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College Basketball Preview: SMU Mustangs
SMU Mustangs 21-22 Record: 24-9Conference Record: 13-4 (AAC) Last Year’s Stats:Scoring: 73.8Scoring Defense: 67.1Rebounding Margin: +0.7Turnover Margin: -0.5Assists: 13.8Shooting Percentage: 44.03-pt Percentage: 35.4Free Throw Percentage: 75.0 What To Look Out For: New look team under head coach Rob LanierTim Jankovich announced his retirement from the program after six seasons and Coach Rob...
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College Basketball Preview: Memphis Tigers
Memphis Tigers 21-22 Record: 22-11Conference Record: 13-5 (AAC) Last Year’s Stats:Scoring: 75.2Scoring Defense: 68.3Rebounding Margin: +6.1Turnover Margin: -1.5Assists: 15.8Shooting Percentage: 46.93-pt Percentage: 35.5Free Throw Percentage: 69.4 What To Look Out For: Adding Kendric Davis was big for MemphisMemphis lost a lot of talent from last year that they will be looking to replace and one...
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College Basketball Preview: East Carolina Pirates
East Carolina Pirates 21-22 Record: 15-15Conference Record: 6-11 (AAC) Last Year’s Stats:Scoring: 68.4Scoring Defense: 70.9Rebounding Margin: -1.0Turnover Margin: -0.1Assists: 14.7Shooting Percentage: 40.63-pt Percentage: 33.3Free Throw Percentage: 75.4 What To Look Out For: Rebuilding year for the Pirates?The Pirates have struggled to put together strong seasons in the past as a program and now...
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College Basketball Preview: Cincinnati Bearcats
Cincinnati Bearcats 21-22 Record: 18-15Conference Record: 7-11 (AAC) Last Year’s Stats:Scoring: 69.4Scoring Defense: 65.9Rebounding Margin: -0.3Turnover Margin: +2.0Assists: 13.1Shooting Percentage: 40.43-pt Percentage: 31.5Free Throw Percentage: 66.9 What To Look Out For: Key returners look to lead the chargeCincinnati returns a nice array of talent from last year, especially at the guard...
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College Basketball Preview: Houston Cougars
Houston Cougars Marcus Sasser 21-22 Record: 32-6Conference Record: 15-3 (AAC) Last Year’s Stats:Scoring: 74.8Scoring Defense: 58.8Rebounding Margin: +7.0Turnover Margin: +3.0Assists: 16.2Shooting Percentage: 46.53-pt Percentage: 33.8Free Throw Percentage: 66.7 What To Look Out For: What will Marcus Sasser bring this year, and can he stay healthy?Sasser, a 6’2 senior guard for Houston, was...
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ACC Player Watch: Louisville’s El Ellis
Player: El EllisClass: SeniorPosition: Guard Last Year’s Stats: Cardinal fans were excited to get one of the top JUCO prospects in El Ellis last year and the guard really excelled with his opportunity, as Ellis averaged 8.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game while shooting nearly 40 percent from the floor and 36 percent from three. He also saw action in 32 games. Ellis...
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ACC Player Watch: Georgia Tech’s Miles Kelly
Player: Miles KellyClass: SophomorePosition: Guard Last Year’s Stats: Last year, Kelly was able to ample experience and playing time, seeing action in 30 games and seeing his minutes increase late in the season. But in the end, the freshman averaged 4.5 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game while shooting 41 percent from the floor and 35 percent from three. Having been able to...
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Tennessee continues to make the Carolinas a high priority in recruiting
The recruiting world continues to heat up, with many players part of the Class of 2023 announcing their commitment early before the high school season starts. There certainly isn’t a lack of talent around the region and one thing that we have noticed is that the coaching staff at Tennessee has made the Carolinas a priority, continuing to find success on the recruiting road. The Volunteers...
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Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV could be one that pops up on a few draft boards
College basketball is right around the corner and with that coming, we are starting to get a look at teams and players early on. This only starts the talk about the upcoming NBA Drafts and who could be names you might be hearing down the road as well. One player that I’m personally interested in watching this year at Arkansas will be Ricky Council IV, who started his college career at...
