Monday Morning Dump

- Dan Wetzel on the high-cal match-up between Kentucky and UConn

- According to Bloomberg, Kentucky spends more money on recruiting than any team in the country

- Despite losing to UConn and the possibility that Derrick Williams won't return, Arizona has a lot to look forward to next season. But the win for UConn was about more than just Kemba Walker

- Speaking of UConn, the Huskies were ranked 10th in the Big East pre-season polls, and ninth in the conference tournament, but are now one of the top four teams in the country

- The Kentucky Wildcats are the early favorites out of Vegas to win the National Championship. Speaking of the wildcats, John Clay provides 20 quick-hitters on the 'Cats trip to Houston. This is the third different team John Calipari has taken to the Final Four, but he assured the University President that Kentucky would not be the third team to have their Final Four banner taken down. But I don;t think anybody, Kentucky fan or not, expected to be in the Final Four with this team

- It was difficult to comprehend what Butler did last season. But two years in a row? That may be unfathomable . According to Nick Fasulo, what the Bulldogs have done defies conventional wisdom. Luke Winn states that this year's Final Four run is even more improbable than the Bulldogs run a season ago. After being banned from participation in the regional portion of the NCAA tournament, Butler's live mascot Blue II has been cleared to participate in Final Four festivities in Houston

- David Steel provides some insightful opinion on how the NCAA can reform it's standards to give the college athletes more options

- An awesome-read on the big East all-historical team tournament (sponsored by Charles Barkley and his atrocious golf swing)

- Ty Duffy has a solid take on the Fab Five documentary backlash (I told myself I wouldn't link to Ty Duffy anymore because TBL snubbed BIAH's Gus Johnson Countdown. I'm still pissed, but this is a pretty good read)


- There may not be any No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in the Final Four, but this isn't the worst pairings we've seen

- A look at the conference records for the NCAA Tournament

- Some interesting statistics regarding the internet traffic of the two mid-major schools participating in the Final Four

- Wyoming is heavily targeting Old Dominion Blaine Taylor as their next head coach

- Missouri State head coach Cuonzo Martin has been hired by Tennessee to succeed Bruce Pearl as the head coach of the Volunteers. Some fans may not like the hire, but it's certainly a good one. But Steven Pearl does not like the hire

- Kent State head coach Geno Ford will be introduced today as the new head coach at Bradley

- Chris Mooney has been given a 10-year extension by Richmond to remain as the Spiders head coach

- Dayton coach Brian Gregory may or may not have been offered the Georgia Tech head coaching job. UPDATE: Jeff Goodman reported that Gregory is expected to replace Paul Hewitt as the next head coach of Georgia Tech

- It could be a busy off-season for Atlantic-10 coaches. The conference known for it's coaching stability could see numerous changes due to opening at larger conference schools

- Despite being rumored as a candidate for the Oklahoma job, Buzz Williams will reportedly stay at Marquette

- Mid-major coaches who put together an unexpected Sweet Sixteen run are often coaching a different team the following year

- Head coach Chris Mack is going to stay at Xavier, and so is superstar guard Tu Holloway (At least, for now he is). Apparently Mack turned down an offer to take the job at Tennessee

- According to Jeff "Scoopmaster" Goodman, Tennessee has reached out to Shaka Smart and Central Florida's Donnie Jones

- North Carolina State is apparently interested in Shaka Smart

- Lost Letterman lists the top ten best head coaching candidates from mid-major schools

- USC center Nikola Vucevic is going to hire an agent and enter the NBA draft

- Michigan's sophomore stand-out Darius Morris will test the NBA draft waters, but won;t hire an agent

- Maryland forward Jordan Williams is seriously thinking about entering the NBA draft

- La Salle's Aaric Murray is transferring. Right now he list includes Rutgers, Kentucky, West Virginia and Florida

- Minnesota center Colton Iverson is transferring. He becomes the fifth Golden Gopher to leave the program in three years

- Maine's Murphy Burnatowski has been granted a release from their program. He was viewed by many as the most talented player on the team, but a rift grew between himself and head coach Ted Woodward during the regular season

- Many players have already stated their plans for the future, whether it's staying or going. But Duke's Kyrie Irving is waiting to decide. He says there is no guarantee he will return, but has not made a decision yet

- If Jared Sullinger stays at Ohio State, which he said he would do, the Buckeyes will likely start out the 2011-2012 season as the No. 1 team in the country

- Kentucky freshman Doron Lamb stated over the weekend that he will return to Kentucky for his sophomore season

- Adam Zagoria reports that some of the top freshman are weighing their "one-and-done" options

- Some more NBA draft buzz. Kansas' Thomas Robinson will test draft waters and Texas' Tristan Thompson has reportedly signed with an agent. Or maybe he hasn't

- JaMychael Green will return to Alabama for his senior season. The forward named to the All-SEC first team and will be a candidate for the SEC preseason Player of the Year ward next season

- Some interesting videos from the first week on the job for new Providence head coach Ed Cooley. Speaking of Cooley, the Providence Journal documented some of his thoughts on what he has ahead of him and his new team. Can Cooley build quality depth with recruits, something Keno Davis was unable to do?

- A brief look at Bill Self's recent NCAA tournament choke jobs

- Wonder how Drexel Dragons players and fans feel about this improbably VCU tournament run. If you remember, VCU needed at Jamie Skeen buzzer-beater to defeat the Dragons in the CAA tournament. The Dragons also beat the Rams in Richmond back in February 64-60

- Wake Forest landed a commitment from class of 2012 center Andre Washington

- Future Washington Husky Tony Wroten Jr. ran the fastest 100-meter-dash in the state of Washington

- A cool story about the hectic 48-hour schedule of Washington State basketball assistant Jeff Hironaka

- A look at the good and the bad of the Miami Hurricanes 2010-2011 season

- The selections for the third annual All-Chicago college basketball teams

- A pretty neat list on the ten best arenas built in the past 15 years

- A look at what it's like inside the locker room of a National Championship-winning team

- Brad Stevens has two words for ya: Suck It

- From the files of "you can't make this stuff up": Delaware mother climbs a pole to protest basketball hoop removal