1.  Not even a week after former St. John‘s point guard Nurideen Lindsey announced he would transfer to Arkansas, the Johnnies received a point guard transfer of their own in former Texas A&M freshman Jamal Branch. Branch will have three and a half seasons of eligibility left and is a good addition for Steve Lavin. Lindsey’s departure left a void at point guard and Branch, who averaged 4.2 points and 2.5 assists per game in his short stint as an Aggie, will fill that void, even if it takes a little bit of time.
2. There is very little doubt that Connecticut is going to miss mercurial freshman Ryan Boatright while he sits out because of his second suspension of the year. But as this article points out, his absence represents an excellent opportunity for Roscoe Smith or DeAndre Daniels. The added size in the lineup will help with rebounding and defensive purposes, but either Smith or Daniels will need to become at least a passable offensive threat or else opponents will continue to harass Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier.
3. Brendan Prunty of the Newark Star-Ledger had an excellent article on Seton Hall point guard Jordan Theodore and how he is within reach of the school’s single season assist record. It also tells the tale of the current record-holder Golden Sunkett, whose awesome name I have admittedly never heard before. The story isn’t just straight news and that’s what makes it great; it is definitely worth a read.
4. I wonder how many people thought the Khem Birch leaving Pittsburgh story was all the way done. Those people were proved wrong the other night when Birch sounded off to a radio station about his former teammates and coach Jamie Dixon. Birch says a lot and only those close to the team know whether any of it has some validity, but I doubt we will ever find out the answer. Ashton Gibbs gave the remarks an obligatory dismissal and I feel like I must say, Birch’s remarks about not being embraced seem rather arrogant.
5. In honor of Syracuse’s record-setting 19-0 start, here is a column about Jim Boeheim, Adolph Rupp, and the former’s career that eventually surpassed the latter’s. We give credit where credit is due, and Boeheim has dealt with immense adversity this season and his team has remained focused and perfect. That is some darn good coaching.

mlemaire (324 Posts)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 5:30 am by mlemaire and is filed under big east, microsites. Tagged: adolph rupp, ashton gibbs, connecticut, golden sunkett, jamal branch, jamie dixon, jim boeheim, jordan theodore, khem birch, pittsburgh, ryan boatright, seton hall, shabazz napier, st johns, steve lavin, syracuse. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.