Category: College Basketball (Page 60 of 153)

      Six former Toledo players indicted for point-shaving ring

      May 6, 2009 /

      Six former University of Toledo athletes and two Detroit-area businessmen were indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a point-shaving ring that centered around men’s basketball and football games.

      Prosecutors allege in the 20-count indictment related to the Toledo case that Ghazi “Gary” Manni and Mitchell Edward Karam paid money and offered up other gifts to several athletes between November 2005 and December 2006, during which time the two allegedly wagered about $407,500 on Toledo contests.

      All eight defendants face charges of conspiracy to commit sports bribery. The six former Toledo athletes also face charges of unlawful use of interstate facilities.

      The former athletes charged are: Running back Adam Ryan Cuomo, point guard Keith Junior Triplett, forward Anton Du’ane Currie, basketball guard Kashif Lashon Payne, running back Harvey Lamont McDougle and running back Quinton James Broussard.

      Each count carries a prison term of up to five years and as much as a $250,000 fine.

      What a shame it is that these athletes work hard to earn athletic scholarships, only to eventually wind up getting involved in a gambling ring. It has to be tough being a student athlete, but all six of these players had to think about the repercussions they faced for doing something like this.

      College Basketball, College Football

      Eric Bledsoe headed to Kentucky; Wall next?

      May 6, 2009 /

      Top point guard recruit Eric Bledsoe is going to play for John Calipari at the University of Kentucky.

      Bledsoe had narrowed his choices to Memphis and Kentucky last week and visited both schools over the weekend before making up his mind.

      The Tigers were hoping that Bledsoe, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 3 point guard by Rivals.com, would fill their hole in the backcourt next season. Instead, Bledsoe chose to play for former Memphis coach John Calipari, despite the possibility of sharing the position with top-ranked point guard John Wall, who is also favoring the Wildcats.

      Bledsoe said today that Calipari told him that he “can come in right off the bat and start.”

      Memphis promoted Josh Pastner to head coach because of his reputation as a recruiter, but he lost out on this one. It will be interesting to see where John Wall is headed because the general consensus is that he favors Kentucky as well. Will he and Bledsoe share the same backcourt?

      College Basketball, High School Sports, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Super recruit Renardo Sidney picks Mississippi State

      May 3, 2009 /

      Renardo Sidney

      One of the nation’s last remaining big-time recruits is off the market, as Renardo Sidney of California has decided to attend Mississippi State University. His decision was a bit of a surprise, reports Andy Katz for ESPN Rise, because Sidney was recently committed to attend USC.

      Sidney, the No. 7 player in the Class of 2009 as ranked by ESPN’s Scouts, Inc., was one of two in the top 10 who had not signed. A 6-foot-9 forward from Jackson, Miss., Sideny spent the past two seasons at Fairfax High in Los Angeles. He originally committed to USC, but the school decided to stop recruiting him last week.

      Stansbury said he didn’t know why USC fell through. He said Sidney called Mississippi State last week and told them that he had a change of heart and wanted to come home. Stansbury said the Bulldogs had recruited Sidney last fall.

      The other remaining unsigned top 10 player is No. 5 John Wall, a point guard from Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C.

      Who knows why it is that USC decided to stop recruiting Sidney (it seems unlike the Trojans to back off a player as talented as Sidney), but the freshman could have an immediate impact in the SEC. The league was down significantly last year, in part because many of its highly-rated freshman failed to live up to expectations. With Sidney joining the Bulldogs and Coach John Calipari bringing highly-rated big man DeMarcus Cousins with him to Kentucky, there could be some serious post battles going on in the Southeastern Conference next season.

      Some have claimed that a feature on Sidney from New York Times’ Play Magazine in which the high school senior came off as having a big ego affected the way some schools viewed him. To read the feature, click here.

      College Basketball

      Paulus likely playing for Syracuse next season

      April 26, 2009 /

      Sources close to the Syracuse football program have confirmed that former Duke point guard Greg Paulus will likely be on their roster for next season. With Michigan out of the picture, Paulus is expected to meet with Orange head coach Doug Marrone early this week about playing football at the school in his final year of college eligibility.

      Syracuse Post-Standard sports columnist Bud Poliquin wrote that this is a no-brainer decision for the struggling program, as the Orange have won only 26 of its last 83 games and have nothing to lose with this roster addition.

      Which makes this, of course, a no-brainer. As long as Marrone likes what he hears from Paulus, and as long as Paulus is confident that SU will provide him with the opportunity he seeks on the field and in the classrooms of the Newhouse School, this is a Done Deal.

      Because he never was redshirted during his four years at Duke, Paulus has one year of eligibility remaining in another sport. He has completed his college degree thus allowing Paulus to attend graduate school elsewhere and compete immediately if granted a waiver from the NCAA.

      Paulus was a prolific high school passer at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse; his high marks include an undefeated senior season in which he completed 66 percent of his passes for 3700 yards and threw for 43 touchdown passes. The Orange coaching staff feels Paulus is a perfect fit to lead their pro-style offense next season.

      College Basketball, College Football

      Curry, Lawson and Ellington enter loaded pool of guard talent in NBA Draft

      April 25, 2009 /

      Stephen Curry

      As all eyes turn to today’s NFL Draft, why not take a moment for a little speculating about June’s NBA Draft.

      Three significant underclassmen guards announced their entry into the NBA Draft this week – Davidson’s Stephen Curry and North Carolina’s Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson – joining a talent pool already loaded with guards.

      Here are list of a few more who figure to be in the running to be top 20 picks in this year’s draft:

      Ricky Rubio, Spain

      James Harden, Arizona State

      Tyreke Evans, Memphis

      Brandon Jennings, Italy

      DeMar DeRozan, USC

      Eric Maynor, VCU

      Gerald Henderson, Duke

      Jrue Holliday, UCLA

      Terrence Williams, Louisville

      Jonny Flynn, Syracuse

      Jeff Teague, Wake Forest

      Patrick Mills, St. Mary’s

      The question is, where are these three newcomers going to go? ESPN’s Chad Ford doesn’t even have Ellington in his top 30 available prospects, and while he did come up big in the Tar Heels’ championship run this season, he had to withdraw from the draft last year because of a lack of interest from NBA teams.

      Lawson’s stock is up this year, and he has the reputation of being one of the fastest end-to-end point guard prospects in the draft. But will NBA GMs side with him over the just-as-quick and better-shooting Jonny Flynn, Eric Maynor or Jeff Teague?

      Same goes for Curry. From a production standpoint, he’s light years ahead of everybody on this list except perhaps Lawson or James Harden. But he would likely enter the NBA as the league’s skinniest player, and given teams’ tendencies to let workouts and physical potential rule the day, it may be tough for them to take Curry over say, a DeMar DeRozan, Tyreke Evans or even a Jrue Holliday – all players with NBA-ready bodies and major upside.

      College Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft

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