NCAA Basketball Conference Usa

Take it from the pioneer who started this idea of cozy, contractual relationships between the shoe giants and the NCAA schools: adidas has screwed up this time.

Sonny Vaccaro speaks from experience.

"What a PR nightmare for adidas. This should have been a no-brainer,'' Vaccaro said. "It's nothing but a personal thing against Michael Jordan.''

At issue is the recent decision by adidas to severe its relationship with the University of Central Florida, which has a contract that requires all of its athletes and coaches to wear adidas products.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A fight over the shoes Michael Jordan's son will wear at the University of Central Florida has cost the school any future sponsorship with adidas.

"The University of Central Florida has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to adidas," adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "As a result we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward."

The punishment never seemed to fit the crime when the NCAA decided to erase Memphis' entire 2007-08 Final Four season because star point guard Derrick Rose allegedly committed academic fraud by not taking the SAT college admission test himself.

Even with no solid proof Rose didn't take the exam and certainly no evidence Memphis played any part in the alleged fraud, the NCAA still took away all 38 of the Tigers' wins.

On Thursday, Memphis filed an appeal of the sanctions according to a story in the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

New Memphis basketball coach Josh Pastner was bracing for anything, but hoping for the worst as he, along with all the Tigers faithful, awaited Thursday's NCAA ruling on a two major infractions.

Pastner was able to let loose a sigh of relief Thursday afternoon once the NCAA Committee on Infractions ruling was official. The Memphis Tigers program was ordered to vacate its 38-win Final Four season under John Calipari and the team is on three years probation, but the silver-lining in it all for Pastner was there are no sanctions for the current or future teams, meaning there is no postseason ban or reduction in scholarships.

"You hate to see anything like this happen in the sport you love to student-athletes, coaches, university officials, that's no fun for anybody," Pastner told FanHouse Thursday. "But for us, the current and future of the program, there are so many positives to look forward to. Nothing inhibits us from competing at the highest level and having an opportunity to win at the highest level and compete for the best student-athletes in the country."

For the second time in his career, John Calipari may again be the best coach never to have been to a Final Four, at least according to the NCAA.

According to sources that leaked it to most major sports media and the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Tigers will be forced to vacate their 2008 Final Four appearance and the 38 wins they had in the 2007-08 season. That, at least will be the decision of the NCAA Rules and Infractions Committee.

This, of course, will be the second Final Four appearance by a Calipari coached team to be vacated due to player eligibility issues -- something that is singularly unique to Calipari, and not accomplished by any other coach. Not in a way, though, that will enhance his resume. The odds are that the basketball Hall of Fame will not be calling on him soon.

Before the NBA enacted its minimum age requirement, people were worried about kids forgoing a collegiate education to jump straight to the NBA. The still relatively new rule is instead having an effect its supporters may not have considered: Kids are going overseas to play basketball for money just out of high school.

The newest member of the now three-man club (joining Jeremy Tyler -- who is actually skipping his senior year of high school -- and Brandon Jennings) is Latavious Williams, who had previously committed to Josh Pastner's Memphis Tigers. Every story is unique, but Williams is a complete 180 from the cases of Tyler and Jennings.

Lance Stephenson is one of the top high school players in the country. He was a McDonald's All-American. He is also just about the only major recruit not running screaming from the rubble of USC that is without a college destination.

Where once he seemed headed for Kansas, that door has closed. Arizona opted against wanting him. Now Maryland has decided they are not interested any longer.

Great timing, Memphis. Pay a visit to the Tigers' Athletic Compliance page and you'll see that it is "temporarily under construction" (hat tip to Gary Parrish at CBS Sports).

I'm sure Memphis' athletic department has a lot on its plate in preparation for tomorrow's hearing before the NCAA Rules and Infractions Committee, but they might want to get on this.

In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.

What a bombshell from the University of Memphis. It has exhaustively determined that it has found nothing to suggest Derrick Rose did not take his own SAT test. Just for good measure it has also concluded that even if -- somehow -- it did turn out that someone other than Derrick Rose took the SAT there was no way the school could have known. Therefore, in Memphis' humble opinion, there should be no punishment of Memphis.

The main thrust of the document (PDF) seems to be to make it clear that Memphis knew nothing. This should not be surprising since it will be a document that Memphis plans to submit to the NCAA as part of its defense.