The University of Washington announced that Steve Belichick will be the team’s new defensive coordinator. He previously worked the last 12 seasons under his father, Bill Belichick, as a defensive analyst for the New England Patriots. As the playcaller for the team the last few seasons, Steve had the opportunity to stay with the Patriots under new head coach Jerrod Mayo, but instead declined, choosing not to stay with the team after they parted ways with his father.

Belichick won three Super Bowls with for the Patriots from 2012-2023, in that time coaching safeties, defensive backs, and outside linebackers. Though New England’s many Super Bowl runs were highlighted by quarterback Tom Brady and the team’s offense, the Patriots consistently had a top-half defense in the league that was also a key in their playoff success. In his last year with New England despite only finishing 4-13, the team’s defense ended fourth in opponents yards per play at 4.7 and 15th in points allowed at 21.5 per game.

“We want to get it right in regards to having an NFL-style system on defense,” Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said before Belichick’s hiring. “Sometimes you bounce around too many different systems and you don’t necessarily have that one that is sustainable, that you want forever. We want to be able to live in the world of a four-down front with a mixture of odd principles.”

Washington lost their previous head coach, Kalen DeBoer, to the University of Alabama to fill the shoes of Nick Saban following the Huskies’ National Championship loss to Michigan. The school then hired Jedd Fisch, who was the head coach at the University of Arizona the three seasons prior. Before in Tempe, Fisch was the quarterback’s coach for the Patriots, where he met Steve Belichick,  eventually paving the way for his hiring at Washington. Fisch also brought him offensive coach Brennan Carroll, who, like Belichick, is following in his father Pete Carroll‘s footsteps in the coaching realm. The Huskies also hired former Patriots running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri to help with the defense, who, before with New England, spent time with Saban at Alabama.

A large majority of the rest of the team’s new coaching staff also joined Fisch from Arizona, who led the team to its first 10-win season in almost a decade. Under DeBoer, however, Washington went 25-3 in the past two seasons and will have high expectations for their first season in the Big 10 Conference. With a completely new coaching staff and only two returning starters, the challenge for the Huskies now is bigger than ever going forward as they look to succeed in a new environment.

Attention, all college basketball fans: tickets for the 2017 2K Classic are now on sale on Ticketmaster!

GET Tickets: 2K Classic College Basketball Semifinals 2017

The 2K Classic is the nation’s premier season-opening NCAA basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The double matchup will be held November 16 and 17.

In the semifinals, Providence and Washington will meet for only the second time ever. In the first contest between the two teams, the Huskies won at Providence 60-51 on Dec. 15, 1980.

The other semifinal will see St. Louis face off against Virginia Tech. The Hokies have won all seven of their games against St. Louis. All four games of the Championship Rounds will air on ESPN2.

This is the 20th year that MSG hosts the 2K Classic, which benefits the Wounded Warrior Project to help veterans.

Standard Admission tickets begin at $15 on Ticketmaster.com, while the best seats are priced at $500.

The Michigan Wolverines are the reigning 2K Classic champions. They defeated the Southern Methodist Mustangs 76-54 in November 2016.

The Boston Celtics have been expected to choose Washington guard Markelle Fultz as the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, but now it seems the team is eyeing Kansas swingman Josh Jackson for the top selection.

Celtics May Pick Kansas’ Josh Jackson Instead of Washington’s Markelle Fultz As Top Draft Pick

“We like him a lot,” a Celtics source told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford on Thursday. “But we like several guys a lot. We’ve got a week to figure it out.”

The NBA Draft will be held on June 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The same source told Ford the Celtics are “strongly considering” other options besides Fultz.

One unnamed general manager stated he is confident the Celtics will pick Jackson at No. 1, and cited his strong familiarity with the team’s general manager Danny Ainge’s draft interests and record. The team earned the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery last month.

“I’ve picked Danny’s brain for years,” the general manager said. “Jackson is an Ainge player all the way. Tough, athletic, long, versatile, elite motor. If he’s keeping the pick, Jackson just to me, far and away, is the most Celtics-type player for them to draft. From all my conversations with them, I’m convinced they’ll take Jackson No. 1.”

The Celtics are in most desperate need of offensive power right now. Ainge has already said he intends to keep All-Star Isaiah Thomas on his squad. Jackson can score, but earned many points in college off transition and offensive rebounds. The Jayhawks star shot over 37 percent from the college line.

