The Morning Dish – Monday, April 25th
Mass Mississippi State Exodus: The third Mississippi State player said this past weekend that he will likely transfer to another school. Freshman Walter Sharpe joins teammates Charles Rhodes and Gary Ervin as Bulldog players who have indicated a desire to transfer. Sharpe averaged 2.4 points and 1.9 rebounds in about nine minutes per game, but his playing time shrunk toward the end of the season. Coach Rick Stansbury said Sharpe needed “to learn to do the little things.”
Leitao Brings Over One Assistant: New Virginia coach Dave Leitao hired Gene Cross as an assistant coach, one of Leitao’s assistants at DePaul. Cross worked for Leitao during the past three years and also worked as an assistant at Illinois – Chicago for six years. He is president of the assistant coaches’ board for the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Meanwhile at DePaul: DePaul officials have apparently switched the name at the top of their short list for the Blue Demons’ coaching vacancy. Last week, they appeared to have Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins atop the list. Now, Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright seems to be the favorite. Wainwright will interview with school officials Monday, and sources close to the school indicated that DePaul could hire Wainwright by the end of the week. Wainwright grew up near Chicago and was a candidate for the position in 2002 when DePaul officials hired Dave Leitao. Wainwright coached eight years at UNC – Wilmington and compiled a record of 136-103 before moving to Richmond to coach the Spiders for the past three seasons. He has taken his teams to six NCAA Tournaments in 11 seasons.
