BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — It’s the middle of May and the 2021-2022 college hoops season seems like it is off in the far, distant future, but in reality it is only six months away. Hoops news is a bit hard to come by these day, but “FTS” has scoured the intrawebs to dig up some relevant and not-so-relevant linkage.

— AG signee DaRon Holmes checks in at #44 on ESPN’s list of the Top 100 2021 HS recruits:

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/playerrankings

While Spalding has DaRon as a third team All American!

https://twitter.com/Spalding/status/1390390701070950404

Meanwhile, ex-Georgia star Toumani Camara is ranked #48 in CBS Sports list of the top committed transfers in college hoops:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ranking-college-basketballs-top-committed-transfers-lsu-lands-illinois-guard-adam-miller/

Speaking of transfers, The New York Times digs into this phenomenon in a piece entitled “Rule Change Prompts a Game of Musical Chairs in College Basketball”:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/sports/ncaabasketball/ncaa-transfer-portal-rule.html?smid=tw-share

— Jeff Goodman at Stadium provides us with his “Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25 for 2021-22”:

https://watchstadium.com/jeff-goodmans-way-too-early-preseason-top-25-for-2021-22-04-05-2021/

As does ESPN:

https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/bracketology/ncaa-bracketology-projecting-2022-march-madness-men-field

And CBS Sports:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-rankings-michigan-jumps-in-early-top-25-and-1-after-landing-sun-belt-player-of-the-year/

And Jon Rothstein:

https://collegehoopstoday.com/index.php/rothstein-files/rothstein-45-early-edition-for-21-22/

Goodman is right…with over 1,000 hoopsters still in the Transfer Portal, it is way too freakin’ early to project anything.

— Obi’s head coach Tom Thibodeau is being validated and vindicated by his team’s performance:

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-tom-thibodeau-julius-randle-accountability-20210423-htd3uyh7ijaxfkwrdnpvotxxgu-story.html

— The Ringer provides a couple of in-depth profiles of NBA stars:

There’s Nothing Quite Like the Magic of Steph Curry:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/4/20/22394000/stephen-curry-warriors-playoffs-history

The Reason Jae’Sean Tate Has Defied the Naysayers:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/4/22/22393568/jaesean-tate-houston-rockets

As well as a behind-the-scenes look at the preeminent network studio show, Inside The NBA:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/5/10/22427902/nba-tnt-candace-parker-dwyane-wade-shaq

— The Wall Street Journal gives pickup hoops junkies like me and David Jablonski a ray of hope:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/sports-fully-vaccinated-pickup-basketball-covid-11620624656

— Ever wonder what happened to Brian Snow, HS recruiting expert at 247 Sports and frequent X apologist? He joined the coaching staff at Penn State as Director of Recruiting:

https://twitter.com/PennStateMBB/status/1385288026641797127

— “FTS” will never be accused of being a fan of John Calipari, but his handling of the sudden death of former UK player Terrance Clarke reveals a side of him that fans don’t often see:

https://coachcal.com/news/2021/4/23/press-row-from-coach-cal-terrence-clarke-was-special.aspx

— If there is any doubt that the NCAA is a heartless, gutless and senseless organization, look no further than the case of college tennis player Brittany Collens, who had her career erased by the NCAA:

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/brittany-collens-tennis-ncaa-university-of-massachusetts?utm_campaign=later-linkinbio-playerstribune&utm_content=later-16477372&utm_medium=social&utm_source=instagram

— Why is it that the ice cream machine at McDonald’s always seems to be broken? There is a reason and yes, it is a Commie plot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrDEtSlqJC4

— While we are on the subject of burger joints, the world’s largest White Castle opened in Orlando recently:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/05/03/worlds-largest-white-castle-opens-in-orlando/

— Riddle me this, Batman: When exactly did the Paramount Network become the “Bar Rescue Network?” If you scroll down the cable channel guide they are inevitably running Jon Taffer non-stop. Who is watching this?

— Sign War!!!

https://www.boredpanda.com/virginia-local-businesses-sign-war/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
You can email me at: [email protected]