1. Tubby Smith will remain a Golden Gopher until the end of 2016-17 season. Smith received a contract extension but did not get a raise, as his salary will remain the same at $1.75 million per season. Smith believes that the new deal signals to potential recruits about his intention to stay in Minneapolis which should help recruiting over the next couple of seasons. The Gophers finished 23-15 last season, which was Smith’s most successful season in terms of wins during his five years in the Big Ten. Now, Minnesota just needs a little bit of luck and health on its side as Trevor Mbakwe returns for his final season along with guards Andre Hollins (8.7 PPG) and Julian Welch (9.5 PPG). Smith’s teams have been plagued with injuries over the last couple seasons, but a healthy roster should result in a successful conference season and an NCAA bid.
2. Earlier this week, the NCAA slammed Penn State with what some experts have referred to as the “death penalty” of sanctions. The football program has been penalized $60 million and will not be eligible for the postseason over the next four years, but the Penn State athletic department including the basketball program will also be affected by these sanctions. This is just another wrinkle that head coach Pat Chambers must deal with as he builds a basketball program that has generally been at the bottom of the conference. Chambers is an energetic coach and remains positive about the program, especially on the recruiting trail despite all of the penalties. “It’s about time that the basketball team helped the football team for a change,” he recently said. Returning guard Tim Frazier will be an integral part of next season to set the tone both on and off the court for the Penn State program during the ongoing turmoil on campus.
3. The second winningest coach in college hoops history, Bobby Knight, will be honored by a Big Ten school — but it will be at Ohio State, not Indiana, where he receive his accolades, as OSU will induct Knight into its Athletics Hall of Fame. Knight is an Ohio State alumnus who graduated in 1962 with a degree in history. Even though his original roots go back to Columbus, he obviously has a much stronger connection with Indiana where he won three national titles and raised the Hoosier program to elite status. Knight hasn’t embraced his past with the Hoosiers after his firing in 2000, but nonetheless, the man is a true B1G icon, even if his recognition has come from Ohio State first.
4. Speaking of Ohio State, remember when Jared Sullinger‘s back was red-flagged by NBA medics and his draft stock was immediately impacted? Sullinger dropped to the #22 pick in the draft after he was considered a consensus lottery pick for much of his first two years in college. By way of an update on his progress, he was quite productive during the NBA summer league in Las Vegas by averaging a solid 11.2 PPG and 8.2 RPG. The Celtics’ coaching staff has been impressed by his dedication to rebounding and his work ethic ought to result in some decent playing time next season, especially if head coach Doc Rivers wants to limit Kevin Garnett’s minutes during the regular season.
5. While Sullinger’s stock dropped in the draft, the Big Ten produced a lottery pick when former Illinois center Meyers Leonard was drafted by Portland last month. Leonard lived up to the hype during summer league play and has received good recognition as one of the more impressive rookies in Vegas. Unlike Sullinger, Leonard climbed up the draft boards during workouts and fortunately was given a clean bill of health which helped seal the deal for Portland. He may not have the offensive moves to contribute immediately but he certainly has the physique and work ethic to help the Trail Blazers on the defensive end during his first season in the NBA.

