Posted by: Andrew
in Features, NCAA Basketball 09, Wayback Wednesday
March 10, 2021
0
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at NCAA Basketball 09.
As I mentioned when I looked back at NCAA March Madness 08, college basketball games were something that I wasn’t able to enjoy for many years. Due to an inability to secure international likeness rights for the NCAA, those titles were only released in North America. Universal adapters, certain cheat devices, and modded consoles were – for the most part- the only way we could play those NTSC releases in PAL regions. The PlayStation 3 was region free however, and after a friend gifted me one, I’ve been able to import a handful of NTSC games, including college basketball titles.
My collection currently includes the aforementioned NCAA March Madness 08, as well as the game I’m looking back at today: its sequel, NCAA Basketball 09. I also own NCAA Basketball 10, and 2K Sports’ College Hoops 2K7 and College Hoops 2K8. I’ll be getting to those in due course, but for now, let’s look at the 2009 season release from EA Sports. The series rebranded itself to NCAA Basketball, but did the 09 edition succeed in being more than just a mere name change? Let’s take a look back…way back…
I’ve already talked about the oddity of seeing NCAA branding and content in menus that bear a striking resemblance to NBA Live, so I won’t spend too much time on that here. Suffice to say though, being far more familiar with NBA Live 09, it’s just as odd to finally play NCAA Basketball 09 and recognise elements that are very similar to EA’s NBA title. Upon firing up the game, we’re once again shooing around on an outdoor court at a college campus, this time with Kevin Love. Instead of changing banners, selecting your favourite school adds the appropriate logo to the hoodie that Love is wearing, though his blue and yellow UCLA shorts remain the same.
Much as NCAA March Madness 08 felt like a midway point between NBA Live 07 and NBA Live 08, and a more polished version of the former, NCAA Basketball 09 feels like a cross between NBA Live 08 and NBA Live 09. That made it a noticeable jump from the year before. Indeed, as soon as you start shooting around with Kevin Love, you can feel a pleasing difference in player movement, as well as notice the better dunk and layup animations that were transitioned into more smoothly. The game featured Quick Strike Ankle Breakers as in NBA Live 09, as well as the Pick & Roll Control. The Lockdown Stick was replaced by a Defensive Assist, though.
The big new game mechanic in NCAA Basketball 09 was Tempo. Each team had a preferred tempo of play: up-tempo, balanced, and half-court. The goal was to control a game’s tempo by playing to a team’s preferred pace. Teams that preferred up-tempo play needed to run as much as possible, while half-court teams needed to take their time setting things up, and balanced teams needed to mix it up doing both. A meter displayed the current tempo. When a team controlled the tempo, they received a boost to their shooting percentages, and were better at making stops. When the tempo didn’t favour a team, they would miss more shots and be more prone to turnovers.
Before each game, it was possible to make quick strategy adjustments and choose three areas of focus, in order to help set the tempo. Similar to the Intensity mechanic in previous games, it’s something that could’ve worked in the NBA titles as well, but it definitely captures the spirit and style of the college game. There were no mini-games this time around, but you could still continue to shoot around on the college court – which featured a very detailed campus in the background – before heading to the arena. Speaking of which, NCAA Basketball 09 included the ability to select your arena for Play Now games independent of your choice of team, similar to NBA Live.
I find the tempo mechanic to be very interesting, especially if you’re playing with a half-court team. The tendency in basketball games is to put up points on the board in a hurry, and at every opportunity. With a half-court team, however, you really need to work the clock to the best of your ability. Pop-ups with advice from the coach let you know how you’re doing and offer tips to get the pace under control, thereby keeping the game at your speed to boost your players’ performance. Tempo could also be changed on the fly using the D-Pad, so if you wanted to slow things down or speed things up and not be penalised, you didn’t have to stick with a team’s default tempo.
Although the gameplay in NCAA Basketball 09 is unsurprisingly dated now, it holds up a lot better than NCAA March Madness 08. As I noted, both the movement and animations were improved, so while the game shows its age, it looks and feels much better than its predecessor. Adopting some of the controls used in NBA Live 09 also introduced some familiarity, while retaining its own mechanics such as tempo control, a hard foul button, and even employing distractions during free throws. Speaking of free throws, NCAA Basketball 09 used the same meter on the backboard approach as NBA Live 09, which was less cumbersome than moving the right stick down and up.
A lot of people hold NCAA Basketball 10 in high regard, much as they do NBA Live 10, and for good reason on both counts. However, NCAA Basketball 09 was a good game in its own right. Much like its NBA counterpart, I think it’s a little overlooked. I wouldn’t place it on the same level as NBA Live 09, which I would say has superior animations, movement, and graphics. With that being said, NCAA Basketball 09 is a lot closer to NBA Live 09 than NCAA March Madness 08 is to NBA Live 08. It still had some clunky moments, but was a marked improvement and borrowed some great ideas from NBA Live 09, suitably adapting them for the college style of play.
Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale returned to provide commentary, and the presentation was once again very commendable. The MEI Marching Band provided an expanded soundtrack of collegiate-style music, and as in March Madness 08, it was a better fit for the game’s vibe and atmosphere than licensing commercial tracks would have been. NCAA Basketball 09 also included the ability to save screenshots and replays, as in NBA Live 09. Other new features included Blue Ribbon scouting reports for all current and classic teams, and a School Overview which provided a breakdown of each school’s location, prestige ranking, arena (and its history), and accomplishments.
As usual, the roster management functions included the ability to create players as well as edit existing ones, and modify lineups. Playbooks could be renamed as in NCAA March Madness 08, as could coaches. Player names could also still be auto-generated if you didn’t want to edit everyone manually, or stick with the default jersey numbers instead of names. Statistical records and award winners could be found in the Hall of Fame as before, though they were still only updated as of 2007. No real names could be used, so “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s record of 44.5 ppg is instead attributed to “LSU#70”, while the 2007 National Player of the Year is “SF#35”, not Kevin Durant.
Dynasty mode returned, and now prompted gamers to create their own coach and build a career from the ground up by only being able to control a school that offered a job. Otherwise, you could elect to control any school you wished, and disable the ability to be fired if you preferred. Once again, there were recruiting objectives that are suggested by the Athletic Director, and recruiting from pipeline states is cheaper. There was no redshirting, budgeting, or NCAA rule violations this time around, but training camp, player awards, Top 25 Polls, and stats were all still available, along with roster and gameplan options. It was still a deep mode, but it was a step back.
There were also some familiar quirks navigating the Dynasty menus, such as backing out of menus and having to hit Start to bring them up again, and being able to back out to a shootaround if you hit Circle/B too many times. The interface was very similar to NCAA March Madness 08, but it’s functional. Apart from Dynasty, a couple of new modes were added. In addition to being able to hold an NCAA Tournament whenever you like, new pre-season tournaments were available. Joining the Maui Invitational and NIT Season Tip-Off were the Old Spice Classic, Anaheim Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournaments, which also appeared in Dynasty.
Online leagues were removed, but a new head-to-head online mode called Rival Challenge took its place. In that mode, you competed with gamers controlling the rivals and conference foes of your selected team, in order to win bragging rights. The other new mode in NCAA Basketball 09 was the Tournament of Legends. It was a 64-team tournament utilising the classic teams, such as the 1982 North Carolina Tar Heels, 1979 Michigan State Spartans, 1995 UCLA Bruins, and 2007 Florida Gators. In other words, a retro tournament mode, though you could customise the brackets and even utilise the current teams if you wanted to mix the new in with the old.
It was a cool feature, but it drew even more attention to the classic teams and the fact that while they didn’t use any real names, it was clear which players the placeholders were standing in for. It was further evidence in Ed O’Bannon’s lawsuit against the NCAA and EA Sports, and it basically ensured that NCAA Basketball 09 was the last game to include classic college teams. Those classic teams were also available in Play Now, but the All-Time teams were removed. We wouldn’t see All-Time College teams officially included in a game until NBA 2K17 (albeit as paid DLC), and only for the teams that were playable in MyCAREER, featuring currently licensed alumni.
On the subject of DLC, there was a March Madness edition of NCAA Basketball 09, a digital-only release that was exclusive to Xbox Live at a cost of 1200 Microsoft Points. The DLC featured the NCAA Tournament with 65 teams, and was updated to reflect the real brackets once the actual tournament was underway. Gamers who had purchased the full version of NCAA Basketball 09 didn’t miss out on anything, as it was basically a stripped-down version featuring the NCAA tournament. The DLC also featured ratings updates, but the community had already created several rosters with updated players. USB drives with custom rosters are still being sold on eBay.
What else can I say about NCAA Basketball 09? It’s fun to play, even today. Again, it’s not quite on the same level as NBA Live 09, but it’s respectably close, and the tempo mechanic definitely makes things interesting. Dynasty lost a couple of features, but it remains a deep mode that aims to replicate the college game the same way its counterpart in Live did for the NBA. It’s just a shame that EA pressed their luck with the classic teams, but they at least put them to good use. Like NBA Live 09, NCAA Basketball 09 is arguably overlooked because its successor was very highly regarded, but both deserve to be remembered as very good releases in their own right.
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Even if you’ve played all other previous installments in the NCAA March Madness series, you should know that 2008’s NCAA 09 Basketball is different from the rest. For one thing, the focus right now is on team selection and game tempo above all things. Here are a few tips to help you understand this all-new but much-improved game!
Game Play Tempo To play and win in NCAA 09 Basketball, you need to know the preferred game style of your chosen team. If you’ve gone for UCLA, you should know that perform better with balanced plays between running and half court games. Memphis, however, is a run-and-gun game, able to perform miracles when the adrenaline’s pumping and the crowd is shouting their name.
Coaching Advice Thanks to an exclusive deal between EA and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, you can now receive significant advice on how to play your game from NCAA Division I coaches. A meter will show whether you’re playing a slow, moderate, or fast game tempo. Pop-up windows will reveal words of wisdom from your coaches, telling you how to best maintain, regain, or control the pace for the game.
