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Portland State announced basketball player Deante Strickland, who also joined the Vikings' football team ahead of the 2019 season, died in a shooting Friday afternoon. He was 22.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Deante," athletic director Valerie Cleary said. "He represented everything it means to be a Viking in his hometown of Portland. He will forever be remembered for his character, determination and warm smile. Our prayers go out to his family and friends."
A Portland homicide detective arrested Tamena Strickland, Deante's sister, on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, according to The Oregonian. Two women, the siblings' grandmother and aunt, were also shot and are recovering in the hospital.
Damian Strickland, Deante's uncle, told The Oregonian that "everyone is shocked."
"The contractors were giving him CPR as he was saying, 'My sister shot me … I don't want to die,'" Damian said. "We're confused as to the motive. There wasn't any ongoing disagreement or anything weird."
Vikings head basketball coach Barret Peery joined Cleary in mourning Strickland's death:
"We are all deeply saddened and grieving about this tragic news. We are better for having had Deante in our lives. His smile, passion and energy for life was second to none. He lit up a room and made the people around him better in every way. He loved his family, his friends and everyone around him. He had great pride in being a kid from Portland, and it showed in how he competed each day. We will never forget him, and he will always be with us. I love Deante and am a better man for having the opportunity to coach him. This entire community will miss him."
Strickland attended Central Catholic High School in Portland before heading to Casper College in Wyoming. He returned to his hometown to join the Vikings ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.
The guard averaged 7.0 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds across 31 appearances last season.
The state of Utah has placed at least one of their six NCAA D-I basketball teams in the national tournament every year since 1994, and is continually putting their schools deep in the tourney.
BYU went to the Sweet Sixteen in 2011 and has gone dancing in six straight seasons, and although the Utah Utes haven't gone in a few years, they have been to the Final Four multiple times. Weber State and Southern Utah have also made brief appearances in the last few decades.
So when it is mentioned that the state may not put anyone in the tournament this season, several jaws are sure to drop. The Utes are nowhere close to making it; Utah State is a long shot; and BYU extinguished most hopes of an at-large bid with back-to-back losses to San Fransisco and San Diego.
Sure, if any of those schools win their PAC-12, WAC or WCC tournaments, they will receive an automatic bid, but none are favored to finish even in the top two or three.
So, is there any hope left for Utah schools in the Big Dance?
In fact, there is.
Southern Utah and Weber State are two teams that are rarely ever mentioned in the same sentence as "NCAA Tournament", and although the two have combined for 15 tournament appearances, they have shown up at the Big Dance only three times in this century.
But this postseason could be different. The Wildcats and Thunderbirds are second and third in the conference, respectively, and have both given Big Sky leader Montana a run for their money on the road. In fact, WSU fell by two points in Missoula earlier this year, and SUU overcame a 47-to-5 free-throw shooting deficit—yes, you read that correctly—and lost by only six.
Sure, the conference tourney for the Big Sky is one heckuva challenge to win if you are not the regular-season champ. The first seed gets a bye to the semifinals and home-court advantage, while all of the others play in three different rounds and have to play on the road.
But it is definitely possible. Weber State is 11-2 in conference; Montana is 14-0; and SUU is 8-6. The Griz travel to Ogden and Cedar City to take on the two Utah teams, and still have Sacramento State and Montana State on their schedule. If Weber stays unbeaten and Montana falls in two of those games, the road will be a lot less difficult for the Wildcats.
As for SUU, the only likely route for them is to win the BSC tournament. It is definitely possible, but it will be quite difficult. With scorers like Jackson Stevenett and Damon Heuir, the top two scorers in the league, you can never count the T-Birds out.
It's not yet time to take a stroll down memory lane and remember when the state of Utah had a representative in March Madness for 17 straight years. There is still hope, and that is implanted in Weber State and Southern Utah. With some big wins, and a little bit of luck, we will see a Utah team in the Big Dance this year.
Northern Arizona University does not exactly have a nationally—or even regionally—renowned basketball program.
Sure, the Lumberjacks have six Big Sky Conference regular-season titles to their credit, but they have managed to make the NCAA tournament only twice.
The last time NAU was at the Big Dance was 2000. Just like in its one prior tournament appearance in 1998, it got bounced in the first round.
A school that has only ever been to the NCAA tournament twice and has never made it past the first round isn't exactly enjoying lots of prestige, name recognition or respect.
Lisa Campos, NAU's vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics, is aiming to change all that with her hiring of Jack Murphy as the Lumberjacks' new head basketball coach.
Murphy has a pretty good basketball background. He spent the past three seasons as an assistant at national power Memphis. Before that, he fulfilled a variety of roles on the staff at the University of Arizona, starting when he was a college student there. In between, Murphy was a scout for the Denver Nuggets for three years.
Despite the fact that he is only 32 years old, Murphy has a good deal of high-end experience. Some people live, breathe and sleep basketball. Jack Murphy is one of those people.
One of Murphy's strength is the fact that he is a renowned recruiter. He convinced many a highly-rated prospect to attend Memphis during his three years there. His time as an NBA scout also gives him a pretty good eye for talent.
NAU has a lot of potential as a program. It is one of only three public universities in the state of Arizona and has over 23,000 students.
At approximately 7,000 feet above sea level, it also has a terrific home-court advantage. Its arena, the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome, is a beautiful wooden dome that can seat over 16,000.
The Lumberjacks are also in prime recruiting territory. They are less than a 10-hour drive away from the recruiting hotbeds of both Los Angeles and Las Vegas. They are also only a few hours away from the gigantic Phoenix metropolitan area, where there are plenty of talented recruits to be found.
