Long Forgotten Love- UCLA Lands Next Center

J’Mison “Bobo” Morgan, the 6-10, 275 center from Dallas, Texas, is set to play for the UCLA Bruins…. Well, not quite. The Bruins would really like to have him play at UCLA next year but for right now, Bobo is in an agreement with the Louisiana State University Tigers. However, as things go, the Tigers fired the coach that recruited Morgan, so he’s not obligated to play basketball there. His second choice school, according to the profile on him at Rivals.com, was UCLA. If he goes to UCLA, he’ll be able to step into a vacant hole at center. As you might already know, Kevin Love, the 6-10 forward/center from last season’s UCLA starting five, has decided to enter the NBA Draft, where he will be a lottery pick.

So Bobo will replace Love in the paint at UCLA if the reports are accurate. This is clearly a good thing for Bruins fans, as their team has been gutted by graduation, NBA Draft declaration and the inevitable spinning of the wheel of fortune after going to the Final Four about ten times in the past seven years (barely exaggerating here). For LSU, the return to national prominence will take a step back when Bobo leaves for the West Coast. They’ll get back on top soon, though.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 15, 2008 - Post a comment

Duke Signs Forward Plumlee

Duke just stole a top recruit from under the nose of Stanford. Well, the Blue Devils didn’t so much steal a player, but they definitely attracted him to come to Durham after it was expected that he would sign across the nation at Stanford University. We’re talking about Miles Plumlee, a 6-10 forward who’s a native of North Carolina. Plumlee was slated to play for Trent Johnson of Stanford, but when Johnson went to LSU over the break, Stanford released Plumlee from his obligation.

What this means for the Duke Blue Devils is that they’ll have a taller freshman class coming in. As you know, Duke was undersized last year (or at least many experts thought that was the case). They were quick and great at shooting from the outside, but they lacked the good interior play that so many college basketball teams seem to require to do well. Will Plumlee be the answer? Much too early to tell. One thing is for sure, though. Stanford will miss this guy, as they lost both of their 7-foot centers, Brook and Robin Lopez. Duke lost Taylor King, a nice freshman forward last year, when he transferred after the season.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 14, 2008 - Post a comment

New Goaltending Rule A Good Thing

The new goaltending rule approved by the NCAA for use in college basketball games is good thing. Well, at least the Final Four Blog thinks so, and a majority of the NCAA’s rules committee thinks that it should be changed. The old rule stated that if a ball went off the backboard but was still on the way up, it was fair game to be blocked or even tipped. The new rule states that a ball that goes off the backboard, if completely above the rim, cannot be interfered with at all, regardless f the trajectory of the ball.

First of all, this new rule ought to eliminate some confusion between the college and NBA rules, as the college rule was, for some reason, allowing for interference if the ball was on it’s way up. Now the ref doesn’t have to take into account the motion of the ball, just the height of it. If it’s above the rim completely and has touched the backboard, then it’s not blockable. Should straighten out a call that happens about once a game. In other rules news, the NCAA is still awaiting further investigation into widening the lane.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 13, 2008 - Post a comment

Missouri’s Lyons to Return

Rejoice, Mizzou basketball fans! Leo Lyons (we’ll discuss the name later) has decided that he will return to play another season of basketball in college after declaring himself eligible for the NBA Draft. Lyons did not hire an agent, so he kept the door open to return to school. Although this ESPN article says that Lyons wanted to graduate, the decision to come back to school certainly had some influence from NBA scouts, his college coaches and his friends and family. The article mentions that those things might be factored in, as well.

Lyons, who averaged over 13 points and 6 rebounds last season, is a force on the inside. He’s 6-9, 240, and led the Big 12 in field goal percentage last season. Missouri will need him if they intend to get to the NCAA Tournament next year. The New York Knicks, however, might have a tougher time using him to get to the playoffs next season.

About Leo Lyons’ name. He sounds kind of like a cartoon superhero who is a normal man by day (Leo Lyons, Capital City Detective), but can kind of turn into a lion-like human, with a mane and a tail, but with upright legs and useable arms (from which he can throw a rope and swing across large expanses of the cityscape).

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 12, 2008 - Post a comment

Basketball Scholarships Available at Indiana

In case you haven’t heard, the Indiana Hoosiers are down to just eight players on their roster for the next season. Some guys left for the NBA Draft early, and other decided to transfer, and others simply had to go because of graduation. Everything combined with the departure of Ralph Sampson has made the Hoosiers a skeleton crew heading into the summer. While they can still field a team with only eight players, if injuries pop up and they haven’t added any warm bodies, things are going to be a lot like the Hickory Hoosiers, who as you know only had a roster of seven players to start the season. They later added Jimmy Chitwood, the sharp shooting small forward that was the catalyst for their rise to the Indiana State High School Basketball Championship. Ollie, the diminutive “team manager” also got some playing time when other players fell injured. But I digress…

The College Hoosiers would do pretty well if they could land their own Jimmy Chitwood sometime soon. They could get a walk-on star or a transfer (though he would have to sit out for his first year on the team). As it is, the situation looks, well, not so good. The whole Sampson thing was a real setback for the university’s basketball program, which is usually pretty good. If you ask me, the Hoosiers need to bring in a temperamental, fiery head coach who’s just looking for an excuse to implement some strict discipline and fundamentals…. Where are you coach Knight?