Rival Matches Do you study in Kansas? Then you probably hate Mizzou and everything related to it. Do you study in Duke? Then you probably detest everything that has to do with UNC. These rivalries add color to the league and NCAA 09 Basketball takes that into account by incorporating a new rival-centric matching feature in the game.
When you choose the Rival game mode, you’ll be able to see which of your team’s rival schools are online. Select your opponent, strike up a match, and you can kick the ball rolling!
Dynamic Post Play New and improved post-play controls have been added to NCAA 09 Basketball to ensure that you’re in the driver’s seat at every part of the game. Your big man also has more offensive and defensive options to choose from. As it is, everything you need to win is virtually handed to you on a silver platter; you just need to know the actual playing strategies used by your chosen team.
An All-New Recruiting System The acclaimed recruiting system used in NCAA 08 Football has finally been applied for NCAA Basketball as well. Every time you finish a task set by the team alumni or staff, you get to upgrade player performance and unlock new facilities. Scouting reports will also help you determine the best recruits for your team.
As you can see, NCAA 09 Basketball is different in a lot of things with its predecessors but the changes are all for the better, aren’t they?
Playing NCAA Basketball 09 will be more fun if you have downloaded the most accurate NCAA Basketball 09 rosters. Learn what your options are.
About the Author:
Brian Kaldenberg is the president of http://www.Gamerosters.com - provider of NCAA Football rosters files for PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360. His company offers purchase new memory card, memory card mail-in, and roster download service particularly NCAA 09 Rosters.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - How to Play Ea’s Ncaa 09 Basketball Game
Editor's Note: You are reading the user blog Interception, which talks about European basketball. Don't forget that pluses are still the best way to thank the author.
Before the start of last season, I wrote this text. Then I talked to almost all the Russians who were preparing to compete in the NCAA - there were 11 of them at that time - and tried to understand why Russian youth began to leave more massively for American universities. There have never been such a number of Russians in the NCAA.
A year and a half has passed since then, and half of the guys have parted ways: Konstantin Dotsenko is now playing in the Loko farm club, Zakhar Vedischev plays at the base of Krasnodar, Mark Tikhonenko signed a contract with Astana, Andre Toure recently played in Maykop in the second Super League, and Samson Ruzhentsev moved to the Serbian "Mega".
But some remained in America. They were joined by a few more guys who either just left Russia or got into the NCAA from American schools or the NJCAA. In this text, I will talk about all the Russians who play in the first division of the main student league in the world. If last season I wanted to explain why exactly they are leaving, now I have focused on their career.
If you prefer reading, then below is a large text with comments from the players themselves; but this time you have the opportunity not only to read, but also to watch a video about all of our in the NCAA. Inside is my story and a video interview with the guys.
If you watch a YouTube video, don't forget to thumbs up and leave a comment. This will help promote the channel. Subscribe if you love Russian basketball and want to learn more about it.
And now - the promised text about our guys in America.
What is the NCAA
The NCAA, or NCDA, is the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States and Canada. It includes almost 1300 schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions. The teams of these universities are represented not only in basketball - the NCAA also has competitions in American football, wrestling, fencing, bowling, softball, gymnastics, tennis and God knows what else.
But basketball is a very popular sport in the association. Both guys and girls have three divisions, which are ranked by strength. This text is only about those Russians who compete in the first, strongest, division.
The NCAA has a playoff called March Madness. When knockout games start, the whole country switches from professionals to students. Although during the season, the teams also have enough attention from fans: the clubs play in large and good arenas, many people come to the matches, the games are shown on television, and sometimes on national television. There are even universities whose fans spend the night in front of the arena in the hope of having time to buy a ticket.
So the NCAA is a really serious tournament, albeit a student one.
How many Russians are there
I have spent an hour and a half of my life checking the composition of all the colleges that are represented in the first division. There are 358 of them. I broke my eyes, learned about the existence of several countries and even about the presence of basketball in these countries, but still I counted all the Russians.
I got eight people, and now we will get to know them better. The sequence on my list doesn't mean anything, it's just that way because I talked to the guys in that order.
I hope I haven't missed anyone. Please write in the comments if you know someone whom I have overlooked.
Evdokimov is the newest member of the NCAA Division I. He joined the Charleston Cougars - the name of the team of the University of Charleston from South Carolina - in early December last year.
This university belongs to mid-major. In the American system, there is a gradation of universities by strength - from low-major to high-major. Mid-major is the middle level. Most Russian guys perform at universities that fall into this category.
Before moving to the USA, Nikita played for the youth team of Lokomotiv-Kuban and for the national team. Last summer, the defender represented the Russian under-20 team at the Euro Challenger, although he himself was only 18.
Evdokimov has an interesting story about how he fell in love with basketball. In fact, it is strange that he did not go to handball, because his dad is the famous Russian handball player Yegor Evdokimov. Six-time champion of Russia, champion of Spain, champion of Belarus, champion of Ukraine, participant of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. At the dawn of his career, Yegor Viktorovich played in his homeland, in the Chelyabinsk region, the city of Snezhinsk. Nikita was born there.
