- Yesterday it was player pinball, today it’s more of the coaching carousel. With Billy Kennedy off to Texas A&M, Murray State decided to promote from within and move assistant coach Steve Prohm into the honcho position. While we’re sure Prohm has his own way of runnin’ things, we’d say future Racer teams will look similar to those under Kennedy, since Prohm had a 12-season association with Kennedy over three schools. Why mess with success?
- The move that turned some heads yesterday was Ed DeChellis leaving Penn State and going to…Navy. Yes, that Navy. Why would a coach at a major-conference program that made the Big Ten Tournament title game and the NCAA Tournament last season leave his alma mater for a place that has virtually no hoops tradition, offers a smaller salary, and possesses admissions criteria that make it near impossible to put together a team that can win at the D1 level? Despite this past season’s “success,” next year was going to be another tough one for PSU, a place that barely acknowledges its basketball program, anyway, so perhaps DeChellis was just getting out a little early on his own terms to a place that genuinely wants him.
- Maryland, it’s your tax dollars at work. The Baltimore Sun offered a breakdown of the highest-paid state employees yesterday, an interesting discussion for a couple of reasons. Most of the people who make more than the governor (who makes $150K) work for the university system, or are doctors employed by the state’s (rather alarmingly named) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The highest-paid state employee in 2010? Gary Williams, who pocketed $2.3 million, though most of that came from endorsements/appearances, etc, added onto a base of over $450,ooo.
- Let’s give a shout to Kenneth Lyons of the University of North Texas. Not familiar? Well, he’s the all-time leading scorer for the Mean Green and he’s in the school’s athletics hall of fame. He left the program after four years in 1983 without a degree, and the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him, but he never played a single game in the NBA. In 2000, he returned to UNT (it was North Texas State when he played hoops there) — not as a coach or a graduate assistant, but as a student. Tuition money has been hard to come by at times, but two weeks ago, 32 years after he started it, Lyons finished his degree in sociology. If you think college basketball has changed a lot in 32 years, just consider how different life in a classroom is now compared to then.
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"If you think college basketball has changed a lot in 32 years, just consider how different life in a classroom is now compared to then." Yes, it is a lot easier to get an A in a college course now.
In response to Ed Dechellis leaving Penn State for greener pastures and emptier pockets. I would like to throw my two cents in the ring as an employee (intern, shhhh) of the PSU Basketball program during the NIT run of 2009 and the misery that was the 3-15 2010 BigTen debacle.
It may or may not be known, but the NIT run 100% saved Ed's job. Tim Curley (AD) was ready to cut bait with Ed EVEN IF HE MADE THE NCAA TOURNEY (and, presumably, didn't rip off four stright like he did in the NIT). The roller coaster that were three days in March 2009 were unlike any other...
Thursday March 5, senior night for beloved Jamelle Cornley, was a special night. Down ten, five minutes to go, Bubby Battle throws up an off balance heave that drops with 0.3 seconds left and gives Penn State a 64-63 lead that they would hold onto against a Top-25 Illini squad (a rematch of the 38-33 PSU win that goes down as the worst BCS confrence basketball game in history).
Friday March 6, travel day for the basketball players, but to the rest of us students it is also last day of finals week. Tim and Ed get into a VERY public fight about flight time; one wanting to leave after normal class hours (while having AM pratice at the South gym of the Bryce Jordan Center) and the other wanting to fly into Iowa City in enough time for a night practice at Carver-Hawkeye. You can guess who is who.
Saturday March 7, an afternoon tilt with the Hawkeyes, who are coming into this game 14-16 (4-13). After what many pundits are calling a resume capping 2nd win against soon to be NCAA #5 seed Illinois, Penn State rolls into Iowa city for what should be the icing on the cake, looking to improve on what was a 21-9, 10-7 record at the time. As you can tell by the buildup not only did the Nits lose, but in spectacularly heartbreaking 2OT fashion. When Easy Ed arrived back to campus around 8:00, Tim was waiting for him at the Founder's Entrance of the Bryce Jordan Center. There was fire in his eyes.
The disconnect piled onto the loss at Iowa led to the inner circle of PSU Basketball looking for a new coach. Tim had had it with Ed. Dechellis had a very attractive story as a man (PSU alum, cancer survivor), but as a coach, he had reached capacity. The interns had been handed down a list of requirements to whittle down a list of potential replacements. Penn State was ready to turn the page.
But then, fate (err, Jamelle Cornley) took over. A new chant rang out on College Avenue; Jamelle Cornley is a man, Luke Harrangody is a B!*(H. Five stright wins over George Mason in OT, Rhode Island, a Chandler Parsons led Florida, Notre Dame, and Baylor gave PSU a trophy, and more importantly a fan base. The view was that Ed Dechellis brought 16 full coach busses from Happy Valley to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday vs. ND and 18 on Thursday vs. Baylor.
This amazing chain of events I eye-witnessed; and saw man become a hero, lose his job, and ride coat-tails to retain it. If I haven't lost you yet, just know that those 18 busses full of stuents never wanted to leave the program, Ed forced them out. He followed up a spectacular NIT Championship with a disgraceful 0-12 BigTen start, eventually finishing 3-13 for the season. The students of Penn State want NOTHING less than a competitive basketball program, and are ready and willing to jump on board whenever administration tells them its okay. Well Tim Curley, its your move. Bring us back. Hire the right guy for the job. Make us relevent.