‘Unathletic’ Duke a Race Issue?
NEW YORK -- Jon Scheyer hears his
A day before Rutgers earned a big 83-75 win over UMass in the semifinals of the Legends Classic, the Scarlet Knights got a big commitment.
Gilvydas Biruta, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound senior forward from Lithuania now playing for Dan Hurley at St. Benedict’s Prep, verbally committed to Rutgers Thursday.
Biruta chose Rutgers over Maryland, Davidson, Harvard and Penn. Arizona and Kentucky also reached out to Hurley in recent days.
“I did it yesterday [Thursday],” Biruta said of his commitment. “I like the coaching staff and it feels like family.”
Biruta is Rutgers’ second 2010 commit, following shooting guard Austin Carroll of Brewster Academy.
Biruta described himself as a forward “who can step out and shoot a 3-pointer.”
Rutgers assistant Jimmy Carr recruited Biruta, who knows current Rutgers sophomore forward Greg Echenique from St. Ben’s.
One Jersey coaching legend is helping out
NEW YORK — Lance Thomas knows that one Big East team crushed an ACC team last Friday at Madison Square Garden.
Syracuse, unranked at the time, routed defending NCAA champion North Carolina, 87-71, in the finals of the Coaches vs. Cancer event last Friday.
So, when No. 7 Duke takes the floor today at MSG against No. 13 UConn (5, ESPN), will the Blue Devils be seeking revenge on behalf of the ACC?
“We’re not worried about that, we’re trying to win a championship,” said the the 6-foot-8, 225-pound Thomas, a former Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep star who starts in the frontcourt for Duke. “We worked hard to get where we’re at and we’re trying to take care of business.”
Duke advanced Wednesday with a 64-53 win over Arizona State, while UConn hammered LSU, 81-55.
Since Gene Simmons and the boys stopped
NEW YORK -- A year ago at
Allen Iverson has decided to retire from the NBA, according to comments he made on Stephen A. Smith’s official Website.
“I would like to announce my plans to retire from the National Basketball Association,” Iverson said in a statement on StephanA.com. “I always thought that when I left the game, it would be because I couldn’t help my team the way that I was accustomed to. However, that is not the case.
“I still have tremendous love for the game, the desire to play, and a whole lot left in my tank. I feel strongly that I can still compete at the highest level.”
