Why is high school recruiting an inexact science? Look no further than this year’s rankings of prospects.
Rivals, Scout and ESPNU have finalized their rankings, but can’t agree on the top prospect. When someone like John Wall comes along, it’s easy. But 2010’s different because Scout and ESPNU think North Carolina recruit Harrison Barnes is the best guy out there, while Rivals is going with Kansas recruit Josh Selby.
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Well, that didn’t take long.
Hours after a report surfaced that Kentucky coach John Calipari was interested in the Chicago Bulls coaching vacancy, the school announced that it’ll re-do his contract. That’s no small deal, either. Calipari’s 8-year, $31.65 million deal already makes him college basketball’s highest-paid coach.
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Players bolted Oklahoma like crazy this spring. Sophomore Willie Warren and freshmen Tommy Mason-Griffin and Tiny Gallon all declared for the NBA draft within a span of about three days.
No sweat. Jeff Capel replenished the roster at an even faster rate.
The Sooners coach garnered commitments from four players in the last eight days. No kidding. Eight!
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It’s no secret ESPN wanted the NCAA tournament broadcast rights. But who knew it was close to getting them for free?
CBS talked with ESPN about paying it to air the 2010, ’11, ’12 and ’13, according to this N.Y. Times story. The idea was supposedly seriously considered until December until it was discarded by the big bosses at CBS, Disney and ESPN.
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Lorenzo Romar took the high road.
During a press conference yesterday, Washington’s coach was repeatedly asked various forms the question “Who’s at fault in the Terrence Jones drama,” but used various forms of no comment or simply saying very little rather than criticize anyone.
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Good news, Rutgers fans. You finally have a new coach who’s capable of keeping the Scarlet Knights out of the Big East basement.
The bad news? Don’t expect Mike Rice to make it happen anytime soon. The place is in shambles.
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Oregon’s in luck. Not only is Dana Altman a fine coach, but it sounds like he makes a helluva kolache. And if you’ve ever tried the Czech pastry – I like mine for breakfast – you know that’s an impressive compliment.
That’s just one of the nuggets from this fantastic profile of the Ducks’ new coach. George Schroeder from the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard traveled to Wilber, Neb., for a lengthy story on Altman, who’s the pride of the 1,761-person community about 26 miles southwest of Lincoln, Neb.
Take a few minutes and read it, even if you’re not a Ducks fan. It’s a great example of why writers like to travel for stories, rather than simply work the phones for quotes. You can’t get this kind of impact from a phone.
There are plenty of anecdotes about Altman and his life in Wilber, but whether it’s almost lunchtime or because I haven’t had a good kolache in months, the section about Altman running the Czech Bakery was my favorite.
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Ali Farokhmanesh secured his March Madness legend thanks to a pair of 3-pointers – a game-winner against UNLV and a back-breaker against Kansas – that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated and made him the talk of college basketball fans.
But if those NCAA tournament heroics don’t lead to an NBA spot, he’s OK with that.
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If Big Ten expansion does engulf Missouri – and possibly a couple of big East schools – it’s hard to know what’ll happen to the Big 12.
The expansion variables are many, and nearly all of them would make college basketball strange in some way. Depending upon how many schools trade conferences, it’ll throw much of what we know out of whack.
And when the dust settles, which schools are going to be left hanging? Sam Mellinger from the Kansas City Star wonders if anyone will want to pair with Kansas and Kansas State.
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The NCAA’s original employee was among those happy the NCAA tournament only expanded to 68 games.
Wayne Duke, 82, says a 96-team tournament would’ve been awful “cosmetically,” but that’s he’s not opposed to change. After all, he’s been there during other significant expansions, such as when the event went from 32 to 40, then from 40 to 48.
Oddly enough, Duke tells Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald-Leader, those decisions weren’t universally greeted either.
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