Clemson Guard Off to Europe; Kentucky Whittling Down Scholarships

Clemson’s sharpshooting guard Terrence Oglesby is going to play professionally in Europe, forgoing his junior and senior seasons with the Tigers.  Oglesby joins a growing list of just-below-NBA-level college and high school players who have elected to go pro in Europe, rather than complete the old fashioned 4-year college stint with a draft pick at the end. Oglesby’s father played professional ball in Europe, and Oglesby has played on the Norwegian national team, as he was born in Norway.

In other news, coach John Calipari has trimmed his large team down a bit. While his former school, Memphis, deals with some NCAA allegations, Calipari has been getting top-tire recruit after blue chip recruit. He did such a great job getting players to join his team that he was over the limit on scholarships. However, three scholarship players from last year’s team are leaving, so he’s down to 15 scholarships.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 29, 2009 - Post a comment

Memphis In the Hot Seat; The One-Handed Player

The University of Memphis basketball team is in some hot water these days. It’s being reported that the Memphis Tigers were involved in illegally offering benefits to players and associates of certain players, according to an allegation made by the NCAA. A local newspaper in Memphis broke the story just a little while ago, but apparently the allegations were placed on John Calipari’s desk back in January. Calipari is now coaching at Kentucky, and rumor has it he has been cooperative in the whole thing and will probably be cleared of any wrongdoing.

In other news, Manhattan College just inked a one-handed recruit, 6-10 center Kevin Laue. This looks like quite an inspiring story. Kevin’s left arm ends just passed his elbow, and yet he’s been quite successful at basketball in his prep career. Manhattan Coach Barry Rohrssen said of the move to sign Laue:

“We take chances on kids who have poor academic histories, who have disciplinary problems both on the court and off the court. We give opportunities to players who don’t appreciate them, who take them for granted. For all the right reasons, Kevin deserves this chance, and he should make the most of this opportunity.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 28, 2009 - Post a comment

Will New Supreme Court Appointee Affect College Hoops?

The short answer to the question of whether new Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will affect NCAA sports in any significant way is “no.”  It’s unlikely that any major Supreme Court decision would come before the Supreme Court in the years of Sonia Sotomayor’s sit on the bench, assuming she’s confirmed. However, it’s a nice exercise to think about.

Sotomayor does have some experience in sports-related decisions. While it would be prudent to develop an opinion about this nomination based on a wide range of court decisions and stated views, sports fans can’t help but focus on two of her major athletic decisions. Ray Ratto explains that she was involved in ending the labor dispute between Major League Baseball and the players, and that (more importantly to NCAA hoops fans) she once came down on the side of the NFL in the Maurice Clarett issue a few years back, a decision that came down on the side of the NCAA, by association. Would Sotomayor side with the NCAA and the status quo in future decisions- perhaps one involving college basketball? Something to think about, hoops fans.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 27, 2009 - Post a comment

Mid Major Recruiting Highlights

If you’re a fan of mid majors, you ought to run on over to ESPN for a nice article about the recruiting that’s been going on for the non-BCS schools. Antonio Williams lists several schools that did well this offseason in recruiting top talent, despite being only mid-majors. If you’re a fan of any of the following schools, make sure you take a look:

  • UMass
  • BYU
  • Miami
  • Long Beach State
  • Gonzaga
  • Rice
  • San Diego State
  • George Mason
  • UNLV
  • Central Florida

ESPN has a recruit ranking system in the ESPNU section of their website that give a a basic score to some of the better prospects coming out of high school.  Only five of the top 100 players elected to go to a mid major, meaning that the recruiting disparity is still very high. Last season was a bad one for teams from smaller conferences, as the NCAA Tournament yielded no real Cinderella. Will this next season bring similar results?

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 26, 2009 - Post a comment

BYU Gets Swingman Back; Duke Won’t Get Henderson

The college basketball news these days is full of stories about the draft. Sorry folks, it might not be juicy, but it’s that time of year. To lead things off we have BYU’s swingman Jonathan Tavernari deciding to head back to school to play at least one more year with the Cougars. It appears he tested the waters, didn’t like the temperature and is now going to complete his senior season.  Jon Tevernari averaged over 15 points for the NCAA Tournament-making Cougars. This is great news for BYU fans, and probably for Jon as well.

Going the complete opposite way is Duke guard Gerald Henderson, who has sealed his fate as a pro player by hiring and agent. He was one of the highest profile players last season, being that he was considered to be Duke’s best player. He won’t be back for Duke, which is bad news for the Blue Devils fan out there. However, Coach K still has plenty of other good players returning- just not Henderson or Paulus.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 22, 2009 - Post a comment

Predicting the NBA Draft

Now that the order of the draft has been selected, the projections can begin. You can see lists of the lottery picks all over the place. Here’s one from SportsIllustrated.com. While we’re pretty sure that Blake Griffin will go first (and almost just as sure that Spanish PG Ricky Rubio will go second) the rest of the field depends on a lot of things- the team’s needs, the manager’s style, the potential of the draftee. Here are some of the top teams in the draft and their issues as they head into the draft

