Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Tuesday, September 30th

He’s Back: Former Georgia head coach Jim Harrick has been hired as a scout and coaching consultant for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. Harrick resigned as head coach of the Bulldogs in March following charges of academic fraud and illegal payments to players, causing the school, ranked 23rd at the time, to suspended itself from all postseason play. Harrick was previously fired from the head coaching position at UCLA, and later resigned from Rhode Island from accusations of changing players’ grades. According to the Associated Press, Denver General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe said, “We are thrilled to add Coach Harrick to our staff. He possesses a remarkable basketball mind and will be a great asset to us.”

Pleading: In the ongoing saga of Big East v. the ACC, attorneys for the ACC yesterday asked Connecticut Superior Court Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza to dismiss the suit based on jurisdictional grounds. Basically, the ACC is arguing that since they don’t operate in Connecticut, save for an ESPN deal, the lawsuit should not proceed. The ACC has two agreements with the Bristol, Connecticut-based network, but neither contract includes games in the state, and were negotiated and signed at ACC headquarters in North Carolina. The Big East countered that Miami, who accepted the ACC’s invitation to jump from the Big East, had over 300 business dealings in Connecticut. The Big East and four football schools argue that they wasted millions of dollars based on having Miami and Virginia Tech in the conference, and are seeking retribution. No word when Sferrazza will rule.

Bulldog Arrested: Fresno State sophomore guard Terry Pettis has been suspended indefinitely from the basketball team following a felony arrest last week. Pettis, who was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and misdemeanor domestic battery, was accused by his girlfriend of hitting her and vandalizing her car and apartment. Bulldog head coach Ray Lopes said that Pettis will attend counseling, and that his suspension bars him from practice, workouts, and games until his court case is resolved.

Wildcat Arrested: Kentucky sophomore guard Ravi Moss was arrested over the weekend for disorderly conduct, along with his father, Austin Moss, stemming from an altercation at the Stadium of Champions. The younger Moss, who averaged less than a point per game in limited action as a freshman last season, was asked to leave an event and started arguing with officers as he was being escorted away. Ravi’s father Austin then allegedly grabbed the sheriff’s deputy away from his son. Both cooled off at the Christian County (Kentucky) Jail for an hour before being released. The two will be arraigned tomorrow on the misdemeanor charges. Austin Moss is a vice president for human resources at Jennie Stuart Medical Center, and the chairman of the Christian County Board of Education. Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith met with the family and declared that it won’t affect Ravi’s status on the team.

Eagles Out: Eastern Michigan has withdrawn from the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic scheduled for the week before Christmas. The Eagles, who have not commented on the reason for the pullout, leaves Florida State without an opponent for the exempt tournament, where the Seminoles were expected to play four games. The other problem is that not many teams have an exemption for a tournament available, and those that do have likely already finalized their schedules. The dates for the games are two games in Tallahassee on December 16th and 18th, and two games at Pittsburgh on December 20th and 22nd. Pittsburgh, Chicago State, Murray State and Wagner round out the field.

New Owl: Temple has hired its all-time leading scorer Mark Macon to work as an assistant on John Chaney’s staff. Full details will appear in Sunday’s Assistant Coaching Roundup.

Conversation with Philip Raisor

A Conversation with Outside Shooter Phil Raisor

by Adam Shandler

We all know how the movie Hoosiers ends. Tiny Hickory does the impossible, defeating the larger South Bend in the state title game. Gene Hackman and the Huskers celebrate, dancing under the setting Indiana sun, their crew cuts as golden as the farmland grains. Or something like that. But what happened to those South Bend players? Where did they end up? In a church bell tower toting a bunch of Uzis? Or did they learn to grow from the loss as author Phil Raisor did.

Philip Raisor

Mr. Raisor, author of the new memoir, Outside Shooter, participated in that legendary 1954 game upon which Hoosiers is based. Milan High School, incarnated as Hickory in the movie, bested Raisor’s behemoth Muncie Bearcats, dressed as South Bend in the 1986 flick. Phil Raisor ended up just fine, and some might argue that his story is just as celluloid worthy. In fact, he might even tell you that he overcame worse hardships, greater adversity and more formidable obstacles than the Milan-over-Muncie upset.

Outside Shooter is the coming of age story of a guy who grew up among the innocuousness of basketball and pranks in urban 1950′s Indiana. But as Raisor moved on to college, with stops at Kansas and Louisiana State, the nation changed – and Raisor is forced to choose his battles. With its cameos of Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain, and its intrepid portrayal of the turbulent LSU campus of the early sixties, Shooter is a time capsule of

both the good ol’ days of basketball and the bad ol’ days of white-only, black-only. In this edition of Conversations with Adam, I sit down with Phil Raisor, now an associate professor of English at Old Dominion, about the makings of his memoir, college kids today and the status of Indiana high school hoops. Adam Shandler: What made you decide to write this memoir?

Philip Raisor: I hadn’t thought about doing it until after the movie Hoosiers came out. That game was in 1954 and I had pretty much put it out of my mind. But people who saw the movie heard that I was on the losing team and wanted to talk about it. People asked me, “Was the game really like that?” And I said, “No, of course not, the story wasn’t told from the losing side.” Somewhere down the line I said I’d write my version of the Milan-Muncie game. So I wrote the first chapter and that’s where I was going to leave it, but then I said, nah, nah, nah, there’s more to this story than that, and I decided to write a memoir with other events in my life tied into it.

AS: You were on the losing side of the Muncie-Milan game and the triple-overtime Kansas-Carolina NCAA title game of 1957. Never has losing been so interesting. Do these games still sting or are they more of a novelty for you now?

PR: Well, I couldn’t say that these games have a negative impact on me and I can’t say that they’re novelties either. They were events tied up in a string of other events. Those two games I remember vividly – they were losses, major losses – but I was just one guy with a bunch of other guys who won a lot in our lives but lost a lot too, so I wanted to rethink those games from that perspective.

We always focus on the big names, like Wilt Chamberlain, and what he did in that game, but the other guys on the team that you don’t hear about were probably more involved in the community and campus life. But you’ll only hear about the big name players and what they do on the court. The starting guard at Duke, do we really know anything else about him? Or the second string center at Louisiana Tech? So I wanted to tie in those events to other events that happened in my life.

AS: You seem to do a lot of purging in this book, and after all it is a memoir. Was writing this story a cathartic experience for you?

PR: No, I wouldn’t say this book is a catharsis. I look at this book as I would any form of creative non-fiction. I was a character in the book and we’re looking at that character’s life story and how he grew and developed during a period in his life. If he was a jerk, then I need to put that in there. If he overcame something great, then I put that in there without trying to be too humble. There is an interdiction at certain points, but that was calculated.

This isn’t a sports or a love story per se. And it’s not a racial conflict story. It’s about the tying together of different events that contributed to the growth and development of a person’s mind.

AS: It seems like your chain of troubles started with a neighborhood bully named Wayne Klepfer who just didn’t like the way you looked. Does your fight with him still incite the same rage that follows you throughout this book?

PR: No, I learned to deal with it, but it was hard to deal with it early on. Wayne was a really big kid who came up to me and punched me, and I punched him back and broke his nose, so I guess you could say I won the fight. But that summer, he and his brothers looked all over town for me.

I discovered something after that fight. You’re going to get into fights and you will get over them. Part of my character was that “zero-at-the-bone” kind of thing. When something touches you that strongly, at that “zero” level, it’s going to show up not just in fist fights but elsewhere, in other confrontations.

AS: Another central figure in the book is your old Muncie teammate, John Casterlow, a black man who would inspire your efforts to integrate the LSU campus. How was it that you and John had such a strong relationship?

PR: I think it all started with that Milan-Muncie game. We had been starters all year long and had won 23 out of 25 games together. But here we were, two of the best players on the team, in the state final game on the bench. We didn’t understand it.

And when John let me know that his mother had died, I felt a strong empathy for what was hurting him inside and I tried to help him through it.

AS: There’s one scene in the book when you’re at LSU and some fellow athletes thought you were gay because you were a jock who had penchant for creative expression.

PR: I hung out with poets and artists when I was in school. That really shook the jocks up. I guess I was a different breed of jock. But that kind of isolation made me think, Am I weird? Are there others like me? One of those guys came up to me and said, “Phil, pay no attention to those guys. They don’t understand a mind like yours.”

But I later found that there were jocks with other interests. One of them was into opera! So here I am worrying that I’m different and one of them is an opera buff.

AS: So I finish this book, and I’m thinking…this guy got punched in the face, lost two heartbreaking games, got busted with his friends for playing with a farmer’s pigs, wrecked his knees, got pegged for being gay, almost got his butt kicked for trying to desegregate LSU and got his girlfriend (now his wife) pregnant. Did the sun ever shine on you during this experience?

PR: I think the way I finished the book is how the sun came out. Throughout the whole book I was trying to understand something. I needed to understanding something. The book is not just events I lived through, but events that were tied together to bring about an understanding. What John Casterlow went through as a young man before he died, when he looked at Oscar Robertson after a game, looking in his eyes and making a connection without words, I could really see something there. And the connection with my wife, Juanita, looking at what she went through growing up and saying I understand that, I understand what she went through.

AS: Do you think the college students of today’s generation are as willing to challenge authority as those of your generation?

PR: No, I don’t think so. After my time at LSU I taught at Valparaiso and Kent State. I was at Kent State from 1966-69.

AS: When it all went down.

PR: Oh yeah. At that particular time you had an emergence of campus revolutions. What we started at Baton Rouge was a movement for academic freedoms, racial equality…at Kent State the women’s movement had begun, as well as the SDS, Students for Democratic Society. You had all these different movements vocalizing their objections to the system. Nowadays, most students think they should just get their college degree and get a job, and if you tell them to do any more they think you’re nuts. College becomes a standing off point, a place where you’re just passing through to get to the real world. Well, a college campus can be just as much a real world as the real world.

When I was in school our minds were more focused on social issues and students today just aren’t as vocal as they were in my time. I just don’t see that kind of diversity of interest.

AS: Are you touring with this book or doing any promotional appearances?

PR: I hope [to do a book tour], but I just found out that ESPN wants to do a timeline piece of the Milan-Muncie game. They were looking for video and pictures and I told them [about Outside Shooter] and they said, “Sure, we’d be interested in including that.” We’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of the basketball game so I’m looking forward to more things happening this spring.

