FanHouse http://www.fanhouse.com FanHouse http://www.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif FanHouse http://www.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ Mack May Be Back to Memphis http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/09/mack-may-be-back-to-memphis/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/09/mack-may-be-back-to-memphis/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/09/mack-may-be-back-to-memphis/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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The decision by sophomore Doneal Mack to transfer from Memphis last month was a bit of a surprise. It was reported that he was unhappy with only averaging 12.5 minutes per game. The reserve guard was, however, poised to get more minutes with guards Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose going to the NBA. The once highly recruited guard didn't choose a SEC or ACC team as initially indicated. Instead, he ended up choosing the University of New Orleans at the beginning of July and began to take classes.

Apparently he's had another change of heart. Barely a week at New Orleans and he wants to return to the Memphis Tigers. While it appears that Coach John Calipari is willing to take back the flighty Mack, the NCAA is now involved. Mack registered and began taking classes at another school. While it is within an actual window of time to return (14 days) and he took part in no athletic activities, there is still a bureaucracy that needs to be followed before he can be fully reinstated.

All the same, if I'm running the Memphis Tigers website, I don't list his bio and name on the roster until the NCAA signs off on this.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-07-09T00:15:00 00:00 Duke's Stadium Is Almost as Bad as the Football Played There http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/08/dukes-stadium-is-almost-as-bad-as-the-football-played-there/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/08/dukes-stadium-is-almost-as-bad-as-the-football-played-there/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/08/dukes-stadium-is-almost-as-bad-as-the-football-played-there/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Ah, historic Wallace Wade Stadium. The site of the 1942 Rose Bowl. A quaint little stadium with the capacity to seat almost 34,000, rarely exceeds 20,000. Why? Well it's the home to the Duke Blue Devils and their 7-40 record at home over the last 8 years (10-82 overall). It is also, in the words of new Athletic Director Kevin White, in need of "a pretty significant makeover."
Duke's strategic plan for athletics, released in May, has called for renovations at Wallace Wade. White said those renovations need to be so extensive he doesn't even know where to start in talking about them.

He wants to consult with architects about possibilities and prices before getting specific.

"We need to do an awful lot at Wallace Wade," White said. "This facility is antiquated at best, and we just have got to come in here and do a pretty significant makeover. Not a facelift, but a makeover."
So, in a companion to the legal conclusion that Duke is the worst in football from last month, it appears that the Blue Devils have the stadium to house them.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-07-08T23:07:00 00:00 Do Lute Olson and Brandon Jennings Deserve Each Other? http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/03/do-lute-olson-and-brandon-jennings-deserve-each-other/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/03/do-lute-olson-and-brandon-jennings-deserve-each-other/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/03/do-lute-olson-and-brandon-jennings-deserve-each-other/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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It's been a lousy 12 month period for Lute Olson. By any definition. The health issues that kept him from coaching for the year (that were called "personal reasons"); the nasty divorce from his wife (finally settled); the overhauling of his coaching staff last year (that blew up badly); players declaring for the NBA Draft (though, Budinger surprised many by returning); and then the widely heralded recruiting class seemed in jeopardy.

Then it seemed things might be turning around. The coaching staff was drastically overhauled once more, but it paid immediate dividends with regards to getting Chase Budinger to come back for one more season.
When hired on May 15, [Mike] Dunlap said he asked UA head coach Lute Olson if he could work on convincing Budinger to return to Arizona for his junior season. After all, spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the NBA Denver Nuggets, Dunlap has an eye for NBA-caliber players.

"Chase has a lot of holes in his game that he needs to fill before he's ready for that next level," said Dunlap, speaking from a podium in the restaurant. "And I just came from that level and I would say to you clearly, he was not a top-25 pick. No way. He wasn't.

"But has he got top-25 talent? Definitely," Dunlap added. "But talent and experience are two things that have to be melted together. He made a wise move to come back."
Brandon Jennings seemed likely to get cleared by the NCAA after the discrepancies between his first and second SAT scores were clarified, and Negedu was released from his scholarship. Things started looking better.

Well...

