AAC Basketball

Moussa Cisse's time with the Memphis Tigers is reportedly over after just one season.

Jeff Borzello of ESPN reported on Monday that the big man entered the transfer portal following his freshman campaign on Penny Hardaway's team. 

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Cisse was a 5-star prospect and the No. 10 overall player in the recruiting class of 2020.

The 18-year-old averaged 6.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field during his one season with the Tigers. Cisse was a key rotational player in the frontcourt even though he was far from a go-to option.

Cisse flashed his potential at times with double-doubles against SMU, Wichita State, Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas State, but consistency on the offensive end was something of an issue. He would disappear for extended stretches as a reliable offensive force, although he helped make up for that by contributing on the boards and protecting the rim.

He earned American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors in large part due to those efforts in areas outside of scoring.

Jason Munz of the Memphis Commercial Appeal noted this development comes after Cisse announced he would enter the NBA draft without signing with an agent so he could keep his eligibility.

Munz also reported the big man is the fifth player from Memphis' team last season to enter the portal. Boogie Ellis (USC), D.J. Jeffries (Mississippi State), Damion Baugh (TCU) and Jordan Nesbitt (Saint Louis) have already chosen their destinations.

Cisse's departure leaves Malcolm Dandridge and incoming freshman Sam Onu as centers for the Tigers.

Cincinnati interviewed former Bearcats star Nick Van Exel as part of its search for a new men's basketball coach, according to Keith Jenkins of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

The school fired John Brannen on Friday after placing him on administrative leave while it looked into why six players entered the transfer portal shortly after the conclusion of the 2020-21 season.

Van Exel spent two seasons at Cincinnati before embarking on a 13-year NBA career. In retirement, the 1997-98 All-Star began building his coaching resume.

Having worked as a player development instructor for the Atlanta Hawks, he joined the Milwaukee Bucks' staff for the 2013-14 season and then moved on to the Texas Legends of the NBA G League. He was the Legends head coach in 2015-16 when they finished 23-27.

Van Exel's most recent gig saw him work as an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies for three seasons.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported in April 2019 the 49-year-old was interested in succeeding Mick Cronin as Cincinnati's head coach, with the Bearcats opting instead for Brannen.

Because of his experience as a player with the program, Cincinnati probably wouldn't have to sell the fanbase on Van Exel too much. However, Jenkins reported the university also interviewed Erik Martin, an assistant coach at West Virginia who was also college teammates with Van Exel.

According to Jenkins, UCLA associate head coach Darren Savino could be in the mix as well but reportedly has yet to formally interview. While Savino didn't suit up for the Bearcats, he was the team's associate head coach for nine years under Cronin.

A Kentucky native who also coached at Northern Kentucky, Brannen knew the region but didn't have firm ties to Cincinnati prior to leading the Bearcats. It appears school administrators want to stay within the family in identifying his replacement. 

The University of Cincinnati has parted ways with men's head basketball coach John Brannen, the school announced Friday.

pic.twitter.com/qCSkTA1ADV

— John Brannen (@coachbrannen) April 9, 2021

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports and College Hoops Today first reported that Cincinnati was expected to part ways with Brannen. Justin Williams of The Athletic confirmed the move. 

Brannen was placed on administrative leave by the school on April 3 pending an investigation after six players transferred last month. 

Matt Norlander of CBS Sports noted Brannen and Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham "haven't been on speaking terms for weeks" and a parting of ways was "an inevitability."

Per Justin Williams of The Athletic, the recent spate of transfers is "tied to a rift between those players and coach John Brannen."

Williams noted some of the rift between the players and Brannen was related to navigating the 2020-21 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. There were also "personality clashes and the culture within the program" that "exacerbated the mental strain for some."

Within a three-day period last month, Mason Madsen, Tari Eason, Mike Saunders Jr., Gabe Madsen, Zach Harvey and Mamoudou Diarra all announced they had entered the transfer portal. 

Brannen was hired by the Bearcats in April 2019 after Mick Cronin left the program to become head coach at UCLA. The 47-year-old went 32-21 with Cincinnati over the past two seasons, winning an AAC regular-season title in 2019-20. 

Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers landed a significant addition from the transfer portal.

Guard Earl Timberlake told Jonathan Givony of ESPN that he is transferring from Miami to Memphis to play for the Tigers during the 2021-22 season.

"I felt like I can learn a lot from [coach] Penny Hardaway—all he's done in his career," Timberlake said. "I like the way they defend, they have the No. 1-ranked defense in the country. I can add to that. I like how they see my game. They know I can pass and they'll help me get back to defending the way I know I can defend and try to win a national championship. I appreciate everyone for recruiting me and I'm going to do my best at Memphis."

That the defense stood out for Timberlake is notable because the Tigers finished last season No. 1 in the country on that side of the floor in KenPom.com's rankings. They used that defense to go 9-2 in their final 11 regular-season games and eventually win the NIT championship over Mississippi State.

Maintaining that defensive presence figures to be key for the 2021-22 campaign, especially given the overall roster changes.

Givony noted Boogie Ellis, Damion Baugh, Jordan Nesbitt and D.J. Jeffries all entered the transfer portal, while Moussa Cisse declared for the NBA draft but is yet to hire an agent. An impressive recruiting class that is No. 8 on the 247Sports' composite rankings is coming in, and Davion Warren transferred to the Tigers from Hampton.

Timberlake arrives as another key addition and someone who could play his way up NBA draft boards with a successful season.

He dealt with ankle and shoulder injuries in his freshman season with the Hurricanes and appeared in just seven games while averaging 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals a night.

At his best, he is someone who can impact the game in a number of ways, including on the defensive end.

That should fit in well with Hardaway's squad.

Houston men's basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson spoke with reporters Friday about his father, John "Ned" Sampson, as well as his experiences with prejudice and racism growing up in 1960s North Carolina.

Sampson's father primarily worked as a basketball coach and athletic director, and he had a 34-year career with Pembroke High School that ended in 1983.

But he's also known for his role in running the Ku Klux Klan out of Maxton, North Carolina in 1958. During what is known as "Battle of Hayes Pond," he was one of several hundred members of the Lumbee Tribe who prevented a KKK rally from occurring in the area.

"I'm very proud of Lumbee Nation. I'm very proud of my father," Sampson told reporters, per Scott Gleeson of the USA Today. "[Ned Sampson]'s a pretty good person to be a role model of growing up."

He also added:

“Even to this day if you go back to Pembroke, North Carolina, he was a rock and a foundation piece for that community. We’re a non-federally recognized native American tribe that’s felt prejudice and racism our entire lives. When I was raised in Pembroke, that was a big source of pride—that we stayed with each other. We kind of care of each other. The KKK was huge in that area. That’s a vivid, clear image with me." 

Sampson spoke with Nick Martin of Deadspin in March 2018 about his recollection regarding the Battle of Hayes Pond, which happened when the Houston coach was just three years old.

“The thing I remember about Hayes Pond was my father, Mr. Deldon—these were all his friends—they just jumped in a truck and went down to Hayes Pond. And they were bound and determined to break up that KKK rally. [A KKK member] had put a lightbulb out there in the shed, they were having that rally, pumping their KKK rhetoric. [A member of the Lumbee tribe] shot the light out, shots were being fired. And the first thing [the Klan] did, because they didn’t have guns, was they jumped under a truck. Just jumped under it. ... The next thing you know was the rally was broken up and it was gone, and that was considered a victory. They ran the KKK out of town.”

Sampson's father also endured racism while working part-time in a tobacco factory, and the Houston coach noted that water fountains and bathrooms were segregated. His father also taught at segregated coaching clinics.

"You didn't think anything of it at the time," Sampson said. "It's the way it was in the 1960s. It was very divided. Very racist. But we survived. We achieved."

The elder Sampson did his best to break down down those barriers, and Ronnie Davis, a former athletic director of the Public Schools of Robeson County, spoke about the coach.

