Kansas State forward Ismael Massoud will enter the portal as a grad transfer, he announced Wednesday on social media.

Massoud helped the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight by scoring 15 points against Michigan State in the Sweet 16, a 98-93 win in overtime. Massoud shot 5 of 8 from the floor to help the Wildcats advance to the Elite Eight, where they lost to Final Four-bound Florida Atlantic.

“I plan on graduating this spring and entering the transfer portal to finish my last year of college basketball,” Massoud posted, in part, to Twitter.

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— Ismael Massoud (@IsmaelMassoud) March 29, 2023

It’ll be the second transfer for Massoud, who came to K-State after two seasons playing at Wake Forest.

Massoud averages 6.2 points in 116 career games (26 starts) for Wake Forest and K-State.

–Field Level Media

Conference USA takes center stage in the NIT championship game when North Texas and UAB meet for the fourth time this season on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Second-seeded North Texas (30-7) and the fourth-seeded Blazers (29-9) are each seeking their first NIT title after semifinal victories on Tuesday. The Mean Green knocked off fellow second-seed Wisconsin 56-54 before UAB pulled out an 88-86 overtime win against unseeded Utah Valley later that night.

UAB lost to North Texas twice during the regular season before a 76-69 win in the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament on March 10. UAB lost in the final to Florida Atlantic, which went on to make its first Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

The Mean Green, who lead the country in scoring defense at 55.7 points per game, held Wisconsin scoreless for the final 9:07 and ended the game on a 10-0 run for their seventh win in their past eight games.

The Mean Green limited the Badgers to just three points in the final 13:10 and took their first lead of the game at 56-54 on Moulaye Sissoko’s short jumper in the lane with 2:07 left. North Texas trailed 45-33 early in the second half.

The Badgers missed two free throws with 49.1 seconds left and failed to get a shot off on their final possession with 5.8 seconds remaining.

Wisconsin missed 15 of its final 16 shots.

The Mean Green were led by Tylor Perry, who scored 14 of his 16 points in the first 20 minutes, in addition to finishing with five rebounds. Rubin Jones scored all of his 12 points in the second half, and Kai Huntsberry finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

“I can’t explain the words right now or the feeling it would mean if we do cut those nets down on Thursday,” said Perry, who averages a team-high 17.2 points per game. “It’s a feeling you really can’t explain, and I wouldn’t want to share a locker room with any other team than those guys. I want that moment for them.”

North Texas should be tested by the Blazers, whose 81.1 points per game rank 10th nationally.

After squandering a four-point lead in the final 2:12 of regulation against Utah Valley, the Blazers led by as many as five in overtime before the Wolverines tied the game at 83 with 1:02 left.

But Ty Brewer’s jumper gave UAB an 85-83 lead it wouldn’t relinquish with 45 seconds left before Jordan “Jelly” Walker’s two free throws made it a four-point game with 12 seconds to play.

Brewer, who averages 8.0 points per game, scored a career-high 30 points on 13-for-17 shooting from the field, including going 4-for-5 from 3-point range. He also had a team-high 12 rebounds and five steals.

Walker, who averages a team-leading 22.3 points per game, added 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. Eric Gaines scored seven of his 13 points in overtime.

“Tonight was a big deal,” said Gaines, whose team has won 12 of its past 13 games. “We needed to win. We got it going into the next game against North Texas. Same deal. We got to go in, dogfight and come out with the W.”

–Field Level Media

Cal named Mark Madsen its new head coach on Wednesday, hiring a four-year player from the Bears’ bitter rival to lead their program.

Madsen starred at Stanford from 1996-2000 and was a two-time All-Pac-12 forward.

“We conducted an exhaustive search, and one name kept rising to the top — and that’s Mark Madsen,” Cal director of athletics Jim Knowlton said. “Mark is a person of high character, high energy, high intensity, and he’s done it the right way. He’s intense. He’s passionate. He loves his student-athletes, and he loves competing.

“We want an ambassador for this program who is going to make us proud and develop our young men – both on and off the court. I am absolutely thrilled that Mark will lead our program into the future.”

Madsen, 48, is fresh off taking Utah Valley to the NIT semifinals, where they lost to UAB on Tuesday night. Madsen went 70-51 in four seasons at Utah Valley, twice winning the WAC regular-season title.

Madsen was recently named the WAC Coach of the Year.

“I am extremely grateful to Chancellor (Carol) Christ and director of athletics Jim Knowlton for their belief in me, and for the tremendous opportunity to lead Cal’s men’s basketball team back to its winning tradition,” Madsen said. “Having grown up in the area, I have always admired Cal as an institution and as an athletic program, with so many of my teachers, coaches and friends impressive Cal graduates. We will win with young men who have elite academic and athletic talent and who will represent Cal with pride.”

