Wednesday Morning Dump

- There is a reason that Gary Parrish is one of the most enjoyable reads when it comes to college hoops. Columns like this are that reason. I would block quote something, but it goes against blogger ethics to block quote an entire column.

- Jeremy Hazell spoke about getting shot on Christmas day. Pretty terrifying stuff. The good news is that he was able to make it to Seton Hall's game against South Florida last night.

- Marcus Morris was thrown out of a game against Cal last week for a series of elbows he sent towards Harper Kamp. The result? The bench. Thomas Robinson will be starting for the Jayhawks up front against UT-Arlington. As will Josh Selby, since Tyshawn Taylor got stuck in New Jersey with the blizzard that hit over the weekend.

- The pearl of Chris Mack's 2011 recruiting class at Xavier has decommitted from the school. D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera has decided to reopen his recruitment in an effort to get a better feel for some of the other schools that showed interest. Xavier is still in the running, and as we all learned with Myck Kabongo, that does hold weight.

- I read Play Their Hearts Out. I loved Play Their Hearts Out. I became a fan of Roberto Nelson while reading Play Their Hearts Out. He debuted earlier in December after missing a year and a half getting his grades in order. George Dohrmann, the author of the book, highlights the heartbreaking reason that Nelson's grades went down the drain in the first place.

- Tyler Honeycutt will be in the lineup for UCLA as the Bruins take on the Washington schools in the Pac-10's opening weekend. That's huge for UCLA. If the Bruins really want a shot at the conference title and a tournament berth, they need to get these two wins at home.

- According to this Andy Katz report, Rick Stansbury is trying to work through what actually happened between Elgin Bailey and Renardo Sidney before making any decisions. Apparently, Bailey wouldn't move his feet from the aisle when Sidney tried to walk by, and one thing led to another until the two were throwing haymakers at each other.

- Seth Davis with his midseason superlatives column. There isn't much I can legitimately disagree with in there. Love the dap he sent Norris Cole's way.

- Hopefully, we will know more about Kyrie Irving's toe injury next week.

- Matt Norlander put together a pretty informative breakdown of Florida State and Chris Singleton.

- Well, he needs to do something. Right now, Tom Crean needs results, not recruits. That said, playing five guards probably isn't the answer.

- Derrick Williams is only "quietly" in the player of the year race if you aren't paying attention. Or if you live on the East Coast. Can Big East fans even name all the Pac-10 teams anymore? Didn't they just add Fresno State? Who can keep track of those conferences anymore ... Maybe he is quietly in the race.

- John Shurna's ankle injury could play a big role in Northwestern's chances at the NCAA Tournament.

- This is big. Really big. I'd equate it to Bobby Knight talking about rebounding percentage's in a broadcast.

- Despite an earlier report that he was already committed to Memphis, Seton Hall transfer Ferrakhan Hall is still weighing his options.

- Minnesota freshman big man Maurice Walker is out for the year after tearing his PCL.