Gauchos News (154)
Krystal Pearson Overcomes Adversity
Krystal Pearson was told before her sophomore season that she had scoliosis, a curving of the spine, and wouldn’t be able to play basketball again without pain. The Truman wing was absolutely devastated.
Mustangs coach John Burke remembers consoling a crying Pearson, who feared she would not be able to realize her dream of playing college basketball.
“I don’t think about that nearly at all,” she said. “Those are like the worst times of my life. I don’t want to think about it.”
Pearson waited two months to get a second opinion, which turned up that all she needed was shoulder surgery. Over the following two seasons, the 5-foot-11 star became one of the top players in New York City. And Tuesday she made it official with Towson, signing a National Letter of Intent with the Maryland school during a press conference at the Bronx school. Pearson chose Towson out of the Colonial Athletic Association, over VCU and Florida Atlantic and Cleveland State were also in the mix.
“[The scoliosis scare] made her more thankful and more appreciative of what she had, that she had this god-given talent,” Burke said. “She was determined to make the most of it even more.”
Pearson is Burke’s second Division I player after Kaydine Bent, who went to St. Peter’s three years ago. The coach credits his star for much of the team’s success over the last few seasons. This year, Truman went to the PSAL Class AA quarterfinals for the first time in his seven-year tenure, shared the Bronx/Manhattan/Queens division title and beat bitter rival John F. Kennedy twice.
“You can’t overstate what she meant to this program,” Burke said. “To put it into context, when she started as a freshman, Kennedy was beating Truman by 60 points. … This is The House that Krystal Pearson Built. It all started with her.”
Pearson all but blushed when she was told Burke said that. She credited the players around her, especially point guard Lynda Fields this year, making her look good. The fact that Truman is a different program now is not lost on her, though.
“Just to come here and now we’re No. 1 in the Bronx, kids in middle school want to come to our school, you earn that respect – it’s great,” Pearson said.
The sweet-shooting, versatile wing came into her own as a junior and blew up on the AAU circuit last summer with the Gauchos. Her size, strength and ability to put the ball into the basket in a variety of different ways caught the eyes of many coaches. Pearson is also a good rebounder and ball handler, skills she honed playing almost every position for Truman before this season.
“She’s a good player with a ton of upside and a natural ability to score the basketball,” one Division I assistant coach said. “The CAA is a good fit.”
Burke said people tried to recruit Pearson away from Truman multiple times over her career. She remained a pillar of the school. On Tuesday during her signing, she was flanked by Burke, principal Sana Nasser, athletic director Michael DeSantis and guidance counselors.
“I’m very loyal to my coach,” Pearson said of Burke. “He’s one of the people who have looked out for me no matter what.”
In fact, Pearson said one of the reasons she liked Towson was because it reminded her of Truman and Tigers head coach Joe Mathews reminds her of Burke.
“I wanted a place where you feel like you’re at home and you feel you’re comfortable, that’s why I chose it,” Pearson said.
For a second, she let it slip into her head those dark days of her sophomore year when she didn’t know where her basketball future lied. Pearson was sure of just one thing then.
“I knew I wasn’t gonna stop playing basketball,” she said. “I’ll deal with whatever. But I felt very hurt. I probably wasn’t going to be able to go to college for basketball.”
Boy how times have changed.
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It All Started in New York for NCAA Champion Doron Lamb
Doron Lamb led the Univeristy of Kentucky Wildcats to a National Championship Monday night. The sophomore scored 22 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers that put them up by 16 with 10 minutes left.But long before he was a national basketball star (and a NBA draft pick possibility) Lamb was a kid in New York City. He played for The New York Gouchos, a AA youth team in the Bronx, learned how to shoot in the Lower East Side, and was made by his father to practice all over Lower Manhattan, where the Lamb family lived before moving to Queens. “Every time I wanted to go to the corner store, he had me dribble the ball in my left hand,” Lamb said. “He made me do it every time. Any time I wanted to go somewhere."In 2008, after his junior year at Bishop Loughlin High School in Brooklyn, he transferred to the prestigious basketball school Oak Hill Academy in Virginia-- the alma mater of NBA stars like Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant.
