Marion Jones seeking a pro basketball career

Marion Jones is training for a professional basketball career in Europe according to Fanhouse.com. The former world champion track and field athlete trains in San Antonio. She helped North Carolina win the NCAA basketball championship in 1994 when she was just a freshman. She red-shirted her sophomore basketball season to concentrate on track.

She was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2003 WNBA Draft by the Phoenix Mercury.

After admitting in 2007 that she took illegal steroids before the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, Jones was sentenced to six months in jail. She began serving her sentence on March 7, 2008. She left imprisonment on September 5, 2008.

February 9, 1994: Marion Jones of the North Carolina Tar Heels in action during a game against the Virginia Cavaliers at University Hall in Charlottesville, Virginia. Credit: Doug Pensinger /Allsport

Baylor’s Brittney Griner Named Big 12 Freshman of the Week, Oklahoma State’s Andrea Riley is Player of the Week

Baylor freshman Brittney Griner picked up her first Big 12 Freshman of the Week award while Oklahoma State’s Andrea Riley earned the Player of the Week honor. A media panel voted on games from November 23-29. Riley was honored for the second time this season and ninth time in her career.

Last week Baylor rookie Shanay Washington earned Freshman of the Week honors.

Brittney Griner averaged a team-leading 16.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.0 blocks in just over 24 minutes of action a game in No. 8 Baylor’s four victories last week. She shot 62.5 percent (20-32) from the floor and was 26-of-32 (.813) from the free throw line. The 6”8’ post added five assists and three steals. Griner registered two double-doubles, collected a career-high 26 points against Lamar and hauled down a career-best 14 rebounds against Louisiana. She tallied two eight-block games vs. Jacksonville State and Lamar. Griner earned World Vision Classic All-Star recognition in leading Baylor to the tournament championship. On the season, the Houston native leads the Lady Bears in scoring at 15.1 a contest. Her 41 season blocks puts her almost halfway to breaking Baylor’s single season block record of 86, set by Danielle Wilson in 2006-07.… Read more

Women’s college basketball streaming and TV schedule for the week

… Read more

World Vision Classic Results and All-Stars

November 27-29, 2009
Waco, Texas
Host: Baylor University

Tournament All-Stars

• Brittney Griner (Baylor)
• Melissa Jones (Baylor)
• Morghan Medlock (Baylor)
• Jenna Plumley (Lamar)
• Trashanna Smith (Lamar)
• Rachelle Kloke (Idaho)

Results

Friday
Lamar 66, Louisiana 58 Box Score | Postgame Quotes

Baylor 82, Idaho 37
Box Score | Postgame Quotes

Saturday
Baylor 89, Louisiana 42
Box Score | Postgame Quotes

Lamar 68, Idaho 56
Box Score | Postgame Quotes

Sunday

Idaho 90, Louisiana 66
Box Score | Postgame Quotes

Baylor 87, Lamar 65
Box Score

Related: World Vision Classic Day 1: Baylor and Lamar win

World Vision Classic Day 1: Baylor and Lamar win

Louisiana 58 Lamar 66

The first day of the World Vision Classic featured a close match and a blowout.

Lamar and Louisiana-Lafayette kicked off the Baylor-hosted tournament in Waco in a tumultuous game with several lead changes and nine ties.

For most of the first half, the teams traded baskets. Louisiana’s Mercedes Johnson led all scorers at the break with 15 points. The sophomore forward from Houston also had seven rebounds.

Point guard Jenna Plumley (pictured right), a transfer from Oklahoma who redshirted last season, paced Lamar with six points. Before arriving at Lamar, Plumley started all 31 games for the Sooners in 2007-08, averaging 7.8 points and 3.3 assists per game in a season when Oklahoma advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

In the second period, Louisiana came out strong and built a six point lead. Five minutes into the half, Lamar began to fight back and in a 12-5 run took the lead with 10 minutes left on the clock.

“I thought we played good for 32 minutes but over the last eight minutes [Lamar} really kicked up the intensity level,” said Louisiana head coach Errol Rogers. “I thought we had all the momentum but we missed a ton of shots early in the second half.”

The Lady Cardinals maintained the lead earning a… Read more

World Vision Classic kicks off at Baylor

WACO, Texas — The World Vision Classic kicks off today in Waco, Texas. In addition to host Baylor, teams participating in the tournament include Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette and Lamar. Each team will play three days in a round-robin format.

