Thursday Morning Dump

It's Cinco De Mayo.

Nothing says "I love America" quite like celebrating another country's Independence Day. (Well, it's not actually their Independence Day, but I'm pretty certain you didn't know that)

Now, let's get to the links.

- Andy Katz keeps us up to date with all the happenings from around the world of college hoops with his daily word

- To the surprise of many Michigan's Darrius Morris has decided to keep his name in the NBA draft. This cannot be good news for a program that was on the brink of something special

- News broke on Tuesday that Maryland is looking to possibly renew their rivalry with Georgetown. Talks are preliminary at this point, but I would not be surprised to see this pan out. Casual Hoya gives their opinion on the matter. Jeff Eisenberg breaks down the situation quite nicely

- Speaking of Georgetown, sophomore forward Jerrelle Benimon has announced that he is transferring from the university, joining Vee Sanford, also a sophomore. If Hollis Thompson decides to keep his name in the NBA draft, the Georgetown will have lost their entire 2009 recruiting class

- Speaking of Maryland, Jordan Williams, the Terps star power forward, has announced that he is staying in the NBA draft. Apparently, this has been a done deal for some time, but there was not enough substantial evidence to confirm it (Sorry, just got done watching Criminal Minds) What happens to Maryland now? Without Williams, the Terps will have almost no frontcourt presence next season

- Speaking of Eisenberg, he explains why the fans were the big winners from the new Pac-12 TV deal. Cal fans are kinda-really-excited about the deal. Clone Chronicles put together a good post on the impact of the Pac-12 deal

- And speaking of the Big-XII (OK, it's a bit of a reach, but just work with me here), who would win in a game between the Big-XII North and the Big-XII South? (Must-read stuff)

- As Graham Watson explains, when you drop 64-points in a game and get written up in Sports Illustrated, big things are bound to happen

- Nick Russell, a reserve sophomore guard for Kansas State, is pretty sure he's not returning to Manhattan, KS next season. It has also been announced that Juevol Myles will transfer as well. Therefore, in the past seven months, four K-State players have announced their intentions to transfer (Freddy Asprilla already left and is headed to Canisius. Wally Judge is deciding between Maryland, Rutgers and Washington)
- Valparaiso transfer Brandon Wood is being sought after by many big-time schools

- Boston College's Reggie Jackson has a tough decision to make. But with so much roster turnover, does it really matter to the Eagles if he returns or not?

- The word on the street is that Terrence Jones and DeAndre Liggins may return to Kentucky next season. According to Jone's mother, he is likely to wait until the May 9 deadline to make his decision

- It appears that Ralph Sampson III is serious about his NBA future. the Minnesota center has begun working out with Michael Jordan's trainer

- After receiving offers from nearly 50 different agencies, Jimmer Fredette has decided to sign with The Octagon Agency, which also represents Steph Curry, Chris Paul and Wes Matthews

- Kevin Ware opened up his commitment again and has five teams on his shortlist

- New Mexico sophomore Chad Adams has been suspended for four games at the beginning of next season for a DWI arrest

- Michigan State forward Delvon Roe hit the links last weekend and shot a 82-84 at a charity golf tournament (That's not bad at all, especially when you are forced to make all your gimme-putts)

- Missouri's Laurence Bowers still has a couple days to decide if he's coming back to school or not. But if professional hoops doesn't work out, a career in hip-hop and R&B may

- Carter Warnock, a 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman at Eastern Washington is transferring. The power forward has decided to leave due to coaching changes

- Pat Knight is putting together a hefty non-conference schedule in his first year at Lamar. When Lamar heads to Columbus, tOSU is going to honor, get this, Pat Knight's father, some guy who coached a team that probably beat tOSU a lot

- Jim Calhoun has promoted Glen Miller, the director of basketball operations, to assistant coach

- Towson has hired former-Maryland guard Duane Simpkins as their new Director of Basketball Operations (Simpkins spent the last four seasons coaching at the prestigious St. Alban's School for Boys, which located within walking distance from the B.I.A.H Headquarters)

- Rick Pitino is upset and frustrated that he will not be able to coach the Puerto Rican National Team

- Stacey "The Plastic Man" Augmon, a member of the 1990 UNLV Runnin' Rebels team that won the National Championship will join the Rebs coaching staff for next season

- The NCAA is thinking about adding a "charge circle" to the men's and women's game, something that fans and pundits have been wanting for a long time

- Draft Express breaks down the play of SDSU star Kahwi Leonard and wonders where he will end up

- A neat list of the 20 best pros to come from Marquette University

- I know you have been clamoring for some solid off-season Rutgers hoops analysis. Well here it is: Which Rutgers program has more upside, the football team, or the basketball team?

- The new Texas Longhorn TV Network will fire any broadcasters who don't say nice things about Texas. I wonder if this is the type of stuff we will be seeing on the Longhorn Sports Network (NSFW-language)

- More good advice to college athletes on how to use twitter correctly

- For the seniors and early entrants preparing for an upcoming career in professional basketball, I have some advice: You may want to stay away from the Chinese Pro Leagues

That's West Virgina forward John Flowers, leading the student celebration after hearing about the news of Osama bin Laden's death

Paul Hewitt is the worst basketball coach in the country?




Sweet Jesus! Have a look at Gary Parrish's hair from four years ago