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junker-town · 5 years

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50 best non-conference college basketball games this season

Michigan State vs. Kentucky is just one great non-conference matchup this college hoops season.

The top two are both going down on night one.

There are some out there who view college basketball as a sport limited to the period of time from the week after the Super Bowl through the end of the NCAA tournament. If you’re reading this, that probably isn’t you. You’re the intended audience for this list, and if you don’t watch every second of all 50 of these non-conference games in the months ahead, you’re a disgrace to yourself. Don’t let that happen.

[Note: The only games eligible for this list are ones guaranteed to take place. Like the double play, potential preseason tournament semifinal and championship games can never be assumed.]

50. East Tennessee State at Kansas (Maui Invitational Mainland) (Nov. 19)

Steve Forbes is going to be coming to a major conference program in the very near future. In the meantime, he’s captaining an ETSU team that should be one of the best mid-major squads in the country from start to finish this season. They’ll get an early opportunity to earn that title when they head to Allen Fieldhouse for one of the “mainland” games of the Maui Invitational.

49. Houston at Oregon (Nov. 22)

Oregon has the preseason hype, but Houston is the program that has won a whopping 60 games over the last two seasons. The Cougars lost a solid chunk of last year’s production, but that was the same knock on Kelvin Sampson’s club 12 months ago, and that team wound up going 33-4. The NCAA clearing former five-star guard Quentin Grimes after his transfer from Kansas only makes this more intriguing.

48. Colorado vs. Arizona State (Pac-12 China Game) (Nov. 8)

Yes, two teams from the same conference are going all the way to China to play a non-conference game on the first Friday of the season. It’s precisely the level of creativity you’d expect from a group that needed an official name for this annual event and couldn’t think of anything better than “Pac-12 China Game.”

47. Notre Dame at Maryland (ACC-Big 10 Challenge) (Dec. 4)

The Fighting Irish were wrecked by injuries last season and would up finishing dead last in the ACC. They’re fully healthy and loaded with young talent this season, which should have Mike Brey poised to pull off one of the biggest bounce backs in the country. They can begin the process of turning heads by keeping things tight in College Park.

46. Vermont at Virginia (Nov. 19)

Vermont returns a healthy chunk of its production from a team that won 27 games and pushed fourth-seeded Florida State to the brink in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season. Chief among that group is All-American candidate Anthony Lamb. Don’t be surprised if the Catamounts put an early season scare into the reigning national champs.

45. Purdue at Marquette (Gavitt Games) (Nov. 13)

I think I speak for all of us when I say the NCAA should let Purdue bring Carsen Edwards back for one night just so we can all watch him and Markus Howard shoot it out. Even without the now-Boston Celtic, this figures to be an entertaining tilt that will serve as a huge early resume-booster for whichever team comes out on top.

44. New Mexico vs. New Mexico State (Nov. 21 and Dec. 12)

The Rio Grande Rivalry gets my vote for the most underrated rivalry in college basketball at the moment. Relations between the two programs had always been tense, but Paul Weir leaving New Mexico State in 2017 to take the head coaching job at New Mexico caused the biggest explosion the state had seen since Gus Fring took his final breath outside that fateful hospital room.

The Aggies, who figure to be one of the best mid-major teams in the country once again this season, have not lost a game to Weir yet, and have taken five straight games from New Mexico overall. The Lobos are hoping an influx of former top-100 recruits who transferred in from power five programs — Jaquan Lyle (Ohio State), JJ Caldwell (Texas A&M), Vante Hendrix (Utah) — will be able to change the tide.

Additional props to these two on playing a home and home every year, something college basketball could use more of with its non-conference rivalries.

43. VCU at Wichita State (Dec. 21)

Last season, the Shockers missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. Gregg Marshall isn’t going to let that become a trend, but here he’ll be facing a VCU squad that strongly resembles some of the better teams he’s coached in recent years. Charles Koch Arena is one of the more underrated home court advantages in college basketball, and the building figures to be electric for this pre-holiday showdown.