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-07-03T09:45:00 00:00 Nesting Dolls Used in Syracuse Voodoo Ritual http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/02/nesting-dolls-used-in-syracuse-voodoo-ritual/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/02/nesting-dolls-used-in-syracuse-voodoo-ritual/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/02/nesting-dolls-used-in-syracuse-voodoo-ritual/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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It seemed like a cool thing. A Syracuse alum traveling in Russia actually found a set of Syracuse themed nesting dolls. The dolls even have the numbers of the best players on the Orange squad for this year painted on the back.
  • #91 -- Brandon Gilbeaux, DT
  • #9 -- Andrew Robinson, QB
  • #1 -- Mike Williams, WR
  • #4 -- Taj Smith, WR
  • #97 -- Arthur Jones, DT
Who knew they were really cursed matryoshka dolls.
Let's look at the facts. The dolls were created in the bowels of the Kremlin, made from the ashes of Josef Stalin's remains, remnants of Hitler's brain and Orange #3. The ingredients were mixed together in a cauldron by this manand set in molds. From there they were placed in a shop that just so happened to be somewhere where American and Syracuse fan Bob Kalka would see them, just HAVE TO buy them, and bring them back to America.

And the curse had begun.
Clearly something was happening.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-07-02T00:24:00 00:00 Indiana's President Is a Master of the Obvious and Blameless http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/01/indianas-president-is-a-master-of-the-obvious-and-blameless/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/01/indianas-president-is-a-master-of-the-obvious-and-blameless/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/07/01/indianas-president-is-a-master-of-the-obvious-and-blameless/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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When Indiana University President Michael McRobbie made a video conference appearance before the NCAA Infractions Committee regarding the Kelvin Sampson phone call mess he made a bold statement.
As others have stated, Indiana University took a risk in hiring Coach Sampson and giving him a second chance following his problems at Oklahoma. It is now clear that this was a risk that should not have been taken and the university regrets doing so.
McRobbie also added that it was clear that investing in Pets.com based on a sock puppet in the 90s, buying into the Miami real estate market and wearing a meat suit to a dog fight were also risks that should not have been taken and he regrets doing so.

As for the fault, well, he is all about direct accountability.
Some have said that there is a lot of blame to be shared in all of this, suggesting -- and perhaps hoping -- that there can be a dilution of personal responsibility under some notion of collective guilt. I reject that notion completely and I hope this committee will, as well.
That's integrity. That's strong leadership. That's some accountability. Oh, wait, he doesn't mean himself.

 

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]]> Kelvin SampsonKelvinSampson Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-07-01T01:08:00 00:00 Louisville Has Lots of Scholarships Available http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/louisville-has-lots-of-scholarships-available/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/louisville-has-lots-of-scholarships-available/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/louisville-has-lots-of-scholarships-available/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Every program has some turnover when there is a coaching change. There are players dissatisfied with the new system, personalities clash, promises made by the old regime are no longer valid, academics can always be an issue.

That's fine, but turning over a quarter of the roster in a little more than 12 months is ridiculous. Especially when a team goes from 12-1 and winning the Orange Bowl to 6-6 and home for the holidays. That appears to be what has happened at Louisville in the year after Bobby Petrino left and Steve Kragthorpe took control.

The Cardinals' beat writer from the Louisville Courier-Journal listed 21 underclassmen who have left the football team from the spring of 2007 to June 2008. While his list included a couple of players who left early for the NFL, it is still a crazy number.
  • 4 players had to quit due to medical conditions.
  • 6 were simply dismissed from the team.
  • 8 transferred, left the program or quit the team.
  • 1 was an academic casualty.
Add in the 17 seniors who graduated and that comes to 38 players out of the Louisville program in Kragthorpe's first year. There's winnowing out players not on-board with a new system, and then there's clearcutting.

Louisville brought in a 22-man recruiting class. That leaves 16 open scholarships coming into this season. They have roughly 20 scholarship seniors on the 2008 roster. The NCAA limits the number of scholarships to be given to a recruiting class in a given year to 25. It's going to be a while before Louisville gets close to its limits.

At least the walk-ons should get rewarded this season.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-30T23:07:00 00:00 Jay Bilas Wanted People Sober for the Draft http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/jay-bilas-wanted-people-sober-for-the-draft/ http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/jay-bilas-wanted-people-sober-for-the-draft/ http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/jay-bilas-wanted-people-sober-for-the-draft/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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During the NBA Draft last week, Jay Bilas took pains to avoid using his favorite words when talking about the draftees: "long" and "upside." It wasn't because the folks at ESPN told him that his overuse of the words had become annoying and tiresome. No. He just wanted to keep people from getting too tanked that night ($).
I am aware of the drinking games that are based upon the use of such terms, and I did my level best to reduce binge drinking across the country. We all have to do what we can. Instead of "long," I used the terms "length," "stretch," "elongated," "extend" and the ever-popular "considerable linear extent in space." With one player, I stated that his arms "extend beyond normal or moderate limits."
The draft day drinking games featuring Bilas have been around for a few years. I doubt his direct avoidance of those words did much to slow it down. Especially with the other talking heads around him happily picking up the slack.