“It didn’t matter what nationality or race a kid was,″ Chavis told Earl Vaughan Jr. of the Fayetteville Observer in Feb. 2014 following Sampson's death. “He was a kid that needed to be coached.″

Sampson's son will now be looking to win the first national championship of his illustrious coaching career.

His Houston Cougars will be playing the Baylor Bears in the Final Four on Saturday at 5:14 p.m. ET. The winner plays Gonzaga or UCLA on Monday in the national championship.

The Houston Cougars are headed to the Final Four for the first time since 1984 following their 67-61 Monday night victory over the Oregon State Beavers.

After leading 34-17 at halftime, Houston allowed Oregon State to claw all the way back to tie the game at 55-55, but the Cougars' prowess both on defense and on the offensive glass was just too much in the end.

Houston also made too many threes against an Oregon State team that had excelled on the defensive perimeter for the past few weeks. Marcus Sasser led all scorers with 20 points and five made triples. Quentin Grimes was close behind, scoring 18 with four made threes. DeJon Jarreau also made a pair in his second straight game with at least nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

With the victory, Houston became the first team in NCAA tournament history to reach the national semifinals by going through four consecutive double-digit seeds.

The combined seed total of opponents Houston has faced (No. 15 Cleveland State, No. 10 Rutgers, No. 11 Syracuse and No. 12 Oregon State) is 48, and that is just the sixth time a team has faced a seed total of 45 or greater in its first four tournament games.

• 1990 UNLV faced a 16-8-12-11 path (47 total)
• 1991 North Carolina faced a 16-9-12-10 path (47 total)
• 2001 Michigan State faced a 16-9-12-11 path (48 total)
• 2008 Kansas faced a 16-8-12-10 path (46 total)
• 2011 Kansas faced a 16-9-12-11 path (48 total), but it lost to No. 11 seed VCU

(Let the record show that Gonzaga's four previous trips to the Elite Eight each featured a combined seed total below 40, and this year's is 35. When I tweeted about Houston's seed path Saturday night, there were a whole bunch of "Well, that's just an average year for Gonzaga" responses and, come on, just stop already.)

That cupcake path is going to be a narrative for the next few days, but don't let it detract from how good this Houston team is.

After beating Texas Tech 64-53 on a neutral court in late November, the Cougars entered December ranked in the top 15 on KenPom and never once abandoned that post. All season long, they have had one of the most efficient defenses and one of the most relentless frontcourts of offensive rebounders, and that has continued through the first four rounds of this tournament.

Despite upsetting three very impressive teams in Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Loyola-Chicago, Oregon State looked hopelessly overmatched most of Monday night. The Beavers switched up their defensive alignments frequently, trying anything and everything to push Houston out of its comfort zone. However, open looks were all but impossible for Oregon State to come by, and it simply could not buy a defensive rebound when it needed one most.

And yet, the Beavers scored more points (61) against Houston than any other team has thus far in this dance. That's a testament to how suffocating this defense typically is.

Houston now ranks in the top 15 in the nation in all of the following on defense: steal percentage, block percentage, three-point percentage, two-point percentage, effective field-goal percentage and even free-throw percentage.

That last one might seem more random than defensive, but the Cougars make teams work so hard for every inch of space that even the free-throw strokes look fatigued after a while.

Case in point: Oregon State's Ethan Thompson was 25-of-26 from the charity stripe in his first three games of the tournament, but he shot just 5-of-8 against Houston. Maurice Calloo had not missed a free throw since early February and was 27-of-30 on the season. He missed two of his five tries against the Cougars. They just wear you out.

Perhaps most impressive and unexpected has been Houston's ability to swarm without fouling. Putting opponents at the free-throw line was a common problem during the regular season—frankly, the only significant complaint one could make about this defense—but the Cougars have committed just 14.8 fouls per game during the tournament.

Oh, and the offensive rebounds, otherwise known as the defense played on offense.

Houston had a completely unexpected off night in that department in the Sweet 16 against a Syracuse team that almost always struggles on the defensive glass. The Cougars only got back 29.7 percent of their misses in that one. But they corralled 43.2 percent against Rutgers, 48.5 percent against Cleveland State and 46.3 percent against Oregon State.

