Per SI.com (via the Dan Patrick Show)…

“If [a kid is] good enough, he should be allowed to come right out of high school,” Kryzewski said.

But Coach K thinks if a player does go to college, he should take academics seriously.

“If they go to college, they should be there long enough to take core courses that could eventually lead to a degree,” Kryzewski said. “Otherwise it’s a sham.”

When the NBA age-limit rule was implemented, I conducted a study that found that players that were drafted straight out of high school had a higher success rate than players that were drafted out of college or via international ball.

I think the best system would be to allow high schoolers to be drafted, and if they go undrafted, they’re able to enter college. Once they do enter college, they’ll have to play a minimum of two years. That way, the players that are NBA-caliber at 18 can go straight to the league, while those that need seasoning will have to put in a couple of seasons on the collegiate level. The two-season minimum is to ensure that these players will put in some academic effort while in school (which will hopefully result in a degree somewhere down the line). One season isn’t enough. Right now, players have to pass just six hours in the first semester to be eligible to play for the entire year. That’s a joke.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

The Associated Press is reporting that Mike Krzyzewski will lead the U.S. Men’s Basketball program through the 2012 Olympics in London.

Chairman Jerry Colangelo had already announced that he would return. Assistant coaches Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan and Jim Boeheim will also return.

Chris Bosh discussed Miami as a possible destination next summer.

“As of right now, I’m not sure. I like Miami, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know what comes along with being a part of that organization. I don’t even have any friends in Miami, which was the funniest part. A close friend of mine hit me yesterday and was like ‘Hey there’s another article out’ and I was like ‘What now?’ ‘Apparently a friend in Miami said you’re going to Miami.’ He sent me the article and I read it, and I’m like, ‘now they’re just making stuff up.’”

For Heat fans, re-signing Dwyane Wade and signing Bosh would be a dream scenario next summer. The best thing Miami has going for it (other than South Beach, of course) is Wade, so if Bosh signs he better hope that Wade doesn’t pull an Elton Brand and bolt. Speaking of…

Dwyane Wade discussed his hometown of Chicago as a possible destination next summer.

“I’m not ruling out a lot of places, including Chicago, but I’m not really thinking about those places. Like I said, 2010 is the year when I will sit down and open up my options and, hopefully, I’m still blessed and healthy to have those options and then go from there. But Miami is my number one option and I’ve made that clear. That’s where I want to be and, hopefully, we can get everything right here in Miami.”

Wade is just keeping his options open. He has said repeatedly that he’d like to stay in Miami, but he’s keeping the organization’s feet to the fire by insinuating that he still might leave if the franchise is unable to surround him with good players. The Heat are projected to have significant cap space next summer, so they could conceivably sign Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire or even LeBron James.

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Before becoming one of the most hated college basketball players in the country, Greg Paulus was a really good football player in high school.

Paulus, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, was a four-time all-state player at Christian Brothers and a starter in the U.S. Army All-American game, and set six state passing records. Christian Brothers was 42-3 during his time there, and he had 11,763 career passing yards and 152 touchdown passes in 45 games.

Paulus visited the Michigan campus this week and TonyBlogs.net says that he’d be eligible to play right away.

Although Paulus played four years at Duke, he has one year of eligibility remaining for football under NCAA rules. He would also not have to sit out a year if he transfers, as he would if he were switching to play basketball, which would allow him to potentially be the starting quarterback for the Wolverines in 2009.

By most accounts, Paulus was a better football player than basketball player in high school, though he was obviously pretty good in both. I’d like to see him have some success in this endeavor after Coach K benched him mid-season to give the Blue Devils a more athletic lineup.

The one good thing about exiting the NCAA tournament early is that you can get a jump start on your recruiting. Mike Krzyzewski didn’t waste any time landing one of the most promising transfer prospects, Seth Curry.

After spending several hours Sunday with Krzyzewski on the Duke campus, Curry — the nation’s leading freshman scorer (20.3 points per game) this season at Liberty University — committed to play for the Blue Devils.

Under NCAA rules, Curry will not be allowed to participate next season but can begin play in the 2010-11 season.

“After spending five hours with coach K and his staff and hearing how highly they regard (Seth) and how they think he can help their program, it speaks for itself,” father Dell Curry said Sunday evening.

“It seems like the right fit. Seth committed before he left.”

Jon Scheyer will be back next year, but Gerald Henderson may not. Either way, Seth Curry will be able to fill one of the guard positions after he sits out a year. He and Elliot Williams would make a nice combination barring the arrival of a big-time recruit (John Wall?) that decides to stay more than a single season.

