Author: Coach Z (Page 2 of 38)

It appears that North Carolina and Arizona are the two big winners in the early draft sweepstakes. With the rule change allowing players to test the waters and have the NBA teams pay for the workouts, more and more players are sticking their foot in the waters hoping to make a splash. This rule change really leaves the college coaches in a bit of a pickle. Do you sign his replacement or do you hope he comes to his senses? Now there are some sure bets, like Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose. I am not talking about those guys, but a player like Bill Walker from Kansas State or the three players from UNC who tested the waters. Those are the “flip a coin” type guys.

However, before you shed a tear for Roy Williams remember he still has Tyler Hansbrough back for another year. Today Roy Williams can go back out on the golf course for another month with the knowledge that Ty Lawson, Danny Green and Wayne Ellington will be back in Chapel Hill. Coaching just got a little bit easier for ol’ Roy. He has another year with more talent than anyone he plays against.

The other big winner is Lute Olsen. With the return of Chase Buddinger and Jordan Hill (and if Brandon Jennings can make grades) the Wildcats will be in the hunt out west again. And it looks like all his distractions are gone (marital problems and staff issues) and that magic 800 mark is in sight.

The big losers are UCLA and Kansas State. Both Bill Walker and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will stay in. With Walker’s new knee injury and Moute’s lack of polish both players would have been better served to come back one more year. Then again they will make big money overseas even if the NBA doesn’t come calling.

Also, George Hill of IUPUI and Paul Graham of Florida Atlantic are staying in. The thought is their value may never be any higher. At least in Hill’s case he is close to graduating so he will have something to fall back on.

Once again, it begs the question of who are some of these guys listening too? Oh, that’s right, they listen to an advisor who only gets paid if they leave school. Let’s see, I will be Bill Walker’s advisor for the moment. If I tell Bill to go back to school I get nothing, however, if I tell him to come out, then I get paid a percentage of what his first contract is. So I get nothing or 10% to 20%? Pretty easy decision. Come on guys, listen to the people who know – not someone you think knows.

Once again the NCAA has shown why it cares more about the turf it holds as a giant bureaucracy than the welfare of one of its student athletes. They have lost touch with the people who make their jobs possible. The young men and women who want to compete.

In a recent ruling, Kenny Simms was denied a waiver to transfer and play at Francis Marion University. I guess the schools involved weren’t big enough to warrant any publicity, good or bad, to make a decision in what was in the best interest of the student athlete. Not like a year ago, when they approved Tyler Smith to play right away for Tennessee, which was a school he had turned down the first time they recruited him.

All Kenny Sims wanted to do was play for a coach that recruited him, but the ARS committee refused his request based on the grounds that he could have appealed to stay at UMKC. It seems UMKC had withdrawn his scholarship at the end of the academic year.

Let me get back to the beginning so you hear the whole story. Kenny was recruited out of high school by Donnie Marsh at FIU. He elected to sign there in the fall of his senior year in high school. Unfortunately for Kenny, Coach Marsh was fired that spring. Since he had signed the letter of intent he was bound to FIU. He ended up going there and playing for the new coach. After a year, his scholarship was not renewed. No reasons were given. A school doesn’t have to give a reason. It was just a case of the new coach wanting his own players.

He then transferred to UMKC. While sitting out a year in residence (as required by the NCAA) the coach that recruited him there was fired. Once again he was playing for a new coach. At the end of that year the new coach decided not to renew his scholarship.

Now Kenny wanted to finish his career playing for someone he knows and, more importantly, going to a school that would give him a scholarship. You see, he had no financial resources to stay and pay his own way at UMKC the additional year so that he could graduate.

Unfortunately, this week he was told by Matt Bergmeister of the NCAA that he would not be granted his waiver and would not be allowed to play. When explaining this decision, Bergmeister cited two things. First, it didn’t matter that coaches had changed. What world does he live in? Oh yeah, the fantasy world of the NCAA!
Secondly, that he could have appealed his scholarship non-renewal at UMKC. He is correct about that, but by the time the committee would have met and ruled he would have risked not having another school to go to.

Once again, the NCAA has taken away a young man’s future by taking away his economic wherewithal to graduate. It is time for the NCAA to stop burying its head in the sand and do what is right for the student athletes.

