International

David Huertas Leaving Ole Miss (Going Pro)

Press Release — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:00:03 -0700

OXFORD, Miss. ? Junior guard David Huertas has elected to forego his senior year at Ole Miss and pursue a professional basketball career in his native country of Puerto Rico, head coach Andy Kennedy announced Monday.

Huertas led the Rebels in scoring this past season with 18.1 points per game and was named to the All-SEC second team by the Associated Press and league coaches. He was also a second team All-District selection by the NABC.

After transferring from the University of Florida, Huertas sat out the 2006-07 season and started the past two years. His 152 three-pointers in two seasons ranks sixth on the all-time Rebel career chart.

"We appreciate all that David contributed during his two seasons with us, and we wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors," Kennedy said.

"I want to thank all my coaches and everyone at Ole Miss for the best three years of my life," Huertas said. "After four years in college, I am ready to move into my life as an adult and be able to keep playing basketball and be with my family at the same time."

Trajan Langdon: Whatever Happened To That Guy?

Matthew Ryter — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:22:44 -0800

What Ever Happened to That Guy???

Trajan Langdon (Duke)

Trajan Langdon earned the nickname the “Alaskan Assassin” for his ability to shoot the rock. Langdon first started killing his opponents, with his jumper, in high school. He set Alaska’s 4A High School Record of 2,200 career points and was also named Alaska’s POY 3 times. He played in the McDonald’s All-American game where he also won the 3-point contest. Langdon then enrolled at Duke and took his game with him. When he graduated, he set the Duke record for most career 3-point field goals. J.J. Redick went on to break this record in 2006. At Duke he was a three-time All-ACC player. He was a Naismith and Wooden Award finalist in his junior and senior seasons (teammate Elton Brand won both awards in 1999). Some Duke fans and most Connecticut fans may remember Langdon for traveling with about 6 seconds left in the 1999 NCAA Championship game. However, Langdon dropped 25 points, including a clutch 3 to cut the UConn lead to 1 with about a minute left in that 77-74 loss to the Huskies. Without him, Duke probably wouldn’t have even been in that game. Langdon was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft. He played with the Cavs for three years. On November 2, 1999, he became the first Alaskan in play in the NBA.

Where is he now? After the NBA, Langdon continued his professional career in Europe. His first stop was in the Italian League where he played for Benetton Treviso. After Italy, he played for a year in Turkey and followed that up with playing a year for Russia’s Dynamo Moscow. He currently plays for CSKA Moscow. CSKA Moscow won the Euroleague in 2005-06 and 2007-08. The Alaskan Assassin was named the MVP of the 2007-08 Final Four.

Fun Fact: Langdon was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft.

Next Week's Whatever Happened to This Guy?

God Shamgod (Providence)

WHTTG Archive

Carl Krauser

Khalid El-Amin

Darius Washington, Jr.

Email Matt, or post a comment, if you have a suggestion for a player to feature in the WHTTG series.

Carl Krauser: Whatever Happened To This Guy?

Matthew Ryter — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:32:22 -0800

Whatever Happened to This Guy??

Carl Krauser (Pittsburgh)

Carl Krauser, a Bronx native, was known at Pitt for his trademark symbol after he would either score or make a play. Krauser would put his hands over his head in the shape of an “X” to represent his hometown. He graduated from Pittsburgh in 2006 becoming the first Panther in school history to surpass 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists. Krauser received the John Wooden Award during his junior campaign in 2005. To go along with the Wooden Award, he was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award and a Naismith All-American. Prior to the 2006 season, Krauser entered his name into the 2005 NBA Draft. He never hired an agent and eventually removed his name to retain his college eligibility. During the ’06 season, Pitt with the help of Krauser, earned a No. 5 seed but lost to No. 13 Bradley in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. This was Krasuer’s final game in a Panther uniform.

Where is he now? Krauser played in Germany for the EWE Baskets Oldenburg in 2006-07 averaging 6.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 34 games. Here’s a highlight from that Germany team. Last year, he played in the Continental Basketball Association for the Pittsburgh Xplosion. And now he's moved on to Romania, where he plays for CSU ASESOFT PLOIESTI. In his last game on February 28th, Krauser plaued 18 minutes.

Fun Fact: Krauser was 2-0 as an amateur boxer.

Next Week's Whatever Happened to This Guy?

Trajan Langdon (Duke)

WHTTG Archive

Khalid El-Amin

Darius Washington, Jr.

Email Matt, or post a comment, if you have a suggestion for a player to feature in the WHTTG series.

