Roundup: Chimezie Metu returning to USC

Apr 19, 2017

Great news for the Trojans – Chimezie Metu will return to USC men’s basketball for his junior season next year, reports Zach Helfand of the Los Angeles Times. Bennie Boatwright, Elijah Stewart and Shaqquan Aaron have declared for the NBA Draft but haven’t hired agents, so there’s a chance they could return as well.

Well now it’s officially official – a couple of days after Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports reported it, Oregon basketball forward Jordan Bell announced on Twitter that he his declaring for the NBA Draft and hiring an agent, thus ending his collegiate career. Steve Mims of The Register-Guard has the deets.

The Cardinal took down rival Cal 6-4 in a rare Tuesday night non-conference matchup on The Farm between the Bay Area rivals. Junior Colton Hock notched his 17th career save in the process, moving into second place on Stanford's all-time saves list.

Another Wilner article, this one concerning Cal men’s basketball news and notes and the outlook for the Golden Bears next season.

Oregon State’s Alysha Everett was named Pac-12 Softball Player of the Week, and catch her highlights from the week in the preceding Pac-12 Networks link. Everett helped the Beavs win their first series all-time against the Bruins last weekend.

Greg Hansen writes about the success Arizona baseball is having at the plate against Pac-12 pitching. The Wildcats are hitting a league-best .332 (second is hitting .294) and have scored a Pac-12-high 315 runs (second is at 190).

Matt Calkins of The Seattle Times is of the belief that Washington women’s basketball fans will need to be patient with new head coach Jody Wynn. The Huskies have had a great run the last two years but lose their two best players in Kelsey Plum and Chantel Osahor.

Sweet – The Arizona Republic is reporting that the 2017 Pat’s Run has sold out with 28,000 participants registered. It will be held this Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium.

In NBA playoff news, Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic writes that former Utes Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl gave Toronto solid minutes in a Game 2 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. Wright was especially good in his stint on the floor, and Murphy thinks he could see more time on the court as the series progresses.

Pat Rooney tells us how Colorado men’s basketball alums Derrick White and Xavier Johnson performed at the Portsmouth Invitational, a seniors-only event. White played on the same team there as fellow Pac-12ers Isaac Hamilton, Josh Hawkinson and Torian Graham, averaging 15 points per game in three outings.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen lets us know that UCLA football spring practice has an NFL feel to it with new offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch having spent 11 years as a coach in the NFL (not to mention Jim Mora’s experience as Falcons head coach).