I'm of the opinion that college athletes should be paid. The details of how that can be accomplished in a fair and equal manner is another post for another day, but yes, I believe that the stars of college basketball and college football should receive some kind of monetary compensation beyond a scholarship.
That said, the most convincing argument that I have heard against paying players is the amount of attention and free publicity that these kids get during their collegiate days. Its probably fair to say that few prospects would be signing seven figure endorsement deals without the exposure they get from playing in college.*
*(I'd respond with "why not allow them to sign those deals in college and get paid their market value?", but again -- different post, different day.)
Jimmer Fredette has been doing just that. The former BYU standout became a national sensation this season, and now that his collegiate career is finished, he's starting to cash in on that fame. It started with selling posters, but The Jimmer is taking it a step further: he's signed a deal with a production company to chronicle his transition from a student-athlete to NBA player.
From SportsBusinessDaily:Fredette committed to allow Tupelo-Honey to shoot more than 100 hours of footage over 30 days. The New York-based production company plans to sell online and mobile vignettes and packaged 30-minute TV shows.
Obviously, there would be no interest (ahem, money) in making a documentary about Fredette if he didn't play college hoops this past season.
No programming has been sold yet, but Tupelo-Honey President Cary Glotzer said he’s already been having discussions and plans to sell footage to several outlets.
Glotzer plans to produce daily two- to four-minute webisodes, a daily video blog and weekly recap features. After the 30 days, Tupelo-Honey will produce a long-form documentary for a TV channel or theatrical release.
He also plans to sell sponsorship around the video content, and said some brands already are showing interest.
But couldn't he have made more money if he had been able to market himself during the season, when his face was on Sportscenter every morning? He was a topic of discussion around every water cooler and sports bar in the country during the winter. Now its the spring, and The Jimmer is back to being Jimmer Fredette, the cult hero of the college basketball blogosphere.
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Monday, April 25, 2011
Jimmer Fredette is making a movie |
Testing the waters: What teams have the most on the line? |
The deadline to enter into the NBA Draft came and went at midnight on Sunday night, meaning that as of now, the 50 names on our Early Entry List is just about final. (The NBA's official list probably won't surface until Tuesday or Wednesday, but most of the big names have made their intentions known.)
The deadline to withdraw from the draft is on May 8th. Who has the most hanging in the balance over these next two weeks?
No. 1 Texas: Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph
Jordan Hamilton is gone. The sophomore will sign with an agent, thus ending any possibility of returning to school. Freshmen Joseph and Thompson also have their name in the NBA Draft pool, although their futures are on two very different paths. Most reports have Thompson remaining in the NBA Draft, which, as we talked about at length on Saturday, puts Texas in a huge hole. The only front court returnee that saw any action this season would be Alexis Wangmene (who averaged all of 9.6 mpg) and Rick Barnes is not bringing in any front court players that can contribute immediately.
Joseph, on the other hand, seems more likely to return to school. Thompson is going to be a lottery pick this season. Joseph will be lucky if he gets drafted at all. But with Myck Kabongo coming in this year, does Joseph want to spend another season sharing the point guard duties? With Joseph and Thompson back, the Longhorns will be a favorite -- along with Baylor and Kansas -- to win a wide open Big 12. Without those two, Texas has all the makings of an NIT team.
No. 2 Kentucky: Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight, and DeAndre Liggins
As of right now, Knight appears to be the only one of these three that has made up their mind. He's a virtual lock to be a top ten pick, and with Marquis Teague coming into Kentucky next season, Knight would be forced to play off the ball next season. Jones is also likely gone. He has a chance to be picked in the back end of the lottery, and with the amount of front court talent Kentucky has coming in next season, odds seems long that Jones will stay. Liggins is a bit of an x-factor. His decision to stay in the draft may end up being the result of how well he tests out. Can he sneak into the first round as a defensive-minded three point marksman?
Kentucky is going to be either the preseason No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country next season, regardless of what decision these three players make. Without them, Kentucky will be young but talented, with isn't all that different from what the Wildcats have been the past two seasons. But if all three do return, Kentucky goes from being a very good team to one of the most impressive collections of talent of the past quarter-century. They would go from a Final Four contender to a national title favorite.
No. 3 Butler: Shelvin Mack
When Butler made their first national title game back in 2010, the Bulldogs were led by a three-man attack of Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard, and Mack. Hayward went pro after the 2010 season, and Matt Howard will graduate this spring. That leaves Mack, who is currently a borderline first-round pick, as the only one with a chance to be a Bulldog next season.
Butler has some talent coming back next season, as well. Khyle Marshall looks primed to be the next Butler star and is the kind of athlete you rarely see in the Horizon League. Andrew Smith is a solid interior presence. Floor leader Ronald Nored returns, as do Chase Stigall, Chrishawn Hopkins, and Garrett Butcher. Without Mack, this team will once again be at the top of the Horizon. But with Mack's scoring, leadership, and ability to knock down shots in the clutch, Butler has a chance to once again be a top 15-20 team.
No. 4 Pitt: Ashton Gibbs
Gibbs is an interesting case. There have been multiple reports that Gibbs has made up his mind to stay in the draft, but in recent days he seems to have backed off of those statements a bit. It would probably behoove Gibbs to return to school; he'd be lucky to get drafted this season.
He also has a chance to have a special season for the Panthers. Gibbs would be a preseason all-american and the focal point for the Panthers. Pitt can replace the production from Gary McGhee and Gilbert Brown this season, but losing Brad Wanamaker is going to hurt. Wanamaker was the Panther's best playmaker, which would put even more pressure on Gibbs should he return. The 6'1" shooting guard became Jamie Dixon's go-to-guy at the end of a clock, as Gibbs is one of the best in the country at creating a look for himself coming off of a screen. Without Gibbs, the Panthers will have some major question marks on the offensive end of the floor.
No. 5 Michigan: Darius Morris
Morris was one of the catalysts to Michigan's surprise resurgence this season. Averaging 15.0 ppg and 6.7 apg, he sparked a late-season surge that saw John Beilein's club win eight of their last 11 regular season games, getting an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament and nearly knocking off Duke to advance to the Sweet 16. Morris, for what it is worth, is likely a second round pick.
The rest of the Wolverines are young, talented, and fit well into the system than Beilein likes to run. But Morris is the engine. He's the guy that creates the open looks on the perimeter for sharpshooters like Zak Novak and Stu Douglass. He's the guy that gets Jordan Morgan open looks around the rim. He's the guy that defenses have to focus on, opening up driving lanes for Tim Hardaway, Jr. With Morris, Michigan will be a top 15 team in the preseason. Without him, they may not crack the top 25.
No. 6 Xavier: Tu Holloway
There is no question that Holloway was one of the most valuable players in the country this past season. He averaged 19.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.4 pg, and 1.4 spg while hitting countless late free throws and clutch shots down the stretch of games. With Dante Jackson and Jamel McLean graduating this season, losing Holloway would mean a team that rarely went more than six or seven deep would be losing three of their top five scorers. There's an argument to be made that, should Holloway return, he'll be the best point guard in the country.
