I was convinced Tyrese Haliburton was going to be a star.

I was surprised that Billy Owens did not make it.

There are a few soccer fans on this board. Time for another great international tournament. As the tournament began, France, England and I believe Germany were the favorites. England has been pretty u derwhelming. France was disappointing in their match with The Dutch.

The two most impressive teams have been Germany and new-look Spain. Spain with an extremely young team with a 16 yr old starter now has speed on the wings. This has opened the offense wide open. After two matches I think Spain and Germany have looked too notch.

South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men's soccer head coach Andreas Lindberg has announced the addition of two individuals to his coaching staff ahead of the 2024 season. Nico Andersen has been hired as an assistant coach, and Irvin Zuzic has joined the program as director of operations.

Andersen returns to Seton Hall where he spent his senior season with the Pirates in 2018. He started 14 of the 15 games he appeared in that season, registering a goal and three assists on the campaign. Andersen followed Lindberg to South Orange after playing the first three seasons of his college career under him at LIU Post. Since graduating from Seton Hall, Andersen has spent the last five years as the head of performance at Metropolitan Oval Academy in Queens. He oversaw the creating and structuring strength and conditioning curriculum for the academy's 240+ players.

Zuzic was a four-year member of the men's soccer program at East Stroudsburg University from 2016-19, tallying 17 goals and 14 assists in 53 career matches. Upon finishing his playing career, Zuzic got his first coaching gig as a graduate assistant with ESU as he completed his master's degree in communications. Zuzic has spent the last three years as the director of administration at Colonial Sports Group in Southampton, N.Y.

The Pirates open their 2024 season on Thursday, Aug. 22 in Miami with a matchup against FIU.

By Zack Cziryak

TROVE: You talk about this roster, and I can say I'm intrigued after it's all shaken out with maybe the NIL budget being spread out across a greater number of contributors compared to concentrating on a few great/more expensive players. Is this the way Holloway wants to build a roster in this day and age?

FANTA: “I think this upcoming year's team is how he likes to construct his teams. He's got depth. Garwey Dual is a really talented combo guard who's got high upside. Chaunce Jenkins had a good run at ODU and is going to help his team on the perimeter in a big way. Scotty Middleton, I think the sky is the limit for Scotty. I think Scotty Middleton was a money, money addition by Shaheen Holloway and his staff. That was a dead-on, great fit, a kid that was previously recruited by the Hall. 6’7”, looking for something to prove, chip on his shoulder. I think he's got an incredible amount of potential. Prince Aligbe, another role guy at 6’7”, another wing, power forward-type that's going to be a good player for this team. You go right down the roster and Yacine Toumi to me was as good of a late, late addition in the portal that you'll see for anybody. This is a guy that coming over from Evansville was averaging 11 [points] and 7 [rebounds] per game, a couple of assists per game. Smooth game, high IQ - I really like the fit there. What am I saying? There's depth. There's a lot of depth on this roster. And they need Isaiah Coleman to fully blossom here. And they need Dylan Addae-Wusu to be a leader here. I think that that's important as well. But when you go up and down this roster, I see talent. I see length, I see versatility. I think that this is a Seton Hall team that's got to be really happy about where they stand, and I think that for Shaheen Holloway, I think that this is how he wants to build his teams. Now, does he want to have to replace nearly the entire roster year to year? No, no, that's not the goal here at all. But the way he built his roster is the way that I think he likes to build his teams.”

I just subscribed to a Guardian Subscription to help Mike Walsh, Mike McBride and Seton Hall.

I ask our readers if feasible to do the same. There are three categories.

Harrison Barnes just aquired by spurs in 3 team sign and trade deal for demar to sac town

Field Announced For 2024 Charleston Classic - Seton Hall University Athletics

ESPN Events has announced the eight-team field – Seton Hall, Drake, Florida Atlantic, Miami, Nevada, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, and VCU – competing in the 2...

shupirates.com

South Orange, N.J. - ESPN Events has announced the eight-team field – Seton Hall, Drake, Florida Atlantic, Miami, Nevada, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and VCU – competing in the 2024 Shriners Children's Charleston Classic. The annual men's college basketball tournament will be played on November 21, 22, and 24 at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.

This will be The Hall's third trip to the Charleston Classic where the Pirates are 4-2 all-time. Seton Hall's first showing was in 2011-12 and its last visit came in November of the 2015-16 season. Matchups, times and ESPN platform designations for games will be announced at a later date.

The family-friendly event offers teams a week of practice, play, and experiences in and around historic Charleston. Information on travel packages, tickets and more are available at the Charleston Classic website. Tickets will be available for purchase following the announcement of the complete tournament schedule later this summer. In the meantime, fans can secure up to $25 off each all-tournament ticket by signing up for the pre-sale at www.charlestonclassic.com.