42. Florida vs. Providence (Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational) (Dec. 17)

The middle of the Big East is loaded with quality this season, and one of the teams in the heart of that league is destined to overachieve significantly. That team could be Providence, which returns a star in Alpha Diallo and adds a key piece in UMass transfer point guard Luwane Pipkins. They’ll have their hands full with a Florida team that has eyes on the national title.

41. Tennessee vs. Washington (James Naismith Classic) (Nov. 16)

This will be something of a role-reversal for Tennessee, which now finds itself as a guard-driven team tasked with handling Washington’s inside duo of freshmen blue chippers Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart. The game is the headliner of a triple-header for this first-time event, which will be played inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Buffalo vs. Harvard and Rutgers vs. St. Bonaventure make up the other two games.

40. Michigan at Louisville (ACC-Big 10 Challenge) (Dec. 3)

It’s a rematch of the 2013 national championship game, but neither program is being steered by the same man who captained them on that Monday evening in Atlanta. Michigan exacted some revenge in the most recent meeting between these two, upsetting the second-seeded Cardinals in the second round of the 2017 NCAA tournament. Though no one knew it at the time, that game would ultimately be Rick Pitino’s last at Louisville.

39. Dayton vs. Georgia (Maui Invitational) (Nov. 25)

The Battle 4 Atlantis may have the better field this season, but the Maui Invitational is always going to be Thanksgiving week’s signature event. The tournament’s best quarterfinal matchup is its first one, as a Dayton team that should contend for an at-large bid battles with Tom Crean’s Georgia Bulldogs.

The individual talent on both sides is more than enough for you to take the afternoon off from work, school or whatever. Dayton has Obi Toppin, one of the best dunkers in the country. Georgia has Anthony Edwards, the No. 2 overall player in the class of 2019 and a surefire lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Set the tone right off the bat that watching afternoon basketball is going to be a priority throughout this holiday week.

38. Colorado at Kansas (Dec. 7)

This will be the first meeting between these two former conference mates since Askia Booker stunned Kansas at the buzzer (and after a questionable number of steps) in 2013.

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Kansas will likely be a solid favorite in this one, but Colorado returns an experienced core led by McKinley Wright that should give Tad Boyle a chance to take a run at the Pac-12 title.

37. Baylor vs. Washington (Armed Forces Classic) (Nov. 8)

The ninth annual Armed Forces Classic will go down at the Alaska Airlines Center on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus. Baylor and Washington will square off in a double-header that will also feature Alaska Anchorage taking on Coast Guard Academy.

Side note: Alaska is the only state in the country without a Division I basketball program. I say we bring back the Great Alaska Shootout, have it feature all the college basketball teams in the state of Alaska, and the winner goes D-I. We need all 50 states on board here.

36. Texas vs. Georgetown (Empire Classic) (Nov. 21)

Two squads loaded with athletes and a handful of “surprise team” predictions meet inside Madison Square Garden for an early season contest that feels significant for both. The winner will almost certainly face Duke a night later.

35. Memphis vs. NC State (Barclays Center Classic) (Nov. 28)

The ACC has a very well established top tier of Duke, Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia this season. The question is whether any other team in the league can be a pleasant surprise that establishes itself as a legitimate top-25 squad capable of playing deep into the NCAA tournament. Led by explosive point guard Markell Johnson, NC State might be the primary candidate to make that leap. They can start the process of corroborating that belief with an early signature win on Thanksgiving Day.

The worst non-conference schedule in America kept the Wolfpack from dancing last season. Kevin Keatts hopes this game along with scheduled tilts at Auburn and vs. Wisconsin keep that from being an issue in 2020.

34. Auburn vs. Davidson (Veterans Classic) (Nov. 8)

This first Friday contest won’t be quite as fun as it would have been if Bryce Brown and Jared Harper were still suiting up for Auburn, but there’s still plenty to be excited about. The Tigers won’t play at the breakneck pace that carried them to the Final Four last season, but J’Von McCormick, Samir Doughty and heralded freshman Isaac Okoro should keep them entertaining. The task on this evening in Annapolis will be to slow down one of the best backcourts in the country in Davidson’s Jon Axel Gudmundsson and Kellan Grady.

