Yardbarker: Davon Jefferson

It's On.

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:04:17 -0500

Like Donkey Kong. (HT: The USC OC Register Blog.The ad was in today's LA Times.) Share/Email This Related posts Stop reading about UCLA football (0) In the Bleachers Pac-10 Preview (0) A Pretty Ominous Sign (0) Bruin Links of the Day (0) Davon Jefferson from USC goes undrafted: Why I'm Not Surprised (2) Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook and Ben Howland tidbits on the Draft [...]

Bruin Links of the Day

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:47:03 -0500

Howland worth every penny to UCLA [Dick Vitale, ESPN] Now Westbrook highly sought [Los Angeles Wave] Analyzing the Pac-10's Night at the Draft [Stadium Way] Love comes back to where it began [Lake Oswego Review] NBA scout's take on Kevin Love's defense [Some Random Forum] 2008 UCLA Football Preview: Storylines [SocalSportsHub] Share/Email This Related posts Bruin Links of the Day (0) Davon Jefferson from [...]

Davon Jefferson from USC goes undrafted: Why I'm Not Surprised

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:58:45 -0500

The last line from the article in the OC Register got me thinking? USC forward Davon Jefferson went undrafted. If I was a general manager, this would be how I'd view things: If a player tried to go pro after his first year and wasn't guaranteed to be picked at least in the second round, I'd [...]

It's NBA Draft Week

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:51:26 -0500

Three out of the big four American professional sports have gone through the process of selecting a new class of rookies for the start of their respective next seasons. The only sport left is basketball, which will conduct its yearly draft on Thursday, June 26th. The television coverage should be a little more exciting than whatever what broadcast for four grueling hours during the MLB Amateur Draft. For one, the commentators tend to be more bearable. Other reasons that the NBA Draft tends to gauge more of an interest among fans is that with only two rounds of selections, fans have become accustomed to the names of many of the young men who will be selected. It also helps that many of the selections will be thrown right into the mix of the teams that select them, while in the MLB, a majority of the players chosen never even make it to the big stage. Here is the quick when and where so that you do not miss your team's picks: * When: June 26th: 7 p.m. EST on ESPN. * Where: Madison Square Garden, New York Want some helpful links to guide you up to draft day? See below: 1. Find out exactly where your team is slotted to pick in each of the two rounds and get Austin Walton's take on who they will pick (with no commentary): NBA Mock Draft 2. Get familiar with the names of NCAA freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who have kept their name in the draft along with the international studs who may be looking to turn red, white, and blue: Early-Entry Withdrawal Deadline: Final List 3. Take a trip down memory lane and re-live the first round of the NBA Draft all the way back to 1957: Complete First Round Results My main focus on the draft will be following the success of the WMG team which includes agents Arn Tellem and B.J. Armstrong. I interviewed B.J. a little less than a month ago (click here), and may be following up with him again for another special feature on this blog. Yeah, Arn is the man?he apparently had much to do with WMG's signing of Rose. B.J. is also showing that he is fit for the job. One guy getting left out of the discussion so far is Lee Melchionni. We covered his signing with WMG last October, when he was shacking at the Tellem household. Melchionni does not serve as a primary agent for any of WMG's clients, but he is getting some hands-on experience. His tasks include having a client's dogs shipped to him on a plane and ordering a player 82 custom suits, so that said player would never have to wear the same suit to a game twice. WMG hopes to hear these clients' names called on Thursday: Derrick Rose, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Randolph, Marty Leunen, Danilo Gallinari, D.J. Augustin, Jason Rich, Davon Jefferson. That list is unprecidented. I cannot personally remember any agency have the potential to dominate a draft in any sport quite like WMG has positioned itself. Actually, Darren Gill has done a decent job putting his name in the mix when it comes to the CFL Draft. Dynasty does not have any players in the 2008 NBA Draft, but we are in discussions with a few players that have put in some time in lower professional leagues like the NBDL and IBL. We hope to make a splash in 2009's draft, but for now, we are content with getting our feet wet representing players who are right on the cusp of joining an NBA team. Look for an update on this front very shortly. Also, I will be the subject of a couple of interviews this week. Make sure to check out the podcast on HoopsAddict.com that should be posted early in the week along with my live appearance on the Region Buzz Sports Show. If you are in the Chicago area, you can listen to it live by tuning in to 1230 AM on your radio from 6:00-7:00 p.m. CST on Thursday. If not, it will be posted here for download.