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 9, 2008 - Post a comment

Arizona’s Olsen the Topic of Much Discussion

Garry Parrish of CBSsport.com has a fine article about Luke Olsen, his troubling off-the-court issues, and  the way that the players, fans and coaches at Arizona are dealing with the whole thing. In case you haven’t heard, Lute Olsen, the long-time coach on one of the greatest basketball programs in the nation, the Arizona Wildcats, has been the rock hard core of his program. His white hair and suit have been the steady, intelligent hand behind some of the best teams the game has ever seen.

However, in the past couple of years Lute has had some family issues that have begun to enter the public arena. Olsen even took some time off last year to deal with them, but they have started to resurface, and there is quite a big hullabloo about the whole mess. It got even worse when Lute and his wife both called into a local sports radio show last week.

This is certainly getting dramatic. What does the Final Four Blog think about all of this? Well, we like to think that nobody is immune from having family issues. It’s unfortunate that Lute happens to be such a public figure, so his dirty laundry gets paraded around town, unlike what would happen if this blogger- or you the reader- had some issues to resolve. So let’s cut the guy some slack. Maybe he’s made some mistakes in bringing the issue to the public, but we hope that despite those things, and despite the fact that people are naturally curious, that Lute and the Wildcats can get along fine in the future. Lute, we wish you the best of luck, and we hope that it all works out. We’ve loved your coaching for a long time, so let’s make sure you end your career with some success stories.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 8, 2008 - Post a comment

NCAA Getting Tough with Academic Standards

According to an article by CBSsports.com wire reports, the NCAA is cracking down on Division-1 schools that under perform in the classroom. The president of the NCAA, Myles Brand, is running a tight ship, and schools that have not met his performance standards- which are based on the academic achievement averages of each individual team- are going to feel the full force of some harsh penalties. If a team does not meet academic standards for more than two years in a row, and there is no sign of improvement, the team could lose scholarships, be deducted practice time, or, in the most severe cases, be ejected from the NCAA for a period of time or permanently. While there are an overwhelming number of schools that meet or exceed the standards, there are some alarming statistics that do not bode well for several major sports programs.

Is your school meeting their academic standards? Are they in danger of getting kicked out of postseason tournaments or the entire sports association? Probably not, and as yet, there are no major penalties to report. But that does not mean they will not come. Read the article to see if your school is on the list. Let’s hope not.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 7, 2008 - Post a comment

Michigan Forward Leaving… But to Where?

Ekpe Udoh, a forward for the Michigan Wolverines for the past two seasons, has decided that he will not return for his third year at the school. As you might know, the Wolverines were 10-22 last season, and they have been trying to rebuild their program slowly for years now. The move will certainly be a tough one to swallow for Michigan fans, who have gotten used to the efforts of Ekpe Udoh.

However, it’s not as though they will be in dire straights. Ekpe Udoh only averaged about six points and five rebounds in his first two seasons. He did have 2.4blocks per game, so he’s probably more of a defensive player. Ekpe Udoh has not decided where he will play next. Transfers have to take a year away from official play the first year after a transfer.

Here are our top 5 schools Ekpe Udoh should transfer to.

  1. Michigan State
  2. Notre Dame
  3. Kansas State
  4. Memphis
  5. San Diego

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 6, 2008 - Post a comment

Is Davidson the new Gonzaga?

The ideal situation for any mid-major basketball programs is that of Gonzaga. They went on several deep runs in the NCAA Tournament years ago, and now they are perennial tourney contenders, always on top of their conference, and even a regular in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Zags have gone from rags to riches. They were a small, private school in eastern Washington, a school that competed with the likes of Pepperdine and San Diego and other sexier schools for talent in their own conference, and the likes of U-Dub, Washington State and Oregon in their region. But despite the obstacles, they are one of the most recognizable college basketball teams out there, and they continue to win, continue to recruit good players year after year after year.

Will Davidson be able to achieve the same kind of success that the Gonzaga Bulldogs have? This past Tournament, as we all know, the Davidson Wildcats were able to get to the Elite Eight after riding the tremendous efforts of Stephen Curry, their diminutive shooting guard. But will they have the tenacity as a school to make the jump from one hit wonder to mid-major powerhouse? The Final Four Blog would like to think so, but we know that the odds are against them. Read up on the prospect of a new Gonzaga in North Carolina here at Andy Glockner’s article.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 5, 2008 - Post a comment

Tp Ten Luckiest NCAA Hoops Teams

We certainly have been getting lackadaisical with our lists lately. So here is one list that should get you pumped for the weekend. It’s the luckiest teams in the NCAA. A couple of weeks into the NCAA basketball season we did a list like this one that went through the “luckiest” teams in college basketball, but this one will be the final version of the 2007-’08 college basketball year. The term “luck” is described at basketball-prospectus.com, but basically it means that a team’s win-loss record does not match up with their expected Pythagorean Win-Loss Record. We use Ken Pomeroy’s stat, combined with our own secret recipe to come up with this list.

TOP TEN LUCKIEST COLLEGE BASKEBALL TEAMS FROM 2007

1. Wagner
2. Dartmouth
3. Tennessee
4. Auburn
5. St. Mary’s
6. Dayton
7. NC State
8. Indiana
9. Wisconsin-Milwaukee
10. Richmond

So there you have it. Oh! And if you need something else to cheer you up, you can take a look at this article about Tyler Hansbrough by the fake news website TheOnion.com. Hope it send you off into the weekend with a nice attitude, because college basketball is a long, long way off.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on May 2, 2008 - Post a comment


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