33. North Carolina vs. Alabama (Battle 4 Atlantis) (Nov. 27)

Seven of the eight teams in this year’s Battle 4 Atlantis field seem like realistic candidates to earn at-large bids on Selection Sunday. North Carolina is obviously one of those. Alabama, under new head coach Nate Oats, is hoping to be another. A win over the Tar Heels on the day before Thanksgiving would go a long way towards achieving that goal. Also, Cole Anthony and Kira Lewis on the same court is going to be fun as hell.

32. Florida State at Florida (Nov. 10)

The Seminoles have blasted the Gators in each of the last two seasons, extending their winning streak in the series to five games. Before this run, Florida had never lost more than three straight to its arch-rival. They figure to be sizable favorites to break that streak on the season’s first Sunday.

31. Illinois at Arizona (Nov. 10)

Illinois hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2013, a steak of futility Illini fans are hopeful Ayo Dosunmu and company will be able to snap this season. Beating a preseason top-25 team on its home floor would go a long way towards making that happen.

It’s impossible to see these two names next to one another and not thing about the 2005 Chicago Regional final, one of the most thrilling Elite Eight games ever played.

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This is the first game of a two-year deal between the two schools. Arizona will play in Champaign on Dec. 12, 2020.

30. Texas at Purdue (Nov. 9)

It’s year five of the Shaka Smart era in Austin, and Longhorn fans are antsy for something more to hang their Resistols on than an NIT championship. Kicking off the season with a road win over a Purdue team that has made it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament each of the last three years would be a solid start.

29. Syracuse at Georgetown (Dec. 14)

The longtime rivals recently extended their series to make sure the two teams will play one another each year through at least 2022. The “non-conference era” of the series is tied at two, with Syracuse getting the better of Georgetown in each of the last two seasons, including a 72-71 thriller a year ago.

28. Utah State vs. Florida (Orange Bowl Basketball Classic) (Dec. 21)

It seems unfair that Utah State doesn’t get credit for playing a true road game here, since the Orange Bowl Classic in Broward County figures to be a “neutral court” tilt in name only. Regardless, Sam Merrill and the Aggies have a shot to pull off a monumental resume win over a Florida team that has no excuse not to be in the thick of the national title hunt this season. Guards are almost always the focal point in college hoops, but watching NBA prospect Neemias Queta go at it with Florida’s Kerry Blackshear in the post might be the main attraction in this one.

27. VCU vs. Purdue (Emerald Coast Classic) (Nov. 29)

Florida State-Tennessee might be the Emerald Coast Classic game that catches your eye at first glance, but it’s the nightcap of the double-header that might provide more quality. The winners will meet a night later in what should be a highly competitive title game.

26. Baylor at Florida (SEC-Big 12 Challenge) (Jan. 25)

Baylor has been referred to as “underrated” by so many people this offseason that I think the title no longer fits. Both the Bears and Gators figure to be near the top of their respective conference standings when they step out of league play for this SEC-Big 12 Challenge game near the end of January.

25. Utah State at Saint Mary’s (Nov. 29)

Utah State State and Saint Mary’s figure to be two of the best non-power conference teams in the country this season, which means each could really use a resume win at the expense of the other. Outside of its two conference games against Gonzaga, this is the only scheduled game on Saint Mary’s 2019-20 which pits them against a preseason top-25 team. That puts some decent pressure on the Gaels to hold serve at home.

24. Cincinnati at Ohio State (Nov. 6)

Night one of the college basketball season is loaded with showcase games, but Ohio State and Cincinnati don’t want you to forget about night two. New UC head coach John Brannen could make quite a splash if he upsets a top-25 rival in his Bearcat debut.

23. Gonzaga at Washington (Dec. 8)

This is the final game on the original contract between the two most prominent basketball programs in The Evergreen State, but the schools got together this summer and signed an extension that will keep the series going through the 2023-24 season. Gonzaga has won the last five meetings and 12 of the last 13, but a U-Dub squad flush with young talent awaits them on Dec. 8.

22. LSU at VCU (Nov. 13)

It’s hard to imagine Will Wade won’t be thinking of simpler times when he brings another LSU squad to Richmond to face his former program. This isn’t a pity trip though. VCU is the No. 25 team in the preseason AP poll and the runaway favorite to repeat as Atlantic 10 champions. This Wednesday night tilt will be the first real test for both squads.

