1. Former Penn State men’s basketball coach, Nittany Lions’ alumnus and current Navy coach Ed DeChellis echoed many when he called the charges of sexual abuse by former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky “disgusting.’’ DeChellis said Wednesday night after president Graham Spanier and legendary football coach Joe Paterno were fired by the board of trustees, “I don’t think the board had a choice. They needed to start the healing process. I feel for Joe.’’ DeChellis chose to leave Penn State after last season for the Naval Academy. DeChellis said that Navy had a chance of playing in the Carrier Classic in an undercard game Friday but the previous coach turned down the offer. DeChellis said he would love to get into the game in the future (and playing Air Force would make sense). But organizers did want to make sure one game worked, let alone doing a doubleheader. 2. Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said in a text message late Wednesday night that he’s getting better in his ongoing fight with Parkinson’s disease. Kennedy wasn’t on the court for the Aggies’ win over Liberty on Wednesday night, but he was around, and did visit with the players in the locker room. Kennedy said in a text message that he did watch the game, but he’s not sure yet if he’ll be strong enough to coach the Aggies next week in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Kennedy has been on a medical leave since practice started last month. Steve Lavin, who was coming off prostate cancer surgery, returned to St. John’s Wednesday night. The Red Storm and Aggies are in the 2K tournament next week with Arizona and Mississippi State. 3. Central Florida coach Donnie Jones had the Knights ranked a year ago after upsetting Florida in his first season. But by the time the Knights got to Conference USA, the slide started. And it hasn’t stopped. The Knights are on the verge of possibly joining the Big East, but they better get their house in order first. Jones was suspended for three C-USA games and athletic director Keith Tribble resigned amid recruiting violations announced in football and men’s basketball. This comes on the heels of UCF suspending five players for an exhibition game. Jones left Marshall for UCF because of the hidden gem label given to the Orlando school. But UCF can’t make significant strides if it is embroiled with the NCAA or dealing with any other off-court issues. There has consistently been a failed attempt at consistency.
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3-point shot: ‘I feel for Joe,’ DeChellis says
Filed under Basketball, Football by on Nov 10th, 2011. Comment. 
This morning, we took some time to discuss the rather surprising and potentially program-changing news out of Houston, where coach James Dickey convinced two talented local recruits , including five-star small forward Danuel House, to come to a once proud — and now fledgling — Cougars basketball program. Houston wasn’t the only school to make a recruiting splash over the weekend. As ESPN Recruiting analyst Dave Telep reported Saturday , Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford got some rather good news of his own this weekend in the form of commitments from a pair of high school and AAU teammates from Texas. One of those commitments came from shooting guard Phil Forte, who is ranked outside the ESPNU 100. But the other commitment came from shooting guard Marcus Smart, who just so happens to be the No. 11-ranked player in the class of 2012 and the No. 2-ranked player at his position in the class. Like House at Houston, he’s a much more talented player than the school he’s chosen is used to signing — a multifaceted, athletic talent that scouts like as much for his skills as for his demeanor and leadership. Thanks to the signing, Oklahoma State is now No. 12 in the 2012 ESPNU class rankings — just one spot behind No. 11 Houston . The Cowboys have a fascinating recruiting situation. The program comes with history and tradition and a fantastic building in Gallagher-Iba. It also comes with the kind of facilities — including a $4 million locker room out of the “MTV Cribs” central casting — that only a hyper-wealthy, hyper-generous donor ( $165 million! ) like T. Boone Pickens can buy. Despite those advantages, Oklahoma State has yet to establish itself as a major recruiting power. But the signing of 2011 recruit LeBryan Nash ( the No. 3-ranked small forward in the class ) and the weekend commitment from Smart indicate that may be changing. Of course, facilities aren’t everything. Successful recruiting comes from some mixture of a coach’s skill, charisma and style of play, as well as his program’s tradition and likelihood of immediate success. Facilities are just one part of the larger equation. But state of the art athletics facilities might the most important consideration many recruits make. (At the very least, college coaches seem to think so.) If that’s the case, Oklahoma State has a serious pitch to make to the nation’s elite talent. Can the Cowboys morph into a major player?
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Oklahoma State scores in recruiting, too
Filed under Basketball, Football, News by on Sep 12th, 2011. Comment.
Houston is not a modern recruiting powerhouse. Since the early 1980s, when Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon did their Phi Slama Jama thing, the Cougars have mostly existed outside the margins of elite basketball and elite recruiting. That has been especially true in recent years. Frankly, Houston is not a school you expect to announce big or impressive recruiting news — it just doesn’t ever happen. And yet, here we are. On Sunday night, Houston officially earned commitments from five-star small forward Danuel House and four-star power forward Danrad “Chicken” Knowles . House is the No. 15-ranked overall player in the class of 2012 and the No. 3 player at his position. Knowles is No. 56 in the country overall and No. 15 at the power forward spot. So what gives? Why did two of the country’s top 50 or so recruits, including one of its best, suddenly decide to play their collegiate basketball at Houston despite offers from schools like Georgetown, Kansas, Texas, Ohio State, and so forth? Both players seem thrilled by the prospect of bringing Houston basketball back to the national conversation.
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Houston lands rare elite recruits
Filed under Basketball, News by on Sep 12th, 2011. Comment.
This comes on the heels of losing top recruit Marcus Smart earlier in the week to Okie State. Just a brutal, brutal time for basketball recruiting… Source: Burnt Orange Nation :: A Texas Longhorns Blog
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Danuel House and Chicken Knowles Commit to Houston
Filed under Basketball, News by on Sep 11th, 2011. Comment.
