1.
Center (basketball)
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The center, also known as the five or the big man, is one of the five positions in a regular basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a deal of strength. The tallest player to ever be drafted in the NBA was the 78 Yasutaka Okayama from Japan, the tallest players to ever play in the NBA, at 77, are centers Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol. Standing at 72, Margo Dydek is the tallest player to have played in the WNBA. The center is considered a component for a successful team. But recently, the NBA has turned into a point guard league, great centers have been the foundation for most of the dynasties in both the NBA and NCAA. In the 1960s, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain further transformed basketball by combining height with a level of athleticism than previous centers. Following the retirement of George Mikan, the rivalry of the two big men came to dominate the NBA, many of the records set by these two players have endured today. Most notably, Chamberlain and Russell hold the top eighteen season averages for rebounds, Bill Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA Championships. He joined the Boston Celtics and helped make them one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, Russell revolutionized defensive strategy with his shot-blocking, rebounding and physical man-to-man defense. His principal rival, Wilt Chamberlain, listed at 71,275 pounds, Chamberlain played college ball for the Kansas Jayhawks, leading them to the 1957 title game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Although the Jayhawks lost by one point in overtime, Chamberlain was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player. He also won seven scoring titles, eleven rebounding titles, and four regular season Most Valuable Player awards, including the distinction, in 1960, stronger than any player of his era, he was usually capable of scoring and rebounding at will. Most notably, Chamberlain is the player in NBA history to average more than 50 points in a season. He also holds the NBAs all-time records for rebounding average, rebounds in a single game, in contrast to the Celtics dynasty of the 1960s, the 1970s were a decade of parity in the NBA, with eight different champions and no back-to-back winners. At the college level, the UCLA Bruins, under Coach John Wooden, built the greatest dynasty in NCAA basketball history, UCLA had already won two consecutive titles in 1964 and 1965 with teams that pressed and emphasized guard play. After not winning in 1966, Woodens teams changed their style when Lew Alcindor became eligible and he led UCLA to three championships-in 1967,68 and 69-while winning the first Naismith College Player of the Year Award. During his college career, the NCAA enacted a ban on dunking primarily because of Alcindors dominant use of the shot
2.
Big East Conference
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The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in all sports except football, which is not sponsored. The conference has officially recognized as a Division I multi-sport conference. Butler University, Creighton University, and Xavier University also joined the conference on its July 1,2013 launch date. The football-playing members of the old Big East, along several other schools, formed the American Athletic Conference. However, both conferences claim 1979 as their founding date, as part of the separation agreement, the basketball schools were able to retain the basketball records while the football schools retained the football records respectively. Val Ackerman, former WNBA president, has been commissioner since June 26,2013, on the same day Ackerman was named as commissioner, it announced that it will be headquartered in New York City. None of the schools sponsor varsity football in the top-level Division I FBS. Georgetown, Villanova, and Butler do operate football programs in the second-level Division I FCS, the core of the Big East formed when Providence, St. Johns, Georgetown, and Syracuse invited Seton Hall, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Rutgers, and Boston College. Holy Cross turned down the invitation, as did Rutgers initially, while BC, Seton Hall, gavitt became the Big Easts first commissioner, and Villanova and Pittsburgh joined the conference shortly thereafter. PR firm Duffy & Shanley is credited with the branding and naming work for the conference. The conference remained largely unchanged until 1991, when it began to sponsor football, adding Miami as a member, and Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech. Rutgers and West Virginia upgraded to full Big East membership in 1995, Notre Dame also joined as a non-football member effective in 1995. Temple football was kicked out after the 2004 season, but rejoined in 2012, the unusual structure of the Big East, with the football and non-football schools, led to instability in the conference. The conference reorganized following the period of realignment that hobbled the Big East between 2010 and 2013. The Big East was one of the most severely impacted conferences during the most recent conference realignment period, in all,14 member schools announced their departure for other conferences, and 15 other schools announced plans to join the conference. Three of the group later backed out of their plans to join. On March 14,2013, it was reported that the Big East would be adding members in the seven to ten days. At a news conference in New York City on March 20,2013, the league was formally introduced with Butler, Xavier
3.