- I fell in love with basketball when I was 9 or 10 years old. My cousin and grandmother and I went on vacation to the Crimea. There was a playground where I constantly ran and played. Grandma suggested trying to sign up for basketball. And before that, I didn’t consider basketball as a sport at all ... But I went to a training session and instantly fell in love. Didn't miss it at all. Then Lokomotiv saw me at the Russian Championship. Together with a team from my city, from Chekhov, we took fourth place, and everyone was very surprised. I was seen by coach Petar Marinkovic, who called me to Loko, ”recalls Evdokimov.
He says that he could have been in the red-green system even earlier. He was invited to the Yug-Basket camp - this is a camp organized by the club and within which it looks for players in its youth system - but then Evdokimov was with relatives in the United States and could not come.
He ended up in the Loko system in 2017. True, Evdokimov says that, even while playing for Krasnodar, he often thought that he actually wanted to try his hand at American basketball. He has relatives living in the USA, he has been there more than once, and when the chance to move to the university appeared, he did not hesitate for a long time.
Evdokimov learned about the university's interest in him in advance, so he spent the summer with benefit: he trained individually with personal trainers in Moscow and Cyprus, where his father plays handball. There, the defender, at the request of the university coach, worked hard on three-pointers and performed at least 500 long-range shots a day.
Evdokimov will be coached at the College of Charleston by Pat Kelsey, a strong specialist who is widely known in college basketball. He once worked with Jeff Teague and Chris Paul.
Alex is not short for Alexander, but his passport name. He was not born in Russia, but in Canada, his parents went there to give birth to Alex. In this country, he lived the first year of his life, after which he left for Moscow. In memory of Canada, Alex has citizenship (he has a double one).
But he started playing basketball in Russia.
— I started playing basketball at Gloria when I was 10-11 years old. People came to my school - and I studied at an ordinary secondary school - who were looking for young guys who were ready to play basketball. They came into my class, saw that I was tall, did a couple of tests, asked me different questions and invited me to practice. I studied at Gloria for a long time, then I got into the MBA Junior Junior League, from there I was taken to the Super League. I played there for literally a year, and after graduating from high school I decided that it would be wise to go to the United States. I contacted Skryagin (Alexander Skryagin, ProFuturo Sports, - note "Interception"), because he was the only person who knows more about moving to the USA than me. We talked to him, I dropped my highlights to him, and he helped me find a school, - says Kotov.
Alex arrived in the US in 2017 and entered the Montverde Academy. This is a very famous program that prepares players for the NCAA. Kotov spent a year in Montverde and won the championship with this team, the result for the season is 35-0. Alex's partners then included, for example, RJ Barrett, who now plays for the New York Knicks in the NBA, and Turkish Efes center Philip Petrushev.
Alex left Montverde not immediately for the NCAA, but for the NJCAA. It is an association of junior colleges and is also often referred to as Juko. A common story for those who feel like they're not ready for the NCAA yet, but want to play hard and improve. Kotov spent two years in this association, after which he moved to the NCAA, to the Illinois State Redbirds team. This is also a representative university of the mid-major category.
Alex has six months left to study at the university, but he can play in the team for another two and a half years. This happened because the players have the right to use the redshirt option. In fact, this is the right of the player to extend his career at the university, even if he has already graduated from the university. Plus, there's also the "cancellation" of the season due to the coronavirus (this happened last year), which also doesn't count, as well as the "cancellation" of the season due to injury (this happened to Alex in his second year in the NJCAA).
In general, these rules are very complicated.
- Due to an injury in my second year at the NJCAA, I opted to save the year. That's plus one season. In addition, this year I had a lot of misunderstandings with the coach, it all started last year. I thought that it would be possible to influence it somehow, to establish relations with him in the summer, but it turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. Therefore, after a huge number of meetings, we came to the conclusion that this year it would be easier for me to also take the option to save the year. So this year I'm graduating from university, getting an education, but I still have, roughly speaking, two seasons to play in the NCAA, - says Kotov.
Lakhin is the only Russian who represents a high-major university. This means that the university where Vitya plays often goes to the "March Madness" and has a tangible chance of winning the NCAA.
And the story of Lakhin began in Anapa. The parents wanted to send their sons - Vitya and his brother Vasya - to some kind of team sport so that they would play together. And chose volleyball. But because of the coach, they did not last long in the volleyball section and eventually went to basketball.
Lahin started in fourth grade but quickly rose to the city team. And in the Krasnodar Territory, if you play for the city team, then you are in full view of the Lokomotiv scouts. Vitya did not play Loko on a permanent basis, but by the 7-8th grade he was regularly on the team to participate in the Russian championships. The Railroaders took him as a reinforcement player - this is a common practice in children's competitions.
Further - a matter of chance. Loko juniors played in the final stage of the Russian championship and met CSKA twice - in the group stage and in the semi-finals. Lakhin gave two good games and ... received an invitation from the "soldiers".
