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Hoops Du Jour

FILE - Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton watches his team during the second half of the Atlantic Coast Conference second-round NCAA college basketball tournament game against Virginia Tech, March 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

Men: Minnesota at PSU

Tipoff: 7 p.m., Jordan Center, University Park

Records: Minnesota (11-11, Big Ten 3-8); Penn State (13-9, Big Ten 3-8)

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WRAX 106.5-FM

Satellite: Sirius XM Ch. 372

Notable: Penn State’s leading scorer, Ace Baldwin Jr. was named to two lists on Monday by the national media. He is on the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List, one of 50 players in the country to receive the honor. He was also named to the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year list as a top-10 finalist. Baldwin is averaging 14.1 points-per game and 7.8 assists per-game as well as 2.0 steals per game. His assists mark is good for fourth overall in the country at the Division I level. … Penn State is 1-7 in its last eight games with the only win coming at home to Rutgers. … The Golden Gophers are 1-4 on the road in the Big Ten. The lone win, at Iowa, where Penn State lost a few weeks ago. They started the Big Ten 0-6 before beating Michigan, Iowa and Oregon. The Nittany Lions lost to Michigan and Oregon. … Minnesota beat Penn State twice last year. … Offensively, Minnesota is led by Dawson Garcia (20.1 ppg), Mike Mitchell Jr. (10.8 ppg) and Lu’cye Patterson (10.5). … Penn State heads west next with games at UCLA and USC this Saturday and Tuesday, respectively.

Mirror prediction: Penn State 78, Minnesota 67

Mirror prediction record: 17-5

— Scott Franco

FSU coach Hamilton stepping down

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Longtime Florida State basketball coach Leonard Hamilton is stepping down at the end of the season.

Hamilton, who is being sued by six former players over allegations he failed to deliver on name, image and likeness promises, announced his decision Monday following a team meeting.

“I’m very fortunate to be able to have given this job my all with no regrets,” Hamilton said in a statement. “Every head coach inherits a legacy and is obligated to leave the job better than they inherited it. I’m very proud of what we have been able to accomplish here over the last 23 seasons.

“We were a consistent contender, and we created success for our players during their time here. So many of them have gone on to be successful in life. I hope that it will be remembered as my legacy.”

The 76-year-old Hamilton is the third Division I head coach to step down this season — all of them in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia’s Tony Bennett stepped down just before the season began, and Miami’s Jim Larranaga left the program in late December.

Hamilton ranks 10th on the NCAA’s list of winningest active DI coaches. He coached at Miami and then with the NBA’s Washington Wizards before joining Florida State in 2002. He led the Seminoles to 16 postseason appearances and a dozen 20-win seasons.

FSU won the ACC Tournament title in 2012 after defeating Miami, Duke and North Carolina on consecutive days. The Seminoles also won the 2019-20 regular-season conference title before the pandemic halted postseason play.

Ex-Notre Dame star Shumate dies

John Shumate, who sparked Notre Dame to the 1974 upset of UCLA that snapped the Bruins’ record 88-game winning streak, has died. He was 72.

Notre Dame announced that Shumate died on Monday.

Shumate played at Notre Dame from 1971-74 and was a first-team Associated Press All-America selection in 1974. The Phoenix Suns made Shumate the No. 4 overall pick in the 1974 draft, and he remained in the NBA through 1981 before beginning a lengthy coaching career at the college and pro levels.

“When you pay the price and do things the right way and you take care of yourself — your body, your mind — and stay true to yourself, good things can happen for you and to you,” Shumate said when Notre Dame inducted him into its ring of honor and put his No. 34 jersey in the Purcell Pavilion rafters in 2022. “I appreciate that.”

He collected 24 points and 11 rebounds while dueling with Bill Walton when Notre Dame stunned UCLA 71-70 on Jan. 19, 1974, ending the longest winning streak in Division I men’s basketball history.

Teams involved in suspected gambling ring

A suspected gambling ring under federal investigation for its role in two NBA betting cases also was involved in unusual wagering activity on at least three men’s college basketball programs this season, ESPN reported Monday.

Sportsbook accounts connected to the gambling ring bet against Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina A&T, according to ESPN, which cited anonymous sources.

The Associated Press

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