The Morning Dish – Tuesday, March 22nd
Bad News for Sumpter: Villanova junior forward Curtis Sumpter will not play again in this year’s NCAA Tournament after tearing a ligament in his left knee against Florida Sunday. The No. 5-seed Wildcats play top-seed North Carolina Friday. Sumpter injured the knee early in the game, then more seriously a few minutes later. He averages 15.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, but more importantly, he is the Wildcats’ only legitimate threat in the post. And he had the best chance of slowing down North Carolina’s junior forward Sean May.
Davis Era Not Over: An anonymous source leaked information to the Associated Press yesterday that indicated Indiana officials would retain coach Mike Davis, despite a flurry of speculation about a possible coaching change. Indiana finished 15-14 this past season, including a 67-60 home loss to Vanderbilt in the NIT’s first round. School officials plan to announce their decision today. Davis took over after Indiana forced out former coach Bob Knight in 2000. Since then, Davis has compiled a 96-67 record and took the Hoosiers to the NCAA championship game in 2002. But Indiana missed the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, drawing criticism that ranged from frustrated fans to Knight, who recently said he had planned to fire Davis as an assistant at the end of the 2000-01 season. For complete information about less fortunate coaches, check out Hoopville’s feature about this year’s Coaching Changes .
Nor Is Chaney’s: Temple coach John Chaney will return for at least another season after much speculation that he would retire following the embarrassing St. Joseph’s episode. Chaney, 73, has the fourth most wins of any active coach with 724. His record is 724-297. Many media sources speculated that Chaney would retire after a self-imposed suspension for sending in a player to rough up St. Joseph’s players. Nehemiah Ingram fouled out in four minutes and broke senior forward John Bryant’s arm in the process. Chaney suspended himself for one game, them the school extended it to three, then Chaney re-extended it to the rest of the regular season and the Atlantic 10 tournament.
Durham Calls It Quits: After 45 years of coaching, Jacksonville coach Hugh Durham decided now is a good time to start retirement. Durham finished his career with a 633-429 record, good for 25th on the all-time coaching wins list. At Jacksonville, Durham compiled a 106-119 record in eight seasons. He also coached Florida State and Georgia and reached two Final Fours, one with the Seminoles and the other with the Bulldogs. Durham coached great players such as Dave Cowens and Dominique Wilkins. Both players credited Durham with helping them develop into stars. Jacksonville’s athletic director, Alan Verlander, said he will begin the search for a new coach at the Final Four in St. Louis. Durham will assist with the search.
Riverside Hires Spencer: California – Riverside officials selected David Spencer to replace the recently retired John Masi as the Highlanders’ coach. Spencer was the school’s academic coordinator for more than three years and coordinated players’ academic activities. He has experience as a coach or assistant at Colorado State, Pacific, Loyola – Marymount, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Nevada and USC. A talented recruiter, Spencer has the difficult task of turning Riverside into a winner at the Division I level. Masi compiled a 462-269 record in 26 years, but most of those wins came when Riverside was a Division II powerhouse.
Tonight’s Menu
• The NIT’s Sweet 16 continues tonight as Georgetown hosts Cal State – Fullerton and South Carolina plays UNLV.
