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




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Another reason to love West Virginia hoopers

For the past two seasons, I've had a bit of a fan crush on the West Virginia basketball team.

It started with this incredible series of videos -- including a lip-synching session to Brian McKnight -- from a road trop. Then there was John Flowers teaching the Mountaineer faithful how to dougie. And, of course, it was humanly impossible to hate Da'Sean Butler, unless, of course, you were on the wrong end of one of these.

And now?

John Flowers goes front and center celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden:


Shirtless.

Backwards hat.

And I'll put everything on the fact that he is currently mid-dougie.

UPDATE: We got video!!!

Well, not of Flowers doing the dougie. He still has his shirt on at this point, but you do get to see Flowers and Mazzulla do a flying chest bump. The best part? The guy at the end that yells "Let's get some more beer!"


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NCAA Rules Committee recommends a charge circle

College basketball is on the verge of seeing a major change in how the charge-block rule is enforced.

On Wednesday, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee recommended that a charge circle be painted on the court three feet away from the center of the basket. The NCAA experimented with this rule during the preseason tournaments this season, but during the regular season, the NCAA went by the rule that referee's a had to determine whether or not the help defender was two feet in front of the rim.

This rule will take effect next season if the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approves it. They have a conference call on June 9th to discuss it.

The Rules Committee also approved a couple of other changes:

The committee changed the nomenclature on fouls that are deemed more severe than a “common” foul. The terms “Flagrant 1” and “Flagrant 2” will now be used in these situations. A Flagrant 1 foul takes the place of an intentional foul and the Flagrant 2 foul replaces the previous flagrant foul.

The committee is recommending that coaches can request a monitor review by officials at any time during a game. An example would be a team being credited for a two-point field goal, when the coach believes the shot was a three-point basket. If the replay shows that the coach was wrong, that team is charged a timeout. If the team has no more timeouts, the team is assessed a technical foul for taking too many timeouts.

The committee also talked about the rare “double foul” and agreed that in such cases, the more egregious foul will be enforced. For example, Player A reaches in and commits a common foul against Player B. Player B responds with an elbow that is considered a Flagrant 1 or Flagrant 2 foul. If in the in bonus, both players will shoot free throws with the lane cleared, with Team A shooting last and receiving the ball. Previously, this scenario was considered as offsetting fouls.

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Brandon Knight "got the confirmation he needed"

On Monday, we wrote about Brandon Knight and the fact he said he was still 50-50 on whether he would return to Kentucky for his sophomore season.

Needless to say, few believed that he was that serious about considering a return to Lexington.

Today's Daily Word from Andy Katz only reinforced that line of thinking. In the post, Katz quotes John Calipari as saying "Brandon got the confirmation that he wanted [that he should stay in the draft]."

Looks like Kentucky's combine served its purpose for one of the players involved.
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The new Pac-12 deal should help hoops out west

The big news of the day is that the Pac-12, with new additions Colorado and Utah, have signed a new television deal with FOX Sports and ESPN valued at upwards of $3 billion. Its a twelve year deal that stretches from the 2012-2013 season through the 2024-2025 season. Many of the final details have yet to be agreed upon. (Matt Norlander over at CBS has a good breakdown of what has and has not decided on.)

The most important detail, however, is that ESPN will now be airing 46 Pac-12 games beginning in 2012-2013.

Its no secret that the Pac-10 has been down the past couple of seasons, and next year doesn't appear promising. UCLA, Washington, and Washington State all have lost a significant amount of talent, some to graduation and some to early entry. And with another subpar recruiting class coming in, the league will once again struggle to field top 25 teams.


These things tend to be cyclical -- the conference was loaded in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons -- but one argument that hasn't been mentioned much as to why the league is down is a lack of TV exposure. The current deal the Pac-10 has is pretty terrible. For people on the east coast, its a crap shoot as to whether or not we would be able to see games. For me, personally, the local FSN affiliate would air one game on Thursdays, two on Saturday, and on Sunday.* And those games would only air when the local sports shows and football coverage was finished, usually midway through the first half and sometimes at halftime.

(*The way the current schedule for the Pac-10 is set up is that there were five sets of travel partners -- the Oregon schools, the Washington schools, the Arizona schools, Southern California, and the Bay area. During conference season, games were played on Thursdays and Saturdays -- i.e. the Oregon schools going to Washington and the Arizona schools playing at UCLA and USC -- while the leftover two teams would play each other -- i.e. Cal heading to Stanford. This will change with the 12 teams, but since the conference didn't have to agree to any Monday or Tuesday games -- only Wednesday, Thurday, Saturday, and Sunday -- the concept of travel partners still exists..)

Many cable networks don't carry these games if you are out of market (or without a more expensive cable package), and some in-market games weren't even televised. Recruits want to be seen. They want to play on ESPN. Outside of the (small) handful of games picked up by ESPN or CBS, this would not happen for anyone headed to a Pac-10 school.