While in New York, Lamb was given the nickname "Smooth Criminal" for his quick play and calm demeanor, honing his game in Rucker Park, the same playground that helped create legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Irving, and Kareem Abdul-Jabar."It’s an honor to be from there,” Lamb said of the Big Apple days before the National Championship game. “There’s been a lot of great guards to come out of there — Rod Strickland, Stephon Marbury, Kenny Anderson. So, it’s great to hear people talk about me, saying I made it. I feel like I’m representing New York City every time I go out and compete."
Doron Lamb also known as Kentucky's Sharp Shooter.
Kentucky's big. Kentucky's strong. Kentucky's deep. Kentucky's athletic. Kentucky is ridiculous in every way. We get it.But adding a nice dose of finesse for the better part of the season has been sophomore sharpshooter Doron Lamb — a 47 percent shooter both from the floor and from long range.And he's been as hot as any of the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament.One of Lamb's worst shooting performances of the season came in UK's last loss, when he went 2-of-11 in the SEC title game loss to Vanderbilt. Since then, he's 21-of-37 (56.8 percent) in four tourney games and 9-of-15 from deep.Against Louisville, that efficiency will be valuable, as the Cardinals have made their surprising Final Four run by mostly winning in grinding fashion. They've defended well and made good, uncontested looks from the perimeter tough to come by. Opponents are only shooting 38.1 percent against them over four games so far.In the first meeting between the two, Louisville was able to keep Lamb quiet from the floor. He was just 1-of-7, but did damage at the free throw line, going 8-of-9. He could factor in there again, as he's Kentucky's best free throw shooter this season, firing at roughly an 85 percent clip.
Russ Smith Climbs New Heights with Louisville
The coach is Rick Pitino, and late Saturday his Cardinals knocked New Mexico from the N.C.A.A. tournament and advanced to the West Region semifinals. The guard is Russ Smith, and he celebrated Louisville’s latest victory in vintage form — by giving Pitino bunny ears during an interview on national television.
Pitino has come to expect, if not necessarily embrace, such antics. To describe his relationship with Smith, he started with a movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”“Coaching this young man is going to make me a star of the remake,” Pitino said. “When you coach Russ Smith, you have a nervous breakdown on every possession.”This Pitino, relieved and joking and loose, struck his players as the happiest they had ever seen him. Earlier this season, his roster decimated by injuries, Pitino believed Louisville “had a lot of limitations.” Losses mounted, undermining a 12-0 start.What happened recently — as Louisville beat Seton Hall in its regular-season finale, won the Big East tournament and fairly breezed through two rounds here — has Pitino ranking these Cardinals among the favorite teams he has coached in a career that began in 1974. And the bond he feels with this team is embodied in his relationship with Smith.
Smith attended Pitino’s camp in seventh grade and was the most valuable player. Pitino likes to tell Smith the same story, about how in high school at St. Dominic on Long Island, Pitino built his reputation on an ability to score, but in college at the University of Massachusetts, he also learned the importance of becoming a great passer.The coach sees some of himself in Smith, which is perhaps why Pitino finds him so maddening. Smith is consistent only in his inconsistency. He scored 30 points in a loss to Kentucky in late December and 3 against Notre Dame a week later, in roughly the same number of minutes.Against Davidson, in Louisville’s first tournament game, Smith made 1 of 7 shots. So, naturally, against New Mexico, which ranks among the best defensive teams in the country, Smith paced the Cardinals with 17 points, made each of his three 3-point attempts and grabbed three steals. Steve Alford, the Lobos’ coach, said Louisville’s 3-point accuracy made the difference. Smith averaged 11.4 points this season, coming off the bench, whether to score or ratchet up the defensive pressure, or to relieve point guard Peyton Siva for brief stretches. In five games, Smith scored 20 points or more. In 15 games, he scored fewer than 10.So when someone asked Smith late Saturday if he could explain why his offensive production resembles an electrocardiogram, he smiled wide and shook his head.“To be for real, nuh-uh,” he said to laughter in the audience. “Not really. I just try to do what I feel the team needs at the time.
