Tragic news in college basketball

We’ll dive into NBA Draft and Team USA content today and we’ll talk to Arkansas coach Eric Musselman for our Four Questions feature, but sometimes, there’s somber news to start the day. We’re thinking of Darius Lee’s family and friends.

STARTING FIVE

1. Houston Baptist star killed in mass shooting

Darius Lee, home in New York for summer break, was at a Harlem gathering when gunshots were reported early Monday morning. Eight people were wounded. Lee was killed.

He was 21.

“This is something different, Nobody expect that. He don't curse, don't hang out, don't drink, don't do anything. He just plays PS5 and plays basketball,” his brother, Eric, told CBS News.

Lee grew up in Harlem and played hoops at a Sullivan County Community College before spending the last two seasons at Houston Baptist where he emerged as a star.

He was second-team All-Southland last season, leading the Huskies in scoring and rebounding. His 52 points against McNeese set a school record and marked the highest pint total for any DI player in 2021-22. The school said he was on track to graduate in December.

“We are devastated. Darius was a remarkable young man who loved the Lord, his mom, his family, his teammates, his friends and his entire HBU family,” Houston Baptist coach Ron Cottrell said in a statement. “We are in shock and cannot wrap our heads around this news. My heart breaks for his mom, his sister and his entire family, and for our basketball team. The only thing we find comfort in right now is knowing where Darius is. He is in the arms of Jesus… we know that as fact. And we will see him again some day.”

2. Team USA tabs its top 18 U18 players

The U18 Team USA squad claimed gold last week. Now it’s time to assemble the U17 team.

Officials made their first cuts Monday, leaving 18 players vying for the final 12-man roster.

Of those 2023 players, only Jeremy Fears (Michigan State) and Sean Stewart (Duke) have committed to a program. D.J. Wagner, Ron Holland and Stewart are all consensus Top 25 prospects.

How the 2024 prospects shake out will be interesting.

Naas Cunningham, Ian Jackson, Karter Knox, Boogie Fland, David Castillo and James Brown are all consensus Top 25 prospects, while Asa Newell is 27th. Per On3, Jackson emerged as the standout player during the second day of tryouts, but it’ll be interesting if that holds true.

3. Two for the road

Most of the portal activity happened over the weekend (just ask a UNC fan), but two players made news on Monday. Neither was Emoni Bates.

• Boise State snagged Mohamed Sylla, a 6-11 big from Detroit Mercy. It’s a small consolation coming just a day after losing Emmanuel Akot to Memphis, but the Broncos will love Sylla’s rim protection.

• Keonte Kennedy decided he won’t be at Vanderbilt after all, per The Portal Report. The 6-5 rising junior started 17 games for the Miners, averaging 14.1 points and 6.1 rebounds last season, but isn’t a floor-stretcher, hitting just 27% on 184 career 3s.

4. Someone’s gonna have a good weekend

Many of the top 2023 recruits are still deciding on a program. Robert Dillingham, a consensus Top 10 recruit, is making his call this week.

Dillingham’s viewed as the top point guard in the class. Kentucky and N.C. State are viewed as the top choices for the 6-2 guard.

5. What’s camp without candy?

Any basketball camp knows happy campers are repeat campers. And few things leave a mark more than 75-foot shots and free candy.

PREVIEWING THE NBA DRAFT

Five guys who could surprise

The 2022 NBA draft is Thursday, which means we’re almost done with all the scouting and preview material. So we’ll make the last few days count.

Today, Sean Paul examines five players who will end up as draft steals or key cogs as unsigned free agents. Remember, the Miami Heat won the Eastern Conference and started two started two undrafted players (Max Strus and Gabe Vincent) during the playoffs, showing there’s value beyond who gets selected on June 23.

Need more draft coverage? We’ve got a complete mock draft here.

Dalen Terry — Guard/Wing, Arizona

Terry was college hoops’ best jack-of-all-trades. He’ll fill an instant role for any NBA team in need of a stout defender, like the Pelicans found with Herbert Jones — but Terry’s offensive game will evolve faster. I can see Terry sticking around the NBA for a decade, playing an essential role for winning teams.

Tevin Brown — Guard, Murray State

The 23-year-old sharpshooter will drop because of his age, but his best skill will keep him on most any roster. He could lead the league in 3-point shootin. Brown also tallied the fifth-most assists in Murray State history (407).

Jules Bernard —Wing, UCLA

Bernard shined during the G-League elite camp, showcasing his knockdown shooting skills. At 6–foot-6, it wouldn’t surprise me if Bernard snagged a two-way contract and played NBA minutes. He was overshadowed by Johnny Juzang and others during UCLA’s 2021 Final Four run, but made some significant plays.

