It would appear as though Josh Ward-Hibbert is not the only British baller excelling in another sport. Menelik Watson, the 6’7″ 312lbs behemoth who has spent the last two seasons at Marist playing basketball has committed to Florida State University; to play American football.

The remarkable story sees Watson being touted for the NFL after first suiting up on the gridiron in only August last year – and having played just 8 career games.

Originally from Manchester, Watson headed to Canarias Basketball Academy before receiving a scholarship to play at Marist. He redshirted his first season before debuting in 2010-11, averaging 4.7 points and 3.3 rebounds as the Red Foxes finished bottom of the MAAC with a 6-27 record.

He transferred to Saddleback Community College to play football, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The offensive tackle will join British baller Robert Gilchrist, who committed to play (basketball) for the Seminoles at the start of this season.

Read the full story on Menelik over at Sports Illustrated.

Check out Menelik’s football and basketball highlights below!

Image Credit: CSM/Landov

Great Britain were faced with further Olympic injury worries today after Luol Deng was confirmed out with a torn ligament in his left wrist.

It remains unclear how long Deng will be out for, but Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau has said it will be “a while”.

The 6’9″ GB star opted not to have surgery on the injury, which would’ve potentially kept him out even longer, stating a run at the title with the Bulls plays a role:

“I really feel like we have a very good chance of doing something special. And I feel like without the surgery I’ll be fine. I just know what I can do with it and what I can’t do. And I really think I’m going to be very effective out there. There’s going to be days when it’s sore.

“It could always be worse. Injuries happen. And this happened in the fourth quarter of a game. But it is what is. It’s just, ‘What do we do from here.’ I’m very confident that I’ll be fine. It’s sore, but the soreness is going down a lot in two days. So every day [I'll] keep treating it and see if I can get rid of the soreness and just try to be back there as soon as possible.”

Deng is averaging 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds for the league-leading 16-3 Bulls, being such an integral part of the team that some believe it is impossible for them to win a title without him.

The injury, which occurred in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats, puts Deng on the injured list with Joel Freeland, Eric Boateng and more recently, Nate Reinking, who went down at the weekend with a knee injury.

Deng’s wrist no doubt causes concern for GB, with Performance Director Chris Spice saying they are “monitoring the situation”.

Source: ESPN

Pops Mensah-Bonsu had an impressive showing this weekend at the Turkish Basketball Leagues’s All Star showcase, bagging himself the BEKO All Star 2012 Dunk contest title before representing the “Foreigners” in the All Star Game.

The performance comes after having spent a long off-season rehabbing from a dislocated shoulder, and Pops expressed his relief to be back on form, tweeting:

“6 months ago I couldn’t even lift my arm, and today I was blessed enough to win a dunk contest, thank GOD!!!!!”

It remains unclear how many points Mensah-Bonsu scored in the game (with some confusion as to whether or not he dropped 37; he is listed in the scorers as having 37 combined with Vladimir Stimac), as his team made up of international players in the TBL beat the Turkish players 140-139. Sasha Vujacic was named MVP, dropping 24 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists, whilst Pops’ Besiktas teammate Carlos Arroyo had a 13 point-13 assist double double.

In the dunk contest, the 6’9 GB star scored 93 on his final round dunk to take the title, winning himself 3000 Turkish Lira. The only footage we can find of Pops in the contest can be seen below, with Pops getting UP!

Is Pops the great British dunker of all time?

Source: Piratas Del Basketball

Image Credit: tbl.org.tr/@yunusemresel

Great Britain big man Eric Boateng is out 4-6 months after being diagnosed with a thrombosis in his foot.

The injury could put Boateng’s chance of representing GB at the Olympics at risk, and has ended his season with Peristeri in Greece early.

Talking to TalkBasket.net, who first reported the injury, the 6’11″ centre said:

“It is still early days for me so I am trying to figure out the full scope of things as well as understanding what I am physically able to do.

“The aim is returning to health as soon as possible but it is also an issue of listening to my body, as well as staying in close contact with the medical staff and doctors of the GB basketball team.”

Read the full article over at Talkbasket.

GB’s injury woes don’t get any better after Joel Freeland sprained his right ankle at practice last week and has been confirmed out for up to 3 weeks.

By Luke Hatfield | @Luke_Hatfield

Another British basketball talent set to continue his stint in the States is former Reading Rocket Kofi Josephs (1991 born).

