NAIA player Culver nets 100 in win
Wayland Baptist senior guard J.J. Culver became the fourth college basketball player to score 100 or more points in a game, reaching the century mark in a 124-60 win over Southwestern Adventist on Tuesday night in Plainview, Texas.
Culver hit 34 of 62 shots, 12 of 33 from 3-point range and was 20 for 27 on free throws to finish with an even 100 points for the NAIA Pioneers. He also had nine rebounds, five steals, two blocked shots and an assist.
Culver is the older brother of former Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver, who led the Red Raiders to the NCAA championship game for the first time last season. Virginia won the title in overtime.
The Culver brothers grew up in Lubbock, home to Texas Tech and about 50 miles south of the Wayland Baptist campus in Plainvew. Jarrett Culver declared for the NBA after two seasons at Texas Tech and is a rookie with the Timberwolves.
J.J. Culver is the first college player to score at least 100 since Jack Taylor of Grinnell College, who scored an NCAArecord 138 points in a game in 2012 and followed that up with a 109-point effort in 2013.
Culver’s total is the second-highest in NAIA history. The NAIA record is 113 points by Clarence “Bevo” Francis for Rio Grande (Ohio) in 1954.
The only other college player to reach 100 in an official game was Frank Selvy of Furman in 1954.
Culver, a 6-foot-5 guard, had 51 points in the first half to break the previous school record of 50 set by Roy Young in the 1955-56 season.
Culver was a first-team NAIA AllAmerican and the South Atlantic Conference player of the year as a junior after averaging 17.5 points per game. He’s averaging 36.1 ppg this season.
Gottfried responds to notice: Attorneys for former North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried are questioning the fairness of the NCAA process after he was charged with failing to adequately monitor the Wolfpack program for violations, including during the recruitment of former basketball star Dennis Smith Jr.
In a response to NCAA charges filed over the summer, the attorneys say Gottfried — now coach at Cal State Northridge — fulfilled his obligations to monitor the program and was following NCAA rules. They also say the NCAA is improperly using court testimony last year by a government witness that he delivered $40,000 to former Wolfpack assistant Orlando Early intended for Smith’s family in 2015.
Ewing addresses roster: It was hard not to do a double-take when Georgetown coach Patrick Ewing answered a question Wednesday about whether his full roster will be available for the team’s next game by saying, “As of now, yes.”
Ewing and the Hoyas are in a bit of an “as of now” world at the moment.
Saturday’s game against Syracuse will be Georgetown’s first at home since legal matters for three players came to light after the school announced last week that one, leading reserve Josh LeBlanc, would be transferring.
Also leaving, for unspecified reasons, was starting point guard James Akinjo, who wasn’t connected to the cases involving LeBlanc and two players remaining on the team, Myron Gardner and Galen Alexander.
“It was kind of like, ‘Wow.’ I kind of felt like I was in a movie,” senior guard Jagan Mosely said about the departures of Akinjo and LeBlanc, who were both among the team’s top five scorers. “I come to college, and you expect to go to the (NCAA) Tournament every year. And then it’s just like, it doesn’t turn out that way. And then this happens.”
Court records show that LeBlanc, Gardner and Alexander agreed this week — without any admissions — to stay at least 50 feet away from a female Georgetown student, her two roommates and their home and to not contact them. According to court documents, the student accused the three players of “threats against (her) personal safety.”
Separate temporary restraining orders filed by a different student against LeBlanc and Alexander were granted last month.