21. Arizona at Baylor (Dec. 7)

A year ago, Baylor ended Arizona’s 52-game non-conference home winning streak with a 58-49 triumph at the McKale Center. The Bears out-rebounded the Wildcats by a staggering 31, and finished with more total boards (50) than ‘Zona had points. Sean Miller’s team should be better-equipped to compete with Tristan Clark and company this season.

20. LSU vs. Utah State (Jamaica Classic) (Nov. 22)

This figures to be the best game of the Jamaica Classic as a super-talented LSU squad takes on a Utah State team that will start the season ranked in the top 20 but will be hungry for at least one solid resume win before starting Mountain West play. Sam Merrill going head-to-head with Skylar Mays and Javonte Smart should be wonderful.

19. Cincinnati at Xavier (Dec. 7)

Duke and North Carolina is the highest-profile rivalry that annually gives us the best games featuring the best teams. Kentucky and Louisville is the rivalry where the fans and the people around the programs despise one another the most. But I would argue that the Crosstown Shootout is the rivalry where the actual players dislike one another more than any other. It has made for some impassioned moments over the years, and it always makes for appointment television. This year’s edition, which features a first-year head coach in Cincinnati’s John Brannen and two teams that should be fully capable of doing some damage in the NCAA tournament, is no different.

18. Maryland at Seton Hall (Dec. 19)

Each team is loaded with talent, experience and a sense it needs to accomplish something significant in the NCAA tournament this year. Myles Powell vs. Anthony Cowan figures to be one of the best guard matchups we see in the month of December.

17. Villanova at Ohio State (Gavitt Games) (Nov. 13)

Villanova and Ohio State are two teams that have found themselves all over the place in early rankings throughout the offseason. College hoops fans will finally get a first look at how formidable both squads are when they square off in Columbus during the season’s second week.

16. Oregon vs. Seton Hall (Battle 4 Atlantis) (Nov. 27)

The Battle 4 Atlantis is so loaded this season that it features a matchup of two preseason top-15 teams in the quarterfinals. Stay up late on the night before Thanksgiving and let this showdown take the place that the Maui Invitational title game used to hold. On a related note, move the Maui title game back to its old spot, tournament organizers. You’re ruining Thanksgiving Eve for the entire country.

15. Gonzaga at Arizona (Dec. 14)

A West Coast team hasn’t won the NCAA tournament since Arizona cut down the nets all the way back in 1997. These two teams are among those with the best shot at ending the embarrassing streak in 2020. Gonzaga has won its last two meetings with Arizona, including a 91-74 beatdown at the Maui Invitational last season.

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14. Louisville vs. Texas Tech (Jimmy V. Classic) (Dec. 10)

Madison Square Garden will be the site for this showdown between Chris Mack and Chris Beard, two men who appear to be at the forefront of the next wave of great college basketball coaches. If Texas Tech is able to win the Las Vegas Invitational and Louisville is able to survive prior tests from Miami and Michigan, there’s a very real shot that both these preseason top-15 teams will enter this game with unblemished records.

13. Ohio State at North Carolina (ACC-Big 10 Challenge) (Dec. 4)

Few preseason top-25 teams will be tested more before the calendar turns to 2020 than Ohio State. The Buckeyes have three non-conference games against teams that will start the season ranked in the top 10, including this true road test inside the Dean Dome.

12. Kentucky vs. Ohio State (CBS Sports Classic) (Dec. 21)

T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will be the site of this year’s CBS Sports Classic, where the better of the two games (North Carolina-UCLA is the other) figures to be Kentucky and Ohio State meeting for the first time since 2015. If there are questions about Kentucky’s ability to win a national title this season, they all reside with the team’s frontcourt. That frontcourt will receive one of its toughest tests of the season in the form of highly-skilled OSU big man Kaleb Wesson.