March Madness is arguably the greatest sporting event in the world, so when the NCAA decided to put together a highlights package, there was plenty to choose from. The DVD has four distinct parts: Great Comebacks (including the 1998 “Comeback ‘Cats” of Kentucky), Buzzer Beaters (Bryce Drew, Christian Laettner, etc.), Cinderella Stories (’66 Texas Western, ‘06 George Mason) and Legendary Performances (Magic/Bird in ‘79, Isiah Thomas in ‘81). Jim Nantz narrates and does a nice job of setting up the action, whether it took place in 1966 or in 2006.

In addition to the aforementioned topics, the documentary covers the ‘05 comebacks by Louisville and Illinois to make the Final Four, Michael Jordan’s clutch shot in the ‘82 finals, Keith Smart’s game-winner in the ‘87 finals, Dwyane Wade’s triple-double as well as Jim Valvano’s N.C. State team that took down Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma. The film also highlights Shaquille O’Neal’s single-game record for blocks, Bo Kimble’s touching tribute to Hank Gathers and Bill Walton’s astonishing 21 for 22 performance in 1973.

Special features include highlights of three championship games: ‘79 (Michigan State/Indiana State), ‘82 (North Carolina/Georgetown) and ‘83 (N.C. State/Houston). There is also an in-depth, uncut interview with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

All in all, this is a nice one-disc package that covers just about every buzzer beater and Cinderella story in the last four decades of the NCAA tournament.

While every year has its own host of surprises, there are always those stories that simply fit the trend. Sure, it can get repetitive, but if we don’t look back at history aren’t we only doomed to repeat it? Every year has its fair share of stories that fell into this category, and 2008 was no different.

Our list of things we already knew this year includes the BCS’ continued suckiness (Texas-Oklahoma), how teamwork wins championships (KG, Pierce and Ray-Ray), and the #1 rule for carrying a handgun into a nightclub – don’t use your sweatpants as a holster. (Come on, Plax. Really? Sweatpants?)

Don’t miss the other two parts of our 2008 Year-End Sports Review: “What We Learnedâ€� and “What We Think Might Happen.â€�

Brett Favre can’t make up his mind.

The biggest story of the summer was all the drama surrounding Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. This saga has been covered to death, but there’s one detail that never seemed to get that much play. At the start, it looked like the Packers were making a bad decision by moving on so quickly even when Favre decided he wanted to return. But when the news broke about Favre’s near-unretirement in March, the Packers stance became much more clear. They were ready to take him back after the owners’ meetings, but he called it off at the last minute. At that point, the Packer brass was understandably finished with Brett Favre, much to the chagrin of a good portion of the Packer faithful. – John Paulsen

The Chicago Cubs’ title drought is not a fans-only phenomenon.

The 2008 Cubs were easily the best team the franchise has assembled in decades, but they still couldn’t win a single game in the playoffs, and the reason is simple: the pressure finally got to them. Sure, they said the right things to the press about how they didn’t care about what had happened in the past, but don’t believe a word of it; there wasn’t a single person in that dugout that wasn’t fantasizing about being part of the team that finally, mercifully, ended the longest title drought in sports history. Once ESPN picked them to win it all, however, they were doomed. Ryan Dempster walked seven batters in Game 1, which matched his total for the month of September. The entire infield, including the sure-handed Derrek Lee, committed errors in Game 2. Alfonso Soriano went 1-14 with four strikeouts in the leadoff spot, while the team as a whole drew six walks and struck out 24 times. The team with so much balance in the regular season suddenly became the most one-dimensional team in baseball; take Game 1 from them, then sit back and watch them choke. And now that this group has lost six straight playoff games (the team has lost nine straight dating back to 2003), it isn’t about to get any easier. Get a helmet, Cubs fans. – David Medsker

If you’re going to wear sweatpants to a nightclub, leave the gun at home.

If winning a Super Bowl is the pinnacle of an NFL player’s career, than shooting yourself with your own gun in a nightclub has to be rock bottom. Case in point: Plaxico Antonio Burress. Just 10 months after helping the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a nightclub. Apparently the (unregistered) gun was slipping down his leg and when he tried to grab it to keep it from falling, the lucky bastard wound up pulling the trigger and shooting himself. And that wasn’t the worst of it because as Plaxico found out, New York has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. He was arrested, but posted bail of $100,000 and is scheduled to return to court on March 31, 2009. If convicted of carrying a weapon without a license, he faces up to three and a half years in jail. He shouldn’t expect special treatment, either. The mayor of New York wants to be sure that Burress is prosecuted just like any other resident of NYC. The Giants, meanwhile, placed him on their reserve/non-football injury list and effectively ended his season. While “Plax� definitely deserves “Boner of the Week� consideration for his stupidity, what’s sad is that in the wake of Washington Redskins’ safety Sean Taylor’s death, most NFL players feel the need to arm themselves when they go out. Maybe players can learn from not only Taylor’s death, but also Burress’s accident so further incidents can be avoided. – Anthony Stalter