Malachi Richardson, who is the Houston- Syracuse guard, was too upset after his team lost 83- 66 to North Carolina in the final four, during  the SU’s final season. He had a towel cover his head in the locker room; he was not in the spirit of discussing whether he was going to participate in the second round after he was penalized from the end of his first season. He reported that he was not giving any responses as to whether he was participating in the NBA draft. Following Richardson’s decline in giving any responses, his future in the NBA will remain a mystery among the Syracuse basketball fans. They are however hoping that their questions will be answered in the weeks to come.

ESPN’s Chad Ford has ranked Richardson as number 77 on his big board, this is because Richardson has been marked absent from the mock drafts for almost an entire season, this however, his position is however determined by the player’s  possibility of taking part in the NBA.  Richardson has however being taking part in big games in the late Syracuse season, where he scored 21 points in the first round against Dayton, and in the second half scored 21 points in their win over Virginia, thus topping over Malcolm Brogdon, one of ACC’s best defenders. Even though Richardson remained silent about joining the NBA, he will be forced by the NBA’s reformed rules to play in the coming season.

Invited players have been allowed to attend the NBA combine, and have been given 10 days work out days to practice for the NBA, this comes shortly after the deadline for underclassmen to remove their names from the NBA draft was pushed back to this year. Players can then be allowed to go back to school provided they have not signed with an agent. In the past times, players were only able to proclaim their drafts only twice, and the deadline of getting rid of their names was only possible before combines and self-workouts. Players can now make more informed decisions and have a more diverse experience.

Richardson however said that he will spend his offseason improving his steadiness, he seemed pretty excited about Syracuse future.

Officer White of Gainesville whose video went viral on January15th 2016 after he responded to a noise complaint and found out that the noise was from kids in the neighbourhood playing basketball. White decided that this was not a crime and he joined the kids in playing basketball. If you cannot beat them in their game, join them!

His dash cam video recorded this act of kindness. Luckily it was not just viewed by 14 million people for entertainment,but it also touched the heart of NBA’s legend Shaquille O’Neal and he helped Officer White start the Basketball Cop Foundation.

This was the first but certainly not the last act of kindness that White was going to do for the kids. He upped his game recently when he built a basketball court for the kids in the backyard of one of the kids. The foundation has so far received donations not less than $3, 911.

With the help of Tobias, another officer who has been the Granville’s Police Department social media manager and spokesperson as well, White has been able to receive not just one but numerous basketballs and portable hoops.

He has also made trips to other neighbourhoods and contacted apartment complexes to either restructure their basketball courts or create one for those complexes that do not have one. With the help of O’Neal, he will also be donating basketball and portable hoops to these neighbourhoods. He is really going to another new level of transforming the community a child at a time.

One family lost all of their Christmas gifts and when White came to learn about this, he yet again surpassed his expectations and donated a brand new portable hoop and basketball to the family. He has also donated a couple of these to the Florida neighbourhood kids.

Officer White said they identify a place where basketball can be used both as a tool and as a resource for youth and they fund it with the help of the donations they receive.

With only five regular season games remaining on UCLA’s schedule, it seems that Bruins will win all the titles to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament. Furthermore, each game has its own pressure.

Steve Alford, the UCLA Coach shown that that it is going to be challenging.

Alford declared earlier this week that his team has not reacted under pressure. On Thursday, he said it again after his team lost to Utah and he accepted accountability for lack of mental toughness.

“That has been me and not the team,” Alford said. “This is because, any time I apply a bit of mental pressure on them, they did not manage it well.”

Since UCLA team performed better last season in a must win situations, it did not add up to him. Alford said Kevon Looney was a tough player but left for the NBA draft.

According to Alford, only two of his players, Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford have shown the same resilience as that of Norman Powell.

Steve Alford said, “ This is a different team and whether the talks have been more of encouragement or short term than long term, this is a team that handles that of approach way better than any other.”

Bryce Alford said that the coaches had set long-term goals such as going undefeated at home. By the end of the season, they knew exactly what they needed for them to secure a place at the NCAA tournament. This year, the coaches are more focuses on single games andsometimes shorter time frames.

“Before we start playing any game, they give us at least three key areas that we need to put more focus on,” Bryce Alford said.

Unlike the previous season, UCLA’S coach is not planning to emphasize NCAA tournament to his players.

Ivan Johnson, an ex NBA player has had his lifetime ban from the professional league in Philippines for a blasphemous outburst at an official reduced to one year. This came after he made a personal apology, according to the league officials.

The banish of Johnson, who is an ex Atlanta Hawk occurred on Saturday’s mid game after he used the “F-word” in argument with Chito Narvasa, the commissioner of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The league spokesman Willie Marcial said that Narvasa reduced the lifetime ban to one season after having a meeting with a player from the Talk N’ Text Tropang texters team.

“He apologized for his actions, he explained that he is different on the court. His intentions was to show that he is a good man and he also loves his fans in Philippines.” Marcial said in a meeting that included Johnson and his family.

31- year old Johnson is married to one wife and is a father of two children.

After the incident, the PBA reduced Johnson’s fine from 250,000 to 150,000 pesos.

Johnson, who is 6 ft 8inch, has had tough season, having been suspended for one game earlier this month for fighting with a player of an opposing team.

In fact, he was banned for life in 2010 by Korean Basketball league for making an obscene gesture at the referee.

In addition to that, he was also fined for different altercations with fans and officials during 2011-2013 abbreviated NBA career.

Marcial said if Johnson misbehaves again, he will be banned for life in the Philippines.

In his post on twitter, Johnson said,“ This lifetime base is truly unfortunate and devastating for me because I feel at home and welcomed when I play here at Philippines.”

Players from foreign countries are highly valued in Philippines’ crazy Basketball as they can dominate a role in PBA, which is highly competitive.

For a NBA fanatic, there are venues which are a must attend in each season. This has also happened when it comes to NCAA. The following are the five venues college basketball fan must attend.

Carrier Dome

The Carrier Dome is one of the anticipated venues to be. The court will have an audience of 40,000 and this may exceed when rival teams such as Georgetown comes for a clash. The venue was constructed and opened in 1980 and has since then played host to a number of teams as well as professional players. The venue has been on top of the game in matters concerning basketball venues for years and is the place to breed orange for a fan.

Hinkle Fieldhouse

The Hinkle Fieldhouse is the home of Butler Bulldogs. The venue has played host to various events including the championship games for the movie ‘Hoosiers’ and is found at the centre of crazy basketballers. The venue produced one of the best college basketball best players Dawg Pound.

The Palestra

The venue has been nicknamed ‘The Cathedral of College Basketball’ and is the home for Penn Quakers. The venue has hosted more college basketball games than any team. It was built in 1927. The venue has played host to top five teams in Philadelphia namely; Villanova, La Salle, Temple, St. Joseph’s and Penn.

McKale Center

The McKale Center was constructed in 1973 and since then it has been home for Arizona Wildcats. Since time in memorial, the home team has scooped the conference championship on five different occasions and has reached the Final Four in four different seasons.

UD Arena

The UD Arena has been famous in hosting various matches. It was the main hosting venue during the NCAA tournament in 2001. This was the initial year for the venue to host such a competition. In essence, all the initial four games of 2001 NCAA Tournament was held at UD Arena. For those fans who like making noise and supporting their team in much vigor, UD Arena is the place to be.

There are your five basketball venues that one has to attend and enjoy basketball.