While the Michigan Wolverines basketball program has been known for some of its scorers (Manny Harris, Daniel Horton, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas, etc.), in the past decade, it has had its fair share of lockdown defenders, too. Although they don't get as much glory as they do for their scoring, these five fiery defenders have a special place in Michigan lore for their ability to man up on defense. Defense is half of the game ...

In college basketball, a great freshman class can't be considered a great class if there's only one star to come out of it. Even the best need some support, a sidekick who joins the program at the same time to form a feared freshman duo. Over the past 10 years, most of which has coincided with the lifespan of the NBA's age restriction, the one-and-done style of recruiting has given us several pairs of talents that ...

In an offseason punctuated by signings and new arrivals, it's important to remember that Fordham will return some key pieces in 2014-15. Mandell Thomas is one of them. By his own admission, after a strong finish to his freshman season, Thomas did not take the next step as a sophomore. As a rookie, he started 21 games, averaging 15.5 points over the last 12 games of the year and 13.9 points in Atlantic 10 play, including spectacular scoring ...

There's not a player in the 2015 class who has received the kind of hype that surrounded Andrew Wiggins. But for the typical college hoops fans, it doesn't matter. The overall strength of a particular class is not their focus. The typical college hoops fan is locked in on one thing and one thing only when it comes to the players the school they root for signs: the rankings. As in, how the recruiting services rank a ...

John Beilein's arrival to Ann Arbor in 2007 was a revival for Michigan basketball.  Since then, the 2014 Naismith finalist has taken the Wolverines to a Final Four, followed by a national title appearance, back-to-back Elite Eights and five NCAA tournaments (four straight). With that being said, rest assured that there is more on the horizon.  Of course, leading Michigan back to prominence hasn't been a one-man job; the 700-game winner (701-412) has a wonderful complement of knowledge ...

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — The best talent showcase of the summer in tournament form is the Peach Jam, the final event of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) season. The other shoe companies have some good players and teams on their circuits, but it's like comparing a Buick with a Mercedes. No one is competing with Nike in terms of the quantity of top prospects and the depth of their teams. And only the best ...

It's never too early to start looking ahead to what North Carolina is set to face in terms of competition during the 2014-15 season, even if it's not set in stone yet. While we know who the Tar Heels will face during ACC play—but not when, or in what order—we're still waiting for an official announcement of the complete 13-game nonconference schedule. As it stands, at least five of the Heels' nonconference opponents have been finalized, ...

Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) featured most of the biggest stars in high school hoops this summer, and the 2014 Nike Peach Jam capped the season in correspondingly high style. The New Jersey-based Playaz Basketball Club took home the title, but it was far from the only squad to feature highly anticipated Class of 2015 (and 2016) talent for college coaches to covet. One member of the former group who put on an especially impressive ...

Four days after his father, Keelon, became an assistant coach at Memphis, Dedric Lawson chose to stay at home and commit to the Tigers, per CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish. The player confirmed the decision on Sunday.     "With [my father] being on staff, there's no other college I would rather go to," Lawson told reporters. However, Jeff Goodman of ESPN reported that Lawson won't officially seal the deal until Tuesday: Parrish wrote that bringing on Keelon Lawson was likely the deciding ...

Texas A&M freshman defensive back Victor Davis was arrested in Rosenberg, Texas, on suspicion of shoplifting at a local Kohl's, per Good Bull Hunting (via Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle). The Rosenberg Police Department posted Davis' mugshot on Twitter along with five other alleged shoplifters who had been arrested in the last two weeks: At the time of writing, the Aggies athletic department had yet to issue a formal statement, per Zwerneman. While not a blue-chip recruit, Davis ...