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Danny Kaspar resigned as the head coach of the Texas State men's basketball team following allegations he made racist comments to players.
Travis Recek of Spectrum News shared the school's announcement, which noted Terrence Johnson will be the team's head coach in 2020-21.
In June, multiple former players said Kaspar directed racist and xenophobic remarks and jokes at players during his time as head coach, per Scott Gleeson of USA Today.
Former Texas State point guard Jaylen Shead said in a tweet Kaspar suggested he would have an international player deported, made racist comments toward Black players and even said the members of the team would run faster if a "brown man with a [turban] and an AK-47" came into the gym, per Gleeson.
Shead came to Texas State following time at Cal Poly and eventually transfered to Washington State.
His former teammate, Alex Peacock, told ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf "there is no embellishment in what he said," when discussing Shead's allegations.
"I personally find these allegations deeply troubling," athletic director Larry Teis said in a statement at the time, per Borzello and Medcalf. "I, and the entire Department of Athletics staff, take the concerns expressed by our former student-athletes very seriously. At my request, the university has launched a formal investigation through the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX. It is our top priority to fully cooperate with the investigation."
Kaspar had been the head coach at Texas State since the 2013-14 campaign following 13 seasons as the head coach of Stephen F. Austin. He made the NCAA tournament once with Stephen F. Austin but failed to do so with Texas State.
He finishes his time with the Bobcats with a 119-109 record.
Former Texas State men's basketball player Jaylen Shead said in a tweet Thursday that Bobcats head coach Danny Kaspar made numerous racist remarks toward himself and other players:
ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf shared some details:
"[Shead] said Kaspar told a roster of predominantly black players to 'chase that chicken' when he wanted them to run faster and told players who didn't exceed a 2.2 GPA that they'd end up working at Popeyes.
"Kaspar also suggested he would have an international player deported, according to Shead, who started his college career at Cal Poly before transferring to Texas State and finally ending his career at Washington State last season.
"In practice, when Kaspar wanted players to speed up, he allegedly told them they'd run faster if a 'brown man with a [turban] and an AK-47' entered the gym.'"
In addition, Shead said Kaspar told a European player who was having a rough practice that "a lot of the boosters/alumni here at Texas State are [President Donald Trump] supporters, you keep messing up, I'll have you deported."
Shead also said that durags and earrings were prohibited and that there was a limit on how long players could grow their hair.
The list of bans also included tattoos, per Shead, who said that Kaspar told him that tattoos were "tacky" and that he was "better than that."
Shead's comments were backed by ex-teammate Alex Peacock in comments made to Borzello and Medcalf.
"There is no embellishment in what he said," Peacock told the ESPN duo.
Borzello and Medcalf then paraphrased Peacock's comments regarding Kaspar's alleged actions: "Kaspar threatened to use racial slurs, which Shead's tweet referenced, after hearing the team's black players use a variation of the N-word among one another."
Peacock added: "He told the black players that if you can use it, I can use it. That's one of the ones where you're like, 'OK... no.' Those are two different meanings than when we use it."
Shead was the starting point guard for the 2018-19 Bobcats, averaging 7.9 points and a team-high 4.8 assists per game. The Bobcats went 24-10 and finished second in the Sun Belt. Shead transferred to Washington State after the season.
Peacock was a starting forward on that team, posting 8.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Kaspar, 65, has been a men's college basketball head coach since 1991. He coached at Incarnate Word from 1991-2000 before moving onto Stephen F. Austin, where he stayed until 2013. He's been at Texas State ever since.
Coastal Carolina's cheerleading team has reportedly been suspended due to multiple allegations, including prostitution.
According to Ian Cross and Sage Speaks of WMBF News, a CCU cheerleader who spoke on the condition of anonymity said multiple cheerleaders were questioned by police after an anonymous letter was sent to school president David DeCenzo.
The letter alleged that Coastal Carolina cheerleaders engaged in "prostitution, purchasing alcohol for underage team members and paying others to complete their homework assignments."
Police reportedly searched through the cheerleaders' cellphones during the questioning and released them Wednesday after telling them they had done nothing wrong.