All told, Houston has grabbed 62 offensive rebounds while only allowing 86 defensive rebounds. And those second/third/fourth chances usually make a colossal difference for a team that is now 28-3.

It's all remarkable stuff.

But as has been the refrain all season long with the Cougars: Who have they faced?

Every other team that earned a No. 1 or No. 2 seed had at least eight Quadrant 1 wins. All the No. 3 seeds had at least six such victories.

Houston, though?

Just two wins in three tries, and one of those two wins was a road game against NET No. 65 SMU—a team that never felt like a serious threat for an at-large bid. The Cougars had that November win over Texas Tech and no other bragging rights. (TTU's primary power forward, Kevin McCullar, wasn't playing at that point in the season, either, because of a high-ankle sprain.)

Suffice it to say, overall strength of schedule was a huge question mark for the Cougars long before the NCAA tournament began, and this little Waltz of the Creampuffs through the Big Dance has done nothing to change that.

Maybe it would be different if Houston had plowed through its four games the way USC destroyed Drake, Kansas and Oregon en route to the Elite Eight. Instead, the Cougars needed a borderline miraculous comeback against Rutgers and narrowly avoided a complete meltdown against Oregon State.

But if you've been patiently waiting for months to see if Houston can hold its own against some of the best teams in the country, you're in luck.

After four consecutive wins on the game's easy setting, it's time for the Cougars to crank the difficulty level up to expert. To win it all, they'll need to beat Baylor in the Final Four and probably Gonzaga in the national championship—merely the two teams we've been hyping up as national championship co-favorites since before the season began.

If that happens, would anyone seriously still care about how weak this year's AAC was or how favorably that Midwest Region broke for the Cougars?

Of course not. We would spend at least the next decade trying to figure out how Houston—the program that was on the receiving end of one of the wildest national championship upsets of all time in 1983—became the lone hurdle this Gonzaga juggernaut couldn't clear.

These Cougars have the defense to beat anyone. And if they win two more games, the strength of opponents they faced in the previous 31 will be an irrelevant footnote on a historic season.

                   

Kerry Miller covers men's college basketball and college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @kerrancejames.

Nineteen years ago, John Calipari led Memphis to an NIT championship to kick off the strongest period in school history.

Penny Hardaway will hope history repeats itself.

Champs! pic.twitter.com/lXBRLodyLQ

— Memphis Basketball (@Memphis_MBB) March 28, 2021

Boogie Ellis scored 23 points and D.J. Jeffries added 15 points and five blocks off the bench, leading Memphis to a 77-64 win over Mississippi State to take the 2021 NIT.

This is the second NIT title in program history, joining the 2002 Calipari squad. The Tigers would make the NCAA tournament in six of the next seven seasons, thanks in part to the momentum Calipari created with that NIT run.

Memphis has not reached the NCAA tournament since 2014, a streak many expected to end when Hardaway took over before the 2018-19 season. However, James Wiseman's arrival was abruptly ended last season, and the program hasn't quite recruited at the level some expected with Hardaway leading the fold.

These Tigers reinvented themselves midway through the season, going 10-3 in their last 13 games of the regular season to narrowly miss the tournament. Two of those three losses came against Houston, a team that reached the Elite Eight over the weekend.

Memphis carried that momentum to North Texas for the NIT, winning three of its four games by double digits. The only close call was a three-point victory over Boise State in the Tigers' second game.

Memphis ran out to a 13-0 run to start the game against Ben Howland's Mississippi State team on Sunday, though the Tigers weren't able to keep that lead. The Bulldogs had evened the score at 33 by the break before Memphis pulled away with a stellar offensive performance in the second half.

Cameron Matthews led the way with 19 points for Mississippi State, which was playing in its first NIT final. 

DraftKings announced Saturday that a Houston furniture store mogul placed a $1 million bet on the University of Houston to win the 2021 NCAA men's college basketball tournament.

DraftKings noted that the bet will pay out a total of $10 million ($9 million in profit) if the Cougars win it all at 9-1 odds:

https://twitter.com/DKSportsbook/status/1375834315741933568

The bet was placed by Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, who owns Gallery Furniture stores in the Houston area and is well known for placing huge sports bets.

