Men's College Basketball

Former Arizona assistant basketball coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson is trying to rebuild his reputation to return to the college game following his three-month stint in jail stemming from the 2017-18 NCAA men's basketball corruption scandal.

Speaking to The Athletic's Seth Davis, Richardson noted he has "a scarlet letter" attached to him but he wants "an opportunity to move on with my life."

In September 2017, Richardson was one of four assistant coaches in college basketball who was arrested as part of a federal investigation into bribery and corruption in the sport.

Auburn's Chuck Person, Oklahoma State's Lamont Evans and USC's Anthony Bland were also arrested. All four coaches were accused of taking bribes between $13,000 to $100,000 to steer athletes to managers and funnel payoffs to players' families in order to ensure they signed with particular schools.

In June 2019, Richardson was sentenced to three months in prison and two years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to a federal funds bribery charge.

Per ESPN's Mark Schlabach, FBI wiretaps intercepted conversations between Christian Dawkins, who was connected to a sports agency implicated in the scandal, and then-Arizona head coach Sean Miller.

In the conversations, Miller is heard discussing a $100,000 payment to ensure Deandre Ayton signed to play basketball for the Wildcats.

Evans also received a three-month prison sentence, and Dawkins received a prison sentence of one year and one day. Bland was placed on two years' probation.

The University of Arizona fired Richardson in January 2018. He hasn't been given another college job since being released from jail on Oct. 15, 2019.

According to Davis, Richardson expressed frustration that Miller, who was fired by Arizona in March 2021 and was hired as Xavier's new head coach in March 2022, got another job despite his reported involvement in the scandal.

"I don’t sit next to you as the victim. I’m flawed,” Richardson told Davis. “I’ve asked for forgiveness from God. I’ve asked for forgiveness from the people who I may have hurt. I didn’t just get fired. I was ostracized."

Richardson spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach in college basketball. He had a three-season run at Monroe College from 2001-04. The 46-year-old spent 10 seasons as an assistant on Miller's staff between Xavier (2007-09) and Arizona (2009-17).

Mikey Williams, a 5-star guard ranked 15th in 247Sports' composite rankings of 2023 men's basketball recruits, will head to college before pursuing a professional career.

Williams' father, Mahlon Williams, told Eric Bossi of 247Sports that they "are all-in on college."

Williams gave some clues two years ago about his college destination when he put out a top 10 of Alabama State, Arizona State, Hampton, Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina Central, San Diego State, Tennessee State, Texas Southern and USC.

However, Williams' father noted a lot has changed since then:

"It was his top 10 when he put it out. You have had coaches change, Covid and so many things have happened since then. You have this transfer portal, right? Hey, he may want to go to this school, but the transfer portal may say we've got two guards better than you.

"So, at the end of the day he's still going to college, and we are still trying to figure out what does that top five or top ten look like now that you have a Puma deal, now that you have the transfer portal and all of these things are going to impact his decision to choose a school, so we are reshaping it."

Williams is highly rated industry-wide. ESPN ranks him 21st in the class of 2023.

Williams has options at his disposal after he completes high school in 2023.

Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga entered the 2021 NBA draft after playing for the G League Ignite and were selected No. 2 and No. 7, respectively. Potential 2022 lottery pick Dyson Daniels also played for the Ignite.

Jean Montero of Overtime Elite, a league that pays 16-to-18-year-olds six figures to play ball as a conduit to the pros, should hear his name called on draft night.

Williams could also go overseas like LaMelo Ball, who played for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia's National Basketball League before being drafted third overall by the Charlotte Hornets in 2020.

However, it appears Williams will go the college route. His father explained why while acknowledging the paths he could take to the NBA:

"If we don't take the college route then we've got still got the professional route. But he still wants to be a kid and he wants that college environment and I'm like this; I'm like you go to college, you do what you do and then you let the coaches dictate if or when that time comes that you are going to be highly sought-after pro. It may not be after year one, it could [be] after year two. You don't know long you are going to have to stay there but just trust the process when you get there."

