Big Ten Basketball

Ronald Newman, who was a Chicago police officer and the father of Purdue basketball player Brandon Newman, died Friday.

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN reported the news, noting Newman was hospitalized in March and died following compilations from COVID-19.

"The Purdue athletic department and men's basketball program is deeply saddened by the death of Ronald Newman," Purdue said in a statement. "We send our condolences to the Newman family, and have reached out to Brandon and his family during their time of need."

Brandon Newman was a 3-star prospect, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and part of Purdue's 2019 recruiting class.

He redshirted during the 2019-20 campaign.

Coveted college basketball recruit Isaiah Todd decommitted from Michigan on Tuesday and said he will instead pursue a professional career, per Jason Jordan of Sports Illustrated.

"My dream has always been to play in the NBA," Todd told Jordan. "I just feel like this route will help my game grow even more. I want to be as prepared as possible when the time comes. This was a no-brainer for me."

Todd, who committed to Michigan in October, is rated as a 5-star recruit by 247Sports, as well as the No. 13 overall player and No. 2 power forward in the Class of 2020.

Per Jordan, Todd remained "open" to the possibility of turning pro even after committing to Michigan.

"This was a tough decision for him, but he just feels like this is what’s best for him and his development," Todd's mother Marlene Venable told Jordan. "We love Michigan and [head coach] Juwan [Howard], but, at the end of the day, he has to make the best decision for him."

Todd said he will announce where he will play during the 2020-21 season "in the near future."

The 6'10", 195-lb. Todd's decision to skip college in favor of the professional ranks is reminiscent of what R.J. Hampton did last year. Rather than starring at Kansas, Hampton opted to play in New Zealand.

That decision may not have paid dividends for Hampton since he is ranked 12th on Bleacher Report NBA draft analyst Jonathan Wasserman's big board after entering the season with designs on potentially being the No. 1 overall pick.

Conversely, playing professionally worked for LaMelo Ball, who is the No. 1 player on Wasserman's big board after impressing in Australia.

After starring at World of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, Todd has a chance to play his way into the conversation of being a top pick in the 2021 NBA draft if he lands in the right situation like Ball seemingly did last season.

Former Purdue forward Matt Haarms has cut his transfer list down to 10 teams, headlined by Kentucky, Arizona and Gonzaga. 

Haarms provided his full list of schools to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein:

After playing the last three seasons at Purdue, Haarms entered the transfer portal April 6. The Netherlands native will be eligible to play in 2020-21 as a graduate transfer. 

Speaking to Evan Daniels of 247Sports, Haarms said he wants to take some time to "think about how I'm going to handle this going forward," but he's not "going to drag it out though."

Daniels' colleague Chris Fisher reported Haarms is regarded as one of the best graduate transfer prospects in this year's class. 

"He's a pick and roll big man, good at catching on the move and finishing," 247Sports' national recruiting analyst Brian Snow told Fisher. "He's an okay rebounder. He's an okay post defender because he's not strong physically. He's a shot-blocker, he can move his feet, he's skilled, he can score with his back to the basket and he can score facing the rim."

Haarms was a valuable role player for the Boilermakers since arriving on campus in 2017-18. He averaged 8.6 points and tied for second on the team with 4.6 rebounds per game as a junior. 

On the defensive end, Haarms is a terrific stopper in the paint with a career average of 2.1 blocks in 102 games. 

Small forward Jace Howard is walking on at Michigan to suit up for his father, Juwan Howard, and the Wolverines, according to the Michigan Insider's Josh Henschke.

Howard, a 3-star recruit in the 2020 class, ranks 57th at his position and 348th overall in 247Sports' composite rankings.

He announced his intention to play for Michigan in January:

Juwan Howard initially offered scholarships to his two sons. Jett Howard is a 4-star recruit in the 2022 class.

With Jace walking on, the Wolverines might have another scholarship to hand out for what is already a strong group arriving for the 2020-21 season. Michigan is fourth in 247Sports' composite team rankings. Isaiah Todd, the No. 2 power forward, is the crown jewel.

MLive.com's Andrew Kahn wrote in March, however, the program was having trouble making the math work in terms of its returning and incoming players:

"The future includes a five-man recruiting class, though only one is signed. If the others, including 5-star Isaiah Todd, stay true to their pledge, Michigan would be one over the scholarship limit. And Michigan is still in the mix for a different 5-star, Joshua Christopher, in addition to potential graduate transfers."

Jace will still have the opportunity to follow in his father's footsteps and represent the Maize and Blue. Juwan starred for the Wolverines during the Fab Five era, helping them reach back-to-back national title games in 1992 and 1993.

The 47-year-old returned to his alma mater in May 2019 to replace John Beilein.

"Obviously, in May when my father got the job, it was a life-changing experience and I had to put it in perspective," Jace said to Henschke in January. "This could really happen. Throughout the whole recruiting process, it was always in the back of my mind, 'Is this the place I'm going to end up?' It happened."