The 6’6″ guard is set to hit the US college scene after acquiring a full scholarship at NAIA school John Brown University, Arkansas, and is looking to cement a starting spot as soon as he can:

“There are a lot of juniors and seniors this year that will be gone by next year, I have a good chance [At starting], but I just have to go in, work hard and play my game with confidence,” said the sharpshooter who arrived on campus earlier this week, but won’t suit up until next season after electing to redshirt.

“I want to go college, improve my game and hopefully go try my luck in Europe to see how far I can get with basketball”

Kofi had originally committed to join Division 1 school Mississippi Valley State, yet discovered that because of the NCAA’s strict (and often confusing) rules he would have to sit out and lose one of his years of eligibility.

“At first I committed and signed with Mississippi, but because of years of eligibility, I would have had to sit [on the bench] for a year, which is something I didn’t want to do,” he explained. “The NCAA didn’t tell anyone until my flight was booked and it was all a bit crazy. It was weird because I had loads of different places talking about me, but I believed John Brown University was the best overall option for me, especially after speaking to the coach and looking at the facilities they had to offer.”

Over the past season at Arlington Country Day High School, Josephs averaged just under eight points a game and feels that he’s set up a role he can continue with in College:

“I’m going to do the same thing, handling the ball on offense, coming off picks, shooting and cutting to the basket, that’s what I’m good at and what I need to do.”

And his work doesn’t just start on the practice court, Kofi has been watching his NBA role models and using their game to try and adapt his own.

“At the moment I think Kevin Durant is the best offensive player in the world, overall, it’s between him and Carmelo Anthony. I try and look at players like KD, ‘Melo and Jamal Crawford and adapt my game to suit theirs.”

With players like Kofi heading across the pond more and more often nowadays, he believes it won’t take too long for Team GB to start making some noise in international waters:

“We will play ball in the Olympics, but the other teams are stronger just because they’ve been together longer. We’re definitely improving so we could cause an upset; the youngsters are beginning to come through.”

But, he still feels that basketball still needs to go leaps and bounds here in the UK if we’re ever going to see players from here, gaining major success in the NBA or Europe.

“It’s very hard to go professional just in the UK; it’s all about your game personally. English basketball is stagnant; we don’t play enough over here I don’t think, and that’s hurting our chances of turning talent into success.”

Success is one thing Kofi is beginning to thrive on, whether it’s watching NBA, EuroLeague or other international games, he’s always got a sight on whose coming up top of the pile.

“I’d like to say OKC could win the NBA this year, but I just don’t know, it’s too early to choose. In terms of Olympics’ it’s got to be the USA, if not then it’s a huge upset, Kevin Durant is too good. But there’s always Australia, Germany, Turkey and Spain. All of them teams are capable of playing some good basketball.”

But to become one of the best from Britain, he knows he has some great young talent to compete with:

“The best player I’ve ever played with from the UK is Adam Thoseby who’s at Utah State now, he’s done really well. But I’ve basically played against everyone here in the UK so it’s too hard to choose the best player I’ve been up against, but there is some great talent, and I know I have to keep up with them.”

The ballot for the 2012 NBA All Star game is out and British basketball’s finest Luol Deng is once again deservedly included.

In 10 games so far for the Bulls, Luol is averaging 14.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and just under 1 steal and a block a game, whilst locking up opposing teams’ best player, quietly going about his business whilst others on his team are in the limelight. He has already had two games where he has come up clutch to seal the victory for Chicago, yet continues to get very little recognition.

With 7 NBA seasons under his belt and yet to make an All-Star appearance, let’s all do our best to ensure 2012 is the one! Remember how Yao Ming would be a shoe-in for the All Star Game every year because the whole of China would vote for him? It’s about time Luol got the same kind of support from his adopted homeland!

Click here to vote to send Luol Deng to the 2012 NBA All Star Game!Tell your friends to tell their friends! If you are on Twitter, use #DengAllStar when spreading the word, please like/tweet/+1/share this post in every way possible!

It has been around a month since our last College Catchup, and with conference play having now began, a number of Brits have been upping their game. Check out how they have all been getting on below

Ben Mockford (above) is turning heads at St. Francis (NY) where he dropped a career high 28 points last night in a victory over Sacred Heart, whilst going 8/13 from three point range and 10/15 overall. The last month has seen Mockford remain amongst the nation’s leader in three point field goals made, as he is ranked 15th in Division 1, shooting them at a 40% clip. He bagged himself the NEC’s Player of the Week for the week ending 18th December, as he had a 24 point performance against Howard going 7/10 from deep, including the go-ahead trey in the final 35 seconds. Ben is averaging 11.6 points on the season as the Terriers have improved to 6-9 overall (stats breakdown).