Pirate Blue will be hosting events the week of the tournament and they will be announced at a later date.

Seton Hall is coming off of a historic 2023-24 season that saw them go 25-12 overall, 13-7 in the BIG EAST and win the 2024 National Invitation Tournament. The Pirates' 25 victories is tied for fourth-most in school history and it was their most wins in a single season since 2015-16. Despite being picked to finish ninth out of 11 teams in the BIG EAST's preseason coaches poll, Holloway led The Hall to a 13-7 mark in conference play and a fourth-place finish in the league standings

By Gary Parrish
A player from France has been selected No. 1 in each of the past two NBA Drafts — first Victor Wembanyama in 2023, then Zaccharie Risacher in 2024. That streak should end next year because, barring a surprise, the first player selected in the 2025 NBA Draft will be Cooper Flagg, the projected one-and-done star at Duke.

He's American.

He's terrific.

He's been an undeniable star at the high school level (and on the grassroots circuit) for years, so much so that I really do believe all 30 NBA franchises would take the 6-foot-9 forward first overall if next year's draft were held right now. Could things change between now and next June? Yes — and they often do. But Flagg is such a well-rounded and high-level prospect that it's difficult to imagine anybody replacing him at the top of draft boards, especially if he's so awesome at Duke that he keeps the Blue Devils near the top of the national rankings all season. For what it's worth, they're currently ninth in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 preseason college basketball rankings.

As you've likely heard, tanking isn't as good of a strategy as it once was in the NBA with the lottery odds now flattened; even if you have the best odds to get the No. 1 pick, you don't have good odds to get the No. 1 pick. That acknowledged, #TankForFlagg should be a popular hashtag next NBA season. The Brooklyn Nets are already headed that direction. Expect more franchises to join them in due time.

Joe very timid of Putin so unlikely he grows a pair to allow Ukraine to have weapons that could strike far inside Russis.Remember he was only adviser to tell Obama it was too risky to. Go after Osama.Senile and timid not a wartime counsel in this dangerous

Ordered my hat May 15.
Have not received it yet.
Anyone get theirs?

By Zach Braziller

After three years with Tyler Kolek, Shaka Smart is bullish on his future.

He’s certain.

The Knicks got a keeper in their second-round pick out of Marquette, someone who will mesh well with the culture that has been established by coach Tom Thibodeau, Jalen Brunson and Co.

Kolek was considered a potential first-round pick after leading the nation in assists.

He ended up falling out of the opening round, and had to wait a day to hear his name called.

But the Knicks scooped him up with the 34th overall pick in the draft, and showed they valued him, signing him to a four-year, $9.06 million contract.

Clearly, they believe in the polished 6-foot-1 point guard.

“Tom Thibodeau is known as the toughest, grittiest, most hard-nosed coach in the NBA, and Tyler Kolek is tough, he’s gritty, he’s competitive, he doesn’t back down from any challenge,” the Marquette coach said on Monday. “So I think that’ll be a real fit for him.”

Kolek was an unheralded recruit coming out of St. George’s School in Newport, R.I.

He was unranked.

As a freshman at George Mason of the Atlantic 10, he put up modest numbers — 10.8 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals — before transferring to Marquette following the 2020-21 season.

There, he developed into one of the premier point guards in the country, improving each season under Smart.

This past year, he led the Golden Eagles to their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2013, and was No. 1 in the nation in assists at 7.7 per game.

He was the Big East Player of the Year as a junior and a two-time consensus All-American.

He became a strong outside shooter, hitting 38.8 percent this year on 3.9 attempts while averaging a career-best 15.3 points.

Now, he’s making a considerable jump to the professional ranks.

First up is the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where Kolek can begin to show his new team what he can do and potentially prove to them he can be an immediate contributor.

“His passing is as good as I’ve seen, and I think it will really, really translate. Now you have to have the ball in your hands, and he’s not going to have the ball in his hands as much as he did here,” Smart said. “But I actually think the part of his game that may surprise some people up there, that I’ve always felt was underrated, is his shooting. Because now you’re playing with Brunson, you’re playing with [Mikal] Bridges, guys that command a lot of attention. Can you make that open shot when your [defender] helps? And I think he’ll be able to do that at a high level.”

The Knicks are flush with guys who were strong college players and were overlooked in the draft.

Brunson, Josh Hart and Miles McBride are a few good examples, players Kolek can learn from and model his progression after.

They know what it takes to make it in the league.

“If you look at the personnel on the Knicks, Tyler has to go in and earn everything he gets,” Smart said. “I think he will appreciate those guys [around him] and those guys will appreciate him.”

Second-round pick Ariel Hukporti agreed to a two-way contract, the Knicks announced Monday night.