  • Los Angeles Clippers: Will draft Blake Griffin, the consensus No. 1 pick, because he’s the “sure thing.”
  • Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley improved slightly in an increased role as point this season, but unless he breaks out rather unexpectedly, the Grizz need a PG with some upside. Of course, they could also use a defensive center like Hasheem Thabeet, as they’re currently working with  Marc Gasol (7.4 Rebounds per game, 1.1 blocks per game).
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: The strengths of this team are of course Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green, young guns who play combo guard/small forward. The need help around the edges- PG and Center, if the Grizzlies pick Rubio the Thunder will pick Thabeet. If the Grizz pick Thabeet, the Thunder will pick Rubio.
  • Sacramento Kings: The Kings have developing players at center, power forward and shooting guard. They could use a PG badly, as they’re currently getting nothing from Beno Udrih (4.7 assists per game, 11.0 points per game and 2.2 turnovers per game).
  • Washington Wizards: Antawn Jamison isn’t getting any younger, and Brendan Haywood isn’t getting any better. This team needs a big man, so guys like Jordan Hill, Hasheem Thabeet and Dejuan Blair will be on their radar.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 21, 2009 - Post a comment

Draft Order Determined, Griffin Still No. 1

Last night the NBA Draft Lottery order was determined. The Los Angeles Clippers were selected to pick No. 1 overall, Memphis grabbed the No. 2 spot and the Oklahoma City Thunder are No. 3.  Now is the time for mock drafts to start pouring out. The draft is a huge deal for NBA basketball teams, as it could determine the fate of the franchise for the next 15 years. Here’s the draft order:

  1. Clippers
  2. Grizzlies
  3. Thunder
  4. Kings
  5. Wizards
  6. Timberwolves
  7. Warriors
  8. Knicks
  9. Raptors
  10. Bucks
  11. Nets
  12. Hornets
  13. Pacers
  14. Suns
  15. Pistons
  16. Bulls
  17. 76ers
  18. Timberwolves (from Heat)
  19. Hawks
  20. Jazz
  21. Hornets
  22. Mavericks
  23. Kings (from Spurs)
  24. Trail Blazers
  25. Thunder (from Spurs)
  26. Bulls (from Nuggets via Thunder)
  27. Grizzlies (from Magic)
  28. Timberwolves (from Celtics)
  29. Lakers
  30. Cavaliers

You can check out ESPN’s Chad Ford mock draft here. As you’ll see, Blake Griffin is still the overwhelming favorite to get picked No. 1 overall. The Clippers could use a dominant power forward just as much as anybody. This particular draft has Hassheem Thabeet going ahead of Ricky Rubio.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 20, 2009 - Post a comment

NBA Lottery Night

The team order in the NBA’s Draft Lottery will be determined tonight, 8:30 PM Eastern. While some teams have a better chance, percentage-wise at getting the top pick, it doesn’t always turn out that way. With the NBA’s worst record, the Sacramento Kings have a 25% chance of getting the first pick in the NBA draft. Will they chose Oklahoma great Blake Griffin, or will they chose Spain’s point guard Ricky Rubio, assuming they get the top pick?  Of course, it’s a little early to tell, considering they only have a 1 in 4 chance of being the top team.

According to every mock draft out there, including a computer generated one at ESPN, the top team in the draft, whoever it is, will select Blake Griffin. The unanimous Player of the Year last season, Griffin is seen as head and shoulders above the crowd. The problem is that there have been some big man flops that went No. 1 overall. Does anybody remember Kwami Brown?

How could Blake Griffin be a flop? Well, some people suggest that a guy like Griffin dominates the college game because he’s just physically superior- bigger, faster, stronger, more athletic. However, in the NBA he’s going to go up against players who are not only bigger, faster and stronger, but more athletic and more skilled as well. Will he be as technically sound as Derrick Rose?

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 19, 2009 - Post a comment

Sooner Legend Wayman Tisdale Dead at Age 44

Wayman Tisdale, one of the greatest college basketball players to ever play the game, has succumb to cancer at the age of 44.  Tisdale played only three seasons at Oklahoma (1983-85), but managed to be a first-team All-American in each season, and along with Patrick Ewing, was the last person to accomplish this feat. The only other players in college basketball history to earn All-American honors for three or more seasons are Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, Pete Maravich, Tom Gola, Jerry Lucas, David Thompson and Ralph Sampson. So Tisdale is in good company. He was elected into the National Collegiate Hall of Fame. Tisdale played 12 seasons in the NBA, averaging over 15 points per game in stints with the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers.

Tisdale was actually a marvelously talented jazz musician, as well as a basketball player. After his hoops career was over he released several jazz albums that did terrifically well on the charts. Tisdale will be remembered for his basketball skill, his musical talent and his positive demeanor. All who knew him have said he was a tremendous ambassador of the game. Rest in peace, Wayman Tisdale.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 15, 2009 - Post a comment

Duke PG Paulus to play QB at ‘Cuse; WSU Coach Contract

Greg Paulus, who has been a three-year starter for the Duke University basketball team, has decided to attend Syracuse for his fourth and final year of NCAA sports eligibility. Paulus will play quarterback for the Orange football team. This is a weird situation, but it might work out well for everyone. You see, Paulus is set to graduate from Duke this year, even though he has only used three of his four years of eligibility. Paulus will enroll in graduate school at Syracuse and use his fourth year. Usually when a player transfers, he can’t play in his first season at his new school. However, he’s not transferring. He’s starting grad school. The NCAA should sign off on it. ‘Cuse needs a QB, and Paulus just wants to play some more. Apparently he was a pretty good QB in high school.

In other news, Washington State has just inked the deal for their new coach. Ken Boone, who replaces Tony Bennett, will get about $650,000 per year plus possible incentives. Boon takes over a strong program at WSU after successfully coaching Portland State to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 14, 2009 - Post a comment


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