Alasdair Fraser continues to have an impressive season at Maine, where this week he had a career high 25 points on 11/17 shooting in a victory over Binghamton. He was also named Player of the Week for the week ending December 25, after he helped Maine to a three game winning streak as he scored 12, 19 and 17 points respectively (stats breakdown). Fraser is averaging 14 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season in his sophomore year as Maine are 7-5.

Andrew Lawrence has played 7 times since the last College Catchup and continues to be one of the top performing Brits in college. In four of those games, he has scored no less than 14 points, with his best outing being an 18 point, 4 rebound, 7 assist effort in a win over Coast Carolina. However, after sustaining just one loss in their first 10 games, College of Charleston have suffered three in their last 5 games. Lawrence is averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game (stats breakdown). Check out highlights from his 14 point point game against Wofford above (including the nasty crossover and finish 32 seconds in).

Bad news for Will Neighbour as he has suffered a shoulder dislocation. In the four games prior to the injury, he was averaging 16.7 points (12, 19, 19 and 17) compared to 12.0 for the season, including a 19 point 11 rebound double double in a victory over North Texas (stats breakdown). It remains unclear when Neighbour will return but the Trojans will hope it is sooner rather than later as they stand at 6-11.

Ovie Soko has been solid for UAB over their last six outings, including back to back double doubles. To finish off 2012, Soko went for 17 points and a career high 15 rebounds against Alabama A&M, before following that up with 13 and 12 against Florida. The former GB U20 is averaging 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds on the season as UAB stand at 5-9 (stats breakdown). Teammate Alexander Scotland-Williamson has seen a few more minutes recently but is producing little statistically (stats breakdown).

Shane Walker continues to be solid for Loyola Maryland, despite seeing his production decrease slightly. His two best performances in the Greyhounds’ last 6 games were a 10 point, 7 rebound 3 block effort against Bucknell and an 11 point, 4 rebound 3 block effort against Manhattan. Walker is averaging 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds so far this season for the 11-4 Greyhounds (stats breakdown)

Alex Marcotullio has seen his minutes fluctuate over the past few games with Northwestern. His best outing was a 6 point, 1 rebound, 2 assist effort in 20 minutes against Penn State. Northwestern are 11-4, with Marcotullio averaging 4.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game (stats breakdown).

Mikey Manghum and Oral Roberts are in the midst of a 7 game winning streak, with Manghum seeing more than 10 minutes in all but two of those games. In an 89-80 victory over Oakland, the 6’2″ guard had a season high 8 points on 100% shooting from the field in 13 minutes. The Golden Eagles are 14-4.

Phil Wait has produced decently over Monmouth’s last two games, scoring 7 and 9 points respectively, both in under 14 minutes of action. He is averaging 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on the season, whilst teammate Daniel James continues to see limited action. James has registered 3 DNPs over Monmouth’s last 5 games, seeing 7 and 1 minutes respectively in the two he did play in. Monmouth are struggling on the season standing at 3-13.

Patrick Nyeko has been playing a good role with Nevada as they enjoy a nine game winning streak. Nyeko has had two outings with 5 points over their last 5 games, whilst averaging over 15 minutes per game. The Wolf Pack are 12-3 as he averags 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Adam Thoseby has seen his minutes reduced slightly at Utah State, with his best performance over their last seven games being a 6 point outing in a win over St Peter’s. Thoseby is averaging 2.9 points on the season for the 9-6 Aggies.

Joe Ikhinmwin’s best performance recently was a 4 point, 2 rebound effort before fouling out in 17 minutes in a heavy loss to Hawaii. South Carolina State are currently on an 8 game losing streak, standing at 4-10.

Aaron Geramipoor has seen his contributions increase at Seton Hall over their past 6 games, which has seen him score in their last four outings. The Pirates are 13-2, with Aaron averaging 1.2 points and 2.2 rebounds on the season (stats breakdown).

Danny Carter has seen double digit minutes in Stony Brook’s last three games, all hovering around the 10 minute mark. His best performance was a 2 point 2 rebound effort in a win over Rider. He is averaging 1.2 points and 1 rebound per game as the Seawolves are 6-6.

Teddy Okereafor has seen more minutes recently for VCU, averaging just under 10 in 4 the Rams’ last 5 games. His best performance was a 2 point, 2 assist and 2 steal effort (in 9 minutes) in a victory over UNC Greensboro. VCU are 11-4.
Grant Fiorentinos saw 3 minutes of action on Wednesday night after registering three consecutive DNPs. Tulane are 12-3 and Grant has seen his role reduced drastically since the opening few games where he started and made solid contributions.

