There was a minor brush-up yesterday evening amongst the sports media world when it was revealed that Bill Self, the man who did what Roy Williams couldn't, might have possibly committed a recruiting violation when he spoke to John Wall (America's No. 1 prospect) after a high school tournament recently.
Self allegedly approached Wall following a Word of God basketball game and congratulated him on his play while mentioning that "I'm not supposed to be talking to you ..." It was curious behavior indeed, and Self addressed the exchange after Kansas topped Texas A&M last night.
Society has tons of problems. One of them is that we pay athletes millions of dollars to play sports. This has resulted in an increasingly powerful amount of pressure being placed on our culture's youth to succeed and be recognized for their athletic endeavors at an earlier age than ever before.
And that pressure just got stronger. Because the NCAA, bastion of all things good and wonderful and pure and true about amateur athletics, has lowered the legal age with which a younger player can be classified as a "prospect." That's right. It's not just ninth-graders that can be courted by college coaches, now it's seventh- and eighth-graders too!
Thinking that the Virginia Cavaliers might have contended with North Carolina Thursday night seems kind of silly in hindsight, but for the first 18 minutes of the game, it at least seemed mildly plausible. Well, okay, it was more like Carolina was somehow 0-2 in the ACC, reeling off of losses to Boston College and Wake Forest, and the faint possibility of an 0-3 nightmare existed for the Heels.
It wasn't the case. Obviously. Tyler Hansbrough, despite shooting poorly from the floor, still managed to pass Christian Laettner for sixth all-time in ACC scoring (please don't get me started on who's more awesome between the two of those guys).
Miguel Paul is a short point guard for Missouri. He wears number three on his jersey. His last name is, obviously, Paul. His nickname is MP3. So when you see that his claim in the most recent Mizzou media booklet that he is the "first cousin of New Orleans Hornet Chris Paul", well, you don't blink twice.
But you probably should. Michael Kelly, a senior at Missouri traveled all the way to New Orleans to do a story about the two cousins and their success on the hardwood, and was met with a shocking little surprise.
As Matt Moore, Mizzou alum says, "the hits just keep on comin'!"
Wake Forest shocked most of the world on Sunday night with a win over North Carolina. (I say "most" because, well, some smart people picked them to win the national title before the season.) But it really wasn't shocking to see them jump Duke in the AP poll and become the nation's new number two ranked team; Pittsburgh, naturally, stayed put at one.
The only shocking thing to see was that in the Coaches poll, the Deacs didn't jump the Devils. Quite odd, considering that, even as good as Duke is, Wake did just beat the unstoppable will of one Tyler Hansbrough. Perhaps it has something to do with Mike Krzyzewski's recent comments to the media about the lack of respect his Devils have been getting.
In the world of ACC basketball, you have many enemies. And few friends. The latter consists primarily of: your teammates and your fans. You do not want to anger your fans, even if they're giving you a hard time occasionally.
Greivis Vasquez does not seem to understand this. Despite averaging 17.9 points (sixth best in the ACC)and 6.2 boards (12th in the conference) per game, Vasquez caught some flak from a few students recently. The bigger problem is that he didn't exactly play through it, deciding instead to let loose a not-so-polite phrase in the direction of the group.
You might have heard that there is actually scalping of Presidential Inauguration tickets occurring for absurd sums, despite the fact that the tickets are free and haven't even been distributed as of yet. Washington D.C. is juiced over all things related to President Elect Barack Obama. Everyone wants to see him, anywhere.
"If they are in Washington, I don't know why they wouldn't come to the game," Howard Coach Gil Jackson said. "He likes basketball, and he and Craig are boys. They are supportive and would probably want to see Craig play as much as they could. My sister is coming to the game."
Datcher said 20-25 security personnel are usually on hand for home games, including those who man doors. An appearance by the Obamas would mean enhanced university security -- Datcher did not have specifics yesterday -- in addition to the Secret Service detail for the Obamas.
"How they handle security, they may not publicize that ahead of time," Jackson said. "They may just show up."
Depending upon who is in the gym, a ticket to watch two teams that won a combined 12 games last season could suddenly become coveted. A ticket-office official said tickets are still available ($15 and $20) but declined to say how many remained.