While no incident reports have been filed, a cheerleading showcase the team was set to host April 4 has been canceled, and an anonymous cheerleader said the squad will no longer take part in a national competition in Daytona Beach, Florida, per Cross and Speaks.
Coastal Carolina officials have yet to comment publicly on the status of the cheerleading team or the allegations against it.
Arkansas-Little Rock head men's basketball coach Chris Beard sported a glove on his right hand during the Trojans' come-from-behind upset over Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday, and he revealed the story behind it Friday.
According to Nick Schwartz of FoxSports.com, the first-year Division I head coach told reporters that he broke his hand while trying to motivate his team during halftime of the Sun Belt title game against Louisiana Monroe:
Last Sunday in our championship game in the Sun Belt conference, we were playing against a very well-coached team, Monroe. We were not playing our best first half. We were down five at half, and I made a bad decision in the locker room just trying to get the guys a little fired up.... A dry-erase board took a bad shot. There was a chair there and I thought, briefly, about maybe using the chair but coach [Bob] Knight told me to never do that. Never use a chair in those situations.
From 2001 to 2008 Beard coached at Texas Tech under the legendary Knight, who famously threw a chair across the court during a game in 1985 while coaching at Indiana.
The injured hand certainly didn't stop Beard from guiding his team to victory over the heavily favored Boilermakers, as the 12th-seeded Trojans overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half to win 85-83 in double overtime against the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region.
With that victory, Arkansas-Little Rock improved to 30-4, which put Beard in some elite company, per the team's official Twitter account:
Beard's injury story is somewhat reminiscent of Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter, who ruptured his Achilles tendon while celebrating his team's Sun Belt conference championship last year.
Much like the Trojans, Hunter's Panthers upset Baylor in the first round of the 2015 NCAA tournament thanks to a frenetic comeback late in the game.
Georgia State bowed out in the next round to Xavier, so Beard and Co. are certainly hoping their Cinderella run lasts a bit longer.
Provided senior guard Josh Hagins comes close to replicating his 31-point performance from the first round against Iowa State on Saturday, the clock may not strike midnight quite yet for the Trojans.
Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.
Editor's note: R.J. Hunter's deep 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds remaining propelled No. 14 seed Georgia State to a stunning 57-56 upset of third-seeded Baylor in a West region first-round game.
***
R.J. Hunter doesn't have much time for anything other than swishing jumpers. So for the last three years, almost every night around midnight while most of his peers are cramming for tests or crushing beers, Hunter has made his way to the Georgia State gym to get up shots. Well, actually…
"I make a lot of shots," Hunter says. "I'm not good on just getting a lot of shots up."
This kind of obsession—Hunter adds that he only counts swishes—is what helped turn the junior shooting guard into a potential NBA lottery pick. Hunter is averaging 22.1 points per game this season and the heavy favorite to win Sun Belt Player of the Year honors for the second straight year. He's also coming off a summer in which he tore up the camp circuit to put his name on the national radar.
But at first glance, he looks like anything but a future pro.
Hunter, at 6'6", weighs in at 190 pounds. And that, as we typically say with player heights, could be a generous listing—he was 180 pounds this summer at the LeBron James Skills Academy, according to DraftExpress.com. Hunter is rail-thin and just starting to grow into his body. Ron Hunter, Georgia State coach and R.J.'s father, says that he just recently taught his son to shave.
"We were so embarrassed that we went in the bathroom in the locker room when everyone was gone," Ron says.
Once you get past the frame, however, there's a lot to love. Hunter has solid handle and great vision—he's averaging 3.6 assists per game—to go along with a quick trigger.
"If you talk to him now and you call him a shooter, he'll probably stop the conversation," Ron says. "He hates being labeled that. But he's one of the best shooters in the country."
Hunter has range out beyond the NBA three-point line, and he never hesitates to shoot wherever he has space. In his freshman year on the road at Towson, he drained a three that measured about 30 feet without altering his normal shooting stroke.
"My dad says shoot where you can see," he says. "I think I can see from full court."
Ron, who played at Miami (Ohio), got his first head-coaching job at IUPUI before R.J.'s first birthday, and his son was a staple at IUPUI practices from the time he was two years old.