Khalid El-Amin: Whatever Happened To This Guy?

Matthew Ryter — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:48:48 -0800

Whatever Happened to This Guy??

Khalid El-Amin (UCONN)

Khalid El-Amin, or as opposing fans called him “doughboy”, will forever be remembered as the starting point guard for the Huskies. El-Amin led UConn to a National Championship in 1999. In 2000 he was named one of the 15 finalists for the Naismith Award. He has always been a winner, dating back to his high school days where he won four straight state titles at Minneapolis North HS. He also earned a gold medal in the 1998 Goodwill Games playing for team USA. El-Amin went on to get drafted in the second round, 34^th overall, by the Chicago Bulls in 2000. After the Bulls, he had a brief stint with the Miami Heat in 2002. From the 2003-2005 seasons El-Amin played in Turkey for Beskitas. He won the Turkish League MVP two years in a row while averaging 20.4 points per game and also leading the league in assists.

Where is he now?

He is currently playing in the Ukraine Superleague for Azovmash Mariupol. His team won the 2006 Ukranian Championship while earning MVP honors. He also won the MVP of the league during that season. He’s currently averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 assists this season through 17 games this season. Check out Khalid’s site.

Here is a youtube clip also of him playing in Ukraine. (please note the guy clapping 15 seconds in)

Next Week's Whatever Happened to This Guy?

- Carl Krauser (Pittsburgh)

Email Matt, or post a comment, if you have a suggestion for a player to feature in the WHTTG series.

Poll: Who Will be the #1 Pick in the 2009 NBA Draft?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:53:39 -0800

Ricky Rubio: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:38:02 -0800

Ricky Rubio

Team: DKV Joventut

Birth Year: 1990

Position: PG

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 180lbs

Accolades: Spanish National Team, Spanish Under-16 National Team, Spanish Under-18 National Team, First Team All-Spanish League (08).

Scouting Report: Pistol Pete for the YouTube generation.

Strengths: Incredible passer - has excellent court vision and is a creative passer. Very unselfish - prefers to set up teammates rather than score. Disruptive presence on defense - quick feet and hands - led the Spanish League in steals last season; averaged 3.2 swipes per game as a 16-year-old in the Euroleague. Fantastic ball handler - very elusive, tons of moves. Has blow-by speed with the ball - can get by his defender and into the lane. Has three-point range on his jumper. Extremely experienced - has played professionally since he was 15 - extensive international experience with Spain, including last year’s Olympics. Long wingspan - reportedly 6’9”.

Weaknesses: Needs to become a more consistent shooter. Injury and surgery done on shooting wrist caused him to miss a lot of time this past season and subsequently kept him from improving his jumper. Needs to add weight and strength. Can be too flashy at times - tries to force passes into tight coverage. Not a big scorer - only averaged in double figures in scoring once in his pro career. Still very young - especially for a point guard.

Projected 2009 Draft Range: Top three pick.

Consensus: While we compare Rubio to Pistol Pete above, Jason Kidd is probably a better comparison (passing, defense, ball handling, poor shooting). Whether he ever reaches Kidd’s lofty level is unknown, but he should be a very good NBA player regardless.

Stats:

http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=LFW - Euroleague

http://www.acb.com/stsacumjug.php?cod_jugador=BA5 – Spanish League

NBA Draft on CollegeHoops.net

More 2009 NBA Draft Profiles

Current NBA Mock Draft Position

Complete NBA Draft coverage

CHN's Six-Star Ranking System w/ 2008 Equivalents

= Superstar/All-NBA Potential - Michael Beasley

= Potential NBA All-Star - Derrick Rose

= Consistent NBA Starter - Brook Lopez

= 6th Man/Fringe Starter - Russell Westbrook

= Career Reserve - Roy Hibbert

= Fringe NBA Player/12th Man - JR Giddens

0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues - Drew Neitzel

Rubio vs Jennings: Showdown in Spain

Jeff Fox — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:14:53 -0800

Further proof of the globalization of basketball was on display at the Palau Oli'mpic de Badalona in Badalona, Spain on Thursday night. Rather than at a college gym somewhere in the U.S., like in the past, Badalona was the sight of the showdown between the top two point guard prospects in the 2009 NBA draft class.