Audio, Streaming and Gametracker: BaylorBears.com
Local Radio: KLRK Radio 92.9 FM or KRZI/ESPN 1660 AM (Waco)

Schedule (all times Central)
Friday, Nov. 27, 2009
4:30 p.m. Louisiana (A) vs. Lamar (H)
7 p.m. Idaho (A) vs. Baylor (H)

Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009
12:00 p.m. Louisiana (A) vs. Baylor (H)
2:30 p.m. Idaho (A) vs. Lamar (H)

Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009
12:00 p.m. Louisiana (A) vs. Idaho (H)
2:30 p.m. Lamar (A) vs. Baylor (H)

Baylor Lady Bears
Roster
Schedule
Stats

The Baylor Lady Bears enter the contest with a 3-1 record. Four Lady Bears are averaging double-digit scoring. Freshman post Brittney Griner leads the team with 15.0 points a game while junior guard Melissa Jones tallies 14.0, the team’s lone senior Morghan Medlock is averaging 11.3 points and sophomore post Ashley Field comes off the bench to score 10.5 an outing.

In 10 seasons under head coach Kim Mulkey, Baylor is 240-67 (.782), which ranks her No. 4 nationally in winning percentage. In addition,… Read more

Thanksgiving tournament mania roundup

Thanksgiving tournament mania is upon us. There are three main categories of tournaments: those sponsored or organized by Basketball Travelers Inc. , corporate sponsored tourneys and school-hosted events. Here is a list of most of the major tournaments this Thanksgiving holiday season. Happy Turkey Day!

Basketball Travelers Events

• Basketball Travelers Tip-Off Classic, hosted by Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas
  Texas Tech, Prairie View A&M, University of San Francisco , University of Texas Arlington
• Junkanoo Jam, hosted by the Bahamas Basketball Federation, Nassau, Bahamas
  George Washington, Indiana, Kansas, Marist, Michigan State, Minnesota, UNC Charlotte, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State , TCU, Virginia, Xavier
• Paradise Jam, hosted by the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
  Mississippi State, Southern California, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Rutgers, San Diego State, South Carolina, Texas
• WBCA Classic, co-produced with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and hosted by UConn, Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut
  Connecticut, Hofstra, Richmond, Clemson
• World Vision Basketball Classic, hosted by Baylor, Waco, Texas
  Baylor, Idaho, Lamar, Louisiana-Lafayette
• World Vision Basketball Invitational, hosted by Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
  Oregon, Cal State Fullerton, Portland State, Wisconsin
• Caribbean Challenge, Cancun
  Arkansas, Cleveland State, Duke, Iona, Marquette, and Western Kentucky

Tournaments

Buckeye Classic, Ohio State, Columbus, Ohio
California, Southern U., IUPUI… Read more

Video: Brittney Griner Dunks in Lady Bears’ Victory

Nov. 24, 2009 – Brittney Griner became just the seventh female to dunk in an NCAA regular-season game in a 104-45 Baylor victory over Jacksonville State. She finished with 20 points, six rebounds and eight blocked shots in 21 minutes.

Griner on her dunk:

"I was kind of glad to get it going–it was a spark to get the team going. I don’t really think about it too much. It was fun.

Game articles:

• Lady Bears Slam Jacksonville State, 104-45
• Baylor star joins elite group of women dunkers (AP)
• Baylor’s Griner never grows tired of dunking (ESPN)

Spartak releases Lauren Jackson, star will suit up for Canberra

Lauren Jackson is close to signing a deal to play with the Canberra Capitals for the rest of the WNBL season.  Just last week, Capitals coach Carrie Graf and Jackson’s agent indicated that the WNBA star might stay in her native Australia if enough funds were raised by investors to pay her a salary of $220,000 AUD.

Until early November, Jackson had plans to spend the winter playing for Spartak Moscow under a lucrative contract. But when the club’s owner was assassinated on November 2, doubts about her return to Russia began to surface.  She went to Australia to recover from back injuries after the end of the WNBA season.

“She wants to be here—that’s her priority," said Graf Tuesday to ABC Sport. "She wants to stay home and wants to be in Canberra.”

“If we’ve got all the paperwork done tomorrow and can come up with the money, she’ll be a Canberra Capital.”

Graf is also the head coach the Australian national team, the Opals.

Jackson is still recovering from stress fractures in her lower back and will not play until after the weekend.

Her first stint with the Capitals lasted six years.  She joined the team in 1999  led them to four titles and earned MVP honors three times. Currently… Read more

Women’s college basketball streaming and TV schedule for the week

Tuesday, November 24
UW-Green Bay at Wisconsin, 9:00 p.m., Big Ten Network (TV)
DePaul at Northwestern, 9:00 PM, bigtennetwork.com

Wednesday, November 25
UNC-Greensboro at Ohio State, 7:00 p.m., bigtennetwork.com, WOSU

Friday, November 27
College of Charleston at Northwestern (HD), 6:30 p.m. Big Ten Network (TV)

Saturday, November 28 and Sunday, November 29
Buckeye Classic at Ohio State
bigtennetwork.com, Big Ten Network (TV), WOSU