AS: As a veteran of Indiana high school hoops, what do you think of the state’s recent change in their playoff system? Instead of one true state champion you now have a few divisional champions who play for titles among like-sized schools. Do you like the old way or the new way?

PR: I have a couple of thoughts on that. What the Milan-Muncie game did was show that the underdog can win, and that’s a healthy enterprise. If your team is imaginative and disciplined you can do that, you can transcend that view of the underdog. So the old system allowed for that kind of creativity to take place.

I think it’s impossible to get there now. Realistically I think there are very few small schools that are going to have a chance at beating the bigger teams. At this point I’m a little ambivalent on the matter. (Laughs) I’d have to be back in Indiana to see how I feel about it.

For more on Phil Raisor and Outside Shooter visit the University of Missouri Press.

George Plimpton

A Tribute to George Plimpton

by Zach Van Hart

Why do sports writers do what we do? Sure, we have literary ability. We like to travel. We enjoy seeing our name in print. But honestly, the real reason is we wish we could be the ones on the field playing. Writing about it is as close as we can get.

George Plimpton took that premonition to its extreme, and in the process created a whole new genre for journalism. Plimpton died Thursday night at the age of 76 in his Manhattan apartment.

While he was a sports journalist by trade, he was an intellectual by heart. He befriended several U.S. presidents, including JFK, both George and George W. Bush, and was a classmate of Robert Kennedy at Harvard. Sports journalism kept him connected to the political world, something he took full advantage of. But it was a two-way street; those in the public eye wanted to hang with Plimpton. And it was because his unique style, his own genre actually, that attractive so many to him.

Plimpton was renowned for his “participatory” journalism, throwing himself into the mix for countless stories, television specials and others. In 1963, he wrote the famous “Paper Lion,” describing his time spent as the Detroit Lions’ quarterback.

His documentations about his various experiments were like to a dream for so many, it’s no wonder why his writings were so highly regarded and loved. He symbolized the story of Rocky Balboa, the unknown going up against the big boys.

Of course Plimpton never reached the glory on any field the way Balboa did, but that didn’t matter. That was part of the charm of Plimpton’s pieces and experiences. Everyone knew he would likely leave the field with his tail between his legs. But everyone also loves an underdog, and Plimpton was the quintessential underdog.

Besides the renowned “Lions,” some of Plimpton’s other legendary books included “The Bogey Man,” “Out of My League” and “Shadow Box.”

Plimpton also graced America with one of its greatest fictional characters – Sidd Finch. Every baseball fan knows the great story of Finch – the man from the mountains who showed up for the Mets, threw a 168 mile-per-hour fastball, and then disappeared. Of course Finch never existed, but Plimpton’s article captured the imagination of a nation. Some of our imaginations still believe Finch exists.

And that’s what Plimpton was all about – capturing our imagination. Personally, writing game stories and conference notebooks is swell and all, but that’s not the writing that gets my juices flowing. It’s when I write columns and about the odd side of sports that I relish.

When you can be goofy, poke fun, write horrible puns and do what it takes to get a smile out of your readers, that’s where it’s at. And if you are lucky, make a difference in the life of your readers (even just one).

One day I hope to accomplish that. Plimpton did.

George Plimpton will be missed. The world of journalism will miss his unique and creative style. But that style lives on in every one of us who believes in the underdog. I know it lives on in me.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Monday, September 29th

See if you can spot the trend in today’s Dish.

ACC Lawsuit: The Big East/ACC lawsuit is back in the news today, as a Connecticut judge will hear arguments from the ACC and new member Miami on whether to dismiss the suit. The Big East sued the ACC on behalf of its football members, claiming that the ACC recruiting of Miami, Syracuse, and Boston College would devalue the Big East resulting in losses in ticket sales and broadcasting fees. Syracuse and Boston College are still in the Big East, but original plaintiff Virginia Tech is now on the other side of the aisle, having joined the ACC with Miami. The first hurdle is to determine whether the Connecticut court is the proper venue for the lawsuit, as the ACC doesn’t do much business in Connecticut, save for some recruiting and ESPN contracts. Meanwhile, the Big East is lining up four replacement schools from Conference USA, said to be Cincinnati DePaul, Louisville, and Marquette.

More ACC: In a “conference conference call”, member institutions of the ACC agreed that full participation in all ACC sponsored-sports would be mandatory for any potential new members, thus applying the kibosh on Notre Dame rumors. The ACC extended invitations to Miami and Virginia Tech this past summer, and both schools will join for next academic season in 2004-05. However, the conference is still lacking a 12th team to enable a football championship game. Last week, the Charlotte Observer reported that Notre Dame had accepted an invitation to join the ACC, which was later denied by both parties. A spokesperson for Notre Dame stated that the school did not seek to align with any conference in football.

ACC Cheerleading: The University of Maryland has made cheerleading a varsity sport for the Terrapins. Before you say, “Wha . .?”, most believe the move is to be crafty around Title IX. On Friday, Maryland created four cheerleading and eight women’s water polo scholarships, which school officials state keep them in compliance with Title IX, the gender-equity legislation for collegiate athletics. Cheerleading is not a recognized sport at the NCAA level, however, Maryland officials claimed that those two club teams were the only ones to petition for varsity status this past year. The 12 new scholarships, which will be phased in over three years, also mean that their are now 20 new men’s sports scholarships available as well, assuming that the cheerleading squad is women-only.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Friday, September 26th

ACC Irish?: Early reports yesterday from the Charlotte Observer indicated that Notre Dame had agreed to join the ACC in all sports, including football, over a gradual period of time, relinquishing its independent football status by a specific date. However, immediate denials from ACC commissioner John Swofford and from Notre Dame officials have for now quashed the story, which came one day after the NCAA informally rejected the ACC’s bid to have a conference championship with only 11 teams. The Irish are hardly a lame duck in need of a conference, even if their NBC football ratings are tanking as the team loses. The ACC and the Big Ten are continuing to negotiate with the Irish.

C-USA Scouting: Faced with the dissolution of its conference, Conference USA apparently is close to inviting WAC schools SMU, Rice and Tulsa to join the conference, along with Atlantic Sun member Central Florida. This comes one week after the WAC had indicated it would be targeting TCU, Houston, and Tulane to join their conference. With Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville and Marquette likely to be invited to join the Big East, and Charlotte and Saint Louis likely joining the A-10, the move to add the four schools would create a 12-team league with Houston, TCU, and Tulane joining Rice, SMU and Tulsa in the West, with UCF joining USF, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, and East Carolina in the East. The key is TCU, whose football team is ranked 17th in the coaches’ poll. Where the Horned Frogs go, others may follow. A C-USA source indicated that UCF and Tulsa have conditionally accepted bids.

UNC Ads: North Carolina has formed a task force to investigate whether advertisement should be allowed in the Dean Smith Center and other sports facilities, including Kenan Stadium. Unlike other schools, that have commercially sponsored television time-outs, UNC has resisted advertising, save for corporate-sponsored biographies of their athletes that run on scoreboards. Even Triangle-mates Duke and NC State have advertising in their arenas and stadiums. Advertising is being considered because the school’s internal fund-raising arm, called the “Ram Club” is running short on cash as scholarships become more expensive. Nike would probably be the first ad, as the school’s shoe and apparel deal, which runs through 2010, requires Nike advertisements if permitted in facilities.

A New Voice: Tulane president Scott Cowen has been selected as Conference USA’s representative to the NCAA Board of Directors, replacing East Carolina chancellor William Muse, who resigned this offseason. Cowen, who is intent on reforming college football’s bowl system, and potentially abolish the BCS, has an agenda for the hardwood as well. He also wants to reduce the cost of competition in Division I and push for higher academic standards among student-athletes. He’d also like to strengthen C-USA.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Thursday, September 25th

Warrant Signed: Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich yesterday signed a warrant for the extradition of Carlton Dotson, accused of the murder of Baylor teammate Patrick Dennehy, from his Maryland jail cell to Texas. Texas authorities have a month to pick up Dotson and return him to McLennan County to face murder charges. One more formality exists – Maryland prosecutors must present the warrant to Dotson in court, where Dotson and his attorneys can argue the validity of the warrant. The court date was originally scheduled for October 14th, but will likely be moved up now that Ehrlich has signed off.

Ban Lifted: Good news for Tommy Amaker. According to the Detroit Free Press, the University of Michigan has won its appeal of the NCAA’s postseason ban, and thus will be eligible for the 2004 NCAA Tournament. The school had filed an appeal to the NCAA’s infractions committee, which overturned the postseason ban part of Michigan’s punishment. Michigan did not appeal any other aspect of the Ed Martin scandal, including four years of probation and the loss of a scholarship over that time. This marks the end of the Ed Martin scandal, as far as the NCAA is concerned. Former player Chris Webber plead guilty to contempt charges when he lied to a grand jury that he didn’t receive $616,000 from Martin. He is under a deferred sentence for two years, and the university has sued Webber for losses and court costs.

Under Investigation: The NCAA has notified Missouri that the school is officially under investigation, focusing on former guard Ricky Clemons. Clemons’ ex-girlfriend has levied allegations against the university regarding Clemons’, claiming he cheated on schoolwork and tests, was given cash by the basketball program, and may have cheated prior to transferring to Missouri. The school had already launched its own internal investigation, and has suspended head coach Quin Snyder for three weeks and assistant coach Lane Odom for five weeks. Odom allegedly arranged for Clemons to get 24 credit hours in two months, by enrolling him in 5 physical education courses at a community college, plus correspondence courses from both Adams College in Colorado and Brigham Young. BYU has announced an investigation into their correspondence program because of the scandal. Clemons averaged 14.2 points per game for the Tigers last season.

Bliss Denial: Former Baylor coach Dave Bliss denies allegations that he ignored reports of threats against former players Patrick Dennehy and Carlton Dotson. The threats led to the pair purchasing weapons for their protection, and allegedly led to Dotson murdering Dennehy. The allegations were levied in a wrongful death suit brought by Patrick Dennehy, Sr. last month against Baylor University, Bliss, and former Athletic Director Robert Sloan. Bliss’ attorneys have joined with Baylor counsel to move the venue of the case from Waco to Houston. The suit alleges that the school’s cover-up of the threats contributed to Dennehy’s death.