The game in question was the second Euroleague match up between home team DKV Joventut and the Italian league's Lottomatica Roma. And the players in question, of course, are teenage point guard prodigies Ricky Rubio from Spain and America's Brandon Jennings. The team's first clash - a Roma win on Oct 30th - was missed by Rubio as he was still healing from surgery on a wrist he injured in the gold medal game in Beijing. So the much-anticipated match up between these two point guard studs had to wait until the game in Badalona. There was plenty of intrigue heading into the game - Roma's coach resigned earlier this week, Rubio barely played in his first two games back last week and Jennings recently missed a game due to the flu.

With Jennings playing a lot of shooting guard (former Penn star Ibrahim Jaaber got the bulk of the point guard minutes) and Rubio playing less than nine minutes in the game, the showdown turned out to be pretty anticlimactic. However, Rubio did show his amazing speed, handle and passing ability in the first half, blowing by Jennings a couple of times for nice dishes to teammates. He also showed what a disruption he can be on defense, forcing a turnover the second he got into the game. Jennings, meanwhile, played a season high of almost 23 minutes, hitting for 12 points and two assists. Rubio was held scoreless but did contribute three assists to his team's 97-93 victory. Chances are the next time these two square off will be in Jennings' homeland - on an NBA court.

Clip of the Day: Brandon Jennings

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:44:41 -0800

Clip of the Day

Thanks to the genius of YouTube, the world has access to thousands of great college basketball videos to keep us busy every second of every day. We'll be featuring daily movies to whet your college basketball appetite. Even if you've seen them before, some clips are just too good not to watch again and again.

Brandon Jennings

You know the story by now of how Jennings spurned college to earn a few bucks in Rome. Here's a clips of his recent game against Montepaschi. Jennings is playing less than 20 mpg, and scoring about 7-8 ppg in combined European and Italian play.

- Watch all of CHN's favorite College Basketball Videos!

- Also check out past Cheerleaders of the Day!

- And finally the Picture of the Day!

BIG Picture: Patrick Mills

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 07:09:42 -0800

Today's BIG PICTURE

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, CHN has access to thousands of great college basketball photos. Each day during the season, CHN will feature a Picture of the Day, which might include a newsworthy, funny, or simply interesting subject. At the bottom will be a caption or headline that might be informative or amusing. The possibilities are endless! During the off-season, we'll publish scattered favorites that were missed during the year.

PATRICK MILLS

SMC and Australian star Patrick Mills gets pumped up after knocking down a shot against Fullerton, a game the Gales won big.

- Check out recent BIG Pictures!

- Also check out the Cheerleader of the Day!

- Watch all of CHN's favorite College Basketball Videos!

Omri Casspi: NBA Draft Profile

Jeff Fox — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:52:21 -0800

Omri Casspi

Team: Maccabi Tel Aviv

Birth Year: 1988

Position: SF

Height: 6’8”

Weight: 230lbs

Accolades: Israeli U-16 National Team (03 & 04), Israeli U-18 National Team (04 & 06), Israeli U-20 National Team (07), Israel Senior National Team (08).

Scouting Report: A long, skinny, yet skilled, Israeli wingman.

Strengths: Long arms. Strong finisher – can absorb contact and still finish. Feisty/aggressive player. Moves well without the ball. Good athlete – can really run the floor well. Competed in the top league outside of the NBA, the Euroleague, on one of the top teams in the world. Has three-point range on his jumper.

Weaknesses: Skinny – needs to bulk up. Inexperienced – didn’t consistently play big minutes this season. May have attitude/character issues. Father publicly feuded with Maccabi over son’s playing time in the past. Needs to take better care of the ball – has as many turnovers as assists this season.

Projected 2009 Draft Range: Mid to late second round pick.

Consensus: Casspi decision not to enter last year’s draft seems to have paid off, as he looks likely to go in the first round pick next June. His game and body still need plenty of work for the NBA, but he definitely has the potential to make it one day.

Stats: http://www.euroleague.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=JFO - Euroleague

http://www.bsl.org.il/PlayerPage.asp?PlayerNumber=11&TeamId=58&cYear=2008&lang=en – Israeli League

NBA Draft on CollegeHoops.net

More 2009 NBA Draft Profiles

Current NBA Mock Draft Position

Complete NBA Draft coverage

CHN's Six-Star Ranking System w/ 2008 Equivalents

= Superstar/All-NBA Potential - Michael Beasley

= Potential NBA All-Star - Derrick Rose

= Consistent NBA Starter - Brook Lopez

= 6th Man/Fringe Starter - Russell Westbrook

= Career Reserve - Roy Hibbert

= Fringe NBA Player/12th Man - JR Giddens

0 stars = Life in the Minor Leagues - Drew Neitzel