NCAA Basketball Mid Majors

Michael McCarthy has a great article in Wednesday's USA Today about Kevin Laue, a 19-year-old who was born without his left hand and forearm but has nonetheless earned a Division I college basketball scholarship at Manhattan College.

Merely a week ago Florida International, their coach Isiah Thomas and athletic director Pete Garcia were threatening to pull out of a preseason basketball tournament when they found out that they were going to play UNC rather than Ohio State. Forget that their contract specified that it was and either/or situation at the discretion of the organizers, they were taking a stand against being "bullied." They were standing up for the "little guys" in college basketball.

Yeah. So much for that. It's now about the greater good of the Coaches vs. Cancer charity that the tournament supports.

Florida International has not played a game yet under new coach Isiah Thomas, but the program is acting like it is already a player in college basketball. They are threatening to pull out of the 2K Sports Classic Tournament, which benefits the Coaches vs. Cancer charity, because they are no longer slated to be the road patsy for Ohio State. Instead they are getting sent to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina.

The Golden Panthers had agreed to play in the preseason tournament even before Isiah Thomas was hired as the head coach. It had been presumed that they would go to Columbus to play the Buckeyes. Ohio State had indicated on its Web site that FIU would be the opponent. FIU and Thomas referenced starting the season there.

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.

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.

There are things people do to lose a job, then there actions that completely obliterate any chance at continuing a career in their chosen field. For Mike Burden, the now former associate head basketball coach at the Maine Black Bears, he allegedly took an action that should necessitate leaving coaching -- and likely anything involving students -- forever.

Burden resigned after being charged with unlawful sexual contact against one woman and assault against another woman who tried to assist the victim. Both women were students at Maine.

Has the statute of limitations run on making a Brokeback Mountain, "I wish I knew how to quit you," reference? That phrase comes to mind with regards to the New York City media and Isiah Thomas. He was such a wonderful villain for them. So hated by everyone in the area. An easy punchline to jokes. Everyone understood the reference.

Stuck for an insult towards a sports franchises front office? Compare them to Zeke. Company going in the tank because of bad management? Reference the Knicks under Isiah.

It took Stephen Curry an agonizingly long time to make the decision, but ultimately the apparently weak draft and likelihood of being a lottery pick was too much to resist. Curry and Davidson announced that he was turning pro.

The press release put out by Davidson did not indicate whether Curry had signed with an agent. The release, though, noticeably did not mention that Curry was going to be gauging interest or that there was a possibility he would return. That absence makes it clear that this is not a "testing the waters" decision.

With only one year left on his contract to do, uh, nothing with the New York Knicks, Isiah Thomas has opted to take the head coaching job at Florida International University.

Thomas received a five-year contract, with presently undisclosed terms. He will be formally introduced Wednesday as the head coach of the FIU Panthers. Also under consideration for the FIU job was former NBA star Tim Hardaway. FIU's athletic director Pete Garcia was clearly looking to make sure whomever he hired actually got some media attention.

---

---

This is almost too good to be true. Isiah Thomas appears poised to take the head coaching job of Florida International. This, despite no experience in coaching or recruiting in college basketball.

For those unsure of where FIU is, it is right in Miami. A place where a few New Yorkers have been known to migrate. If this happens, you have to imagine there will be a contingent of Knicks fans that will attend FIU games now just to chant "Fire Isiah!" and worse for old times sake.