One final note, if there are any lawyers out there reading this blog who would be interested in trying to fight this injustice please contact me.

It’s official, Kyle Taber will be the captain of the basketball team at Indiana. Well, not quite official. Although, with the news of Jordan Crawford’s departure, Taber is the only scholarship player left on the roster.

Tom Crean’s recruiting ability will be tested to the max the next two years. The question is – can he pull another Dwayne Wade out of his hat? With only one returning scholarship player, Crean will have to use newcomers and his coaching wits to avoid the basement in the Big Ten.

My money is on Crean. If I had to use one word to describe him, it would be “relentless.”

A report surfaced today that a high school coach whose player was involved with the investigation into Kelvin Sampson’s illegal phone calls has sent in his phone records to refute the charge. The phone records show that the call was made from the high school coaches phone and not an Indiana assistant (which would have made it illegal).

That knocks it down to 9 phone calls in question. Are you kidding me? The NCAA is off it’s rocker spending so much money to invesitgate this matter. That is why Jerry Tarkanian received $22.5 million dollars from the NCAA for their abusive investigations of him at UNLV.

Sampson has moved on to the NBA. The AD still has his job and Tom Crean is rebuilding from scratch. Let’s give it a rest and worry about something more important.

BROWN HIRES AGEL
Assistant Jessie Agel has been hired as the head coach at Brown. After Craig Robinson was hired at Oregon State (not sure why), his assistant was left to hand in the wind for close to three months. Finally, they did the right thing and hired a guy who has paid his dues. After a stellar run as an assistant at Vermont, he was bypassed for that job and landed on his feet at Brown.

Glad to see him get an opportunity. Go Bears!!

LAWSON ARRESTED FOR DUI
Ty Lawson was arrested for DUI and underage drinking in Chapel Hill over the weekend. Must have been partying with Tyler Hansbrough. I wonder who can jump the farthest out a window.

He was supposed to work out for the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. Obviously, he missed it. Lucky for him George Karl is an ex-UNC player so he probably knows a little bit about the partying going on in Chapel Hill. Do you think they will still take him with their 20th pick as was rumored? Why not, he is a perfect fit with Iverson and Anthony. Both on and off the court!

My only question is why didn’t he wait until after the draft?

Florida Atlantic announced this week that Mike Jarvis will be their new basketball coach. This is the same Mike Jarvis whose St. John’s program deteriorated to the bottom of the Big East. The same Coach Jarvis whose program was put on NCAA probation for paying players. The same Coach Jarvis whose George Washington program detriorated in his last copuple of years to the bottom of the Atlantic 10.

Not that I don’t believe in second chances, but give me a break. Once again college administrators have proven that if you have a successful record on the court (Jarvis did have good seasons early in his tenure at both schools) then what happens off the court doesn’t matter. After a two-year stint working with Athletes in Action (Christian organization), his image has been rehabilitated. But come on! Isn’t it time that college presidents walk the walk?

Until these college presidents stop hiring coaches who have broken serious NCAA rules, the whole system will remain a sham. Remember the president of Georgia when he hired Jim Harrick after his rules violations at UCLA? He extolled how Harrick had learned his lessons. Obviously, he didn’t learn them well enough because he was part of the biggest scandal in Georgia basketball history.

Now I am not saying that Jarvis has not learned his lessons or doesn’t deserve another chance, but there are too many coaches out there with proven integrity who should be given the same chance. However, there is one thing that Jarvis has proven and that is he can win games. And that is all that matters to most college administrators!

Crazy Coaching Move, Part 2: Kansas State announced today that they have signed Associate Head coach Dalonte Hill to a five-year contract worth $420,000 per year. Are you kidding me? That’s more money than what 90% of the head coaches make in Division I. And for what? He delivered Michael Beasley. The one-year wonder who helped Kansas State make the NCAA tournament, where they won a single game.

His salary is more than the the combined salary of the entire assistant staff at Kansas. And they won a National Championship. And they have reloaded with NBA talent. Meanwhile, K-State is left without a single potential NBA player on their roster or incoming recruit with any buzz of a NBA future. Couple that with an irresponsible DUI charge during the season and it makes you wonder what the new Athletic Director at K-State was thinking. That type of money should be left for proven coaches who are the whole package. For a great cost comparison check out the article by Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star.