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Brad Townsend: Wings fever: I’m told at least 50 Mavs staffers, including CEO Cynt Marshall, plan to be in Arlington to root on the Wings.
Connaughton said he’d love to bring the trophy back to Arlington, but there might be one slight 6-foot-11 obstacle in his way. “Who knows if Giannis has even stopped holding the trophy for the last week?” Connaughton said. “He had both trophies and was calling them his babies. I don’t know if anyone’s ever going to see the trophy again, but I’d love to. It would be something that I think would be really cool, to stick it in Fidelity House and let the town and the city come and take it in, to inspire the next generation of kids. It would be awesome to share that moment with the town that shaped me.”
A 7-foot-1 center from Arlington, Texas, Austin revealed during his sophomore season that he is blind in his right eye as a result of a detached retina suffered as a teenager. He was expected to be the first to ever play in the NBA while partially blind. Austin played two seasons at Baylor before declaring for the 2014 NBA Draft. He played in 73 games (72 starts) and averaged 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 28.9 minutes per game. Austin finished his Baylor career tied for second on the school's all-time blocked shots list with 177, and his 119 blocks as a sophomore led the Big 12 Conference. Baylor went a combined 49-26 during his two-year career, winning the 2013 NIT Championship and advancing to the 2014 NCAA Sweet 16.
California coach Mike Montgomery will inform athletic director Sandy Barbour of his future at a scheduled meeting Monday in Berkeley. Multiple sources said Montgomery had been leaning toward retirement as late as last week. Sources told ESPN.com that Cal has sought out the help of a search firm and has investigated the possibility of successors in light of the Final Four coming up this week in Arlington, Texas, where coaches will congregate.
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Texas Legends assistant general manager Del Harris will receive the John Wooden “Keys to Life” Award during ceremonies held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington next month at the NCAA Final Four. The award is given to a professional or college basketball coach or player who models the characteristics of Wooden, the late, legendary coach who led UCLA to 10 national titles from 1964-75.
Mark Cuban hopes to bring an All-Star Weekend back to Dallas in the not-too-distant future. That’s Dallas, not Arlington. Cuban said he wouldn’t try to join forces with Jerry Jones to host an All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium again despite it being a tremendous success in 2010. A crowd of 108,713 packed the $1.2 billion stadium that night, setting a world record for attendance at a basketball game. “I wouldn’t do it there again,” Cuban said. “That was a one-off. Been there, done that. “It’s hard to repeat that. It’s hard to get people excited a second time. The second act’s a lot harder.”
Williams played 14 games in China and two in Puerto Rico before asking Dallas General Manager Donnie Nelson for a spot to play for his D-League affiliate near Williams' hometown of Arlington, Texas. He averaged 14.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks for a Texas team coached by Nancy Lieberman, a friend of Suns coach Alvin Gentry for 35 years. "She speaks highly of him," Gentry said. "He's real athletic and does some good things as far as shot-blocking. "She said he was easy for her to coach. That's all I can judge it by. He seems to be working hard out here and seems to be focused on what he's trying to do as far as getting back in the league."
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