1. By now you have all heard about the unprecedented sanctions the NCAA levied against Penn State in the wake of the child sexual abuse scandal. We won’t bother linking to any of the dozens (ok, thousands) of columns about the sanctions, but we will point out that people generally fall into a few clear camps: (1) the actions at Penn State were so heinous that the NCAA had to reach into heretofore uncharted territories; (2) the actions at Penn State were heinous, but a body more well-equipped and well-versed in such manners should be the one doling out the penalties; (3) a mix where you were OKwith the fine but not the scholarship reductions; or (4) you are a graduate of Penn State and you think the whole thing has been overblown. We received a variety of responses on Twitter, but if you would like to express your thoughts here (or just need more than 140 characters to speak your mind) leave a message in the comment section.
2. On the periphery of the Penn State fallout is the rest of the school including the athletic programs of which we are obviously most interested in the men’s basketball team. For his part, head coach Pat Chambers does not feel sorry for himself and might even view this as a way for the basketball program to help out a school that has long been carried by its football program. As Jeff Goodman points out, if Chambers or others at Penn State need someone to look toward as a sign that things can get better is the resurgence of the Baylor basketball program and Scott Drew. Hopefully when Penn State comes out of this scandal they can make some in-game coaching adjustments.
3. Despite failing to make the NCAA Tournament for consecutive years Minnesota rewarded Tubby Smith with a three-year extension through the 2016-17 season. We haven’t heard too many negative things about Tubby (outside of Kentucky fans who are, well, Kentucky fans), but giving him three extra years without any significant recent performance seems a bit strange to us. Smith has one of his better teams coming back and this coming season would appear to be a great gauge of whether or not Smith can turn the Gophers into an elite program and not just a middling team that tends to fade late in the season.
4. Former Oklahoma State basketball player Darrell Williams was found guilty on three of five counts of sexual battery and rape by instrumentation stemming from an incident that was alleged to have occurred in December 2010. Williams, who has been suspended from the team since February 2011, broke down as did many of the others in the audience. The jury recommended that Williams serve a year in prison for each count he was convicted on, but the actually sentencing will not happen until August 24. Neither Travis Ford, who testified as a character witness for Williams, nor the Oklahoma State athletic department, had issued a statement as of late last night.
5. How about some good, or, at least decent, news? Former North Carolina guard Hubert Davis has made more of a name for himself as a guffawer than an analyst in the last several years, but how many people under 40 have ever heard of Henrik Rodl, or, egads, Shammond Williams? At least Davis inserted himself into an NBA controversy many years ago, but regardless of that, he’s now an assistant coach (with some name recognition) at UNC, and he’s already making a new name for himself. Recruting for UNC is a little bit like recruiting for Google in that it’s the misses that cause the most attention, but we’d expect that Davis’ work will be as equally as compelling as his studio time. At least let’s hope so.

There may not be a program in the Big Ten with more optimism this summer surrounding one key component than Minnesota, which has another season with star forward Trevor Mbakwe to look forward to. The 6’8″ bruiser is spending his summer working back from ACL surgery after he went down just seven games into his senior year, leaving the Golden Gophers to pick up the pieces in a season that had more ups and downs than a Cedar Point rollercoaster ride. These warm months are about taking the momentum from a late-season NIT run, mixing the team’s star player back into things, and getting things rolling for the 2012-13 campaign.

Having this guy back in 2012-13 could mean a world of difference for Minnesota.

• Evaluating Last Year: Not a whole lot stands out about Minnesota’s season if you look at it as a whole, but when broken down into phases, there’s plenty to pull out. The Gophers were undefeated until the Dayton game, which is when Mbakwe suffered his injury. They managed to plough through the early non-conference schedule still with a 12-1 mark. But things cooled off  considerably in Big Ten play, when the club went 0-4 to start and had another six-game losing streak mixed in there. Tubby Smith salvaged the season by running to the NIT championship game in New York, putting youngster Andre Hollins on display. Ralph Sampson III is gone after yet another underwhelming season, but there’s some young talent on this club that Minnesota fans have to look forward to.
• State of the Program: That young talent, mixed in with the return of Mbakwe, could leave Minnesota with an interesting inside-out game that could really give people fits in the conference this season. But one thing that would really provide the program with some stability and allow Smith to sink his teeth in would be the contract extension the university has been promising him for some time. There was some turnover in the athletic department as Norwood Teague was hired, but he said a month ago when he was formally introduced that negotiations with Smith were in the “11th hour.” What’s happened since then? No doubt Smith wants to get the deal done, and when you’re trying to recruit and lay the groundwork for the future, it’s most important to know what the school has invested in for the long run. Read the rest of this entry »