11. Memphis at Tennessee (Dec. 14)

In its first year back, the Memphis-Tennessee rivalry gave us a game with 194 total points, a guy pooping on the FedEx Forum concourse during the game because he “had to do what he had to do,” a skirmish at the end of the game, a difference of opinions between Penny Hardaway and Rick Barnes about what took place in said skirmish, and then Hardaway ending his press conference days later by saying: “Rick Barnes, get the f—k out of here.” So, yeah, round two is probably going to be worth your time.

10. Kentucky at Texas Tech (SEC-Big 12 Challenge) (Jan. 25)

As it enters its seventh year, the SEC-Big 12 Challenge has found a niche for itself as a nice little change of pace in the heart of conference play. This year’s headline game will feature a Kentucky team that is typically hitting its stride right at this point in the season heading to Lubbock for what figures to be a physical tussle with reigning national runner-up Texas Tech.

9. Memphis vs. Oregon (Phil Knight Invitational) (Nov. 12)

Coming into this season, there is no team in America more intriguing than the Memphis Tigers. Penny Hardaway’s team will get its first opportunity to prove it’s the real deal when it squares off against a top-15 Oregon team at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland.

8. Virginia at Purdue (Dec. 4)

This would be a high-profile early season showdown in any year, but it admittedly gets a little bit of a bump after these two played one of the best NCAA tournament games in recent memory last March in the South Region final. Nearly all of the major players from that classic are gone, but Mamadi Diakite — the man who capped off what they now refer to in Charlottesville as simply “the play” — will be back to try and break hearts across West Lafayette for the second time in less than a year.

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7. Michigan State at Seton Hall (Gavitt Games) (Nov. 14)

As good as Michigan State is, the Spartans still being an unblemished No. 1 as the calendar flips to 2020 would be something of a shock considering the absolute beast of a non-conference schedule Tom Izzo has lined up. MSU’s second major test of 2019-20 will come in game No. 3 when they hit the road to face an experienced Seton Hall squad ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP poll.

6. North Carolina at Gonzaga (Dec. 18)

North Carolina put a 103-90 whoopin’ on the Zags last year in Chapel Hill. Now Mark Few and company are looking to return the favor. While the neutral court showdowns with blue bloods have been nice, this is the type of true home game Gonzaga fans have been asking to see more of for years. Expect the atmosphere inside of McCarthey Athletic Center on Dec. 18 to be one of the best of the entire season.

5. Kansas at Villanova (Dec. 21)

College basketball fans will be given a treat right before Christmas with what figures to be a highly-entertaining up-and-down tilt between these two perennial powerhouses. A year ago in Lawrence, Kansas exacted some revenge for the beatdown it received in the 2018 Final Four by handling visiting Villanova, 74-71. Now it’s the Wildcats who will be playing host and looking for a slice of redemption.

4. Duke at Michigan State (ACC-Big 10 Challenge) (Dec. 3)

The showcase game of this year’s ACC-Big 10 Challenge is a rematch of last year’s East Region final, where Michigan State stunned No. 1 overall seed Duke and ended the college careers of Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish. The upset improved Tom Izzo’s oft-referenced lifetime record against Mike Krzyzewski to 2-11. The shoe figures to be on the other foot in this meeting, as it’s the Spartans who seem to be just about everyone’s pick to cut down the nets in 2020.

3. Louisville at Kentucky (Dec. 28)

Chris Mack’s second foray into the sport’s most contentious rivalry should see him with a team on more level footing with its in-state counterpart than it was a year ago. Both Kentucky and Louisville are starting 2019-20 ranked in the top five, and there’s a solid chance both will still be in that position when 2019 prepares to flip into 2020. Kentucky ran away with a 71-58 win a year ago, and has taken 10 of the last 12 from Louisville.

2. Kansas vs. Duke (Champions Classic) (Nov. 5)

Final Four Saturday is the only other day on the college basketball calendar where a matchup between the third and fourth best teams in the sport can be the undercard. No. 3 vs. No. 4 in New York should be all sorts of fun.

1. Michigan State vs. Kentucky (Champions Classic) (Nov. 5)

In hindsight, moving the Champions Classic to college basketball’s opening night seems like a no-brainer. A year ago, it gave us a performance from Duke and Zion Williamson that wound up setting the tone for the rest of the season. This year, it’s giving us No. 1 vs. No. 2 inside Madison Square Garden just hours into the 2019-20 slate. It’s impossible to ask for more.