Its also great for fans and media members alike. I can attest that for the past two seasons, I've not been as familiar with teams in the Pac-10 as any of the other five power conferences, or even as familiar as I was with teams in the CAA and the A-10, which regularly have their games aired on TV in DC.

The newfound exposure will be great for the fans of the conference.

It will also be great for the league as a whole. More exposure equals better recruiting. Better recruiting means better teams and better competition, which makes the league more nationally relevant.

This new deal could end up being what sparks the revival of big time college basketball on the West Coast.
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So was Kentucky's pro day a success?

Kentucky's 'combine' or 'pro-day' or whatever you want to refer to is as was a success.

And it wasn't.

Huh?

According to Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News, at least one NBA scout felt that the two-day session that Wildcat head coach John Calipari had scheduled for his players currently eligible for the NBA Draft was a worthwhile experience. The scout, George Felton from the San Antonio Spurs, said that more than two-thirds of the league's teams were likely to attend at least one day of the combine.

"I thought it was a tremendous concept that Coach Cal came up with," Felton said. "To have an opportunity to get another look at these young men, and also to have an opportunity to interview them — I would love to see more universities do this."


Jonathon Givony of Draft Express received much different feedback, however. According to him, the combine was a disappointment for a lot of the NBA folks. While they got a chance to see Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, DeAndre Liggins, and Josh Harrellson work out, it was nothing more than a workout. The players ran through a series of drills without any competitive, 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 action. Givony had one tweet that quoted a GM as saying they watched "lay-up lines".

If the NBA folks were, in fact, disappointed in the kind of action that took place, that can be adjusted in the future. But what is clear is that Calipari is once again setting the trend.

That said, don't be surprised if this doesn't catch on.

Having a pro-day in which NBA scouts flock to a campus to evaluate a prospect only makes sense if that prospect is "testing the waters" of the NBA Draft. It avoids anything -- flights paid for, workouts paid for, housing in Vegas or Chicago or New York covered, etc. -- that could conceivably render the athlete ineligible or be considered an illegal benefit.

But testing the waters will be gone next season. With the new rule that the NCAA instituted, college players will be forced to decide on their NBA Draft status a week after the Final Four ends, and that decision will be final. For the players that do put their names in the draft, NBA teams will be able to pay for travel expenses to get the players they want to see matchup come in and workout.

That eliminates the need for on-campus group workouts.

But it doesn't change the fact that Calipari is the best marketer in all of college basketball.
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The NCAA beginning to look into UCF

As we have generally learned to be the case, now that Pete Thamel and Pat Forde have done the leg work, the NCAA has been in contact with Central Florida in regards to the potential recruiting violations that came to light on Friday night.

UCF hasn't has an on-campus visit from the NCAA just yet, but the Golden Knights have already begun an internal review. And you better believe that on-campus visit will be coming shortly.*

(*I've always found it ironic that the NCAA's investigative team uses some of the same lingo -- on-campus visit -- as is used in the recruitment of student-athletes.)

"We take the current allegations of NCAA violations very seriously," a spokesman said in a statement. "Our review of this matter began immediately upon receiving notice. It is premature for us to provide comment regarding these allegations at this time, without having the opportunity to thoroughly and completely review the facts. Following our review we will appropriately address this matter."

UCF's AD finally spoke to someone the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday, although there is not much in there beyond denials, plausible deniability, and no comments.

As worrisome as it is that UCF had an ex-con with felony convictions on his rap sheet and connections to an agent working as a runner and recruiter, the biggest issue for the UCF program is likely going to be that they eavesdropped on phone calls with recruits. As the NCAA investigation starts to pick up, it will be interesting to see if the talent that Jones has brought to the Orlando, FL, school will stay there.
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Three keep their name in the draft

On Tuesday, three players decided officially to keep their names in the NBA draft pool.

Louisville's Terrence Jennings, Georgia Tech's Iman Shumpert, and Michigan's Darius Morris will all be forgoing the rest of their collegiate eligibility to remain in this year's draft. Here's a look at how those decision will affect their now-former teams:


Terrence Jennings, Louisville: Jennings decision to leave was probably a smart one. The Louisville junior has an NBA body and NBA athleticism, but he is a long way from proving he has an NBA post game. The problem with playing for a team like Louisville, however, is that he likely won't get many opportunities to showcase his ability in the post next season.

Rick Pitino likes to run. He likes to have his team's pressure the ball in the full court, get out in transition, and fire away from beyond the arc. His big men -- especially in the last few seasons -- have been asked to play the role of shot blockers and offensive rebounders. Jennings isn't going to be isolated on the post too often, which would mean that he won't have the opportunity to showcase any improvements he makes. And in the eyes of the NBA, if you're not improving, you're regressing with age.

Louisville will be alright next season. They return quite a bit of talent in their back court -- Kyle Kuric, Peyton Siva, Chris Smith -- and could see a couple of injured players return to the rotation in Jared Swopshire and Raheem Buckles. Throw in the emergence of Gorgui Dieng and an excellent recruiting class -- Wayne Blackshear, Zach Price, Chane Benahan -- and the Cardinals are loaded with talent.