Even though R.J. was with him all the time, Ron tried to let him find his own calling. He had him play soccer and baseball growing up, but R.J. never even made it through an entire season. "Let's get back in the gym," he'd tell his dad. "It's not for me."
Until R.J. got to high school, Ron thought he was training him to be a coach. The two would watch film together, and Ron would test his son.
Why did the coach make that adjustment? Why do you think he ran that play? Why did he sub out that guy?
As R.J. got older, Ron would ask him to watch a play and then diagram it.
"I really wanted him to think like a coach," Ron says. "He just got to be a better player."
Ron realized his son had a future playing the game once he got to Pike High School in Indianapolis.
In one of his first games as a freshman, with his oversized uniform hanging off him, R.J. hit two clutch shots in a big moment. Ron turned to his wife and told her, "I don't know if he'll grow, but I do know that he'll be a special player."
For his first three years of high school, R.J. had to settle for being a sidekick. He played in the shadow of Marquis Teague, who was a McDonald's All-American and helped Kentucky win a national title in 2012. All the college coaches came to Pike to see Teague.
But everything changed during R.J.'s senior year of high school.
Ron took the Georgia State job the previous spring, and with no pops or Teague around, R.J. was the center of attention. He led Pike to the state championship game in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Ron says of being away from his family. "They would send me tapes back, and I realized then the light switch went off for him, where he felt like it was his team."
Part of Ron wanted his son to follow him to Georgia State so he wouldn't have to miss any of R.J.'s college games. It killed him not to be around that year. He even spent the opening minutes of a Georgia State game in the locker room so he could watch his son's senior night over Skype. But Ron thought R.J. might go elsewhere to escape his dad's shadow.
R.J. was recruited by several major-conference schools, including Iowa, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.
Ron became even more hesitant to have his son follow him to Georgia State when he talked to another college coach who coached his own son. That coach regretted coaching his son because it was hard on the family.
R.J. had also watched his always-demonstrative dad roam the sidelines for years and had his own doubts.
"I know he's crazy," R.J. says. "I know he's wild and he stomps and is yelling at players every other play for made shots, missed shots, anything. Do I really want to do that?"
Ron reached out to every father-son duo he knew, and Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew, who played for his dad Homer, convinced R.J. that playing for his dad was his best choice. Bryce told R.J. that it was the best four years of his life.
It didn't take long for the Hunters to realize R.J. could thrive under his old man's watch.
"The first time R.J. played an exhibition game, and he had 30," Ron says, "I thought, 'OK, I made the right decision.'"
R.J. proved to be a great mid-major player his first two years of college, but this summer was about proving to himself that he could hang with anyone.
His confidence started to grow when he made his first stop of the summer at the Kevin Durant Skills Academy and got the attention of Durant during a five-on-five game.
With Durant watching from the sideline, Hunter had been struggling until he knocked down a fadeaway jumper from the post.
"I heard Kevin Durant say 'Damn,' like 'He hit that,'" R.J. says.
Next possession, he scored again.
"It was kind of getting loud," R.J. says.
Then he scored again with a floater and followed that up with a fourth straight bucket.
"[Durant] just pulled me aside and said, 'You're a really good player. Just keep doing what you're doing,'" R.J. remembers. "I think we kind of had the skinny thing going on."
That skinny thing is the one hesitation that NBA scouts have with R.J., but there are other mid-major players who have had the skill for franchises to look past their frames. Former Lehigh guard C.J. McCollum went 10th to the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2013 NBA draft, and former Davidson guard Steph Curry is the poster child for what a skinny mid-major scoring machine can be at the next level.
Curry had the luxury of playing in a system at Davidson where he could show off all the different ways he could score—from running off multiple screens to getting the ball in more isolation sets later in his career.
R.J. has had a somewhat similar career curve. He scored a lot of his points on spot-ups during his first two seasons. This year, he's still excelling in catch-and-shoot situations, but he's getting fewer of those looks because the scouting report says not to leave him.
The Panthers have had to get more creative getting R.J. the ball, and that means running him off a lot of screens. One of his favorite players to study growing up was Ray Allen, and like Allen, he has a great understanding of how to move without the ball and get himself open.
