Just a year ago, Ryan Harrow was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Georgia after averaging 32.4 points, 6.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game at Walton High School (Marietta, Ga.). But after a season in Raleigh, N.C. at NC State, the rising sophomore point guard decided to take his talents elsewhere and transfer to another program. By this Friday, Harrow will make his decision. Read More »

There are a bunch of special dates circled on the Dime calendar – NBA Opening Night, the NBA Draft, All-Star Saturday Night. For us though, none of those dates compare to the first day of the NCAA Tournament. It’s one of those days where we can’t believe how lucky we are that our jobs entail leaving the office to go to a sports bar to watch great college games for hours on end. So yesterday at noon, we hit Wildwood BBQ in the Union Square area for (green) beer, food and madness that included a slew of last-second shots to decide games … The big story from Day 1 of the Tourney is undoubtedly the massive 13-seed Morehead State upset of No.4 Louisville, 62-61. So much for this. You knew something was brewing right from the jump as State raced out to the early lead and then hung with the ‘Ville the entire way. Then with a little more than four seconds to go in the game, down two with the ball, Morehead State’s Demonte Harper raised up in Peyton Siva’s face and drilled a long three from the top of the key. Then Louisville’s Mike Marra had a look from the wing to win the game but had his shot blocked on an incredible defensive play State’s Kenneth Faried, aka “The Next Dennis Rodman” … Read More »

After a disappointing freshman season in which he received 20 DNP-CDs, Kyle Kuric worked hard in the offseason to become a reliable rotation player for Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals last year. This season, he has seen has role increase even more, finishing the year as the Cards’ second-leading scorer at 10.8 points per game, while shooting a sizzling 51.6 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep. If Louisville is going to advance far in this year’s NCAA Tournament, it will certainly need more numbers like these from Kuric as they pursue the school’s first national title since 1986. Read More »

What an end to a great Big East Tournament last night as UConn beat Louisville by three, 69-66, in an intense, up-and-down slugfest at MSG. The battle itself felt like it boiled down to the Kemba Walker/Peyton Siva matchup. Players stepped up on both sides, but it felt like those two were involved in almost every big play, whether it be scoring (Kemba had 19, Siva 13), setting up teammates or keeping the tempo at a blistering pace (they are clearly two of the fastest guards in the nation) … As Kemba was imposing his will in the second half and drawing foul after foul, Jay Bilas relayed that Rick Pitino was telling the refs that “Kemba Walker is not Michael Jordan.” When he was told about Pitino’s quote after the game, Kemba replied, “I’m not Michael Jordan, I’m Kemba Walker”… Kemba finished with 130 points in his five games – a Big East record – and was the easy choice for tourney MVP … So how does this UConn run change the way you look at the Huskies as an NCAA team? Sweet 16? Further? … Think Louisville’s Mike Marra will have nightmares about last night’s game for the rest of his life? Read More »

After yesterday’s win over Notre Dame in the Big East Tournament, we caught up with Louisville’s sharpshooter, Kyle Kuric, in the locker room. Check out what he had to say.

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After yesterday’s win over Marquette in the Big East Tournament, we caught up with Louisville’s leading assist man, Peyton Siva, in the locker room. Check out what he had to say.

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To say the Big East is pretty tough is like saying Wiz Khalifa smokes a little weed sometimes.

While the company line going into this college basketball season said the Big Ten was the strongest conference in the nation, the Big East has reclaimed its rightful place: At the moment, nine of the Big East’s 16 teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, from No. 3 Syracuse to No. 25 Cincinnati. Read More »

Five NCAA teams that got my attention this past weekend for various reasons:

1. Michigan State (7-3) Considering the Detroit Pistons’ fall from NBA grace and Michigan State’s rise to NCAA elite, I’m not sure if Saturday’s doubleheader at The Palace of Auburn Hills was meant to showcase Pistons/Raptors as the main event or the undercard. Before the Pistons blew a 25-point lead and lost their game, the Spartans barely hung on to beat unranked Oakland. Read More »

We argue. You decide.

JOHN CALIPARI (by A. Macaluso) When it comes to family, no one is closer than the Italians. You used to be able to say the same about John Calipari and his predecessor, Rick Pitino. Both coaches have known each other ever since they worked together at Five Star Camp. Both head coaches were actually friends in the beginning, with Pitino helping Calipari land the head coaching position at Massachusetts in 1988. Read More »

As far as personalities go, Tony Wroten Jr. is a star in the making. The Garfield High School (Seattle, Wash.) senior guard is one of the Top-20 prep players in the nation, and only brings more attention to himself with his made-for-TV demeanor off the court.

Wroten is scheduled to announce his college decision on Thursday, but before that, he went on Twitter and put one very famous college coach on blast: Read More »