This game was scheduled before Oregon State Coach Craig Robinson took the job. The Howard Athletic Director indicated that he expected to find out sometime Wednesday. No word as to whether he'll be sharing the news with anyone else.
It seemed like a done deal that Caracter would drop down to play right away. The transfer to Oklahoma City in the NAIA seemed like a lock. There was no way he'd transfer from Louisville to somewhere else in Division 1. He'd have to sit out a year, and given the lack of motivation he had when he had playing time, what would happen to him if he sat? Of course, this is Derrick Caracter, who seems to have no clue what he wants. So, why not transfer to Southern Mississippi.
I'm not rooting against the kid. With the talent he has occasionally shown, I'd love to see it work. If I had to bet, though, the money would be flowing the other way.
Once upon a time, Herb Pope was considered one of the best recruits in the 2007 class. Teams like Louisville, UConn, Pitt, and Memphis were recruiting him. Then, they started backing away. Pope had a disastrous summer AAU season in 2006. His effort was questioned. He fought with his AAU coach.There were increasing signs that he wasn't worth the risk.
Eventually he signed with Reggie Theus and New Mexico State. Pope was shot several times in March 2007 while at a party. New Mexico State stood by him, and even after Theus left for the NBA Pope decided to stick with the Aggies. Granted, it took a lot longer with some academic questions from the NCAA. NMSU stood by Pope even after a DUI arrest.
Pope had a bad family history as he bounced to family members and changed schools several times. He appeared to find some stability in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania (outside of Pittsburgh). Yet, just before the start of his junior and senior years he nearly transferred to a prep school in Florida -- only to change his mind back at the last minute.
So, really, should it have come as a shock that Pope would explore transferring from NMSU just as the new school year is about to get underway? Well, he looked into Seton Hall and possibly Duquesne. The problem was that Pope wanted to have the NCAA give him a hardship waiver to play this season -- before he actually transferred. They system doesn't work that way -- and it was hard to figure what family issues would excuse playing in New Jersey when his family is in Western Pennsylvania and Maryland.
So, after all of that, Pope decided to remain with the Aggies. If history is any indication, NMSU Coach Marvin Menzies can expect this to repeat itself at least one more season -- if Pope lasts that long.
All well and good, but will there be anything worth watching at Bud Walton Arena? The team was already trying to rebuild and had lost four of its five leading scorers from the past year to graduation. Now the team's second leading scorer and leading rebounder is also gone for the upcoming season.
Late Friday afternoon the UA sports information department issued a two-sentence press release stating: "Junior guard Patrick Beverley will not compete for the Razorbacks in the 2008-2009 basketball season. The University of Arkansas, including its administration and coaches, will have no further comment due to student privacy laws."
By all reports, Beverley is academically ineligible. Not simply, one or two classes he has to make-up and could be ready by December academically ineligible. Apparently this is, worse. To the point, where it isn't even clear that Beverley will bother staying in Fayetteville. Instead he may be looking to go pro overseas.
The top returning scorers -- Stefan Walsh and Michael Washington -- didn't combine to average 10 points per game last season. The Razorbacks have only ten scholarship players including five true freshmen, a redshirt freshman and a junior college transfer. Not much of a doubt that Pelphrey will be earning his salary this coming season.
There was a minor brush-up yesterday evening amongst the sports media world when it was revealed that Bill Self, the man who did what Roy Williams couldn't, might have possibly committed a recruiting violation when he spoke to John Wall (America's No. 1 prospect) after a high school tournament recently.
Society has tons of problems. One of them is that we pay athletes millions of dollars to play sports. This has resulted in an increasingly powerful amount of pressure being placed on our culture's youth to succeed and be recognized for their athletic endeavors at an earlier age than ever before.
Miguel Paul
In the world of ACC basketball, you have many enemies. And few friends. The latter consists primarily of: your teammates and your fans. You do not want to anger your fans, even if they're giving you a hard time occasionally. 
You might have heard that there is actually 
It seemed like a done deal that Caracter would drop down to play right away. The 
Once upon a time, 
Some interesting timing in announcements for the Razorbacks. After announcing a 