No. 7 Tennessee: Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris
The Volunteers are in a state of turnover. Bruce Pearl is out, Cuonzo Martin is in. They have the NCAA breathing down their neck. And if Hopson and Harris remain in the draft, then eight of the ten players in the Tennessee rotation that averaged double figure minutes will be gone. Hopson and Harris both have the talent to be first round picks in the NBA Draft. If they return, Martin will have a solid foundation -- along with Jordan McRae, Skylar McBee, Trae Golden, and Jeronne Maymon -- to build on.
No. 8 Missouri: Kim English and Laurence Bowers
Like Tennessee, Missouri will be heading into next season with a new head coach, as Frank Haith replaces Mike Anderson. With Justin Safford the only senior member of Missouri to graduate, the Tigers will be returning quite a bit of talent -- Marcus Denmon, Phil Pressey, Ricardo Ratliffe -- regardless of whether English and Bowers opt to remain in the draft. If they do come back, Missouri will be a contender for the Big 12 title.
Others:
The Eagles are losing eight seniors to graduation this offseason. If Jackson returns, he's talented enough to make BC a contender for an at-large spot in the tournament. If he doesn't return, BC's leading returning scorer will be a walk-on.
With Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Julian Vaughn all graduation, Thompson is being counted on to carry the Hoyas -- along with Jason Clark -- next season. Thompson has the potential to be an all-Big East player.
The Yellow Jackets have a roster returning with some talent on it. With new head coach Brian Gregory, it will be interesting to see if Shumpert is willing to return for another season.
The Terps lose quite a bit to graduation, but Terrell Stoglin and Pe'Shon Howard both showed some potential this season. Williams will be one of the best big men in the country if he does return.
Shurna's couldn't stay healthy this past season, which may have cost Northwestern a shot at a tournament berth. Juice Thompson graduates, but with everyone else coming back, Northwestern has a chance to be solid next season with Shurna.
With Tim Abromaitis, Scott Martin, and Eric Atkins all coming back, Notre Dame may be able to withstand the loss of Ben Hansbrough next season. But that will hinge on Scott's decision, as his inside-outside ability was a large part in what made the Irish so dangerous offensively.
Thompson seems like he is going to remain in the draft, which, combined with DeAngelo Casto's decision to turn professional, will push the Cougars back to the bottom of the Pac-10.
The Mountaineers will already be losing a number of key players to graduation. If Jones opts to stay in the draft, WVU may end up being an NIT team in 2012.
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Did Ed DeChellis land his point guard of the future? |
Penn State lost their two point guards this season.
Talor Battle, one of the best players in the history of the school, has graduated after what felt like a 10 year career. His half-brother, freshman Taran Buie, is gone as well due to a number of disciplinary problems he had at school.
But over the weekend, Ed DeChellis landed his point guard of the future, assuming he is able to keep his job until the 2012-2013 season. Juwan Staten, a 5'11" point guard that averaged 8.5 ppg and 5.4 apg for Dayton this past season, picked the Nittany Lions as his transfer destination, over the likes of Louisville. Staten is a former-top 50 recruit and played on the same All-Ohio Red AAU team that produced Aaron Craft, Jared Sullinger, and Adreian Payne.
The year off may be beneficial for Staten. He's clearly a terrific playmaker -- averaging 5.4 apg as a freshman on a team that struggled to score points is impressive -- and is able to finish around (and above) the rim, but Staten is far from a good shooter. He shot just 38.8% from the floor this past season and was 4-26 from beyond the arc. If he can take this year off and improve his shooting, he has a chance to be a very good player in the Big Ten.
That said, there seem to be some off the court issues with Staten.
There were some chemistry issues between Staten and his upper-classmen teammates. It was bad enough that after Staten had made his decision to transfer, when Archie Miller -- the new Dayton head coach -- offered to allowed Staten to change his mind, the rest of the Flyer team advised against it.
Staten may be a me-first player, but he is also one of the most heralded players that DeChellis has brought into the Penn State program.
At this point, it is worth the risk.
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10 Things I won't miss about the 2010-2011 Season |
The 2010-2011 is long gone, and there is no getting it back. We now have to wait roughly 175 days until sanctioned college basketball begins again. Some of us will fill the void it by projecting next season's field of 68 or the top recruits in the class of 2013. But for us, at least at the current moment, it's high time we start reflecting on what made the past season both special and frustrating.
First up, the top-ten things that we won't miss about the 2010-20112 season. We laud college basketball as the greatest sport on the planet, which it most certainly is. But that doesn't mean it doesn't come with baggage. In order to get the good, you have to deal with some of the bad that goes along with it.
Now, some of these things may return next season, but the next few months will provide some sanctity for our tortured ears and eyes.
The Top 10 Things I Won't Miss About the 2010-2011 Season:
10. The Kansas State Catastrophe
With every day that passed, a new issue arose in "The Little Apple".
Let's see, where to begin.
Well, before the season even began, Dominique Sutton decided to transfer.
But things really went south once the season actually started. (Try to follow along, there's about to be a lot of news thrown at you)
Curtis Kelly was benched early in the season for not living up to the program's standards, then was suspended for receiving illegal benefits, a.k.a he got free swag from a clothing store. Even after those two incidents, he reportedly violated the school's student-athlete honor code. You really have to make an effort to get in trouble that much.
Wally Judge sat out due to personal problems for a few games then sparked controversy for his in-game salute to the Pinstripe Bowl controversy. FIU-transfer Freddy Asprilla left the program, reportedly because he couldn't "handle it". First it was reported that he was going to play pro ball in Europe in order to raise money for his ill mother. Then it was reported that he would be transferring to Canisius.
Jacob Pullen lashed out at fans on twitter, said he wouldn't play in the N.I.T. and was also suspended for receiving illegal benefits. When you add in Frank Martin's ever-colorful demeanor both on and off the court, the Wildcats were almost always in the news. It was good to see K-State turn things around at the end of the season, because we respect Jacob Pullen far too much to wish any of that upon him.
But seriously, that's just way too much news on one team for us to cover.
9. Wiz Khalifa/YouTube Remixes
Who doesn't love hip-hop? If you love hip-hop, like us, then you probably love remixes. I mean, who doesn't?
Wiz Khalifa absolutely blew up in late 2010/early 2011, in large part to his single "Black and Yellow". Listen, I really liked the song, and I still think it's good, even after the unnecessary radio overkill.
But what really tested my limits was the endless, countless college remixes in which some "budding" artist (and I use that term loosely) replaced "Black and Yellow" with the colors of his school. A few of the remixes weren't THAT bad, but some of them were flat-out dreadful.
Listen, if your school colors don't rhyme with "Black and Yellow", you shouldn't make a remix of the song.
End of Story.
Here are some of the examples of people who didn't get the memo.
(The following list is just a small sample size. There are plenty of more out there. But I couldn't bring myself to listening to one remix an infinite number of times)
Alabama - White and Crimson
Central Florida - Black and Gold
Georgetown - Blue and Gray
Kansas - Red and Blue KU
Oklahoma - Boomer Sooner
South Carolina - Black and Garnet
Syracuse - Orange and White
Tennessee - Orange White
UConn - Kemba Walker
VCU - Black and Gold, Black and Yellow
There were a few exceptions to this rule. But it just so happens that these exceptions didn't use Wiz Khalifa's song. Indiana student's put together a solid one, made all the better by featuring some rather attractive co-eds. The Gaels of St. Mary's were repp'd well by "Gaels Gone Wild" which featured a pretty solid beat and a well-produced music video.
