Gold for Clarke and Fotu, Elte Eight for Waardenburg.
Sam Waardenburg and Miami University Hurricanes great run at the NCAA Championships came to an end on Monday morning.
In its first Elite 8 appearance in programme history the number 10 seeded Hurricanes were defeated 76-50 by one seed Kansas.
Sam posted 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal but fouled out, for just the second time in his collegiate career. The blocked shots meant he reached 100 blocks for Miami and he also moved past 3,000 minutes played for the Hurricanes.
Picked pre-season to finish 12th in the Atlantic Coast Conference the Hurricanes contradicted all pundits by posting the third most wins (26) in programme history and a first ever appearance in the quarter-finals at the Big Dance.
Sam was full of praise for the camaraderie that had been generated by the team.
“They’ve been amazing and they’ve been like this all season long.
“Coach (Jim Larrañaga) has built a family environment for us in this programme. I want every one of our guys to be super proud. I think it’s not going to be a couple of weeks or so that it really hits us, that we made Elite Eight and we made history for this programme.
“I want them all to be proud and hold their heads high. I just love them.”
Miami’s run in the play-offs meant that we had Kiwi representation in the quarter-finals of the Men’s NCAA Division Championship for the first time since Jack Salt, another former Harbour representative, and the University of Virginia Cavaliers won the title in 2019.
Sam finished his collegiate career with 711 points and 502 rebounds in 118 appearances – 69 as a starter.
Tiarna Clarke and Ella Fotu have won gold in Doha.
The Tall Blacks and Tall Ferns 3x3 teams both went unbeaten to take out the titles at the FIBA World Cup Qualifier Asia at the weekend.
Both players had outstanding tournaments with Tiarna leading all scorers at the championship with 30 points, including a game high 10 points in the final, as the Tall Ferns defeated Uzbekistan 21-9 to claim gold.
Harbour reps coach and Board Member Justine Reed, although unable to travel to Doha, is coach of the 3x3 Tall Ferns.
The reward for both the men’s and women’s teams is a trip to the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Antwerp, Belgium in June.
Former Harbour Breeze standout Penina Davidson and Melbourne Boomers are through to the 2022 Australian Women’s National League Grand Final.
The Boomers, coached by Tall Ferns Head Coach Guy Molloy, swept Adelaide Lightning in the semi-final series 2-0.
The best of three Grand Final series begins next Saturday.
Kruz Perrrott-Hunt has entered the NCAA transfer portal. We will watch with interest where Kruz plays out his college career after three years and 78 games at the University of South Dakota. Kruz led the Coyotes in scoring this season with 466 points at 15.0 points per game.
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