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superstartvnews · 4 years

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Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan has died aged 53. Here biographer Aseem Chhabra charts how the actor also rose to become one among its biggest stars within the West. In 2007 Irrfan came to ny to market Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart, an investigation into the kidnapping and murder of the Wall Street Journal's South Asia correspondent Daniel Pearl. In the midst of interviews with him and his co-stars, including Angelina Jolie, Irrfan pulled me aside and talked to me in Hindi. He asked if anything was happening - if people recognised him and whether he had an opportunity to urge more add the West. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "superstartv06-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B07GF4JCDY"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "20b0174153941703e53adb5fad9887ef"; A Mighty Heart was Irrfan's second international project. His first, Mira Nair's The Namesake (2006) - a story about Indian American immigrants that was financed by a Hollywood studio - was still playing in some cinemas in ny et al. . Obituary: Irrfan Khan Bollywood star's cancer letter moves fans Khan: Bollywood is 'unimaginative' Yes, certainly something was definitely happening, I told Irrfan. I didn't know of the other Bollywood actor who had two films playing in US movie theatres at an equivalent time. And later that year, Irrfan was back again, playing alittle supporting role in Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited. Irrfan Khan was trained as a theatre actor in India's prestigious National School of Drama, on the other hand struggled working as a television actor. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "superstartv06-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B00WBJGUA2"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "8a8c0487f25b4a9933adf751ebec8c57"; His first big break was in British Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia's film The Warrior (2001). The Bafta-winning film was presented in cinemas with an endorsement from late filmmaker Anthony Minghella. By 2007 Irrfan was already a star in Bollywood, India's Hindi movie industry . He didn't need to combat projects outside India, but as an actor he was always looking to face new challenges. His big break came subsequent year - Danny Boyle's unexpected hit film, Slumdog Millionaire. Slumdog made overnight stars of its young leads - Freida Pinto and Dev Patel. But it also opened doors for Irrfan. He managed to urge an agent and a manager within the US and there was no looking back. Soon he landed big-ticket projects - The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), although a rather small role, Inferno (2016) and even Jurassic World (2015). There is a story Irrfan told the press while promoting Jurassic World. When the first Jurassic Park opened in 1993, Irrfan was a struggling television actor in Bombay (now Mumbai). He couldn't afford to shop for a ticket to ascertain the film. Some 22 years later he played a key role during a franchise film that went on to earn $1.7bn (£1.4bn) worldwide. Irrfan suddenly became the foremost successful Indian actor to perform during a Hollywood film. But despite other big projects within the West - he played a key role in Ang Lee's lifetime of Pi (2012) - Irrfan had to form tough decisions, whether to simply accept big Hollywood films or to figure on smaller but prestigious ones in India. That problem arose a couple of times. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "superstartv06-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B07TWFVDWT"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "5a170b323997761d9c86064c09eaf438"; In 2015 he said no to performing on Ridley Scott's The Martian, instead choosing an enthralling romance Piku, set in Delhi and Kolkata (Calcutta). "He was in two minds about what to try to to , and he kept asking me," Piku's director Shoojit Sircar told me once I interviewed him for the biography of Irrfan. "I was thinking, possibly for him, who is Shoojit Sircar? He's nobody compared to a Hollywood director." Irrfan also said no to Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008). And his biggest regret was missing out on Christopher Nolan's Intersteller (2014), because his smaller India-based project The Lunchbox was being shot at an equivalent time. This is a symbol of the star Irrfan had become, especially after Slumdog Millionaire. He could have gone by that path of A-list projects, but in 2018 he acted in his first American indie, a sweet little film called Puzzle where he played an eccentric man of means , alongside Kelly Macdonald. The world was just opening up for Irrfan and he was in his early 50s. Then within the spring of 2018 he disclosed he was affected by a neuroendocrine tumour. Soon he left for London for treatment. In two years of the struggle and cancer treatment, Irrfan was ready to complete one Hindi-language film Angrezi Medium (2020). There was such a lot promise, numerous more roles to play. Fortunately, he has left behind an outsized treasure trove of films his fans can watch. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "superstartv06-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B072M34RQC"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "a3399c1919149a2786374cf1c98fe486";

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junker-town · 5 years

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Cade Cunningham is made for modern basketball

Cade Cunningham is the next big, badass point guard coming for the NBA.