Still, that Bilas acknowledges the games are played, and actually has something approaching a sense of humor about it is a welcome thing. Most wouldn't admit to it, or at best might mention it in passing if pushed on a radio show. Instead Bilas came out with it on his own.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-30T12:54:00 00:00 Mizzou Will Continue to Struggle in '08 http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/mizzou-will-continue-to-struggle-in-08/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/mizzou-will-continue-to-struggle-in-08/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/30/mizzou-will-continue-to-struggle-in-08/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Missouri likes to play a press defense. Coach Mike Anderson is a Nolan Richardson disciple and has sought to bring "40 minutes of hell" to the Tiger defense. To play that way, though, you need to rotate players and experience in the backcourt to put the pressure on the opponent when bringing up the ball.

Missouri's backcourt experience took a big hit with guard Keon Lawrence asking for and receiving his release from his scholarship. Ostensibly, it was because the New Jersey native wanted to be closer to his family, but maybe not.
"It's not my teammates, and it's not the fans. That should tell you something," Lawrence said of his reasons for leaving.
He backed away from that statement later to the "need to be closer to home" chestnut. He is likely focusing on Big East schools.

 

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]]> Missouri TigersMissouriTigers Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-30T09:36:00 00:00 Stanley Robinson Leaves UConn (Sort Of), but Will Return (Maybe) http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/29/stanley-robinson-leaves-uconn-sort-of-but-will-return-maybe/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/29/stanley-robinson-leaves-uconn-sort-of-but-will-return-maybe/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/29/stanley-robinson-leaves-uconn-sort-of-but-will-return-maybe/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Earlier this month, it looked like the enigmatic Stanley Robinson would be history at UConn. The once highly recruited and very athletic power forward was a puzzle to many. He had the physical tools to dominate almost every night, but often seemed more like a role player and unsure how to assert his talent. He was capable of dominating for a game or two and then disappearing for a week or so. Turns out, he was like that off the court as well.
"He does things that are very different and some of those things end up being very hurtful to him," Calhoun said. "And by different I mean whether it be missing classes or disappearing for two or three days at a time and going to Alabama. And he's a terrific, nice, nice kid.

"But he's got to get his life squared away. And this is the only way that we feel that we can get Stanley to start reacting. So he's got some responsibilities this summer. The next step would be the possibility of coming back this January, or next May and be back in summer school with two years' eligibility."
To that end, Robinson is back home in Alabama. While UConn and Coach Jim Calhoun aren't fully explaining what is happening, they are saying it's a mix of personal and academic reasons.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-29T00:15:00 00:00 Losing Wendell Barnhouse http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/27/losing-wendell-barnhouse/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/27/losing-wendell-barnhouse/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/27/losing-wendell-barnhouse/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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The Big 12's gain is the loss for a lot of college sports fans.
"After 36 years, 23 Final Fours, all 10 Bowl Championship Series title games and a half-dozen laptops, I'm done," he writes.

"I will begin working as a writer/blogger for the Big 12 Conference web site (so I'll need laptop No. 7). The Big 12 wants its web site to convey information about its schools in both video and story form. I'll be somewhat involved with the former and heavily involved with the latter. It's a great opportunity that I'm lucky to have considering the death spiral of major newspapers."
Barnhouse had been the national college football and basketball writer/columnist for the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Barnhouse's national reach, reputation and popularity grew as the internet allowed more readers access. His columns were considered required reading by many college sports fans. Barnhouse was also one of the few national college sports writers at a newspaper. Not at a national paper, magazine or TV/internet operation.

The Star-Telegram benefited from his reputation, but the actual value to the paper was low. The national following added little to their subscription base. This led the paper to decide to eliminate the national college beat. Offering Barnhouse the choice of a buyout or assuming role of Texas A&M beat writer. As Barnhouse wrote, "Nothing against the Aggies, but it was clearly time to bail out."

