NCAA Basketball: Buzz Williams deserves suspension, 5-star forward includes Duke in final 4
This edition of the NCAA Basketball Daily Musing looks at Buzz Williams suspension as well as Kamari Lands de-commitment from Syracuse as well as 5-star prospect, Mark Mitchell, final 4 schools.
Buzz Williams suspended by NCAA
The NCAA and Texas A&M agreed to penalties for its men’s basketball team after the program violated multiple NCAA rules between 2020 and the completion of the 2020-21 season. As a result of the punishments –which were agreed by all parties involved — Texas A&M is on probation for two years and they owe a $5,000 fine.
Head coach Buzz Williams will serve a two-game suspension at the start of the upcoming season. The men’s basketball team was docked five official visits for potential student-athletes than the organization allows. Men’s basketball is not allowed to host unofficial visits during the first three Southeastern Conference men’s basketball games during the 2021-22 academic year and they saw their recruiting days cut by 5% (down to 123 from 130).
"“Texas A&M Athletics and the men’s basketball program are pleased to have this matter concluded,” the school said in a statement Friday. “We support coach Williams and will continue to move forward in a positive direction.”"
The penalties are a result of Williams and an unnamed assistant coach, who has already served his punishment, had “impermissible contact” with a recruit during the evaluation period. The assistant coach in question violated NCAA rules when he observed a recruit in an open gym during his unofficial visit and then conducted two 45-minute tryouts in which he provided coaching instruction. had “impermissible contact” with a recruit during the evaluation period.
The assistant coach in question violated NCAA rules when he observed a recruit in an open gym during his unofficial visit and then conducted two 45-minute tryouts in which he provided coaching instruction.
This is the second time Williams has been caught violating NCAA rules and it could be argued that he deserved maybe a five-game suspension because just because he was caught twice does not mean that was the only time such violations have occurred. Back in 2012, when Williams was at Marquette, the 48-year-old coach was suspended one game and his assistant, Scott Monarch, was fired following an investigation over a recruit receiving improper benefits.
Williams has completely overhauled the Aggies roster following an 8-10 season. Williams just added his eighth newcomer with former Virginia Tech guard Tyrece Radford coming aboard. Williams is 24-24 in his two campaigns in College Station.
5-star forward Mark Mitchell is down to 4 schools
Four-+ star 2022 forward Mark Mitchell revealed his final 4 recruitment list on Saturday. The consensus top-20 prospect is now just considering Missouri, Duke, UCLA, and Kansas.
The 6-8 left-handed shooting forward is known most for his athleticism and defense. He also has a nice touch around the basket and possesses decent handles. He averaged 18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 71.4% from the field, 43.8% from the 3-point line as well as 80% from the charity stripe for Bishop Miege (KS) last year.
Mitchell visited Missouri, UCLA, Duke, and Kansas in June.
Kamari Lands de-commits from Syracuse
4-star wing Kamari Lands recommitted from Syracuse on Saturday. The 6-6, 180-pound small forward, who is a consensus top 30 player in the class, announced his decision on twitter.
I would like to thank Coach Boeheim, Coach Mac and @Cuse_MBB for everything they have done. And with that being said I will be reopening my recruitment.
— Kamari Lands (@iso_marii) August 21, 2021
Lands mentioned in an interview with Syracuse.com’s Mike Waters that he wanted to have the opportunity to be recruited with NIL opportunities in mind. He also mentioned that returning to Syracuse was still an option for him. Lands is the second 2022 recruit to de-commit from the Orange as Dior Johnson chose to open up his recruitment earlier last year and recently announced his commitment to Oregon. SU does still have two commitments from the class in a pair of 4-star guards, Justin Taylor and Quadir Copeland.
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Former Lousiville guard Carlik Jones signed a training camp (Exhibit 10) deal with the Dallas Mavericks on Aug. 21. Jones earned First Team All-ACC honors and was the runner-up for the ACC Player of the Year award in his lone season with the Cards as he ranked in the top six of the conference in scoring, assists, assist/turnover percentage, and free throw percentage.
Next. Preseason MVC rankings for 2021-22 season. dark
He also had a nice NBA Summer League, compiling 14.2 points along with 3.6 assists and 3.0 rebounds in five games. This includes posting a game-high 21 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists in his final game of the Las Vegas session.