Also in the Curry mold, R.J. has a penchant for getting his own shot off the dribble.
No one is ready to tab R.J. as the next Curry, but he did get labeled as a potential lottery pick when he played well in front of scouts at the LeBron James Skills Academy.
"He looked like he belonged," an NBA scout who was in attendance told Bleacher Report. "That's always the toughest thing for some of those guys who come from a smaller school. If they're NBA players, they just look like they belong. If they're a little bit out of their element, they could fail. He looked like he belonged."
Ron had told R.J. to go to the camp in Las Vegas by himself and enjoy playing without dad watching over.
"Then I got 1,000 calls," Ron says. "Everybody was calling saying how great he was playing. I couldn't take it. I got on the next flight.
"I wanted to go as a father. I didn't want to go as a coach."
The two are hoping for at least one more special father-son moment this season as they try to get Georgia State to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.
R.J. helped lead a turnaround last season when Georgia State went from a 15-16 record his freshman year to winning 25 games and the Sun Belt regular season title. This season, Georgia State is tied for its best start in the program's last 10 years (6-3) against the toughest nonconference schedule during that stretch, according to kenpom.com's metrics (subscription required). The three losses have come to teams that have lost a combined two games.
Ron credits R.J. with changing the culture—many of his teammates now join him for his middle-of-the-night workouts—and he's also helped his dad generate interest in the program.
"If you went to my freshman-year home games, it'd probably be like this plus 10 people," R.J. says during a shootaround at Iowa State last month. "Now you go back and it was a sellout for an exhibition."
The Panthers were on the verge of playing on the national stage last March when they led by nine with just over three minutes left in the Sun Belt tournament championship game against Louisiana-Lafayette, who ended up rallying and winning by one in overtime.
"Just being that close, you can really taste it," R.J. says. "You almost start celebrating, and then you just lose it. That just gave me a different hunger. I'm a completely different player mentally and physically because of that."
R.J. is also motivated by what a tourney bid would mean to his father, who made three NCAA tournaments as a player but has only made one as a head coach.
The Hunters paid special attention last year to the McDermotts, another father-son duo who made the tournament and were one of the biggest stories of the college basketball season.
R.J. has picked Doug McDermott's brain about what made them so successful, and Ron likes to remind his son that McDermott decided to play four years at Creighton instead of leaving early.
"I tease him, 'You know McDermott came back now,'" Ron says, laughing.
R.J. will face his decision after this season, and if he takes Georgia State to an NCAA tournament, he may have accomplished everything he can accomplish in college.
But if pops wants to read between the lines, his son has grander visions than just one more season and one NCAA tournament.
"I think I can get him to two more before I leave," R.J. says.
C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.
Considering the school is 17 miles inland from Miami Beach, Florida International University students are more likely to tangle with an alligator while swimming before they catch a wave on a surf board.
But this hasn’t stopped the university from going ahead with its plan to repaint its basketball court with this tropical beach motif.
The court is currently being prepared for its re-design, which will cost nearly $50,000 according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Paint will be applied layer-by-layer onto the court, and cabana-style seating will be available behind one of the baskets.
FIU deserves credit for doing something adventurous with its hardwood. The school has a large student population (boasting 50,000 undergrads and graduate students) but is looking to stir up excitement in its basketball program, which achieved its first winning season in 13 years during the 2012-13 season under now-former head coach Rich Pitino.
Pitino—son of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino—had tweeted this new court design weeks ago as one of several in consideration for FIU’s new court plans. Since his tweet, Pitino has been hired on as the head coach at the University of Minnesota.
Moving on to the Big Ten is a huge step for a young coach like Pitino, who, at the age of 30, will be the youngest coach in the conference by eight years (Northwestern’s Chris Collins, 38, is the next youngest).
Judging by this new court design, Pitino had big plans for his team at FIU and was looking down any and all avenues in the name of wowing recruits into playing for a lesser-known program.
Without Pitino, FIU loses their name-brand coach and No. 1 recruiting weapon. Considering the school is located a few miles away from the University of Miami's burgeoning basketball program, they'll take any advantage they can get—even if it's ridiculous, in a Sandals resort-esque type of way.
