Thursday Morning Dump

- Your must-read of the day comes courtesy of Rush The Court, who got an exclusive interview with Linda Gonzalez, the older sister of former-Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez. If you aren't aware as to why this is must-read, then just click the link. This is so must-read, it's practically can't-not-read

- The man who received a heart transplant from the former-UNC mascot has died. In 2007, Jason Ray, who performed as the Tar Heel mascot, was killed crossing the street outside the UNC hotel at the NCAA Regional Finals in New Jersey. Ronald Griffin, who was the recipient of Ray's heart four years ago, passed away over the weekend

- Rush The Court provides a great look at Challenge Week 2011 ( including the full schedule)

- Jason King tells us which newcomers are likely to have big seasons in the Big East next year

- South Park went after the NCAA in their latest episode, and Gary Parrish loved it

- NC-State transfer Ryan Harrow finally made his decision, and he's headed to Lexington. He will have to sit out a year, which will work well because incoming freshman point guard Marquis Teague will probably only stay at Kentucky for one season anyways. Is it time we start referring to Kentucky as "Point Guard UK" ?

- Kenneth Lyons, the all-time leading scorer in North Texas history got his degree over the weekend, some 28 years after leaving the school

- Earnest Ross, Auburn’s leading scorer, and reserve forward Ty Armstrong are leaving the Tigers' program

- Former-Towson forward Isaiah Philmore has decided to transfer to Xavier. The six-foot-seven Philmore is Xavier's second marquee mid-major transfer in the past two years

- New Mexico State has received a verbal commitment from New Orleans transfer KC Ross-Miller

- Former-Marquette forward Eric Williams has decided to attend Sam Houston State. The Texas native should be able to impose his will in the Southland conference

- Junior forward Johnny Thomas has announced that he is leaving Marshall in order to pursue a career overseas

- Morehead State has landed a commitment from JuCo guard Marsell Holden

- Jordan Goodman, a talented power forward in the Class of 2012, has decommitted from Rutgers after committing to Mike Rice's program last June

- Minnesota freshman center Dominique Dawson is transferring to Kentucky Wesleyan (D-II)

- Colorado State has made their second big move of the off-season, nabbing former-Arizona big-man Daniel Bejarano. Earlier in the off-season Tim Miles was able to center Colton Iverson from Minnesota

- Greg Paulus is building one hell of a resume. he's been a starting point guard (Duke), a starting quarterback (Syracuse), a women's basketball graduate assistant (Syracuse) and an assistant coach (Navy). Now he can add "Video Coordinator at tOSU" to his lenghty resume.

- The pros and cons of mid-major coaches taking contract extensions

- Penn State athletic director Tim Curley stated that there is no timeline for the head coaching search, but that the school will be offering a competitive salary. Former-Vanderbilt and South Carolina coach Eddie Fogler is aiding the school in it's coaching search. East Carolina's Jeff Lebo is being considered for the position. Justin Young drops some serious knowledge on understanding the reality of Penn State basketball

- Murray State has hired Chris Shumate, formerly of Cincinnati, as a new assistant coach

- Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar dropped a bunch of comments on his team's 2011-2012 non-conference schedule

- Robert Corn, the head coach at Missouri Southern, has spent the past few days helping the people of Joplin

- Kansas head coach Bill Self dropped a bunch of comments on recruiting hot topics

- On Tuesday, Big East coaches voted to allow all 17 teams to participate in the Big East Tournament. That's interesting because just a year ago, the coaches voted in favor of eliminating the double-bye. Jim Calhoun doesn't think Central Florida is "sexy enough" to join the Big East

- Clone Chronicles has six things that the Big XII can learn from the Big Ten

- Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany believes the NCAA should expand scholarship packages and compensate the athletes. Some think he's on to something, others, not so much

- It's no secret that St. John's has a loaded recruiting class coming in. Rumble in the Garden takes a look at the team's scholarship chart for the upcoming seasons

- Villanova By The Numbers did a great job of plotting trendlines for Atlantic-10 teams

- Michigan and Iowa State will start up a home-and-home series next year

- A look back at the 2010-2011 season for the Canasius Golden Eagles

- Will Morehead State's Kenny Faried get the draft respect he deserves?

- Would Oakland's Keith Benson be a good fit in Miami?

- Andy Bottoms provides his first impressions of the Big XII Conference in 2011-2012

- CBS Sports and their "Eye on College Basketball" (Yeah, I'm with you, the name could be a lot better) continues to play conference catch-up: the Atlantic-10 Conference and the Mountain West Conference

- Uh Oh, tOSU bloggers aren't too happy with what Mark "Club Trillion" Titus had to say about the Jim Tressel situation

I knew it wouldn't be long before Josh Harrellson starred in a dealership commercial