The 6-foot-11 big man from Germany was drafted 58th overall by the Mavericks and traded to the Knicks on draft night.

Hurley's deal averages out to $8.3 million annually​

By David Cobb

Dan Hurley has officially agreed to a new contract with UConn that is worth $50 million over six years, the school announced Monday.

As the Huskies gear up to chase a third consecutive national title in the 2024-25 season, Hurley's new deal, which averages out to $8.3 million annually, would leave him just behind Bill Self of Kansas, the highest-paid coach in college basketball after earning over $9 million in total compensation in 2023-24

The new contract also comes amid an offseason that saw Hurley emerge as a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers coaching vacancy.

The Lakers offered Hurley $70 million over six years, but he turned them down to stay with a UConn program that he's established as the class of college basketball. Hurley's new deal with UConn was in place prior to his discussions with the Lakers.

"One of the biggest misnomers that I've seen, and I've had a chance to see some things [in the media], is this was a leverage play," he told CBS Sports' Matt Norlander in June after turning down the NBA opportunity. "It was a zero leverage play. Zero. I mean, zero. How much more leverage do I need? We just won back-to-back championships. I didn't need leverage and I wouldn't have tortured myself if there wasn't some strong, like, should I do this? I thought it through. I wanted to give it great consideration. It has nothing to do with improving my position here."

The last school to win three consecutive national titles was UCLA, which won seven straight under John Wooden from 1967-73. Since then, the only coaches to win back-to-back titles are Hurley, Billy Donovan (Florida) and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke).

Achieving the three-peat will require Hurley to successfully replace four starters from a team that finished 37-3. Veteran forward Alex Karaban, a mainstay in the lineup over the past two seasons, will be joined by a mix of returning reserves, transfers and three true freshmen in the 2024-25 season.

Hurley ranked No. 7 nationally in compensation during the 2023-24 season, per USA Today's database of college basketball coaching salaries.

Hurley's base salary in 2024-25 will be $400,000, but he will receive $6.375 million in "additional compensation for speaking, consulting and media obligations" which will increase each year through the term of the contract. Hurley will also be paid a retention bonus of $1 million per year through 2029-30, according to UConn.

From part 2 of the John Fanta interview by Zack Cziryak


TROVE: What are your thoughts on Seton Hall being left out of the NCAA Tournament this past season?

FANTA: “It was a crime that Seton Hall was not included in the NCAA Tournament, and then they proceeded to back that up by winning the NIT championship. The Pirates deserved to be in the NCAA tournament. They did not beat UCONN, they commanded UConn, a UConn team that went 37-3 and won the national title and won their six NCAA Tournament games by a combined 140 points. And Seton Hall was not included in the NCAA Tournament after beating Connecticut and beating a Marquette team that made the Sweet 16. Not to mention Seton Hall had an intent to schedule. Intent to schedule is supposed to matter to the committee. Did you schedule power conference opponents? Did you challenge yourself? Seton Hall couldn't have predicted USC going down a cliff. They couldn't have predicted Rutgers having a bad year. Now you could counter and say, 'well, should they have won those games?' Of course you'd like to win those games. But to me, Seton Hall had a good intent to schedule. They challenged themselves. In conference play they've become the first team in the history of the Big East to go at least five games, over .500 in conference play, and not be included in the NCAA Tournament. That's just mind boggling, mind boggling. And I can understand Seton Hall fans saying 'of course it happens to us.' It was a snub. It was wrong. Seton Hall deserved to be in and then being excluded was a miss by the committee, a mistake, and that was proven when Virginia only managed to score 14 points in t

Interesting take.

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/07/supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-trump-immunity

Colorado Springs, Colo. –Clil Halevi (Kafar Hadranim, Israel) and Sean Vizzard (Mount Laurel, N.J.) of the men's swimming and diving team have each been named to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Second Team, the organization announced Wednesday. The duo were honored for their outstanding work in both the classroom and in the pool over the past season.

Halevi and Vizzard both land on the second team for the second consecutive year, while this marks Vizzard's third recognition of his career. Both were selected based on maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA and achieving an NCAA "B" cut qualifying time.

Halevi, a rising junior and a business major, posted a strong sophomore season in 2023-24, capped by his silver medal finish in the 1650 Free at the BIG EAST Championships. Halevi finished just behind Vizzard in the race, clocking in a personal best time of 15:10.40. He would later take the top spot in the mile at the CSCAA National Invite, touching the wall in 15:17.01 to claim the win. Overall on the season, Halevi placed first in eight events.

Vizzard, a rising senior and a biology major, put a stamp on his season by winning the BIG EAST title in the 1650 Free for the second time in his career. He clocked a time of 15:06.95 in the event to set a school record and earn an NCAA "B" cut time. Vizzard picked up a total of nine individual victories on the season.