Darius Morris, Michigan: Michigan will get hurt the worst of these three teams. The Wolverines were young and promising, especially down the stretch of last season. With essentially the entire roster returning from a team that won eight of their last 11 games to make the NCAA Tournament, and then came a Morris floater away from forcing overtime with Duke in the second round, much was to be expected of Michigan next season.

But Morris was the most important piece. He averaged over 15 ppg and almost 7 apg. He was the team's best scorer and best creator. He was the reason that players like Stu Douglass and Zak Novak were able to get open looks from beyond the arc. He's the reason Jordan Morgan got as many easy dunks around the rim. He was hands down the best playmaker, handing out quadruple the assists of anyone else on the team.

Without Morris, Tim Hardaway, Jr, is going to have to step up and become a star as a sophomore if John Beilein fancies the idea of getting to the NCAA Tournament again.


Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech: Shumpert was far and away the best player for the Yellow Jackets last season. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals, which is a tough thing to do for a 6'5" guard.

If Shumpert had returned to Tech, things would have looked promising for the Yellow Jackets. While they only won five ACC games a year ago, they will still return six of their top eight scorers with Shumpert keeping his name in the draft. Glen Rice, Jr, and Brian Oliver both showed the potential to be big-time players, while Mfon Udofia should be a solid point guard to replace Shumpert.

Also joining the Aztecs with be Brandon Reed, a transfer from Arkansas State that averaged 15.1 ppg as a freshman. The issue for the Yellow Jackets, however, does not involve their back court. Kammeon Holsey and Daniel Miller return up front, but Brian Gregory will not have much scoring punch at his disposal inside.
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Demetri Goodson the latest to leave Gonzaga

Demetri "Meech" Goodson has ended his basketball career, as the now-former Gonzaga point guard has decided to transfer -- possibly to Texas A&M -- to play football. The Bulldogs put out a press release on it Tuesday, but we're giving credit for the scoop to The Slipper Still Fits.

"I have decided to pursue football next year," said Goodson. "I would like to thank my coaches and staff for the opportunity to play here. I also want to thank the city of Spokane and all of the Zags fans who have supported me over the years. It's been an awesome experience."

The writing was on the wall for Goodson.


A lightening quick point guard, Goodson was never really able to live up to his athletic prowess in his time at Gonzaga. He started 35 games last season, but he averaged just 5.2 ppg and 2.6 apg while seeing his playing time severely diminished late in the year thanks to David Stockton's emergence.

Goodson is the brother of Carolina Panther running back Mike Goodson and was a good enough player in high school to be recruited by some Pac-10 schools. That said, Meech hasn't played football since high school back in the state of Texas. He will have two years of eligibility remaining in football and can play immediately since the Zags don't have a football program.

While Gonzaga will now be losing a lot on their perimeter -- Manny Arop has also left the program while Steven Gray is graduating -- the Zags should be alright on their perimeter. Not only will Stockton be returning for his sophomore season, but they all two very talented freshmen -- PG Kevin Pangos and SG Gary Bell -- as well as JuCo transfer Guy Landry. Goodson's departure also opens up a scholarship for Bryce Jones, a talented wing that transferred out of USC. Jones is considering UNLV, SDSU, and Gonzaga, but had pushed back two visits to Spokane because the Zags did not have an available scholarship.

One thing to note -- Goodson is the sixth player to transfer out of the Gonzaga program in recent years. GJ Vilarino, Grant Gibbs, Andy Poling, Bol Kong, and Arop have all left with eligibility remaining.
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Wednesday Morning Dump

- Andy Katz briefs us on the early entrants who still have a choice to make. Not much time is left for these players to make their decision. Adam Zagoria chimes in on the quick decision-making that needs to be implemented by the draft's early entrants

- Rush the Court provides a great-read (per usual) on the updated rankings for the class of 2012

- Fran Fraschilla breaks down the teams that need to improve on their weaknesses in 2011-2012 (Insiders Only)

- Jeff Eisenberg explains why UNC-alum Sean May is wearing a Kentucky t-shirt

- Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson is trying to rekindle the Terps rivalry with Georgetown. The two teams haven't met in non-tournament play (2008 Old Spice Classic, 2002 NCAA Tournament) since 1993, in which Maryland won in OT in Landover, MD. We briefly touched on the lack of this rivalry a couple months back

- In case you haven't heard, The Pac-12 has agreed to a 12-year, $2.7-billion television contract with ESPN and Fox. (You can put them on ESPN, but you can't force us to watch their mediocre basketball)

- A great-read on the benefits and repercussions of the decision to end the early entry deadline

- Don't blame Arizona State if the term "student-athlete" is misconstrued, because, according to them, they carried their weight

- The Central Florida athletic department has confirmed NCAA contact due to possible improper recruiting activities

- Louisville big-man Terrence Jennings has decided to keep his name in the NBA draft and will not return to the Cardinals program

- Gonzaga guard Demetri Goodson is leaving the program to pursue playing college football at another school

