This blog was a place for me to continue my passion for covering LMU basketball post-graduation, and I thank everyone who has followed along. Currently, I'm not able to update it with the consistency needed, so it is on hiatus. For news, updates, scores, photos, and opinions, continue to follow The Bottom Line on twitter!

CBSSports gives Ireland well-deserved recognition

In an article published today on cbssports.com, Jeff Goodman refers to LMU point guard Anthony Ireland as a "lock for all-underrated team."

He played alongside high-profile guys and watched their recruitments explode. There was Nate Lubick and Naadir Tharpe on the summer circuit and Khem Birch, Markus Kennedy and Angel Nunez on his prep school team.

Now Anthony Ireland has made a name for himself.

Loyola Marymount's point guard has established himself as one of the elite floor leaders in the WCC and maybe even in the entire country. He's far from a household name beyond the west coast, but the 5-foot-9 junior, who hails from Connecticut and attended Winchendon (Mass.) prep school, earned first-team All-WCC honors last season.

Click here to continue reading the article.

Drew Viney sits down for an interview with his new Euroleague team

At least you can understand the important parts...

LMU's ESPN schedule announced

The LMU men's basketball team will make at least three regular season appearances on the ESPN family of networks during the 2012-13 season, it was announced this past week. As part of a longterm deal between the West Coast Conference and ESPN, more than 40 WCC men's basketball games will appear this coming season on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.

The following Lions games will be televised:

Wednesday, Dec. 19 - Mississippi at LMU, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
Thursday, Jan. 31 - Gonzaga at LMU, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, March 2 - BYU at LMU, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)

In addition, the WCC Championship quarterfinals, semifinals and finals will all be televised live.

Drew Viney inks professional deal

Polish champs Asseco Prokom made official on Friday the addition of forward Drew Viney for the next two seasons. This will be Viney's Euroleague, as well as professional, debut. Click here to learn more about the league.

Conference scheduled revealed

The WCC released the 2013 conference basketball schedule today. LMU's portion is as follows.

LMU announces non-conference schedule

The LMU Athletics Department today announced the non-conference schedule for its men's basketball team. The Lions host Portland State, a requirement from the 2011 BracketBuster game, as well as head to Saint Louis as part of a home-and-home exchange that began last year in Gersten Pavilion. View the schedule below.

LMU's first loss of the season

LMU's recruit for the 2013 class Kahlil Dukes has committed to USC, ESPN reports. Dukes said he chose USC based on location and strength of the Pac-12 conference. In addition to LMU, Dukes also had offers from Drexel and UTEP.

Read more here.

Lions offer 5'11" guard

According to ESPN, LMU has offered Class of 2013 guard Kahlil Dukes of Hartford, CT. Dukes is a scoring guard, who put up 51 points in a game last season for his school, Capital Prep. If he decides to join the Lions, let's hope he works out as well as the last undersized guard from Connecticut we picked up...

Viney tries to secure training camp spot

Former Lion Drew Viney, despite struggling through a tough shooting night Wednesday, continues to impress with his play during the NBA's Summer League. Playing in his third game with the Miami Heat, Viney contributed ten points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. Viney shot 3-10 from the field.

Viney remains second on his team in scoring, trailing only Norris Cole, who was a key bench player for the NBA Champion Heat this past season. If he continues to play as he has this week, with confidence and energy on both ends of the court, Viney will surely land a spot on a team's training camp roster.

Viney did step to the free throw line with 9.6 seconds remaining on the clock, his team down two, but was only able to connect on one of his two free throws. After shooting 79 percent from the line in his collegiate career with the Lions, Viney went 2-4 from the line Wednesday. The Heat are now 2-1, with two more Summer League games to play, the next of which will be Friday at 5 p.m. against the San Antonio Spurs.

Viney earns start, impresses again

Drew Viney played in his second Summer League game with the Miami Heat Monday evening, earning the start after an impressive 12 points and six rebounds in his debut Sunday. Viney picked up where he left off, and contributed 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in his team's throttling of the Lakers. Viney did his damage Monday in just 23 minutes of play, not needing to play the final quarter due to his team's 40-plus point lead.

Viney was much more efficient from the floor Monday, going 5-7 from the field and 2-4 from long range. He also looked solid on the defensive end of the court, and picked up a steal for the second-straight game.

Viney and the 2-0 Heat will be back on the floor Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. when they take on the Golden State Warriors.

Lions add Croatian forward

LMU's Athletics Department announced today that the men's basketball team has added 6'9" forward Marin Mornar of Consortium College Prep in Detroit, Mich. Mornar, originally from Croatia, averaged 11.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.6 clocks in his one season at Consurtium.

"He is very long and has great range with a ton of potential," said Head Coach Max Good in the press release. "He can shoot the ball well and is a very tough player ... The key for Marin will be his strength game. How quickly he gets stronger will determine his success."

In addition, the Lions removed redshirt junior Quincy Lawson from their roster, as I reported last week.

Strong debut for Viney

Former Lion Drew Viney made his debut for the Miami Heat's Summer League team Sunday afternoon, contributing 12 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in almost 28 minutes of play. Both his minutes and rebounds were second-most on the team. Viney finished the game 4-11 from the field after beginning 2-3.

His team will take on the Lakers Monday at 5:30 p.m. PT. The game, which will be the second of his team's five games, can be seen live on NBATV or on NBA.com.

Drew Viney makes Miami Heat Summer League roster

A big congratulations to former-Lion Drew Viney, who made the NBA Champion Miami Heat's Summer League roster, comprised of 16 athletes. The team began practicing in Miami on July 9, and will continue to work there through this Friday before heading to Las Vegas. The team's first of five games will occur on Sunday, July 15 vs. the Toronto Raptors. Summer league play will conclude on Saturday, July 21. All games will appear on NBA TV and be streamed live on NBA.com.

LMU to host Long Beach State

The Beach have announced their 2012-13 men's basketball schedule, and LMU will host Long Beach State in a non-conference game on Nov. 29. Last season, Long Beach made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where they were defeated by New Mexico.

Roster changes continue

I've heard from multiple sources that redshirt junior Quincy Lawson will not be returning to the Lions. Lawson, who had inconsistent playing time in his two seasons in an LMU jersey, averaged 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds this past year. He appeared in 20 games, starting 12 of them.

It is important to note, however, that Lawson does still appear on the official men's basketball team roster, which has in fact been updated for the 2012-13 season.

Mississippi, Saint Louis added to schedule

In addition to the previously announced Nov. 11 game at SMU, CBSSports announced that the Lions would be hosting Mississippi Dec. 19 at Gersten Pavilion as well as traveling to Saint Louis on Dec. 22. The Lions hosted a ranked Saint Louis team last season, beating it 75-68.

WCC Tournament format changes

The West Coast Conference announced that beginning in 2014, the format of both the men's and women's basketball tournaments would be changing, in large part due to the addition of the University of Pacific to the conference. The new bracket, which again will not be put in place this coming season, is above. Click the image to view in full.

LMU to take on SMU

According to Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports, the Lions will travel to Southern Methodist University on Nov. 11 for a non-conference game. SMU is coached by Larry Brown, the only coach to ever have won both an NBA and NCAA title. Brown will be in his first year with the team.

Official Ben Dickinson announcement

I'm a little late on this, but here is the school's official press release on the signing of transfer Ben Dickinson, who, as reported below, will be joining the Lions.

http://www.lmulions.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/050712aaa.html