Big Ten Basketball

Kiyan Anthony, son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony, is set to have an official visit with Rutgers.

Anthony told Dushawn London of 247Sports he will travel to Rutgers on Oct. 4 and 5.

The 17-year-old Anthony recently said on his YouTube show (starts at :50 mark) he is considering his father's alma mater, Syracuse, after they extended him a scholarship offer two years ago.

Rutgers and Syracuse were among the top six schools Anthony listed in July. Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State and USC are the other finalists.

Head coach Steve Pikiell and his staff are doing a terrific job in recruiting elite prospects to the program. The Scarlet Knights currently have the fourth-ranked class by 247Sports in the 2024 cycle, led by 5-star recruits Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper.

Anthony is a 4-star prospect and No. 28 overall player in the 2025 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He is listed at 6'5" and 185 pounds going into his senior season at Long Island Lutheran High School.

Eric Bossi of 247Sports noted Anthony is a "long and rangy two guard who, no surprise, is wired to score and to do so in bunches."

That scouting report is very similar to what his father did during his basketball career. Carmelo Anthony ranks 10th all-time in NBA history with 28,289 points during his 19-year career.

Prior to being the No. 3 pick in the 2003 NBA draft, Anthony was an All-American selection as a freshman at Syracuse in 2002-03. He led the Orange in scoring with 22.2 points per game en route to helping them win the first national title in program history.

Rutgers has only made the NCAA tournament twice since the 1991-92 season. The appearances came in back-to-back years in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The Northwestern Wildcats gothic jerseys will have a new twist in 2024-25.

The men's basketball team unveiled white versions of the gothic uniform design during their offseason trip to Italy and Greece.

The uniforms are similar to the black gothic uniforms that are utilized by both the men's and women's basketball teams as well as the football team. The design features purple lettering for the school and player names as well as some purple, black and gold mixed throughout the rest of the uniform.

Northwestern typically uses a purple and white color scheme, but began mixing in a gothic uniform in 2014 for the football program.

The Wildcats basketball program is currently on the best stretch in program history. It did not reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time until 2017 but has now reached March Madness in two consecutive seasons. The Wildcasts advanced to the Round of 32 in both trips, but fell to UCLA in 2022-23 and eventual champion-UConn in 2023-24.

As the team looks to replace star player Boo Buie, they will have some swagger to mix in and add an intimidation factor to the rest of the Big Ten.

The Wildcats will open the 2024-25 season on Nov. 8 against Lehigh.

The Fields Family may be switching allegiance to the Michigan Wolverines.

Jessica Fields, the younger sister of former Ohio State and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields, announced her commitment to the Wolverines women's basketball program.

Fields is a 6'1" senior at Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw, Georgia. She chose the Wolverines over Georgetown and Northwestern. She did not announce an Ohio State offer.

She expressed relief at the process being over but said it was fun to be the one being recruited.

"I was ready to wrap up my recruitment process," Fields said, per Talia Goodman of On3. "I started very early in eighth grade, so it's been a very long process. I got to see both of my siblings go through it, so I always looked forward to when coaches would finally focus on me in visits instead of being the little sibling running around."

Justin would play two seasons at Ohio State after originally beginning his career at Georgia. He won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and won his only matchup against Michigan.

Fields' other sister, Jaiden, played softball at Georgia. Jessica will now get her chance to shine in a power conference.

Michigan went 20-14 in 2023-24 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Class of 2025 small forward prospect Will Riley has committed to Illinois over Kentucky, Arkansas and other programs, per 247Sports' Jeremy Werner.

Riley, a Malvern, Pennsylvania, native, is a 5-star prospect considered to be the No. 12 overall player, the No. 3 small forward nationally and the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania by 247Sports composite.

Along with offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky and others, Riley also had professional opportunities before ultimately picking the Fighting Illini, according to Werner.

With a 0.9955 247Sports Composite, Riley is Illinois' highest-ranked recruit since the start of the Composite era in 2003. Brad Underwood, who took over as head coach in 2017, has been responsible for the six-highest recruits in the last 22 classes, Werner noted.

Riley is the second commit for the Illini for the Class of 2025 with the other being Jeremiah Fears, a 4-star combo guard and the No. 32 player nationally, according to 247Sports composite. It's still early in the year, but Illinois currently has the top recruiting class for the Class of 2025.

