Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 05/18/20
Welcome back to Three Things!
The intention of Three Things is simple: Keeping you informed. The offseason can be a busy time and college basketball isn’t always on everyone’s radars from April to October.
Here’s how it will work: Every morning, Monday through Friday, we will provide you with three things that you need to know from the previous day. Pretty simple, right? You’ll be amazed by your new college basketball wisdom!
Here are the three things you need to know for May 18.
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Green Bay makes surprising move
The 2020 college basketball coaching carousel has been unusually quiet, most likely due to the sport’s uncertainty amid COVID-19. As of Monday, just 22 teams have made a head-coaching move this offseason, following up the 2019 offseason in which 61 head coaches changed teams.
Regardless, Green Bay made a stunning move on Sunday by choosing to fire head coach Linc Darner. In five years with the Phoenix, Darner went 92-80, reached the NCAA Tournament in Year 1, and had only one losing season. Prior to Darner’s arrival, Green Bay hadn’t played in March Madness since 1996.
Khristian Lander reclassifies
Archie Miller will easily have his best roster ever heading into ’20-21. A big reason why is the reclassification decision of five-star recruit Khristian Lander, who announced the news Monday morning.
Lander, a 6-2 point guard, should provide a massive boost in the Hoosier backcourt. Indiana is already set to bring back all-conference forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who could be Luka Garza’s biggest threat at the Big Ten player of the year crown after averaging 13.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game as a freshman.
South Alabama bolsters roster
Few teams around the country have had as much good fortune in the transfer market as South Alabama. Richie Riley announced his third transfer commit of the 2020 offseason on Sunday with former Western Michigan guard Michael Flowers joining the Jaguars.
Flowers saw a gigantic leap as sophomore at WMU, going from 0 starts and 3.4 points per game to 32 starts and 15.7 points per game. This past season, Flowers tallied 16.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 36.8 percent from deep and 84.4 percent at the line. Also joining South Alabama are Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Kayo Goncalves and former Iowa State guard Terrence Lewis, who was a top-100 recruit back in 2017.
Eli Boettger is a college basketball writer and founder of HeatCheckCBB.com. He has previously worked for Sporting News, DAZN and USA TODAY SMG.
Boettger’s content has been featured by Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo Sports, Athletic Director University, Washington Post, Illinois Law Review and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. Boettger is also a current USBWA member and Rockin’ 25 voter.