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ACC Player Watch: Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland
Player: Matthew ClevelandClass: SophomorePosition: Guard Last Year’s Stats: Coming in as a freshman, Cleveland was a highly touted prospect that many were excited to see what he could do early on. The young man didn’t disappoint, as he played in 29 games and started in eight, eventually averaging 11.5 points per game. Now, the 6’7 guard from Georgia returns for his sophomore year and...
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POB’s Takeaways: Kentucky vs. Dominican Republic
Photo Courtesy: Kentucky Athletics Was extremely impressed with sophomore Daimion Collins, the 6’9 prospect from Texas. After averaging just under three points last year, this could be a breakout-type season for the sophomore. His explosiveness and bounce caught the eyes of many, finishing at the rim, but it was his overall impact in my opinion that impressed. Not only finishing at the rim but...
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South Carolina finding recruiting success with talent in its own backyard
The recruiting world has been heating up with players around the country. Around our area of the country, talent has continued to run deep around the Carolinas. However, one thing that has been noticeable over the years in the past is that South Carolina hasn’t had huge success with securing the talent around and getting them to stay home. But that could be changing and changing QUICKLY! The...
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ACC Player Watch: Duke’s Jeremy Roach
Player: Jeremy RoachClass: JuniorPosition: Point Guard Last Year’s Stats: Roach may have started out a little slow but started to really elevate his play towards the end of the season, playing a critical role for the Blue Devils. In the end, he averaged 8.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and shot 41 percent from the floor. Once again though, the Blue Devils will look quite different...
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ACC Player Watch (2022-23): Clemson’s PJ Hall
Player: PJ HallClass: Junior Last Year’s Stats: Last year, Hall was off the charts, leading the Tigers in several categories. He finished the season playing in 30 games while averaging an impressive 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and shooting 49.3 percent from the floor. The rise of PJ Hall in the last two years has been fun to watch. Coming out of high school, one could see...
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ACC Player Watch (2022-23): Boston College’s Jaeden Zackery
Player: Jaeden ZackeryClass: Sophomore Last Year’s Stats: 10.4 points per game, 3.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals, shot 46.3 percent from the floor and 47.7 percent from three. Averaged 34.5 minutes per game and played in 33 games College basketball will be here before you know it but, in all honesty, I can’t wait that long. That is why we are talking about it here in the summer. We...
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College of Charleston making its presence felt around the region and in North Carolina
The months of June and July are big opportunities for not only players but for college programs to make their presence felt with prospects around the country. One program that we certainly will have our eyes on a little more is the College of Charleston, as they have made their presence very well known, especially with how they have been recruiting the state of North Carolina. Looking over...
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DJ Burns transferring to NC State
The transfer portal has been a fascinating development over the last few weeks, with players announcing where they will be playing next and programs adding key pieces for next year’s team. NC State has had an up and down kind of offseason, with playing transferring and others possibly entering their name into the NBA Draft. But one thing is for sure, the Wolfpack needed talent. On...
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Illinois continuing its role on the recruiting trail
The recruiting news around the country has certainly been busy and one program has really made a big splash in the 2022 class and now even more in the future. Illinois has been a premier program, a top-25 team, on the national stage over the years and it doesn’t seem like they are slowing down, as the staff has done an exceptional on the recruiting trail. Currently, they have landed four...
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Winston-Salem State Adds Two Major Pieces
The word “rare” doesn’t even begin to describe how uncommon it is to see a player transfer from high-major to Division II. Not negative or a bad thing—just incredibly atypical. Well, that’s exactly what happened when Jaylon Gibson announced his decision to transfer from North Carolina State to Winston-Salem State. This initial domino was the first, and possibly most shocking, subplot of the...
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Transfer Portal Player Spotlight: Carter Whitt
Name: Carter WhittSchool: Wake ForestClass: Freshman 2021-22: This past season, Whitt got a full season on his belt, playing in 31 games and starting three of them. He averaged around 12 minutes of play and averaged 1.7 points per game, 1.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.3 steals per game. He came in early to Winston-Salem, as he got a chance to play in 19 games and start 10 of them in...
