SWITCH: Mobile | ePaper | Subscribe

Homes Rentals Jobs Autos Contests

Jim O'Connell

Fans decide the best of 75 years of March Madness

Last updated Thursday, April 4, 2013 - 5:52pm

ATLANTA — It doesn’t matter what the final vote totals say, there will be more than one greatest moment and one greatest team. There will even be more than the 15 greatest players.

College basketball fans will still have their own favorites in each category as they look back on 75 years of March Madness.

To commemorate the tournament’s 75th anniversary, the NCAA will release on Friday the results of a fan poll that determined a No. 1 in the greatest moment and greatest team categories and the top 15 players.

College Sports, College basketball, March Madness, NCAA, Sports Read more Comments

High school coaching great Jack Curran dies at 82

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 3:53pm

NEW YORK — Jack Curran spent more than five decades compiling among the best records in high school basketball and baseball.

When former players, opponents and those close to high school sports spoke of him upon learning of his death Thursday at 82, wins and titles didn’t matter. They all spoke of the coach who spent the last half century helping players — and not just those at his school — get scholarships to college.

Prep Sports, Obituary, Prep Baseball, Prep basketball, Sports Read more Comments

SEEDS program making a big impact

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, November 26, 2012 - 3:53pm

NEW YORK — Imagine making the move of your young life twice.

That’s what several young men from Senegal have done. First, they left home just as they became teenagers for Dakar, the nation’s capital, to attend an academy that would prepare them for the next step — the chance to go to the United States and, through basketball, have a chance at a quality education.

College Sports, Africa, College basketball, Sports Read more Comments

4 Hall of Fame coaches honored with Lapchick Award

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - 3:17pm

NEW YORK — Four members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame have been selected as the 2012 recipients of the Lapchick Character Award.

Cathy Rush. C.M. Newton, Morgan Wootten and the late Pete Newell were announced Monday as the coaches to be honored this year with the award named after the Hall of Fame coach and that is presented by a group that includes Joe Lapchick biographer and former player Gus Alfieri. It recognizes those who have shown the character traits of Lapchick, who coached at St. John’s and with the New York Knicks.

College Sports, Prep Sports, Pro Basketball, Sports Read more Comments

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) Syracuse forward Kris Joseph (left) and center Baye Keita (12) can't stop Ohio State center Amir Williams (23) as he dunks during the first half Saturday in Boston. Ohio State won 77-70.

Top seed Syracuse loses 77-70 to No. 2 Ohio State

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 10:56am

BOSTON — Ohio State coach Thad Matta sized up his team in the middle of the season and had it figured for an early loss when the NCAA tournament came around.

The final weekend of March Madness is next, and the Buckeyes will be there.

Jared Sullinger recovered from first-half foul trouble to score 19 points and grab seven rebounds, helping Ohio State beat top-seeded Syracuse 77-70 on Saturday to advance to the Final Four in New Orleans. The second-seeded Buckeyes will play the winner of Sunday’s Midwest Regional final between North Carolina and Kansas.

College Sports, College basketball, Sports, Basketball Read more Comments

Longtime hoops guru hosts one more clinic

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, September 29, 2011 - 6:09pm

NEW YORK -- A lot of nicknames garner instant attention in college basketball. There's Coach K. Magic was in college before the NBA. Don't forget The General, the Vs, Dickie and Jimmy, and Pistol Pete.

Sports, Basketball Read more Comments

Carril, Phelan, Ryan to receive Lapchick Award

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, August 23, 2011 - 8:13pm

NEW YORK -- Three coaches whose careers were marked by longevity, loyalty and success have been chosen as this year's recipients for the Lapchick Character Award,

Hall of Famer Pete Carril of Princeton, Jim Phelan of Mount St. Mary's and Debbie Ryan of Virginia will receive the award Nov. 17 at Madison Square Garden, it was announced last week.

Sports, Basketball, NBA Read more Comments

College coaches fighting cancer

Jim O'Connell, The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, May 14, 2011 - 7:23pm

NEW YORK -- Coaches vs. Cancer has become more than a fundraising organization. It is trying to raise awareness about the disease.

Both were on display Thursday.

Several college coaches, including Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, were on hand in midtown Manhattan for a meet-and-greet that would help fill the organization's coffers.

College Sports, College basketball, Sports, Basketball Read more Comments

BYU's Fredette earns AP award

Jim O'Connell, The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, April 1, 2011 - 8:07pm

HOUSTON -- Jimmer Fredette became a one-name star in his senior season at BYU.

Leading the country in scoring helped as did being on a team that spent the second half of the season ranked in the top 10.

College Sports, BYU Cougars, College basketball, Sports, Basketball, Featured Read more Comments

Fredette wins Oscar, leads 2011 All-America hoopsters

Jim O'Connell The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 12:18am

Seniors dominated The Associated Press All-America team for the first time in five years.

BYU Cougars, Jimmer Fredette Read more Comments

Jimmer leads AP All-America team

Jim O'Connell, The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 28, 2011 - 3:13pm

Senior guards Jimmer Fredette of BYU and Nolan Smith of Duke are the leading vote-getters on The Associated Press All-America team.

Freshman Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, junior guard Kemba Walker of Connecticut and senior forward JaJuan Johnson of Purdue also are on the team announced Monday.

Fredette, the nation's leading scorer, received all but one of 65 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25. Smith, who led the Blue Devils to a No. 1 ranking for 10 weeks this season, got 61 votes.

Fredette is BYU's first All-America since Danny Ainge in 1981. Smith is Duke's fifth since 2000; two of them were repeat first-teamers.

Sullinger is the seventh freshman All-America in the last five years.

College Sports, BYU Cougars, College basketball, Mountain West Conference, Sports, Basketball Read more Comments

Fredette leads AP All-America team

Jim O'Connell, The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 28, 2011 - 2:31pm

Seniors dominated The Associated Press All-America team for the first time in five years.

Jimmer Fredette of BYU, Nolan Smith of Duke and JaJuan Johnson of Purdue, all seniors, were joined on the team Monday by junior Kemba Walker of Connecticut and freshman Jared Sullinger of Ohio State.

It's the most seniors since four made the 2006 team.

Fredette led the nation in scoring at 28.5 points per game while shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range, a number more impressive because of the shots he lets fly from well behind the line.

He received all but one vote from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly Top 25. The voting was done before the NCAA tournament.

All-America, BYU Cougars, College basketball, Jimmer Fredette, Sports Read more Comments

Ohio State runaway No. 1 in AP's final men's poll; BYU finishes at No. 9, with Utah State at No. 19

Jim O'Connell, The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, March 14, 2011 - 2:40pm

Ohio State, Kansas and Duke were the only teams ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press' college basketball poll this season, and they were among nine teams in the Top 25 from start to finish.

Ohio State (32-2), the overall No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament, led the poll for the third straight week and eighth overall. The Big Ten regular-season and tournament champions received 51 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel Monday.

Kansas (32-2) was No. 1 for one week this season. The Jayhawks, which won both Big 12 titles, drew the other 14 first-place votes and were second for the third straight week.

BYU Cougars, College basketball, Mountain West Conference, Sports, Utah State Aggies, Western Athletic Conference, College Read more Comments