Thursday Morning Dump

- John O'Connor, the head coach of the Holy Family basketball team that was caught on video knocking over one of his players before cursing him out, tells his side of the story to Philly.com.

- The big news story of the day was Tennessee getting a notice from the NCAA of their violations. Here is what the notice said (from the UT website). But Matt Norlander says that Bruce Pearl's fate has yet to be decided. Rocky Top Talk reacts to the NCAA's ruling

- You've got bubble questions, and Andy Glockner has got your bubble answers

- Mike Miller provides some insight on Duke's chances to win it all without Kyrie Irving and wonders "what if?"

- Jeff Goodman details the terrific job done at Fairfield by head coach Ed Cooley

- Seth Davis opens up the mailbag and answers some questions about the SDSU/BYU collision course, mid-major teams we should be weary of come tournament time, and the ammount of time it will take Oliver Purnell to resurrect DePaul

- Dana O'Neil interviewed SDSU coach Steve Fisher and explains why everybody, including the coach, is excited about the Aztecs. Speaking of Fisher, he addressed the school's student section and tells them "Stay Classy, San Diego"

- Dan Wolken drops the hammer on the NCAA following the notice of violations against UConn

- Everybody knows that Indiana is in a rebuilding process. Tom Crean has a loaded recruiting class coming in, and the Hoosiers have gotten some decent wins this season. Ken Davis details IU's slow-but-steady rise back to the top

- Jason Lisk addresses the PRI, Ken Pomeroy and Jay Bilas. In other words, this is a must-read

- Chris Dobbertean provides an excellent breakdown on the Mid-Major Conference races

- Jeff Eisenberg compiled a solid bunch of quotes from media-people regarding UConn's punishment (We did too, but B.I.A.H likes to spread the love)

- A great-read on Caltech's epic road losing streak. Dean Oliver was a fortmer Caltech player and assistant coach, he weighed in on what it meant for his alms mater to win it's first road game in 26 years. Meet the future-software-engineer who led the team to victory

Jeff Borzello briefs us on the Spartans need for Durrell Summers to regain his spring-form

- Eric Angevine wants to thank Jacob Pullen for disposing of any thoughts we may have to think-up of Nebraska getting an at-large bid

- The updated Player of the Year
standings from Ann Arbor

- Ken Pomeroy updates us on the KPOY Award standings

- John Gasaway drops some knowledge on understanding what you have and how to work with it

- Pat Forde debates the who the four #1-seeds should be. Dana O'Neil does the same

- UConn's Jim Calhoun will be absent for the Huskies' game on Thursday against Marquette due to a death in the family. Calhoun's sister-in-law, Eileen Fucile past away on Monday after a 12-year battle with cancer. The head coach missed seven games last season due to illness and will be suspended for three Big East games next season as a result of the NCAA's ruling of his program's violations

- USC head coach Kevin O'Neil says Arizona's Derrick Williams "is the most-protected dude since Michael Jordan". Story from the Los Angeles Times

- USC coach Kevin O'Neil is going to try a lineup-switch. The Los Angeles Times reports he will test out five-foot-seven freshman Fonte Smith at the starting point guard spot and will have Maurice Smith come off the bench

- Cal coach Mike Montgomery has been reprimanded by the Pac-10 for the post-game comments he made about the referees

- Starting next season, the UCLA Bruins are going to become a pack of nomads while Pauley Pavilion undergoes a face lift

- I missed this story from last week, but it's a great one. The Morris twins (known as "The Morri") are gaining a not-so-nice reputation for their on-the-court demeanor

- Seton Hall has introduced Patrick Lyons as their new Athletic
Director. After spending seven years as the AD at Iona, "the complete package" will now take his talents to the Big East

- We are all aware of St. John's impressive record at MSG this season. With the fanbase back on their side, is Madison Square Garden turning into the Johnnie's Jungle?

- Providence's Marshon Brooks dropped 52-large last night against Notre Dame in what may be the best performance in Big East history

- Georgetown head coach John Thompson III is carving out his legacy as a phenomenal coach and not just "the son of a former head coach" (We linked to the Casual Hoya article a couple days ago, but it's seriously worth another read)

- A good-read on the free-throw stroke of Ole Miss' Chris Warren. The senior is shooting roughly 95% from the charity stripe and is on his way to breaking shattering the SEC record for free-throw percentage

- it's never fun to sit on the bench, but as a freshman sometimes it's part of the process. Florida frehsman Casey Prather had trouble early on, but is starting to adjust to life at the D-I level

- It has taken Maryland four months to finally find an alternative option to Jordan Williams. But is it too late? Liz Clarke from the Washington Post has more

- Kansas State and Clemson will headline next season's Diamond Head Classic. The holiday tournament is being hosted by Hawaii and will also include Xavier, Southern Illinois, UTEP, Auburn and Long Beach State

- Temple may have loss to Duke last night, but there are always teaching points you can get, and use, from suffering defeat

- As week get closer to championship week, most conferences should sort themselves out. One conference that has a lot of sorting-out to do is Conference-USA

- Take a look at the state of the Missouri Valley Conference

- Here's a tentative-look at the American East Conference Tournament

- Rush the Court checks in on the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Atlantic-10, the Horizon League, the Northeastern Conference, the Southern Conference, and the Western Athletic Conference

- An interesting snippet from former-coach Nolan Richardson regarding current-Arkansas coach John Pelphrey

- Boiled Sports delves into the current state of affairs of the Indiana/Purdue rivalry

- The Bearcat Blog wants to know more about the Big East, so they go right to the source. A solid Q&A session with East Coast brainiac (but West-Coast-located) Raphielle Johnson

- Speaking of Cincinnati, the Bearcats got the signature-win they woere looking for last night in Washington, D.C. against Georgetown

- Memphis' Antonio Barton collapsed in a huddle during the Tigers game on Tuesday night due to dehydration. Josh Pastner says he is doing much better and will be healthy soon

- Liberty landed a verbal commitment from class of 2012 point guard Justin Beiber Larry Taylor

- The NBA Draft Blog makes the case for Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough

- An investigation has been launched into the case of the Holy Name basketball coach who attacked a player during a practice last week. (Go here for our take on it)

- James Naismith's original rules of basketball will be on display in Kansas City during March Madness

- The numbers you need to know from Tuesday night's action

- The top-ten contenders to be a part of Big East expansion

- Somebody wants more sportsmanship from student sections? You must be crazy (but the comments are kinda-hilarious, H/T Rush The Court)

On Tuesday night, the Vanderbilt Commodore mascot punched a student in the face, giving him bloody nose




Syracuse's James Southerland breaks out the "Chicken Noodle Soup" dance




The best broken-backboard fail you will ever see