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Entries marked with "Ncaa Basketball"

European Basketball Signings This Week

There were several big name signees throughout Europe from various NCAA, NBA, and Euroleague teams this week...

SPAIN

Barcelona resigned Pete Mickeal (Cincy).  Mickeal was a key contributor to the FCB success this past season.

CB Granada signed Russian forward Yaroslav Korolev who was a 1st Round Draft Pick (LAC) and recently played in the NBA Summer League Las Vegas.

Real Madrid signed center D'Or Fischer, last at Maccabi Tel Aviv.  This is a good pick up for RM.

Basquet Menorca signed 2-time MVP of LEB Gold, Joakim Donaldson.

Valladolid signed Jason Robinson, last with Melilla Baloncesto (LEB Gold).

Caja Laboral signed Marcus Haislip.  Hoping to ease the loss of All-EL performer Tiago Splitter who went to the San Antonio Spurs (NBA).

Gran Canaria 2014 signed Spencer Nelson, last at Peristeri.

Gran Canaria also signed Taurean Green (Florida) to a two-year contract.

Menorca Basquet signed Rafa Huertas, who last played at CB Melilla.

Murcia signed Taj Gray, last at Chalon in France.  A good sign for the LEB Gold team.

GERMANY

The Artland Dragons signed Boston College PG Tyrese Rice, a lefty scoring guard who last played for Panionios.  A good acquisition for the new coach.

The Dragons also signed Bryan Bailey who played last season for EWE Baskets Oldenburg.

Telekom Baskets Bonn signed Arizona’s Nick Wise.

ISRAEL

Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv signed Alabama’s Mikhail Torrance who played very well in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.

Nymburk signed Chester "Tre" Simmons, who had a nice season last year at Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel.

Galil Gilboa signed Tyler Wilkerson (Marshall)

Maccabi Rishon signed Denis Clemente (Kansas State/Puerto Rico).

Another note from Israeli basketball: The Tokyo Apache (Japan) signed former San Diego high school player Jeremy Tyler, who left school early and played a portion of the season with Maccabi Haifa in Israel.  He left the team late in the year after not playing very much.

ITALY

Siena signed point guard Bo McCalebb to a three year deal who is coming off a great season.

Verona (site of Romeo and Juliet's balcony) signed shooter/"point guard" A.J. Abrams from Texas.

Scavolini Pesaro has signed Morris Almond, last at Real Madrid...the experiment apparently didn't work out.

Montepaschi Siena signed Rimas Kaukenas, last at Real Madrid.

Montepaschi Siena signed former Oregon Duck and San Antonio Spurs SG Malik Hairston to a two year deal...he joins Maarty Leunen & Luke Jackson as Ducks in Italy.

Scavolini Pesaro signed USC’s Daniel Hackett.

Sutor Montegranaro signed Bobby Jones (UW). 

TURKEY

Bornova re-signed Tennessee’s Tyler Smith.

Aliaga Petkim signed Cal’s Jerome Randle who was MVP of the PIT in Portsmouth but curiously played for the Washington Wizards (John Wall) in the NBA Summer League Las Vegas.

Aliaga Petkim signed Houston’s Aubrey Coleman.

Efes Pilsen signed Lawrence Roberts to a one-year contract.  Roberts is coming off a nice year with Partizan.

Chris Denker is Managing Partner of NetScouts and can be followed on Twitter @chrisdenker.

 

WAC Basketball Tournament Format Changed

Move to Las Vegas is not the only change.

DENVER--Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson announced today that the league will change its postseason men's and women's basketball tournament format, effective for the 2011 tournament.

The change was recommended by both the WAC men's and women's basketball coaches and approved by the WAC Board of Directors earlier this summer.

The change will reward teams based on regular season success, giving the top two teams byes into the tournament semifinals.

Under the format:

• the tournament will begin on Wednesday with two men's and two women's games featuring the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and No. 6 versus No. 7.
• The winners then advance to Thursday's quarterfinal matchups to play the No. 4 and No. 3 seeds.
• The winners of those games then advance to Friday's semifinals against the top two seeds.

The change also results in two men's and two women's games being played each day of the tournament except for Saturday, which will feature the men's and women's championship games.

The 2011 WAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will be held March 9-12 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will include the top eight teams in the regular-season standings. Ticket information will be available soon at www.wacsports.com.

Pepperdine and UCLA to Meet in NIT Basketball Tourney

PEPPERDINE MEETS UCLA IN NIT SEASON TIP-OFF FIRST ROUND

MALIBU, Calif. – The National Invitation Tournament officially announced the field for its 16-team Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off today, and the Pepperdine men’s basketball team will head over to UCLA and face the Bruins in its first-round matchup on November 15. 

The other West Region game at Pauley Pavilion features Nevada and Pacific. The winners and losers will square off one day later on November 16. 

The NIT assures each school of four games. The four winners of each region will move on to New York City and Madison Square Garden for the semifinals (Nov. 24) and finals (Nov. 26), while the highest remaining seeds will host four-team consolation events on November 22-23.

In the West Region, UCLA is the #4 seed and Nevada is the #8 seed. 

The North Region features #1 Villanova vs. Marist and #7 George Washington vs. Boston University, the East Region has #3 Wake Forest vs. Hampton and #5 VCU vs. Winthrop and the South Region consists of #2 Tennessee vs. Belmont and #6 Missouri State vs. Arkansas State. 

"This Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off set high standards early on and has consistently showcased the best in college basketball,” said Newton, who is a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame. “This year's field can certainly hold its own against any of the previous 25 we've had. Half of the field is coming off 20-plus win seasons and several fell just below that mark. We look forward to a competitive tournament.”

This will be Pepperdine’s third appearance in the NIT Season Tip-Off. The Waves lost in the first round in both 1985 (the inaugural event) to Kansas and in 2000 to Indiana. Back then, teams were eliminated from the competition with one loss. 

The Waves visited Pauley Pavilion last year for the first time since 2004-05, and UCLA came away with a 71-52 victory. 

The 2010-11 Pepperdine squad will have its most veteran team in the past several years with 13 returning lettermen, 10 of whom are seniors or juniors. All five starters are back and the returning players account for 100% of last year’s 2,044 points scored. The Waves will look to improve upon a 7-24 record and a tie for sixth place in the West Coast Conference. 

Pepperdine starts the 2010-11 season with a home exhibition against La Verne on November 5, and begins the regular season at Portland State on November 12. The Waves’ official home opener is against CSU Bakersfield on November 20.

West Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Schedule Released

WCC ANNOUNCES MEN’S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE 

MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men’s basketball team will open its West Coast Conference schedule at home against San Diego and Saint Mary’s and its February 16 game at rival Loyola Marymount will be televised on ESPNU, the league office announced today. 

The first half of conference action will see the Waves play five of seven games at home. After hosting San Diego (January 6) and Saint Mary’s (January 8), Pepperdine will make its only road trip of the month with contests at Gonzaga (January 13) and Portland (January 15). It’s then back to Malibu for a three-game homestand against LMU (January 22), Santa Clara (January 27) and San Francisco (January 29). 

The schedule reverses at the midway point and the Waves then finish with five of seven on the road, beginning at Saint Mary’s (February 3) and San Diego (February 5).

Pepperdine’s final home weekend comes against Portland (February 10) and Gonzaga (February 12), and the Waves finish up with three road contests: the ESPNU contest at LMU (February 16), at San Francisco (February 24) and at Santa Clara (February 26). 

The Zappos.com WCC Championships will again be held in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena from March 4-7.