Kevin Sweeney

2 weeks ago | si.com | Kevin Sweeney

SAN ANTONIO—J’Wan Roberts and the Houston Cougars weren’t going to let it happen again. Call it bad luck? Yep, they’ve certainly had plenty of it in March. Point out the offensive limitations that have crushed them in key March moments? All fair, too. But the one controllable in basketball, the free throw line? No, those woes weren’t going to happen again.

2 weeks ago | si.com | Kevin Sweeney

Three summers ago, Todd Golden and his coaching staff hit the recruiting trail for the first time as Florida Gators. It was a big jump from the days of hunting for sleepers up and down the West Coast as head coach at San Francisco, now hopping on private jets to pursue some of the nation’s top prospects. One of those July days, Golden’s Gators rolled three deep to an Under Armour–sponsored event in the Chicago suburbs to watch his first high school commit in that class.

3 weeks ago | si.com | Kevin Sweeney

We’re not even a third of the way through the 30-day college basketball transfer window, but the early days of portal action have been more eventful than in past years. That started with the mad rush into the portal Sports Illustrated chronicled last week and now has continued with a significant flow of early commitments, including several top players coming off the board. Why the fast start? There are a few key factors driving the rapid activity.

3 weeks ago | si.com | Kevin Sweeney

It has been 22 years since Quannas White was Kelvin Sampson’s point guard at the University of Oklahoma. But when Sampson unleashes one of his classic tongue-lashings on the position he holds to the highest standard, the hair on the back of White’s neck still stands up. “Sometimes, when he’s getting on those guys, I have to look over my shoulder,” White, now an assistant for Sampson at Houston, says.

3 weeks ago | kentucky.com | Kevin Sweeney

INDIANAPOLIS-Two-point-eight seconds left. Tie game. Your ball underneath the basket. While we often talk about the moments players dream of one day getting to have in the NCAA tournament, this situation was a coach's fantasy. Instead of practicing it in their driveway, they've drawn up plays for that moment on Post-it notes, whiteboards and spare pieces of printer paper.