1. Evidently former Texas star Jordan Hamilton feels he should have gone higher than 26th in Thursday’s NBA Draft, and he thinks his former coach may have had something to do with that. After the draft, a writer asked Hamilton how he felt about going lower than he’d been projected. Hamilton tweeted the writer back, saying that “(Coach Rick Barnes) called some teams and said that I probably wasn’t coachable and things like that.” Whether it’s true or not, it’s likely not the first time that such critiques have reached Hamilton’s ears; that opinion was put forth often enough last season by journalists, bloggers, and certainly UT fans. What’s important now is that Hamilton take advantage of this new beginning and make it so nobody can grade him in that fashion ever again.
2. Hamilton’s complaint will fall on deaf ears, if those ears belong to former Notre Dame star Ben Hansbrough. The reigning Big East Player of the Year went undrafted on Thursday and has signed to play professionally in Germany for a year. Interesting move, and quite shrewd. You’d think an undrafted player who still harbored realistic NBA dreams would want to stay as near to the league as possible, and would hang around the D-league or at least play summer ball here. With an NBA lockout looming and the summer league cancelled, a quick jaunt to Europe for a year to get paid while keeping the skills sharp — and hey, we hear the beer’s good — seems a smart play.
3. First it was the Celtics and Lakers, and maybe more recently…the Timberwolves? It looks like the Minnesota franchise may — or may not — have contacted Mike Krzyzewski about filling their recently-vacated head coaching spot. He’s not going. You know you’re a legend when people report that it’s possible someone contacted you about another job and you’re not taking it and nothing’s changing. Watch this space, because a little later we’ll have an update on the condition of former Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
4. Meteorologically speaking, it was a strange spring in the midwest; there was an extended winter followed by a much bigger-than-usual onslaught of tornadoes followed by a heat wave followed by more unrelenting rain. Gene Keady Court inside Purdue’s Mackey Arena has felt the effects, and in fact has been rendered unfit for use. All is not lost, however, as MSNBC’s Mike Miller points out.
5. Yesterday would have been the 10th birthday of Emma Key, the daughter of Houston Baptist assistant coach Steven Key. Today is the birthday of Steven’s wife/Emma’s mom, Sherry. A couple of months ago, SI.com’s Andy Glockner wrote a story about Emma’s death and the effect — God, what an insufficient word — it had on not just the Key family but the HBU program, as well. We saw the author’s tweet from Sunday about Emma’s birthday, and that he included the link to Coach Key’s Twitter account, so we hope it’s OK that we choose to re-link Mr. Glockner’s story here today. If you didn’t read it back in May, please do so, right now.

First off, let’s get this out of the way — as of this writing (a few minutes after midnight on Sunday), there is no new development.  As Chevy Chase used to say: “This breaking news just in — Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.”

By now, you’ve heard the story.  Terrence Jones, ranked ninth on the most recent ESPN-U 100 list of high school senior hoopsters, had his press conference at his high school on Friday to announce where he’d be attending college.  He had a table with six hats on display — Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA, Washington, and Kentucky.  After some emotional thank-yous, he proclaimed that he still hadn’t come to a decision, and that he was literally choosing a college at that very moment.  He pump-faked toward the Kansas hat, then chose the lid from Washington.   As you’d expect from a crowd at what sounded like a pro-Washington Huskies high school, the choice led to much rejoicing, and a hug from Jones’ high school (and presumptive college) teammate, Terrence Ross, ranked 30th on the same ESPN-U 100 list.  Jones did not sign a letter of intent at the event.

Later on Friday, the Seattle Times reported that Jones was wavering on his decision.  Jones evidently called Kentucky coach John Calipari and there was a 15-minute conversation, though nobody knows what was said.  By Friday night, nobody — including Terrence Jones — was sure where anybody stood.  The Times‘ Percy Allen, who has been absolutely all over this story, wrote yesterday that he expected more developments on Saturday.  No news came.

No matter where he winds up, if it's right for him, none of this other nonsense matters.

If you thought that Jones added that “I still haven’t made a decision” bit for show, you’re wrong.  Jones was telling the truth, there.  If a recruit is confident in his decision, unless it’s to say something along the lines of, “Thanks for your efforts, but I’ve decided to go elsewhere,” you don’t call another program’s coach mere minutes after you’ve committed to another school.  This was a kid who, despite the arrival of the deadline he set and the announcement party being in full swing, still didn’t and doesn’t know where he wants to spend his college days, whether it’s for one year or five.

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