Again, these were more "exception" than they were "rules".
This Duke rap however, was no exception. It's awful, and it's not even a Wiz Khalifa remix.
Listen, I'm all for fan-creativity. But a line needs to be drawn. You need to know when enough is enough.
If "Black and Yellow" is still catchy in 2012, or if crappy remixes are still being made, I may have to double-Van Gogh myself.
8. RCN not getting the Big-Ten Network
The B.I.A.H HQ is fully equipped with what-we-were-made-to-believe is the most comprehensive sport-package available from RCN, our trusty television service providers.
It's true, we don't get The Mountain, and we only get a limited number of FSN-West games, but with the innovations in pirated Internet streaming, adjustments for the most part could be made. That is, of course, with the exception of the Big-Ten Network.
All the Google searching in the world couldn't help us find a good stream of the Big-Ten Network, and RCN was not able to help us with explaining why we didn't get The BTN and how we could get it. Now with 374 teams in D-1 hoops, there were almost always a game or two on TV, and with ESPN3 and online streaming, we could almost always watch the games we wanted to see.
At this point, you are probably wondering, "Why do you care if you don't get The BTN?"
I have but one simple answer: GUS JOHNSON.
Sure, Gus-Jeezy is on CBS every week or so after the NFL season concludes. But you have to understand our frustration if the man is providing the public with the sounds of his golden pipes on a weekly basis and we aren't able to listen to him do so. I mean, we did fine with limited coverage of the Big-Ten Network, but everybody could use more Gus Johnson in their daily lives. I know I could.
Do you know how many times I had to listen to Steve Lappas and Sean Farnham? More than I ever cared too. You know how many times I listened to Gus-Jeezy? Not nearly enough. So, RCN, it's your move. Time to step your game up for next season.
7. Bruce Pearl's lack of decision-making skills
Have you ever watched somebody from afar try to pick their nose and eat what they find?
They look around to see if anybody is watching, dig in, pause, look around again, double check, and sneak in the nasal treat, all while you are watching, going "Ahh man, no, don't do it" and "Oh man, he's totally going to do it.....ewwww".
That's kinda like how I will remember Bruce Pearl's final 14 months at Tennessee. He broke a rule, which is fine I guess, everybody isn't perfect. You can't look at me with a straight face and say you have never picked your nose. You'd be lying if you did. But instead of just admitting he was wrong, or flicking the booger away, he decided to see if he could get away with it. But once you do something for the first time, and like it, you are bound to do it again, and that's what Pearl did.
He didn't just break one rule, he broke numerous rules. You know the NCAA was sitting there knowing what he was doing, and just waiting for him to either come clean or continue to dig at his nose. And that's just what he did.
Even in as late as March, Pearl committed an NCAA violation, and it eventually cost him his job.
I know this analogy has been pretty bizarre but hopefully you get the idea.
I will miss Pearl's bravado, but I won't miss his lack of judgement.
6. Twitter Misuse
If it was not for my involvement in sports media, I would never EVER use twitter.
I believe it is a valuable resource for people in marketing, promotions, and public relations. But unfortunately, twitter is over-run by classless fans, athletes who can't spell, people who try to communicate with celebrities and college students who are unaware of twitter's functionality.
Sure, I guess twitter can be used to express your opinions, feelings and frustrations. But it seems like a majority of the D-I college basketball players are unaware that when they tweet something, it's likely to be re-tweeted by thousands of people. Every tweet they send out is eventually seen by TV analysts, national writers, head coaches, and athletic directors.
I'm aware that twitter only provides 140 characters for each thought. But would it kill you to use correct spelling? Oh and by the way, don't try to pull this "my account got hacked" stunt. That doesn't happen. Even if it does, how come people's accounts only get hacked when they say something controversial?
But the athletes are not the only ones to blame. Have you ever seen some of the things people have tweeted at Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas or Terrence Jones? I understand that fans get frustrated. Hell, I do. But I also realize that these athletes are kids working their asses off to represent their school.
Twitter isn't going anywhere, and we will likely see the same type of shenanigans next season. But hopefully fans and players decide to ease up during the off-season.
Do it for the sake of my sanity.
5. JimmerMania
Don't get me wrong, I love watching Fredette play. Every time he brought the ball over half court, I would urge him through my TV to "make it rain" from 40 feet. The kid is polite, full of swagger and has a nice, attractive Mormon girlfriend.
But I liked Jimmer when he was our little secret. I liked it when only the basketball media would drool over his circus shots and his Mormon-moxie. I liked it when "You Got Jimmer'd" was in it's infancy, before he became a regular on every "talking heads" sports show across the country.
I guess I'm taking the indy-hipster-emo-jam band music approach. You know, like when an unknown band that you love suddenly blows up and becomes famous. Once the band becomes mainstream, the longtime supporters decide the music isn't good anymore.
Well, I don't think Jimmer "sold out", but I certainly could have done without the music videos, parodies, and letters to the editor.
For us uncoordinated, unathletic white kids, Jimmer was our hero, our cult-icon. But then the media had to go all ga-ga over him and ruin the special bond we had.
While I will miss watching Fredette launch shots from the souvenir booth, I won't miss the mass hysteria that he produced.
4. Renardo Sidney
There aren't many things more compelling than watching two guys try to punch each other unconscious.
I love fights: schoolyard fights, locker room brawls, donnybrooks, melees, bench-clearing brawls, cages fights, slobber-knockers, street fights, cat fights, pretty much all fights with the exception of boxing matches.
But despite all of this, I found the Renardo Sidney vs. Elgin Bailey bleacher brawl to be somewhat un-nerving.
This wasn't Sidney's first mistake, and while he wasn't the instigator of the fight, he should have known better. Up until December 24th, 2010, Sidney had played in a grand total of two college games. Yet I was forced to read and hear about his attitude problems, weight issues and NCAA violations.
Once he actually started to play, he showed actually showed some signs of promise. He even proved some doubters wrong by deciding to return to Starkville for his junior year.
But for all the buzz around this kid, nothing he accomplished last season made up for the fact that he was the biggest headache in college basketball for a good 12 months.
Seriously, I've never met the guy, and I already hate him.
3. Rule 9, Article 13, Sections 1-3
The elbow rule. Hands-down the most stupid thing done to college basketball since, well, ever.
Coaches and camp counsellors have been teaching rebounding fundamentals since the beginning of time. You can't just decide to implement a rule that would change the way basketball is played right before the season starts. Rules like this need implementation, regulation and most importantly, education. All we got was a graphic during Marathon-Madness and some re-hashing during in-studio halftime reports.
I understand that it was a safety concern, but again, swinging your elbows to clear out space has been part of the game for so long, it's hard to tell gifted athletes to just stop doing what they are doing.
