Class of '66 Old Fart

5/13 - Beat Team United 60 - 57. 9 pts on 4 of 10 from the field; 1 of 3 on 3's; 0 for 2 FT's; 7 reb; 1 assist; 3 TO's; 1 stl. 5/14 – Lost to The RENS 80 – 71. 15 pts. on 7 of 17 from the field 0 for 7 on 3’s; 1 of 2 FT’s; 6 reb; 1 assist; 2 TO’s; 1 stl; 1 blk.

5/13 - Lost to MoKan Elite 93 – 83. 29 pts. on 9 of 12 from the field; 5 of 7 on 3’s; 6 of 6 FT’s; 3 reb; 2 assists; 1 TO; 3 stls; 1 bk. 5/14 – Beat Alabama Challenge 80 – 71. 9 pts. on 2 of 6 from the field; 2 of 3 on 3’s; 3 of 4 FT’s; 2 reb; 0 assists; 3 TO’s; only played 12 min.

5/13 – Lost to All Ohio Red 81- 57. 20 pts. on 8 of 9 from the field; 3 of 4 on 3’s; 1 of 3 FT’s; 5 reb; 0 assists; 4 TO’s; 1 stl. 5/14 - Beat Houston Hoops 76 – 66. Played 17 minutes but box score doesn’t reflect that he took a single shot; 7 reb; 1 assist; 1 TO; 1 stl.

5/13 - Beat California Supreme 80 – 65. 17 pts. on 6 of 10 from the field; no 3’s; 5 of 11 FT’s; 15 reb; 3 assists; 2 TO’s 1 stl. 5/14 - Lost to Mac Irvin Fire 76 – 66. 8 pts. on 3 of 7 from the field; 0 for 1 on 3’s; 2 of 8 on FT’s; 7 reb; 0 assists; 2 TO’s 2 stls.

5/13 - Lost to Oakland Soldiers 106 - 103. 30 pts. on 8 of 18 from the field; 2 of 6 on 3’s; 12 of 21 FT’s; 10 reb; 3 assists; 4 TO; 8 blks. 5/14 – Beat Expressions Elite 78 – 75. 5 pts. on 1 of 6 from the field; 0 for 2 on 3’s; 3 of 5 FT’s; 1 reb; 1 TO; 2 stls; fouled out only played 19 min.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Albany City Rocks beat Seattle Rotary 84 – 76. 6 pts. on 2 of 8 from the field; 0 for 4 on 3’s; 2 of 2 FT’s; 6 reb; 3 assists; 1 TO; 2 stls; 1 blk.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Houston Hoops beat California Supreme 80 – 65. 17 pts. on 6 of 10 from the field; no 3’s; 5 of 11 FT’s; 15 reb; 3 assists; 2 TO’s 1 stl.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Boo Williams lost to Ohio Red 84 – 74. 12 pts. on 6 of 11 from the field; 0 for 3 on 3’s; no FT’s; no reb; no assists; 1 TO; 2 stls; 1 blk.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Alabama Challenge beat Team United 60 - 57. 9 pts on 4 of 10 from the field; 1 of 3 on 3's; 0 for 2 FT's; 7 reb; 1 assist; 3 TO's; 1 stl.

EYBL in Hampton, VA. The RENS Lost to MoKan Elite (Michael Porter, Jr.) 93 – 83. 29 pts. on 9 of 12 from the field; 5 of 7 on 3’s; 6 of 6 FT’s; 3 reb; 2 assists; 1 TO; 3 stls; 1 bk.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Porter's MoKan Elite beat The RENS (Jordan Tucker) 93 - 83. 30 pts. on 11 of 19 from the field; 2 of 2 on 3’s; 6 of 6 FT’s; 17 reb; 3 assists; 3 TO’ 2 stls.

