4:03 PM ET Associated Press Isaiah Livers of Michigan, Geo Baker of Rutgers and Jordan Bohannon of Iowa were among the college basketball players pushing for NCAA reforms on social media Wednesday, the day before the tournament tips off. With the hashtag #NotNCAAProperty, players pushed for the association to permit college athletes to earn money
NCAABB
11:06 AM ET For the first time, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, one of America’s favorite sporting events to bet on, will take place in a state with legal bookmakers operating right down the street from where the games are being played. According to figures released Sunday by the American Gaming Association, more than 47
8:30 AM ET The Gonzaga Bulldogs are a clear betting favorite to win the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, as Mark Few’s undefeated group tries to pull off college basketball’s first undefeated season since the Indiana Hoosiers in 1975-76. The Zags are also expected to own the Tournament Challenge consensus when ESPN’s audience has taken
5:15 PM ET The calendar turns to mid-March and the wildest three weeks will follow, filled with heroes and heartache, the improbable and incredible, and maybe even a moment for all time. Ron Hunter falling off his stool when Georgia State beat Baylor. UMBC pulling the upset to end all upsets against No. 1 seed
8:08 PM ET Utah has fired coach Larry Krystkowiak, the school announced Tuesday. Krystkowiak had been in charge of the Utes for 10 seasons. “Today, I informed Head Men’s Basketball Coach Larry Krystkowiak that I am making a change in the leadership of our men’s basketball program,” athletic director Mark Harlan said in a statement.
7:08 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Tuesday that he’s flattered by being mentioned as a candidate for the head-coaching opening at Indiana University but that he’s “extremely grateful” to be the coach of the Celtics. “It means a lot,” Stevens said of the groundswell of support for him to return
3:43 PM ET George Mason men’s basketball coach Dave Paulsen is out after six seasons, sources told ESPN. Paulsen failed to make the NCAA tournament in any of his six seasons at the Fairfax, Virginia school, but finished above .500 in four of his last five seasons. This season, the Patriots finished 13-9 overall and
2:33 PM ET Sister Jean is headed back to March Madness. Loyola-Chicago confirmed Tuesday that Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 101-year-old chaplain for the school’s basketball team, will be in attendance Friday when the Ramblers open the NCAA tournament against Georgia Tech in Indianapolis. The Ramblers won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and are the
2:11 PM ET Kelly CohenESPN Two NCAA tournament stalwarts will be missing from the Big Dance this year. For the first time since 1976, neither Duke nor Kentucky is part of the tournament. That’s a whopping 45 years. For context, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple and released the first Apple computer
2:33 PM ET Sister Jean is headed back to March Madness. Loyola-Chicago confirmed Tuesday that Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the 101-year-old chaplain for the school’s basketball team, will be in attendance Friday when the Ramblers open the NCAA tournament against Georgia Tech in Indianapolis. The Ramblers won the Missouri Valley Conference championship and are the
12:25 PM ET In 2003, the NCAA tournament selection committee erroneously scheduled BYU to potentially play a Sunday game in the second weekend, timing that violated the Mormon school’s policy that prohibits competition on Sundays. At the time, the message from the committee was that it would not happen again. On Sunday, however, the committee
12:34 PM ET Associated Press Gonzaga and Baylor spent almost the entire season holding down the top two spots in the Top 25, so it makes sense they’d hold down a bunch of spots on The Associated Press All-America teams. The Bulldogs’ Corey Kispert and the Bears’ Jared Butler led the way with first-team nods
11:23 AM ET Richard Pitino will be unemployed for less than one day. Pitino, who was fired by Minnesota on Monday night, is expected to be named the next head coach at New Mexico, sources told ESPN. An official announcement is expected soon. Pitino spent eight seasons at Minnesota, going to two NCAA tournaments. The
Mar 15, 2021 Tony Bennett’s five fellow NBA alumni coaching in the 2021 NCAA tournament can only hope Bennett has started a trend. When his Virginia Cavaliers became college basketball’s most recent national champions in April 2019, the ex-Charlotte Hornet Bennett became just the fifth person to both play minutes in a meaningful NBA game
10:32 PM ET ESPN News Services MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota fired Richard Pitino on Monday after the men’s basketball coach compiled a 54-96 regular-season record over eight years in the Big Ten and had only three conference finishes higher than 10th place. The Golden Gophers went 14-15 this season, dropping 11 of their last 14 games.
10:25 PM ET Multiple referees have been sent home from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s controlled environment in Indianapolis due to a positive COVID-19 test and contact tracing, the NCAA said in a statement Monday night. Per the NCAA, one official tested positive on Monday and had interacted with five other officials. All six were
9:52 PM ET Steve Prohm is out as Iowa State‘s men’s basketball coach, the school announced Monday. Prohm and athletic director Jamie Pollard met Monday night and the two sides agreed to “part ways,” the school said. Prohm just finished his sixth season in Ames, and it was his worst campaign since arriving. Iowa State
3:36 PM ET Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — Butler guard Myles Tate will need offseason surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during last week’s Big East tournament. Tate was injured in Thursday’s season-ending loss to No. 20 Creighton. The Bulldogs finished 10-15. Tate made 18 starts and averaged 6.7 points and