Saturday, June 13, 2009

Interview with Jeff Lebo

I thought Jeff Lebo did an incredible job last year. Auburn has been bad year after year. I wasn't sure how long Lebo would remain at the helm.

Then last year he gets some pretty good seniors, Korvotney Barber comes back reasonably healthy, and the next thing you know, people are pushing to have them in the NCAA tournament. They didn't quite make it, but the point of the article is that the SEC probably deserved more than 3 teams in the tourney, and if they had gotten one or two more in, Auburn would have been right there.

Expectations will spike with the new basketball arena. We'll see how Lebo and his squad hold up.

Tim Floyd. Innocent until Proven Guilty

Good article. Really good article. Strongest point is that it urges us to consider the source of the O.J. Mayo allegations.

The part about the "innocent until proven guilty" is not as good. It's true that we are innocent until proven guilty in criminal law cases. However, the difference is that in the O.J. Mayo case, we are talking about recruiting violations. There is no presumption of innocence in this sphere.

Still, should the media afford Floyd such a presumption, simply as a matter of journalistic ethics? I think that a sense of balance is important, and in such spirit, I share the Maize and Brew article.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Royalty over Loyalty

Calipari has made his decision on who goes and who stays. Galloway and Pilgrim are out.

Pilgrim's father had a rather stoic response. He says that he understands that it's all about business. But college athletics should never be just about business. Otherwise, let's get rid of the pretense, shut down the NCAA, and let the NBA run college basketball.

I think the NCAA will step in soon, stop letting teams accept scholarship commitments substantially beyond the number of open slots that the team has. That decision was passed for football, so it's probably just a matter of time for basketball.

Smack Talk

If I'm the parent, here, I'd want to smack the reporter for his talk.

Seriously. Just apologize and leave the family's driveway.

Taunting Rules.

Mike Jones Lands

Former Georgia assistant coach, Mike Jones, has secured a position at VCU.

Jones was left without a position after the firing of Coach Felton and the hiring of Coach Fox. Jones was previously an assistant at the University of Richmond, so he knows the area at Virginia Commonwealth.

Good fit for Coach Jones. Wish him well.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Coach Fox Working on Noel Johnson

I think it's worth the effort.

However, if I were a betting man, I would call Johnson for Tech.

The one caveat would be if Johnson wants immediate playing time. He'd be a feature at some schools. It will be hard to feature anyone other than Derrick Favors for Tech's season this coming year.

Others are thinking LSU will win the competition for Johnson's commitment. If you had a dollar, which school would you put your money on?

Jeremy Jacob's Bio is Up

on the Oregon Ducks' site. Jacob looks somehow different in the picture.

At any rate, Jacob is officially with the Oregon team, now. As I have said previously, he has been around a good bit during his career. Couple of high schools, if I remember correctly, in Louisiana. Prep school on the east coast at Hargrave. Injury-abbreviated freshman year at Georgia. Juco year in Florida. Now he's considered a sophomore at Oregon. That's four schools in four years after he graduated from high school. Maybe he'll stick at Oregon.

Oregon can use the help. They were really bad last year. The Ducks can possibly turn it around in a big way if their sophomore center, Michael Dunnigan, plays big; if Tajuan Porter, their 5' 6" point guard plays fast; Jeremy Jacob contributes his all-around game; and they get something from Matthew Humphrey (6'5" wing, cousin of Billy Humphrey) and Teondre Williams (former player in the Atlanta metro area).

Tim Floyd, Coach at USC, Resigns

Amazing. Truly is.

Floyd, announcing that he has lost enthusiasm for the job, has resigned his position as head coach of the University of Southern California.

It's not an admission of his guilt in the alleged O.J. Mayo recruiting scandal, but it sure looks like it to me. The timing of the resignation could, of course, mean that he is tired of all of the media circus, the loss of recruits and other issues surrounding the NCAA investigation. However, I think most coaches in the game would stick around, if for no other reason, to clear their name.

There's probably a lot of fire underneath all that smoke, some truth to the allegation that Floyd paid a handler in order to get Mayo to commit to Southern Cal. And if Floyd did in fact pay for Mayo, is there any surprise that the rest of his players have jumped ship? Several members of his roster have announced that they are turning pro, and a number of his recruits have chosen to look for other schools.

How many of those players and potential players were paid under the table? Any? All?

What's the impact on the rest of college basketball? It's a wake-up call for coaches who might want to go outside the rules to bag a "one-and-done" superstar. You might win the recruiting battle but lose the war of keeping your career.

Schools have to choose carefully the overseers of their programs. Big-time sanctions are probably on the way for USC.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

More on Robert Dozier

It always frustrated me that Dozier could be denied admission to UGA and end up just fine at University of Memphis.

Dozier scored 13 points and 8 rebounds per game for Memphis. Georgia could have used him over the last few years.

I don't disagree with UGA's compliance people. In fact, I advocate that we steer clear of the questionable recruits. It's just that the playing field is not level. It doesn't help much for the NCAA to start poking around, 4 years after Dozier was admitted at Memphis.

The attached gives some background on the Dozier situation.

Social Media and the NCAA

The rules on booster contacts are running headlong into Web 2.0 realities.

Of course, contacts made with recruits have long been an area of NCAA regulation. But what about when no specific contact has been made, and none can be shown? If a guy sets up a Facebook page, and no one visits, is that a violation? Apparently so.

Let the Booster Beware.

And now that coaches are all on Twitter, how does tweeting impact the recruiting process?

Bird in the Hand

Renardo Sidney and Mississippi State

Did Sidney in fact get rejected by UCLA and USC?

If USC, the school that allegedly made a pay-off to get O.J. Mayo to commit-- if they reject a guy, how then does the recruit expect to get admitted by an SEC school? Who is running the show over at Mississippi State?

According to the attached article, the NCAA is looking into Sidney and whether the fancy accommodations he has had were legitimately paid for by his family. Of course, no violations have been proven at this point, but is there some fire in all that smoke? Something isn't quite right here.

I want Georgia to start getting the elite recruits, but not if we have to pay to play.

Sidney