Roundup: Ducks down Duke, Oklahoma up next
The top-seeded Ducks are in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2007 after handling defending champ Duke 82-68, and Kyle Ringo of Yahoo Sports writes that Oregon had too much depth for Duke to contend with. Also, Coach K denies telling Dillon Brooks he’s too good to showboat after Brooks buried a three with the shot clock off and Oregon ahead by 11 (that’s what Brooks says Coach K said). Buddy Hield and Oklahoma are up next for the right to go to the Final Four.
Now it’s time for the women’s teams to do some work in the Sweet 16. As No. 7 Washington gears up for No. 3 Kentucky (4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT, ESPN2), you should know that Kelsey Plum has been named a finalist for the Wade Trophy, which is awarded to the best player in women’s hoops.
The Los Angeles Times features UCLA women’s basketball guard Kari Korver, the dead-eye shooter who had arguably the biggest shot of the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament in the semifinals against Cal. She and her teammates take on No. 2 Texas Saturday (11 a.m. PT/noon MT, ESPN).
Former UAB men’s basketball coach Jerod Haase was named the next head coach at Stanford, as announced on GoStanford.com this morning. Haase led the 14th-seeded Blazers to an upset of No. 3 Iowa State in 2015 and a regular-season conference championship this year, finishing 2015-16 with a 26-7 mark.
Danny Moran reports that Oregon State and Wayne Tinkle have reached a verbal agreement on a two-year contract extension. The agreement is expected to be finalized next week and will keep Tinkle at the helm of OSU men’s basketball through the 2021-22 season.
Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star recaps Scooby Wright’s Arizona pro day, which was apparently a lot better than his performance at the NFL Combine (vertical jump up four inches, 40 time down a tenth of a second).
Well you don’t hear something like this every day – former Utah punter Tom Hackett says he runs like a penguin in explaining why he opted out of non-punting events at Utah’s pro day Thursday (Kyle Bonagura).
Bonagura also tells us about the depth and competition at the wide receiver spot for USC. An embarrassment of riches at that position.
Jacob Thorpe has the report from Washington State football’s first spring practice. Good tidbits inside.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr expressed support for Cal men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin, who Kerr noted was “an incredible mentor” for his son, Nick (he was a walk-on guard for the Golden Bears this year). Connor Letourneau on the link.
Taking an idea from our friends in Tempe, the Houston Rockets have unveiled a “Garbage Can of Distraction,” where a guy pops out of a garbage can while an opposing player shoots a free throw (Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic). Former Sun Devil James Harden is on the Rockets… maybe that’s where they got the idea?
Neill Woelk of CUBuffs.com updates us on former Colorado wide receiver Scotty McKnight’s career as a writer in Hollywood. McKnight was recently the lead writer for an episode of “CSI: Cyber.”