And hopefully it will just work out.”Against New Mexico, the Smith-and-Pitino show hit another peak. In one particularly heated first-half exchange, Pitino screamed at Smith in the huddle, then sent him to the bench. Shortly after, Smith stood up, walked over to Siva and tried to deliver some instruction or encouragement. Pitino, in sharp, R-rated language, told Smith to sit down. Shortly after that, Pitino put Smith back in the game.So it went. On the court in the first half, Smith broke from New Mexico’s defense and went up for a dunk, only to lose the ball, which missed the rim — an air ball on a dunk, a rarity at this level. Pitino seemed incredulous. He said he told Smith, “Russ, any 5-10 guy from New York City can dunk a ball; just lay it up and put it in.”He added: “Russ, why would you do that?”To which Pitino said Smith responded: “You’re right, Coach. I should never have put Vaseline on my hands before the game.”To which Pitino told reporters, “So this is what I’m coaching every day.”This Louisville team is not the same team that dropped consecutive games against South Florida and Syracuse near the end of the regular season. This Louisville team has won six consecutive games, against all types of styles, behind all types of games by Smith. The Cardinals will play Michigan State on Thursday in Phoenix.
The recent thread, what propelled Louisville on this run, is defense. The Cardinals often pressure opponents over the length of the court, the intent less to force turnovers, which are a nice byproduct, but more to wear opponents down. Davidson in particular seemed tired after it played Louisville. Other teams had pressed them, the Davidson players said, but not like that.
Late Saturday, someone else asked Smith if this was the best defensive stretch of Louisville’s season.“I’m probably not the best one to answer that,” he said. “Probably Coach is. Do you think so, Coach?”Pitino laughed, nodded, shook his head. “You can answer that,” he said.“I think so,” Smith continued. “We really locked into the scouting report. We’ve been paying attention. Going into the Big East, guys were focused. I think this is the best defensive stretch.”Back and forth they went. When Smith and his teammate Chane Behanan traded barbs on Saturday, Pitino told Smith to be quiet. Smith told Pitino he was O.K., then repeated that, over and over, “I’m O.K., I’m O.K., I’m O.K.” Finally, Pitino snapped, “You say it one more time, Russ!” Smith went quiet, lesson learned, or maybe not. There went Louisville regardless, a team that ranks among Pitino’s favorites, the coach and his sophomore guard headed to the next round of the N.C.A.A. tournament, bunny ears and all.
Sandro Carissimo helped lead Vermont to NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament
STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Brian Voelkel of Pleasantville and Sandro Carissimo of Sleepy Hollow, both Iona Prep graduates, will play in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament as members of the Vermont University basketball team that won the America East championship Saturday. Voelkel and Carissimo, both sophomore starters, helped lift the Catamounts in a 51-43 win over Stony Brook at the host’s campus to give Vermont an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the fifth time and first time since 2010. The local duo will join their teammates Sunday to watch the NCAA selection show to learn seeding and their opponent in the tournament, which begins next week.Voelkel, a forward, scored five points, handed out seven assists and led the team with 15 rebounds, while Carissimo, a guard, scored eight points and had five rebounds.
Lady Choz Tryouts
The Nike Elite Gauchos Girls basketball program one of the most prestigious grassroots basketball programs in the country will conduct tryouts at its Inner City Camp March 17-18th from 4pm to 8pm @ Gauchos Gym 478 Gerard Ave, Bronx, NY. Camp registration is $25 and each camper will receive T- Shirt while supplies last. The program is known for its highly competitive schedule as well as producing McDonalds AA, WBCA AA, USA Basketball Representatives, and numerous college scholarships. Grades 7-11 are welcome to attend.