In February, McIngvale bet $3.46 million on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win Super Bowl LV. The Bucs beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9, netting him $2.75 million in profit.

Per Darren Rovell of The Action Network, Mattress Mack said he flew on his plane from Houston to Denver on Friday night in order to place the $1 million bet on the Cougars on the DraftKings mobile betting app, and then flew back home.

Mattress Mack had to fly out of Texas since mobile sports betting is not legal in the state.

When asked why he decided to place the bet through DraftKings, Mattress Mack said:"DraftKings had the best number at 9-1 and they were willing to take the full amount."

Mattress Mack is known for tying the fate of Houston-area sports teams into promotions at his furniture stores, and he plans to do the same with the Houston men's basketball team.

McIngvale said the bet is a hedge against a Final Four promotion he plans to run if the Cougs make it that far. Should that happen, he plans to give patrons 50 percent off purchases if Houston wins in the Final Four and 100 percent off if the team wins the national championship.

Houston is a No. 2 seed by virtue of its 26-3 record this season, and it has already beaten Cleveland State and Rutgers en route to the Sweet 16.

The Cougars will face the 11th-seeded Syracuse Orange on Saturday for a spot in the Elite Eight, where they would take on either No. 8 Loyola Chicago or No. 12 Oregon State for a spot in the Final Four.

Houston has never won a national title, although it has lost in the Final Four five times and the National Championship Game twice, but not since 1984.

                   

For all the latest betting information and reaction, check out B/R Betting.

The University of Cincinnati announced Friday that it will conduct an internal investigation into allegations made against the men's basketball program, according to Justin Williams of The Athletic. 

Per Williams, Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham said: "The University has always put the welfare of its student-athletes first. We feel this is an essential step to ensure that all of our athletic programs meet the highest standards."

The university noted that it is using "independent fact finders" to conduct the investigation.

The investigation comes after Williams reported a "rift" had developed between players and head coach John Brannen which resulted in a "mass roster exodus" as six players entered the transfer portal in the days following the team's loss to Houston in the AAC tournament title game. Seven players Brannen has recruited since 2019 have left the program, and just two of seven players who joined the team ahead of the 2020-21 season remain, per Williams.

The University of Cincinnati did not specify what allegations were made against the program or when they were made.

While the nature of the allegations being investigated is unclear, Williams reported that some players took "their concerns directly to Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham in recent days and weeks."

Cincy is coming off a 12-11 record in its second season under head coach John Brannen. Despite the Bearcats' poor record, they fell just one win short of the NCAA tournament.

Cincinnati went 20-10 in Brannen's first season, but there was no NCAA tournament held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under previous head coach Mick Cronin, who is currently coaching UCLA in the NCAA tournament, the Bearcats reached the NCAA tournament in nine straight seasons from 2010-11 through 2018-19.

With Cronin at the helm, the Bearcats won two AAC regular-season titles and two AAC conference tournament titles, and they also reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament once.

The University of South Florida is investigating men's basketball associate head coach Tom Herrion after allegations he made racist comments on multiple occasions, according to Collin Sherwin of DraftKings.

Head coach Brian Gregory is also under investigation for allegedly failing to discipline Herrion. 

"We are aware of troubling concerns that have been reported involving a member of our men’s basketball coaching staff," the school said in a statement, via Jeff Goodman of Stadium. "We take these matters very seriously."

Per Goodman, the school said it is conducting an independent review and Herrion has been put on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.

Herrion, who is white, has been on the USF staff since 2017 and was promoted to associate head coach in August.

He previously served as an assistant under Gregory for two years at Georgia Tech and then followed the coach to South Florida in 2017. In four years, the team has gone 57-66 with a 9-13 record in 2020-21.

The 53-year-old also spent eight total years as a Division I head coach with the College of Charleston and Marshall.

Seven South Florida players have entered the transfer portal since the end of the season, six of them Black, per Chris Torello of Spectrum Bay News 9. This includes senior David Collins, who was the only player to average double figures in scoring this past season.