King James and the staff sergeant
October 29th, 2010 | Air Force Basketball | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Lebron James dunks in Hurlburt Field's gym where the Miami Heat held training camp in October. (AF photo)
Vacation has always been a different strokes/different folks kind of deal. Some visit family; others stay at home. Some, like my colleague Mike Hoffman, spend a week sipping wine and eating cheese in Napa.
One airman, though, heads to South Beach to work for his favorite NBA team.
Staff Sgt. Parron Outing, assigned to the Air Force Network Integration Center, has been one of the team’s gophers since he was 12. As an attendant, he sets up the locker rooms and court before practices and games, fills ice bags, handles luggage and a bunch of other odd jobs. Not such a bad gig now that the Heat are the center of the pro basketball universe.
Outing was one of the players behind the scene to arrange the Heat’s preseason camp at Hurlburt Field, Fla., in September.
“[Team members said] it was a great experience,” said Sergeant Outing. “They loved the interaction with the Airmen and learning about how we fight downrange. They’re still talking about it.”
Navy basketball recruits twins and a 5-foot-9 point guard
July 22nd, 2010 | Basketball Navy | Posted by Mike Hoffman
Navy basketball coach Billy Lange introduced his seven-man 2010 recruiting class last week.
A set of twins and a 5-foot-9 point guard are coming to Annapolis to help lead the Midshipmen to a Patriot League championship and a berth in the Big Dance.
The steal of the class has to be J.J. Avila out of Texas. The 6-foot-7 pure passing forward averaged 22 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block per game. He was named the 35th best player in Texas by Texashoops.com and a Texas Class 5A All-State honoree.
Brennan Wyatt also has the coaches excited. Although he stands only 5-foot-9, he is “an outstanding shooter and decision maker,” said Chris Forman, Navy’s assistant sports information director.
Matt Bracken with the Baltimore Sun posted an interview he did with Lange about the class. Here is a snippet on each player provided by Lange:
J.J. Avila, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward from McAllen, Texas
“J.J. is a guy that we watched on film and immediately fell in love with his toughness. He is another guy that has an old-man’s game to him and he has playground instincts and things you can’t teach. His number one skill is his passing. Our guys are going to have to be ready when they are open, because he will find them. I think he provides some inside-outside presence and is a rugged rebounder.”
Jacob Liebert, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Alamo, Calif.
“Has been to our camps and has a great legacy here with his father, who played on NCAA Tournament teams with David Robinson. He understands the history and tradition of the Naval Academy and Naval Academy basketball. He has gotten a lot better over the last few years. His body has changed and gotten stronger and we expect him to come in and push and be competitive and provide us with some energy. He is another kid that really knows how to play the game.”
James Loupos, a 6-foot-6, 185-pound forward from Skillman, N.J.
“The first thing I think about with James is his attitude towards team play. Great teammate and is extremely unselfish. One of those guys that we have really enjoyed coaching like Romeo Garcia, Adam Teague and Clif Colbert. He is a hybrid of positions. He handles it well enough to be a guard and shoots it well enough to be a wing, but has good low-post play and can play at the four as well. The way we play where we aren’t really numbered outside of the point guard and our center, I think James will give us great versatility.”
Isaiah Roberts, a 6-foot-2, 165-pound guard from Pennsauken, N.J.
“Isaiah is a slasher, attacker and scorer. Both he and Jared are tremendous passers as well. He plays with endless energy and what I like about him is that he got a lot better from when we started recruiting him to the end of his high school season in terms of his skill-set and scoring.”
Jared Roberts, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard from Pennsauken, N.J.
“Jared is an old-schooled, playground player. He has some of the old man flavor to it, and has a game that you can’t teach. I am sure he spent a lot of time playing with his dad and learning his skills that way. Tremendous athlete and a tremendous winner, claiming titles in football, basketball and track. I think he can play some point guard for us as well as playing off the ball.”
Brennan Wyatt, a 5-foot-9, 154-pound point guard from Greensboro, N.C.
“Played for a great high school program in Dudley which has produced a lot of great players. He brings us great shooting ability that will help stretch defense. Tough, competitive kid that plays much bigger than his size. He can take a hit and finish, can get after you some defensively and is a very hard worker.”
Thurgood Wynn, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound guard from Bethesda, Md.
“Thurgood is one of those players that we pride ourselves on as a staff, taking guys like Greg Sprink, Chris Harris and Jordan Sugars. We got in early and saw things in Thurgood that we really liked. First off, he has a very high basketball IQ. He fits right in with what we want to do. He moves great without the basketball, is tremendous in transition and his defensive intensity might be the thing I like the most about him.”
Bzdelik on the move, again
April 14th, 2010 | Air Force Basketball | Posted by Sean Smyth
Former Air Force men’s basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik keeps moving upward — even though his recent record wouldn’t suggest he’s a hot coaching candidate. Bzdelik, who left Air Force after two seasons for greener pastures at the University of Colorado, was named Wednesday as head coach at Wake Forest, despite going 36-58 in Boulder and owning a pedestrian college record of 111-105. He also went 73-119 in a two-plus-season stint as coach of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets.
In fairness, Bzdelik had a pretty good stint at Air Force, going 50-16 and making the postseason both years (NCAA tournament the first season, NIT the second). But he still doesn’t have many fans in Colorado Springs due to the way some say he handled his departure.
Here’s more on the hiring from The Associated Press.
Air Force Academy loses to TCU
February 8th, 2010 | Air Force Basketball | Posted by Alan Lessig
Air Force guard Michael Lyons (14) grabs a rebound between TCU guards Kevin Butler (24) and Garlon Green (33) in the second half of TCU’s 65-51 win Saturday at the Air Force Academy’s Clune Arena. Air Force’s record is now 9-13. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Kevin Kreck)
Half-court buzzer beater lifts Navy
December 2nd, 2009 | After Action Basketball Navy | Posted by Phil Creed
It’s only December, but this is guaranteed to be one of the best shots you’ll see all season. Navy guard Chris Harris nailed a 3-pointer from half court to give the Academy a 65-62 win over Quinnipiac on Monday night at Alumni Hall.
Catch the ball going left, take one dribble right, pop. The only thing that would have made it cooler was if Harris had called “glass.”
Harris told the Baltimore Sun that the Mids practice for situations like that “every day,” and it showed.
“It might have been luck sent from above, but we executed it perfectly and we were fortunate enough that it went in. I had never won a game like that in either college or high school. It’s a pretty good feeling.”
Interestingly, the Mid throwing the inbounds pass, senior forward T.J. Topercer, hadn’t played all game due to injury. He was brought in specifically for the final play, according to a game story in the Annapolis Capital.
Harris, a senior, had already been named the Patriot League Player of the Week prior to the game on Monday, and on Tuesday he was named the ECAC Player of the Week. He’s leading the Patriot League in scoring with 21.6 points per game, and dropped a career-high 37 in a drubbing of Towson last week.