Jared Butler, who helped Baylor earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, was named to the AP All-American first team on Tuesday. Chuck Burton/Associated Press
Gonzaga and Baylor spent almost the entire season holding down the top two spots in the Top 25.
Makes sense they’d hold down a bunch of spots on The Associated Press All-America teams.
The Bulldogs’ Corey Kispert and the Bears’ Jared Butler led the way with first-team nods Tuesday from the national panel of 63 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll. They were joined by unanimous pick Luka Garza of Iowa, a two-time selection, along with Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois and Cade Cunningham of Oklahoma State.
Kispert and Butler had plenty of company, though.
The Bulldogs also landed big man Drew Timme and freshman sensation Jalen Suggs on the second team while Joel Ayayi was an honorable mention pick. The Bears had Davion Mitchell on the third team and MaCio Teague as an honorable mention.
“Thinking about me as a freshman coming to Baylor and not knowing what I’m getting myself into, having no expectations for how well I’m going to be or how good I’m going to be – it means a lot to come full circle,” said Butler, the Big 12 player of the year and a third-team All-American last season.
It is the first time Baylor, which earned a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, has had a first-team All-American.
“These awards are just team awards,” said Butler, who withdrew from the NBA draft to return for his junior year. “I wouldn’t be here without my teammates just playing with me and giving me confidence. It’s been nice.”
Kispert also withdrew from the draft and also led his team to a No. 1 overall seed, along with helping the Bulldogs finish a perfect regular season. He joined Dan Dickau, Adam Morrison and Kelly Olynyk as first-team All-Americans from Gonzaga.
NCAA TOURNAMENT: Six officials won’t be working the NCAA Tournament because one tested positive for COVID-19 and five others were deemed close contacts after arriving in Indianapolis.
NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt confirmed the details Tuesday. CBS Sports first reported that the officials received permission to leave for dinner together when their rooms weren’t ready and no food was available as they arrived at their hotel.
They later returned to the hotel and one of the officials tested positive. The amount of time they would have to quarantine meant they wouldn’t be available for the entirety of the tournament, which begins Thursday with four games before 16 more on Friday.
“Everyone’s responsibility is to make their own decisions to be safe and healthy and ready to participate,” Gavitt said. “This is a virus we don’t control. It controls us. Not just from an event standpoint but an individual standpoint, we try to put safeguards in place to protect everyone’s health and safety and the integrity of the event, but it can’t be perfect. It’s not going to ever be perfect in a pandemic.”
Gavitt didn’t name the six officials who were removed. He expressed confidence their removals wouldn’t dilute the quality of officiating.
UTAH: The Utah Utes have let go of Coach Larry Krystkowiak after 10 seasons and a 183-139 record.
Utah Director of Athletics Mark Harlan announced the decision Tuesday, saying in a release that “ultimately, our program needs a new voice, a new vision and a new leader who can build upon Larry’s foundation and lead us to greater heights in the years ahead.”
Harlan said Utah will start searching for a new coach immediately. The Utes finished 12-13 this season. Krystkowiak took over the program in 2011 and led Utah to two NCAA Tournament appearances. The Utes won 27 games in 2015-16 with a squad that included Jakob Poeltl and Kyle Kuzma.
Before Utah, Krystkowiak spent two seasons as the coach at Montana, where he went 42-20 and led the Grizzlies to the NCAA Tournament both seasons. A standout player at Montana, Krystkowiak was taken in the second round of the 1986 NBA draft by Chicago. He played in the league for nine years with San Antonio, Milwaukee, Utah, Orlando, Chicago and the Los Angeles Lakers.
NEW MEXICO: Richard Pitino was hired as New Mexico’s head coach, hours after Minnesota finalized his firing following eight seasons with the Gophers.
Lobos Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez picked the 38-year-old Pitino to be the 22nd head coach in the history of their program. He’s replacing Paul Weir, who went 58-63 in four seasons.
New Mexico last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2014, in head coach Craig Neal’s first year. The Lobos, playing in the Mountain West Conference, went three times in six seasons under Neal’s predecessor, Steve Alford.
Pitino took Minnesota to the NCAA Tournament twice. Over his eight years in the rugged Big Ten, the Gophers were 54-96 in conference play with only three regular season finishes higher than 10th place. The son of Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, who’s back in the NCAA Tournament this year with Iona, Richard Pitino had one season of prior experience as a head coach at Florida International when he was hired at Minnesota.
IOWA STATE: Iowa State Athletic Director Jamie Pollard anticipates a quick search to find a new men’s basketball coach after the firing of Steve Prohm.
Pollard on Tuesday released a 10-minute video in which he discusses the reasons for letting Prohm go and why the Cyclones need to move quickly to make a hire.
Iowa State was 2-22 overall and 0-18 in Big 12 play, the lowest win total since 1924-25 and the first winless conference season since 1936-37.
Pollard also knocked down speculation that a donor or group of donors volunteered to buy out Prohm’s contract a day after Indiana acknowledged “private philanthropic funding” would be used to pay the fired Archie Miller’s $10.3 million buyout.
GEORGE MASON: Dave Paulsen was fired as men’s basketball coach on Thursday, ending his tenure after six seasons that did not include an NCAA Tournament or NIT appearance.
The team had four winning seasons under Paulsen and went 95-91 with a 47-57 record in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Patriots were 13-9 this past season and lost in the quarterfinals of the A10 tournament. Paulsen had one year remaining on his contract, which was previously extended. George Mason’s best season with him at the helm came in 2016-17 when it won 20 teams and played in the CBI Tournament.
The school said a national search will be conducted for Paulsen’s successor.
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