Even if they had decided to make it a rule, which they did, why make it a "flagrant two with possession"? The rebounder is only doing what he has been taught over and over and over again. If anything, the NCAA should just fine players for flagrant contact (Oh wait, I forgot, players don't get paid).
I hope to God the NCAA does some serious thinking during the off-season. This rule needs to go back to whatever dark crevice it came from and should stay there for all eternity.
2. UPS Logistics Commercial
Companies use many advertising tactics in order to make their commercials and marketing campaigns stick. Fresh slogans, celebrity endorsements, even catchy jingles. Some work, others don't.
UPS clearly forgot to schedule any focus groups and must have ignored all feedback and viewer response, because the "logistics commercial" they marched out for the 2010-2011 season had the most annoying, brain-numbing jingle I havee ever listened too.
I never liked the song "That's Amore". So why on Earth would I enjoy that same tune describing the benefits of logistics?
I don't know a god-damn thing about logistics. I've been made to believe that it has something to do with making sure small businesses save money on shipping and handling fees.
Even the overly-repetitive "NAPA know-how" commercial seemed pleasant compared to the "logistics commercial". I know we weren't the only ones who frequently used ESPN3.com and their wonderful replay streams of college basketball games. But did ESPN3 really have to choose the "logistics commercial" as the only advertisement to use over-and-over again?
It got so bad that @ballinisahabit quickly muted his computer or television every time this disaster-of-a-jingle would come on. If you every wanted to add just a bit of misery into his day, tweeting a link of the commercial to @ballinisahabit would do the trick.
1. Jimmy's Jet
Not every production idea or programming segment is a hit, I get that. For every "Pardon the Interruption" there is a "Steve A. Smith Show".
But the "Jimmy's Jet" segment during ESPN-televised games was by far the worst in-game segment I have ever seen, bar-none.
Did not a single programming director realize how corny it was? Did nobody ever wonder to ask if people enjoyed it? How many executives OK'd this idea? I really feel like somebody should have been fired for allowing this to run week after week after week.
True, it was only a 30-60sec segment, but man, those seconds were rather brutal. Just give me a standard-issue Bubble Watch. I don't need aww-shucks-Jimmy Dykes using airplane analogies and foolish graphics to tell me who is on the bubble and who isn't.
I would have paid to see a camera-shot of Brad Nessler's reaction during those segments.
Jimmy Dykes is OK at his job (although if you check any SEC message board, you will realize many fans don't share my sentiments). His southern accent gets on my nerves sometimes, and sure, he has an over-abundance of unnecessary catch-phrases, but ussually he does adequate work.
But this "Jimmy's Jet" thing has to go.
Take it from me, the broadcast production major still toiling in the Internet ranks, "Jimmy's Jet" doesn't work. It never worked, and if I see it again, I may have to do something drastic.
Somebody call Amilia Earhardt, we have another mission for her.
Continue reading...
BYU will be in trouble in Brandon Davies can't return to school |
Late last week, news broke that Brandon Davies had finished up his winter course work and had withdrawn from BYU. The plan, it appears, is for Davies to work with the dean of students in an effort to become eligible to return for next season.
If you remember, Davies was dismissed from the basketball team in the middle of BYU's run to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament due to a breach of the school's honor code, which most believe was the result of premarital sex with his girlfriend.
Cougar fans better hope that Davies is allowed to return to school.
Because without their junior center in the lineup, it could be a long season in Provo. 
Both Jimmer Fredette and Jackson Emery have graduated. Promising freshman Kyle Collinsworth will be spending the next two years in Russia on his Mormon mission. Logan Magnusson and James Anderson also won't be back next season. Losing Davies could be devastating. You see, the 6'9" power forward really began to show the depth of his talents this season. He became a legitimate scoring threat on the block as well as an improving rebounder and shot blocker. As the leading returning scorer on the roster, Davies has a chance to break out as the focal point of Dave Rose's offensive attack.
Without Davies, however, BYU could be in some trouble in their new conference.
In 2011-2012, BYU will be a member of the now-nine-team WCC. And while that league was dominated by Gonzaga in years past, it is one of the most-improved leagues over the past few years, the CAA's west coast counterpart. St. Mary's is consistently in the conversation for an at-large bid, Santa Clara is a dangerous team, and San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, and Portland have all had quite a bit of talent pass through their program in recent seasons.
Both Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo return for their senior seasons, and former-UCLA recruit Matt Carlino should be eligible to play in December, but without Davies, BYU may have trouble competing at the top of the WCC.
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Monday Morning Dump |
Hope everybody had a good weekend worshiping the elusive egg-laying rabbit. The flow of college hoops news was about as slow as
- The New York Daily News had a great expose on the question-marks surround North Carolina's Quality Education Academy
- A look at the fall semester GPA's of SEC programs. Maybe Bob Knight was talking about Arkansas. (A 2.28 GPA? The walk-ons need to start pulling their weight)
- A new NCAA restriction will force AAU tournaments to look for new tournament host sites
- Kansas has released their 2011-2012 non-conference schedule. The Jayhawks will play Kentucky at Madison Square Garden and will also square off against Ohio State and USC
- While John Calipari may suggest his program is geared towards "players-first", the tradition of the program is for the fans and no longer the players
- Rick Pitino is getting close to hiring a new assistant coach. The three candidates are Wyking Jones, Will Wade and Kevin Keatts
- Gonzaga got a commitment from JUCO forward Guy Landry. Earlier in the week, Bulldogs reserve forward Mangisto Arop announced he would be transferring. Landry will be able to immediately fill in for Arop.
- Oklahoma got a verbal commitment from six-foot-ten center Casey Arent
- A good look at the off-season roster changes amongst Ivy League schools
- Why aren't the group of NBA-draft eligible Pitt Panthers ranked very high?
- On Friday we pointed out that news broke indicating that Temple's Ramon Moore was declaring for the draft. But now it seems as though he will stay in school
- In case you were unaware, the NBA Draft early entry deadline was last night
- Arizona State recently revealed their new school logo. The school switched from their cartoon-like devil to a gold and maroon trident. But some people think the new logo is too similar to the symbol of a notorious Chicago street gang
- Some UNC ballers got to pose for a picture with Snoop Dogg (I hope it wasn't taken last Wednesday)
Continue reading...
Saturday, April 23, 2011
The Big Three of Texas go pro; who else has been hit hard by early entry? |
On Thursday, news leaked that Tristan Thompson would be entering the NBA Draft.
It was mildly surprising, simply because of the number of players that have been returning to school and the fact that Thompson made mention that he would not be going pro once the Longhorn's season ended.
On Friday, Jordan Hamilton officially entered his name into the NBA Draft and announced that he would be signing an agent, which was an even less surprising move than Thompson's decision.
What was surprising, however, was that freshman point guard Cory Joseph also put his name into the NBA Draft. Joseph had a decent season, but he came no where near living up to the hype that he had coming out of high school. Part of the problem was the fact that he had to share ball-handling duties with Dogus Balbay and J'Covan Brown, and while Balbay graduated, Rick Barnes brought in Myck Kabongo, who may be the best pure point guard in the country this season. If Joseph has no desire to play another season splitting minutes as the lead guard, there is a chance that he could stay in the draft.
