The Morning Dish – Wednesday, March 24th
Gillispie to Texas A&M?: Texas A&M’s search for a new men’s basketball coach may end with UTEP’s Billy Gillispie. According to ESPN, Gillispie has been contacted and is ready to accept an offer today. Gillispie led the Miners to a terrific turnaround this season, bringing them from six wins to 24 wins. The Aggies, on the other hand, did not win a league game all season. Gillispie has numerous connections to the state of Texas, always recruiting it well, even as an assistant to Bill Self at Tulsa and at Illinois.
Auburn has not contacted UAB coach: UAB coach Mike Anderson, who has his upstart Blazers in the Sweet 16, said Tuesday that he has not been contacted by Auburn about its coaching vacancy. Anderson surfaced as a candidate as his Blazers defeated top-seeded Kentucky Sunday. The ninth-seeded Blazers face Kansas next. Anderson is a Birmingham native.
Hewitt denies St. John’s job offer: Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt has plenty of distractions as he attempts to prepare his team for its Sweet 16 matchup with Nevada. Hewitt’s name has been connected with the St. John’s job opening since former coach Mike Jarvis was fired. Hewitt was considered the runner-up candidate when Jarvis was hired six years ago. Hewitt, however, denies being contacted by the school and says he is happy at Georgia Tech, where he has received a contract extension every year he has coached.
Penders hired at Houston: Tom Penders has accepted the head coaching position at Houston. Penders and the university agreed on a five-year contract Tuesday. The long-time Texas coach is the seventh Houston coach. Penders replaces Ray McCallum, who was 44-72 in four seasons.
Okafor and Nelson unanimous All-Americans: Both Jameer Nelson and Emeka Okafor were unanimous selections to the Associated Press’ All-American team. It was the first time since 1985 two players were unanimous selections to the team. The rest of the first team included Mississippi State’s Lawrence Roberts, Stanford’s Josh Childress, and Providence’s Ryan Gomes.
Childress to stay at Stanford?: Speaking of All-American Josh Childress, Stanford coach Mike Montgomery expects the Pac-10 player of the year to return for his senior season. The Cardinal loses starting forward Justin Davis, starting guard Matt Lottich and reserve forward Joe Kirchofer to graduation.
Women’s NCAA Tournament action: In the second round of the Women’s NCAA Tournament, top seeds Duke, Penn State and Texas advanced. So did two-seeds UConn and Purdue. Second-seeded Kansas State, however, was not so fortunate, as they were defeated 80-61 by Minnesota. The Golden Gophers were led by Janel McCarvell’s 15 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists.
NIT action: Iowa State went on the road in the NIT and defeated Florida State, 62-59. They Cyclones were led by Jake Sullivan’s 19 points. They will play Marquette, who used a big second half run to outlast Boise State, 66-53. Travis Diener had 15 points and seven assists in the win. In late-night NIT action, Oregon easily defeated George Mason, 68-54.
Tonight’s Menu
• Just two NIT games on the ledger tonight as Hawaii travels to Michigan and Villanova visits Rutgers.
