You already know about Wright State’s Brad Brownellgoing to Clemson; here are some other comings and goings from yesterday. Thirty-three year old associate head coach Billy Donlon will be promoted to the top spot at Wright State, making him one of the youngest head coaches in America. In other coaching news, Dan Hurley has hired his brother, Bobby, to act as an assistant on his bench at Wagner. On the player side, Baylor’s Ekpe Udoh announced that he will test the waters but he will not sign with an agent, therefore leaving open the (small) possibility of returning to what could be another nasty team in Waco next year. Udoh is (14/10/4 blks) is projected as a lottery pick. Duquesne’s Melquan Bolding is leaving the Duke program, whereabouts unknown, while New Mexico State’s Jahmar Young, recently accused of involvement in an attack on an officer in Las Cruces, will sign with an agent and not return to NMSU next season. In some good news for college basketball, Tennessee’s Scotty Hopsonwill return to Knoxville next season rather than joining the hordes leaving for the NBA Draft.
Today is a huge day for recruiting, as the first day of the spring signing period begins. Of particular note are the announcements of the top remaining player in the Class of 2010, Brandon Knight, and the top player in the Class of 2011, Michael Gilchrist, both planning to announce their college choices at 4pm on ESPNU. Kentucky is rumored to be the leader for both. Door, revolveth.
The NCAA Legislative Councilrelaxed a recruiting rule that will now allow coaches to have “recruiting discussions” while players are attending summer camps and clinics on their campuses. This rule was nearly impossible to enforce in its previous iteration, so this is a natural consequence of what amounted to a worthless measure. There are still limitations to what coaches can do, but this just validates the conversations that were already happening.
John Wall is joining the Lebron James-backed LRMR Marketing Firm to help build his brand at the next level of basketball. Considering that James himself is on the fast track to Ali/MJ/Tiger-dom, this is probably a good idea for Wall’s future marketability. It says here that he’s got the chops (and game) to make himself into quite a conglomerate himself.
This is sick, but totally justifies why police cameras are installed to watch the cops as much as the citizenry. Dating back to Maryland’s win over Duke in late February, video was released yesterday that supports a student’s claim that he was attacked and beaten by several Prince George’s County police officers for simply skipping down the street in celebration. This evidence directly contradicts the involved officers’ formal statements about the incident. No sympathy here. Strip these animals of their badges, lock them up and throw away the key. There’s no place for this behavior from those who are supposed to be protecting us.
