Wednesday Morning Dump

The big news of the day had to do with the public release of the Academic Progress Rates. Dan Wolken of The Daily took the APR (Absolute Phony Reasoning) to task. Eamonn Brennan thinks that maybe the system is working. But overall men's basketball Academic Progress Rate scores were up five points this year. But schools that are strapped for resources, like many HBCUs struggle to meet the academic standards

- As previously noted, UConn did not meet the standards and will be docked two scholarships. Four other schools will be penalized for their low scores. UNC-Wilmington was also below the minimum score, but won't be penalized because they served their penalty in advance of the 2010-2011 season. Indiana scored a perfect 1000 on the APR, but then again, everybody on their team has been injured in the pasty two years, so they all better be getting their school work done

- A look at how the Big East schools did on the APR. A look at how the Chicago-area schools did. A look at how the SEC schools did

- Members of the Missouri basketball program are doing all they can to help the people in Joplin recover from the devastating tornado that hit the city on Monday. You can help donate by purchasing a "One State. One Spirit. One Mizzou" t-shirt. New head coach Frank Haith is going to Joplin to help rebuilding efforts. Kim English went to twitter to help raise awareness

- Jason King breaks provides insight on the top potential newcomers in the Big-Ten Conference

- Despite not having twelve member-schools, the Big XII will not change it's name

- The 2011-2012 season is roughly seven months away. But that doesn't mean we can't already make first impressions. Well, that's what Andy Bottoms did for the Big Ten

- In case you didn't read our most-recent edition of Hoops Housekeeping, Louisiana Tech high-flyer Olu Ashaolu is transferring to Oregon

- Due to a interesting NCAA rule barring players from attending schools which employ their former HS/AAU coaches for two years, Lamont "MoMo" Jones won't be able to attend St. John's next year. If you are confused, fear not (I am too), Rumble in the Garden has you covered

- Michigan State guard Russell Byrd is going to have surgery to fix an injury on his left foot, the same foot he broke his freshman year

- Fran Fraschilla continues to provide friendly advice to coaches in their first year at new high-major schools (Insiders Only)

- Tennessee is paying $7-million to coaches who no longer work at the University

- Speaking of Tennessee, Eric Angevine wrote a brilliant profile-piece on Cuonzo Martin and the tough task he faces in his first season at Tennessee

- The Naval Academy's athletic website gathered some reactions to the Ed DeChellis hiring from head coaches around the country. Black Shoe Diaries provides a robust list of potential replacements in Happy Valley. But the coaching search might not be as easy as Penn State thinks. As Ray Mernagh explains, the administration will need to show more commitment toward the basketball program in order to be successful

- A fantastic analytical breakdown of the contrasting styles of former-Washington State head coach Tony Bennett and current-Washington State head coach Ken Bone

- A Sea of Blue tries to take a look inside the soul of John Calipari

- Speaking of coach Cal, after watching Dirk Nowitzki drop 40-points in Game-4, the Kentucky head coach wants Dirk to visit Rupp Arena

- Morehead State has hired former-Slippery Rock assistant Jareem Dowling to be a member of Donnie Tyndall's staff

- The Detroit News gets to know new Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy. The former-Syracuse assistant is out to revive a program that hasn't made it to the NCAA tournament since 1998

- As word continues to spread that the SEC will abandon it's basketball divisions, UConn head coach Jim believes that the Big East will adopt a divisional split. Could the Big East possibly expand their conference tournament to 17 teams?

- Yesterday we mentioned the idea of a Horizon League/MAC Challenge (Well, we mentioned a link suggesting it, but you get the drift). Today, we bring you (well, somebody else does, we just provide the link) The CAA/Atlantic 10 Invitational (Once again proof that writers use the Morning Dump to find article ideas). Want more on a potential CAA/Atlantic-10 Invitational? Big Apple Buckets has you covered

- In order to provide more money for their popular basketball program (including their head coach's $1.2 million contract), Virginia Commonwealth will increase student fees

- In case you weren't already aware, the Kentucky/UNC game is going to be the must-watch game of the year (Well, outside of the game being played on the aircraft carrier)

- New UNLV head coach Dave Rice is hoping that the new home-and-home series with Arizona will revitalize a once-fierce rivalry

- Speaking of UNLV and non-conference opponents, the Runnin' Rebels will postpone their out-of-conference series with Louisville for two years. More on UNLV's 2011-2012 non-conference schedule

- Swish Scout provides great guide to the "Boom or Bust" guys in the 2011 NBA Draft: The ten riskiest players in the draft

- Rush The Court asks the age old recruiting question: Whose got next? (If you aren't a fan of the recruiting scene, like myself, this is your easy-to-read weekly update)

- NBADraft.net makes the case for the No. 1 overall pick: Derrick Williams and Kyrie Irving

- After interviewing Tennessee's Scotty Hopson, one NBA GM stated "He's from another planet" (Must be the haircut)

- Matt Norlander plays conference catch-up with The SEC. Jeff Brozello does the same with the ACC

- A 2011-2012 season preview for the Dayton Flyers. They will see a lot of turnover next year. Head coach Brian Gregory is gone and in is Archie Miller. But the big loss is Juwan Staten, who transferred to Penn State (but may change his mind in the wake of Ed DeChellis' decision to leave PSU in favor of the Naval Academy)

- A two part series taking a retrospective look back at the 2010-2011 season of the Hofstra Flying Dutchman Fightin' Charles Jenkins Pride