At first he did not think of moving anywhere and stayed to finish the season in the south. But summer came, and he still went to see it. He was offered to stay after the first practice. Vitya talked to his parents and a month later he arrived at CSKA.
- The first season was probably the most emotional, full of some moments, memories. Because my brother and I arrived for the first time in a big city. On the one hand, this is a great freedom, because there are no parents nearby, but, on the other hand, this is also a great responsibility. Because you have never done the things that your parents did for you before, like laundry, cleaning, all sorts of small things. Even a waste of money: you never thought about it before, you were given - you spent it. And here you have money, and you know that if you spend everything, then at the end of the month you won’t have any left, ”recalls Vitya.
Lakhin reached the final stage of the youth Euroleague with CSKA and spent a pretty good season overall. Alexey Zhukov, the head coach of the “army” CYBL, left to work as an assistant in Nizhny Novgorod, and Maxim Sharafan came to CSKA from Lokomotiv. He worked with Vitya for three years, and during this time Lakhin managed to understand that he wants to play in Russia only at the highest level - in CSKA - and if it doesn’t work out, then it’s better to leave.
- I realized that it would be very difficult for me to get into the base. This is a top club with the highest goals, and as a young player I need to be not even the same as everyone else, but better, because I have no experience. It was necessary here and now to show some level and bring results. Let's be realistic, there were no players who can immediately enter the CSKA system and show something like that for a long time. Probably the Swede was the last one. I realized that I can’t do that, and since my dream is to be in the NBA, I decided to move closer to this league, this Wednesday, to America. That's why I'm here, - says Vitya.
But not everything was so simple. Back in Russia, Lakhin managed to get injured. He fell in the game moment, and his knee hurt. The medical staff did not suspect anything, and Vitya continued to train. The state of health worsened, but then the pandemic came, everyone went into self-isolation, and the center just went home. The knee was still swollen, but the pain was slowly receding. Vitya did not train and therefore did not feel any signs of deterioration. He already knew that he was leaving for America, and just waited for all the permits.
The injury happened in February and the departure was due in September. In the summer, Lakhin himself did an MRI, which showed that he had . .. a torn meniscus. He took the results of the examination to the surgeon who scheduled the operation. Vitya went for it and began to recover in Russia, and he came to the USA with an already operated knee.
Everything should have been fine, but when he started running, the pain returned. Lakhin did another MRI, and it showed that the same meniscus was completely torn. The doctors said that it would take six months to recover. Therefore, Vitya simply missed his first season in the NCAA.
— All this time I didn't train, but I was always with the team: in scouting, in the locker room, in training. All lessons were online, and we lived in an apartment with the team. So that year helped me a lot, because even though I didn’t play, I was in the system and I knew the guys. It was my year of adaptation - to a new culture, to people, to new faces, to food. I had the same feeling as when I came from a small town to Moscow. You leave Russia for any other country - even to America, even to Italy, even to Spain - and you go through the same thing, Lakhin believes.
He adds that the Cincinnati had a new head coach at the end of last season and it was a difficult moment. A new specialist was appointed the day before Lakhin's departure to Russia, when he did not yet understand whether he would remain in the team for the next season or not. Whether to leave it, decided the new head coach. But in the end, the center managed to meet with him before departure and find a common language. The coach wanted to protect the Russians in the composition.
During the summer Vitya worked in the USA on his body and improved his skills. The season began in October, and in December, Lahin was the best freshman of the week in his conference. By the way, he has a situation similar to Alex: academically, Lahin is a sophomore, but he is considered a rookie in the team.
Andrey Savrasov, Georgia Southern Eagles
2021/22 stats: 14 games, 23.7 minutes average
11.9 points (51.5% 2-point, 30% 3-point, 73.1% free throws), 6 rebounds, 1. 1 assists, 0.4 block shots, 0.9 interceptions, 1 loss Andrey's first coach is a well-known Russian specialist Oleg Aktsipetrov.
— I remember that at first I had very different hobbies: football, basketball, taekwondo… But after the first two or three years of training, I realized that basketball is really mine, that I want to do just that. Slowly, I began to play for the sports school of the Admiralteisky district, for the Zenit Junior Junior League, played for the Russian national team U16, U18. We went to different tournaments, and somewhere the scouts saw my game and invited me to the USA, says Savrasov.
Andrey moved to America three years ago - in January 2019of the year. Now he is finishing his third year at the university, in the American education system it is possible to start studying in the middle of the academic year and, accordingly, then graduate also in the middle of the academic year.
Savrasov managed to play for the Texas Tech team, where he spent a year and a half. The first six months he did not play, he spent in redshirt mode - he trained, worked on his body, was with the team, but did not play for it. But the next season already played in the status of a freshman, that is, a freshman.
Andrei didn't get much playing time, but he still wanted to stay at the university. It was a high-major, and Savrasov wanted to prove that he deserved another role.