Not Guilty Plea: Kansas State senior guard Jarrett Hart has entered a plea of not guilty to four DUI-related counts, stemming from a September 7th arrest. The four counts – DUI, speeding, possession of an open container, and failure to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle – will be heard at Hart’s next court date of October 14th. K-State head coach Jim Wooldridge won’t comment until the legal proceedings have concluded. Hart, who started 14 games last season, averaged 7.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest.

Busted: Two Mountain State University (Beckley, West Virginia) players have been indicted on federal drug charges. Mountain State was the NAIA national runner-up last season. Senior forward Rodney Bass, senior guard Raynardo Curry, and another Mountain State student are facing multiple federal counts of marijuana distribution. For the federal distribution charge, a defendant must be charged with distributing over 2,000 pounds of marijuana. Curry averaged 13 points per game last season, and scored 21 in the Cougars’ loss to Concordia (California) in the NAIA title game. Bass averaged 5 points and 2 rebounds per game last season.

Conference Shuffle: The NCAA’s management council has informally rejected the ACC’s appeal to stage a football championship game. Apparently, the council was “overwhelmingly against” an 11-member institution conference holding a championship game. The formal rejection, er, vote, should come in April. Meanwhile, Notre Dame is now in play, with the ACC and the Big Ten lining up as suitors – both promising big cash and lots of prizes to their potential 12th member. And now one of the most stable conferences is getting into the action. The Pac-10 is in talks to expand to 12 teams, adding San Diego State and Fresno State to the conference. The move would help bolster what is an admittedly weak bowl package, as three of the conference’s six bowl ties are financially troubled (Las Vegas, Insight, and Silicon Valley). The Pac-10 flirted with Colorado and Texas in the early 90s, but have been all status quo since.

SEC Consulting: No it’s not the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Southeastern Conference has appointed C.M. Newton as a consultant to the commissioner of basketball for the upcoming season. Newton was a coach at both Alabama (1969-80) and Vanderbilt (1981-89), and was AD at Kentucky (1989-2000). He also was president of USA Basketball in the mid-90s and was the CEO of the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis in 2002.

Coaching Changes

Tracking the Coaching Changes

by Michael Protos

With over 300 Division I programs in college basketball, coaching changes
are a fact of life. Situations may differ – some coaches retire, some are
fired, some move on to better jobs, some move on to more challenging jobs.
This year, 45 programs replaced their coaches.

Many coaching changes create a domino effect as up-and-coming coaches fill
vacancies created at top notch programs. The best case this year is the
rotation involving Roy Williams, Bill Self and Bruce Weber. Williams left
Kansas to return to North Carolina. Self chose the Kansas job over staying
in Illinois, which created the opportunity for Weber to move from Southern
Illinois to Illinois.

Fortunately, not all coaching changes wreak such havoc across the NCAA.
Check out the list below to see who is changing addresses this year.

Alcorn State Braves (SWAC)
Last season’s record: 14-19
Former coach: Davey Whitney
New coach: Samuel West
Whitney retired as the Braves coach after 27 productive years and a career
record of 565-357. Under Whitney’s tenure, Alcorn State become a force in
the Southwestern Conference. West has big shoes to fill in his first
Division I coaching job. But as an assistant under Whitney, West had a good
mentor and Braves fans will expect similar results.

Arkansas – Little Rock Trojans (Sun Belt)
Last season’s record: 18-12
Former coach: Porter Moser
New coach: Steve Shields
Moser left the Trojans after three seasons to coach at Illinois State. Moser
accumulated a 54-34 record in those three seasons. Shields steps in to fill
Moser’s place. He was an assistant under Moser and now has his first
Division I coaching opportunity at UALR.

Baylor Bears (Big 12)
Last season’s record: 14-14
Former coach: Dave Bliss
New coach: Scott Drew
Probably the most infamous of the offseason coaching moves, Bliss was caught up in the Patrick Dennehy murder scandal. Taped by his own assistant plotting to cover up multiple NCAA violations by blaming the deceased Dennehy, Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton resigned on August 9th, and school president Robert Sloan put the program on two year’s probation. Valparaiso head coach Scott Drew stepped up and answered the call to try to resurrect the Bear program.

California State – Fullerton Titans (Big West)
Last season’s record: 10-19
Former coach: Donny Daniels
New coach: Bob Burton
Another new coach, Ben Howland, lured Donny Daniels away from the Titans to
UCLA. Daniels will be an assistant under Howland after serving as the
Titans’ head coach for the past three seasons. Daniels inherited a team
under NCAA probation and registered 20 total wins in those three years.
Burton will replace Daniels. He was an assistant coach at Fresno State last
year during the Bulldogs meteoric rise to the top of the WAC.

Campbell Camels (Atlantic Sun)
Last season’s record: 5-22
Former coach: Billy Lee
New coach: Robbie Laing
After a dismal final campaign, Lee resigned as the Camels’ coach after 18
years. He had compiled a 216-286 record. Laing comes to Campbell from Kansas
State where he was an assistant coach the previous two seasons. Laing also
has been an assistant at Southern Mississippi, Auburn, Clemson and Georgia
Southern. This assignment will be his first Division I coaching experience.

Chicago State Cougars (Mid-Continent)
Last season’s record: 3-27
Former coach: Bo Ellis
New coach: Kevin Jones
Jones replaced Ellis as head coach of the Cougars with twelve games
remaining last season. Jones will have a fresh start and a full season this
year, and there is nowhere to go but up. The Cougars have not won a
conference game in a couple years and that is a streak Jones must stop to
help right this ship.

Clemson Tigers (ACC)
Last season’s record: 15-13
Former coach: Larry Shyatt
New coach: Oliver Purnell
In the ACC, coaches that don’t reach the NCAA Tournament within five years
of taking the job have some explaining to do. Shyatt had run out of answers
and resigned following last season’s 15-13 finish. Purnell brings 15 years
of Division I coaching experience and a 256-191 career record to the Tigers.
Most recently, Purnell resurrected Dayton’s program and led the Flyers to a
fantastic season last year in the Atlantic 10 and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA
Tournament.

Cleveland State Vikings (Horizon)
Last season’s record: 8-22
Former coach: Rollie Massimino
New coach: Mike Garland
Massimino resigned as the Vikings’ coach, a position he occupied since 1996.
But Massimino will be remembered as the coach of the Villanova Wildcats’
stunning championship run in 1985, in which they upset the heavily favored
Georgetown Hoyas. Massimino finished his career with a 515-391 record.
Garland comes to the Vikings via Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans,
where he was an assistant coach for the past seven seasons.

Columbia Lions (Ivy)
Last season’s record: 2-25
Former coach: Armond Hill
New coach: Joseph Jones
Hill coached the Lions for the past eight years and amassed a 72-141 record.
He was fired after his Lions were tamed for 25 losses last season, winning
only twice. Jones arrives at Columbia after six years as an assistant coach
at Villanova. It will be his first Division I head coaching job.

Dayton Flyers (Atlantic 10)
Last season’s record: 24-6
Former coach: Oliver Purnell
New coach: Brian Gregory
Purnell left Dayton for the Clemson Tigers and the glamour of the ACC. In
his place, Gregory will take the reigns of the Flyers who dominated Atlantic
10 competition last season and earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Gregory is another Izzo protege and has been several years of assistant
coaching experience. The Dayton job will be his first head coaching
experience.

Drake Bulldogs (Missouri Valley)
Last season’s record: 10-20
Former coach: Kurt Kanaskie
New coach: Tom Davis
When Drake starts the ’03-’04 campaign, the Bulldogs will have one of the
best coaches in the Missouri Valley Conference at the helm. Davis replaces
Kanaskie as head coach, and Davis has a resume that is strong enough to
coach at most major programs. He is 543-290 lifetime, and he has coached at
Lafayette, Boston College, Stanford and Iowa. He led Iowa to a No. 1 ranking
in his first season at Iowa in ’87-’88. Kanaskie had been the Bulldogs’
coach since 1996.

East Tennessee State Buccaneers (Southern)
Last season’s record: 20-11
Former coach: Ed DeChellis
New coach: Murray Bartow
DeChellis left East Tennessee State for Penn State after last season’s
successful run to the NCAA Tournament. In seven years of coaching the Bucs,
DeChellis earned a 105-93 record. Replacing DeChellis, Bartow returns to the
sidelines as a head coach. He had been the coach of Alabama – Birmingham
from 1996-2002, earning a 103-83 record.

Elon Phoenix (Big South)
Last season’s record: 12-15
Former coach: Mark Simons
New coach: Ernie Nestor
Simons resigned after ten seasons as the Phoenix’s head coach, finishing his
stint at Elon with a 109-169 record. Nestor spent many years as an assistant
under Dave Odom when he was coach at Wake Forest. Nestor comes to Elon with
several years of head coaching experience at George Mason.

Fordham Rams (Atlantic 10)
Last season’s record: 3-26
Former coach: Bob Hill
New coach: Dereck Whittenburg
Whittenburg coached Wagner last season to an NCAA Tournament berth, and he
compiled a 67-50 record since 1999 as the Seahawks’ coach. But Whittenburg’s
claim to fame is that he was the NC State guard who heaved the desperation
shot at the end of the 1983 national championship game against Houston.
Lorenzo Charles caught Whittenburg’s Hail Mary and slammed down the winning
points. Hill exited Fordham with a 38-76 record over four seasons.

Georgia Bulldogs (SEC)
Last season’s record: 19-8
Former coach: Jim Harrick
New coach: Dennis Felton
An embarrassing academic fraud scandal decimated a season full of hope for
Harrick’s Bulldogs, culminating in Georgia officials ousting the man who
seems to be a magnet for trouble. Despite repeated off-court concerns,
Harrick’s coaching talents have yielded a 470-235 record. Felton, meanwhile,
is a rising star at age 39. In five years at Western Kentucky, Felton guided
the Hilltoppers to a 100-54 record and three consecutive NCAA Tournament
appearances.

Georgia State Panthers (Atlantic Sun)
Last season’s record: 14-15
Former coach: Lefty Driesell
New coach: Michael Perry
Driesell is an NCAA icon and the fourth most successful coach in history.
With 786 wins in his career at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia
State, he trails only Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Bobby Knight in Division I
victories. Everywhere Driesell went, success followed, and Georgia State was
no different. He guided the Panthers to five straight winning seasons and an
NCAA Tournament upset against the Wisconsin Badgers two years ago. Perry had
been an assistant under Driesell and took over when Driesell retired
midseason last year.