On Twitter: Dr__Carson
Florida International University is bringing the beach to its home basketball court.
The Huffington Post reports the final winning bid to adorn the FIU hardwood next season will be this beach setting, because the Miami-area university is near the beach. Get it?
Athletic Director Pete Garcia told HuffPost Thursday that he came up with the idea to attract recruits, provide a homecourt advantage and make money—the school is getting a sponsor to pay for it. FIU is negotiating with a painting contractor now, and Garcia said the job should be completed for less than $1 million.
As noted in the article, Yahoo! Sports had earlier reported that FIU was kicking around various designs that coach Richard Pitino did well to tweet to students and fans.
First, there was this design, which would be phenomenal only on a beach towel.
Redoing our court in a few weeks. This idea came across my desk. I am intrigued. Retweet if you like it! twitter.com/CoachPitinoFIU…
— Richard Pitino (@CoachPitinoFIU) March 18, 2013
Then, this similar design inevitably won the hearts and minds of the officials in power.
Huge fan of this latest court proposal. Retweet if you agree! twitter.com/CoachPitinoFIU…
— Richard Pitino (@CoachPitinoFIU) March 20, 2013
Why stop there? Let's make sure all drinks at the arena have those little umbrellas in them, including beer. And every guy has to wear board shorts to the games, except for that one European exchange student who will of course come in a Speedo and make it awkward for everyone.
In all seriousness, this is a horrible idea.
Some of you might look at that court mockup sitting on your computer screen and think: that doesn't look half bad. But while it may look great as a graphic, beach decor never goes over well indoors.
Beach: awesome and truly captivating landscape.
Beach decor: tacky interior design only suited for "beach night" at a local fraternity.
Some of you with tiki torches in your living rooms might protest, but you're all wrong.
Lastly, with the beach setting, that menacing panther now looks like some mischievous seductress—not really the look you should go for with a mascot. Why not add a tropical drink in one paw and a bottle of sunscreen in the other?
Just like the recent explosion of uniform options within college football and basketball, this court-designing trend came from Nike-fueled Oregon. The Ducks redesigned their floor to include the outlines of a dense forest.
Regardless of how the general public feels about this recent trend, I'm sure FIU fans will love it, and that's really all that matters.
Like guys who wear cabana shirts or jean shorts, you're fighting a losing battle with the fashion police, but at least you have your own style.
In his four years as a starter for Billy Donovan's Florida Gators, All-SEC guard Kenny Boynton has seen his share of battles.
Nine NCAA tournament games. Six of them decided by 10 points or less. Three of those in overtime.
Yet it was a victory earlier this year over one of those anonymous-sounding mid-majors that left the 6'2" dynamo gasping for air.
"This," Boynton told the press afterward, "is one of the most physical teams I've played against in a long time."
Even in a 66-45 defeat, the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders left an impression.
MTSU went on to finish one of the nation's toughest non-conference schedules, with victories over Vanderbilt, Central Florida (on the road) and Ole Miss. And although AP voters have been slow to embrace the Blue Raiders, multiple computer models place MTSU firmly within the nation's Top 40.
That resume has experts like CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein taking notice:
Amid a swirl of anecdotal and statistical evidence, Kermit Davis Jr.'s team has emerged as one with enticing postseason potential.
Why They're Dangerous
1. The Blue Raiders Get After It on D
Davis may not have contrived a catchy buzzword for his team's strategic preferences, but Middle Tennessee's defense shares a lot in common with the "Havoc" system installed by Shaka Smart at VCU.
The Blue Raiders, like the Rams, are deep and aggressive, with a relentless style of on-ball defending designed to create turnovers. Through the season's first 27 games, MTSU ranked 19th nationally in turnover percentage and 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
And unlike VCU—a team whose lust for turnovers tends to compromise its field-goal defense—the Blue Raiders are equally adept at contesting shots. Through the first 16 games of league play, MTSU led the Sun Belt Conference in effective field-goal-percentage against and defensive efficiency, both by gaping margins.
The key to Davis' defense is numbers, and MTSU's rotation runs 10 men deep. According to KenPom.com, the Blue Raiders rank 15th nationally in percentage of bench minutes used.