A gunslinger was forged under the beating Texas sun in the 1980s. Though only 6’ tall, Keith Cunningham had a rocket arm and a preternatural ability to read the field. As a senior at Arlington’s Sam Houston High, he was named District 5A-7 Offensive Player of the Year and emerged as one of the top quarterback recruits in the country. He held offers from Ken Hatfield’s powerful Arkansas program and from SMU, just as the latter was receiving its first sanctions in the legendary death penalty scandal.

Cunningham committed to Texas Tech instead. On the day he moved to Lubbock, he was at his mother’s house moving furniture when a freak accident changed his life. Cunningham lifted a bed that struck a rotating ceiling fan, causing it to fall and cut his arm. He never threw a football the same way again, leaving school after two years before pursuing a brief semi-pro career.

Nearly 30 years later, another Cunningham began to shine on the football field. While many young quarterbacks liked to make plays with their feet, Keith’s youngest son, Cade, grew up idolizing Tony Romo and preferred to do his damage from the pocket. Cade claims his junior high team never lost a game. He could have been on the same path as his father, but he felt a stronger pull from a different sport.

“I didn’t have as strong of a passion for football as my father did,” Cade Cunningham says. “Basketball brings an adrenaline rush that I didn’t get when I was playing football or anything else. I don’t know where I’d be without basketball.”

Cunningham stands now on the brink of basketball stardom. He blew up during the summer before his senior year, dominating Nike’s EYBL circuit on his way to the league MVP award. Cunningham powered USA Basketball to a gold medal against older competition in the FIBA U19 World Cup, and has positioned himself as a consensus top-three recruit in the class of 2020. He could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

Cunningham is a superstar for the modern game, following the NBA’s recent trend of oversized ball handlers. Though listed as a small forward for most of his prep career, Cunningham made the full-time transition to point guard after his sophomore year. For his size — 6’7, 230 pounds — he offers a rare combination of passing, handling, and the power to finish through contact. He may be the first player to ever be compared to Luka Doncic.

Born two weeks after 9/11 and still months away from his 18th birthday, Cunningham already carries himself like a pro. His star has risen so quickly that some recruiting analysts believe he’s the best NBA prospect in high school basketball.

“I haven’t scouted many prospects as polished, mature, and talented as Cade Cunningham,” says Jerry Meyer, director of scouting for 247 Sports. “He has that powerful, functional athleticism. It’s not going to win you a dunk contest but it is going to get you an and-one.”

Cunningham’s reputation has grown quickly, but the most amazing thing is he’s just getting started.

Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

Cunningham was a star at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas, from the moment he took the court, averaging 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists per game as a freshman on varsity. He believed even then that he could be one of the best players in his class in the country. His inner circle — led by his older brother Cannen, and cousin and trainer Ashton Bennings — devised a plan to make it happen.

The first step involved a daring position change.

“If you can turn into a point guard, just think about how much longer you’ll be able to play,” Cunningham recalls his brother telling him.

While Cunningham had risen into a national top-25 recruit by the end of his sophomore year at Bowie, his brother knew his future would be brighter if he could become a lead ball handler. In the summer heading into his junior year, Cannen held Cade back from the senior circuit on EYBL to develop him as a point guard on the U16 level. It didn’t take long before everyone around him realized he was a natural leading an offense.

Leaving Texas to transfer to Florida prep school Montverde Academy was Cunningham’s second step. Since head coach Kevin Boyle arrived from St. Patrick’s in New Jersey in 2011 following a successful run led by Kyrie Irving, no high school in the country has produced more elite basketball talent. Ben Simmons, D’Angelo Russell, and R.J. Barrett are some of the program’s most notable alums.