Illinois is coming off a strong 29-9 season where it lost to eventual champion UConn in the Elite Eight—its best finish during Underwood's tenure. The Fighting Illini lost a handful of players to the transfer portal and star player Terrence Shannon Jr. to the draft, but they're looking to post another promising season as they await Riley's arrival in 2025.

Former Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr.'s legal team will be able to show video evidence at his rape trial that is scheduled to begin next week.

During a Friday hearing in Lawrence, Kansas, Judge Amy Hanley ruled that the video evidence will be permitted, per ESPN's Myron Medcalf.

Medcalf noted the judge's ruling was in response to Shannon's lawyers arguing "that the video evidence they will present during the trial will show another man standing next to the alleged victim the night of the alleged sexual assault" at the same Lawrence bar.

Hanley called the evidence "relevant" to the case in her ruling.

"Additionally, the defendant, the third-party defendant, to be very carefully precise, the third-party defendant is alleged to have been present at the scene of this case and this alleged crime," she said. "The court finds that that evidence is relevant and admissible and the defense will be allowed to present that evidence."

Medcalf noted that Shannon's legal team is arguing the "third-party defendant" had been accused of sexually touching another woman in a nonconsensual manner two weeks earlier at the same bar where the alleged victim in Shannon's case "told police in September that a man had sexually penetrated her with his fingers."

The third-party defendant, per Shannon's legal team, was standing in "exactly" the same spot and within "arm's length" of where the woman in the case said Shannon was standing on the night of the alleged assault.

According to Medcalf, a Kansas basketball player who was standing next to the third-party defendant will testify in Shannon's defense. The third-party defendant was previously charged with sexually assaulting a woman prior to the accusations against Shannon, but those charges were eventually dropped.

Shannon was charged with "rape, sexual intercourse without consent and use of force" in an arrest warrant that was issued by the Douglas County district attorney's office on Dec. 27. He was suspended from all team activities by the University of Illinois.

After turning himself in and posting bail, Shannon was released from custody on Dec. 28. He was allowed to join the Illini basketball team on Jan. 19 after a judge granted his request for a temporary restraining order.

Shannon has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree felony rape and felony sexual aggravate battery. The trial is set to begin on June 10.

Two of the biggest stars in women's college basketball will face off again in the 2024-25 season.

USC women's basketball announced Monday it will play a home-and-home series with UConn, meaning fans will get to see Huskies star Paige Bueckers and and Trojans star JuJu Watkins clash.

The first game of the series will take place on December 21, 2024, at UConn with the second game coming during the 2025-26 season in Los Angeles.

Fans got to see Bueckers and Watkins go head-to-head in April in the Elite 8 when the Huskies came out on top 80-73 to advance to the Final 4. The first game between the two didn't disappoint as Bueckers notched 28 points and 10 rebounds and Wakins picked up 29 points and 10 rebounds.

Last season, Bueckers averaged 21.9 points per game, leading UConn to a 33-6 record with a Final Four appearance. The Huskies couldn't get past Catilin Clark and Iowa and fell just short of reaching the national championship game.

Watkins, arguably the most electric freshman in college basketball a year ago, put up 27.1 points per game in her first season with the Trojans and is looking to continue her prolific scoring as a sophomore.

While the first game of the home-and-home series won't have as high of stakes as their April meeting, it will be a good litmus test before conference play starts.

Caitlin Clark isn't the only legend departing the Iowa women's basketball program this year.

Head coach Lisa Bluder announced her retirement on Monday, and the team called her a "basketball icon, legendary leader and all-time great" while revealing the news:

Iowa announced Jan Jensen will be the next head coach. Jensen was the associate head coach under Bluder for the past 20 seasons.

As for Bluder, she wrote a letter to "Hawkeye Nation" on Monday announcing her retirement.

"There is never an ideal time to retire and I am sure this fall that I will miss the games, the practices, the road trips, the atmosphere, the tremendous fans and, most importantly, the players," she wrote. "But my belief in the foundation of this program, knowing that success is now an unrelenting component of women's basketball at the University of Iowa gives me comfort as I transition to become the program's biggest champion."

She also explained she spent time discussing her future with her husband, David, and the student-athletes after this past season's run to the national championship and decided that it was time to move on from her coaching role.

But she will still be around Iowa and ended her letter by saying, "It is my hope that now with more time and energy, I can be an asset to our basketball program and this athletics department in any way that I am able."