- Georgia Tech guard Iman Shumpert has decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and stay in the NBA draft. With former-Dayton head coach brian Gregory at the helm, the Yellow Jackets will essentially have to start from scratch

- If you are a fan of Josh "Jorts" Harrellson (as you all should be), then you will definitely enjoy this tribute. We had Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue contribute a "Saying Goodbye" column about Harrellson as well

- Former-Iowa State walk-on John Lamb charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and violation of the Drug Tax Stamp Act.">has arrested on drug charges. Lamb, who left the team last season, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver

- Former-Villanova forward (And Algebra-3 classmate of mine) Dante Cunningham, was arrested in Radnor, PA for possession of marijuana

- Former-UTEP commit Daz Starke has committed to play at Idaho

- Wyoming's public profile may be on the rise, as Larry Nance Jr., the son of the former Cavs and Suns star, has committed to the university

- Word on the street is that Louisville is reaching out to North Carolina State-transfer Ryan Harrow. If you remember correctly, news was leaked last week that Harrow was visiting Kentucky. Unfortunately, that news turned out to be inaccurate

- VCU's Joey Rodriguez is going to visit the White House this week, but before he does, he needed to ask his coach for a small favor: the senior point guard needed to borrow a suit from Shaka Smart

- All three tOSU buckeye seniors have signed with agents

- Eric Angevine wonders if Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan could end up in the Hall of Fame one day

- Michigan State coach Tom Izzo donned the hairnet and worked the cafeteria line during finals week in East Lansing

- Lon Kruger, the new head coach at Oklahoma, is doing his best to get fans back in support of the University's basketball team

- Former-Kentucky assistant coach Jeremy Cox will join Doc Sadler's staff at Nebraska as an assistant coach. Cox will replace Tracey Webster, who left to take an assistant job under Cuonzo Martin at Tennessee

- Former Colgate coach Emmett Davis has been hired on to Tulsa basketball coach Doug Wojcik’s staff

- Matt Painter is on the verge of hiring Duquesne coach Greg Gary as his final assistant

- New Mexico has found themselves a new director of basketball operations

- I know you have all been for this for a long time: A never-too-early 2011-2012 Hartford Hawks season preview (You laugh now, but just click the link, it's a very good read)

- The man at the center of the imfamous Kansas football vs. basketball brawl has been forced to complete court-ordered anger management classes (This headline right here is exactly how you know it;s the off-season)

- Your daily update on the Pauley Pavilion student seating fiasco

Video of Brandon Knight's pre-draft training



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Saying Goodbye: Josh "Jorts" Harrellson

In this world of NBA Draft early entry and one-and-done freshman, it is difficult to become attached to a college star. They simply don't hang around long enough. But when they do, that player becomes the fan favorite. There is nothing like watching a kid develop from a overwhelmed freshman into star as a senior. Those are the players that the fans connect with.

We reached out to some of the blogosphere's best, and over the next couple of weeks we will be running a series of posts saying goodbye to some of the country's best seniors.

Our sixth installment of "Saying Goodbye" comes courtesy of Glenn Logan, the managing editor of the great Kentucky basketball blog A Sea of Blue. There are many Kentucky basketball sites to choose from, but you won;t find one with as much insightful analysis as A Sea of Blue. You can follow along with A Sea of Blue on twitter at @truzenzuzex

Saying goodbye is something Kentucky fans have become used to since John Calipari came to Kentucky, usually to players moving on to the NBA who have a lot of college eligibility left. In the case of Josh Harrellson, though, he is leaving as a senior who will have averaged less than 5 minutes per game throughout his Kentucky career, but made the most of them when it counted, helping lead Kentucky back to a Final Four his senior year for the first time in 13 seasons. Such players usually find themselves elevated into the pantheon of the unforgettable at Kentucky, and Harrellson is no exception.

Little was expected of Harrellson after 2009-10, whch saw him log only 88 minutes the entire season. Despite a reasonably impressive performance in the exhibition games in Canada last summer, Harrellson was expected to serve only as a backup for Enes Kanter.

As the Kanter battle for eligibility drew out into the season, Harrellson was the starter by default at the center position. He played serviceably early in the year, but was pretty much what Kentucky fans expected him to be – a big body that took up space, set screens and got a few rebounds, but little else.

Harrellson famously sent out an ill-advised Twitter comment critical of coach John Calipari’s lack of recognition of his 26 rebounds in the annual intra-squad scrimmage known as the Blue-White game. Calipari was very angry with that tweet, and considered dismissing Harrellson from the team. But after some thought, Calipari decided to ban him from using Twitter and require him to perform 30 minutes of extra conditioning prior to every practice.

As the season went on, Harrellson’s play got steadily better. Few noticed it at first, because of the many weaker teams Kentucky played in the early part of the non-conference schedule. As the schedule wore on, Kentucky fans began commenting on blogs and call-in shows about Harrellson’s solid play, but most UK fans expected him to be exposed in the closing game of the non-conference season against the Louisville Cardinals in the brand-new KFC um! Center.