That combination of personnel and tactics produced some remarkable numbers during MTSU's non-conference schedule.
Over 11 games, the Blue Raiders allowed just three opponents to shoot better than 45 percent from the field, forced at least 10 turnovers in every single contest and had just two games where a player logged more than 30 minutes.
Davis explained his strategy to ESPN's Jason King:
We're trying to pressure people all over the court. We've got good depth. We play 10 guys double-figure minutes. It allows us to absorb foul trouble and stay fresh. That's probably our biggest strength right now.
By the time the Blue Raiders were set to face rival Western Kentucky on Jan. 26, opponents were well aware of MTSU's defensive hallmarks. Still, there was little the Hilltoppers could do to neutralize the Blue Raiders' aggression.
David Climer of The Tennessean reports:
“They’re 10-1 in this league for a reason,” Western coach Ray Harper said.
And the biggest reason is MTSU’s backcourt. With quick, aggressive guards setting the tempo, the Blue Raiders rattled Western into 18 turnovers and 39 percent shooting.
“For half-court defense, they’re the best we’ve played,” said Harper, whose Hilltoppers have faced such teams as Louisville, VCU and Iowa this season. “Their guards are the strength of their team.”
Havoc it is not, but according to one coach, what the Blue Raiders do is even more vexing.
2. Middle Tennessee's Backcourt Will Make You Sweat
What the Middle Tennessee State backcourt lacks in star power, it more than makes up for in quantity. The Blue Raiders have five guards receiving regular rotation minutes: Marcos Knight, Raymond Cintron, Bruce Massey, Tweety Knight and James Gallman.
Marcos Knight, a junior college transfer now in his second year with the program, is the leader of the bunch. No MTSU player averages more points or minutes.
Knight has been joined this season by brother Tweety, also a JUCO transfer. Marcos' usage and efficiency rates are up from last year, a spike ESPN's Myron Medcalf attributes to the sibling rivalry.
The duo practices with an intensity that's defined the entire Blue Raiders program. The goal, years later, remains the same: Prove that one is better than the other while pursuing their collective goals.
And while Tweety isn't quite his brother's equal as a scorer, the 6'1" junior plays a vital role in MTSU's pressure defense. In comments to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, Coach Davis labeled Tweety and senior Bruce Massey as his defensive catalysts.
But to focus on one guard over the others obscures this group's greatest strength: its depth. The Blue Raiders play a kinetic brand of basketball made possible by their capacity to distribute minutes and fouls.
Not surprisingly, teams that play two guards exclusively struggle to keep pace.
3. The Blue Raiders Are Experienced, with a History of Beating Good Teams
According to KenPom.com, Middle Tennessee State is the second-most experienced team in college basketball. As ESPN's Miles Simon explains, not all of that time together has been rosy, but at the very least, it's kept this group motivated.
Simon writes:
This is a team not many people are going to want to play come tourney time. After dominating the Sun Belt last year with 25 wins, they got upset in the first round of their conference tourney and were left out of the Big Dance. The Blue Raiders returned four starters and eight of their top nine scorers, making for a very hungry group of players that wanted to create some noise in March.
Last year's Blue Raiders ended up in the NIT, where they scored wins over Marshall and Tennessee before suffering a six-point loss to eventual runner-up Minnesota.
Tournament success included, this particular group of MTSU players has built an impressive resume against schools from the Power Six.
Here's a closer look at how the Blue Raiders have fared against high-major competition over the past two seasons.
| Year | School | Outcome | Score |
| 2011-12 | UCLA | W | 86-66 |
| 2011-12 | Ole Miss | W | 68-56 |
| 2011-12 | Vanderbilt | L | 77-84 |
| 2011-12 | Tennessee | W | 71-64 |
| 2011-12 | Minnesota | L | 72-78 |
| 2012-13 | Florida | L | 45-66 |
| 2012-13 | Ole Miss | W | 65-62 |
| 2012-13 | Vanderbilt | W | 56-52 |
That's a .625 winning percentage against Power Six teams over the last two seasons. And even that seemingly lopsided loss against Florida was a three-point game at halftime.