If he does, it will be interesting to see what happens to Texas. With all three back, the Longhorns were a top ten team and the favorite in the Big XII. Without all three gone, this team could fall to the NIT. Their front line will consist of Alexis Wangmene and a group of freshmen. Their back court will lack size and experience, relying on Kabongo and Brown to do all the scoring.
That's a precipitous drop for a program that recruits the way that Texas does.
Here are a couple of other programs that have had a season obliterated by early entry:
2011 Georgia: The Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament in 2011, although they still had a bit of a disappointing season. With two potential lottery picks on their roster in Tristan Thompkins and Travis Leslie, the Bulldogs lost two of their last three games, backed into the tournament as a 10 seed, and lost to Washington in the first round. With Leslie and Thompkins both entering the draft, it will be tough for Mark Fox's program to get back to the dance.
2010 Nevada: Yes, Nevada deserves to be on this list. In 2010, this looked like a team that was peaking. They had won 21 games and finished in tied for second in the WAC regular season race. The Wolfpack made the second round of the NIT, but then both Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson entered the NBA Draft. Combine that with Mark Fox's decision to take the head coaching job at Georgia, and Nevada had a disastrous season in 2011. They finished 13-19, a record that was bolstered by an 8-8 record in a watered-down WAC.
2009 Arizona: Despite losing five of their last six games in the regular season, Arizona was led by Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill to the Sweet 16 of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. But after the season, as Arizona made their fourth coaching change in four seasons, both Hill and Budinger went pro, skipping their senior seasons. The Wildcats finished 2010 just a game over .500 and didn't play in the postseason.
2009 USC: The Pac-10 was loaded in 2009, which is why USC -- like Arizona -- was able to get into the NCAA Tournament with a 9-9 league record. A 10 seed, the Trojans advanced past Boston College before falling to eventual national runner-up Michigan State in the second round. But after the season, the drama surrounding OJ Mayo's recruitment by Tim Floyd came to a head. Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett, and Demar DeRozan all entered the draft, Floyd resigned his position, and the Trojans lost their entire recruiting class. USC finished 16-14 overall and 8-10 in 2010.
Ironically, the Trojans seemed to be the surprise team of the nation in 2009-2010 after winning eight in a row. But USC handed down a self-imposed postseason ban for the 2010 season in December of 2009.
2008 Stanford: In 2008, the Cardinal rode the broad shoulders of twins Brook and Robin Lopez to the Pac-10 title game and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. But after the season, the sophomores both left for the NBA, leaving Stanford with a depleted roster. The Cardinal won their first 10 games in 2008-2009, but they finished 6-12 in Pac-10 play and were forced to participate in the CBI.
2008 UCLA: This was the culmination of a number of years of early entry for the ruins. From 2006-2008, Ben Howland had himself a powerhouse in Westwood, making three straight Final Fours in that time. But after the 2008 season, freshman Kevin Love, sophomore Russell Westbrook, and junior Luc Richard Mbah a Moute all went pro. UCLA still made the tournament in 2009, as a six seed, but with Josh Shipp and Darren Collison graduating and Jrue Holiday leaving as a freshman, the Bruins were out of the postseason in 2010.
2007 Florida: This may be the most ironic inclusion on this list. Florida came from virtually no where to win the 2006 national title, and instead of going pro, Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Taureen Green all decided to return for another season. They ended up winning back-to-back national titles, and after that group decided to enter the NBA Draft in 2007, the Gators ended up going to back-to-back NIT's in 2008 and 2009.
2007 Ohio State: Thad Matta has had as many one-and-done players as any coach in the country, and never was that more evident than in 2007. Riding one of the best recruiting classes in the country, the Buckeyes made the 2007 national title game. But after the season, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, and Daequan Cook all went pro after just one season in Columbus. The Buckeyes were in the NIT in 2008.
2006 UConn: UConn had as much talent on their roster in 2006 as any team in the past five seasons, but Jim Calhoun was never quite able to get this team to put it all together. They struggled through the 2006 NCAA Tournament before succumbing to one of the greatest upsets of all-time, when George Mason beat them for the right to go to the Final Four. After the season, Josh Boone, Rudy Gay, Marcus Williams, and Hilton Armstrong all left for the NBA. Combine that with Rashad Anderson and Denham Brown graduating, and the Huskies were left with an empty cupboard in 2007.
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Weekend Dump |
- I know it's Saturday, or depending on how your night went, maybe Sunday. But Gary Parrish's "Five for Friday" provides great answers to five good questions. You probably shouldn't wait
- Pat Forde on Josh Selby and the one-and-done (Better late than never, right?)
- BYU center Brandon Davies will be allowed to suit up for the Cougars next season, despite leaving the University. The Sophomore sparked controversy when he was suspended from the program due honor code violations before last season's NCAA tournament. But as Eamonn Brennan tells us, his coaches, teammates and fans will welcome him back with open arms
- UConn made headlines yesterday for two reasons. First, it was revealed that Jim Calhoun will have to donate his championship bonus if the academic progress report for his program does not meet NCAA standards. Second, sophomore forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and two others were arrested on Thursday night for possession of marijuana. Apparently they were in possession of 5.6 grams of weed, a grinder, and a package of blunts (Fellas, come on, 4/20 was 48 hours ago. You had your chance then. This is unacceptable)
- The story that picked up the most steam late this week was the "Jim Larranaga to Miami" story. On Friday, it became a done deal. Word on the street is that talks broke down and things got pretty ugly between the George Mason head coach and the school's athletic director Tom O'Connor. The early favorite to replaced the 14-year head coach is Bill Courtney, a former-assistant who helped put together the 2006 Final Four team. The debate about Larranaga's decision to leave is endless. Some believe it is a bad idea. The general consensus is that Larranaga, 61, is too old to help rebuild this program. One guy wonders how long Larranaga will stay at "The U". Others aren't paying attention to the concerns about the head coach's age. Another guy notes that both coaches of the last two National Champions are over the age of 60. These guys think Miami's hire was a safe choice. I think what all this debate boils down to is whether or not he is a good fit there. But don't get confused, this deal is all about the money (and maybe the location too). All your Jim Larranaga-related links and quote
- Corey Joesph will join his Texas teammates Jordan Hamilton and Tristan Thompson in this year's draft. At least for now. The freshman guard is still likely to remove his name before the May deadline. The Texas roster has taken quite a hit this week
- Fellow-Canadian and former-Louisiana Tech star Olu Ashoalu is declaring for the draft as well
- Georgetown small forward Hollis Thompson has decided to join the party by testing draft waters
- Rumor has it that Temple's Ramon Moore is declaring for the draft. Or is he? (Tweets like this are not cool)
- Alex Young, the leading scorer for IUPUI, has announced that he will return for his senior season
- But the winner of "Most obscure draft early entrant goes to South Dakota guard Charlie Westbrook. The Cyotes' leading scorer is likely to just test the waters though.
