Detroit Offseason News Update
by Nick Dettmann
Titans will host 2009 Final Four
For the first time in history, the NCAA Final Four will be held in Detroit with the University of Detroit-Mercy serving as the host school. The games will be played at the brand-new Ford Field in downtown Detroit.
“This is great news for Detroit and basketball fans throughout Michigan”, Titans athletic director Bard Kinsman said. “It’s been 20 years since our bid for the Final Four was submitted, we’ve hosted successful NCAA Regionals since that time and now college basketball’s showcase event is finally coming to Detroit in 2009.
“There were four major criteria considered by the NCAA in the process, and we feel we stood out in all of them: the excellence of our facility, Ford Field; the commitment and enthusiasm of the City of Detroit to host another major event; the interest and support of the corporate sector; and the commitment and experience of UDM, the host institution. We have an outstanding Organizing Committee in place, and we will all do everything we can to make Detroit’s Final Four the best one ever.”
Titans hire former player as an assistant
Detroit head coach Perry Watson likes to keep a close tie to his current players. He also likes to keep a close tie with former players as well.
Watson rounded out his coaching crew with the hiring of former Titans guard Terrance Porter as an assistant coach. Now, all three of Watson’s assistants are former UDM players.
Porter joins Bacari Alexander (Class of 1999) and Kevin Mondro (1997) as other former players on the coaching staff.
A 1997 graduate, Porter replaces Mickey Barrett, who earlier this summer took on the role as head coach of the women’s basketball head coach position for the Titans.
“I am happy to give Terrance the opportunity to join our staff at Detroit,” Watson said. “Being one of my former Titan players, Terrance will be able to help our players not only succeed on the basketball court but also in the classroom.”
Porter played three full seasons for Watson and played in 75 games. He scored 274 points over his career and was well-known for his long-distance capabilities. In 1997, Porter received the team’s William Ebben Award for combining athletic and academic excellence.
Porter played his final season at Wayne State University, just down the road from Detroit-Mercy where he competed as a graduate student and earned his Master’s in Sports Administration in 1999.
UDM is his first collegiate coaching job as he coached at Brother Rice High School in Birmingham while still a graduate student.
Former Titan signs deal with NBA’s Sixers’
Last season’s Horizon League Player of the Year, Willie Green, has inked a deal to play with the Philadelphia 76ers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Green was originally chosen in the second round of the NBA draft this past June by the Seattle Supersonics. He would later be traded to Philadelphia for Paccelis Morlende.
Green was a first-team All-Horizon League selection and honorable mention All-American by the Associate Press.
His 22.6 points per game led the league and ranked him 11th in the country. He finished his career ranked fourth in Titans history with 1,778 points. Green became the first Titan since Greg Wendt in 1986 to be selected in the NBA draft.
Green caught the attention of the Sixers during his four games in the Reebok Pro Summer League where he averaged 13 points and shot 47 percent from the field.
CBA drafts Riggs
Terrell Riggs is going to continue his basketball playing days after being selected by the Gary (IN) Steelheads in the 18th annual Continental Basketball Association (CBA) draft on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
The Steelheads had eight picks in the draft and used their sixth round pick on the former Titan.
“We had a good draft and I think it was one of the deepest drafts in years,” Steelheads coach Duane Ticknor said.
As a senior, Riggs averaged 13 points and six rebounds a game. He finished his career 14th on the Titans all-time scoring list with 1,434 points.