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Wingate Secures Two Major Commitments
On Wednesday, the Wingate University’s Men’s Basketball Team undoubtedly improved after Josh Massey and Kyle Honore announced their respective commitments to the program. The Bulldogs are coming off a (21-8) season and fourth-place finish in the prestigious South Atlantic Conference (SAC)–their highest mark in both categories since the 2016-17 season. Something has clearly changed in the...
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Transfer Portal Player Spotlight: Manny Bates
Name: Manny BatesSchool: NC StateClass: Redshirt Junior 2020-21: It was a rough year for the big man who was injured on the first play from scrimmage against Bucknell, which made him miss the entire year at NC State. Before this season though, Bates was coming off a sophomore season in which he started 23 of 26 games and averaged 9.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and recorded 64 blocks. Before that in...
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Phenom Hoops Alums all throughout the Final Four
The Final Four is set, with what many would and should consider four blue bloods all battling it out to be crowned a champion down in New Orleans. North Carolina and Duke will square off on one side of the bracket for the first time EVER in the NCAA Tournament, while Villanova and Kansas battle it out on the other side once again, as Nova holds a 2-1 record against Kansas in the NCAA...
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Transfer Portal Player Spotlight: Brandon Murray
Name: Brandon MurraySchool: LSUClass: Freshman 2020-21: Though a freshman, Murray had a very strong campaign to start his college career at LSU, averaging 10 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while shooting 42 percent from the court and 34 percent from three. Murray is going to be an interesting target in the transfer portal, as I personally think he should and will be highly...
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Transfer Portal Player Spotlight: Alex Tchikou
Name: Alex TchikouSchool: AlabamaClass: Redshirt Freshman 2020-21: Ruptured his Achilles tendon prior to the start of the season and was forced to sit out the year as a medical redshirt. This past season, Tchikou only saw six minutes of play, with his last game coming in November. Though Tchikou hasn’t had the start to his college career that he would have liked, the former four-star 6’11 should...
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Transfer Portal Player Spotlight: Cam Hayes
Name: Cam HayesSchool: NC StateClass: Sophomore 2021-2022 Season: Hayes played in 32 games, starting 13 of them. He averaged 20.9 minutes per game, averaging 7.0ppg, 2.3rpg, 2.1apg, and 0.8spg. Career: 55 games played, 27 career starts, 35.5 FG%, 7.3ppg, 2.3rpg, 2.5apg, 1.0spg It will be interesting to see who is able to land the former Top-100 prospect in Cam Hayes. Hayes has...
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Showing his potential: Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee)
If you followed Phenom Hoops over the years, you had to have heard the name Jonas Aidoo from when he played at Voyager Academy to his time shining with Team Curry and Liberty Heights last year. Now, the big man is starting to show what he could be for the Vols in the coming years and it has fans excited. Though Aidoo missed some time early on, the 7-foot freshman has been coming along...
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Queens University of Charlotte looking to go D1
It was recently announced by Jon Rothstein that Queens University of Charlotte, which has been a dominant Division II program on the basketball court, will vote this week on a possible transition to Division I. Sources: Queens University of Charlotte (Division II) will vote this week on a possible transition to Division 1. Have received interest from the Atlantic Sun, Big South, and...
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Soph. Jalen Cone shining at Northern Arizona
Phenom Hoops continues to shed light on players having a terrific career at the next level and we now turn our focus to a guard that once played in the ACC is now shining in a big way at Northern Arizona. Soph. 5’11 Jalen Cone is a name many will remember from his time at Walkertown high school in North Carolina, where he was a show waiting to happen every time he stepped on the court. At...
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Jr. Demetric Horton (NC A&T) continuing to prove himself
It is hard to believe how long it has been since watching Demetric Horton on the high school courts of Garner high school and with WCBA. But he has really put in the work to get where he is now, as he is now a primary starter at North Carolina A&T. When you look at his journey after his time in North Carolina at Garner, Horton first played at Cape Fear CC where he averaged 10.5ppg,...
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