High Point Panthers (Big South)
Last season’s record: 7-20
Former coach: Jerry Steele
New coach: Bart Lundy
Steele served as head coach for the Panthers for 31 years, racking up 609
wins. His greatest accomplishment, however, was working to move High Point
out of Division II competition and into the premier Division I level in
1999. Lundy steps into his first Division I coaching job after several years
of success at the Division II level.

Illinois Fighting Illini (Big Ten)
Last season’s record: 24-6
Former coach: Bill Self
New Coach: Bruce Weber
The coaching change at Illinois completed a whirlwind ride on the coaching
carousel that started with Roy Williams leaving Kansas for North Carolina.
Self left the Illini to replace Williams at Kansas. Weber returns to the Big
Ten, in which he had been an assistant at Purdue for eighteen years, after
spending the past five seasons at Southern Illinois where he led the Salukis
to a successful 103-54 record and three post-season appearances.

Illinois State Redbirds (Missouri Valley)
Last season’s record: 8-21
Former coach: Tom Richardson
New coach: Porter Moser
Illinois State officials politely declined to renew Richardson’s contract
after a four-year tenure produced a 56-64 record. Moser replaces Richardson
after leading Arkansas – Little Rock to a 54-34 record in three seasons.
Moser is a native of the Missouri Valley conference as he played for
Creighton.

Iowa State Cyclones (Big 12)
Last season’s record: 17-14
Former coach: Larry Eustachy
New coach: Wayne Morgan
Eustachy falls under the category of coaches ousted after a scandal. He
resigned after an embarrassing expose of his off-court behavior. Eustachy
had compiled a 260-145 career record in thirteen seasons. The Cyclones
promoted Morgan to head coach after he spent last season as an assistant
coach. Morgan learned from Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim before becoming the
head coach of Long Beach State for six years with a 91-84 record.

Jackson State Tigers (SWAC)
Last season’s record: 10-18
Former coach: Andy Stoglin
New coach: Tevester Anderson
Stoglin and the Tigers parted ways after fourteen years and a 197-216
record. Stoglin led the Tigers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in that
time. Meanwhile, Anderson arrives at Jackson State after five successful
seasons at Murray State where he led the school to a 103-52 record and two
tournament appearances. Anderson’s resume includes stints as an assistant
coach at Georgia and Auburn.

Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12)
Last season’s record:
Former coach: Roy Williams
New coach: Bill Self
The Kansas job opened shortly after the Jayhawks’ loss to Syracuse in the
national championship game. Former coach Williams bolted Lawrence, Kan., for
Chapel Hill, N.C., where he had been an assistant coach for many years and
where Tar Heel fans feel he belonged. The Jayhawks gain an equally talented
coach in Self, who has a 207-105 record in ten years of coaching at three
schools – Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois. Self is no stranger to Kansas
where he served as an assistant coach to Larry Brown during the ’85-’86
season.

Marshall Thundering Herd (MAC)
Last season’s record: 14-15
Former coach: Greg White
New coach: Ron Jirsa
White resigned as coach of the Thundering Herd to accept a position at the
University of Charleston, which is closer to his family. He cited the
time-consuming demands of a Division I coaching position that encouraged him
to accept a smaller gig. He had a 115-84 record at Marshall. Jirsa,
meanwhile, planned on working in Clemson this season when he accepted an
assistant coaching position under Oliver Purnell. But he jumped at the
opportunity to lead the Thundering Herd. Jirsa has years of coaching
experience and coached Georgia for two seasons, compiling a 35-30 record.

Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers (Northeast)
Last season’s record: 11-16
Former coach: Jim Phelan
New coach: Milan Brown
Phelan coached for 49 years and 1,354 games, which is more games than any
coach at any level. He registered 830 wins, but he is most famous for his
bow ties that he sported on the sidelines. The National Coach of the Year
award bears his name in honor of his longtime service at Mount Saint Mary’s.
Brown was an assistant coach under Phelan last season and will assume his
first head coaching position this season.

Murray State Racers (Ohio Valley)
Last season’s record: 17-12
Former coach: Tevester Anderson
New coach: Mick Cronin
Anderson announced his retirement from Murray State in March after five
seasons and a 103-52 record. He later accepted the head coaching position at
Jackson State. Cronin accepts his first coaching job, but he has learned
from Conference USA’s best as an assistant under Rick Pitino at Louisville
for two seasons and an assistant under Bobby Huggins at Cincinnati for six
seasons.

North Carolina Tar Heels (ACC)
Last season’s record: 19-16
Former coach: Matt Doherty
New coach: Roy Williams
Doherty left Chapel Hill amidst rumors of behavior that has been described
as inconsistent with the Carolina spirit. Conspiracy theorists can delight
in whispers that Doherty got what he deserved or that the UNC family
(meaning Dean Smith) never really liked Doherty. He leaves Chapel Hill with
a 53-43 record in three seasons. After failing to woo Williams to North
Carolina three years ago, the Tar Heels succeeded this year. Williams brings
his career record of 418-101 to the place he started as an assistant coach
under Smith.

North Carolina A&T Aggies (MEAC)
Last season’s record: 1-26
Former coach: Curtis Hunter
New coach: Jerry Eaves
After winning only one game last season, the Aggies must put past failures
behind them, and they will have a new coach to guide them. Hunter exited
after four seasons and with an anemic 28-70 record. Eaves comes to town via
the NBA where he was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers last
season. So Eaves goes from last year’s worst NBA team to last year’s worst
Division I team. Better luck this time around.

Penn State Nittany Lions (Big Ten)
Last season’s record: 7-21
Former coach: Jerry Dunn
New coach: Ed DeChellis
Dunn resigned as Penn State’s coach after eight years and a 117-121 record.
He enjoyed intermittent success over those years, including a Sweet 16 run
in 2001. DeChellis is a Penn State alum and returns to guide his alma mater
to prominence. He resurrected the East Tennessee State program in his seven
years there, accumulating a 105-93 record.

Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East)
Last season’s record: 28-5
Former coach: Ben Howland
New coach: Jamie Dixon
Howland coached Pitt to an 89-40 mark in four seasons and brought the
Panthers back to respectability in the Big East. Howland moved to the West
Coast to work his magic at UCLA. Dixon was an assistant under Howland the
last four years and will look to continue his predecessor’s work at Pitt.

St. Bonaventure Bonnies (Atlantic 10)
Last season’s record: 13-14
Former coach: Jan van Breda Kolff
New coach: Anthony Solomon
The Bonnies enter the ’03-’04 with a black eye after an ugly scandal led to
van Breda Kolff’s dismissal. He finished two seasons at St. Bonaventure with
a 30-27 record. Solomon comes to the Bonnies from Notre Dame where he was an
assistant coach the past three seasons. This job will be his first Division
I head coaching experience.

South Carolina State Bulldogs (MEAC)
Last season’s record: 20-10
Former coach: Cy Alexander
New coach: Ben Betts
Alexander resigned as the Bulldogs’ coach to go to Tennessee State and
rebuild that program. Alexander established a winning tradition at South
Carolina State in his sixteen seasons at the helm. He had a 277-202 record.
Betts will begin his first head coaching position. Last season he was an
assistant coach at VCU.

South Florida Bulls (Conference USA)
Last season’s record: 15-14
Former coach: Seth Greenberg
New coach: Robert McCullum
Greenberg left South Florida to coach Virginia Tech, which will move from
the Big East to the ACC starting in the ’04-’05 season. McCullum left
Western Michigan and the MAC to coach South Florida. He was a coach there
for three years and racked up a 44-45 record, including a trip to the NIT
this past season.

Southern Jaguars (SWAC)
Last season’s record: 9-20
Former coach: Ben Jobe
New coach: Michael Grant
Southern selected Grant to lead the Jaguars after Jobe’s second chance at
coaching the team fell short of expectations. Jobe enjoyed a 193-101 record
in the late ’80s through the early ’90 before leaving for Tuskegee. He
returned for two seasons and only managed a 16-40 record. Grant steps into
his first Division I coaching job at Southern.

Southern Illinois Salukis (Missouri Valley)
Last season’s record: 24-7
Former coach: Bruce Weber
New coach: Matt Painter
Weber left the Salukis with a 103-54 record over five years. The reward for
his success is a position at Illinois, one of the nation’s top programs in a
high major conference. His top assistant, Painter, takes over as head coach.
Painter has been an assistant at Southern Illinois under Weber for the past
five years and hopes to continue Weber’s success.

Tennessee State Tigers (Ohio Valley)
Last season’s record: 2-25
Former coach: Nolan Richardson III
New coach: Cy Alexander
Richardson III resigned following an incident in which he brought a gun to
practice after an argument with an assistant coach. Alexander comes from
South Carolina State to rebuild this program that managed just two wins in
the midst of all the off-court disturbances.

UCLA Bruins (Pac 10)
Last season’s record: 10-19
Former coach: Steve Lavin
New coach: Ben Howland
Lavin’s removal was no surprise as UCLA suffered one of the program’s worst
seasons last year. Lavin finished 145-78 in seven years at UCLA. Howland
rebuilt the Northern Arizona and Pittsburgh programs in prior coaching
positions. He left Pitt with an 89-40 record over four seasons that included
two Sweet 16 appearances.

Valparaiso Crusaders (Mid-Continent)
Last season’s record: 20-11
Former coach: Scott Drew
New coach: Homer Drew
With the scandal at Baylor, Scott Drew decided to leave the comfy confines of Valparaiso and head to Texas to try to right the ship. Coming out of retirement to head up the Crusader program, the elder Drew will retain his position as special assistant to the president for university advancement. He has a career record of 505-307.

Virginia Tech Hokies (Big East)
Last season’s record: 11-18
Former coach: Ricky Stokes
New coach: Seth Greenberg
The Hokies released Stokes after four seasons and a 45-70 record. Stokes
failed to qualify Virginia Tech for the Big East tournament in the three
years that the school was in the conference. Greenberg will guide the Hokies
through their final Big East tour this season before Virginia Tech joins the
ACC in ’04-’05. He comes to the Hokies after coaching stints at Long Beach
State and most recently at South Florida. His career record is 213-170.

Wagner Seahawks (Northeast)
Last season’s record: 21-11
Former coach: Dereck Whittenburg
New coach: Mike Deane
Whittenburg constructed a winning tradition at Wagner, which won the
Northeast Conference’s regular season championship last season. He takes his
67-50 career record to Fordham to reconstruct one of the Atlantic 10′s more
dismal programs. Deane replaces Whittenburg at Wagner, bringing a 343-220
record over nineteen seasons of coaching. Most recently, Deane coached
Lamar, but his resume includes stops at Marquette, Siena and Oswego State.