1. Kent State first-year coach Darrell Hazell spent the past seven seasons as an Ohio State assistant. He recalls how the Buckeyes struggled with Ohio in 2008 and Navy in 2009, and hopes that No. 2 Alabama will take the Golden Flashes for granted Saturday. “It’s hard to get up every week,” Hazell said. “But you’ve got to tell your team you have to get up and play. Sometimes you can tell ‘em and tell ‘em as much as you want, but if they don’t do it, that’s when you get yourself in a dogfight in the latter part of the game.” 2. The spotlight on new offensive coordinators hired to perform an extreme makeover has been focused on Steve Kragthorpe of LSU, Charlie Weis of Florida and Bryan Harsin of Texas. But the coach who may get the best results is Kevin Rogers at Boston College. Sophomore Chase Rettig started last season and struggled for the Eagles. Under Rogers’ tutelage, Rettig is displaying new confidence. And Rettig also will have one of the best tailbacks in the nation, senior Montel Harris , to draw defensive attention. 3. East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill said Monday that his team had weathered Hurricane Irene well over the weekend. McNeill had a tree fall and land on his house, but he and the rest of the Pirates escaped injury. He seized the opportunity to show his players video about the travails ECU suffered in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd savaged the campus. “At the end,” McNeill said in his news conference Monday, “I told the team that it was not a made-up movie. It did not have directors or actors. These were Pirates like you.”
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3-point stance: Kent State hopes to surprise
Filed under Football, News by on Aug 30th, 2011. Comment.
“It ( University of Texas ) was always my dream school to go to. There’s actually a room in my house that’s a Texas Longhorns bedroom. It’s burnt orange with posters everywhere and Texas Longhorn bedding and everything.” The Red Sox decided it… Source: The Eagle-Tribune | North Andover, MA
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High-risk draft picks bring high rewards for Red Sox
Filed under News by on Aug 21st, 2011. Comment.
The Higher Education Committee in Texas’ House of Representatives is set to meet on Tuesday to discuss Texas A&M’s possible move to the SEC, Rep. Dan Branch told ESPN on Friday . However, Texas A&M’s Board of Regents moved up a meeting scheduled for Aug. 22 to Monday, Aug. 15. On the agenda, listed as the final topic before the meeting adjourns: “Authorization for the President to Take All Actions Relating to Texas A&M University’s Athletic Conference Alignment, The Texas A&M University System.” Branch told ESPN that the SEC could vote as early as Saturday, but the higher education committee hopes to know what is at stake for the rest of the state. “There are millions of dollars at stake,” Branch said.
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Texas A&M-to-SEC talk heats up further
Filed under Football, News by on Aug 12th, 2011. Comment.
A few more news and notes from the EYBL Peach Jam … NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. — With so much time on their hands, coaches can’t help but sit around telling stories while they watch the endless march of games. Usually the tales revolve around basketball. Unless it’s Rick Barnes. With Barnes, the conversation inevitably turns to practical jokes. The Texas coach takes pride on pulling fast ones over other coaches, friends and even his players. “He’ll take a guy’s phone and change the language to Chinese or one time he took a phone and took it apart. Handed it back in pieces,’’ UT assistant coach Russell Springmann said.
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Peach Jam notebook: Jokester coaches
Filed under Basketball, News by on Jul 13th, 2011. Comment.
One of the more interesting things about covering Big Ten football is seeing how the league and its members balance tradition and history with the need to grow brands and keep up with national trends. Whether it’s expansion, instant replay, the addition of division play and a championship game, a new TV network or simply more football in prime time, the Big Ten and its schools are in a historic period of change. Michigan is a particularly fascinating case study, particularly since Dave Brandon took over as athletic director in March 2010. Brandon has roots in the Michigan tradition as a former football player under Bo Schembechler. He also returned to his alma mater from the business world and saw a brand that, despite its historical significance, needed upgrades. Brandon made branding a priority from the start and has facilitated several changes. Michigan now has lights at the Big House. The Wolverines will play their first night game Sept. 10 against Notre Dame — in throwback jerseys , no less. They will open the 2012 season against Alabama at JerryWorld in Texas. New LED video boards are being installed at Michigan Stadium. These moves wouldn’t be notable at many programs, but they are at Michigan, which hadn’t exactly been a beacon for change. I recently caught up with Brandon to discuss the Michigan brand and his vision for the future. What was your impression of the Michigan brand when you arrived as AD? Dave Brandon: The Block M brand has always stood for excellence. It’s a brand that is connected with the history and tradition of college football. It’s the oldest football program, it’s the winningest football program. It’s got a lot of iconic characteristics in terms of the Big House and the winged helmet and legendary coaches and many championships. The expectations around the brand are always high. As I came in and did my review, I think our brand had received some short-term hits that were a result of football being such an important brand builder for us. We’d had two consecutive years of poor performance, not being competitive in our conference, not going to a bowl game. We had the NCAA violations and all of the negative ramifications of being involved in investigations and allegations. Certainly that was detrimental. And across the board, one of the measures is our performance in the Director’s Cup. We had fallen to 26th that previous year, which was a real low point. So it felt to me like even though we continue to have a strong brand, in the near term we had slid back a little bit.
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Michigan AD Dave Brandon talks branding
Filed under Football by on Jul 13th, 2011. Comment.
Only one female lawmaker, Rep. Elaine Bowers, R-Concordia, has gone to basketball games courtesy of lobbyists. From this region, Speaker of the House Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, was the guest of AT&T Inc . and Affiliates at the Jan. 22 game in Lawrence,… Source: HutchNews.com
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Efforts seeks to ensure soldiers’ ballots correct
Filed under Basketball, News by on Mar 26th, 2011. Comment.