Tashkent
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Tashkent is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. The officially registered population of the city in 2012 was about 2,309,300, due to its position in Central Asia, Tashkent came under Sogdian and Turkic influence early in its history, before Islam in the 8th century AD. After its destruction by Genghis Khan in 1219, the city was rebuilt, in 1865 it was conquered by the Russian Empire, and in Soviet times witnessed major growth and demographic changes due to forced deportations from throughout the Soviet Union. Today, as the capital of an independent Uzbekistan, Tashkent retains a multi-ethnic population with ethnic Uzbeks as the majority, during its long history, Tashkent has had various changes in names and political and religious affiliations. Tashkent was settled by ancient people as an oasis on the Chirchik River, in ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer capital of the Kangju confederacy. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the town and the province were known as Chach, the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi also refers to the city as Chach. Later the town came to be known as Chachkand/Chashkand, meaning Chach City, the principality of Chach had a square citadel built around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, some 8 kilometres south of the Syr Darya River. By the 7th century AD, Chach had more than 30 towns, the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng 玄奘, who travelled from China to India through Central Asia, mentioned the name of the city as Zhěshí 赭時. The Chinese chronicles Suí shū 隋書, Běi shǐ 北史 and Táng shū 唐書, in the early 8th century, the region was conquered by Muslim Arabs. The modern Turkic name of Tashkent comes from Kara-Khanid rule in the 10th century, after the 16th century, the name evolved from Chachkand/Chashkand to Tashkand. The modern spelling of Tashkent reflects Russian orthography and 20th-century Soviet influence, the city was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219 and lost much of its population as a result of the Mongols destruction of the Khwarezmid Empire in 1220. Under the Timurid and subsequent Shaybanid dynasties the citys population and culture gradually revived as a prominent strategic center of scholarship, commerce, in 1809, Tashkent was annexed to the Khanate of Kokand. At the time, Tashkent had a population of around 100,000 and was considered the richest city in Central Asia and it prospered greatly through trade with Russia, but chafed under Kokand’s high taxes. The Tashkent clergy also favored the clergy of Bukhara over that of Kokand, however, before the Emir of Bukhara could capitalize on this discontent, the Russian army arrived. While a small contingent staged an attack, the main force penetrated the walls. Although defense was stiff, the Russians captured the city two days of heavy fighting and the loss of only 25 dead as opposed to several thousand of the defenders. Chernyayev, dubbed the Lion of Tashkent by city elders, staged a campaign to win the population over. The Tsar liberally rewarded Chernyayev and his men with medals and bonuses, but regarded the general as a loose cannon
4.
NC State Wolfpack men's basketball
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The NC State Wolfpack mens basketball team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Division I mens basketball competition. The Wolfpack currently competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, of which it was a founding member, prior to joining the ACC in 1954, the Wolfpack was a member of the Southern Conference, where they won seven conference championships. As a member of the ACC, the Wolfpack has won ten conference championships, States unexpected 1983 title was one of the most memorable in NCAA history. Since 1999, the Pack has played most of its games at PNC Arena. Prior to 1999, they played at Reynolds Coliseum, NC State began varsity intercollegiate competition in mens basketball in 1911. The teams all-time record is 1, 697–1,055, the program saw its greatest success during the head coaching tenures of Everett Case, Norm Sloan, and Jim Valvano. NC State has produced some of the ACCs best players, including Tom Burleson, Rodney Monroe, Monte Towe, David Thompson, who led the Wolfpack to its first NCAA title in 1974, has been recognized as one of college basketballs greatest players. The Wolfpack has won a total of 17 conference tournament championships and 13 regular season conference titles, State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 26 times, with three Final Four appearances and two national titles. The Wolfpack also appeared in the Final Four of the 1947 National Invitational Tournament, in 1910 Guy Bryan formed a special committee that proposed to the university administration the organization of the schools first basketball team. The program played its first official basketball game on February 16,1911 against a much more experienced squad from Wake Forest. NC State, then known as the North Carolina A&M Farmers, lost, the two teams met again five days later in Raleigh, with A&M earning its first-ever victory, 19-18. The following year, the schools athletics council officially recognized basketball as a sport, before the 1920–21 season the university changed its name from North Carolina A&M to North Carolina State College. At that time the nickname was the Tech. That season the program joined the fledgling Southern Conference as a charter member, State College changed its nickname yet again in 1923, this time to the Red Terrors. The name was drawn from a combination of the play of Rochelle Red Johnson, also in 1923, State opened its first basketball facility, Frank Thompson Gym. The gym, named in honor of an athlete from the school who died in action during World War I. During the first years of the program, the team had no practice facility and was forced to practice on a field in nearby Pullen Park. Gus Tebell took over the team as head coach in 1924
5.
Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
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Georgetowns first intercollegiate mens basketball team was formed in 1907. Patrick Ewing, who succeeded John Thompson III upon his firing, is the current head coach, the team won the National Championship in 1984 and has reached the NCAA Tournament Final Four on five occasions. Their most recent trip to the Final Four was in 2007 and they have won the Big East Mens Basketball Tournament seven times, and has also won or shared the Big East regular season title ten times. They have been appeared in the NCAA Tournament thirty times and in the National Invitation Tournament twelve times, the Hoyas under Thompson III were known for employing a variant of the Princeton offense, a style of play that emphasizes ball movement. Coach Thompson learned the style while serving under then-Coach Pete Carril of the Princeton University Tigers, using this system, Georgetown had been lauded for excelling by emphasizing offensive efficiency rather than speed of play. Founded in the fall of 1906, the Georgetown mens basketball played its first game on February 9,1907. In its first 60-some years, the program displayed only sporadic success, the downtown locations of these venues was also influenced by the number of Law School students who played on the team in this era. From 1918 through 1923, while on campus at Ryan Gymnasium, a large on-campus arena was proposed in 1927, but shelved during the Great Depression. The team recruited its first All-American, Ed Hargaden, in 1931, from 1932 until 1939, the Hoyas played in the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference, and were regular-season conference co-champions in 1939. In 1942, a Hoya went pro for the first time, the next year the team, led by future congressman Henry Hyde, reached new heights by going all the way to the 1943 NCAA championship game, where they lost to Wyoming. The Hoyas coach, Elmer Ripley, would be inducted into the hall of fame in 1973. The program was suspended from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II, however, in 1953, former Baltimore Bullets player Buddy Jeannette coached the team to its first National Invitation Tournament invitation, but it lost in the first round to Louisville. OKeefe would later return to coach the team from 1960 until 1966, when the school hired John Magee, Magee led the team to the 1970 NIT, just its third post-season appearance, but a dismal three-win season in 1971–72 led to his dismissal. John Thompson, Jr. played two seasons with the Boston Celtics before he achieved local notability coaching St. Anthonys High School in Washington, D. C. to several very successful seasons. Thompson was hired to coach Georgetown in 1972, and with several recruits from St. Anthonys like Merlin Wilson, derrick Jacksons buzzer beater won Georgetown its first tournament championship, and a bid to the 1975 NCAA Tournament. The Big East Conference provided Georgetown increased competition, and several of its longest rivalries and they faced Syracuse again three weeks later in the first Big East Tournament Finals, winning 87–81. In the 1980 NCAA Tournament, the team advanced to the Elite Eight, the team moved its home arena in the 1981-82 season to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland to accommodate its growing fan base. That season, sparked by star freshman Patrick Ewing, the Hoyas reached the 1982 national championship finals, in a highly regarded and closely fought contest the Hoyas Fred Brown threw an errant pass to Tar Heels forward James Worthy that sealed the title for UNC
6.
Atlantic Coast Conference
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The ACC sponsors competition in twenty-five sports with many of its member institutions athletic programs held in high regard nationally. ACC teams and athletes have claimed dozens of championships in multiple sports throughout the conferences history. Generally, the ACCs top athletes and teams in any sport in a given year are considered to be among the top collegiate competitors in the nation. Also, the conference enjoys extensive media coverage, the ACC was one of the six collegiate power conferences, which had automatic qualifying for their football champion into the Bowl Championship Series. With the advent of the College Football Playoff in 2014, the ACC is one of five conferences with a contractual tie-in to an access bowl, the additions in recent years extended the conferences footprint into the Northeast and Midwest. The most recent expansion in 2013 saw the additions of the University of Notre Dame, the University of Pittsburgh, in 2012, the University of Marylands Board of Regents voted to withdraw from the ACC to join the Big Ten Conference effective July 1,2014. On November 28,2012, the ACCs Council of Presidents voted unanimously to invite the University of Louisville as a full member, replacing Maryland effective July 1,2014. Seven universities in the South Atlantic States were charter members of the ACC, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, previously members of the Southern Conference, they left partially due to that leagues ban on post-season football play. After drafting a set of bylaws for the creation of a new league, the bylaws were ratified on June 14,1953, and the ACC was created, becoming the second conference formed by schools collectively withdrawing from the SoCon, after the Southeastern Conference. On December 4,1953, officials convened in Greensboro, North Carolina, and admitted Virginia, in 1960, the ACC implemented a minimum SAT score for incoming student-athletes of 750, the first conference to do so. This minimum was raised to 800 in 1964, but was struck down by a federal court in 1972. In 1971, South Carolina left the ACC to become an independent, the ACC operated with seven members until the addition of Georgia Tech from the Metro Conference on April 3,1978. The total number of member schools reached nine with the addition of Florida State, also formerly from the Metro Conference, on July 1,1991. The expansion was controversial, as Connecticut, Rutgers, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia filed lawsuits against the ACC, Miami, and Boston College for conspiring to weaken the Big East Conference. The ACC Hall of Champions opened on March 2,2011, next to the Greensboro Coliseum arena, on September 17,2011, Big East Conference members Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh both tendered formal written applications to the ACC to join its ranks. The two schools were accepted into the conference the day, once again expanding the conference footprint like previous expansions. Because the Big East intended to hold Pitt and Syracuse to the 27-month notice period required by league bylaws, however, on July 16,2012, the Big East and Syracuse came to an agreement that allowed Syracuse to leave the Big East on July 1,2013. Two days later, the Big East and Pittsburgh reached an identical agreement, on September 12,2012, Notre Dame agreed to join the ACC in all sports except football and hockey as the conferences first member in the Midwestern United States