Abodunrin Gabe Olaseni has registered 4 DNP’s in Iowa’s last 7 games, however, he matched his career high in December against Central Arkansas as he scored 8 points, along with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks (career high) on 4/5 shooting in 9 minutes. Iowa are 10-7.

Tom Pereira has had a very similar stretch recently, registering 4 DNP’s in Rider’s last 4 games, but going 3/3 from deep for 9 points (matching his career high), 1 rebound and 1 assist in 11 minutes against Manhattan. The Broncs are 6-11.

Lee Goldsbrough appears to be in a similar situation to Fiorentinos, in that after solid contributions in Providences’ opening 6 games (seeing no less than 14 minutes), he has since been relegated to the bench. The Friars have lost their last three games with Lee registering two DNPs against ranked Georgetown and Syracuse (stats breakdown).

Nick Mabbutt has registered 5 DNP’s across South Dakota’s last six games, playing 7 minutes in his only appearance against Peru State as he finished with 2 points and 2 rebounds. South Dakota are 6-9.

Senior Sam Fernley saw his season’s debut for the 1-11 Farleigh Dickinson this week. Fernley played 10 minutes, going 0/1 from the floor whilst grabbing two rebounds.

Ryan Kilmartin made his second appearance at the end of December, registering 1 minute in a victory over Citadel, but minutes have been hard to come by for the sophomore as Tennessee are 8-7.

Simeon Esprit has seen action in Penn’s last two games, as they split the pair and now stand at 7-8.

Ashley Hamilton has not seen any play since LMU’s first three games after sustaining an injury which is evidently more serious than first thought. The Lions are 8-7. Ali Mackay continues to rehab at Davidson, and is expected to return at some point this month.

Richard Bell is still waiting to make his season debut with Nevada.

What do you think? Best performance? Any other standout performers in other divisions you know of?

Great Britain and College of Charleston guard Andrew Lawrence has been named among the the initial candidates list for the 2012 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award, The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Monday.

The annual honour, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognises the top point guards in college basketball. Nearly 60 candidates have been nominated for the 2012 Bob Cousy Award.

Lawrence, a 6-foot-1 junior originally from London, currently ranks No. 20 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.83), No. 38 in steals per game (2.3 avg) and No. 58 in assists per game (5.1) leading the Cougars to their current 9-1 record.

“The Hall of Fame is honored to be working with Mr. Cousy once again to present this prestigious award,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “The list of candidates include the top players from across the country that have shown the same leadership, hard work and determination that Mr. Cousy exemplified on the court for many years. We are excited to honour his legacy with the winner of this year’s award.”

“Bob was an extraordinary all-around basketball player, he was a fierce competitor and a great leader,” said Ken Kaufman, Chair of the Bob Cousy Award and former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). “With this award we want to continue to honour his legacy and make certain that the best collegiate point guards are appropriately recognised.”

This original list of candidates will be narrowed down to a final twenty by January 1st, final ten by February 1st, and final five by March 1st. A premier Selection Committee will be appointed by the Hall of Fame to review the final five candidates in contention for the nation’s top collegiate point guard award.

It took Great Britain forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu just two games to get back into the swing of things as he returned to competitive action in Turkey after missing 6 months due to shoulder surgery.

On Tuesday Mensah-Bonsu made his debut for Beskitas in the EuroChallenge, beating BG Göttingen 96-59, and finishing with a 21 point-9 rebound performance.

The 28 year old Londoner had 14 points and six rebounds in the first quarter alone, and played just 26 minutes in total, going 8/9 from the field and 5/8 at the line.

Talking to FIBA about his performance, he said:

“It was my second game. I just wanted to come out and play with energy and intensity, so my teammates could feed off my energy.

“I am new here and want to establish myself. I just want to help the team in any way possible.

“I do whatever the coach wants me to do, I am not trying to fill up the shoes of the players we had before. I’m just coming here to do what I can do best.”

Pops made his team debut in an 86-67 regular season loss to Banvit BK at the weekend where he had 13 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

Shane Walker’s streak of double figure games ended at seven, after he scored a season low 4 points whilst grabbing 9 rebounds against George Washington, however, he bounced back with a season high 20 on 4/7 shooting against Mount St Mary’s (video below). Walker went 4/7 from the field and 10/13 at the line adding 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 29 minutes (stats breakdown) as the Greyhounds won their eight consecutive game.

