#HLMBB Starting Five – Scattered Games Edition

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The Basketball Tournament. The NBA Summer League. Summer Pro-Am Leagues. The 2024 Paris Olympics.

All of these outside competitions have one thing is common: Wherever you go, there are current and former Horizon League players on rosters all over the place. Much of this edition of the #HLMBB Starting Five will touch on a lot of where these guys are spending their respective off-seasons.

RIP Dave Buss

First, however, we have to start out with the passing of one of the most recognizable names in Green Bay basketball lore, Dave Buss.

Buss was instrumental in the early success of the Phoenix program, turning Green Bay into a D2 powerhouse, including back-to-back national runner-up finishes in 1977-78 and 1978-79, that would eventually spur the transition to Division I. In all, Buss amassed a 271-102 record over his 13-year career at the helm, putting him second only to Dick Bennett in total wins.

Since then, Buss has remained a fixture within the Phoenix community, with his name invoked by both Sundance Wicks and current Green Bay coach Doug Gottlieb, each of which placing him in high esteem. There’s no doubt that we’ll see more tributes to Buss in this upcoming season as well.

Brown Is Interim No More

Much to the surprise of everyone, Bob Grant retired as Wright State’s athletic director in April (you can read Blake Schumaker’s story on his time at WSU). Since that time, then-associate AD Joylynn Brown has been serving as the interim athletic director, a tenure that included elevating Clint Sargent to head men’s basketball coach after Scott Nagy took the Southern Illinois job.

While officially, WSU stated that the permanent role would be subject to a search process, it seemed apparent that Brown would not only be the top candidate, but eventually have the interim tag knocked off her title.

That eventually turned out to be Tuesday, July 23rd, as Wright State made the official announcement that Brown would be take on the AD role permanently.

Brown will serve as the fourth athletic director in the school’s history, but she is certainly no stranger to Wright State as an alumna. She was an all-conference volleyball player, eventually moving into coaching, serving as head coach from 1998 to 2005. After that, she moved over the the administrative side, including her most recent role prior to her interim stint, as associate AD and senior women’s administrator.

It’s pretty clear, given her credentials and deep ties to the university, that if Brown wasn’t the only candidate for AD, she certainly was the obvious top pick. Next up will be continuing the progress of strengthening the department’s financials, something that took a serious hit during the pandemic and has been a priority ever since.

Bul’s Going to the Olympics? Kuol!

In the last edition of the #HLMBB Starting Five, I made mention of former Detroit Mercy player Bul Kuol’s prospects of representing South Sudan in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, as he had made the 25-man roster cut for the national team. Well, it appears that the roster is now set for the Games, and Kuol is on it.

As part of South Sudanese team’s preparation for Paris, Kuol and his teammates played a couple of warm-up contests in London, including a game against one of the teams they’ll face in Group C of the Olympics competition, the United States. Perhaps you’ve heard of some of the guys on that squad.

You have have also heard that South Sudan came extremely close to shocking the American team while in London, and if not for a last-second LeBron James basket, the South Sudanese would have succeeded.

For Kuol’s part, he had the unenviable task of guarding James during that contest, but clearly was enough of a deterrent to make things interesting for South Sudan. While his shooting was much to be desire in this tilt (1-for-7 from the field), he did grab four boards and tally one assist, steal and block each.

The tune-up prior to the battle with Team USA against the host Great Britain was, from an offensive standpoint, more productive for Kuol, and he finished with 15 points on 50 percent shooting en route to an 84-81 win for South Sudan.

Kuol and his teammates will kick off their Olympics journey on at 5am ET July 28th against Puerto Rico. If you’re so inclined, you can catch the entire contest on Peacock.

TBT Blur

It’s that time of the year again, when the frenzy of hoops known as The Basketball Tournament (TBT) reappears. And if it seems like you’re having a hard time tracking down which former Horizon League players landed on which teams, you’re certainly not alone. Before I get into who has played (and in many cases, eliminated), let’s get into the players that didn’t make it to TBT.

Green Bay. The current team.

Before TBT started, Doug Gottlieb made a pitch to the NCAA about having the entire Phoenix squad participate in TBT, as seen below.

Since TBT has started and Green Bay isn’t playing, it’s clear that Gottlieb’s plea to the NCAA fell on deaf ears. But I have a funny feeling that this won’t be the last time that a college team will attempt to play in TBT.

As for ex-Horizon League players, things haven’t exactly gone that well for the teams that they’re on. Already, Langston Wilson (Brotherly Love), Xavier Hill-Mais and Tavares Sledge (Team Diesel), DJ Burns (Run DFW), and Deandre Gholston, Kahliel Spear and Darius Quisenberry (Fort Wayne Champs) were all eliminated in the first round.

In the second round, Bobby Planutis, who ironically played for the Men of Mackey team that send Fort Wayne Champs packing, bowed out first. Wright State’s Grant Basile, who played for Red Scare, comprised of Dayton alum (a move that brought up old wounds on how the Flyers won’t play the Raiders) was eliminated by Carmen’s Crew. Jack Gohlke, who was slated to play for Sideline Cancer, hadn’t been available because of his NBA Summer League stint, and thanks to that team being bounced out by The Ville (a Louisville-centric team), he won’t get the chance.

Since it looks like this edition of TBT has drawn to a close for those with Horizon League rooting interest (although the remainder of the tourney should be a barnburner), I can’t help but once again wonder why there isn’t an HL-centered team on the board. The Banner Boys, a team comprised entirely of Milwaukee alumni, were the last in 2017.

It’s been a dream of mine to get a team of ex-Horizon League players. But with big money coming into TBT, that window to do it is probably closed.

But you never know.

Summer League Draws to a Close

The NBA Summer League wrapped up in Las Vegas, and if you were looking for former Horizon League players in action, you’d have had better luck searching for Waldo. Only former first-round pick Pat Baldwin, Jr. would average more than 15 minutes per game, and none of them played all of their respective teams’ Summer League games (Baldwin only appeared in two for the Wizards). Vin Baker, Jr., who was Baldwin’s teammate at Milwaukee, appeared in the most contests with four as part of the Bucks squad.

Tristan Enaruna, who signed a Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics, would eventually appear in three games, averaging 14.6 minutes and 3.7 points per contest. Antoine Davis, who signed with the Kings after a year with the Rip City Remix in the G League, only averaged six minutes in three games. His former Rip City teammate D’Moi Hodge fared better with the Mavericks, averaging 6.5 points, but only appeared in two Summer League games.

Gohlke, who placed his TBT journey with Sideline Cancer on hold, stuck around with the Thunder for the duration of the Summer League, and played in three games, but only hit one three, leaving his scoring average at a single point. Finally, Kam Hankerson, the former Green Bay star, tallied 4.8 per contest in the two games he appeared in for the Pistons, averaging 2.5 point in each of those tilts.

With the Summer League over, Baldwin, still under contract with the Wizards, will likely split his time there and with their G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. Enaruna’s contract will likely have him fighting for a spot with the Celtics’ G League team in Maine. Davis, Hodge, and Hankerson, on the other hand, may find themselves either searching for new G League team or head overseas, as Baker, Jr. did last season. Overseas is also Gohlke’s likely destination, even though that joke about a career as an insurance salesman is right there for me.

Sorry, Jack. Couldn’t resist.

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