The Morning Dish – Saturday, June 21st:
Not Coming Back: New Mexico guard Senque Carey was denied for his bid to return from a spinal injury suffered last November. Carey, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a collision against Northwestern State in the second game of the Lobos’ season, had undergone surgery and rehab in the past few months, and was given clearance by the surgical team from Stanford. However, New Mexico team physician Dr. Bob Schenck did not feel comfortable giving Carey medical clearance, and thus will not return. If he had been cleared, the NCAA would have had to issue a medical redshirt for last year, Carey’s senior season.
Going to Trial: Nolan Richardson sent in his response to the Arkansas request to dismiss his lawsuit, and US District Judge William R. Wilson, Jr. can now make a deciscion. As you all recall, Richardson was fired on March 1, 2002, and he claims he was fired because he is black and outspoken, and that his buyout contract does not preclude him from suing the school. The university counters that he was fired because of lack of control of the program, and that since he’s collecting payments on a $3 million buyout, he can’t sue. We will have to wait until May 3rd, 2004 for the trial to begin.
In the Rafters: The University of Arizona has announced that they will be retiring former Wildcat (and current Sacramento King) point guard Mike Bibby’s No. 10 jersey. Bibby, who only played two seasons for Arizona, was freshman of the year in 1997 and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1998, and is 30th all-time on the team in scoring with a 15.4 point per game average. The fourth jersey retiree, Bibby’s jersey joins the jerseys of Sean Elliott (32), Steve Kerr (25), and Jason Gardner (22). No disrespect to Mr. Bibby, but we here at Hoopville are not terribly impressed with this revelation. But hey, history has to start somewhere, especially if it helps recruiting to see NBA names in the rafters.
Ivy Changes: The Ivy League has adopted tougher academic standards for incoming student-athletes at the league’s biannual meeting this past week. Now athletes will have to meet the average academic qualifications for non-athletes at the schools. Additionally, the League will also seek to limit the number of recruited athletes in all sports, which builds on previous legislation that cut football recruits by five per year. Lastly, the league modified their “offseason rest day” policy, which previously mandated a minimum of one week blocks of off-time, for seven total weeks. Now it’s 48 days of off-time, distributed throughout the school year as they see fit. The Ivy League is the only D-1 conference that does not offer athletic scholarships.
Howard’s End?: Illinois reserve guard Jerrance Howard has decided to return to the Illini squad even though he’s almost completed his coursework towards his bachelor’s degree. With one year of eligibility remaining, Howard was set on leaving the squad after four years of schoolwork, but since he needs a few more credits, and recuit Charlie Villanueva backed out of his commitment and will be attending UConn, there’s a scholarship available. New coach Bruce Weber indicated that he had noticed Howard’s leadership abilities, and that this upcoming season might help Howard learn some of the ropes of running a team, as Howard eventually wants to get into coaching. Howard played in 14 games last season, with nine points on sixteen shots.