But then I talked to the head coach, and together they decided that it would be better to change the university in order to continue their career. The coach even helped find a new team, and that's how Savrasov ended up in Georgia, in the Georgia Southern Eagles team. This is a mid-major university.
Now in his second year with the new team, he is in the starting five and generally has a good role on the court. In theory, Andrei can play for the university for another two years, although he graduates from the university in a year.
Vladislav Goldin, Florida Atlantic Owls
2021/22 stats: 14 games, 16. 5 minutes average
5.7 points (47.9% 2-pointers, no 3-pointers, 52.2% free throws), 5.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.6 block shots, 0.4 interceptions, 1.3 losses He played with his 2001, but at some point the team just fell apart and disappeared.
Goldin was sent to play by the year 2000, and the coach of this team turned out to be familiar with the coach of CSKA-DYuBL. Vlad and another guy were offered to the "soldiers" - just to look at them. But the screening went well, and after one of the training sessions, Vlad was offered to move to Moscow. New school, new surroundings, heavy loads, training twice a day - Vlad says that the first six months in the capital were the most difficult time in his life.
- At that time, I probably did not quite understand where I was moving and how much it changed. To be honest, I didn't even really know what DUBL was. Wasn't very knowledgeable. Youth League, Junior Team, Superleague… I knew the tournaments where we played: first the Southern Federal District, then the Russian Championship. When I found out that I was already in Moscow and had to go to the CYBL team for a tryout, I even got scared. But they left me, and I trained at CSKA for another four years. Then he played for the Russian national team U18 and U19, after which he received an offer to try himself in America. I decided to take a chance and moved there to the Prep school,” says Goldin.
Prep school is short for preparatory school. In essence, this is an opportunity to play basketball in the USA before going to university.
In October 2019, Vlad entered Patnam School in Connecticut. This is a small private school about an hour from Boston. Together with the team, Goldin became the champion of America in the championship among preparatory schools.
After that, Vlad was called to Texas, to the Texas Tech team - to the same team where Andrey Savrasov played for a year and a half. Goldin saw that this was a big and serious high-major team, saw the conditions for training and accepted their invitation without hesitation.
— In Texas, things are a little different. The way we played there was not like the way I played before, so the first experience was difficult. And then the head coach left us, replacing TexasTech with Texas. Most of the coaching staff left with him, and our team did not quite understand what to do. Only the assistant coach remained with us. And in the end, I decided to move to another team, to Florida, - say Goldin.
Due to the coronavirus, Vlad has the same situation as most student athletes: academically he is a sophomore, but the last sports season did not count, so he is a freshman in the team. Goldin has three years left to study, and he can play four more.
He himself says that his current team plays more European basketball, so he feels great there.
Alexander Glushkov, Appalachian State Mountaineers
Born in Vladivostok, Glushkov started playing basketball at the age of 13 when he went to summer camp. I came home and told my father: "I want to play basketball." Parents sent Sasha to the section.
Glushkov's first coach is Eduard Sushko. After a year of working with him, Sasha was invited to the Spartak-Primorye system. He played in the Junior Junior League for a year, after which the entire management of the team and almost the entire squad moved to the PSC Sakhalin. At the same time, the base of the club remained in Vladivostok. Glushkov spent a year in the new club, after which he received an invitation from Moscow, from the IBA. His coach Alexander Antipov invited him.
And then it was a matter of chance, and a year later Sasha was already flying to the USA to study at school.
— I came to Moscow and played there for a year. When we were preparing for the Summer Spartakiad in Krasnaya Pakhra at the Trinta base, a coach from the USA arrived there. He was familiar with Alexander Antipov, because before that our guy had already played at the same school. He came just to relax, but he also wanted to look at the players. He probably liked me, and he invited me to school. I took the chance and got into high school. I spent 11-12 classes there, received several offers and decided that I would play in Appalachian State, says Glushkov.
Now Sasha is in his second year, but as you know, last year doesn't count. So Glushkov is considered a “freshman” in the team and can play for the university for another three and a half years, while he has two and a half to study.
When Sasha arrived at the university, he weighed about 90 kg. But now he has noticeably added muscle mass. He began to grow muscles during the last season, but he did the main work in the summer. Due to problems with visas, he could not go home to Russia, and he went to a friend in Houston. There he lived for a month, ate a lot and rocked. As a result, he entered the new season in excellent physical shape. True, the coach still does not really trust him.
Glushkov University is a mid-major who, last year, entered March Madness for the first time in 20 years. Sasha was not released then, but he nevertheless felt the atmosphere of the main student event of the year. Here's what he says about it:
- It was ... unbelievable (unbelievable - approx. "Interception"). Very cool feeling. 64 top teams, all at the highest level. We had two or three hotels, each floor was dedicated to a specific team. I don’t know how much it could be called the same “March Madness”, because, of course, all the measures were taken anyway. We had a quarantine, we had to be tested every day. And so everything was at the highest level,” recalls Glushkov.
David has probably the most atypical fate among all our guys who now play in the first division of the NCAA.
