The Glass is Half-?

Niave optimism.

Reason for pessimism.

More reason for pessimism.

Unfortunately, college basketball (in this day and age) will always be marred by scandal. The only question is to what extent.

Bo Knows Etiquette

Luke Winn lets us know that Wisconsin's Bo Ryan accompanied early entree Devin Harris to last night's NBA Draft.

No hard feelings about Harris' decision, eh?

Good for Bo. He knows a strong relationship with Harris will help him recruit high schoolers for years to come.

marco

A great addition for Indiana. Though he'll only play a year, Killingsworth will keep the Hoosiers postseason bound next season (even if Bracey Wright departs for the NBA this May), saving Mike Davis' job.

Yellow Jacket Love

I don't link to the Georgia Tech Sports blog as often as I ought to. Sigh...Scott just posted his thoughts on Hewitt's summer routine here.

instant my a**

Chad Ford is providing "instant analysis" on the NBA Draft for ESPN. Good for him.

But better for the NBA. Who would have thought the folks in the league office were wise enough to put up a Draft Blog? The early highlight:

Where does Stuart Scott get some of his anecdotes? His esoteria about Okafor taking an exam in a class in which he was not enrolled was truly ... um ... interesting.

Of course, a blog is no excuse for bad spelling. Esoterica, not esoteria.

tommy boy

ESPN is reporting that Marquette coach Tom Crean is the flavor of the week at Ohio State.

Commenting on an earlier post, Tim argued it was unlikely that Crean, having spurned Illinois and Kansas, would leave Marquette for the Buckeyes.

I agree. The Golden Eagles will soon find themselves in the Big East, an upgrade over Conference USA. Had Crean wanted to cash in on his Final Four bid in 2003, he would -- or at least, should -- have done so last year, when two of the nation's best and most promising programs came calling.

Over the Hill

I often josh that the NBA is for washed-out college players. Tonight, several more "student-athletes" bite the dust.

Emeka, Andre, Devin, Luke, Jameer, Rafael, Kirk, Tony, & Desmond: I'll miss ya, but best of luck.

You've Got Mail

From third graders?

I must admit I'm jealous that Gregg Doyel gets mail regularly from fans. But has anyone else noticed many of his readers wouldn't pass high school English?

dead end job

Melvin Watkins, the former Texas A&M coach who led the Aggies to a 7-21 record last season and went 60-111 overall in six years, recently signed on as an assistant coach at Missouri.

A classic case of the blind leading the blind.

By virtue of the NCAA's investigation into his program, (fire) Quin Snyder has probably had trouble finding a replacement for Tony Harvey.

By virtue of his poor record at Texas A&M, Watkins likely had few callers.

True, but sad.

Melvin is joining a sinking ship. Is it better than sinking alone?

Gregg Doyel, Contrarian

As the masses (gleefully?) foretell St. Joe's demise, Gregg Doyel sings praise of Phil Martelli. Problem is, Martelli hasn't exactly won year in, year out. Before Jameer Nelson arrived on campus, St. Joe's had little national name recognition. In other words, I'm very, very skeptical.

call him richard

Remember when I voted Adrian Wojnarowski off the island for trashing the college game?

Well, I've found my survivor. Mike DeCourcy tells is like it is:

There is hope because Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Devin Harris and Josh Childress are leaving behind NCAA basketball and moving on to the NBA. Like their prep classmates, they likely will gain the honor of becoming top 10 selections. But these guys might deliver on the investment. What these players took from college basketball, and what they left behind, demonstrates the system still works when given a chance. It shows the resilience of the college game even when an uncommon number of high school players ignores its value and focuses entirely on the immediate money...The 2002 and 2003 NCAA Tournaments rank among the four best-attended in the event's history. This year's Duke-UConn semifinal and the UConn-Georgia Tech final placed among the top 10 television programs the week they aired, even though the semifinals aired on the lowest-rated TV night of the week and the title game was a blowout.

the wrong way

As Ohio State works to find a replacement for Obie, the pundits are getting impatient (see Wojnarowski, Katz, Vitale, & Doyel) .

And they're right to do so. Why's Andy Geiger taking his time? I have yet to hear of a single Ohio State overture...Crean? Knight? Matta? Sendek?

Disappointing

Jason's first entry is about golf.

Come on, now. Golf?

Long Time Reader

First Time Blogger.

A good friend of mine, Jason Rosenfeld, just informed me that he intends to start a sports blog.

Amen, brother.

I'll link to Jason's blog as soon as its up.

"Bibby considers jump to NBA"

This is news? Henry Bibby has wanted out of USC since the moment he stepped on campus.

If I were Southern Cal's athletic director, I'd lobby the Lakers to take Bibby off my hands. The man who left home when his son, Mike Bibby, was but two years old has had only limited recruiting success (in California!) and, save 2001, directed a series of disappointing seasons. Last year, USC went 13-15. This year, I expected them to do the same...or worse.

that's what I'm talking about

A shout out to the Sports Prof:

ESPN.com serves up for us the list of all of those players who have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft as "early entrants." There are the familiar college names...and then there are the two 7'4" Iranians, 19 year-old Hamid Haddadi, and 18 year-old Jaber Rouzbahani...Which raises all sorts of fascinating questions, such as, where will they play next? Are they any good? Do they somehow get access to NBA telecasts in Iran? Wouldn't the government in Teheran try to jam any signal of this type of American culture? Would the U.S. Executive Order prohibiting trade with Iran prevent these kids from playing in America even if they were any good (which might be a sad consequence of these laws, as was the consequence of having Sydney Maree banned from international track competitions years ago because, even though he is black, because he was from South Africa).

Sports analysis intertwined with educated and perhaps provoking thoughts on international relations. More evidence us sports bloggers are a little wiser than the average Neanderthal.

the best college player

you've never heard of is David Lucas. (Or so says Mike DeCourcy).

The son of Maurice Lucas, one of the great power forwards in NBA history, David began playing organized basketball during his junior year of high school and joined the Oregon State Beavers as a walk-on in 2001. After playing in only nine games as a freshman and averaging 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds during an unremarkable sophomore campaign, Lucas burst onto the scene this past season and established himself as among the PAC-10's best power forwards. After growing three inches to 6'7" and securing a scholarship, Lucas blossomed into the team's leader and go-to-guy, finishing the year fourth in the conference for scoring (17.2), ninth for rebounding (6.9) and fifth for free throw percentage (.816) while earning first-team All-Pac-10 honors. He ended the season particularly strong, foreshadowing an even more productive senior year.

For more on Oregon State's rising star, read Steve Mims' column from February, "David belongs with Goliaths."