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-27T09:00:00 00:00 Vandy Needs to Give Bobby Johnson a Raise http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/25/vandy-needs-to-give-bobby-johnson-a-raise/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/25/vandy-needs-to-give-bobby-johnson-a-raise/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/25/vandy-needs-to-give-bobby-johnson-a-raise/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Ridiculous. I realize Vandy is a private school and they provide a valuable service to the SEC in helping with the conference graduations rates. Still, if they aren't going to actually pay their football coach over $1 million dollars, there's a problem. Sylvester Croom just got his pay pushed into the seven figure zone. Now Bobby Johnson is the only SEC coach still earning a paltry 6 figure salary. Keep up.
Les Miles, LSU, $3,750,000
Nick Saban, Alabama, $3,750,000
Urban Meyer, Florida, $3,250,000
Bobby Petrino, Arkansas, $2,850,000
Mark Richt, Georgia, $2,800,000
Tommy Tuberville, Auburn, $2,800,000
Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee, $2,050,000
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina, $1,750,000
Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State, $1,700,000
Houston Nutt, Ole Miss, $1,700,000
Rich Brooks, Kentucky, $1,600,000
Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt, $950,000
Then again, Johnson is the only SEC coach not to be automatically placed on a hot seat after a losing season.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-25T23:52:00 00:00 Texas Bowl Dreams Big, Goes Local http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/20/texas-bowl-dreams-big-goes-local/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/20/texas-bowl-dreams-big-goes-local/ http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/20/texas-bowl-dreams-big-goes-local/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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The Texas Bowl has aspirations. They want to see the Cotton Bowl move into the BCS rotation and then the Houston-based bowl can grab the Cotton Bowl's prestige. They want the not even 3-year old bowl to be a New Years Day game. Heck, they've moved the 2008 bowl game to December 30.

Of course to get that spot takes more than just throwing money -- well, that helps a lot -- they have to make sure they fill the stands for the bowl games. That's the problem.

For all their dreams, the Texas Bowl is a regional draw. It isn't a destination location like the bowls in Florida and California. To get people to attend, they need to feature teams that are geographically relevant (read: have strong alumni affiliations in the Houston area and/or local). Last year they featured TCU and Houston and drew over 62,000. The year before with K-State and Rutgers, they got a bit over 52,000.

Now the Big 12 has that, and that's why they are happy to take the 8th team from that conference. The problem was they also had affiliated with the Big East -- which just seemed ill-fitting for a bowl that proclaims itself as "a celebration of the culture, heritage and football tradition of the Lone Star State." Yes, UConn and Cinci would be perfect representatives

The Big East also recognized the problem and decided to disengage from the Texas Bowl. Instead Conference USA will be the contributing conference this year along with the Big 12. The Mountain West and occasionally Navy will be in the rotation. Between the MWC and C-USA they have shots at getting schools in Texas: TCU, Houston, Rice (okay, a longshot), UTEP and SMU. Not to mention a lot more schools within the region.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-20T00:42:00 00:00 Sherron Collins Has No Clue About the Court http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/19/sherron-collins-has-no-clue-about-the-court/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/19/sherron-collins-has-no-clue-about-the-court/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/19/sherron-collins-has-no-clue-about-the-court/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Specifically the court system. Here's a free tip. If you receive an envelope stamped by the clerk of courts naming you in a lawsuit, it's a good idea to get a lawyer and respond. Regardless of whether it is criminal or civil.

Kansas point guard Sherron Collins now has a $75,000 default judgment entered against him from a civil suit.
Jessica Brown, 35, accused Collins of exposing himself and rubbing against her on May 18, 2007, in an elevator at Jayhawker Towers, where she worked.

Collins had 20 days to respond to the lawsuit, filed May 14, 2008, but he did not.
The criminal investigation is still an open one. Apparently the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is still waiting for test results from potential evidence. There is something of a backlog. There was an initial test last June, but the results were incomplete.

Collins has maintained his innocence, so without any witnesses or any evidence it is unlikely charges could be successfully brought against Collins.

Even without any criminal charges, Ms. Brown has the right and did file a civil suit for "humiliation, mental anguish and severe emotional pain." Collins claimed he didn't understand the legal responsibility for responding and the outcome of ignoring it.

It's very likely that Collins will be able to get the default judgment vacated and reset for trial. Still, the whole issue (and potential stain on the old credit report) could have been avoided.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-19T11:43:00 00:00 Ex-Binghamton Player Hiding in Serbia http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/19/ex-binghamton-player-hiding-in-serbia/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/19/ex-binghamton-player-hiding-in-serbia/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/19/ex-binghamton-player-hiding-in-serbia/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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There's nothing about this story to like. The America Least Blog has been covering the tale of now former Binghamton University Bearcat player Minja Kovacevic reportedly beating a fellow student to near death. Kovacevic had bail posted. Despite reportedly surrendering his passport, the Serbian native apparently got back to Serbia. Now it turns out that the Serbian Consulate in New York had posted his bail.

