Atlantic Ten Basketball

Saint Louis University assistant men's basketball coach Ford Stuen died Tuesday at the age of 29.

The Saint Louis athletic department announced the news about Stuen, who was the team's director of player development for three years before being promoted to assistant coach. 

"Words cannot begin to express the pain and sorrow we are all experiencing right now," SLU Director of Athletics Chris May said. "Everyone associated with our program knew Ford as someone who was fully invested in working for the betterment of our student-athletes. His passion, positivity, and amazing outlook on life are things we will all take with us. Our hearts go out to Courtney, Lucy, and Ford's wonderful family. Please keep the Stuen family, as well as Travis Ford and the Ford family, in your thoughts and prayers."

Stuen is survived by his wife, Courtney and stepdaughter Lucy. Courtney Stuen is also due to give birth to their son in August.

The former Oklahoma State basketball player had been hospitalized since early April at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. 

"Late in the Billikens' 2020-2021 season, Stuen complained of pain in his stomach area," per Frank Cusumano and Corey Miller of KSDK. "He was diagnosed with an infection and never recovered, even after antibiotics and a medically-induced coma."

Condolences and remembrances poured in following the news of Stuen's death:

Stuen worked under his uncle, Billikens head coach Travis Ford. He played under Ford when the two were at Oklahoma State from 2012-16. The Cowboys made three NCAA tournament appearances during that time.

Ford and the Cowboys parted ways in 2016, but the coach landed the men's basketball head coaching job at Saint Louis and took Stuen under his coaching wing. The Billikens notably won 23 games apiece during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches recently named Stuen to its 2020 Under Armour 30-Under-30 Team, "representing 30 of the most outstanding men’s college basketball coaches under the age of 30."

Dayton Flyers sophomore forward Obi Toppin was named the Associated Press' men's college basketball Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Dayton head coach Anthony Grant earned AP Coach of the Year honors. 

The AP's Aaron Beard noted Grant and Toppin are the first Flyers to win each award, and they join former St. Joseph's Hawks head coach Phil Martelli and guard Jameer Nelson (2004) as the only duo from the same school to pull off the feat in the last 40 years.

Toppin led the No. 3 Flyers with 20.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. 

The 2019-20 campaign was Grant's third as head coach at Dayton, where he played from 1983 to 1987. The Flyers steadily improved under him, going 14-17, 21-12 and a program best 29-2 this season.

Toppin led Dayton's high-flying attack. According to FiveThirtyEight's Josh Planos on Feb. 25, the Flyers' 15.1 percent dunk share ranked second among mid-majors since 2010 behind only Wyoming's 17.1 percent in 2015.

Dayton was riding a 20-game winning streak when the NCAA cancelled its men's and women's tournaments because of the coronavirus pandemic, ending the season.

"Honestly, if you had asked me, I swear we could've won a national championship and our team was so ready to play in the tournament," Toppin told the AP. "We were so locked in. But because of this virus, things happened. It's just going to be a what-if for the rest of our lives, but it's something we're going to have to live with."

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected Toppin as the No. 4 pick to the Atlanta Hawks in his latest mock draft released last week, though Toppin has yet to officially declare for the 2020 NBA draft.

Iowa junior center Luka Garza finished second to Toppin in the AP Player of the Year voting. Marquette senior guard Markus Howard, Kansas senior center Udoka Azubuike and Oregon senior guard Payton Pritchard finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Grant edged Baylor's Scott Drew and San Diego State's Brian Dutcher for Coach of the Year.

Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun, currently serving as the head coach of the Saint Joseph's men's basketball team, responded Saturday to accusations of "sexual discrimination and creating a hostile work environment" in the lawsuit filed against the university by former associate athletic director Jaclyn Piscitelli.

His statement read, in part:

"I was stunned and saddened to read the inflated and misleading headlines and the accusations directed at me this past Wednesday...by an ex-USJ employee and an all-too-eager click-driven media.

"I am angry and hurt that the reputation that I've worked so hard to achieve for over 50 years—actually, for more than 77 years—was so easily dismissed and thrown aside in return for headlines or eyeballs or whatever the appropriate term is here. And I'm especially angry that my career and my name are being used for legal grandstanding instead of in support for the victims of discrimination."

In the lawsuit, Piscitelli—who was fired by the university in June—accused Calhoun and top assistant Glen Miller of several incidents of treating her in a demeaning manner, per Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant.

Among her accusations:

"Calhoun, according to the 13-page complaint, asked Piscitelli to open his office door despite his keys being in his hand and, in another incident, knocked over a number of single-serve coffee 'K-cups' onto the floor and stepped on them, making Piscitelli clean up. She claimed Calhoun stated that if he made such a mess at home, his wife would clean up after him.

"The suit alleged Miller, who has not commented, told Piscitelli she should 'smile more and be more cheerful,' and said he would 'swipe left,' a reference to rejecting a person on the dating website Tinder. She also claims that Calhoun referred to her as 'hot.'"

