- Nothing is ever easy with this guy, who now may hold the honor for the longest short consultancy in the history of professional basketball. Isiah Thomas announced on Wednesday that he would rescind his new contract with the New York Knicks, largely to avoid the conflict of interest inherent in coaching collegiate players while working for an NBA franchise. Getting bored yet, Isiah?
- You may not be able to see LeBron James there anymore on a regular basis, but you can still see the MAC Tournament at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. The league announced yesterday that the tourney will be held there through 2017. MAC faithful are no strangers to the venue, as the league has already held its marquee event there since 2000. For a look at how the MAC looks heading into the 2010-11 season, check out our Summer School post on the league from this week.
- The UNC reclamation project began last night in Nassau, Bahamas, as Roy Williams’ team played its first of a two-game set in the Caribbean paradise. The early return on #1 recruit Harrison Barnes — 21/8 on 8-15 shooting in 29 minutes of action. He also fouled out of the game, so that’s something to watch in the coming months.
- Former Arkansas star Scotty Thurman joins his fellow Hawg All-American Corliss Williamson in taking up the coaching reins this summer. Thurman is joining John Pelphrey’s staff at Arkansas just months after Williamson became the spanking-new head coach at Central Arkansas. If either of those nascent coaches can instill the all-out effort and tenacity in their kids that they both played with as Razorbacks, expect both to be very successful in this next step of their careers.
- Kansas State’s Frank Martin got philosophical yesterday during a motivational speech for Wichita-area teachers when talking about whether kids have changed from previous generations. His essential take: kids haven’t changed, but the expectations from adults for them has. Check out the entire clip below…