Alasdair Fraser remains a leading contributor for Maine, despite fouling out in their last two games in 26 minutes. In a loss to Notre Dame, Fraser went 8/13 from the field for 17 points along with 7 rebounds, before following that up with 6 points and 10 rebounds on 3/6 shooting against San Diego (stats breakdown).

Will Neighbour tied his season high of 15 points against Missouri State going 6/13 from the field whilst adding 8 rebounds, however UALR lost 68-60. Previous to that, he had 7 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes in a comfortable win over Philander Smith (stats breakdown).

Despite South Carolina State being on a four game losing streak, Joe Ikhinmwin had a season high 14 points in just 13 minutes in their most recent outing against Gardner-Webb. He went 5/8 from the field and 4/8 at the line whilst registering 3 rebounds, 1 block and a steal (stats breakdown).

Ovie Soko had one his strongest outings of the season against Mid Tennessee last week as he finished with a 10 point-10 rebound double double whilst adding 4 assists on 5/6 shooting in 24 minutes as UAB got their second win (stats breakdown). Alexander Scotland-Williamson played under 1 minute in the game, finishing with just a turnover.

Ben Mockford struggled with his shot in a two point loss to Colgate, tying his season low with 5 points on 1/8 shooting. He is averaging 11.6 points on the season as St Francis (NY) stand at 2-6 (stats breakdown).

After going scoreless for two straight games, Adam Thoseby had 6 points in 12 minutes on 3/3 shooting for USU against Utah Valley. The following game, a loss to Wichita State, he went scoreless in just 7 minutes (stats breakdown).

Things have got slightly better for Phil Wait and Daniel James at Monmouth after losing their first 8 games. Monmouth have now won two on the trot, with Wait playing 10 and 11 minutes respectively; scoring 4 points against Navy, before registering 3 blocks against Fordham (stats breakdown). James registered 1 minute against Navy before playing 2 against Fordham, finishing with empty stat lines in both.

Mikey Manghum and Oral Roberts saw their six game win streak come to an end at the hands of Oklahoma. Manghum played 25 minutes, finishing with 3 points, 1 rebound and an assist.

Danny Carter had a season high 21 minutes in a win over Fairleigh Dickinson, scoring a season high 6 points, before going scoreless in 9 minutes against Boston College. Carter is averaging career lows of 1.3 points and 0.7 rebounds as a senior across Stony Brook’s 8 games so far.

Patrick Nyeko has played 9 and 14 minutes respectively in Nevada’s last two outings, finishing with 2 points and 1 assist in a victory over Arizona State, before remaining scoreless as he fouled out in a win over Montana (stats breakdown).

Lee Goldsbrough has seen limited minutes in Providence’s last three games, with his best outing being a 2 point, 1 rebound effort in 4 minutes over Bryant. Providence are 9-2.

Seton Hall and Aaron Geramipoor continue to win, standing at 8-1 having won their last five games in a row. Geramipoor has seen 12 and 8 minutes respectively in their last two games, having 2 points 4 rebounds and an assists in a win over NJIT, before finishing with two blocks against Wake Forest.

Teddy Okereafor saw two minutes in VCU’s most recent outing against Richmond, finishing with an empty statline. VCU stand at 6-3.

Tom Pereira played two minutes in Rider’s 21 point loss to ranked Florida, finishing with an empty statline.

Abodunrin Gabe Olaseni registered 1 minute in Iowa’s loss to Northern Iowa before registering a DNP against Iowa State.

Nick Mabbutt has registered a DNP and 3 minutes in South Dakota’s last two outings, finishing with a block against Canisius.

Across Tulane’s last four games, Grant Fiorentinos has registered 3 DNP’s and one outing of 3 minutes. It is in stark contrast to the start of the season where he was a surprise starter and contributing well (stats breakdown).

Ali Mackay has not played in Davidson’s last two outings, and has unfortunately suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for 4-6 weeks. He is expected to return to the court in January.

Simeon Esprit has now registered three consecutive DNP’s across Penn’s last three outings. Ryan Kilmartin is in the same boat, having registered three straight DNP’s.

Richard Bell is still looking to make his season’s debut with Nevada, as is Sam Fernley at Fairleigh Dickinson.

Ashley Hamilton continues to recover from an ankle injury and has not seen any action since LMU’s first three games. Andrew Lawrence and Charleston have not been in action since the last college catchup; they will face Tennessee this Wednesday, same with Alex Marcotullio and Northwestern who will play Texas Southern on Thursday.