In his statement responding to the accusations, Calhoun said he "firmly and unequivocally, at no time, knowingly treated any woman unfairly because of her gender. In addition, let me be clear, I have never treated any woman inappropriately."

He added that he wasn't "sure when asking a colleague if they would mind opening the door because my hands were full became discrimination or when self-deprecation for being an aging, clumsy husband became an insult."

He also said he would only use the word "hot" in reference to "the weather and the temperature of my morning coffee," adding that "the only woman I openly compliment is my wife of 53 years."

Calhoun, 77, served as the men's head coach at Saint Joseph in the 2018-19 season after the university shifted away from being a women-only school. He previously spent 14 seasons as the men's head coach at Northeastern and 26 seasons as the men's head coach at UConn, leading his teams to 23 NCAA tournament appearances.

He also won three national titles with UConn and was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

In a frightening scene, the Jumbotron at George Washington University's Charles E. Smith Center—which is used for the men's and women's basketball teams, among other sports—collapsed onto the floor Tuesday.

GW Television shared images of the accident:

The university's official Twitter page relayed a message ensuring nobody was hurt during the incident: "The scoreboard was undergoing maintenance today and dropped unexpectedly from its lowered position just above the floor. Nobody was injured (thankfully) and the scene is being assessed for any damage."

George Washington hosted a WNBA playoff game for the Washington Mystics this season, but Raphielle Johnson of NBC Sports noted the fallen Jumbotron will not impact the WNBA Finals schedule because Games 3 and 4 are slated to take place at George Mason.

Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley was in no mood to indulge speculation that he could be bound for the Connecticut Huskies following the Rams' 87-62 loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament Saturday. 

"Listen, I could give a crap about who's got an opening anywhere," Hurley told reporters, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman. 

He continued:

"I haven't thought about it for a second. I could care less what any other school in the country that's looking for a coach or talks about me on social media—I could give two craps about that. My heart, my mind is with this program and these players that just lost a brutal game after having an amazing last couple seasons, and for me it's easy."

The Huskies fired head coach Kevin Ollie on March 10 amid an NCAA investigation, and they've reportedly set their sights on Hurley to overhaul a program that's been mired in controversy. 

Citing sources, Goodman reported Hurley is the "front-runner" for the UConn job. 

Hurley has served as the Rams' head coach since 2012. In six seasons at the helm, he's guided Rhode Island to an Atlantic 10 tournament championship (2016-17), a regular-season conference title (2017-18) and a pair of NCAA tournament appearances.    

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As No. 7 Rhode Island fought to try to get back into its second-round game against No. 2 Duke, Rams guard Jeff Dowtin gave his team a boost late in the first half.

The Rhode Island sophomore picked Duke guard Gary Trent Jr.'s pocket and beat the defense back in transition for an easy dunk. That swipe-and-steal highlighted a 7-2 Rams run.

Dowtin finished the first half with six points, four assists and one steal.

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As much fun as it was to watch the Rhode Island Rams knock down 11 triples in their opening-round overtime victory over the Oklahoma Sooners, it was just as entertaining Thursday to watch their bench go wild for buckets.

In true Monmouth fashion, the Rams took advantage of their moment in the spotlight with some orchestrated celebrations. 

Fans around the country have to be hoping for a Cinderella run by Rhode Island so there will be a March full of the Rams bench's shenanigans.

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The Rhode Island Rams used 11 triples to beat the Oklahoma Sooners in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA tournament Thursday, with a sequence midway through the second half standing out.

Trailing by four, Rhode Island went on a 9-0 run to get the crowd behind it. Right after an E.C. Matthews three-pointer that gave the Rams the lead, Fatts Russell picked Sooners star Trae Young's pocket and drilled a triple right in his face.

That wild sequence helped turn a 50-46 deficit into a 55-50 lead. Rhode Island would advance to the second round with an 83-78 overtime victory.

Dayton Flyers junior forward Sam Miller is facing multiple charges stemming from an arrest for alleged underage drinking followed by an alleged altercation in jail.

According to Dave Jablonski and Will Garbe of WHIO TV 7, Miller was arrested in Greene County (Ohio) Sunday, charged with disorderly conduct by intoxication and underage consumption, and then subsequently charged with misdemeanor assault after an alleged fight in jail.

Miller pleaded not guilty to the charges, and Dayton athletic director Neil Sullivan released the following statement on the matter: "The University of Dayton is aware of an incident, but cannot discuss individual student matters because of federal privacy laws. With all student conduct matters, the University responds in accordance with the University's Student Code of Conduct and other applicable standards."

Per a police report, Miller was arrested at a bar after allegedly causing a scene and pushing a female bartender. Police said he also pushed a security officer before the arrest.

Security cameras then captured Miller getting into a fight in a holding cell with another person who had been arrested.

Miller is a 20-year-old native of Arlington, Virginia, who averaged 4.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for the Flyers last season.