It wasn’t long ago when what was the Pac-10 had teams that ran out rosters with multiple NBA stars-in-the-making. The 2008 NBA Draft class contained 12 players from the Pac-10, and that meant there was the talent and notoriety for the league to send more than half of its teams to the NCAA Tournament.

The UCLA Bruins were the dominating factor, making the Final Four for three consecutive seasons from 2006-08. Kevin Love, Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook beat up on squads with guys like O.J. Mayo and Jerryd Bayless. But since then, those talents have been bleeding into the NBA, leading to a weak reputation and poor postseason showings. Read More »

If you have an older sibling, maybe you know how Oregon’s E.J. Singler feels. They’re always a step ahead, always a tad stronger, always setting expectations high. When you do accomplish something, they never fail to overshadow you anyway.

But imagine being in a hoops-driven family, following in the footsteps of Duke All-American Kyle Singler. There were the McDonald’s honors out of high school and a ride to play for one of the most heralded programs for a coach who only goes by a letter for a last name.

That was sophomore E.J. Singler’s life. He’s not sorry about it either. Read More »

Last night, the University of Oregon played their first game at the brand new Matthew Knight Arena, and the festivities were awesome. But before the game even began, the Ducks tweeted out a picture of their exclusive Nike Zoom Hyperfuse that make me want to enroll in grad school in Eugene. Read More »

You may have seen the original images released a while back showing the Tinker Hatfield-designed basketball court at the University of Oregon‘s brand new Matthew Knight Arena, where, from a certain angle, a spectator gets the feeling that he/she is staring up at treetops from the forest floor.

Last night, the guy who runs the Twitter feed @NikeBlog.com posted some pictures of the floor and the arena after taking an exclusive tour of the building. I posted one of them on my Twitter account last night to see what kind of response it got and there was no middle ground – only extremes of love and hate. Check out the pics and let us know what you think… Read More »

On the final High School Hoop national Top 50 list that includes 2010 seniors, Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) forward C.J. Leslie ranks 10th overall. Throughout the year, C.J. agreed to give HSH and Dime exclusive access and chronicle his thoughts in a bi-monthly diary about the recruiting process and his high school season. In an excerpt from his latest entry, C.J. — having recently signed with N.C. State over Kentucky, UConn, UCLA, Oregon and Florida — talks about the NBA Finals, and preparing for the next step at State: Read More »

On Friday, Jefferson High School (Portland, Ore.) teammates Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross, both seniors, held a joint press conference to announce their college decision.

Ross, a 6-6 wing who had originally committed to Maryland while he was playing at Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), had since de-committed and yesterday chose Washington. Jones, a 6-9 All-American who can play anything from two-guard to power forward, also chose Washington. Read More »

Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) forward C.J. Leslie is a Top-10 prospect nationally. Previously committed to N.C. State, Leslie re-opened his recruiting and has opted to wait until the spring to decide on a college. That alone makes his one of the most intriguing stories in the 2010 class, and Leslie also happens to be one of its most exciting players. C.J. has agreed to give Dime and High School Hoop exclusive access in a regular diary about his season and the recruiting process as he inches closer to a decision. For his latest entry, C.J. has brought in fellow Class of 2010 star Ryan Harrow to help him out. Here’s an excerpt: Read More »

Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) forward C.J. Leslie is a Top-10 prospect nationally. Previously committed to N.C. State, Leslie recently re-opened his recruiting and has opted to wait until the spring to decide on a college. That alone makes his one of the most intriguing stories in the 2010 senior class, and Leslie also happens to be one of its most exciting players. C.J. has agreed to give Dime and High School Hoop exclusive access in a bi-monthly diary about his season and the recruiting process as he inches closer to a decision. Here’s an excerpt from his latest entry: Read More »

Here are five guys who are balling with the best of the West, but you probably couldn’t pick them out of a lineup.

Klay Thompson, Washington State (Sophomore) It’s interesting that one of the Pac-10’s best players and current NCAA leading scorers is not publicized more. I guess that’s what happens when you ball in Pullman, Washington. Read More »

In case you missed it when Oregon RB LaGarrette Blount walked over to Boise State DL Byron Hout and punched him in the face, here you go.