What happened in the Louisville game was extraordinary. Instead of being dominated by Louisville’s much more athletic big men like Terrance Jennings, Harrellson had the game of his life, exploding for a double-double including 23 points and 14 rebounds. Kentucky thrashed the talented Cardinals in the series inaugural in their brand-new gym, and Harrellson was a major reason why.

By the time league play began, Harrellson’s stats, particularly his rebounding, began to be noticed. After about one third of the SEC season had passed, Harrellson was among the leading rebounders in conference, and had begun showing signs of development in other areas of his game, such as defense.

When the SEC Tournament came around, Harrellson was a genuine force in the paint. While not offensively gifted, his many put-backs and occasional fast-break points began to give his Wildcat teammates more confidence in him. The Wildcats began giving Harrellson the ball on offense, and Harrellson obliged by putting it in the basket.

Perhaps Harrellson’s greatest achievement would happen in the 2011 NCAA Tournament’s third round, where Kentucky went up against the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes. In that game, Harrellson played Buckeye star freshman Jared Sullinger to a virtual draw, allowing Kentucky to play without double-teaming Sullinger in the post, and forcing OSU’s great 3-point shooters to put up challenged shots. Mainly because of Harrellson’s play on Sullinger and some timely shooting from Brandon Knight, the #4 seeded Wildcats upset the #1 seeded Buckeyes and went on to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels to get to the Final Four, where they lost to the eventual champions, the Connecticut Huskies.

Harrellson’s remarkable play has become the stuff of legend in Kentucky. Kentucky Sports Radio bloggers famously nicknamed Harrellson “Jorts” in reference to the blue jean shorts he liked to wear in the summer, and Harrellson embraced that nickname. As any fan knows, there is nothing quite like a catchy nickname to help propel a player into the hearts and minds of Wildcats fans, and that’s exactly what happened to Harrellson.

As Harrellson’s days as a Kentucky student-athlete come to an end, he is suddenly a hot property among NBA agents due to his marketability, he has started his own commercial venture, Jorts55.com.

Harrellson will almost unquestionably play basketball for a living somewhere, a prospect that seemed as unlikely as winning the Powerball lottery at the beginning of this past season.

What a difference a year can make. From unplayable to unforgettable in 12 short months – it could only happen at Kentucky.


More from "Saying Goodbye"

2011: DJ Kennedy, St. John's
2011: JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore, Purdue
2011: Matt Howard, Butler
2011: Keith Benson, Oakland
2011: Preston Knowles, Louisville


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The NCAA's methods of punishing can be unfair to the players

The Toledo basketball program has had their issues the past few years.

It started with the obvious -- the sports betting scandal that centered about Sammy Villegas and the games he fixed back in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. That news broke in 2008, which completely obliterated a program that had reached the NIT in 2007.

In the last three season, Toledo has won a grand total of 15 games. Its tough to win when you face the kind of roster turnover they have. Toledo listed 17 players on their roster in 2010-11. Eight were freshmen and five were sophomores. Three of the upper classmen listed had transferred into the program. 2010-2011 was the first for Tod Kowalczyk, as he was the third head coach at Toledo since the news of the betting scandal broke.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because late last week, Hayden Humes, a redshirt freshman on the Toledo team, was forced to transfer out of the program. It wasn't because of anything that he did, mind you. Rather, the program was such a mess before he arrived that there is no longer an available scholarship.

You see, during the past four seasons, the Rockets have had an atrocious APR. For the second year in a row, they failed to reach the 925 standard set. Their latest score as 858, which is an average of the four season from 2006-2007 to 2009-2010. And even though a press release said that Toledo's numbers in the 2010-2011 season should be above the national average of 940, since the Rockets averaged an abysmal 838 between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010, they will not be able to reach the cut off of 925 again.

This is the second year in a row that Toledo will have an unacceptable APR, meaning that they were docked three scholarships. Since there was not any space available for Humes, he opted to transfer out of the school instead of paying his own way.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to the way the NCAA punishes people.

Generally speaking, their penalties are fairly meaningless and usually far too light to create any kind of relevant repercussions. The worst part, however, is that the people that bear their brunt of these punishments are usually people that took no part in actually committing the violations. Remember USC two years back? Then-athletic director Mike Garrett barred a suddenly-surging Trojans basketball team from the postseason during the middle of the season in an effort to spare the football team a more serious punishment.

I understand the argument that Humes knew what was going on at Toledo when he decided to enroll there. But that doesn't make the result any more fair.

The NCAA shouldn't be forcing kids to pay the price for the academic struggles of the basketball program three and four years ago.
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Tuesday Morning Dump

It's Tuesday, a.k.a. The day after The Day After, a.k.a Day Two. The flow of hoops-related news is likely to pick up as the week progresses, so stay tuned.

Yesterday, Rob Dauster provided his brief commentary on the significance of Obama bin Laden's murder, so today it's my turn.