Christian Koloko — Center, Arizona

Kevon Looney’s a prime example of a big who can defend and rebound. Koloko can provide similar value with his long arms and defensive versatility. An early second round pick is a steal for the 7-1 center. He also improved his free-throw shooting (35 percent to 73 percent in two years). If he can stretch the floor, he’d start for some teams.

Vince Williams Jr — Wing, VCU

At 6-foot-6, Williams fits the 3-and-D prototype, with above-average athleticism. He logged over 14 points and six rebounds for a defensive-oriented team and improved each season. No reason he can’t keep improving.

Tomorrow, Sean will spotlight the biggest gambles in the draft.

FOUR QUESTIONS

Eric Musselman’s playing the long game

Arkansas’s coming off back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight, which means coach Eric Musselman might be primed for three in a row if this year’s highly touted recruiting class delivers.

So how does he prepare for that? And does he know what style the Hogs will play in 2022-23? He talked to Pat Bradley about those topics and more.

Q: When you’re recruiting high school guys or looking at transfer portal guys, what type of player do you value or what do you value in terms of getting to know a player? What are some of the other things you look for?Eric Musselman: High school recruiting, you get to know a player or his family. In the portal, it happens so quick. Like last year, we were in the 300s in 3-point shooting. And people were like ‘you need to get some 3-point shoot.’ Yeah, I know that! But we’re not an NBA team.. You don’t draft. The general public doesn’t understand how hard it is to make someone’s top five list. Then you gotta get them on campus, them you gotta get them to say yes. So a lot of times rosters aren’t balanced because there are so many things that go into the process of recruiting.

Q: Do you think about building a team for the tournament? To win the regular season? Are they connected in any way?Eric Musselman: Our job in college basketball is ‘how do we advance in the tournament as long as possible.’ SEC regular season, SEC conference tournament, we want to try and win those, no question. To do that’s incredible. But I learned this at Nevada — we tried so hard to win conference tournament, regular season, maybe I didn’t push the team like I did to the point [during practice] the last two years here. Alright now, know they know, we’re not losing another game. We don’t want to have another practice like that. I felt that after we lost to LSU last year, we had a practice like we did and we had a game at Alabama and I knew we were in jeopardy because we had no legs. But I was willing to sacrifice that one week for what might happen down the road. I do think it’s important that you have long-range goals and not just short-term goals.

Q: So what did you learn? Let’s say the Duke game. What have you learned from last year’s team and this year’s tournament when it comes to the kind of player you want to bring in or the kind of style you want to play?Eric Musselman: I think both year, Duke and Baylor were better teams than us. If we played them 10 times, we would not win five of those 10. Not just on that given night, they were just better teams than us, and that happens. I think that strength wise and body wise, the size factor was a little different than with those two teams. We’re trying to get a little bit bigger across the board. Style of play wise, whatever the strengths of your team or roster, you gotta then go in that direction. This year, we found out we’re not gonna outscore people. I don’t know what it’ll be next year until everybody gets here and we can kinda figure it out.

Q: Are you able to keep up a lot with the NBA?Eric Musselman: When we were at Arizona State, we didn’t own, we rented a place. The place had 3 TVs. A main screen and two on the side. I walked in today, and we had a bunch of people working on a wall and had a bunch of people working on a TV. So now in our main room, we’re gonna have three TVs. Now we got three TVs we can share.

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MORE ON THE DRAFT

Don’t overthink it with Paolo Banchero

Among the three guys vying to be the top overall pick in Thursday’s draft, Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith are generally viewed as prospects with the most upside. But, as Jeff Goodman and Terrence Oglesby discuss in the video below, that’s a disservice to Duke star Paolo Banchero.

The 6-10, 250-pound forward is incredibly versatile thanks to his polished offensive skillset and pro-ready mid-range jumper. Banchero could be the best player among 2022 rookies for years to come — and the other players may never catch him.

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THE FAST BREAK

• Ex-Butler guard Aaron Thompson says the LaVall Jordan firing ‘took a toll’

• Coach K reportedly has no plans to attend Duke games next season.

• Lebanese National Team player Youssef Khayat says he’ll choose among Michigan, Wake Forest, DePaul and Xavier. The 6-9 forward averaged 17.4 points and 7.7 rebounds for Limoges CSP’s U21 program, in a European youth league. He’d be part of the 2022-23 class.

• Kenny Satterfield’s son, KJ (Class of 2023) with some solid highlights.

• Nevada will hire LSU executive deputy athletic director Stephanie Rempe as its new AD.

• Both Kansas and Syracuse recently announced NIL partnerships.

• The Big 12 expects to hire a new commissioner by the end of summer.

• How ‘The Russell Rule’ (named after San Francisco alum Bill Russell) has helped WCC diversity their coaching staffs.

• Finally, our latest @TheFieldof68 countdown focuses on the impact freshmen. Angry tweets should be sent to Greg Waddell.

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