Don't bother looking for answers about that yet, the Consulate has none.
Serbian Consul General Slobodan Nenadovic said Monday his office is aware of the incident. But the consulate official who handled Kovacevic's bail is out of the New York City office for two weeks. Nenadovic said Monday he was unable to comment until he knows more about the case.

"I don't know what else I can tell you," Nenadovic said.
That's convenient.

So how did a 6-9 man with no passport manage to leave the country? Homeland Security and Immigration have no idea.
"This is not a case that Immigration and Custom Enforcement was involved in at any point," said Michael W. Gilhooley, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of Homeland Security.
Yet, they can confirm he left the country. No, nothing about this stinks. Nothing at all.

Believe it or not, the US and Serbia have an extradition treaty and if Kovacevic is "found" in Serbia he can be returned to Broome County, NY. I'm not holding my breath anyone is going to find him. Not with everything that has happened.

Binghamton has announced that Kovacevic's scholarship hasn't been renewed for the 2008-09 school year. Bryan Steinhauer, the student that was beaten remains in the hospital in an unconscious and unresponsive since the beating in the beginning of May.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-19T00:06:00 00:00 Who Is JaJuan Robinson and What Is He Doing in the NBA Draft? http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/06/18/who-is-jajuan-robinson-and-what-is-he-doing-in-the-nba-draft/ http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/06/18/who-is-jajuan-robinson-and-what-is-he-doing-in-the-nba-draft/ http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/06/18/who-is-jajuan-robinson-and-what-is-he-doing-in-the-nba-draft/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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If you looked at the official release of who was in and out for the NBA Draft, you might have noticed a freshman named JaJuan Robinson from Lincoln (PA) University. Why would a freshman from a D-III program, that nobody knows anything about be in the NBA Draft? Is this another smart-assed kid just trying to have fun with the system?

Sadly, it is not. JaJuan Robinson is a 24-year old, 5-11 "freshman," who has taken a long time to get to this point. At one time he was a decent enough high school prospect. A 2-star recruit from Baltimore. A scrappy point guard who was known for hard play on both ends.

He was actually part of Big East school, Providence's 2004 recruiting class (after taking a 5th year of high school at prep school in South Carolina). Apparently he suffered a minor knee injury in an offseason practice and then left the school a month into the season for the always nebulous "personal reasons."

That's where he disappeared (or at least dropped off of any search engine).

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-18T19:38:00 00:00 Caracter Issues Won't Be a Louisivlle Problem Any Longer http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/18/caracter-issues-wont-be-a-louisivlle-problem-any-longer/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/18/caracter-issues-wont-be-a-louisivlle-problem-any-longer/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/18/caracter-issues-wont-be-a-louisivlle-problem-any-longer/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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First he was in the draft. Then he wanted to come back to Louisville. Rick Pitino said no. Then he kept badgering Pitino to let him return. Then Pitino announced that Caracter had become academically ineligible and it seemed that Caracter had no choice but to stay in the draft. Then Caracter said his academics were resolved. Caracter actually did pull his name from the draft. Now, Caracter is transferring. Maybe.

Rick Pitino told FoxSports.com that he is transferring. There was no elaboration and at this point no confirmation from Caracter. Who knows at this point.

I mean, I believe Louisville would do anything it could to help Caracter get his academics put back in place to enable him to transfer. Anything to get rid of a player who hasn't come near his potential and has been no where near worth the effort and energy needed to deal with him.

Not sure where he'll end up, but it won't be anywhere in the Big East do to conference by-laws. The New Jersey native might want to check with a few A-10 schools in the tri-state area, but it will have to be a desperate team or a coach with arrogant enough to think he can succeed with Caracter.

No matter what, it is safe to say that Caracter is no longer Louisville and Rick Pitino's problem.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-18T11:16:00 00:00 Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series Set for 2008 http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/big-12-pac-10-hardwood-series-set-for-2008/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/big-12-pac-10-hardwood-series-set-for-2008/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/big-12-pac-10-hardwood-series-set-for-2008/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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The Big 12 and Pac-10 go into their second year of their cross-conference competition, and have announced this year's slate of games. Most of the games take place in the first weekend of December. Since there is an imbalance in the number of teams in each conference, to allow all of the Big 12 teams to play a Pac-10 opponent, Arizona and Stanford are doubling up and 3 games will be played outside of the series window.
BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES

Thursday, December 4, 2008
Oklahoma State at Washington
UCLA at Texas
USC at Oklahoma

