INGRAM-COLLEGE CHOICE
Touted Ingram stays close to home, picks reigning champ Duke
KINSTON, N.C. (AP) — Touted basketball recruit Brandon Ingram is headed to Duke.
The 6-foot-8 Kinston guard announced his choice Monday, ending a recruiting battle for the McDonald’s All-American’s services between Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, North Carolina State and UCLA.
Ingram was The Associated Press men’s prep player of the year for North Carolina after leading Kinston to a fourth straight state championship. He is currently ranked as the nation’s No. 4 prospect by Rivals and No. 13 by Scout.
Ingram joins another stellar recruiting haul for the Blue Devils that includes five-star prospects Derryck Thornton at the point, Luke Kennard at guard and center Chase Jeter. That group will have key roles with Duke losing three-and-done NBA draft prospects and senior Quinn Cook after winning Mike Krzyzewski’s fifth NCAA championship earlier this month.
NORTH CAROLINA-KEA
UNC women’s team adds transfer from Vanderbilt
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina says it has added Vanderbilt transfer Paris Kea to its women’s basketball team.
Coach Sylvia Hatchell announced her addition Monday.
Kea is a guard from Greensboro, North Carolina, who will sit out the upcoming season and will have three seasons of eligibility beginning in 2016-17.
She started eight of 31 games as a freshman for Vanderbilt and averaged 6.9 points and a team-best three assists.
Hatchell says Kea “gives us more options at the guard position in the future” and is “an outstanding player at both ends of the court.”
VETERANS CLASSIC
North Carolina, Florida in Veterans Classic
NEW YORK (AP) — Florida, North Carolina, Temple and Navy will participate in the second annual Veterans Classic.
The four-team event in Annapolis, Maryland will be held on Friday, Nov. 13, the opening day of the 2015-16 college basketball season. North Carolina will play Temple and Florida faces Navy in the doubleheader to be televised on CBS Sports Network.
As part of the event the visiting teams get a chance to see the life of a midshipman at the Naval Academy.
Last year Michigan State beat Navy 64-59 and VCU defeated Tennessee 85-69.
ACC COASTAL-SPRING WRAPUP
Spring practice marked by change in ACC Coastal
Plenty has changed around the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division in the past few months.
Pittsburgh has a new coach who previously won a league championship as a defensive coordinator. North Carolina has a new defensive coordinator who previously won a national title as a head coach.
Miami is looking for a new Duke Johnson, while the Duke Blue Devils will have a new quarterback.
And yet plenty remains the same for reigning division champion Georgia Tech — including that triple-option offense — but the Yellow Jackets are making room for their newest trophy, which they earned by beating Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl.
OBIT-PHILLIPS
One of Kentucky’s 1978 ‘Twin Towers,’ Mike Phillips, dies
MADISONVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Mike Phillips, a standout basketball player at the University of Kentucky in the 1970s, has died in western Kentucky. He was 59.
Barnett-Strother Funeral Home confirmed Philips’ death. The Hopkins County coroner’s office is investigating the cause of death but told WFIE-TV that Phillips died after a fall Saturday at his home in Madisonville.
Phillips and Rick Robey were known as the “Twin Towers” on the 1978 championship team that went 30-2 and beat Duke in the NCAA final. The Courier-Journal reported Phillips was an Ohio native who averaged more than 10 points a game during the season and finished 25th on UK’s all-time scoring list.
Former coach Joe B. Hall told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Phillips was courageous and tough and a “gentle giant.”