Montverde’s roster featured five other top-100 recruits including McDonald’s All-American Precious Achiwa (Memphis), guard Harlond Beverly (Miami), centers Balsa Koprivica (Florida State) and Omar Payne (Florida), and guard Moses Moody (uncommitted). Boyle gave Cunningham the keys to the offense and Cunningham noticed a sharp uptick in intensity when he arrived on campus.

“Even our light shoot-arounds always turn into a scrimmage,” Cunningham says. “And now it’s a super competitive scrimmage and it’s like another game. There are not a lot of easy buckets going around. You don’t get any time to relax. It’s always ‘Let’s get better.’”

Cunningham first hinted at his superstar turn when Montverde faced powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Tampa in February. That meant a matchup with the top-ranked senior point guard in the country, Cole Anthony. Cunningham finished the game with 26 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in a blowout victory.

“Cade was the best player on the floor in a game full of future pros,” Boyle told SB Nation. “We knew how good he was before that game. I think that’s when the rest of the world started to figure it out.”

The performance helped take Cunningham to the fringe of a top-10 ranking by the end his junior year. Then his spring and summer on the EYBL boosted him into an even greater stratosphere.

After averaging 12 points per game for Montverde, Cunningham’s inner circle developed a new plan to improve his scoring ability on the Nike circuit. Back in Texas, Cunningham and Bennings started two-a-day training to improve his biggest weakness: outside shooting. Bennings made Cunningham hold his follow through on his jumper and focus on getting shots up with great volume even when he was tired.

“Everyone knows he’s unselfish,” Bennings says. “We heard people say he passes too much. The last checkmark on the list was him scoring.”

Cunningham was a force of nature from the moment the EYBL season began. He was too strong to contain going to the rim, and improved as a three-point shooter. He also continued to impress with his reads as a passer. Cunningham ended the year with some of the best numbers the Nike circuit has seen since its inception: 25.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game on 37.5 percent shooting from deep. He also recorded the best box score plus-minus on the circuit.

When the AAU season was over, Cunningham received a phone call to try out for USA Basketball’s U19 World Cup run despite being two grade levels below the tournament’s oldest players. Not only did he make the team, he grew into one of its most dependable players in Greece. Cunningham helped the U.S. secure a gold medal by dropping 21 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists against Mali in the tournament’s final game.

“Confidence was the biggest thing,” Cunningham says of his breakout summer. “Montverde is as close as you get to college at the high school level. Going from that to AAU, it’s a little more free and a faster paced game. My confidence carried over and that’s when you started to see the 25-point games.”

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Cunningham’s star has risen so dramatically that he could be the frontrunner to be the No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick if he entered a wide-open draft next year, not in 2021. He is just barely old enough to reclassify and play college ball in the fall, which would make him 2.5 months younger than Zion Williamson when he was drafted with the first overall pick. Cunningham admits that he’s had discussions with his family about the possibility, but he’s comfortable with another year of high school ball at Montverde.

“We talked about it for a little bit,” Cunningham says. “I think I’m in the right grade right now. I never reclassified growing up. If I do make it to the league, I do want to be able to stay in the league and be ready for it. Just taking this time to get better, spending another year with coach Boyle will help me a lot.”

Oklahoma State has become the consensus favorite to win his college recruitment after hiring Cannen as an assistant last month. While Cunningham notes his brother is the biggest influence in his life, he says that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to commit to the Cowboys. Every blue blood in the country — from Duke to North Carolina to Kentucky — has also offered him.

“I’m not feeling any pressure,” Cunningham says of his college decision. “I’m still just happy to be where I’m at. just having all these elite schools and coaches coming after me.”

College will ultimately only be a small footnote in Cunningham’s story. Blessed with an immense blend of size, skill, and poise, this is a big guard who has all the tools to eventually grow into an NBA star. Perhaps the most impressive thing about him is his mindset.

“I want to be a Hall of Fame player, MVP, national champion,” Cunningham says. “But I want to be remembered more for what I’ve done off the court with the money I make with my social status and how I help people. If I can use that stage to impact other people’s lives, that’s all I can ask for.”

With so much polish, it’s easy to forget he is still just 17 years old. A generation after his father’s athletic dreams were dashed, Cade Cunningham is on the brink of fulfilling his own potential.

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