With nine seasons in the NBA to his credit, the last in 2008-09, Madsen replaces Mark Fox, who was fired earlier this month after a 3-29 season. Fox went 38-87 in four seasons leading the Bears.

Cal lands Madsen after first trying to pry Randy Bennett from Saint Mary’s.

Speculation centered on Madsen returning to coach at Stanford, but the school decided to keep Jerod Haase despite missing the NCAA Tournament for a seventh consecutive season.

Cal’s last NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2016, with the program not advancing past the first round since 2013.

–Field Level Media

Longwood and men’s basketball coach Griff Aldrich are in agreement on a 10-year contract extension, Stadium reported Wednesday.

The university hired Aldrich before the 2018 season, and he took a program that never had a winning Division I season to a 26-7 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2021-22 season.

The Lancers were 20-12 in the 2022-23 season and finished tied for second in the Big South with a 12-6 record. The No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, Longwood was upset by No. 7 seed Campbell on March 3.

Aldrich, 48, has an 88-72 record at Longwood.

–Field Level Media

HOUSTON — The communication was almost immediate and, given the circumstances, the timing was fitting.

In the moments after Miami defeated Texas in the Elite Eight and secured its first-ever berth to the Final Four, Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga received a text message from Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May, whose Owls already had secured their own Final Four bid.

Those two victories marked a banner weekend for South Florida basketball. The campuses of Miami and FAU are separated by 50 miles, and the significance of the Hurricanes and Owls participating in the Final Four for the first time simultaneously wasn’t lost on either coach.

“I got a very thoughtful and nice text from Dusty May right after we beat Texas, and I immediately texted him back,” Larranaga said. “I think it’s wonderful for our region. I think everybody recognizes that the state of Florida and especially the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area is absolutely great and fertile territory in football and in baseball.

“But we’ve also produced some very good basketball players, and hopefully now some of the young kids who watched us play in the Elite Eight and watched FAU advance to the Final Four will pick up the round ball and start bouncing it and shooting it and there’ll be some great prospects.”

Miami (29-7) will face UConn (29-8) in the second national semifinal on Saturday at NRG Stadium in Houston. It has been a banner season for the Hurricanes, who entered the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament as the top seed for the second time in program history.

Miami has been led by senior guard Isaiah Wong, third-year sophomore forward Norchad Omier and fifth-year senior transfer guard Jordan Miller. Miller produced 27 points on perfect shooting to lead the Hurricanes to the 88-81 victory over the Longhorns on Sunday.

It was a breakout performance for Miller, whose national emergence epitomized that of Miami.

“He’s underrated because he’s under the radar,” Larranaga said of Miller. “People haven’t seen just how good he is. I think he showed the country how darn good he is these past two weeks.”

While three of the four semifinalists are first-timers, UConn is in pursuit of its fifth national title. The Huskies have recaptured the momentum from their perfect non-conference run and 14-0 start before the rugged Big East schedule yielded six losses over an eight-game stretch.

The Huskies finished fourth in the Big East but have again reclaimed the form that made them surprise contenders prior to their midseason lull. Their average margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament is 22.5 points, and the Huskies have again emerged as the prohibitive favorites to win a championship.

“Harder,” said Huskies coach Dan Hurley, when asked if it was easier or harder to get the program back to the Final Four for the first time since it won the 2014 national championship.

“And probably because, like, the history and tradition doesn’t really — it helps you in recruiting. We sold to it these guys. We’ve done it here before; we can do it again.

“But I think it becomes a little bit of a mental hurdle, especially like early rounds of NCAA Tournament where you feel like maybe the burden of the history and tradition and first-round games, maybe even second-round games.”

UConn has come to embrace that burden. Led by junior forward Adama Sanogo and sophomore guard Jordan Hawkins, the Huskies are relishing this latest championship opportunity.

“Back!” UConn junior guard Andre Jackson Jr. said. “Back, but we never left.”

–By MK Bower, Field Level Media

Cal State Northridge fired head coach Trent Johnson on Wednesday after two seasons, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

Johnson, 66, went 14-48 in two seasons, coaching the 2021-22 campaign as the interim head coach after Mark Gottfried was put on leave in July 2021. Johnson was made the permanent head coach in March 2022.

Northridge, of the Big West, last had a winning season in 2008-09. The Matadors now search for their fourth coach since 2013.

The school was Johnson’s fifth stint as a head coach. He is 290-313 as coach of Nevada (1999-2004), Stanford (2004-08), LSU (2008-12), TCU (2012-16) and the Matadors.

He led Stanford to three NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons. However, he has not taken a team to the tournament since his 2008-09 LSU squad, which was the SEC regular-season champion.