Washington State Cougars (Pac 10)
Last season’s record: 7-20
Former coach: Paul Graham
New coach: Dick Bennett
Bennett replaces Graham who failed to bring the Cougars to prominence during
his four years at Washington State. Bennett returns to coaching out of
retirement. His coaching career includes work at several Wisconsin schools.
His most notable success was at the Wisconsin Badgers where he led them to a
Final Four appearance in 2000. Bennett’s career record is 453-258 and
280-178 at the Division I level.

Western Illinois Leathernecks (Mid-Continent)
Last season’s record: 7-21
Former coach: Jim Kerwin
New coach: Derek Thomas
Kerwin resigned as coach of the Leathernecks in March. He had been coach
since 1992 and had a 131-174 record. Thomas has been as assistant coach at
St. Louis and UNLV under head coach Charlie Spoonhour. The Western Illinois
job will be Thomas’ first Division I head coaching experience.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (Sun Belt)
Last season’s record: 24-8
Former coach: Dennis Felton
New coach: Darrin Horn
Felton moves farther south to coach the Georgia Bulldogs and restore
respectability to a tarnished program. Felton spent the previous five
seasons leading Western Kentucky to frequent success with a 100-54 record.
Horn returns to Western Kentucky where he played and coached as an assistant
for two years. He spent the last four seasons working for Tom Crean in
Marquette as an assistant coach. This job will be his first head coaching
position.

Western Michigan Broncos (MAC)
Last season’s record: 20-11
Former coach: Robert McCullum
New coach: Steve Hawkins
McCullum led the Broncos to a successful run through the MAC last season and
then accepted the coaching position at South Florida in Conference USA.
Hawkins, McCullum’s three-year assistant, becomes the new head coach. The
position will be Hawkins first Division I head coaching job.

William & Mary Tribe (CAA)
Last season’s record: 12-16
Former coach: Rick Boyages
New coach: Tony Shaver
Boyages leaves the Tribe after three seasons and a 33-52 record to return to
Ohio State as an associate head coach. Shaver replaces Boyages for his first
Division I head coaching job. Shaver played for Dean Smith at North Carolina
and has seventeen years of Division III coaching experience.

Wright State Raiders (Horizon)
Last season’s record: 10-18
Former coach: Ed Schilling
New coach: Paul Biancardi
Wright State released Schilling after he completed six seasons with a 75-93
record. The Raiders hope Biancardi will bring success to the program. He was
a pupil of head coach Jim O’Brien at Ohio State and Boston College. This job
will be his first head coaching experience.

National Letters of Intent

Letters of Intent

by Phil Kasiecki

In late July, the National Letter of Intent Steering Committee announced that Kris Humphries would be allowed to play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers this winter, just a few months after he was released from the national letter of intent he signed at Duke last November. Humphries asked for and obtained the release, despite the lack of extenuating circumstances. This is a case for which the outcome was eagerly awaited, as a bad precedent could have – and now apparently has been – set with this decision.

In recent years, players have opted out of the letter of intent when coaching changes have occurred or a school has been involved in a scandal that may lead to punishment. In 2002, it happened with Andre Iguodala (Arizona), Ashanti Cook (Georgetown) and Armondo Suratt (Miami), among others; this past season, it happened with all of Georgia’s early signees, and there were concerns that those who had signed in the fall with schools that had coaching changes after the season, most notably Kansas and Illinois. While the NLI specifically states in bold print that a player is signing with the institution and not the coach – and we are still talking about educational institutions – the effect of a coaching change cannot be underestimated and it is understandable that a recruit may want to change schools when there is a coaching change.

But Duke did not have such a change. The coaching staff has not changed, the school has not been penalized by the NCAA for any violations, and if there are any circumstances dictating that he needs to be close to home, they have not been reported. In essence, Humphries changed schools as freely as a current player transferring, save for not having to sit out one year.

“That sets a bad, bad precedent”, said Northeastern head coach Ron Everhart. “It completely invalidates what the National Letter of Intent is all about.”

This precedent now calls into question the legitimacy of the Early Signing Period, which was first implemented in 1982. Since that time, more and more players have signed with a school in November every year, especially among the most highly-recruited players. This past year, All-Star Report’s Bob Gibbons reported that 136 of the top 150 players signed a NLI in November. Many top players want to end their recruitments early so they can simply play basketball their senior year. But increasingly, coaches may have to continue to fully recruit players they thought they already signed – something one would not expect to be necessary given what the NLI is all about.

The easy way to avoid all of the controversy is for players to simply verbally commit to a school in the fall, but not sign until the spring. That is what Charlie Villanueva did this past year, as he committed to Illinois in the fall but did not sign. When Bill Self left Illinois to take the head coaching position at Kansas, Villanueva did not have to decide between honoring his commitment or appealing to the NLI Steering Committee to play next season; all he had to do was decide which school he would play at if he did not stay in the NBA Draft. Ultimately, he signed with Connecticut and withdrew from the draft.

While there has been much talk about a need for changes with the NLI, it looks fine as it currently stands given the practices of the NLI Steering Committee prior to the decision on Humphries. By and large, it has granted waivers to allow recruits to sign with and play immediately at another institution if there was a coaching change or if extenuating circumstances were involved (such as the family illness that led Alabama’s Kennedy Winston to opt out of his NLI with California last year). And for the most part, players have stayed with the school they signed with if there is a coaching change, so while players should be able to move freely just as coaches can, it does not look like allowing them to do so will get out of hand. Notably, none of the fall signees at Kansas or Illinois opted out of their commitments to follow the coach to his new school.

Notes from Around the Nation

• Northeastern finalized its schedule with a road contest at Florida on December 22. The Huskies were looking for a home game to finish out its schedule, but were unable to get one. As many Huskies have roots in south Florida, they will get to play in front of family members, and the game will challenge the team that looks to be the favorite in America East. The Huskies have a strong and deep backcourt, and add athletic combo forward Bennett Davis to a frontcourt that returns everyone from last season.

• While the sordid affair at Baylor has more important elements than basketball involved, two schools certainly made big gains from what transpired once players were allowed to transfer and play immediately. Mississippi State got badly needed frontcourt help when All-America candidate Lawrence Roberts transferred there, as the Bulldogs lost Mario Austin and fall signee Travis Outlaw to the NBA Draft, while Jackie Butler failed to qualify and is in prep school. Meanwhile, Big 12 rival Oklahoma State, which lost starting point guard Victor Williams from last season’s team, gained John Lucas III, who should run the show right away.

• How many more players will fail to be admitted to a school? Georgetown transfer Drew Hall could not be admitted to Gonzaga, and has now enrolled at College of Charleston. Walter Waters was not admitted to Pittsburgh, and will now give Cleveland State a big boost if he can play more like he did as a rising junior. Waters was once considered among the elite prospects in the class of 2003, before a mediocre summer as a rising senior started to lower his stock. Minnesota recruit Wesley Washington, who got his qualifying score several months ago, suddenly was not admitted to Minnesota and is looking to go to a school closer to home, where he will have instant eligibility. Temple signee Jesus Verdejo was looking at having to sit out as a Prop 48 this season, but couldn’t be admitted to the university. He will do a prep year at Winchendon (MA) School.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Wednesday, September 24th

Vaccaro to Reebok?: ESPN’s Darren Rovell is reporting that legendary shoe pitchman Sonny Vaccaro, who left Adidas earlier this summer, is close to signing with Reebok, hoping to revive the now-3rd place shoe on the market. Vaccaro, who created the concept of the high school summer camp, was originally a Nike man, signing Michael Jordan and revolutionizing shoe merchandising. In 1992, he left the Beaverton camp to work for Adidas, then the No. 3 shoe brand that had fallen on hard times. Seems to be a similar story with Reebok now.

Verdejo Prepping: Former Temple recruit Jesus Verdejo has enrolled at the Winchendon School (Winchendon, Massachusetts) for the semester. Verdejo, a starter on Puerto Rico’s 19-and-under Junior National Team, was denied admission to Temple, and enrolled at “The Winch” rather than sit out as an academic casualty at Temple. Temple and Memphis will try to recruit Verdejo the second time around.

Cowboy Charged: Former Wyoming star Queint Higgins, currently head coach at Laramie County (Wyoming) Community College, has pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges against his wife. Higgins allegedly punched his wife Jenny in the midsection on August 31st, and turned himself in last Monday. LCCC officials have indicated that they will make a decision on Higgins’ status once his legal issues have been involved. Higgins was a standout at Wyoming, playing at Laramie from 1989-90 to 1993-94.

Conference Shuffle: The Boston Globe is reporting that the Big East will invite four Conference USA schools – Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, and Marquette – to join their conference next month. The plan wold add two football schools (Louisville and Cincinnati) to replace the departed Miami and Virginia Tech, plus two basketball schools in DePaul and Marquette, leading to a 16-team conference, with and eight-school football conference. New program UConn would replace Temple, who is departing as a football only conference. The report also said that the Big East would basically need to firehose cash at Boston College to keep them from jumping to the ACC. Meanwhile, The The Dallas Morning News is reporting that SMU is in talks to switch over to Conference USA, and that C-USA would be interested in persuading Rice and Tulsa to come with them. This flies in the face of the news from Monday ago that the WAC was eyeing C-USA schools Tulane, Houston, and TCU. Meanwhile, the A-10 has announced that they will be going after Saint Louis and Charlotte, as soon as the Big East plan is formally announced, expected in November.

What to do with all of this conference mess? Here’s the solution, brought to you by Hoopville. Disband Conference USA. Now we’re sure C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky would not be a real fan of this plan, but it makes sense. The Big East forms their super-conference by grabbing Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, and Marquette. The WAC creates a Central time zone division with the addition of TCU, Tulane, and Houston. The A-10 spreads its geographical wings and gets Charlotte and Saint Louis. And this is Army’s last season as a football-only member.

Who does that leave? Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, USF and East Carolina. Memphis and Southern Miss can join the SEC, creating another 16-team superconference. UAB can join the Sun Belt, which is already adding Utah State, Troy State, and Idaho for 2005. And USF and East Carolina (both football schools) can join the ACC to create a 13-team conference, enabling the ACC to have a football championship game. The ACC can round itself out by grabbing big-fish-in-little-pond Central Florida or Georgia State from the Atlantic Sun to make it an even number. Meanwhile, the Big East will grab a rogue A-10 school to fill out its roster, after Notre Dame makes the Big Ten an even 12 members.