Didenko was born in the north, in the city of Yakutsk. He remembers his childhood quite vividly: he says that the city authorities allowed not to go to school at -45 degrees Celsius, and if the thermometer was only -43, you had to pull yourself together, stick yourselves into a thick down jacket and stomp to school.
— I had a healthy down jacket, maybe five centimeters. I walked around like a big bubble. When I was 8 or 9 years old, we had -57 degrees in winter. Very cold. I didn’t leave the house for two days,” Didenko recalls.
In 2010, David ended up in the USA even before he started playing basketball. He was 10. His older sister was leaving for New York to study English, and David just went with her for a month.
While still in Russia, they found him something to do in the USA. On the classifieds website, the family looked at a message from a Russian coach who lived there, his name was Boris Karebin. The coach was needed so that David would not just mess around in the States.
But the boy got so caught up in basketball that he eventually wanted to stay. Parents allowed, and he went to an American school. Karebin trained him in Brighton Beach, this is a Russian-speaking area, so immersion in American culture was gradual.
— I first lived in New York, where I arrived, and then I traveled. Lived in Florida, then studied in Georgia, in Tennessee. I travel a lot around the country - sometimes I live there, sometimes there. Somehow I quickly learned English, apparently because I was still young. Literally in a year. In Russia, I studied English for three classes, but could not learn it. Here I first lived with my sister, she pushed me to talk to people, and somehow everything turned out by itself, - says Didenko.
David spent his first year after school in Juko. Remember the story of Alex Kotov? This is the same league that prepares players who have not yet grown up to the NCAA. But already in the second year, Didenko ended up in the first division, at the University of Georgia.
He is currently a UT Martin Skyhawks player, where UT is the University of Tennessee. Accordingly, David now lives and studies in this state. He has a year and a half left at the university, and he can still play the same amount at the university level.
At the same time, he is 21 years old and automatically enters the NBA draft next year. In mocks - that is, expert predictions - he is not drafted, but he still has to play the whole season, so everything is in his hands.
Last on the list - not by value, but simply because he is the only Russian I could not contact - Pavel Zakharov from California Baptist Lancers.
Zakharov was born in Sør-Varanger, Norway. In Russia, Pasha played for the Zenit youth team and helped CSKA play in the youth Euroleague, and in 2018, after playing for the Russian U18 team at the European Championship, he left for the Montverde Academy. We talked about it a little earlier.
He was considered a four-star recruit. In American sports, when they want to talk about the prospects of a particular player, they talk about him in terms of stars, and four stars is very good. Such an assessment helped him get into the Gonzaga College in the NCAA - this is one of the top programs, which, for example, reached the NCAA finals last season, having suffered its first loss of the season in this very final. Pasha then did not go to the parquet. A year before, the team did not get into the "March Madness" only because the championship was stopped due to a pandemic.
Zakharov spent two seasons at this university and moved to the California Baptist Lancers in the summer of 2021. Most likely due to playing time, because, obviously, it was much more difficult to get it in Gonzaga. But even at the new university, he still has an average of 10 minutes on the floor and one and a half rebounds. By the way, about playing on the shields: the height of the Russian center is 213 centimeters, in America these guys are called seven-footers.
This is almost all I know about Pavel Zakharov.
It seems that the Russians in the first division of the NCAA are over. If you know someone else that I forgot, please write in the comments.
Thank you for your attention! I will be glad if you share the text or video with your friends who are interested in young Russian players. Well, thumbs up, comments, subscriptions to YouTube - everything is traditional.
If you want to keep a close eye on Rosbasket, subscribe to my Telegram channel. There I regularly publish news, insiders, interviews and analyzes.
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North Alabama Lions live score (and video online live stream), schedule and results from all basketball tournaments played by North Alabama Lions. North Alabama Lions play next match on 27 Nov. 2022 vs. Ohio State Buckeyes at NCAA Women.
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Upon firing up the game, we’re once again shooing around on an outdoor court at a college campus, this time with Kevin Love. Instead of changing banners, selecting your favourite school adds the appropriate logo to the hoodie that Love is wearing, though his blue and yellow UCLA shorts remain the same.
Each team had a preferred tempo of play: up-tempo, balanced, and half-court. The goal was to control a game’s tempo by playing to a team’s preferred pace. Teams that preferred up-tempo play needed to run as much as possible, while half-court teams needed to take their time setting things up, and balanced teams needed to mix it up doing both. A meter displayed the current tempo. When a team controlled the tempo, they received a boost to their shooting percentages, and were better at making stops. When the tempo didn’t favour a team, they would miss more shots and be more prone to turnovers.
Speaking of which, NCAA Basketball 09 included the ability to select your arena for Play Now games independent of your choice of team, similar to NBA Live.
Adopting some of the controls used in NBA Live 09 also introduced some familiarity, while retaining its own mechanics such as tempo control, a hard foul button, and even employing distractions during free throws. Speaking of free throws, NCAA Basketball 09 used the same meter on the backboard approach as NBA Live 09, which was less cumbersome than moving the right stick down and up.