- Colorado State got great news this week: Former-Minnesota center Colton Iverson has chosen CSU as his landing spot
- Kansas Jayhawk-forward Thomas Robinson had his hearing for battery charges scheduled for May 23
- Kemba Walker continues to get the star treatment: He gets to sit court side with Mayor Bloomberg at the Knicks vs. Celtics Game 4 on Sunday
- San Francisco Dons' head coach Rex Walters will be suspended for one WCC game next year for violating the league's sportsmanship guidelines
- According to San Diego head coach Bill Grier, just the thought of this point-shaving scandal makes his sick
- John Calipari recently released his "program manifesto" on his personal website. He preaches for a "players-first program", which essentially means "telling the truth, even when it hurts"
- About a week ago, we mentioned that Virginia Tech assistant coach Adrian Autry would be joining the Dayton program as an assistant coach. However, that deal was held up due to "human resources" and he will now replace Rob Murphy as one of Jim Boeheim's assistants at Syracuse
- North Carolina State's board of trustees just recently approved the contact of new head coach Mark Gottfried. Terms and conditions of his new deal were also released
- The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that the NCAA's ticket purchasing lottery for the Final Four does not violate state laws
- Are the Golden Gophers still stuck in the post-scandal-era? If you aren't sure, you should probably click the link (I Certainly was, so I did)
- Some good analysis of Pat Forde's piece regarding Josh Selby and the one-and-done
- Diamond Leung lists the finalists for the Eddie Sutton Award, which honors the toughest, warrior-like player in college hoops (Gotta be Howard, right?)
- MMM's Mid-Major Morning Mashup is easily my favorite dump-esque post of the day. Friday's edition was no exception
- And we end with your one "bizarre news story somewhat-related to basketball of-the-week"
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Jim Larrananga makes the jump to Miami |
Jim Larrananga's decision to move from George Mason to Miami certainly was a surprise.
Larrananga has built Mason into a powerhouse in the CAA, arguably the nation's best mid-major conference the last couple of years. He returns the majority of his roster from a 27 win team at a school where he was treated like a living legend from a better-than-you-think fan base. Larrananga is also a Providence alum. The Providence job has come available twice since his Final Four run (including this offseason), so if he wanted a rebuilding job at a power conference, why didn't he go to his alma mater?
Its not a hard argument to make that, from a strictly basketball perspective, George Mason is a better job than Miami.
The issue, however, is that nothing is ever strictly about basketball.
Before you criticize this move, answer me this. Let's say you were offered the same job that you currently have with a more powerful company where you make almost double your salary and you get to move to South Florida. Throw in the fact that you can work for a boss that you actually get a long with, and I'd be willing to bet that 99% of the people out there would take the new job.
That is exactly what Larrananga did. He moved from the CAA to the ACC, he got a significant raise, and he no longer has to work for an athletic director that he reportedly did not get along with. And I would be surprised if Shaka Smart's brand new contract didn't play a role in this decision.
Larrananga is, given the circumstances, a great hire for Miami. They couldn't get any of the young, hotshot coaches this offseason and they didn't want Frank Martin. "Settling" for a guy that has taken a CAA team to the Final Four and built the program into one that is consistently in the mix for an at-large bid is nothing to be embarrassed about.
The question is whether or not Larrananga will be able to win at Miami.
For long-term success, the key is obviously going to be recruiting, and as long as the program is competitive, it should never be difficult to recruit high school kids to Miami for college. In the short-term, however, Larrananga has a chance to win immediately. The Hurricanes have talent on their roster; Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant are a very underrated back court duo and Reggie Johnson, should he opt to return to school, is a force on the block.
The Hurricanes lost a lot of close games down the stretch last season, and much of that blame has been attributed to Frank Haith.
It will be interesting to see if Larrananga can turn those close losses into close wins.
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Friday, April 22, 2011
UConn's Jamal Coombs-McDaniel arrested for possession of marijuana |
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel was arrested on Thursday night.
The sophomore swingman for the national champion UConn Huskies was caught with two other students by campus police in a dorm with 5.6 grams of weed, a grinder, and a pack of blunts. It certainly isn't difficult to figure out what their plans were.
Obviously, this is not the kind of publicity that UConn needs right now. This is a program that most believe is dirty after Nate Miles spoke to the media during the Final Four about the story that Yahoo! broke two years ago. Throw in the laptops that were stolen by Marcus Williams and AJ Price and a couple of other disciplinary issues (the arrest of Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins three years ago comes to mind) and its not wonder why rival Big East fans refer to the Huskies as You-Con.
There is no doubt that Coombs-McDaniel will face some kind of punishment.
The question I ask is how big of a deal is this?
The day before Coombs-McDaniel was arrested was April 20th, also known as 4/20, the counterculture holiday for folks that enjoy puffing the cannabis. Thursday also marked the first day of UConn's spring weekend.
Coombs-McDaniel deserves to be reprimanded.
But he should be reprimanded for being dumb enough to get caught, not for possessing a small amount of weed on what is no doubt the biggest party weekend of the year in Storrs, CT.
If you disagree, think back to what you did as a sophomore in college.
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Friday Morning Dump |
- Eamonn Brennan provides our must-read of the day: "what-if" scenarios for the 2010-2011 season
- IF you must read more than one article today, peep this: Jason King breaks down the top in-state rivalries
- Gregg Doyel is positive that next season will be much better than this past season
- Chad Forde has an updated list of who is in and who is out
- Eric Angevine highlights the notable holiday tournaments of next season
- The New York Post is reporting that Jim Larranaga will leave George Mason in order to take over as new head coach at Miami. Now, George Mason granted the coach permission to speak with Miami, then it was reported that Larranaga met with his team after the discussion. Gary Parrish is reporting that the head coach is still undecided on his future
- Jamine "Greedy" Petersen was dismissed from the Providence basketball program last year for a "Violation of team rules". Word on the street is that it involved helping a recruit receive sexual favors from a female student. But apparently Peterson is denying claims that he ever spoke on the matter (but, like, a story like this isn't just made up, right?)
- The North Carolina Tar Heels are starting to build a school tradition with their popular games of pick=up
- Matt Norlander details the similarity between the NCAA eligibility issues of Enes Kanter and UC-Irvine's Maxime Chupin
As always, more links after the jump
- Texas' freshman forward Tristan Thompson has changed his mind and will now enter the NBA draft. During the NCAA tournament, Thompson stated that he was coming back for his second year and had already signed up for summer classes. Apparently, Thompson's parents have been interviewing agents for a while now.
- Two weeks ago, Dayton freshman Juwan Staten announced his intentions to transfer. He has now stated that he will be attending Penn State. This is a huge get for PSU. The Nittany Lions will be losing seniors Talor Battle and Jeff Brooks, along with freshman Taran Buie, who recently announced he would be leaving the program
- Colorado's superstar sophomore Alex Burks has declared for the NBA draft. He is also planning to hire an agent, forgoing his final two years in Boulder. Burks' decision to enter was probably made much easier due to the choices made by his peers
- West Virginia junior forward Kevin Jones has decided to enter the NBA, but will not hire an agent. If Jones stays in, will the Mountaineers be able to regroup?