Friday, December 5, 2008
Arizona at Texas A&M

Saturday, December 6, 2008
Baylor at Washington State
Oregon State at Iowa State

Sunday, December 7, 2008
Kansas State at Oregon
Nebraska at Arizona State
California at Missouri

Outside the four-day series window
Colorado at Stanford (Sat., Nov. 29, 2008)
Kansas at Arizona (Tue., Dec. 23, 2008)
Texas Tech at Stanford (Sun., Dec. 28, 2008)

The big games are clearly UCLA-Texas and Kansas-Arizona. The latter being a rematch from last season when Kansas pulled off the win in overtime (to say nothing of the 2003 NCAA Tournament meeting to put Kansas in the Final Four).The Baylor-Washington State game looks like a very underrated match-up featuring two of the best young coaches. Oregon State-Iowa State, however, could be painful on the eyes.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-17T08:01:00 00:00 The Sophomores Can't Wait Any Longer to Get to the NBA http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/the-sophomores-cant-wait-any-longer-to-get-to-the-nba/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/the-sophomores-cant-wait-any-longer-to-get-to-the-nba/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/the-sophomores-cant-wait-any-longer-to-get-to-the-nba/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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You thought that 13 freshmen in the NBA Draft was a lot, compared to 8 last year? Wrong. The big leap came from the number of sophomores who have had their fill of college. Last year, only 5 sophomores turned pro. Not this year. Like the freshmen, the lucky 13 are not going back to their school.
  1. D.J. Augustin, Texas
  2. JaVale McGee, Nevada
  3. Brook Lopez, Stanford
  4. Robin Lopez, Stanford
  5. Russell Westbrook, UCLA
  6. Marreese Speights, Florida
  7. Ryan Anderson, Cal
  8. Darrell Arthur, Kansas
  9. Derrick Caracter, Louisville
  10. Walter Sharpe, UAB
  11. *Jason Bennett, Tallahassee Community College
  12. *Keith Brumbaugh, Hillsborough Community College
  13. *Kiwan Smith, Redlands Community College
Even if you don't count the 3 players who got through community college, that's still a 100% increase over last year. Most of the players nearly came out after last season.

It seems that in year two of the one-and-done restriction, the freshmen and sophomores are beginning to charge back into the draft. Makes those columns from last year talking about how upperclassmen were making a comeback in the NBA draft look a little dated.

UPDATE: According to the official list by the NBA on the Draft, Caracter, Bennett and Smith all pulled their names before the deadline. That drops the number to 10 sophomores. Still a significant jump, but a little lower.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-17T06:30:00 00:00 Freshmen Overload in NBA Draft http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/freshmen-overload-in-nba-draft/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/freshmen-overload-in-nba-draft/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/17/freshmen-overload-in-nba-draft/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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Now that the dust has settled and the final withdrawal deadline for the NBA Draft has passed, there are still 13 freshmen who have decided to remain in the 2008 NBA Draft.
  1. Michael Beasley, Kansas State
  2. Derrick Rose, Memphis
  3. O.J. Mayo, USC
  4. Eric Gordon, Indiana
  5. DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M
  6. Jerryd Bayless, Arizona
  7. Kevin Love, UCLA
  8. Davon Jefferson, USC
  9. Anthony Randolph, LSU
  10. Donte Greene, Syracuse
  11. J.J. Hickson, NC State
  12. Bill Walker, Kansas State
  13. Kosta Koufos, Ohio State
Last year, only 8 freshmen declared and stayed in the NBA Draft. All 8 went in the first 21 picks. That won't happen with this group, though, it is likely that at least 10 of the 13 will go in the first round.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-17T03:33:00 00:00 Kevin Love Is Just a Friendly Guy http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/16/kevin-love-is-just-a-friendly-guy/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/16/kevin-love-is-just-a-friendly-guy/ http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2008/06/16/kevin-love-is-just-a-friendly-guy/#comments Charles Richby Charles Rich

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You would think a guy who just spent a year playing at UCLA, in the land of tabloids would be a little more cautious when approached by a guy with a video camera. Instead, when TMZ.com caught up with Kevin Love outside of Mr. Chow, the soon to be first round NBA draft pick was disarmingly, well... nice.

Love answered the guy's questions while being video taped. He didn't duck away or even inch towards a waiting car. It was as much, TMZ.com ending the conversation when it became clear that not only was Love being exceedingly polite, but was also smart enough not to say anything remotely interesting or controversial.

 

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]]> Charles Rich charles-rich 2008-06-16T23:25:00 00:00