Conference USA, formed in 1995, served a valuable purpose in transitioning small-time athletics into the major conference alignments seen in this new millennium, but it may have outlived its usefulness. Created during a time of record-new D-I schools and huge transitions, C-USA was an amalgam of the old Metro Conference, the remainder of the Southwest Conference, Sun Belt, and Independents. Then schools can again form under the aegis of “Conference USA” in the year 2015, when mismanagement of superconferences drives schools into smaller, more “user-friendly” conferences.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Tuesday, September 23rd

Extradition Recommended: Maryland Assistant General Stuart Buppert has recommended to Governor Robert Ehrlich that former Baylor player Carlton Dotson be extradited to Texas to face charges for the murder of teammate Patrick Dennehy. Ehrlich is expected to sign the warrant for Dotson’s return as early as today. Dotson, who did not attend the extradition hearing that his defense team had requested, was arrested July 21st for the murder of Dennehy, and was indicted August 27th. Assuming Ehrlich signs the warrant, Waco police would have one month to pick up Dotson.

Webber Confused: Former Michigan and current Sacramento Kings forward Chris Webber has announced his bewilderment at the lawsuit filed against him by his former school. Webber, who admitted to lying to a federal grand jury about receiving payments of up to $616,000 from former Michigan booster Ed Martin, has been sued for $695,000 by the university for legal fees and repayment of monies forfeited back to the NCAA due to the improper payments. As quoted in USA Today, Webber stated, “What money am I repaying? When you repay something, it means you stole something or took something from the university. What I understand, I was accused of taking from Ed Martin. I don’t understand how it can come up that I owe (Michigan). I wasn’t paid to go to Michigan.” Last week Webber received a postponed sentencing for his criminal contempt charge for two years, while he is to spend 300 hours “volunteering” in a children’s literacy program over the next two summers.

Hoop Fool Comic

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Monday, September 22nd

Break Up C-USA: The Atlantic 10 Conference is looking to add member institutions, once the Big East has announced its expansion plans, and once again C-USA has schools licking their chops. While everyone is awaiting the Big East announcement, expected to include Conference USA members Marquette, DePaul, Cincinnati and Louisville, plus A-10 member Xavier. Meanwhile, a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer has the A-10 eyeing C-USA leftovers Charlotte and Saint Louis (which is west of the Mississippi, but still closer to the Atlantic than the Pacific Ocean.) Charlotte athletic director Judy Rose is quoted as saying, “My initial reaction is we are very interested in continuing to have conversations with the A-10.” The A-10, which has 12 members currently, could add two teams with little fuss, or could stay at the same size by booting underachieving Duquesne and Fordham. Earlier reports have the WAC eyeing Houston, TCU, and Tulane. If all of these dominoes fall, it would leave C-USA with UAB, East Carolina, Memphis, South Florida, and Southern Miss. Pull the plug, slice the pie. C-USA commissioner Britton Banowsky needs to step up and protect what’s assumed to be already gone.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Saturday, September 20th

Checking Work: Brigham Young University is getting involved in the Ricky Clemons debacle at Missouri. Clemons, who took correspondence courses through BYU, is having his work checked by the university after allegations by Clemons’ former girlfriend that tutors had completed his work. Clemons completed nine credit hours through BYU, and 15 additional credit hours at Barton County Community College (Great Bend, Kansas), all in a period of two months. The coursework allowed Clemons to be academically eligible for last season. Clemons was kicked off the Missouri squad in July after violating the conditions of his work-release program. He completed his 60-day jail sentence in August.

Viking Dismissed: Cleveland State senior guard Modibo Niakate was dismissed from the team yesterday for violating team rules. Niakate, the Vikings’ leading scorer last season, averaged 12 points per game last sesaon after transferring Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas. Niakate also led the Horizon league in 3-point shooting percentage. The school said that he’s still on scholarship, and will graduate next spring. Head coach Mike Garland did not discuss the specific rule Niakate violated.

Lobo Going Pro: Former New Mexico guard Ruben Douglas, who led the nation in scoring last season, has signed a deal to play professionally in Greece. Douglas, passed over in the NBA and CBA drafts, averaged 28 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a senior last season. His goal is to earn a chance to make an NBA summer league roster spot for next offseason, and eventually make an NBA roster. The Panionios of the Greek League will pay $100,000 for the season.

Ridnour Out: Former Oregon and current Seattle SuperSonic Luke Ridnour, the 14th overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, will not be ready for the beginning of the season. Ridnour had surgery on August 6th for a pulled abdominal muscle, an injury he sustained in a workout for the Milwaukee Bucks, prior to the draft. The Sonics knew he was injured when they drafted him, but have been surprised at the recovery time, which will extend well into training camp.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Friday, September 19th

Michigan Bills Webber: With former Michigan and current Sacramento King Chris Webber entering a guilty plea to criminal contempt charges, the University of Michigan has asked District Judge Nancy Edmonds to order Webber to reimburse the school’s legal fees and losses from NCAA penalties. Webber’s charges mean that he lied to a grand jury when he stated he didn’t recall former Michigan booster Ed Martin giving him over $600,000. Because of the scandal, Michigan last season was forced to forfeit the NCAA finalist titles, and over 110 games that Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, and Louis Bullock played in, including giving back prize money. The school is seeking compensation for that money and its legal fees from Webber, estimated at $695,000, including the $325,000 in prize money, $350,000 in legal fees, and a $19,000 grant to Webber. Marvin Krislov, the university’s general counsel, said that, “such a payment would reflect Mr. Webber’s long history of deceit, would counterbalance the harm caused the university by that deceit, and have the added benefit of discouraging other student athletes from making similar errors.”

Spending Money: Discussion is raging on the latest NCAA idea – pay student-athletes. Now this isn’t Nebraska’s scheme to give them boatloads of cash, but the proposal would give student-athletes $2,000 above the room, board, tuition and books that scholarships currently cover. Athletes, who are not permitted to have a job, often can’t come up with the extra cash for thing that all college students need – toiletries, phone bills, and even an occasional movie. The figure, on the low end of the gap between the cost of attending college and the full cost of an education, was endorsed by NCAA President Myles Brand yesterday to the New York Times. The idea is gaining momentum in light of recent legislation in Nebraska to pay student-athletes, and in California, barring the state’s schools from following the NCAA’s rules. Both measures were passed to pressure the NCAA into this idea, which may take years to implement.

Buffalo Extended: Colorado has approved the three-year contract extension to head coach Ricardo Patton. Patton, who agreed in principle with the school on the deal August 20th, will receive a package of $586,000 annually in total compensation, including his base salary of $153,000, along with a $130,000 Nike allowance, $117,000 for television and radio appearances, and $35,000 in supplemental salary and auto allowance. The deal will keep Patton in Boulder through the 2007-08 season. The original deal was a five-year extension, but would have allowed the school to fire him if he didn’t reach the NCAA tournament twice in three seasons.

Dan Blames Hoops: Commenting on why ratings are falling for his “CBS Evening News” broadcasts, Dan Rather surmised that the NCAA Tournament was to blame. As reported in the New York Daily News, Rather agreed with critics that said CBS couldn’t take advantage of excellent Iraq coverage because the newscasts were pre-empted for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. “I regretted that the basketball tournament came at the precise wrong moment for us. It was kind of a perfect storm – in terms of what we wanted to do covering the war and the airtime available to us.” NBC and ABC widened their lead in the ratings over CBS in the following months.

New Scholarship: The NCAA has granted New Mexico request for a compensatory scholarship, due to the death of sophomore guard Billy Feeney, who committed suicide late last month. The scholarship can be used to recruit a player for the 2004-05 season. Feeney, who had experienced trouble with his girlfriend, had called head coach Ritchie McKay the morning of his death to tell him he was at the bus station with a ticket home. He was later found hanging from a light pole in an apartment complex nearby. Last week, the toxicology report indicated that Feeney’s blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit at the time of death.

Checking the Alamo: The NCAA toured the San Antonio Alamodome earlier this week, inspecting it prior to this season’s Final Four. As the San Antonio Spurs have moved into a new facility, the NCAA is worried about the dome’s upkeep, especially with the organization awarding the 2008 Final Four to the city. NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt told the San Antonio Express-News that, “It will be important for the city to keep it as a top-flight facility. We’re confident it will be.” The 1998 Final Four generated $46 million for the city, and similar numbers are expected in April.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Thursday, September 18th

Move the Venue: Baylor University attorneys have made a motion to move the wrongful death suit against the university from Waco to Houston. The suit, brought by Patrick Dennehy, Sr., is alleging wrongful death of his son Patrick Dennehy, Jr., who was murdered, allegedly by teammate Carlton Dotson. Baylor, former coach Dave Bliss, former athletic director Tom Stanton, and school president Robert Sloan were named as co-defendants. A decision on the venue change should be made within the next 10 days.

Dotson Won’t Appear: The attorney for Carlton Dotson, indicted for the murder of Baylor teammate Patrick Dennehy, has indicated that Dotson will not appear at today’s extradition hearing. Maryland state Assistant Attorney General Stuart Buppert will review the case and make a recommendation to Governor Robert Ehrlich whether Dotson should be extradited to Texas to face charges. The reason for the no-show was not announced, even though Dotson requested the hearing. Dotson has been in custody since July 21st, when he was arrested and charged with murdering Dennehy.

Field Set: The 2003 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic field has been announced. The event, which will open the hoops season on November 13th and 14th at Madison Square Garden in New York, will have each of eight teams playing one game, to be broadcast on ESPN 2. The matchups on the 13th are Memphis vs. Wake Forest, and Marquette vs. St. John’s. The following day, Pittsburgh will face Alabama, and Gonzaga will face St. Joseph’s. The event is in its 8th year, and has raised over $2 million for the American Cancer Society.

Big “O” Honored: Cincinnati is awarding former Bearcat Oscar Robertson the William Howard Taft Medal for Notable Achievement, its highest alumni distinction. Robertson, the National Player of the Year and first-team All-American in 1960, and led the Bearcats to the Final Four twice, setting the table for the Bearcats two NCAA crowns in 1961 and 1962. Robertson spent 14 seasons in the NBA, and won the NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971. He is being honored not only for his athletic prowess, but also for his philanthropy, working with Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the NAACP, Salvation Army, American Cancer Society, and the National Kidney Foundation.

