With UConn facing Kentucky in the Final Four this Saturday, you knew alumni were going to come out to support. So as part of Nike Sportswear’s “Bring On The Roar” campaign, watch Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins talk about what playing for the Huskies and Wildcats means to them. Oh yeah, and Rudy was stuck in a closet during a tornado in Memphis.

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Last night in Chicago was definitely an exciting one in McDonald’s All American Game history as more than 20,000 fans (an all-time record) came out to the United Center to watch 48 of the nation’s best players put on a show. But with the East squad for both the Girls and Boys coming out victorious, our ultra-competitive friend Austin Rivers wasn’t in the mood for one last update after taking the L. Instead, with the Final Four just days away, we caught up with future Kentucky Wildcats Michael Gilchrist (who took home the MVP) and Bria Goss who both returned to the hotel with a big win.

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While at the Knicks-Magic game a couple nights ago, I was privileged to experience firsthand a rookie hard at work. No, it wasn’t Landry Fields‘ three-point, four-rebound performance in the OT thriller; I’m talking about work of a different variety. Away from the hardwood, in the Magic locker room after the game, 6-10, 255-pound rookie Daniel Orton – draped in his Sunday’s finest – was doing his best impression of Geoffrey, the butler from Fresh Prince. Not only was he cleaning out the locker of Gilbert Arenas, carrying Earl Clark’s tote bag and moving chairs out of the way for reporters, but he even waited ‘til the bitter end to collect Dwight Howard’s Louis Vuitton toiletry bag after he was finished his postgame interviews. A spectacle to say the least. Read More »

If you’ve been checking the hardwood during March Madness, you’ve most likely noticed that a ton of guys are wearing the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse. With that said, check out what Nike Basketball put together for Kentucky this season. Maybe it’s the colorway, or maybe it’s the school logo on the side, but either way I like it. Check ‘em out: Read More »

Words. Julian Caldwell

Conspicuously absent from this year’s Final Four are the top seeds that steamed rolled their way through the regular season. Instead, you see teams that struggled to perform like elite squads and drew questions of whether they even deserved tournament bids.

Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Pittsburgh, the four No. 1 seeds, came into the Big Dance with a combined 13 losses. Butler, Connecticut, Kentucky and Virginia Commonwealth go into the Final Four with nearly triple that number. Read More »

Earlier in the day on Monday, Carmelo Anthony characterized last night’s Knicks/Magic game as an “almost must win” for New York. Then he and his teammates went out and played with a desperate urgency that’s been lacking, well, since ‘Melo showed up in NYC and outlasted Orlando in overtime, 113-106 … Carmelo wasn’t just his team’s leading scorer last night, he was a true leader. He went for a game-high 39 points, attacked the glass (10 rebounds), and even sort of looked to pass to teammates before he got bogged down over-dribbling or holding the ball. And on top of that, he was busting his ass on defense. There were whole sequences where Carmelo was all over Ryan Anderson (!) when Anderson had the ball at half court. ‘Melo was moving his feet, fighting for positioning, boxing out, the whole nine … The bad part for Knicks fans is obvious: Read More »

What a game in Oklahoma City last night between the Thunder and the Blazers. It was a battle that had playoff intensity, physicality and atmosphere, great individual performances, and we saw the young core of a burgeoning NBA juggernaut take a formative step forward in their development. When it got down to winning time, the Thunder’s offense resorted to a two-man game focusing on Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook running pick-and-pops and taking turns on isos and clearouts. Westbrook (28 points) ended up as the closer, burying three monster treys down the stretch to give OKC the 99-90 win … This season, it absolutely feels like the Thunder are starting to belong to KD and Russ (have you seen Russel’s kicks?), as opposed to just being Kevin Durant and a bunch of sidekicks. Everyone can feel it, including those two. Case in point, Read More »

John Calipari is spoiled. Quit being selfish, Cal – Do you really have to snatch up every great guard? Y’all know the lineup. Rose. Evans. Wall. Brandon Knight ain’t on that level. But he left his mark last night … In perhaps the best game of the tournament, Knight hit the game-winning jumper with five seconds left to give Kentucky an insane upset win over the number-one overall seed Ohio State, 62-60. Knight (9 points) had already beaten Princeton with a game-winner last weekend. But this was different. This was a Sweet 16, best team in the nation, Lottery-screaming pull-up. Chuck said Kentucky played a perfect game. Read More »

As the NCAA Tournament field was announced, we wanted hit you with some initial thoughts on the seedings and matchups. We will have a lot more content coming your way in terms of previews, features and more in-depth analysis, but this is what struck me off the bat. Let us know what you think and stay tuned for more…

- The four No. 1 seeds make total sense: Ohio State (No. 1 overall seed), Kansas, Pitt, and Duke. After watching all of these teams one after another this past week, it seems absurd to think of the other potential high seeds, specifically Notre Dame or San Diego State, as being among the top 4. The only legit case would have been North Carolina. They split the first two games with Duke and won the ACC regular season, but after getting cracked this afternoon, they more than took themselves out of the equation. Read More »

There were a bunch of standout plays in the wild game between Ole Miss / Kentucky last night, but maybe none more impressive than Reginald Buckner’s swat on Brandon Knight’s serious dunk attempt (one of five blocks for Buckner on the night).

Make no mistake, Read More »