Let's try to remember that what happened isn't the be-all-end-all. Yes it's a significant day in American history, and it will serve as a huge moral boost to citizens and military personel. But let's not forget that we have a lot of work left to do. People in Alabama are still trying to regroup and recover. The same goes for those in Japan. Terrorism will continue exist. Yes, we can embrace this and enjoy it, use this as a moment to reflect on those we lost on 9/11 and the ten years since that moment.

But let's not forget that we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Now, back to your regularly-scheduled programming.

- Rick Pitino lost a family member in the 9/11 attacks. Yesterday he responded to the news of Osama Bin Laden's assassination

- Jacob Pullen is concerned about the safety of homeland security following the announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death

- The departure of Louisville assistant coach Tim Fuller is not having a good impact on the future of the Cardinals program. Highly-touted recruit Rodney Purvis has decided to decommit from Louisville and will open up his recruiting process again.

- Washington Post writer John Feinstein provides a great-read on the legacy left by Jim Larranaga at George Mason, and how Paul Hewitt must carry that burden. Eric Angevine notes that Hewitt is stuck in a "win-now" situation

- Jay Bilas takes issue with the removal of the early-entry deadline (Insiders Only)

- Jeff "Two Scoops" Goodman may leave Fox Sports for CBS and their stocked-cabinet of college basketball bloggers, reporters and columnists

- Within the past two weeks, Pitt's Ashton Gibbs has expressed his desire to stay in the NBA draft. But is is possible that the junior guard is having second thoughts?

- Matt Norlander is 50-50 on Brandon Knight's statement of being "50-50" on returning to Kentucky next season

- Former K-State guard Wally Judge enjoyed his visit to Maryland and has trimmed his list down to three

- Maryland senior Cliff Tucker has his doubts about teammate Jordan Williams return to College Park

- With Jim Larranaga at the helm of the program, Miami center Reggie Johnson continues to debate his draft options

- According to Adam Zagoria, George Mason-signee Corey Edwards may end up joining ex-GMU head coach Jim Larranaga at Miami

- Jay Larranaga, the son of the new Miami head coach, has turned down an offer from his father in order to stay on as an assistant coach with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA D-League

- George Mason introduced Paul Hewitt yesterday as the new head coach of the Patriot's basketball team. Despite just recently being formally introduced, he has already put in some work. He has already hired his first assistant coach as well as retained two GMU-recruits. Eamonn Brennan provides some insight on the CAA perspective of George Mason's hiring of Paul Hewitt

- Kentucky head coach John Calipari took some time out of his busy off-season to visit with some coal miners in the eastern part of the state

- Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen received an extension from the university after leading the Bison to a Patriot League championship

- Former-Indiana player and assistant coach Stew Robinson has been named as an assistant coach at Illinois-Chicago

- Why should undeclared class of 2011 center Joseph Uchebo choose Charlotte over Kentucky, Wake Forest and Florida State? Green Tinted Glasses provides your answer

- Penn State spent their last availible scholarship on un-ranked JUCO point guard Matt Glover

- Marquette needs to fill three more spots on their non-conference schedule. Cracked Sidewalks provides some good information on the possible opponents

- Your meme-lede-headline-thingy-of-the-day, courtesy of Casual Hoya

- !!!New Club Trillion post!!! Titus on Osama. Need I say more?

This picture needs no caption, lede, meme or description

Hawaii head coach Gibb Arnold spent some time teaching incoming freshman how to surf


Hawaii Basketball - Recruits Go Surfing from Warrior Insider on Vimeo.



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Jeff Goodman to CBS Sports?

For the first time in his career as the Scoop Master, Jeff Goodman is not breaking the story. He is the story.

According to The Big Lead, Goodman -- who is currently the lead (and only) college basketball writer at FOXSports.com -- is on the verge of making the jump to CBSSports.com. There have been rumors that this move would take place for a while; I first heard about it back in March.

For Goodman, the move makes sense. CBS is home to the NCAA Tournament. Gary Parrish, who is currently the lead college basketball writer for CBSSports.com, has gotten airtime the past couple of seasons as a studio analyst during the NCAA Tournament for March Madness On Demand. I'm sure the idea of getting some TV time was quite alluring for Goodman; well, for anyone for that matter.



CBS has been stockpiling college hoops scrives over the past few months. They've launched their Eye-On blogs and scooped up four of the best bloggers out there -- Matt Norlander (College Hoops Journal), Eric Angevine (Storming the Floor), Jeff Borzello (March Madness All Season), and Matt Jones (Kentucky Sports Radio). They've also added Jon Rothstein as a contributor, and still count the ever angry and always entertaining Gregg Doyel.

But Parrish and Goodman would be the big guns. No one in the industry is more connected than those two, and combined they broke seemingly every single coaching move this summer.

It begs the question -- is CBS now the online leader for college hoops coverage?