Details of Jackson's game: 30 pts. on 8 of 18 from the field; 2 of 6 on 3’s; 12 of 21 FT’s; 10 reb; 3 assists; 4 TO; 8 blks.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Goodwin and his St. Louis Eagles defeated Phoenix Phamily 68 - 67. Goodwin with 15 pts. on 5 of 13 from the field; 0 for 1 on 3’s; 5 of 8 FT’s; 14 reb; 1 assist; 4 TO’s 1 stl.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Garland and his St. Louis Eagles defeated Phoenix Phamily 68 - 67. Garland with 14 pts. on 5 of 10 from the field 3 of 6 on 3’s; 1 of 2 FT’s; 1 reb; 2 assists; 0 TO’s 1 stl.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. Randolph and his PSA Cardinals team beat NY Lightning 64 - 29 and that's not a typo! Randolph with 12 pts. on 5 of 17 from the field; 1 of 11 on 3’s (ouch); 1 of 3 FT’s; 7 reb; 2 assists; 1 TO.

Well poop!

EYBL is in Hampton, VA this weekend. Jeff Rabjohns ‏@JeffRabjohns Indiana 2017 commit Al Durham 22 points, 8 rebs, 6 assists, 4 steals in an 80-78 OT win. Was even better than those numbers suggest. Jeff Rabjohns ‏@JeffRabjohns Al Durham made a number of hustle plays, diving on the floor for a late loose ball that led to a key score. Led his team well tonight.

EYBL in Hampton, VA this weekend. 5/13 – Smith and his Mac Irvin team lost to All Ohio Red 81- 57. Smith with 20 pts. on 8 of 9 from the field; 3 of 4 on 3’s; 1 of 3 FT’s; 5 reb; 0 assists; 4 TO’s; 1 stl.

Indiana Baseball ‏@HoosierBaseball Today's attendance: 2,918. That is the 14th largest crowd in Bart Kaufman Field history. Thank you fans!

From Chad Ford: The All-Go-Back-To-School Team: Melo Trimble, Nigel Hayes, Caleb Swanigan, Marcus Lee, Dedric Lawson, Troy Williams, Justin Jackson.

