- It shouldn’t be surprising that the Cincinnati faithful gave senior forward Yancy Gates a standing ovation when he made his first appearance since being suspended six games for clocking Xavier‘s Kenny Frease during the now-infamous brawl, and he probably deserves the support as well. The punch he threw was vicious, but he showed genuine remorse and accepted responsibility during his apology, and if Frease already forgave him than the public probably should too. Also, don’t look now, but the Bearcats have won seven games in a row after beating Notre Dame Wednesday night and now they have arguably their best player back as well. Remember when we were talking about whether Cincinnati had begun the season overrated after their loss to Presbysterian? Well now I am beginning to wonder whether the Bearcats are actually underrated and should be considered a legitimate player in the conference going forward.
- Good to hear that St. John‘s coach Steve Lavin hit the recruiting trail again yesterday because it means that he will have the opportunity to ease the minds of recruits and show them in person that he is committed to returning to the program full-time and more importantly, the bench. A number of recruits have publicly said they are concerned about Lavin’s health and his future with the program, so this should be an excellent chance for the second-year coach to try and assuage some of those doubts and win over some of the non-believers. It will be particularly crucial because the New York Daily News is reporting that Lavin may not return to the sideline again this season, which makes Lavin’s recruiting pitch and promise for stability all the more important to recruits on the fence.
- His playing career may be over at Notre Dame but senior forward Tim Abromaitis is still finding ways to help the young Fighting Irish this season. Coach Mike Brey likened the fifth-year senior to another assistant coach and said his leadership and teaching ability have been important for a team that is going through a season of inconsistency. For those who don’t remember, Abromaitis was a preseason First Team All Big-East selection before tearing his ACL after just two games back. There is no way the team will be able to replicate his production on the court, but it is good to see that Abromaitis hasn’t faded away and is still helping the program when he could be off on his own rehabilitating his knee and preparing for a shot at the NBA.
- I am giving myself a nice pat on the back today since I know no one else will because I predicted that DePaul would upset Pittsburgh last night in Chicago. And lo and behold, the Blue Demons used a last-second three-point play to score the upset and send the Panthers’ season further into a tailspin. To make matters worse, Pittsburgh should have won this game had it not been for lackluster defense late and two missed free-throws by seldom-used redshirt freshman Isaiah Epps who Jamie Dixon said was in the game specifically because he is a good free-throw shooter. Once again it was the Panthers’ porous defense that kept DePaul in the game and if Dixon can’t figure out a way for his team to get more stops, then Pittsburgh doesn’t look much better than a middle-of-the-road team in the conference this season.
- Hey Pitt fans, if you are looking for some optimism following last night’s disappointing loss, at least you can say you don’t have to root for Villanova. The Wildcats did the unthinkable yesterday when they shot just 37% from the floor and were blown out by 17 points, at home, by a South Florida team whose best win entering the game was a two-point win over Rutgers. The team’s two best guards, Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek, were benched to start the game because of a team infraction, but it didn’t matter as the Bulls dominated the second half and cruised to the win. It seems almost ridiculous to say given Jay Wright‘s track record of success, but the Wildcats might be the worst team in the conference this season and there is little hope of them making the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT at this rate.