Its an interesting question to think about, as ESPN has a very strong staff of writers. Andy Katz has just as many basketball sources as Goodman or Parrish, and he also has a number of connections within the NCAA's staff as well. Pat Forde has been heavily involved in breaking the news of hoops scandals recently, including playing a role in the Central Florida/Kenneth Caldwell news. Dana O'Neil is probably the best storyteller in the CBB media. Eamonn Brennan and Diamond Leung do a solid job on the blog. Throw in the occasional article from Jay Bilas, Doug Gottlieb, and Fran Fraschilla, and the WWL is loaded with talent.

What say you, BIAH readers?

CBS or ESPN? Yahoo? Sports Illustrated?
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2011 Consensus Recruiting Rankings: Final

Rivals, Scout, and ESPN have all released their final Class of 2011 recruiting rankings, which means that it is time for us to update our consensus recruiting rankings.

We've done this twice before, prior to the July 2010 recruiting period and then once then again after ESPN, Scout, and Rivals all updated their rankings after July. In the process, we've seen three different players sitting at No. 1 overall -- as Michael Gilchrist, Austin Rivers, and now Anthony Davis were all thought at one time to be the best recruit in the country.


The way the players are ranked are fairly obvious -- their average ranking between the three outlets, which is the value listed under average (duh). The issue we ran into came with the kids that are not listed on all three sites. In total, there were 121 players that were listed on at least one of the top 100 lists, which means that this is more or less a list of the consensus top 121 recruits in the country. Using that assumption, we can determine that the missing values must be somewhere between 101 and 121, so we used the average for all the missing data points -- 111.

We also determined the average deviation from the mean (not to be confused with the standard deviation, which wouldn't make much sense considering we only have three data points for each players), which essentially shows the variance in the rankings for each prospect. The way we got this number was to determine the difference between each specific ranking and that player's average ranking and averaging the three values together (listed on the spreadsheet as Rivals/SD, Scout/SD, and ESPN.SD) to get the number listed below DEV.

For example, take a look at Sidiki Johnson, 85th in our rankings, and Rodney Cooper, who is 92nd. Johnson has an average ranking of 87.0 while Cooper checks in at 90.33. On the surface, it doesn't appear as if there is much difference between the two as a prospect. Johnson's average deviation, however, is only 3.33. He's ranked 84th by Rivals, 85th by Scout, and 92nd by ESPN. Cooper's average deviation is 27.56. He's ranked 49th by Rivals, but he doesn't crack the top 100 in either ESPN or Scout's rankings.

Now that we've gone through all of that, here is the spreadsheet we put together:


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The 'Kentucky Combine' is another example of John Calipari being ahead of the curve

Once again, John Calipari is proving that he is one step ahead of the curve when it comes to running a players-first program.

This afternoon at 3:00 pm marks the start of the two-day Kentucky combine. At least 23 NBA teams will have representatives at the Joe Craft Center as the five members of the Kentucky basketball team currently eligible for the NBA Draft -- Josh Harrellson, Enes Kanter, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and DeAndre Liggins -- will have an opportunity to interview with and work out for scouts.

The Kentucky coaching staff worked closely with the NCAA to determine what needed to be done to keep Knight, Jones, and Liggins eligible should they opt to return to Kentucky, meaning that no UK coaches will be involved as the workouts will be entirely run by NBA personnel.

Its genius.

Its no secret that the best recruits in the country view college basketball as nothing more than a one-year hiatus before they make their way to the NBA. And at a time when the rest of the coaches are moving up the early entry deadline to benefit themselves at the cost of their players, Calipari is doing everything in his power to make sure that his kids get the opportunity to make the most informed decision in regards to their future.

That's why Calipari is able to land just about any recruit that he wants. These kids know that he is going to push them to enter the NBA Draft if it is right for them. They know that he is going to prepare them for a career after their time, however, short, is done on a college campus.

Most importantly, however, Coach Cal knows that by running his program this way -- by establishing a track record of supporting his players and turning them into professionals as quickly as possible -- he is going to be able to have the ear of every top recruit in the country.

The criticism of running a program with this methodology is that Calipari will almost always have a team full of supremely talented freshmen. Winning with freshmen, critics will tell you, is not possible at this level of basketball. I wonder if those critics realize that in his two years at Kentucky -- in which six freshmen and eight players overall have declared early for the NBA draft -- Calipari has led his team to the Elite 8 and the Final Four.

Butler is the only other team that has been to the last two Elite 8's, having played in the last two national title games.*

*(The irony of this fact is that Butler is the polar opposite of Kentucky when it comes to recruiting. Brad Stevens lands the players that fly under the radar and builds a team through experience.)

Oh, and for what its worth, Trevor Lacey, a top 40 recruit from Alabama that is still uncommitted for the class of 2011, is currently on the Kentucky campus on a visit.

Coincidence?

Doubt it.
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Swiperboy thanks the troops

Our favorite collegiate rapper is back at it.

Tennessee' Renaldo Woolridge, aka SwiperBoy, posted a video on youtube last night of his newest song, titled USA Troops (Thank you):


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Brandon Knight is '50-50' on returning to school

North Carolina shot up the preseason rankings for next season when John Henson, Tyler Zeller, and Harrison Barnes all decided to return to school for the 2011-2012 season.