Jack Murphy should be able to drastically improve NAU's recruiting. He is from Las Vegas and knows Arizona recruiting well from his time at University of Arizona on the staff of Hall of Famer Lute Olson.
Murphy should be able to help the Lumberjacks snag more talented recruits than they have in the past.
Up until now, they haven't been able to take advantage of their location or great home-court advantage. In 2011, they averaged only 747 fans per home game, despite the fact that the student body is 23,000 strong and the Skydome can seat over 16,000.
NAU basketball has not lived up to its potential to be a great program, and doesn't have a lot of fan support. Jack Murphy is the type of young, ambitious, recruiting-savvy coach that very well may be able to forever rewrite the program's history and turn it into a respected and feared program.
Weber State's Damian Lillard may be the second leading scorer in the country, but his double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds wasn't enough as the Montana Grizzlies topped the Weber State Wildcats 85-66 Wednesday night in Missoula, Montana for the Big Sky Conference Championship.
The Grizzlies were led by sophomore guard Kareem Jamar and junior forward Mathias Ward, who each had 23 points on the night for the Grizzlies.
Despite the 19-point victory for Montana, it was Weber State who started hot in Dahlberg Arena. The Wildcats began the game with a 7-0 lead within the first two minutes. By the 10-minute mark, Weber State amassed a 23-13 lead powered by Lillard and sophomore center Kyle Tresnak, who finished the night with 12 points and four rebounds.
Three-pointers by Jamar and Derek Selvig sparked the Grizzlies as they tied the game 26-26 at the 6:05 mark, but another spark by the Wildcats would bring the score to a 36-31 Weber State advantage at halftime.
Will Cherry, who finished with 13 points and six assists for the Grizzlies, made a three-pointer at 17:16 in the second half to give Montana their first lead of the game.
The Grizzlies never looked back and led the rest of the way after a jumper by Ward with 14 minutes remaining.
All five of Montana's starters were in double figures for the game.
Along with Lillard and Tresnak, leading scorers for Weber State included Byron Fulton with 10 points and four rebounds and Kyle Bullinger with seven points.
With the victory, the Grizzlies will make their ninth overall NCAA tournament appearance in school history and first since 2010. Montana will also look for their first NCAA tournament victory since upsetting Nevada in the first round as a No. 12 seed in 2006.
Montana will head into the NCAA tournament 25-6 (15-1 in conference) riding a 14-game win streak.
Weber State, finishing the season with a solid resume at 24-6 (14-2 in conference) will likely be in contention for an NIT or other postseason berth.
It's game over in Grand Forks. The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux are no more.
After years of legal wrangling both for and against the longtime nickname and iconic logo, the change was mandated for Jan. 1 by the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education.
The change was made in compliance with a settlement agreement with the NCAA, after UND couldn't get the approval of both the Standing Rock and the Spirit Lake Sioux tribes to keep using the name and image.
The NCAA had previously ruled that North Dakota had to retire both the Fighting Sioux logo and nickname if it wanted to have the ability to host any NCAA championships. All UND teams, which compete at the NCAA Division-I level, will now be known simply and solely as "North Dakota," and will feature an interlocking ND as their primary logo.
The women's ice hockey team debuted their new uniforms in a 14-0 win over Lindenwood on Jan. 4. The Sioux's last official series in men's hockey, its most successful sport, was on Dec. 30-31 against Harvard.
As part of the re-branding effort, affiliate organizations such as the Fighting Sioux Sports Network and the Fighting Sioux Club have also been renamed with "North Dakota" in their names.
Not all the Sioux logos at Ralph Engelstad Arena, however, such as those embedded in the floors, will have to be removed. There will also be no strictures against fans wearing Sioux apparel, or cheering for the Sioux, at future contests.
A new athletic nickname and identity is expected to be chosen by 2015. UND won seven men's hockey national championships and 15 Western Collegiate Hockey Association titles while it skated as the Fighting Sioux.
UND will also move to the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference in the fall of 2013.
With all the talk about Barnes, Henson, Davis and Sullinger, does anybody really know who leads the nation in scoring?
Junior guard Damian Lillard, from little old Weber State, is averaging 28.2 points a game. The 6'2" guard out of Oakland, California has lead the Wildcats to a 5-1 record so far.
In his first game of the season against North New Mexico, Lillard dropped 25 points in less than 22 minutes of action. His next game would be his worst—he managed only 17 against Utah State. Trying to shake off his bad shooting against Utah State, Lillard dropped 27 on UC Irvine.
The fourth game of the season saw the Wildcats play Jacksonville State. Damian scored 23 points (his second-worst outing this year), but Weber State won.
The Wildcats suffered their first defeat against St. Mary's in their fifth game—but not from a lack of trying by Lillard. Lillard finished with 36 points in that game on 11-18 shooting.
The Wildcats rebounded with a hard-fought win over San Jose State, with Lillard leading with 41 points. He had 13-21 from the field and six were three-pointers.
Following the 2009-2010 season, when Lillard was named the Big Sky player of the year, everyone expected Lillard to have a great 2010-2011 season and then maybe go on to the NBA draft.
It didn't work out. Ten games into his season last year, Lillard broke his foot and was out for the season. His work ethic, though, has him back on top. He is dominating all players in scoring. This should put him on his way to the NBA.
Weber State is a fun team to watch. When it's late at night and you have nothing to do, check out the best scorer in the game and watch Weber State.
