D’Antoni headed down the 91 freeway?
On Monday, it was announced that UC Riverside reached out to Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni to gauge his interest in coaching the Highlanders. Sources told the Highlander D’Antoni is fielding offers from the Washington Generals and Los Angeles Sparks, among others.
D’Antoni, whose NBA career spans over 16 years, guided the Lakers to its worst season in franchise history with a 25-57 record during the 2013 season. With a release from the Lakers looming, the West Virginia native has appeared in Pringle commercials paired with random appearances on infomercials.
UC Riverside hires its first female athletic director
It was fairly clear that Riverside would cherish the opportunity to hire an athletic director with Pac 12 credentials and extensive administrative experience. That’s why the Highlanders introduced Janice Lewis as their new AD on Monday at the PUB. Lewis takes over for Tim Williams, who left the university to become mayor of Los Angeles.
Lewis has been the interim athletic director and senior administration advisor at the University of Southern California (USC) since 1984. The university narrowed down its search to three candidates and selected Lewis earlier this week.
With new Student Recreation Center, Highlanders add 18th sport
With the $37.2 million expansion of UCR’s Student Recreation Center looming, UCR will add much-needed recreation facilities to the growing Riverside campus. One of the cornerstones of the expansion will be the addition of an Olympic-size pool, and on Tuesday morning, the athletic department announced water polo as the 18th sport of UCR.
With the tennis programs continuing to struggle, the university searched other avenues for revenue. “Water polo will be a great addition to our already growing programs,” a representative stated. “We hear Michael Phelps is still into the college scene, maybe he’ll give us a go.”
Riverside City College looks to build RC-Center
With UCR’s multi-purpose arena, dubbed the C-Center, still in planning stages, city rival Riverside City College has taken the initiative to build its own community arena, named the RC-Center. Estimated to cost nearly $40 million, the early stages of the arena are centered on housing sports, entertainment and artistic events.
RCC’s men’s basketball team recently won its conference championship while the college hosted its annual music festival, which included Childish Gambino and the Neighbourhood. RCC hopes to have the arena completed within the next few years.
Local high school prospect projected to be No. 1 NBA Draft pick
The city of Riverside has a deep and rich basketball history. Poly High School witnessed the rise of Reggie and Cheryl Miller, who both went on to have Hall of Fame careers. John W. North and Centennial High School gave UCR a trio of star guards that led the university to multiple NCAA postseason berths.
Riverside looks to add another star-studded name to basketball glory as Arlington High School’s Derek Bernard is projected to be the No. 1 draft pick. Following Lebron James’ second decision to return to Cleveland, the Miami Heat won the NBA draft lottery, giving them the No. 1 pick.