From dleaguedigest.com Verdell Jones Bounces Back From The Brink of Retirement Sitting on an operating table four years ago, Verdell Jones pondered the thought of giving the game of basketball up for good. After a torn ACL took him out of one of the most important games of his college career, Jones was faced with a decision that would change the course of the rest of his life. Coming off of a season in the NBA D-League in which he scored more than 16 points per game, it’s clear that the resiliency in working his way back to basketball is paying off. That trait is something that he’s managed to develop well over the years, dating all the way back to his days in college at Indiana. Though the school had won 25 games in the year before his arrival, star guards Eric Gordon and Jordan Crawford both left the program and opened up an opportunity for Jones to start as a freshman. As he tells D-League Digest, it was a bit of an unexpected opportunity. “Starting my freshman year was a big jump. When I first committed and the plan was to redshirt or maybe sit on the bench for a while, but when Jordan Crawford left I was put in and it was an eye-opening experience that forced me to grow and mature much quicker. The speed and physicality was so different and it definitely made me learn and shortened the learning curve,” Jones said. Jones was one of ten freshman on a team that was led by a first-year head coach in Tom Crean. The collective lack of experience showed on the court, too, with only six wins throughout the course of the season. It was a trying time and one of the most difficult challenges of Jones’ career, but he stayed the course. While still holding down his spot as the lead guard, Indiana jump to 10 wins, then 12, then 27 during his senior year. “At the time it was tough and it was frustrating, but my dad always told me to not quit on things and just ride them out and in my senior it worked out. Beating all of these top teams that had been dominating us years before was such an extraordinary feeling.” After overcoming so many obstacles and pushing through the adversity throughout his first few years with the program, Jones’ hard work was set to pay off as the Hoosiers entered the Big 10 Conference Tournament. As they squared off with Penn State, Jones was riding a hot streak that was punctuated with a 15-point win over #5 Michigan State just a few weeks prior. The clock rolled on and Indiana had control of the game, when Jones entered the game as a substitute. Six minutes into his time on the court, his career would substantially change. With the Hoosiers on offense, Jones jump stopped like he had done so many times in his career to that point, but this time his right knee gave out from under him and he collapsed to the ground. His worst fears were realized the following day when doctors determined that he had torn his ACL and would be forced to take a year off from basketball. If the four years at Indiana hadn’t tested him, the surgery and rehab from the injury certainly did. “There were moments when I thought about walking away from basketball. I tore my ACL during a game that I had been working towards my entire career, so it was definitely one of the hardest experiences of my life. It just felt unfair and it was really discouraging and made me think about if I wanted to do it anymore.” Once he had determined that he wanted to be able to go out on his own terms, Jones continued his rehabilitation and was able to return to the court eight months later. With that time from the game though, the NBA wasn’t going to be calling anytime soon so Jones made the jump to play in Greece. “I loved Greece. I was playing in the top division in Greece and they weren’t sure that I could play a lot of minutes with my knee, but it was a great experience and I loved the passion that the fans have.” With re-gained confidence, Jones moved on to Japan to play for the Oita HeatDevils and the Fukushima Firebonds. In his year with the Firebirds, he was the league’s sixth leading scorer and second in assists, all while helping the team reach the playoffs. “The bj-league in Japan is a very underrated league in my opinion. My first year there it really gave me a chance to get back to my old playing ways now that my knee was finally at 100%. It was great to be able to lead the team there.” His reputation around international basketball was growing and he had begun to receive offers from across the globe, but a connection to the NBA D-League was strong enough to reel him in. “I had offers in Japan and Europe, but I decided to take the risk and go all in to play with the D-League. We had a connection with the Santa Cruz Warriors and they didn’t plan on keeping me, but I did enough to make the roster and get quite a bit of playing time.” In his previous years as a professional he had done well against all of the top competition that was thrown at him, but entering the D-League he knew that he was in for a different beast. “I had heard about the league before I came, but when you get there you see the speed and size of everybody; it’s by far the second best league behind the NBA. Playing as a guard, night in and night out you’re playing against the best players in the league so there’s no days off. It was definitely a mental and physical grind.” It took him a few weeks to get into the swing of things, but by the end of the season Jones was playing a key role for the Warriors. Scoring 20 points per game throughout the back half of the season, Jones was able to prove that he had come a long way since his college days. “You can sometimes get away with being more athletic and bigger than everyone overseas, but in the D-League you have to be more cerebral if you want to score. Everyone here is athletic, so you have to outthink your opponents so as far as making moves and countermoves to get around players and I used that a bit more this year.” With the outstanding finish to his season in mind, Jones has once again popped up on the radar from teams around the world. Just a few years after he was sitting on the operating table and contemplating calling it a career, he never could have imagined being in the position that he’s in today. “I didn’t I’d be where I am now. I was on the line of not wanting to play basketball anymore and I was down and out about it. Now I’m possibly one call away from a life changing experience and I’m working out in front NBA GM’s and scouts and teams overseas. I never doubted myself along the way, but I still never thought that it would come this quick.” Playing in the D-League Elite Mini Camp recently, Jones had the opportunity to show teams around the league the type of player that he is, and the type of player that he can become. Just one step away from the NBA, Verdell Jones is ready for the call. “It would mean everything. With all of the sacrifices, time, money and effort that me and my parents have made, it would be a goal that is reached not just me but by my whole community. It would truly be a blessing.”

Friday box score.

Virginia has offered.

What the box score doesn't tell us is did Troy exhibit an awareness of what his role was to be and where he was to be on the offensive end and what kind of defensive effort he demonstrated. We know he shot poorly but only had 1 TO so based on multiple tweets that his performance was sub-par, I have to assume that he didn't sparkle with overall basketball IQ. One day of poor shooting isn't that big of a deal. The NBA has 3-years worth of shooting stats for Troy from probably every square foot on the court. Poor shooting isn't that big of a deal unless his missed shots were from double teams or lower the head, drive and throw the ball in the general direction and hope for the best. In most cases, the latter is nothing more than a TO. Did he box out or did he get boxed out when rebounding? What kind of defense did he play; did he get beaten routinely off the drive? Did he always know where his man was? This is the IQ part of it.

Nice piece by Eamonn Brennan of ESPN. http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/115028/looking-ahead-thomas-bryants-return-could-fuel-promising-indiana