Taylor Palmer & West Virginia Come Out On Top
HARTFORD, Conn. – For the fifth time this season, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team defeated a ranked opponent, outlasting No. 12 Georgetown, 39-32, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.
With the win, the Mountaineers now advance to the semifinals for the fifth time in program history.The story of the game was once again defense as the Mountaineers (23-8) completely shut down Georgetown’s offense, only allowing them to shoot 14.7 percent (10-of-68) from the field and 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from 3-point range.In doing that, West Virginia also prevented BIG EAST leading scorer Sugar Rodgers from reaching her scoring average of 19.1 points per game, holding her to just 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting in 33 minutes of play. No other Georgetown player scored more than five points.“The thing with Sugar (Rodgers) is she gets a lot of her threes on transition, and Jess HARTFORD, Conn. – For the fifth time this season, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team defeated a ranked opponent, outlasting No. 12 Georgetown, 39-32, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.Harlee did an excellent job,” said head coach Mike Carey. “That's one thing we kept working on. Go find Sugar Rodgers. I don't care if you have somebody else stop the ball, go find Rodgers and don't let her have the three on transition. So I thought she (Jess Harlee) stayed focused for 40 minutes defensively.”The Mountaineers also battled hard on the boards, ending the game tied with the Hoyas (22-8), at 51 rebounds each. Junior Asya Bussie pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for West Virginia, while redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning followed with seven.
As a result of this stifling defense, Georgetown tied the record for fewest points scored in a BIG EAST Tournament game, which was also set by Villanova against Rutgers on March 5, 2000.
Despite its solid defensive play, however, West Virginia also struggled to get things going offensively shooting 25.0 percent (13-of-52) from the field and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from 3-point range.
“Our guards weren't attacking,” Carey said. “We were hesitant on our shots. We were scared to miss, and we can't play that way. We can only play one way.”Sophomore Taylor Palmer paced West Virginia in scoring, with 11 points in just 15 minutes of play including three-straight treys starting at the 9:47 mark in the second half to give the Mountaineers a 34-24 lead as the clock wound down.Palmer was followed by Bussie, who scored her 1,000th career point during the first half of the game en route to scoring a total of nine points. She now holds 1,006 career points.Freshman Akilah Bethel rounded out the top three scorers, posting seven points for the Mountaineers in the win.The Mountaineers will next face No. 3 Notre Dame at the XL Center on Monday night at 6 p.m. for a chance to advance to the Championship game.The last time the teams met, West Virginia stunned then-No. 2 Notre Dame, 65-63, at the Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., snapping the Fighting Irish's 21-game win streak.
Taylor Palmer & West Virginia Come Out On Top
HARTFORD, Conn. – For the fifth time this season, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team defeated a ranked opponent, outlasting No. 12 Georgetown, 39-32, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.
With the win, the Mountaineers now advance to the semifinals for the fifth time in program history.The story of the game was once again defense as the Mountaineers (23-8) completely shut down Georgetown’s offense, only allowing them to shoot 14.7 percent (10-of-68) from the field and 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from 3-point range.In doing that, West Virginia also prevented BIG EAST leading scorer Sugar Rodgers from reaching her scoring average of 19.1 points per game, holding her to just 14 points on 5-of-20 shooting in 33 minutes of play. No other Georgetown player scored more than five points.“The thing with Sugar (Rodgers) is she gets a lot of her threes on transition, and Jess HARTFORD, Conn. – For the fifth time this season, the West Virginia University women’s basketball team defeated a ranked opponent, outlasting No. 12 Georgetown, 39-32, in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament.Harlee did an excellent job,” said head coach Mike Carey. “That's one thing we kept working on. Go find Sugar Rodgers. I don't care if you have somebody else stop the ball, go find Rodgers and don't let her have the three on transition. So I thought she (Jess Harlee) stayed focused for 40 minutes defensively.”The Mountaineers also battled hard on the boards, ending the game tied with the Hoyas (22-8), at 51 rebounds each. Junior Asya Bussie pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for West Virginia, while redshirt-junior Ayana Dunning followed with seven.