With those three back in the fold for another year, the Tar Heels, who were as good as anyone in the country after Kendall Marshall took the point guard reins midway through the season, have as much talent on their roster as any team we've seen in the past four or five years.

There is still a chance, however, that North Carolina won't be the hands-down favorite to win next season's national title. Kentucky brings in a recruiting class that not only has three of the top ten recruits in the country and four of the top 25, but it may not be complete. Trevor Lacey and DeAndre Daniels are still uncommitted for next season and both have Kentucky on their short list of schools. Lacey is actually on campus as we, umm, blog.


That class alone would be enough to make the Wildcats a favorite to return to the 2012 Final Four.

But with three of their most important players from this past season still deciding on whether or not they will remain in the draft, the Wildcats still have a chance to get better.

Junior DeAndre Liggins and freshmen Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight all declared for the NBA Draft. Liggins, without a first-round guarantee, seems like a likely candidate to return to school. Jones and Knight, however, are bigger question marks. Jones will likely be a late lottery-to-mid-first round pick should be leave. Knight, on the other hand, seems to be close to a lock to go in the top ten, possibly even the top five.

But according to Knight, he's still undecided on whether he will return to school.

"I'm still 50-50. I haven't really made a decision yet," Knight said on Thursday afternoon.

Most believe that it would be in Knight's best interest to return to school. It is tough to turn down being picked as high as Knight will be picked. Throw in the fact that Knight will likely be forced to, at the least, share the point guard duties with incoming freshman Marquis Teague, and there is no guarantee that Knight's stock will ever be this high again.

Knight also said something that should be worrisome to UK fans hoping that he will return to school.

"I'm always going to listen to coach (Calipari)," he said. "I'm just doing whatever is best for me. I'm listening to the people around me and talking to coach (Calipari). He’s been in the situation millions of times, so I'm going to trust him."

Its no secret that Coach Cal is a player's coach. Its no secret that he pushes his players to enter the draft if it is in their best interest. And if Knight is listening to Coach Cal, it seems pretty likely that the advice he is receiving is to go pro.
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Rodney Purvis de-commits from Louisville

Three weeks ago, Frank Haith added former Louisville assistant Tim Fuller to his staff at Missouri.

Fuller, who is very close to Haith, was known for his ability to recruit. The North Carolina native was integral in getting Rodney Purvis, a 6'4" guard and top ten player in the class of 2012, to commit to Louisville. And today, Dave Telep broke the news that Purvis has decided to open up his recruitment.

"It was hard losing [assistant coach] Tim Fuller and then having to focus," Purvis told Telep. "I talked it over with my family and we came to the conclusion that I would open up my recruitment."

Its obviously a big loss for Louisville -- losing a kid ranked in the top ten always is -- but the Cardinals are not out of the mix just yet. Purvis said that Louisville is still on his list, but has he builds a relationship with Pitino's new staff, he wants to keep his options open.


Here's a video of what Purvis is capable of:


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Monday Morning Dump

Just in case you happened to be no where near a TV, the internet, or a phone last night, President Obama announced last night that Osama Bin Laden was killed in a raid in Pakistan. My initial reaction was celebratory. I still remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I still remember walking past Dom Savo in the hallway when he told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I still remember sitting in Ms. Jackson's junior year history class, watching the towers collapse on TV. I still remember hearing the story of how a cousin of mine happened to make it out of the first tower that was hit.

I wanted that son of a bitch dead just as badly as everyone.

As the night passed, I got more somber. This is by no means the end to a 10 year war that we have been fighting. A symbolic victory, yes. But killing a figurehead doesn't stop the movement. The fight for Civil Rights didn't end when Martin Luther King, Jr, was killed. Bin Laden's killing won't stop Al Qaeda from producing a stream of terrorists. It won't stop the bombings. It won't make me feel any less stressed when boarding an airplane.

And most importantly, it won't stop the United States from sending a steady stream of our nation's children into a war that has killed countless service men and women.

Celebrate the moment. Be thankful that the families of those that died in the New York, Pennsylvania, and DC have a measure of revenge and closure.

But don't think that this is the end of terrorism.


The dump will be fairly light this morning.

- Luke Winn tells the crazy story of a Georgia Tech recruit that is currently playing in the Phillipines.

- How realignment will affect college hoops, from Jason King.

- Brandon Knight says he is still 50-50 on the NBA Draft.

- First evidence in the USD bribery case.

- Good stuff as usual from Matt Norlander on the NBA Draft deadline.

- Jeff Goodman put together a really good list of the top 20 hidden gems in the NBA Draft.

- Evan Daniels on the return of the Reebok Camp.

- Aaric Murray is heading to West Virginia.

- Andy Katz takes a look at how a mid-major assistant coach can get a head-coaching gig.

- Joe Mazzulla is getting an assistant coaching gig.

- Matt Howard deserved this award.

- Brad Brownell got a raise. Bo Ryan got a new contract, as well.

- A settlement was reached in the rape case of two former TCU hoopers.

- That's a lot of money.
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