Perhaps more than anything in this team's profile, it's MTSU's track record against quality opponents that augurs best for postseason play.
Oftentimes, we wonder whether a mid-major's statistical dominance will translate against tournament-level competition. With the Blue Raiders, there are no such hang-ups.
Teams Middle Tennessee State Could Beat in the NCAA Tournament
1. Maryland
If Middle Tennessee State ends up with a No. 12 seed, it could draw a high-major bubble team in the first round. The Terps have been a mess in the backcourt all season, making them one of Division I's most turnover-prone teams. The Blue Raiders are well-designed to exploit that weakness.
2. Oregon
If MTSU can avoid the pseudo play-in game, it could see a team like Oregon in the second round. The Ducks have been thin at point guard since losing freshman Dominic Artis to a foot injury. If Artis doesn't make a full recovery, Oregon could fall victim to MTSU's attacking style.
Note: All statistics courtesy of KenPom.com unless otherwise noted.
This season is a great one for mid-major talent, with names like Isaiah Canaan, Doug McDermott and C.J. McCollum earning preseason All-America buzz.
North Texas' Tony Mitchell got some support for similar honors, but tended to polarize voters. Two months into the season, the skeptics appear to have more ammunition than Mitchell's supporters.
The Mean Green's shaky 5-7 start has stirired questions about Mitchell's ability to carry his team. Thursday's meeting with Lehigh hosted nearly 60 NBA scouts and general managers who were anxious to watch the battle between Mitchell and McCollum.
Even without McCollum, who sat out with a sprained ankle, Lehigh rolled 90-75.
Mitchell played, but he was brought off first-year coach Tony Benford's bench for the second time this season. The cause of the benching was a minor violation of team rules, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
For his part, Mitchell was heavily involved in the offense, taking 13 shots and scoring 22 points. This has not always been the case this season, however.
In a shocking early-season loss to Division II Alabama-Huntsville, Mitchell was only able to hoist four shots in 31 minutes before fouling out. The Mean Green's Sun Belt opener, a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, came and went with Mitchell taking only one shot in his 25 minutes, that being a breakaway dunk off of a turnover. Again, he fouled out.
Defenses are geared to stop Mitchell at any cost, but the best players are able to get their chances, regardless. The 6'8", 235-pound Mitchell has struggled to endure all the low post double-teams, so he's tried drifting out to the perimeter.
After taking 41 three-pointers in 22 games as a freshman, Mitchell has hoisted 37 in his first 12 games this year. He's made only 30 percent of those tries, but on a team shooting a horrid 23 percent in total, he looks like Ray Allen by comparison.
Mitchell tends to lose focus when he's stationed in the post surrounded by defenders, so taking those outside forays and trying to showcase his face-up skills for the scouts may be the only way for him to mentally stay in the game.
Benford's offense may not be helping the cause, either.
Junior guard Alzee Williams told the DRC, “We need to get used to the offense and execute in the halfcourt. It’s different. Last year we were in more of a system. We have more freedom now. We are getting used to it.”
That freedom has allowed the Mean Green backcourt to get shot-happy, rather than mandating that the team's best player stay involved. Guard Jordan Williams is tied with Mitchell for the team lead at 123 field-goal attempts, with Alzee Williams (117) and Chris Jones (111) close behind. The three guards are making a combined 38 percent of those attempts, 21 percent from long range.
While 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game seem like perfectly respectable numbers, the averages are all down from where Mitchell was in his abridged 2011-12 season. They're numbers that could get a Kentucky or North Carolina player drafted in the lottery, but not a guy from North Texas.
If the Mean Green still harbor hopes of challenging a veteran Middle Tennessee team or an injury-plagued Western Kentucky for the Sun Belt championship, Benford will have to ensure that his guards are on the same page as his NBA-bound big man.
All-America honors may be out of reach unless Mitchell and his team make dramatic improvements.
But the worst thing for North Texas fans would be to watch a transcendent talent pass through Denton without so much as an NCAA tournament bid. With every loss, however, that fear edges closer to reality.
For more from Scott on college basketball nationwide, check out The Back Iron (now on CollegeBasketballTalk's #NBCMustFollow College Hoop Directory).