Clark reacted to the news:

Bluder first became a head coach for Drake for 10 seasons from 1990 to 2000. She was a three-time Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year during that span and led the Bulldogs to three regular-season conference crowns, four conference tournament titles and four NCAA tournament appearances.

She then moved to Iowa at the start of the 2000-01 campaign and helped build the program over the course of 24 seasons.

The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten tournament in her first season, which clinched their first of 18 NCAA tournaments they qualified for during Bluder's tenure. They struggled to break through in March Madness during the coach's early years but eventually reached their first Sweet 16 under her guidance in 2015.

Iowa also became one of the best programs in the country in recent years, taking home the Big Ten regular-season title in 2021-22 and winning the conference tournament in each of the last three seasons.

The Hawkeyes also went to the Elite Eight in 2019, Sweet 16 in 2021 and national championship game in each of the last two seasons.

While much of the recent credit has gone to Clark for her record-setting performances on the court, Bluder was the coach on the sidelines who helped the guard reach unprecedented heights and guide the Iowa program to the Final Four for the first time since 1993.

Clark was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 WNBA draft, meaning the Hawkeyes could be in something of a transition period after the departure of two legends.

But she and Bluder guided them to levels the program had never previously reached.

The NBA draft order is set after the lottery on Sunday, and fans and analysts now have a better idea of how teams might go about their selections.

ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo released their post-lottery mock draft on Sunday and projected where a pair of notable big men could land in the draft.

Givony and Woo project the Charlotte Hornets to take UConn star Donovan Clingan with the No. 6 pick and have Purdue's Zach Edey going to the Miami Heat with the No. 15 pick.

Clingan, who led the Huskies to a national championship last season, stands at 7'2" and is arguably one of the best prospects coming out of the collegiate ranks in this year's draft. He averaged 13 points and 7.4 boards per game in the 2023-24 season, also blocking 2.5 shots per game.

Clingan's rim protection and solid offensive game make him a sound pick for the Hornets, and at just 20 years old, he has plenty of time to develop even more.

The Hornets have a top-10 pick for a second consecutive year after taking Brandon Miller with the No. 2 pick in 2023. Miller finished third in the Rookie of the Year race after averaging 17.3 points per game.

Adding some help in the frontcourt could help Charlotte finally change the trajectory of its franchise after missing the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons.

For Miami, Edey could be a perfect fit. The 7'4" senior led the Boilermakers to the NCAA tournament title game after averaging 25.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game last season. He put up 29.5 points and 14.5 boards per game in the tournament, including a 40-point outburst in the Elite Eight against Tennessee.

Edey has a less refined offensive game than Clingan but is adept at getting to the free throw line and scoring at the rim. Overall, he still needs to develop to keep up with an NBA pace, but Miami has done an outstanding job developing players and likely would be able to turn Edey into an everyday player in the league.

A Kansas judge ruled during a preliminary hearing on Friday that former Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr. will stand trial on June 10 as he faces first-degree felony rape and felony sexual aggravated battery charges, per ESPN's Myron Metcalf.

Shannon entered a plea of not guilty after being arraigned, but the judge ruled that there was enough probable cause to proceed with the case.

The impending trial stems from a woman alleging that Shannon "digitally penetrated her vagina without her consent" at a Kansas bar on Sept. 9, according to court filings (h/t CBS News). The woman identified Shannon after finding his picture through a Google search and informed police.

Police arrested Shannon and charged him with "unlawfully, feloniously, and knowingly [engaging] in sexual intercourse with a person ... who did not consent to the sexual intercourse under circumstances when she was overcome by force or fear, a severity level 1 person felony." Shannon's attorneys requested before the preliminary hearing that the DNA evidence not be admissible in the trial.

Illinois suspended Shannon indefinitely in December, but he only missed six games after a federal judge granted him a temporary restraining order that allowed him to return to the team on Jan. 19. He played the rest of the season, appearing in 32 games total.

Metcalf noted that Shannon's attorneys said there is an expectation that his trial will be completed before the NBA draft on June 26-27.

Shannon's legal team released a statement on Friday following the judge's ruling.

"Our legal team is neither shocked nor disappointed by the outcome of this event," Mark Sutter, one of Shannon's attorneys, said. "A preliminary hearing is a procedural process that merely speaks to the threshold of evidence and whether a question of fact may exist for a jury. It has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. Those issues will be decided at trial, and we continue to look forward to our day in court."