As a result of this stifling defense, Georgetown tied the record for fewest points scored in a BIG EAST Tournament game, which was also set by Villanova against Rutgers on March 5, 2000.
Despite its solid defensive play, however, West Virginia also struggled to get things going offensively shooting 25.0 percent (13-of-52) from the field and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from 3-point range.
“Our guards weren't attacking,” Carey said. “We were hesitant on our shots. We were scared to miss, and we can't play that way. We can only play one way.”Sophomore Taylor Palmer paced West Virginia in scoring, with 11 points in just 15 minutes of play including three-straight treys starting at the 9:47 mark in the second half to give the Mountaineers a 34-24 lead as the clock wound down.Palmer was followed by Bussie, who scored her 1,000th career point during the first half of the game en route to scoring a total of nine points. She now holds 1,006 career points.Freshman Akilah Bethel rounded out the top three scorers, posting seven points for the Mountaineers in the win.The Mountaineers will next face No. 3 Notre Dame at the XL Center on Monday night at 6 p.m. for a chance to advance to the Championship game.The last time the teams met, West Virginia stunned then-No. 2 Notre Dame, 65-63, at the Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind., snapping the Fighting Irish's 21-game win streak.
Kahleah Copper Makes WBCA All American Team & McDonalds All American Team
The Lady Choz own Kahleah Copper was selected to be apart of WBCA All American Game presented by Nike will be held Saturday March 31, 2012 at the Pepsi Center in Denver & The McDonalds All American game which will be held March 28, 2012 at the United Center in Chicago. Kahleah averages 20 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists & 2 steals with her high school Prep Charter high school. Kahleah becomes the third player in the last two years from the Lady Choz to make both All American Teams.
Kemba Named Male Athlete of the Year By Connecticut Sports Writer's Alliance
Kemba Walker, who almost singlehandedly led the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team on a magical ride to the national championship, and track star Shannon Gagne have been selected as the 2011 Athletes of the Year by the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance.Walker, now a member of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, will receive the Bill Lee Male Athlete of the Year Award while Gagne, who captured five NCAA individual championships in track and field for the University of New Haven, is the recipient of the Hank O’Donnell Female Athlete of the Year Award. In addition, Masuk High School quarterback Casey Cochran has been named the inaugural recipient of the newly created Hal Levy High School Athlete of the Year Award, named in honor of the late Shore Line Newspapers sports editor and former CSWA president and longtime member.All three award winners will be honored at the 71st annual Gold Key Dinner on April 29 at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.Walker put together one of the most remarkable postseason runs in college basketball history as the junior guard led UConn to 11 straight wins. The first five came in the Big East Tournament where the ninth-seeded Huskies, after losing four of their last five regular-season games, all against conference opponents, became the first school to win five games in five days en route to the title.
Walker, the tourney MVP, set a Big East Tournament record with 130 points in the five games, including 26 against DePaul and 28 versus Georgetown in the first two rounds, and then 24 points, including the game-winning shot as time expired, against top-seed Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals. He followed that up with a 33-point, 12-rebound, five-assist performance in the semis against Syracuse, and then had a game-high 19 points and three steals in the 69-66 championship-game win over Louisville.He was just getting started, however. Walker sparked UConn to six more consecutive wins in the NCAA tournament, culminating with a a 53-41 win over Butler in the finals in which he had a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds as the Kuskies claimed their third national championship.Walker was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four, a week after earning the West Region MOP. The only Husky to start all 41 games, the Bronx native set a single-season UConn record with 965 points, averaging 23.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He was named the Big East Conference Player of the Year, a consensus First-Team All-American, and was a finalist for the College Basketball Player of the Year.He was also the winner of the Bob Cousy Award as the top point guard in the nation. Walker, who turns 22 in May, entered the NBA Draft in June and was the ninth overall pick in the first round by the Bobcats.