Williams is a 6'2", 175-pound combo guard. He began his high school career with San Ysidro High in his home city of San Diego before transferring to Lake Norman Christian School in North Carolina as the COVID-19 pandemic affected high school sports in California. After playing his junior season with Vertical Academy while attending classes at Lake Norman, he'll return to San Ysidro for his senior year.

He averaged 23 points, six assists and five rebounds for Vertical last season, per John Maffei of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Duke announced Tuesday it has hired Rachel Baker to serve as the general manager of the men's basketball program.

"In this exclusive position, Baker will specialize in helping players enhance their personal and professional skill sets, capitalize on strategic partnerships, including NIL opportunities, and work to support players in navigating the opportunities and challenges that come with being a student-athlete at the highest level," a school statement said.

Baker previously worked at Nike and in the NBA. With Nike, she helped the company's Elite Youth Basketball League build partnerships at the grassroots level, and she managed "strategic initiatives" involving Nike signature athlete Kevin Durant.

Baker's hiring is a reflection of the new normal in college sports. Although schools can't provide name, image and likeness deals as a direct inducement for athletes to sign, the eventuality of those sponsorships can clearly be a motivating factor.

General managers have become especially popular across college football, where there's a heightened level of danger for Power Five programs to lose their best players through the transfer portal. Fred Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison left Pittsburgh behind for USC this offseason.

That's not as much of a problem for Duke because the Blue Devils' top men's basketball stars often leave for the NBA after one season. But first-year head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff clearly need to have a leg up on the NIL front in order to not only continue landing blue-chip recruits but also to potentially poach ready-made talent in the portal.

The basketball landscape is also different from football in that there are alternatives for high schoolers, such as Overtime Elite and the NBA G League pathway, that allow them to be paid while working toward the pros.

The Athletic's Brendan Marks explained how Duke "can’t afford to rely solely on the strength of its brand or legacy." He added the Blue Devils are likely to be a trendsetter since "this is a move that will soon be emulated by all of college basketball’s top programs."

Spain international Baba Miller announced his commitment to Florida State on Monday, per Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

The small forward, considered a top international basketball prospect, chose the Seminoles over Gonzaga.

"I could see an actual family at Florida State," Miller said. "I saw a very close relationship between everyone. That was a big part of my decision."

The 6'11" prospect helped the Real Madrid U18 team win the 2020-21 Adidas Next Generation Tournament and made one appearance on the senior team.

Miller has been in the Real Madrid academy since he was 12 years old, finishing last season with the B Team averaging 11.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 24 minutes, per Givony.

The versatile player has the size of a big man and can play inside, while he also shot 35 percent from three-point range in 2020-21. Florida State has developed similar players in recent years, with Scottie Barnes and Patrick Williams becoming top-five picks in the NBA draft.

"The style of play matches mine with my abilities and the freedom that they gave their players to make plays at any position," Miller said of Florida State.

The Seminoles have also developed several top international players. Last year's team had Anthony Polite from Switzerland and Tanor Ngom from Senegal, while fellow international prospects Mfiondu Kabengele (Canada), Balsa Koprivica (Serbia) and Christ Koumadje (Chad) found roles in recent seasons.

Florida State struggled to a 17-14 record last season, missing the NCAA tournament, but the 2022 class already had five commits before adding Miller, including 4-star center Cameron Corhen.

Gonzaga could have used another addition as it looks to contend for a title in 2022-23, although the team should still be elite with Drew Timme and Julian Strawther returning.

Legendary Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski criticized American politicians Thursday amid widespread mass shootings in the United States.

Speaking at SiriusXM's Town Hall with Coach K event (h/t Steve Wiseman of the Herald-Sun), Krzyzewski made mention of last month's mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, as well as a 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue:

For us to see these kids get killed, members of our African American community get killed in a grocery store, members of our Jewish community getting killed in a synagogue. Come on. That's not right. That's not right. That's not right. I mean it's amazingly wrong. It's amazingly wrong. And you should be ashamed of yourself, if you are in a position of power.