- A bunch of good reactions from around the web on Ashton Gibbs' decision to stay in the NBA draft. The Junior guard is positive that he is making the right decision, but his family is sending mixed messages
- DePaul's Michael Bizoukas will graduate in June but still has one year of eligibility left. But he does not plan on spending his final season at DePaul
- Seldomed-used Mangisto Arop will transfer out of Gonzaga
- Michigan's standout sophomore Darius Morris will test the draft waters
- It looks like Brandon Knight may be staying in the NBA draft for good
- A recap of where we stand with the Dion Waiters "is he staying or is he going" drama
- Earlier in the week, Washington State's DeAngelo Casto announced he would be leaving school in order to enter the NBA draft. Casto was suspended during the N.I.T for a marijuana charge. It now looks like he will be cleared of those charges
- JUCO guard Colin Beaty has been released from his national letter intent by Loyola (IL)
- New Loyola (IL) head coach Porter Moser has hired on TCU assistant Armon Gates as one of his ne assistant coaches
- Don't think that you have to belittle Bruce Pearl when admiring Cuonzo Martin
- A day after losing three of his top players to the NBA draft, John Calipari issued a doctrine on his personal website about his belief in a "players-first program"
- The Florida Gators have lost two recruiting visits during the 2010-2011 academic year due to self reported NCAA violations
- San Diego State players are being investigated by federal agents as part of the San Diego point-shaving scandal
- Some good quotes from highly-touted Serbian prospect Nenad Miljenovic. The guard is close to moving to the United States, and has USC, UCLA and Hawaii a top his list
- I've been waiting ages for somebody to profile Minnesota's dunk-machine Rodney Williams (Thank you noble scribe)
- A quick recap of Washington State's up-and-down season
- A recap of just another one of Texas' over-achieving yet under-performing seasons
- Is Princeton the cream of the Ivy League crop? The tone of this article certainly would me me believe so
- LeBron James could learn a thing or two from Derrick Williams' "decision"
- Well will you look at this: Kentucky fans don't like Louisville Courier-Journal writer Rick Bozich
- Morehead State is making billboards to commemorate their NCAA tournament win over in-state rivals Louisville
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Coach Cal talks about his coaching methodology |
Kentucky head coach John Calipari has garnered quite a bit of criticism for the way that he builds a team.
In essence, Coach Cal has embraced the art of the one-and-done. Cal and his staff (his staff never gets enough credit for the work that they put in on the recruiting trail, in my opinion) are able to routinely recruit the best players in the country because they know that once the season ends, he has their best interests in mind. Its no secret that Cal basically told John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins last year that they had no choice but to enter the NBA Draft, essentially forcing their hand on the decision.
As you might imagine, this process doesn't exactly go over well with the folks that are enamored with the 'good ole days' of college hoops, where players stayed for three or four years, earning their degree before they took off for the NBA.
Cal responded to his critics today on his website CoachCal.com:Being a Players-first program means:
I couldn't agree more with what Coach Cal is saying.
1. During the recruiting process, we don’t make outlandish promises about playing time, starting positions, minutes, shots, points or anything to these young men that we can’t keep. At Kentucky, you have to work for everything and compete every day at the highest level.
2. The second part is that once the season begins, we are teaching players to be the teammate they want to play with. Our whole focus is on team play. I want individuals to play well but I’m getting them to understand nothing of significance will be accomplished by themselves.
3. Lastly when the season is over, when our TEAM is done playing, my job is to help them make the best decisions, with the best information I can give them, for them and their families. I’m not trying to convince them to come back if that’s not in their best interest. Likewise, I’m never trying to shove anybody out the door.
During the season, college basketball is about the team. Its about a group of kids coming together, playing as a unit, and winning while performing at their highest level in whatever role they are assigned on the team. But once the season ends, it becomes about the individual. Entering the NBA Draft should be solely about what is best for that particular player and their family given the circumstances that they are living in.
Cal understands that.
And the best players in the country realize it. That is why every blue-chip high school player in the country wants to be a Kentucky Wildcat right now. Because they know that the Kentucky coaching staff will fully support and push for what is in that player's best interests.
Since Kentucky seemingly has their pick of high school prospects, it makes it all the easier for Coach Cal to support a player like DeAndre Liggins declaring for the draft to gauge his interest. He can withstand the loss of three of his most important players because he knows that he will be bringing another crop of lottery picks the next season.
Coach Cal recruits by selling a fast track to NBA riches.
You may not like it, but it works. He's been to an Elite 8 and a Final Four using the method, and he has his best recruiting class to date coming in next season.
How many schools can make those claims?
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Harrison Barnes plays wheelchair basketball for charity |
Harrison Barnes is a unique individual, and I'm not just referring to the fact that he is a 6'8" small forward with a perimeter game that is smooth enough to garner him consideration for a top five pick whenever he decides to enter the draft.
As you all should know by now, Barnes made the decision to return to school next season, making North Carolina the early favorite to win the 2012 national title. Barnes said that part of the reason he made the decision to return to school was to "I'm here to experience college life and grow as a person".
I think his actions on Wednesday would qualify.
Barnes participated in a charity wheelchair basketball to support Pi Kappa Phi fraternity and Push America, an organization dedicated to enhancing the life of people with disabilities. Kendall Marshall, Reggie Bullock, and Justin Knox were also in attendance, although they could not participate in the game due to study hall obligations.
Combine that with the fact that the Barnes and the Tar Heels seem to be a genuinely likeable group of kids that also play pick-up games with students at UNC, and I challenge any and all Duke fans to tell me how anyone can root against this team for reasons other than the shade of blue they chose to wear.
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FBI speaks to SDSU players |
Here's to hoping that the game-fixing scandal that rocked the University of San Diego this month didn't spread to their crosstown rivals.
According to a report from the San Diego Union Tribune, a number of San Diego State players were questioned by the FBI in regards to the sports bribery being investigated at USD.
The players were questioned because they had been contacted by one of the 10 people indicted in the case, the sources said, but the nature of that contact remains unclear – whether it was an approach to fix SDSU basketball games for bribes or whether it was as innocuous as a friendly chat.Apparently, the questioning was not the result of the FBI being suspicious of the Aztecs. Rather, players from SDSU had been in contact with the some of the 10 defendants in the USD case.
"San Diego State student-athletes fully cooperated with FBI agents," a statement from SDSU said. "Since that time, San Diego State athletic department officials have been in continuous communication with the FBI and have been told that there is no plan for additional interviews with the student-athletes."
"At no time during this process were any of the San Diego State student-athletes the focus of the investigation or accused of any wrongdoing."
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Tristan Thompson is going pro |
After Texas lost in disappointing fashion to Arizona and Derrick Williams' broken pinky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament back in March, Tristan Thompson told reporters that he would be returning to school.
He wasn't asked the question, either. He offered up the information unsolicited. That's why so many folks actually believed Thompson.
Today, however, it appears as if Thompson has changed his mind. From the Austin American-Statesmen:
Tristan Thompson ... will not return to Texas for his sophomore season and instead will make himself eligible for the NBA Draft, a source close to his family said.
The source said he spoke to Thompson this week.
An NBA scout familiar with Thompson’s situation also said the player would leave school.
