Former Kansas guard C.B. McGrath is out as UNC Wilmington basketball coach
Former University of Kansas basketball guard C.B. McGrath has been fired as head coach at UNC Wilmington, the school announced on Monday.
McGrath, a 44-year-old Topeka native who played guard at KU from 1994-98 and worked on Roy Williams’ administrative staff at KU from 1999-2003, went 26-58 at UNCW.
UNCW athletic director Jimmy Bass announced the decision in a news release Monday. He also named UNCW assistant Rob Burke interim coach.
McGrath’s third UNCW team is 5-14 overall and 0-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The squad has lost 11 straight games.
“We appreciate C.B.’s hard work with our program and student-athletes over the last two and half years and wish him well in the future,” Bass said Monday in a news release.
McGrath was an assistant to former KU coach Williams on North Carolina’s national championship-winning teams in 2005, 2009 and 2017.
According to Starnewsonline.com reporter Jackson Fuller, UNCW is required to pay the remaining base salary to the coach. That’s $600,000 for the remaining two seasons on his original five-year contract.
Fuller indicated if McGrath finds another job in college basketball, “the value of his new agreement would be subtracted from the amount of money UNCW is required to pay him.”
Starnewsonline.com reports that nine players left McGrath’s program during his two-plus seasons. This year’s team had nine players on the roster, “for a time due to exits and injuries,” the Website reported.
KU makes Chandler’s top ten list
Kennedy Chandler, a 6-1 junior point guard from Briarcrest Christian High School in Eads, Tennessee, has included KU on his list of 10 schools, he announced on Twitter.
Chandler, the No. 11-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2021 by Rivals.com, lists KU, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Memphis, Michigan, Mississippi, Tennessee and USC.
Chandler, who played for MOKAN Elite’s AAU program last spring and summer, has visited Tennessee and Mississippi and is planning on making some other visits the rest of this season.
“He isn’t the biggest guard, but Chandler absolutely has the ball on a string,” writes Brian Snow of 247sports.com. “He has a great feel and understanding of the game so he is extremely effective with his handle. He doesn’t waste dribbles by staying in the same place and simply checking the air pressure of the basketball as a ball stopper. Simply put, defenders don’t bother Chandler with pressure, and his ability to manipulate the basketball in his hands to create space for drives or his shot is second to none in this class,” Snow adds.
Zion Harmon to visit KU
Zion Harmon, a 5-9 junior point guard ranked No. 30 in the recruiting Class of 2021 by Rivals.com, tells 247sports.com he will visit KU for the Jan. 25 game against Tennessee.
He has visited Seton Hall, Louisville, Maryland and Western Kentucky. Harmon is considering reclassifying to the 2020 recruiting class and playing college ball next season.
Baldwin has KU on his list
Patrick Baldwin, a 6-9 junior power forward from Hamilton High in Sussex, Wisconsin, who is ranked No. 3 in the recruiting Class of 2021 by RIvals.com, has a list that includes KU, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgetown, Northwestern, Marquette, Virginia, Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee and others.
Of KU, he told Rivals.com: “They stand very high because playing in front of (family) in Kansas, that’s something that you can’t really create. Playing in front of them and having them one or two hours away is something that is important to me.”
Baldwin’s dad, Pat Baldwin, was a standout basketball guard at Leavenworth High and Northwestern.
Rush, Chalmers playing pro ball in Greece
Former KU wing Brandon Rush and former KU guard Mario Chalmers are both playing pro basketball in the Greek Basketball League during the 2019-20 season.
Rush, 34, is averaging 16.3 points a game for Ermis Agias Larisa. He spent nine seasons in the NBA (with Indiana, Golden State, Utah, Minnesota and Portland) after being selected as the No. 13 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. He won an NBA title with Golden State during the 2014-15 season. He last played in the NBA in 2017-18 on a 10-day contract with Portland.
Chalmers, 33, is averaging 3.0 points a game in his first two games with AEK Athens. Chalmers played in the NBA nine seasons for Miami and Memphis after being taken in the second round of the 2008 draft (No. 34 overall).
Chalmers is an AEK teammate of former KU guard Keith Langford, 36, who is averaging a team-leading 19.1 points a game. He’s played 15 games. Langford won a championship with Panathinaikos in the Greek League last season.