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Wednesday, September 17th

Thomas Finds a Home: Former Georgia center Steve Thomas has announced he’s transferring to Middle Tennessee State, after being dismissed by Georgia head coach Dennis Felton last week. Thomas, who averaged 10.2 points per game and 7.3 boards, was dismissed from the Bulldogs after several clashes with Felton over new stricter team rules. Thomas was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “I had trouble adjusting to what he wanted, but he’s got an ego problem.” Thomas will sit out the 2003-04 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and will have one season of eligibility remaining.

Webber Sentenced: Former Michigan and current Sacramento Kings forward Chris Webber had his sentence for lying to a grand jury in the Michigan-Ed Martin scandal deferred for two years by a District Judge. Judge Nancy Edmunds deferred the sentencing until August of 2005, but ordered Webber to perform 150 hours of community service for each of the next two years as a provision of his bond. Webber had pled guilty to lesser charges of criminal contempt after the prosecutions’ lead witness, former Ford Motor Company electrician Ed Martin died last February. The community service will require Webber to work at a six-week literacy program at Butzel Middle School in Detroit in the summers of 2004 and 2005.

Bearcat Charges Dropped: Charges against Cincinnati sophomore forward Armein Kirkland were dropped yesterday, thus allowing Kirkland to return to the Bearcat team. Kirkland, who pleaded innocent to charges of assault and domestic violence against his girlfriend, had the charges dropped after she retracted her statements. His girlfriend faces the same charges resulting from a July argument in the couple’s apartment. Cincinnati officials were awaiting the results of the criminal case to determine what steps, if any, they would take against Kirkland, who averaged 3.4 points and 2 boards last season.

Another Eagle Down: Boston College junior center Nate Doornekamp fractured his left foot playing pickup hoops on Sunday, and will have surgery Friday. Doornekamp, a starter every game of his BC career, averaged 3.3 points and 4 boards per game last season. He’s expected to be out six to eight weeks. The Eagles are running out of players, as senior guard Ryan Sidney has left the team in August due to personal reasons, forward Andrew Bryant was dismissed from the team in July due to academic reasons, and recruit Dan Coleman decided to leave Boston to be closer to his Minnesota home.

Operation Horned Frog?: The Dallas Morning News is reporting that TCU, Houston, and Tulane are expansion targets of the Western Athletic Conference. In a letter obtained by the media, WAC commissioner Karl Benson urged WAC member institutions to take advantage of the uncertainty in Conference USA, brought by the ACC expansion. The resulting WAC may feature a two-division 12-team conference, with the new teams potentially joining Tulsa, SMU, Louisiana Tech and Rice in a Central time zone division. TCU left the WAC in 2001 to join Conference USA. As you’ll recall, several years ago, eight WAC members bolted to form the Mountain West conference, which is also rumored to be looking to expand.

Randall Update: The 8-year old son of former Dartmouth player Bryan Randall died yesterday, two days after his father committed suicide by driving their truck into the path of an oncoming semi truck. Bryan Randall II, the oldest of Randall’s four children, was in critical condition from injuries sustained in the crash. Six-year old Julian was still listed in stable condition after the wreck. Two days prior, Randall attempted to drown his two youngest children in an Orlando-area lake, claiming the life of 2-year-old Yanna, and 4-year-old Regal was still in critical condition after being rescued by a fisherman. Randall had been distraught over divorce proceedings with his wife Lisa, who had obtained a restraining order against him. Dartmouth head coach Dave Faucher, an assistant when Randall played, said, “He was a dedicated player and a wonderful person … We don’t have any answers.”

Conversation with Kathryn Tappen

A Conversation with Kathryn Tappen

by Adam Shandler

Let’s talk dream jobs. Zamboni driver has to be one of them. So does professional beer taster, massage tester, and video game player. (I guess “Hoopville writer” narrowly missed the list – this year.) And I bet if you polled a hundred die-hard sportsfans, they’d probably have sportscaster somewhere in their Top 5. For two days in July, College Sports Television, or CSTV, held an open audition at its Manhattan headquarters, giving roughly 100 people from 23 states the opportunity to become a sportscaster.

Kathryn Tappen

A veritable who’s-who of the current sportscasting landscape had the grueling task of selecting just one soul for the position. That soul is 22-year old and recent college grad Kathryn Tappen.

Tappen, a Morristown, NJ, native, was an Academic All-America and track star at Rutgers, where she owns the school record in the 3000-meter steeple chase. In this edition of Conversations with Adam, the recently graduated Tappen speaks about the audition experience at CSTV and what she expects from the job.

Adam Shandler: What made you decide to try out?

Kathryn Tappen: I had heard about the auditions through Tim Pernetti, who was a former Rutgers athlete and a vice president of programming at ABC. He’s now the VP of Programming at CSTV. He told me about this great new college sports network they were starting so I asked him if I could send him a tape. He said, “Why don’t you just come down to these open auditions we’re having on July 23?”

I decided to do it and figured, worst comes to worst, if I don’t get picked at least I’d get a good tape out of it and some good on-air experience. I had been sending tapes all across the country looking for sportscasting jobs.

AS: What kind of broadcasting experience did you have prior to the audition?

KT: Very little, actually. I did do some work with the Rutgers radio station my sophomore and junior years and worked with the Rutgers TV Network a little bit. I was able to do a lot for Knightime Productions (as in Scarlet Knights), which was a student organized operation. We gave a lot of stuff to RU-TV that got aired. I did a feature on one of my teammates that I’d produced and edited myself. I’d been using that as my resume tape.

When you’re a track and field athlete your season is all year long. I didn’t have time to commit 100% to TV. My life was track and field at school. Some of the people that auditioned [at CSTV] had four or five years of broadcasting experience, but I guess they liked me because I was a fresh face and I was someone the producers could mold.

AS: You mentioned you were a track athlete at Rutgers. Other than track and field, did you have a pretty extensive knowledge of college sports before heading into the audition?

KT: I have a pretty broad sense of college sports. Being an athlete in college, I was constantly surrounded by athletes. I lived with four women’s lacrosse players, and my boyfriend was on the soccer team. I was always going to games and rooting people on. They called me “superfan”.

So college sports was always around me and I had a very good sense of what was going on. I keep up with the polls, read all the stories. [Rutgers] is in the Big East which – you know – is one of the best conferences out there. There are a bunch of great teams in that conference in a lot of sports.

AS: Speaking of Rutgers and the Big East, how do you think your Scarlet Knights will do on the court this year? I’m not even going to bother asking about football…

KT: In my opinion, they’re going to be a lot better than they were last year. They’ve got a lot of new guys coming in, a whole new recruiting class. To me, Gary Waters has done an exceptional job building the program and his mindset is better than anything Kevin Bannon could have done.

They’ll definitely be better. I’d like to see them in the Top 5 of the Big East. We got so close to beating Syracuse this past year [in the Big East Tournament] and they’re without Carmelo Anthony this year, so…we’ll see.

AS: How did you prepare for the audition? Did you have to get yourself mentally psyched up and study your college sports almanacs?

KT:The week before the audition was actually down time for me. I didn’t really study or psyche myself up too much. I figured I would do well based on what I knew before the tryout. I kind of went into it like it was a track and field race. Whatever you know is what you know and you can’t get yourself all worked up.

I was actually more nervous two months before the auditions. But I talked to a lot of people – friends and family – who calmed me down. To prepare for being on TV I just practiced in front of a mirror and interviewed my family. When I got on line at the auditions everyone was practicing their TV voices and commentary, but I didn’t want to do that.

AS: Was there any trash talking or attempted sabotage while you were waiting on line with the other contestants?

KT: Not with the people I was standing on line with. Everybody was trying to calm each other down. I didn’t sense a lot of hostility or hear any trash talk. After the first day, everybody was very congratulatory to the people who went on to the next round.

But the second day it was down to ten finalists – seven guys and three girls. All the guys would talk about was their pieces and the auditions and who did this and who did that. I sat with the girls and we talked about other things just to get our minds off of [the auditions].

One guy did come up to me and say, “You know you won’t get it ’cause you’re a girl.” I was really taken aback by that. I don’t know if he was trying to throw me off or what. I thought he was a nice guy before that, but I guess the guys were more competitive.

AS: What was the audition like? What did you have to do?

KT: The first day was really quick. I sat in a studio chair next to a TV set and did two 15-second TelePrompTer readings and one college sports play-by-play segment. You had a choice of sports, but I picked college basketball because that’s where my heart is.

The second day was sportscasting boot camp. You had to write your own TelePrompTer reading based on two fictitious sports headlines, which you would read later in the day in front of the judges (Bonnie Bernstein and Gus Johnson of CBS, Brian Baldinger of FOX and WFAN-New York’s Sid Rosenberg). The writing was a little hectic because they were shooting a documentary about the auditions and I’d have a camera over my shoulder looking right at my computer screen.

The fictitious headline I got was “Michael Jordan Comes Back to School to Coach.” Now I had known forever that Jordan went to Chapel Hill, but I was totally frozen and couldn’t think of anything to write. But I took a few minutes and calmed down and just started writing. After thirty minutes they stopped the stopwatch.

Then all ten of us did three sections of sportscasting in front of the judges. We couldn’t see what the other contestants were doing; they had us in a separate room. After that they narrowed us down from ten to six.

The next part was the job interview section. The producers would sit you down and grill you about your biography. They had your resume in their hands and they’d ask things like, “How long have you followed college sports?” and “You’re a former college athlete. How do you think that will help you in this job?” After that, they narrowed us down from six to two.

The final round was a four-minute long interview with an athlete. I just so happened that it was Rebecca Lobo, which was…as a female basketball player in high school, this was awesome. I had followed her career, so I knew a lot about her.

After that round they declared me the winner. It was a thirteen-hour day. I told all my friends and family that I’d be out of there by six and I didn’t get home till midnight. The voicemail on my cellphone was completely full with everyone asking if I got [the job].

AS: If you weren’t a CSTV sportscaster, what would you be?

KT: Sportscasting was something I wanted to do for so long – ever since elementary school. If this didn’t work out, I’d still give [my sportscasting goals] a lot more time. Maybe a year. But if I didn’t have this job, I’d still want to do something in TV. I had a great internship last summer in PR at ABC Sports. Even when you’re working in TV and you’re not on-air, the whole sports world is at your fingertips.

