Roundup: Welcome to The Association
UCLA: The Pac-12 had a very strong showing in Thursday night’s NBA draft, as its seven selections were tied for the most of any collegiate conference alongside the ACC. The first guy off the board was Shabazz Muhammad, who was selected 14th by the Utah Jazz and later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves to team up with Kevin Love. The most memorable part of the night concerning Muhammad was when he made a surprising cameo at the draft, a la Brandon Jennings back in 2009 (a little less flamboyant than Jennings, though).
Arizona: OK, so who had Solomon Hill going in the first round to the Indiana Pacers at 23? It was one of the more shocking slot selections of the draft behind Anthony Bennett going first overall, but he can be a great fit in Indianapolis with his demeanor and work ethic. Hill wasn’t the only Cat drafted last night, as Grant Jerrett was selected by Portland 40th overall beforegetting traded to the Thunder.
Colorado: If you thought Hill going in the first round was unfathomable, then your socks were completely rocked when André Roberson was taken at 26 by Minnesota before being shipped to Oklahoma City like sir Grant Jerrett, but not before his draft rights were first acquired by the Golden State Warriors. He also wore a very snazzy outfit — not that I’m a fashion guru, but the white jacket/Colorado-colored-bow tie/black pants combo was Dannaman-approved.
California: While Hill and Roberson were thought to go in the second round at best, many believed Allen Crabbe would be a first-round selection. Just missing out on a guaranteed contract,Crabbe was chosen 31st overall by Cleveland (first pick of the second round) and then dealt to Portland.
Arizona State: For a while there, it looked like Crabbe was going to be teammates with Carrick Felix, who was also selected by the Cavs two spots later at 33. As the Arizona State athletic department (and Doug Tammaro) likes to remind us, Felix graduated with two degrees and was the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men’s basketball.
Oregon: Last but certainly not least was the Washington Wizards’ selection of Arsalan Kazemi with the 54th pick before getting dealt to Philadelphia. As such, Kazemi is the first Iranian-born player to be selected in the NBA draft. Grantland was all aboard the Kazemi hype train, calling him the 2013 NBA draft’s ready-made, overlooked rebounding machine.
Utah: Staying on basketball, Connor Van Brocklin has joined Utah for the 2013-14 season. He played last year at Snow College and led the team in scoring at nearly 16 per.
Washington: In just another example of why Gregg Bell is one of the most entertaining athletic department writers out there, the UW Director of Writing gets unleashed again to report that theremarkable UW basketball alumni game may become an every-year kinda thing. Conclusion: Washington is better than every school in the universe.
Stanford: Three writers from the Stanford Daily are coming out with a book detailing the football team’s rise to glory, and here’s an excerpt from “Rags to Roses” about going for two against USC to “put 50 on those mother——s”.
Oregon State: After what equated to a semifinal finish in the College World Series, Oregon State was a unanimous No. 4 in postseason baseball polls and many like the Beavs’ chances to get back to Omaha next year as well.
USC: The U.S. Women’s Open is under way, and Kyung Kim leads current Trojans there with a 1-under 71 after one round. She is tied for 17th heading into today’s action, while former Woman of Troy Lizette Salas is in a tie for third at 4-under and two shots off the lead.
Washington State: Humorous read from CougCenter about the evolution of the WSU student. Of all the greats to come out of Washington State, nobody beats this guy. To make this a little more sports-centric, 1600m and 3200m state champion Conner Johnsen signed with Washington State track and field.