Roundup: Sean Miller and Lauri Markkanen getting national love

Mar 7, 2017

Bruce Pascoe lets us know about national publications honoring Sean Miller and Lauri Markkanen, as Miller was named the Bleacher Report national coach of the year while Markkanen was named a third-team All-American by multiple outlets.

Here’s a look at the Pac-12 men’s basketball year-end awards, announced Monday. Dillon Brooks is Player of the Year, Sean Miller is Coach of the Year, Lonzo Ball is Freshman of the Year, Chimezie Metu is Most Improved Player and Jordan Bell is Defensive Player of the Year.

In honor of him being named the conference’s top rookie, here are some Lonzo Ball highlights from his freshman season at UCLA thus far.

Yahoo Sports is reporting that Washington will retain Lorenzo Romar as its head men’s basketball coach next season. The Huskies have certainly struggled in recent years but Romar is well-liked at Washington and he’s bringing in the No. 1 player in the 2017 recruiting class (he also has a $3.5 million buyout).

From Friday, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke resigned as USC women’s basketball head coach following the Trojans’ first-round loss in the Pac-12 Tournament. Cooper was 70-57 in four seasons as the USC head honcho.

Seth Berkman of The New York Times details the Samuelson sibling rivalry. Bonnie graduated from Stanford, Karlie is a senior at Stanford and Katie Lou is a sophomore at UConn, so the Samuelsons are hoping for a Stanford-UConn matchup late in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

This was rough – former Runnin’ Ute Andrew Bogut fractured his left tibia one minute into his Cleveland Cavaliers debut Monday night.

Speaking at “A Night with Cougar Football” in Bellevue, Washington, recently, Yogi Roth said he thinks Washington State can have a special 2017 season if Luke Falk takes the next step (Cougfan.com).

David Lombardi whips up this feature story on new Colorado defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, whose ties with Mike MacIntyre trace back to 2003 when Mac was with the Dallas Cowboys.

Keeping the theme going, Ted Miller features new Cal defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, the former Fresno State head coach. The Golden Bears had an awful season on that side of the ball in 2016, ranking second to last in the nation in scoring defense and last in rushing yards per carry allowed.

Oregon’s Thomas Laurent was named Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week, it was announced Monday. Laurent was won 16 consecutive singles matches.

Take a look at the Sun Devil Baseball Weekly Preview, provided to us by TheSunDevils.com. Arizona State has two games against Cal State Fullerton before taking on Long Beach State for a weekend set.