Jackson cancelled a previously scheduled meeting with the Celtics earlier this week, according to a Monday report from ESPN’s  Jeff Goodman and Marc J. Spears. 

Although the reason for the cancellation remains unknown, Ford cited NBA sources who theorized Jackson and his agent B.J. Armstrong may also be considering joining the Philadelphia 76ers or Los Angeles Lakers, given that their depth charts are more empty.

“We’re in dialogue with Boston,” Armstrong said, via Ford. “We’re very respectful of them. They have the No. 1 pick and can select whoever they choose. We just need to see how things play out over the next week.”

In his most recent mock draft released Wednesday, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman predicted the Celtics would take Fultz at No. 1 overall and the Lakers would select Jackson at No. 2.

Phoenix radio host John Gambadoro tweeted Monday that he also believes the Lakers and Sixers are Jackson’s most likely destinations, particularly the former.

Boston is also allegedly interested in Gordon Hayward and Blake Griffin, who are set to become free agents this summer.

Here is the full first-round order for the 2017 NBA Draft:

1. Boston (from Brooklyn)
2. Los Angeles Lakers
3. Philadelphia (from Sacramento)
4. Phoenix
5. Sacramento (from Philadelphia)
6. Orlando
7. Minnesota
8. New York
9. Dallas
10. Sacramento (from New Orleans)
11. Charlotte
12. Detroit
13. Denver
14. Miami
15. Portland
16. Chicago
17. Milwaukee
18. Indiana
19. Atlanta
20. Portland (from Memphis via Denver and Cleveland)
21. Oklahoma City
22. Brooklyn (from Washington)
23. Toronto (from LA Clippers via Milwaukee)
24. Utah
25. Orlando (from Toronto)
26. Portland (from Cleveland)
27. Brooklyn (from Boston)
28. Los Angeles Lakers (from Houston)
29. San Antonio
30. Utah (from Golden State)

The eighth-ranked Oregon Ducks withstood Washington’s early strength and a late flurry of points to defeat the Huskies 83-77 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas on Thursday.

No. 8 Oregon Beats Washington 83-77 In Pac-12 Quarterfinals

Chris Boucher led the Ducks with 19 points and 11 rebounds. “We knew they were going to try to get up in our space and deny us,” said Oregon’s Elgin Cook, who also had 19 points. “We were all sped up at first, and I just wanted to tell everybody to calm down and keep their composure.”

The Ducks (26-6) got off to a slow start, but built an 11-point lead midway through the second half. Andrew Andrews helped the Huskies come back, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the span of just a few minutes to help Washington (18-14) pull within two late. Andrews hit a pair of 3-pointers and turned a steal into a pair of free throws that cut Oregon’s lead to 71-69 with 5 minutes left. Oregon also held on by scoring four free throws in the final 33 seconds.

Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks added 17 and 15 points for the Ducks respectively. Oregon had a 46-33 rebounding advantage.

“We had bad turnovers today. We didn’t make very good decisions. We’ll have to clean that up,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “But our effort on the boards, I think, was the difference in the game. We were able to make just enough plays to get by.”

The Huskies’ chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament bracket. Marques Chriss led Washington with 19 points.

Oregon finished the regular season strong, winning their last five games to earn their first conference title since 2002. The Ducks previously defeated the Huskies 86-73 on Feb. 28. Cook scored 26 points.

On Thursday night, after an aggressive start by Washington, the Ducks settled down and came back, forcing the Huskies into difficult shots, scoring in transition after turnovers and misses during an 11-0 run that helped them gain a 39-38 halftime.  

The Ducks gained a little separation about halfway through, after Dorsey scored a three and Dwayne Benjamin scored on a three-point play to put Oregon up 64-54.

“To look at this season as a failure would be kind of dumb on our part,” Andrews said. “So you just take everything and learn from it. We had an incredible season. I said, we beat all the odds as far as what the media thought and what the coaches poll thought. So I couldn’t be prouder of the guys in this locker room.”

Oregon will now face No. 15 Arizona in Friday night’s semifinals. The Arizona Wildcats (25-7) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 82-78 in Las Vegas on Thursday. Washington will likely now head to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) held in New York on March 29 and 31.

Caption: LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 10: Elgin Cook #23 of the Oregon Ducks is guarded by Malik Dime #10 of the Washington Huskies during a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 10, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 83-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)