Pac-12 Basketball

DJ Rodman, the son of Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman, has committed to play basketball for the Washington State Cougars.

"DJ is a shotmaker who has a really good feel for the game," Washington State coach Kyle Smith said in a statement on the team's official website. "He was a very productive player displaying the ability to score and rebound at a high clip in one of the best high school leagues in California, the Trinity League."

Rodman will join the Cougars for the 2019-20 season.

The 6'4", 190-pound small forward is not rated by 247Sports. Following the commitment, Washington State now has the No. 81 recruiting class for 2019, according to 247Sports. The class features a trio of 3-star recruits, two of whom have already signed.

Rodman averaged 24.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game at JSerra Catholic (Orange County, California) High School as a senior.

"The thing I loved most was that he was our leading charge taker on top of leading scorer and rebounder," JSerra coach Keith Wilkinson said last month, per Tim Burt of the OC Sports Zone. "The kid is a winner and he exemplified that in the North OC Classic hitting a walk off three-pointer on the baseline out of bounds for the championship. ... He took and made big time shots, but also did all the little things it takes to win."

Per Burt, Rodman was also considering the likes of Hawaii, Northern Arizona and Grand Canyon before committing to Washington State.

"He has family roots in the state of Washington and is thrilled to be a Coug," Smith added in his statement.

The Cougars are coming off an 11-21 season and are in the midst of an 11-year NCAA tournament drought. Smith was hired to replace Ernie Kent as head coach in March.

The Washington Huskies received excellent news Tuesday, as highly touted recruit Jaden McDaniels has committed to play college ball in Seattle:

Per 247Sports, he had narrowed his list down to Kentucky, San Diego State, Texas, UCLA and Washington.

Jaden's older brother, Jalen, played two seasons at San Diego State before declaring for the NBA draft this year. However, Jaden told Percy Allen of the Seattle Times in April that he is his "own person."

As his MaxPreps highlight reel shows, the 6'11" power forward has some game:

His skill set was also on full display during a 51-point performance as a senior at Federal Way High School:

McDaniels opened up about his rise to stardom to Ballislife in December 2018, revealing he works out with Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma:

According to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, McDaniels once viewed Kentucky as his dream school because of his admiration for former Wildcats star John Wall. However, things changed.

"I'm really just taking my time and finding the right school," McDaniels told Allen in April. "It's a big deal because that's where you going to spend the rest of your ... however long you're there. I just feel like I'm going to take my time, and when I feel like the time is right, that's when I'll probably make my decision."

The pull of playing close to home won out for the Washington native.

"That would be fun, just putting on for the city," McDaniels said in July 2018, per Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Everybody's telling me to go to U-Dub, stay in the purple and gold. But I don't know what I'm going to do yet."

Of course, it didn't hurt that travel teammates Marcus Tsohonis and RaeQuan Battle had already long committed to Washington. As McDaniels told Allen, Tsohonis and Isaiah Stewart each made recruiting pitches on behalf of the Huskies.

The Arizona Wildcats confirmed the NCAA is investigating the basketball program, according to the Arizona Daily Star's Bruce Pascoe.

Yahoo Sports first reported in February the NCAA was looking into the school after Christian Dawkins implicated the Wildcats in the FBI's case regarding corruption in college basketball.

A jury found Dawkins and two others guilty of conspiring to funnel money to the families of high school recruits in order for them to commit to Adidas-endorsed schools and sign with specified agents and financial planners. 

Emanuel "Book" Richardson, a former Arizona assistant coach, agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors after they alleged he received at least $20,000 as part of the scheme.

According to ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach, FBI wiretaps captured Dawkins and business partner Munish Sood discussing the recruitment of Deandre Ayton and the steps required to get his signature once his college career was over.

During the trial, Sood testified the group was making payments to Richardson in order "to influence Wildcats players and recruits to sign with their firm."

Prosecutors also played the recording of a conversation between Dawkins and Richardson in which Richardson alleged Arizona head coach Sean Miller was paying Ayton $10,000 a month during his Wildcats tenure, per Schlabach and Jeff Borzello.

Schlabach had reported in February 2018 the FBI had wiretaps of Miller and Dawkins allegedly talking about a $100,000 payment for the purpose of securing Ayton's commitment. Miller subsequently denied the allegation.

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors played for jurors a wiretap recording of former Arizona men's basketball assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson alleging to Christian Dawkins that the team's head coach, Sean Miller, was paying former Wildcats and current Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton $10,000 per month during his time at the school, per Mark Schlabach and Jeff Borzello of ESPN.com.

The conversation went as follows:

Richardson: "Sean's got to get the (expletive) out the way and let us work."

Dawkins: 'We'll see how Sean plays it out."

Richardson: "You know what he bought per month?"

Dawkins: "What he do?"

Richardson: "I told you—10."

Dawkins: "He's putting up some real money for them (expletive). He told me he's getting killed."

Richardson: "But that's his fault."