Shabbat Shalom: Friday Wrap-Up

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:43:32 -0500

If you missed my interview with Leigh Steinberg, I suggest you check it out. I am no longer a 1L! For those of you non-legal people, that means that I made it through the toughest year of law school. Hopefully, it will be all smooth sailing from here. I am back home in South Florida, where I will be working on Dynasty for the rest of this summer (minus a short trip to Israel from May 11-21). Picking the next two Dynasty interns is going to be close to impossible, but I am going to give it my best. Also, keep lookout for a HUGE change to the look of this site. I am working on a complete switch over to a new design, but it will take a while (expect it sometime at the end of May). Anyway, here are some stories I missed over the past week: * I think it's safe to say that basketball agent, Jeff Schwartz, is no longer invited to dinner at Lute Olson's house [Blame agents and everyone else]. * Chances are you have never heard of this guy, but he just became the third highest paid offensive tackle in the NFL [Roos Gets $43 Million Extension From Titans]. * He must be a true sportsman, he's the only player to win the award twice [Suns' Hill Wins 2007-08 NBA Sportsmanship Award]. * The ladies are looking for some top notch endorsements too [Payback time for Danica Patrick and women's sports?]. * The 11th annual University of Kentucky Sports Marketing Academy is right around the corner. Too bad you can't buy a ticket to it [Sports Marketing Academy Begins Second Decade]. * Taj Gibson stays, Davon Jefferson goes

NCAA Tournament First Round: First Day in Review

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:40:21 -0500

Well the early games yesterday proved to be "snoozers" with only the potential of #14 seed Georgia beating #3 seed Xavier giving some excitement to basketball fans. #12 seed Temple proved to be very disappointing against #5 Michigan State and #9 Kent State (a very high-scoring team) scored only 10 points in the first half against #8 UNLV. The one game that was truly exciting in the day-cap was #6 Marquette versus #11 Kentucky. The Wildcats, playing without their best player Patrick Patterson, gave Marquette all they could handle. Kentucky senior Joe Crawford went off for 35 points in a gutsy effort to single-handedly push his team to the 2nd round. But Marquette just proved to be too deep and too athletic for Kentucky and the Golden Eagles are the ones advancing. In the night cap, we certainly had a thriller with #15 Belmont pushing #2 Duke to the limit. If not for a Gerald Henderson coast-to-coast layup with under 1 minute remaining, the Blue Devils may have been bounced by the Bruins for Tennessee as only the 5th time a #15 seed had won an NCAA Tournament game. #13 seed Winthrop and #4 seed Washington State were tied at 29 at halftime, but the Cougars just took over in the 2nd half and were able to advance. #14 seed Cal State Fullerton hang tough the Big Ten champion Wisconsin Badgers, but the Titans fell short losing, 71-56. #12 seed George Mason was simply outplayed the #5 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish, showing the Patriots were clearly not the Final Four team from 2006. There were 3 other exciting games in the nightcap with #10 Arizona versus #7 West Virginia, #8 BYU versus #9 Texas A&M and #11 Kansas State versus #6 USC. The West Virginia Mountaineers stayed consistent all game and although star forward Joe Alexander did not have an OUTSTANDING game, he still turned a good enough performance to win. Arizona`s Chase Budinger really stepped up his game with 23 points, but it wasn`t quite enough. The competitive 8-9 matchup did not let down with BYU versus Texas A&M. The Aggies started out the game 11-0, but the BYU Cougars slowed down the game to take a 29-29 tied into halftime. But in the 2nd half, Texas A&M were just too athletic for BYU and went on to win 67-62. When thinking of the Kansas State-USC matchup, everyone was talking about Michael Beasley versus O.J. Mayo. But as said in a previous Blog, this game would depend on the supporting cast and the Wildcats got a 22-point game out of Bill Walker to support Beasley. Jacob Pullen also played well scoring 11 points and dishing out 5 assists off the bench. On USC`s side, Davon Jefferson and Taj Gibson combined for 25 points, and that is perhaps the reason Kansas State went on to win and advance to the 2nd round.

AUA Video Highlights: UCLA OWNS USC at the Galen Center Part 4

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:56:00 -0500

Part 4 with 5 more video highlights of the UCLA victory over USC.

AUA Video Highlights: UCLA OWNS USC at the Galen Center Part 3

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:50:23 -0500

Here is part 3. 4 more highlight videos of the UCLA vs. USC game.

AUA Video Highlights: UCLA OWNS USC at the Galen Center Part 2

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:41:09 -0500

Here is part 2. 4 videos here. Thanks to vidman13 as always.

AUA Video Highlights: UCLA OWNS USC at the Galen Center Part I

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:25:58 -0500

Wow, what a game at the Galen Bruin Center. One day we might lose there?one day?I'll have some analysis in a bit, but here is the first batch of the highlights. There are 7 in this batch so be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the first video to see the rest. Superduper special thanks to vidman13, as always.