Category: College Basketball (Page 113 of 153)

In response to Kelvin Sampson’s forced resignation at Indiana, six of his players including starters, DJ White, Armon Bassett, and Jemarcu Ellis missed the first practice held by interim head coach Dan Dakich. Not only are they upset that Sampson has been forced out, but that Ray McCallum was not promoted to the head coach spot.

McCallum has been the top assistant at Indiana for two years. Dakich joined the staff this year as the Director of Basketball Operations (after being fired at Bowling Green) and was elevated to a full time assistant after Rob Senderoff was fired.

McCallum was the head coach at Ball State and Houston and was not implicated in any of the NCAA violations. Futhermore his track record was better than Dakich. I can see why the players are upset. And I agree with them. Time will tell if they will play on Saturday at Northwestern.

My only question is when will Rick Greenspan be fired. He should be for his handling of this entire episode. However, like many administrators they escape without any damage to them or their careers.

Tennessee is the #2 team in the country thanks in large part to the NCAA. You see, last summer the NCAA allowed Tyler Smith to transfer to the Vols from Iowa without having to sit out a year. The rationale was that his father was diagnosed with cancer and he wanted to seem him play. Ok, they did a humanitarian thing.

However, think of the repercussions for Iowa and beyond. Iowa lost is leading returning score and it is a good bet that if he was told he would have to sit out he would have stayed put. I can see going home to be with a sick parent. It makes sense. Look at Kevin Coble from Northwestern who missed the first part of the school year to be at home with his sick mother. Can he get back a year if he appeals? Based on Tyler Smith he should.

Furthermore, Bruce Pearl recruited Smith out of high school, but was spurned. Why was it not important to have his father see him play then? Look, I am not being cold hearted, but precedent has been set. All players should be able to leave without penalty if a new coach comes in and if a parent is sick. It is dangerous waters being tread when kids can leave at the drop of a hat without penalty.

Finally, I am in total favor that the rule should be changed to allow players to transfer when coaches are fired before the end of their contract. Perhaps that would give Administrators reason to uphold a contract that they signed.

Speaking of firing, stay tuned on Kelvin Sampson. Fox Sports has reported that he is gone. Indiana denies it and will have an announcement later today. Meanwhile, Sampson is still running practice. In my opinion let him finish the year and then see where the chips fall. My bet is if he goes deep into the tourney they will overlook his transgressions, just as they did for Bob Knight for so many years. Fire him now and they risk a chance of a lawsuit like the one Jim OBrien just won against Ohio State.

Last week John Calipari said his Memphis team is the closest college team to being “America’s Team.” This week he is complaining that the media is picking on them. ” We feel like the media doesn’t think we should lose a game in Conference USA, while no one criticizes Duke for losing to Wake Forest.”

If you don’t want the heat then keep your mouth shut. I like John Calipari. He is a terrific coach and a great promoter. He has the opportunity to do at Memphis what Tark did at UNLV. However, he needs to win and win big if he is going to be so outspoken. Furthermore, we’re still waiting for a decision on one of his player’s striking a fan after the UAB game. I guess that one punch is ok for a member of America’s Team.

Meanwhile his team will be tested with a road game against Tulane and then the toughest game left on his schedule, #2 Tennessee. It is a game that matches two of the best in the business. Should be a great game.

Down on Tobacco Road, Coach K stirred things up with Roy Williams on his weekly press conference. When asked about injuries he stated “that we don’t talk about injuries as an excuse like some teams and coaches do.” When Williams heard this he snapped back and added fuel to the fire. I can’t wait for the rematch.

Speaking of coaches sounding off, Kansas State Coach Frank Martin was a little defensive when asked about the chance of Michael Beasley being named Player of the Year. “If Michael played at one of those basketball schools, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.” I couldn’t agree more! His numbers don’t lie. To say that Tyler Hansborough or Kevin Love deserve it is ludicrous. He leads the country in rebounding and is fourth in scoring. He shoots a higher percentage from the field and three than either of the other two. Additionally, his supporting cast isn’t as good as the ones at UCLA and North Carolina.

Beasley wins hands down!!!

Coach Kelvin Sampson has had a great week on the court. Tonight his Hoosiers beat Purdue, 77-68, to move into a first place tie in the Big Ten. This comes on the heels of their thrashing of Michigan State this weekend. DJ White continued to stake his claim on the player of the year award in the Big 10. He scored 19 points and added 12 rebounds, while freshman Eric Gordon contributed 22 points.

Menawhile Indiana AD Greenspan continues his investigation. In other words he is waiting for the lawyers to get back with him to see if Indiana can dismiss Sampson without any monetary setbacks.

Watching the student body at the game it was clear they are behind Sampson. Holding signs listing all of Bob Knight’s transgressions (choking players, throwing chairs and just plain rude behavior) it seems strange that Sampson will be dismissed for making a couple of extra phone calls. Ask any coach in America and they will tell you off the record that this rule is broken by everybody. Oh and by the way, the NCAA has made text messaging illegal. Since that is the most common way for young people to communicate it only makes sense that the NCAA would prohibit it. Personally, I would like to see the budget and salaries for all of the policy wonks at the NCAA.