The Morning Dish – Thursday, October 2nd
Jayhawk Down: Kansas junior guard Keith Langford will be out for the next three weeks following knee surgery on Tuesday. Langford, the leading returning scorer for the Jayhawks, had an MRI reveal some cartilage damage in his knee, and Langford and the Kansas medical staff decided to fix it now, rather then have it become worse during the season. Langford, who was third on the Jayhawks last season with a 16 points-per-game average, hopes to be ready for the start of practice on October 18th.
Eagle Down: Boston College sophomore forward Craig Smith will undergo knee surgery Friday to repair a torn meniscus suffered last weekend in a pickup game. Smith, who averaged 20 points and 8 boards per game last season as a freshman, is the second Eagle to be injured this fall. Junior center Nate Doornekamp broke his foot, requiring surgery and two months of rehab. Meanwhile, rumors are still swirling that Boston College will accept a late invitation to the ACC, so much so that the Big East is asking BC to announce its intentions soon, before the Big East announces its own expansion plans in November.
MAC Invite: With all of the conference posturing and re-shuffling recently, the Mid-America Conference decided to get into the act, extending a full invitation to Central Florida. UCF, which plays football in the MAC, but plays all other sports in the Atlantic Sun conference, is a school that has been in play with Conference USA as well, with C-USA looking at UCF as a natural rival for USF. If the Big East decides to grab Marshall away from the MAC, the deal is off, as it would leave the conference with a 12-team league. Geographically, Orlando is hardly Mid-America, with Marshall and Ohio being the closest schools – some 800 miles north of UCF.
Big 12 Tournament: The Big 12 has considered adjusting the Big 12 Conference Tournament to accommodate for the absence of Baylor, who placed itself on two-years probation following its scandal-plagued summer. The plan, which will use an 11-team field, with first round games featuring 6-11, 7-10, and 8-9 matchups, and then those winners facing the top five seeds. Normally only the top four seeds would receive a bye, but in this scenario the fifth seed would as well. The Big 12 Tournament will be March 11-14 in Dallas.
Techster Returns: Former Georgia Tech starting forward Clarence Moore rejoined the squad yesterday, according to head coach Paul Hewitt. Moore started during the 2001-02 season, averaging 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds, before quitting the team in August of 2002, citing a lack of motivation. Last season Moore came back for practice, but then quit the team again in early December. Moore’s return, assuming he stays, would help the Yellow Jackets, as they lost forward Chris Bosh to the NBA Draft last season.
Vol Packing: Tennessee head coach Buzz Peterson announced that freshman guard Jordan Howell will redshirt this season. Howell has withdrawn from school for medical reasons, but will return to school in January in time for winter semester. Howell, from Auburn, Alabama, averaged 17.5 points and was considered an outside threat for Bob Jones High School last season, and was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in Alabama.