This is probably a good decision by Thompson. With the number of high picks that have decided to return to school, Thompson has a real chance of being picked in the top ten. As well as he played down the stretch of the season, Thompson is a prospect with some flaws. He's got terrific athleticism, a frame that can hold more muscle, and the wingspan to make up for the fact that he is a shorter than ideal for an NBA power forward, but he's still a very raw prospect. His skill set -- back-to-the-basket game, face-up jumper, etc. -- has not yet caught up with his physical tools.
Seeing as he is also already 20 years old, its likely that Thompson won't have to opportunity to go this high in the draft again.
It also appears likely that Jordan Hamilton will be entering the draft. He has yet to make an official announcement, but there have been reports that he is in Las Vegas working out already.
If Hamilton does return, Texas may be the favorite in what appears to be a weakened Big XII. The Longhorns will have a terrific back court, as freshman Myck Kabongo joins Cory Joseph and J'Covan Brown. The front court, however, will be a bigger problem. The lone returnee is Alexis Wangmene, who averaged just 9.6 mpg this past season. Jonathon Holmes and Kevin Thomas will have to make an immediate impact for Rick Barnes.
If both players are gone, Baylor appears to be the most talented team in the conference, although they failed to live up to that their talent level this year. Kansas loses a lot -- the Morrii, Josh Selby, Tyrel Reed, Brady Morningstar -- but Bill Self has stockpiled top 50 recruits and does bring back Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson. Texas A&M and Missouri will also factor into the race.
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Derrick Williams played with a broken pinky |
Derrick Williams had a sensational season.
The guy that couldn't crack anyone's top 100 recruiting lists averaged 19.5 ppg and 8.3 rpg while shooting 56.8% from three point land as a power forward. He had a number of absolutely dominating performances down the stretch of the season, including the 26 points, 11 boards, and game-winning block he had against Washington and the 32 points and 13 boards he put Duke in Arizona's blowout Sweet 16 win.
Most impressive?
He did all of that despite having his right hand -- his shooting hand -- strongly resemble a club for the last two months of the season. What had been reported was that Williams sprained his pinky, which is why he wore such a heavy wrap on his hand.
It turns out that Williams did a bit more that just "sprain" his pinky. He broke his finger. How close did he come to having his season ended?
"If I cracked it a half inch lower, I would have had to have surgery," Williams told reporters on Wednesday. "If I had to sit out, I would sit out, but I wasn't going to sit out if there was no reason. I just wanted to continue to play with my teammates for as long as I could."
"I told Coach I was going to play no matter what. I wasn't going to sit out. Obviously, there was a risk to that if I broke it again or made it worse. But I just wanted to go out there with my teammates and win as many games as possible."
Now not only has Williams shown a tremendous amount of improvement over the last two seasons, he dominated the second half of this season playing with just three fingers on his shooting hand. And he still managed to throw down poster dunk after poster dunk and knock down 42-74 threes on the year.
That has to be something that makes the NBA front office types salivate even more.
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Thursday Morning Dump |
- Gary Parrish doesn't understand why Kentucky fans are so pissed at Bob Knight (Neither do I. Seriously. Get over it. it's Bob Knight. I stopped taking him seriously about five years ago.) But should ESPN be held responsible for what Knight said?
- Despite making millions, billions and possibly trillions of dollars from college football, the Big-Ten shares it's ticket revenue between football and basketball
- Long-time Tar Heels announcer Woody Durham announced his retirement. So the least Mike Miller could do was round up some highlight clips
- Kentucky's Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and DeAndre Liggins announced today that they would declare for the NBA draft but would not be hiring agents. Despite everything Calipari said, you have to imagine he would love to have these guys back next year. At least that's what Jeff Goodman thinks (And who are we to question "The ScoopMaster" ?) Ryan Greene wonders if any of them will back out before the draft deadline. Terrence Jone's AAU coach is unsure if he will stay in the draft
- Harrison Barnes showed his versatility by competing in a fraternity wheel-chair basketball game(Much safer than when Tyler Hansbrough showed off his versatility by jumping off a Frat House roof into a pool)
- Derrick Williams played the final two months of the season with a broken pinkie
- The expectations of Vanderbilt just got a lot higher. The Commodores trio of Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins and Jeff Taylor will all return to school next year. With the announcement that the Kentucky trio of Knight, Jones and Liggins will declare for the draft, Vanderbilt has to be considered the early favorite to win the SEC next year. Oh wait, Kentucky has another No. 1 recruiting class...
- UC-Irvine's freshman center Maxime Chupin has been deemed ineligible by the NCAA. The NCAA's student-athlete reinstatement committee decided Wednesday to uphold an earlier ruling that he had received extra benefits from a club team in France
- Oregon State walk-on senior Kevin McShane finally received a scholarship
- Kevin Ware signed an LOI with Central Florida earlier in the week. However, that LOI was denied because a NCAA rule prevents a player from signing an LOI with two teams in the same year. Despite this clause, Ware still intends to play for the Golden Knights
- On Monday, we addressed the issue of Vee Sanford transferring from Georgetown (which was quite possibly the most time anybody has ever taken to address Vee Sanford). Casual Hoya provides some updates on Vee's transfer options
- For those of you who are concerned, here is a quick Tu Holloway draft decision timetable
- St. John's-recruit Dwight Meikle has been released from his National Letter of Intent
- Adam Zagoria provides a solid list of the expected rosters of the NYC-metro Big East trio
- Four Pitt Panthers will be available for draft come June. At least three of them have room for improvement
- Syracuse assistant coach Rob Murphy will be introduced today as the new head coach at Eastern Michigan
- The Stetson Hatters found their new coach in Belmont assistant coach Casey Alexander
- Mitch Henderson, a Northwestern assistant coach for 11 years and former Princeton Tiger, will return to his Alma Mater to take over as the team's new head coach
- IPFW head coach Dane Fife has been hired by Tom Izzo to become an assistant coach at Michigan State
- IPFW associate coach Frank Jasick will replace Fife as the Mastadon's (That's right, their mascot is the Mastadon) new head coach
- Penn State assistant coach Lewis Preston has been named the new head coach at Kennesaw State
- Butler's lead recruiter Micah Shrewsberry left earlier in the week to take an asisstant position at Purdue. Graham Watson wonders who will become the new lead recruiter for the Bulldogs
- New UNLV head coach Dave Rice is going to challenge the UNLV football coach to an exhibition tennis match
- The big question in Storrs, CT is should Jim Calhoun retire or keep coaching? Here are some reasons why he should stay
- Jim Boeheim is the master of confusing the media to no end
- According to new Miami AD Shawn Eichorst, the new Hurricanes head coach needs to have a positive attitude (Which is probably why Frank Martin was never contacted). But consider this, Miami hasn't even interviewed any coaches yet. Hell, Stetson and Kennesaw State already have new head coaches. What are they waiting for?
- Patrick Nero, the Commissioner of the America East Conference has stepped down in order to become the new Athletic Director at George Washington
- Utah lawmakers want the annual Utah/USU game to continue despite the Utes move to the Pac-12
- A 2010-2011 player report card for Michigan's Darrius Morris
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