylan Strome, and Hobey Baker-winner Will Butcher.

The Los Angeles Lakers had to select between D’ Angelo Russel, point guard or a floor general; or Jahlil Okafor, a center that was categorized as an excellent offensive rebounder and a bona-fide inside scorer. Either selection would be the cornerstone for the team’s future, additional free agent signings would be impacted by the selection, as well as the current team roster. Evaluations