Nineteen children and two teachers were shot and killed at a Uvalde elementary school last month, just 10 days after 10 Black people were shot and killed at a Buffalo supermarket by a suspected gunman who allegedly posted a racist document online before the shooting.

Both suspected gunmen were 18 years of age and used AR-15-style rifles in the attacks.

Krzyzewski, who served in the Army before his coaching career at Army and Duke from 1975 to 2022, suggested that there should be regulations against automatic weapons, saying:

The people that are suffering are people that need you. Like, why don't you? Come on. You know? What the hell are we doing? You know, we're not taking care of our people. And we can go into the guns. Like, you need an automatic weapon? You gotta be kidding me. You got to be kidding me. It's disgusting.

The 75-year-old Krzyzewski also called for less partisanship and more focus on policies that will help the American people: "You shouldn't vote for the party, you should vote for the people that you serve. And you should have the guts, the courage, and it's your duty. It's your duty to do that. We are not doing that duty at the national level when our country is suffering greatly from it."

Krzyzewski has never been shy about speaking out regarding significant issues in the country. In 2020, Coach K called for an end to systemic racism and social injustice in the United States following the murder of 46-year-old Black man George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

By virtue of winning five national championships at Duke, Krzyzewski has long been considered one of the best leaders and most respected voices in sports.

Even after retiring at the conclusion of the 2021-22 college basketball season after 47 years as a college basketball head coach, that remains true.

The University of Notre Dame is making its fight song more inclusive ahead of the 2022 football season.

Notre Dame president John Jenkins announced Thursday night that the "Notre Dame Victory March" will include a reference to "daughters" in addition to "sons."

The song previously only made mention of "sons" in the line "While her loyal sons are marching/Onward to victory." Now the line reads, "While her loyal sons and daughters/March on to victory."

The change was made in conjunction with Notre Dame celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX and the 50th anniversary of admitting female undergraduate students into the university.

The "Notre Dame Victory March" was created in 1909, and the band first began playing it during sporting events in 1919.

It has become one of the most iconic fight songs in the history of college sports thanks largely to the success of Notre Dame's athletic programs, especially in football.

The Fighting Irish have won 11 national championships in football, with the most recent coming in 1988. They have also won double-digit games in each of the past five seasons, making them a perennial contender.

Notre Dame also has two national championships in men's basketball, but the most recent major title for the school came from the women's side.

The women's basketball team won the 2018 national title, posting a 35-3 record.

That was the second national championship won by Notre Dame's women's basketball team, and the women's soccer team has three national titles to its credit in 1995, 2004 and 2010.

Tyrese Proctor, a 5-star point guard heading to Duke, announced on Instagram and Twitter Thursday that he is reclassifying to the class of 2022.

He joins the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, per 247Sports' composite rankings, giving Duke five incoming 5-star recruits in the class of 2022, including Dereck Lively II, Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell.

Proctor was considered the No. 17 overall player in the class of 2023, the No. 4 point guard and the No. 1 player from Australia. It's unclear where he'll land in the class of 2022 rankings after his reclassification, but he should have an immediate impact for the Blue Devils.

Duke's 2023 class remains incredibly strong, with three 5-star recruits (power forwards Mackenzie Mgbako and Sean Stewart and point guard Caleb Foster) incoming. All three are top-20 prospects.

Proctor won't be able to report to Duke's campus immediately, however, with The Athletic's Brendan Marks reporting that the process to get him the proper paperwork and visas is "ongoing, sources say, and there is no defined date for when it will be resolved."

That means he won't "arrive on campus this month with the rest of the Blue Devils’ top-ranked freshman class, but he will be in Durham by summer’s end—and, most importantly, eligible to play the 2022-23 season."

New head coach Jon Scheyer said in a statement that he and Proctor's family have been having discussions for weeks, ostensibly about a reclassification.

"Tyrese has a special feel for the game with great scoring instincts who will add to the versatility, competitiveness, and high character of this team," he added. "He is such an advanced player with an international basketball resume that includes his NBA Global Academy experience who is more than ready to take on this opportunity right now."