Purdue announced earlier Monday that Matt Haarms is entering the transfer portal, and the 7'3" center disclosed to ESPN's Jeff Borzello that 25 schools have already reached out to him:

"Just believe I needed a change of scenery to take my game to the next level," Haarms told Borzello, "don't have anything but positive things to say about Purdue, but I just felt like it was time to move on."

According to Stadium's Jeff Goodman, "Purdue was blindsided" by Haarms' desire to transfer.  

The center will be a graduate transfer, per Borzello, granting him immediate eligibility next season.

"It's too early right now," Haarms told 247Sports' Evan Daniels, referencing where he might finish his collegiate career. "I still have people calling who haven't texted me so I don't even have the full picture just yet."

The Amsterdam, Netherlands, native redshirted the 2016-17 season before playing three years for the Boilermakers.

Last season, Haarms averaged 8.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 20.5 minutes per game across 29 appearances (15 starts) for 16-15 Purdue. His best campaign in West Lafayette, Indiana, came in 2018-19 with a career-high 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game over 36 contests (23 starts).

Jalen Rose is ready to settle his beef with former University of Michigan teammate Chris Webber.

"We're in contact currently and we're brothers," Rose said, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. "So I always feel like anything that we need to say needs to be face to face, eyeball to eyeball, without any distractions, without any hype, without any camera. That's the big-boy way to do that. That's my brother."

Washburn noted the relationship between the two players "began defrosting" when their alma mater hired former college teammate Juwan Howard as head coach.

The three were part of the famous Fab Five team with the Wolverines, who captured the college basketball world's attention with their style of play and winning ways as freshmen but saw their Final Four banners taken down because of NCAA violations.

Rose hopes the group will one day receive more official recognition outside of the 30 for 30 documentary and position in basketball lore.

"None of our jerseys are retired, but one of us is the coach of the team. I watch a lot of college basketball, I see their numbers get retired, and I'm happy for them. I did three years at Michigan, they have to do one black banner, put the maize and blue on the outside of it, and put the five numbers up there and still let the people wear the numbers. Make it a Fab Five banner.

"I hope it doesn't take something to happen to one of us in order for it to take place. And the Basketball Hall of Fame, too, we can't get a plaque in there? Give us our flowers while we're still here."

Rose played from the 1991-92 season through the 1993-94 season with the Maize and Blue and was teammates with Webber for the first two of those three campaigns.

The Wolverines lost in the national championship game in both of those years and then reached the Elite Eight during Rose's final collegiate season. It was a period of dominance for the program and one Howard is surely looking to replicate—minus the NCAA infractions—as the head coach.

Both Rose and Webber were consensus All-Americans during their time at Michigan and went on to successful NBA careers but have not remained as close since. Their relationship even featured some back-and-forths through the media and details in Rose's book, but they are apparently making amends with one of their teammates leading the team they once represented.

Ohio State guard Luther Muhammad is transferring, the sophomore told 247Sports' Evan Daniels.

Muhammad made 30 appearances for the Buckeyes in 2019-20, averaging 7.0 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 38.3 percent from the field.

He's the third starter head coach Chris Holtmann will likely have to replace for next year. Junior forward Kaleb Wesson declared for the 2020 NBA draft, and senior forward Andre Wesson used up his eligibility. 

Eleven Warriors' Colin Hass-Hill noted Muhammad is the fourth player to transfer out of Ohio State since the start of the 2018-19 season, joining Micah Potter, Jaedon LeDee and D.J. Carton.

Although the Buckeyes already added Seth Towns, the abrupt departures of Muhammad and Carton, who announced his decision in March, raise the need for Holtmann to pursue a replacement through the transfer portal.

The Buckeyes don't have a star-studded recruiting class coming either. Their two commitments for 2020, shooting guard Eugene Brown III and power forward Zed Key, have them sitting 59th in 247Sports' composite team rankings.

Duane Washington Jr., CJ Walker and Kyle Young will all be back. Throw in Towns and potentially another transfer, and Ohio State can remain a Top 25 squad in 2020-21.

Muhammad, meanwhile, is likely to have a lot of interest in the transfer portal.

He's an experienced guard, a solid defender, and a 36.1 percent three-point shooter, traits that that will be valued by teams with tournament aspirations in 2021-22.

Leaving Ohio State would force Muhammad to sit out next season, but he'd still have two years of eligibility to make an impact at his new home.

Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo and assistant coaches Dwayne Stephens and Mike Garland made contact with MSU student Brayden Smith, a witness to an alleged sexual assault by Spartans guard Brock Washington in 2017.

ESPN's Paula Lavigne and Nicole Noren reported Thursday that Izzo and his staff members reached out to Smith, the son of former MSU guard Steve Smith, before he had an opportunity to speak with police or school investigators about the allegation made by Rebecca Lambert.