AS: What are you expectations of this job?

KT: Well, the network is identifying possible assignments for me. I might be doing some college football, soccer, or volleyball and I know they definitely want me to do some track and field. I’ll do any sport. There’s a lot of opportunity at CSTV with studio shows, sideline reporting, and developing my own stories and producing my own segments. I see this as a stepping stone for my career; it’s the best experience I could get. I feel very fortunate to start off in the New York market with this network that I think is going to be awesome. I really think it’s going to do great things.

AS: Okay, Kathryn, let’s really get down to it. Who wins a race between you, Gus Johnson, who is a former football guy now CBS announcer; former NFL wideout and CSTV analyst Derrick Mays and former Maryland gymnast now CBS sportscaster Bonnie Bernstein?

KT: Me, of course! Running is my sport. But I guess it depends on the length of the race. Gus is a former football guy so he might beat me in the forty.

For more on Kathryn Tappen and the College Sports Television Network visit the CSTV website at www.cstv.com.

989 Sports Final Four 2003

Review: NCAA Final Four 2003

by Dean Austin

Title: NCAA Final Four 2003 Publisher: 989 Sports Platform: Playstation 2 Score (out of 10): 6 Help support Hoopville. Click to purchase through Amazon.com

Seconds to go in this tight MAC Championship. Top seeded Central Michigan with the ball and down by 2, 44-46 against 4th seeded Ball State. Norman, who has been on fire from long range, comes down and pops a three. Too long, Ball State with the board, 9 seconds to go as they bring the ball over mid court, 8…moving over to the left, 7…dribbling toward the three point line, 6…looking to make the pass, 5…stolen, stolen by Norman! The Chippewas’ shooting guard heads towards the basket. To the top of the arc, goes for three, can he make amends… It’s good! Time runs out and Central Michigan wins the automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

So given the thrilling conclusion above, which really happened, it might surprise you to know that initially I hated this game. First time I picked it up I got so frustrated I put it down after 30 minutes determined to find a way to get someone else to have to review it. I left it a week and came back to it. “I hate it,” I said to no-one in particular “when I have to review lousy games.” But I played it, and cursed the over and back turnovers. I played it, and got frustrated at the free throw mechanism. And then a funny thing happened. I kept playing it, moving through year after year in Dynasty mode, recruiting better players and discovering the nuances of the game. Finally I came to a surprising conclusion. This isn’t a bad game; on the contrary it can be quite a challenge and ultimately satisfying. However you have to be prepared to invest some significant time and also unlearn most of what you may have learnt playing other console basketball titles.

They’ve put in just about everything including the proverbial kitchen sink.

So jump into an Exhibition game and learn the basic controls. Two issues immediately come to light. First it is very easy to tap the pass button multiple times and end up with an over and back half court violation. This is just plain bad game design. I don’t care if it is technically accurate, if it frustrates a player for no good reason, it’s bad game design. Second the shooting mechanism takes time to get used to but once you do it makes sense. As you go to make a shot a shooting meter appears. The ball moves up the meter and to make a shot you have to release the ball when the icon is within the cylinder. To quote the manual, “the ball must fit perfectly with the circular portion of the shot meter to assure a field goal.” Well yes that’s technically correct but it doesn’t tell the whole story. You find that, especially on three point attempts, that it is possible – even preferable – to let the ball only fill half the circle and the hoop will be made every time. However if you are just a fraction over the edge at the top of the circle the ball will clang off the back of the rim.

It is with the controls you first get a sense of unease with the product. The developers have put in just about everything including the proverbial kitchen sink. Sometimes less really is more. I found that the best way to get up to speed was to play a few games with the basic controls and then practice one specific new advanced function per game. Icon Passing and Cutting, nifty features that allow you to deal to a specific player, are well worth the effort.

Graphically NCAA Final Four 2003 looks very nice especially the close ups of the players. The accompanying game team interviews, which are nicely done, make reference to “specula lighting” and how it allows sweat to glisten on the players. All well and good but this is made out to be a special feature when it should be a nice extra. Game play is what is important.

Sometimes it’s a case of one step forward, two steps back. Take the Artificial Intelligence for example. The good news is that if you are playing man to man defense and over play a double team the AI will usually find the open man and have him drive to the basket or hit the open jumper. But knock the ball out of an opponents hand when going for a steal and your opposite number is likely to stand watching the ball bounce harmlessly away rather than diving after the ball. Or worse down 42-28 a team will pound it inside rather than going for the quick three with just under a minute left to play. Are there always bad things going on? Of course not, otherwise it would be a drag. But these issues keep popping up throughout the game.

He’s no Dick Vitale, and I suspect Packer would take that as a compliment.

Play the Quick Start, Exhibition and Season mode but the heart of the game is the Dynasty mode. Here the 300 plus teams are a distinct advantage over the competition. Play as any team from Alcorn State and Yale through Clemson and USF. The object is to build an ongoing Dynasty ala Duke or North Carolina over multiple seasons. Players graduate each year and as the Head Coach you must work to recruit replacements. The recruiting process is a challenge. Especially when you first start out the best players will have no interest in your program. Instead you will need to look at local players who might have an interest because they prefer to stay closer to home.

Each visit to a recruit and you get 10 per round as a Head Coach, increases that players interest in your program. There are 5 rounds of visits at the end of the season. However, recruiting a player heavily does not guarantee that the prospect will decide to play for you. Therefore you have to balance your recruiting efforts and look at multiple prospects. Sometimes even though you want, for example, a Center to back up your junior starter you will find that the best players who want to come to your school play another position. You then have to decide whether to take the best player or the position that you need. Not as easy as it sounds because injuries and fatigue play a factor throughout the season. It’s a fine balancing act and one reminiscent of the Soccer management games that are so popular in Europe.

The MAC Championship described above was a half a dozen years into a recent Dynasty. Although I’d had a couple of good recruiting classes, the previous off season had seen some excellent players come out of the state of Michigan. I’d been fortunate to grab three who ended up in my starting line up, including the shooting guard Norman. Currently I’m about to play in the Sweet Sixteen having knocked off Western Kentucky and Ole Miss in the first two rounds. Even with a MAC Championship and a 20+ win season, I was still given a #12 seed by the committee. Seems the mid majors get no respect in the game as well as real life!

For those of you who want even more of a challenge, in addition to the Dynasty mode, there is also a Career mode where you start as a Graduate Assistant at a small school and try to advance to the Head Coach of a major school. Until you become an Assistant Coach you have no say in recruiting, so dealing with the hand you are dealt can be frustrating but also a nice challenge.

Billy Packer provides expert commentary. He’s no Dick Vitale and somehow I suspect Packer would take that as a compliment. Again it’s adequate for what you need but it would have been nice to have some excitement when Central Michigan qualified for the Tournament. I mean it doesn’t get much more exciting than a three point buzzer beater to join the big dance. Dickie V would have been apoplectic!

The bottom line when it comes to NCAA Final Four 2003 is really quite simple. It is extremely easy to nitpick this title to death as there are numerous problems. And yet it is ultimately a game I enjoyed trying to beat. Rent it, check out the Dynasty mode and then decide if it is worth the price of admission.

989 Sports’s NCAA Final Four 2003 gets a Hoopville 6 out of 10.

Hoop Fool Comic

Morning Dish

The Morning Dish – Tuesday, September 16th

March Madness™: A Texas federal court upheld the NCAA’s claim that they own the rights to use the term “March Madness™″. In a cybersquatting case brought three years ago against two defendants, Netfire, Inc. and Sports Marketing International, Inc., the District Court in Dallas ruled that they did not have the rights to use “March Madness™″, and must give up their domain names, and pay undisclosed fines to the NCAA. The NCAA has also allowed the Illinois High School Association to use the term “March Madness™″ for their high school basketball tournaments. (March Madness™ is a registered trademark of the NCAA and the IHSA).

Texas Tech-nical: Texas Tech admitted that it has committed an NCAA violation when it announced that two recruits had orally committed to the Red Raider program. Since schools cannot comment on a recruit since they actually sign a letter of intent, the announcement of the oral commitments, which are non-binding, violated NCAA rules. Texas Tech’s SID Randy Farley had sent out a press release Sunday afternoon, and later realized the infraction. He immediately notified the school’s compliance officer Pat Britz of the violations. The two recruits in question were Corvallis, Oregon forward Philip Harbaugh, and Sulphur, Louisiana guard Martin Zeno.

Southern Miss-take: In a follow-up from yesterday, Southern Mississippi has reported three rules violations to the NCAA regarding the recruiting of two transfer players that were declared academically ineligible last week. Assistant coach Luster Goodwin has resigned due to the violations, which include unethical conduct, a non-permitted transportation benefit, and a practice violation. Apparently, Goodwin had driven two Lee College players, Brannon Hayes and Rudolph Mauricette, back to their Baytown, Texas, campus, and allowed the players to practice with the team in workouts without being enrolled. The violations are considered secondary because the program did not benefit from them.

Taylor Sitting?: The Sporting News’ Mike Decourcy is reporting that recent Baylor transfer Kenny Taylor is going to redshirt this season, even though he was given immediate eligibility by the NCAA and the Big 12 conference to compete for Texas. It seems Texas, who have plenty of depth with Brandon Mouton, Royal Ivey, and Sydmill Harris, might not have much playing time left for Taylor. Taylor has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Randall Suicide: Former Dartmouth basketball player Bryan Christopher Randall, the Ivy League’s rookie of the year in 1985, is suspected of killing himself and attempting to murder his four children, killing one. Randall, who was suspected of drowning his youngest daughter, and attempting to drown his four-year old son, swerved into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer with his two oldest children yesterday. Randall was killed, and his two children in the accident were injured. A suicide note in the wreckage stated that Randall wanted to kill himself and his children because he didn’t approve of how his ex-wife was caring for them. 8-year old Bryan was in critical condition, and his 6-year old brother Julian was in stable condition after the crash. Four-year old Regal was in critical condition, and two-year old Yanna was pronounced dead after a fisherman found the two in a small lake near Randall’s home in Maitland, Florida, near Orlando.

Belcher Back: Former Baylor assistant coach Rodney Belcher, accused of possible NCAA infractions while on Dave Bliss’ staff at Baylor, is a coach again. Belcher was hired yesterday by Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque to be the girls’ varsity basketball coach for the upcoming season. The contract coaching position, which does not come with a teaching position, pays between $3,000 and $4,000 for the season.