Former financial adviser Marty Blazer told the government that Miller told Richardson in June 2017, referencing payments to Ayton, "I'm taking care of everything myself. I wanna bring you in. I'll turn everything over to you."

Seven different wiretap recordings were played for the jury, per Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports, with multiple references made on those tapes to Miller paying players, including Ayton and Rawle Alkins.

Dawkins, who was opening a sports management agency and has been charged with bribing college coaches, allegedly worked with Richardson to steer potential pro players to his agency. In exchange, Richardson received money from Dawkins, most notably to convince Ayton, Alkins and Allonzo Trier to work with Dawkins when they turned pro.

Per ESPN's report, "Munish Sood, a business partner of Dawkins, pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to the case and testified that Richardson accepted a $5,000 bribe during an initial meeting in New York on June 20, 2017" in exchange for steering that trio to Dawkins' agency.

Richardson also allegedly asked Dawkins and Sood for $15,000 in an effort to bring recruit Jahvon Quinerly to Arizona, with Richardson planning to pay his mother three $5,000 installments and $10,000 of his own money.

Quinerly ultimately chose Villanova over Arizona.

Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball coach Sean Miller allegedly "fronted" a deal that would steer Deandre Ayton to his program when the Phoenix Suns big man was a highly regarded recruit. 

On Monday, Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com reported jurors in the federal criminal trial regarding college basketball corruption heard a wiretap revealing as much.

Defendant Christian Dawkins—who was a former runner for former NBA agent Andy Miller—told business partner Munish Sood that Sean Miller "fronted" the deal involving Ayton on a telephone call that FBI wiretaps intercepted in June 2017.

Ayton was a 5-star recruit and the No. 4 overall player in the class of 2017, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. He played one season at Arizona and averaged 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while earning Pac-12 Player of the Year, Pac-12 tournament MVP and consensus All-American honors.

Phoenix selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

Schlabach explained Dawkins and Sood were talking about the cost of signing Ayton as a client with their sports management company following his collegiate career on the intercepted call.

"It's going to be more money than what they, what Book said, I mean because I talked to Sean," Dawkins said. "Sean's the one that fronted that deal. So it's going to be some money, but I mean we'll figure that out."

The "Book" he referenced was former Arizona associate head coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson, who Sood testified accepted payments to steer Wildcats players toward their sports management company if they helped recruit them as prospects.

This comes after Schlabach reported in February 2018 the FBI intercepted a call between Dawkins and Sean Miller that featured the head coach talking about a $100,000 payment during Ayton’s recruitment. Miller denied the report and paying for recruits.

UCLA's Shareef O'Neal is back on the basketball court.

O'Neal used a medical redshirt for last season after UCLA doctors discovered a heart ailment during summer workouts. O'Neal, the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille, underwent successful heart surgery on Dec. 13 and missed his entire freshman season.

On Wednesday, the 19-year-old posted photos of his return:

O'Neal signed his letter of intent to the Bruins in August 2018 as the No. 41-ranked prospect by 247Sports.

Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times explained in September that O'Neal's heart had an "electrical problem" that surgery was supposed to correct fully.

At the time of his surgery, O'Neal appeared in a video for TMZ (h/t ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf) and assured that the heart condition is "absolutely not" career-ending. He is expected to be able to take the floor for UCLA next season.

UCLA (17-16) could have certainly used the 6'9", 215-point 4-star recruit on the court last season, as sixth-year head coach Steve Alford was fired on Dec. 31 after the team got off to a sluggish 7-6 start.

Now that O'Neal is on the mend, he is wearing the scar down the middle of his chest as a badge:

O'Neal has seven months to return to full health and breathe new air into UCLA alongside guard Tyger Campbell, who also missed his freshman season because of a torn ACL during an October practice.

The refurbished Bruins will be led into 2019-20 by new head coach Mick Cronin, who took the Cincinnati Bearcats to the NCAA tournament in every season since 2010-11.

Tennessee fans excited to still have Rick Barnes as head basketball coach should thank the buyout clause in his contract with the school. 

Per Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel, Barnes admitted he thinks he "would have been the coach at UCLA" if his buyout had been settled. 

Per Evan Daniels of 247Sports, Barnes emerged as a "serious candidate" for UCLA's head coaching job earlier this month. 

On April 8, ESPN's Chris Low reported Barnes turned down an offer of $5 million per year from the Bruins to sign a new deal at Tennessee. 

Daniels noted Barnes' buyout from Tennessee was $5 million as part of the extension he signed with the school in September 2018. That deal made him the second-highest paid head coach in the SEC at $3.25 million, behind Kentucky's John Calipari ($9.276 million).  

The Bruins ultimately hired Mick Cronin away from Cincinnati for six years and $24 million, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Barnes just finished his fourth season with the Volunteers. They tied the school single-season record with 31 wins and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in five years in 2018-19. 