Statistical records and award winners could be found in the Hall of Fame as before, though they were still only updated as of 2007. No real names could be used, so “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s record of 44.5 ppg is instead attributed to “LSU#70”, while the 2007 National Player of the Year is “SF#35”, not Kevin Durant.
The interface was very similar to NCAA March Madness 08, but it’s functional. Apart from Dynasty, a couple of new modes were added. In addition to being able to hold an NCAA Tournament whenever you like, new pre-season tournaments were available. Joining the Maui Invitational and NIT Season Tip-Off were the Old Spice Classic, Anaheim Classic, and Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournaments, which also appeared in Dynasty.
The DLC also featured ratings updates, but the community had already created several rosters with updated players. USB drives with custom rosters are still being sold on eBay.
For one thing, the focus right now is on team selection and game tempo above all things. Here are a few tips to help you understand this all-new but much-improved game!
Every time you finish a task set by the team alumni or staff, you get to upgrade player performance and unlock new facilities. Scouting reports will also help you determine the best recruits for your team.:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/53487411/CollegeRosterScreen7_zpsn2zs090k.0.jpg)
How are they? - The Interception - Blogs 
In this text, I will talk about all the Russians who play in the first division of the main student league in the world. If last season I wanted to explain why exactly they are leaving, now I have focused on their career. 
It includes almost 1300 schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions. The teams of these universities are represented not only in basketball - the NCAA also has competitions in American football, wrestling, fencing, bowling, softball, gymnastics, tennis and God knows what else. 
My cousin and grandmother and I went on vacation to the Crimea. There was a playground where I constantly ran and played. Grandma suggested trying to sign up for basketball. And before that, I didn’t consider basketball as a sport at all ... But I went to a training session and instantly fell in love. Didn't miss it at all. Then Lokomotiv saw me at the Russian Championship. Together with a team from my city, from Chekhov, we took fourth place, and everyone was very surprised. I was seen by coach Petar Marinkovic, who called me to Loko, ”recalls Evdokimov. 
He has relatives living in the USA, he has been there more than once, and when the chance to move to the university appeared, he did not hesitate for a long time. 
In this country, he lived the first year of his life, after which he left for Moscow. In memory of Canada, Alex has citizenship (he has a double one). 
In fact, this is the right of the player to extend his career at the university, even if he has already graduated from the university. Plus, there's also the "cancellation" of the season due to the coronavirus (this happened last year), which also doesn't count, as well as the "cancellation" of the season due to injury (this happened to Alex in his second year in the NJCAA). 
The Railroaders took him as a reinforcement player - this is a common practice in children's competitions. 
Even a waste of money: you never thought about it before, you were given - you spent it. And here you have money, and you know that if you spend everything, then at the end of the month you won’t have any left, ”recalls Vitya. 
Let's be realistic, there were no players who can immediately enter the CSKA system and show something like that for a long time. Probably the Swede was the last one. I realized that I can’t do that, and since my dream is to be in the NBA, I decided to move closer to this league, this Wednesday, to America. That's why I'm here, - says Vitya. 
.. a torn meniscus. He took the results of the examination to the surgeon who scheduled the operation. Vitya went for it and began to recover in Russia, and he came to the USA with an already operated knee. 
1 assists, 0.4 block shots, 0.9 interceptions, 1 loss Andrey's first coach is a well-known Russian specialist Oleg Aktsipetrov. 
The first six months he did not play, he spent in redshirt mode - he trained, worked on his body, was with the team, but did not play for it. But the next season already played in the status of a freshman, that is, a freshman. 
5 minutes average 
When I found out that I was already in Moscow and had to go to the CYBL team for a tryout, I even got scared. But they left me, and I trained at CSKA for another four years. Then he played for the Russian national team U18 and U19, after which he received an offer to try himself in America. I decided to take a chance and moved there to the Prep school,” says Goldin. 
1 rebounds, no assists, 0.1 blocks, 0.1 steals, no losses 
He was familiar with Alexander Antipov, because before that our guy had already played at the same school. He came just to relax, but he also wanted to look at the players. He probably liked me, and he invited me to school. I took the chance and got into high school. I spent 11-12 classes there, received several offers and decided that I would play in Appalachian State, says Glushkov. 
True, the coach still does not really trust him. 
7 turnovers 
The coach was needed so that David would not just mess around in the States. 
But already in the second year, Didenko ended up in the first division, at the University of Georgia. 
Most likely due to playing time, because, obviously, it was much more difficult to get it in Gonzaga. But even at the new university, he still has an average of 10 minutes on the floor and one and a half rebounds. By the way, about playing on the shields: the height of the Russian center is 213 centimeters, in America these guys are called seven-footers. 
Statistics will be updated at the end of the game. North Alabama Lions previous match was against Alabama A&m Bulldogs in NCAA, Women, match ended 66 - 48 (North Alabama Lions won the match). North Alabama Lions pinned tab showing last 100 Basketball matches with stats and win/lose icons. There are also all North Alabama Lions scheduled matches that they are going to play in the future. 
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3736888/largedesign14.0.jpg)