Smith, who referred to the coaches as "godfathers" who'd check on him sporadically, said they "asked him what he knew and if he was OK," according to the Title IX report about the investigation into the alleged assault, which was said to have occurred on Aug. 28, 2017.

Michigan State spokesperson Emily Guerrant told ESPN the school reviewed the interactions between Izzo, Stephens, Garland and Smith for potential violations of rules regarding interference of an investigation.

"OIE [Office of Institutional Equity] did not feel those policies were violated in this situation," she said, referencing the prior relationship between Smith and the coaches.

Lavigne and Noren reported Sunday that another woman has said Washington raped her on Jan. 19 when she was too intoxicated to consent. Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon told ESPN she declined to press charges because it "does not meet the burden of proof that we must present to a jury."

The woman told ESPN she's requested the Michigan Attorney General's office review the case.

Washington was suspended from the MSU basketball team Jan. 24, and he didn't make another appearance before the remainder of the season was canceled in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2018, Washington pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault on Lambert under a provision of the court not entering a judgment of conviction if he completed the terms of probation. The guilty plea also didn't come with the label of a sex crime, which Lambert told ESPN she agreed with.

"I thought that would be enough of a deterrence, pleading to assault," Lambert said, adding she would "feel bad" if it was on his record forever.

Lambert said she felt let down by Michigan State's response to the allegations after she told investigators Washington "grabbed her butt and moved his fingers toward her vagina without her consent," and she decided to transfer to another college as a result.

"OIE closed the investigation so quickly, and I felt like thrown to the curb by the school, so I didn't really want to be a part of that environment," she told Lavigne and Noren. "The school didn't seem to care about it. [Washington was] still playing on the basketball team. I didn't really want to be around that. It was just like a reminder."

The Michigan State police report stated Washington provided "contradictory statements" about the encounter during the investigation. Peter Samouris, one of Washington's two lawyers during the case, told ESPN the "2017 allegation was ridiculous."

Meanwhile, Lambert said she'd still like to hear from the longtime Michigan State coach Izzo.

"I'd like an apology [from Izzo]," she told ESPN. "I didn't lie. I tried to say something. ... It did me no good to report it through the school specifically. I didn't enjoy anything that happened; I don't know what benefit anyone really gets from reporting sexual assault."

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard wrote a letter to Cyclones fans Wednesday and informed them of significant pay reductions and suspensions for athletic department coaches and staff in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Per Pollard, ISU will institute a "one-year, temporary pay reduction for athletics department coaches and certain staff," which would decrease the department payroll by over $3 million.

In addition, bonuses and incentives for all coaches have received a temporary one-year suspension, saving the department $1 million.

As far as fans go, ISU is putting a halt on an increase to Cyclone Club annual giving levels, which Pollard reports "will save donors approximately $2.5 million for required seating donations."

Season and individual ticket prices will freeze for all sports, and the deadline for club donations and football season ticket renewals has been suspended until May 29.

Lastly, fans can choose to make season-ticket or donation payments either monthly, quarterly or semi-annually.

Per Pollard, the changes were implemented in light of the $5 million shortfall the department encountered after the Big 12 and NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments were canceled because of COVID-19.

The news comes in the midst of the NCAA canceling its winter sports championships and spring-sports seasons and championships.

Speculation exists as to whether the collegiate football season may be impacted as well.

Per World Health Organization figures from Wednesday afternoon, 827,419 people worldwide have confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 40,777 people have died.

In the United States, 163,199 people have confirmed COVID-19 cases and 2,850 people have died.

Ohio State junior big man Kaleb Wesson has officially declared for 2020 NBA draft and will sign an agent "to help with this process":

The 6'9", 270-pounder averaged 14 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 blocks in 29.5 minutes across 31 starts for the No. 19 Buckeyes. Wesson was Ohio State's leading scorer and rebounder. 

Wesson previously entered the 2019 draft before ultimately deciding to return to Ohio State for his junior campaign.

Wesson's decision to hire an agent does not eliminate his eligibility to return for his senior season in 2020-21.

"He'll definitely test the waters, but he's going to maintain his eligibility based upon information because it's just so unknown," Keith Wesson, Kaleb's father, told the Columbus Dispatch (h/t Buckeyes Wire). "There may not be any opportunities to increase your value from the standpoint of workouts and combines and really solidify your position."

He added that the complications sports are facing amid the COVID-19 pandemic "definitely increases" his son's chances of returning to Ohio State:

"Nobody knows anything. We’ve talked to several different agents through the process of interviewing and literally none of them know anything. They say the draft is going to be moved back. They don’t know when or if combines or workouts are going to happen or even if the combine will happen."

The NBA's early entrant eligibility deadline is April 26, and the withdrawal deadline is set for 5 p.m. ET on June 15. The draft is scheduled for June 25.

Wesson was named 2019-20 second-team All-Big Ten by the conference's coaches.