In 2017-18, the Arizona State Sun Devils lost in the First Four under head coach Bobby Hurley. In 2018-19, the Hurley-led Sun Devils won their First Four game before falling in the first round of the NCAA tournament. And Thursday night, Hurley announced that he intends to keep inching the program forward: 

Though an extension is not yet finalized, Hurley's comments may end speculation the 47-year-old might be leaving to accept the vacant head coaching position at St. John's. 

Earlier Thursday, the New York Post's Zach Braziller reported St. John's focus had shifted toward Iona head coach Tim Cluess rather than Hurley.

Even if Hurley hadn't clarified he and Arizona State are in negotiations to extend his stay, his current contract has him locked up through 2023—as Braziller noted, that would have necessitated "a hefty buyout."

While Hurley did not disclose any details regarding his expected extension, Stadium's Jeff Goodman reported the two sides have already agreed to a five-year extension.

Ironically, Hurley's Sun Devils defeated St. John's in the First Four to gain entry into the NCAA tournament. He was linked to St. John's after Chris Mullins stepped down as head coach on Tuesday.

Arizona State finished this season 23-11 after falling to Buffalo in the first round on March 22. 

Hurley began as head coach at Arizona State in 2015 following two .500-plus seasons at Buffalo. His time in Tempe has been a steady build with the first two seasons finishing below .500. 

As a guard at Duke from 1989-1993, Hurley won two national championships and became the NCAA all-time leader in assists. His foray into coaching came after a bumpy NBA career. Hurley was involved in a nearly fatal car accident in 1993 as a rookie point guard for the Sacramento Kings.

He miraculously went on to play for the Kings until 1997-98 before finishing his career that season with the then-Vancouver Grizzlies. His first game back from the accident, coincidentally, came on Nov. 4, 1994, at the Phoenix Suns (h/t ABC15).

Hurley hinted at how firmly his roots are planted in Arizona when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Arizona Diamondbacks' first home game April 5:

Arizona is part of his history, and he'll now look to bring Arizona State its first men's basketball championship.

UCLA will hope to get its basketball program back on track with the hiring of Mick Cronin as the team's newest head coach. 

According to ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello, Cronin's deal is worth $24 million over six years. 

TCU coach Jamie Dixon had initially seemed like he would be the team's next head coach, but his $8 million buyout caused the deal to fall through.

Cronin has spent the past 13 years at Cincinnati, accumulating a 296-147 record. Adding in his three years with Murray State, and he has 365 victories at the Division I level.

The coach had turned the Bearcats into one of the most consistent teams in college basketball, reaching the NCAA tournament in each of the last nine years. The squad also won the AAC tournament in each of the past two seasons.

Lack of postseason success has been a bit of a problem as Cronin is just 6-9 in the NCAA tournament with Cincinnati, including only one Sweet 16 berth.

However, his consistency throughout his career speaks for itself, as does his knack for strong defenses every single season.

The Bruins are coming off a disappointing 17-16 season that saw Steve Alford get fired after 13 games. Murry Bartow took over and didn't find much more success as the team missed the postseason for the second time in four years.

It has been an overall disappointing decade for the once-proud program, which has 11 NCAA championships but hasn't won a title since 1995. The last Final Four appearance was in 2008, but the team hasn't advanced beyond the Sweet 16 in the last 11 years.

The good news is there is young talent on the roster, even with Kris Wilkes and potentially others heading to the NBA. There were zero seniors on last year's squad and the returning players, plus recruits Jaime Jaquez and Jake Kyman, can help the team return to contention in the Pac-12.

If Cronin can get his system into place, he can help UCLA reach expectations before too long.

UCLA has reportedly presented Rick Barnes with a "lucrative offer" offer to be its next head men's basketball coach, according to Chris Low of ESPN. 

The deal would reportedly pay the 64-year-old coach $5 million per year, plus bonuses and incentives.

However, per Low, Barnes is "wrestling with a decision" to take the offer or stay at Tennessee, where he has spent the past four seasons. UCLA believed to have sealed the deal with Barnes before Tennessee countered with "more money," according to Seth Davis of The Athletic. If Barnes stays at Tennessee, Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin will become the top option, per Davis.

The coach made $3.25 million this season and is signed through 2023-24, while his contract comes with a $5 million buyout. The buyout was a holdup for TCU coach Jamie Dixon, who appeared set to take the UCLA job until his $8 million buyout caused the deal to fall through, per Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.

Barnes was named the Naismith Coach of the Year this season after leading Tennessee to a 31-6 record. The squad reached the No. 1 ranking in the polls just two years after missing the NCAA tournament with a 16-16 record.

The Volunteers also became the third different program to reach the Sweet 16 under Barnes.

Over the course of 32 years at the Division I level, Barnes has won 692 games, including 402 in his 17 years at Texas.

UCLA is clearly willing to give a lot of money to someone with this type of resume, but Barnes reportedly is still torn about whether or not to stay in Knoxville.

One factor could be Tennessee likely losing a good chunk of its production from this year's team if Grant Williams follows Admiral Schofield and Jordan Bone to the NBA as expected. Joining the Bruins could prevent a rebuild with the Volunteers in 2019-20.