–Field Level Media

South Florida is expected to name Amir Abdur-Rahim as its next head coach, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.

The Bulls previously were linked to former Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, who interviewed for the post.

Abdur-Rahim, 42, will take the helm at South Florida after guiding Kennesaw State to its first NCAA Tournament berth. The Atlantic Sun champion Owls (26-9) gave third-seeded Xavier a scare before dropping a 72-67 decision in first-round play in the Midwest Region in Greensboro, N.C.

Abdur-Rahim posted a 45-74 record in four seasons with Kennesaw State.

He effectively replaces Brian Gregory, who was fired after six seasons earlier this month. Gregory had a 79-107 record while leading the Bulls, who have just one winning season in the past decade and have not appeared in the NCAA Tournament since 2012.

Abdur-Rahim is the brother of former NBA player and current G-League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

–Field Level Media

Lafayette named Mike McGarvey its head coach on Wednesday, with the school announcing it was time to “move the program in a new direction” following an outside investigation into erstwhile coach Mike Jordan.

McGarvey was an assistant to Jordan and took over as interim head coach on Feb. 21 when Lafayette put Jordan on paid leave. At the time, the college said it had received a complaint regarding Jordan and “his work as head coach” and would launch an investigation.

The school did not announce the findings of the investigation into Jordan, who was named head coach of the Leopards before the 2022-23 season. His tenure ends with a 9-20 record.

The Leopards were 0-2 under McGarvey to conclude the regular season, but he had them on the cusp of the NCAA Tournament. The Leopards beat Lehigh in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League tournament, then topped American in a double-overtime thriller in the semifinals. A win over Colgate in the tournament final would have given Lafayette the conference’s automatic entry in the NCAA Tournament, but Colgate prevailed 79-61.

“I am thrilled to become Lafayette’s next head coach,” McGarvey said in a school news release. “Lafayette is a truly special place, and we have a terrific group of young men with whom I’m eager to continue our championship level efforts both on and off the basketball court.”

McGarvey previously spent four seasons as the head coach at Lycoming College, a Division III program in Williamsport, Pa. He also worked on the Colgate coaching staff for seven seasons.

–Field Level Media

St. John’s junior guards Posh Alexander and Dylan Addae-Wusu will transfer, the fourth and fifth players to depart the program since Rick Pitino was named new coach, the New York Post and independent journalist Adam Zagoria reported Wednesday.

The pair will join freshman guards AJ Storr and Kolby King, and sophomore forward O’Mar Stanley in the transfer portal, per Tuesday reports.

Alexander is by far the most decorated of the group. He averaged 10.2 points, 4.2 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in 30 games (28 starts) for St. John’s in the 2022-23 season. It’s unclear if he was welcome to stay under the new regime of Pitino, who made clear he would be overhauling the roster.

Alexander averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 assists in 84 career games (77 starts) in three seasons for the Red Storm.

Addae-Wusu averaged 9.3 points and 4.4 rebounds in 32 games (19 starts) this past season. The 6-foot-4 Addae-Wusu played in 91 career games (34 starts) in three seasons in New York, averaging 8.2 points.

Pitino was hired earlier this month to replace Mike Anderson, who went 68-56 in four seasons at St. John’s. The Red Storm finished 18-15 this season and never made the NCAA Tournament during Anderson’s tenure.

–Field Level Media

Army named Butler assistant Kevin Kuwik as its next head coach on Wednesday.

Kuwik has more than 20 years’ experience in coaching but also is a military veteran. He served in Iraq and earned a Bronze Star for meritorious service, the highest merit award granted by the Army, according to his Butler bio. He was honorably discharged in 2006 and then resumed his coaching career full-time at Ohio after an 18-month leave of absence for his service.

He worked with Butler coach Thad Matta at Ohio State as video coordinator, then held assistant coaching positions at Dayton and Davidson before reuniting with Matta at Butler in 2022.

“Kevin is uniquely qualified to develop our cadets as both athletes and leaders of character while fulfilling our goal of winning a Patriot League Championship,” Army director of athletics Mike Buddie said. “His experiences at several great institutions as well as his time in the Army will translate well to the culture at West Point.”

Kuwik is champing at the bit to get started with Army.

“What an amazing honor for my family and me. We could not be more thankful to Mike Buddie and his entire leadership team for their belief in me,” Kuwik said. “I am excited to get to work with a special group of young men, producing not only winners but future leaders and defenders of our nation.”

Kuwik replaces Jimmy Allen, who mutually parted ways with the institution earlier this month.

The Black Knights went 17-16 (10-8 Patriot League) this season for the second winning campaign during Allen’s stint. Allen was 98-112 in his seven seasons. His final game was a 91-74 loss to Colgate in the semifinals of the Patriot League tournament.

–Field Level Media