Alongside a loaded class of 2022, the Blue Devils have added transfers Kale Catchings and Ryan Young, while Jeremy Roach, Jaylen Blakes and Joey Baker will return from last year's Final Four team.

The Blue Devils are shaping up to be a problem next season.

Gonzaga forward Drew Timme has decided to forgo the 2022 NBA draft and return to the Bulldogs for his senior season, according to The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania.

Timme confirmed the news on Twitter.

The 21-year-old initially declared for the draft in April, writing that his "dream has always been to play professionally." It's unclear why he decided to change his mind and return to Gonzaga.

Timme averaged 15.7 points and 6.4 rebounds in his first three seasons with the Bulldogs, shooting 61.9 percent from the field for his college career. But the modern NBA has moved away from centers whose primary value comes from scoring in the post. Even great scorers at the position like Joel Embiid (elite rim-protector) and Nikola Jokic (visionary facilitator) offer other valuable skills.

Given that Timme seemed unlikely ever to develop into a top-notch rim-protector and will be undersized (6'9") at the position, NBA teams likely wanted to see if he could add a perimeter jumper to his repertoire and operate as a stretch 5 in the modern floor-spacing game.

He gave scouts a hint that such development might be possible in the Friday scrimmage at the NBA combine, hitting four threes in five attempts. That will be his swing skill at the next level—if he can continue to develop it during his senior season at Gonzaga, Timme will offer enough offensively for teams to potentially overlook his defensive deficiencies come 2023.

Jacob Toppin isn't done at Kentucky.

Toppin, who is the younger brother of New York Knicks forward Obi Toppin, announced Tuesday in a video message that he is withdrawing from the 2022 NBA draft and returning to the Wildcats for the 2022-23 campaign.

He ended his message by saying: "Let's run it back one more year. Go Big Blue."

It doesn't come as a massive surprise that Toppin isn't remaining in next month's draft.

After all, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman released an updated mock draft Tuesday that did not have him being selected in either of the two rounds. He also started just four games for the Wildcats last season and was more of a secondary contributor.

Toppin averaged 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.6 blocks per game in 2021-22 and shot 55.6 percent from the field.

He wasn't much of an outside shooter, but he can work in pick-and-rolls and provide interior scoring and rebounding. He may also be a bigger factor for the Wildcats during the upcoming season with more experience and the expected roster turnaround.

Toppin started his collegiate career at Rhode Island but transferred to Kentucky ahead of the 2020-21 season. He has yet to live up to his brother's college legacy considering Obi was the men's National Player of the Year in 2019-20 and a consensus All-American at Dayton.

The younger Toppin can be a matchup problem because of his athleticism, and ESPN's Jeff Borzello called him a "potential breakout candidate" for a team ranked No. 3 in the publication's early Top 25 rankings.

If that is the case, Toppin may hear his name called at the 2023 NBA draft.         

Despite the chance of going in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft, Terquavion Smith will return to North Carolina State for his sophomore season, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony.

"I've decided to play next season for NC State, the first team to offer me a scholarship," Smith told Givony. "I owe so much to Todd Ramasar, the agent who walked me through this process; Ross McMains, the incredible coach who prepared me so well for all I've just gone through, and the Life Sports Agency team. This past month has been eye opening on so many ways. Todd, Ross, and their team helped put me on the NBA map."

Smith had a strong freshman season for the Wolfpack, averaging 16.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from three. 

NC State struggled, though, going just 11-21 on the year.

There were some questions about whether Smith might return to school for a second season, but a strong showing at the NBA combine seemed to tilt the scales toward the draft.

"I was definitely happy with the way I played," he told reporters. "I showed a lot more than I showed in college. The teams that did see me, I showed them a great performance." 

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman listed Smith as the No. 19 player in the class in his latest big board. 

Smith will instead spend another year in college, looking to further improve his stock and potentially become a lottery pick next season.

The decision also provides a huge boost for the Wolfpack as they bring back one of the most talented players in the ACC for 2022-23.