GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The Boston Celtics finished the 1996-97 NBA season with a 15-67 record — the worst in team history.
The Celtics instantly became the frontrunners in “The Tim Duncan Sweepstakes,” and Rick Pitino, the team’s new head coach and team president, figured the 6-foot-11 Duncan could be the franchise’s cornerstone for the next decade and beyond.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the NBA Draft.
Freshman guard Dion Waiters may not return to Syracuse next season, according to a report by Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told Rothstein Saturday that Waiters’ return was “up in the air.”
“Sometimes change is good for everyone,” the coach added.
Ricardo Gathers is getting a lot of love these days.
The 6-foot-8 junior post player from Reserve (La.) Riverside says the top of his college lists features St. John’s, UConn, Syracuse, Kansas, Texas and Florida.
The Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, Gathers averaged 20.7 points, 16.2 rebounds, 3.9 blocks, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals during the 2010-11 season.
He led Riverside to a 33-6 record this season and its second consecutive Class 2A state championship. He was selected the Louisiana Class 2A All-State Player of the Year in 2010. He is ranked the No. 10 power forward in the Class of 2012.
UConn assistant coach Andre LaFleur is leaving to become the associate head coach at Providence under Ed Cooley, according to GoLocalProv.com.
Reached by text, LaFleur said he could not confirm the move and would be unavailable to speak until Monday.
The report says LaFleur could be introduced at Providence as early as Monday.
LaFleur became Director of Basketball Operations at UConn in 2001 and was elevated to an assistant coaching spot in 2004.
He helped UConn win the NCAA championship this season as the Huskies beat Butler in the national final.
Kevin Johnson, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center from
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — With the Knicks on the brink of playing in the postseason for the first time since 2004, Amar’e Stoudemire says the team has lofty goals.
“The main goal is to get to the [NBA] Finals,” Stoudemire said Friday after practice at the Knicks’ Westchester campus. “That’s the main goal.”
To get there, the Knicks will have to upset a Boston Celtics team that has reached the NBA Finals twice in the last three years, winning the title in 2008.
NEW YORK — Ryan Rhoomes will play in two conferences in the next two years — and he won’t even have to transfer.
The 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward from South Jamaica, Queens and Newark NIA Prep, will attend TCU, choosing them over Seton Hall, Providence and Oklahoma State.
Texas Christian will play next season in the Mountain West Conference before transitioning to the Big East beginning in 2012.