1. This offseason has been unique in the sense that a newly promulgated NCAA rule has allowed coaches and their players to have considerably more in-person interaction than in previous years. While students (including new freshman) are on campus attending summer school, coaches can provide two hours per week of instruction and training. It may not sound like much on its face, but 24 hours of focused practice when compared with zero is a substantial difference. CBSSports.com’s Matt Norlander writes that without question, coaches around the country are 100% behind this new rule and are employing it to the best of their abilities. That is, except in the Ivy League. The wrinkle in the Ancient Eight is that Harvard and Princeton — academic titans though they are — do not offer summer school coursework. Without a level playing field among all eight schools, none of them can (or will) take advantage of the rule. And aside from that, summer courses cost money, a bit of a pinch for non-scholarship athletes. It’s an interesting insight into just how different the priorities are from the rest of Division I basketball, even at a successful time when the league is placing competitive teams (Cornell, Princeton and Harvard) into the NCAA Tournament.
2. While on the subject of summer basketball, one of the great things about unofficial team pick-up games is that it makes for tremendous message board fodder: “Ivan Renko dropped 45 on Anthony Davis in a half! He’s going to be a first-team All-American!” You know how it goes. Players who are career bench-warmers or otherwise unfulfilled talents seemingly become hoops messiahs under the dim lights in the sweaty gyms of July and August. That isn’t to say that there aren’t clues to be found, though, especially in cases where players have never actually been seen in uniform before. One such storyline coming out of Kansas in the past week is that redshirt freshman Ben McLemore is drawing reasonable comparisons to former Jayhawk star Brandon Rush for his jaw-dropping athletic ability and shot-making prowess. Down on Tobacco Road, UNC’s Leslie McDonald and PJ Hairston may not be getting such a lofty comparison from a former player, but they are receiving lessons in how to play the game from former Tar Heel superstar Rasheed Wallace. So there’s that.
3. While on the subject of the Heels, one of the slowly smoldering stories in the back rooms and dark alleys of the Internet this summer has related to the ongoing academic scandal involving a large number of football players at the school. Armed with the knowledge that some of UNC’s basketball players took the same tainted courses as the football team, Pat Forde in a piece Tuesday mentioned that UNC has not been as forthcoming as some would like with the release of exculpatory information. He doesn’t go as far as to make any accusations of wrongdoing other than to quote a history professor at UNC who remains skeptical, but it does bring up a question of transparency and whether UNC might be willing to throw football under the bus to save the basketball program.
4. We’ve mentioned Jabari Parker quite a bit in the last week, as the Class of 2013 prospect made news for narrowing his list of schools down to a more manageable 10 suitors and his family’s decision to let him rest for the remainder of the summer camp period. At least one school that you may have heard of on the recruiting trail — it starts with a K and ends with a Y — may, according to an unnamed head coach “who has been involved” with Parker’s recruitment, be the clubhouse leader. Duke has been mentioned as Parker’s leader numerous times by people supposedly in the know, and BYU has always been in the mix because of the LDS connection. All any prognosticator worth his salt can do at this point is await announcements as to where Parker will take his official visits and work backwards from there.
5. A number of college basketball head coaches are in North Augusta, South Carolina, this week for the Nike Peach Jam, an elite prep basketball event featuring many of the nation’s top uncommitted players. Local news station WJBF-TV interviewed a few of the attendees about the Penn State/Sandusky scandal, and at least Clemson’s Brad Brownell, Minnesota’s Tubby Smith, and Georgia Tech’s Brian Gregory appear to be “using Penn State’s mistakes as a lesson.” For the sake of the next generation of America’s overlooked children, let’s hope so.

1. Everyone in the Big Ten has seen what a force Jared Sullinger can be in the post, but some doctors are warning NBA executives about his potential in the professional ranks, according to a report from ESPN.com. Chad Ford writes that some are concerned that Sullinger’s back troubles could shorten his career. The former Ohio State All-American is expected to be taken early in the first round in the upcoming NBA Draft. Also, here’s our take.
2. Could Michigan State basketball be looking at participating in a throwback game? Retro jerseys are one thing, but how about a retro facility? Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis — the brainchild behind basketball on an aircraft carrier and one of the first to consider playing hoops in a football stadium — is floating the idea of playing a game at Jenison Field House, where the Spartans played before they called Breslin Center home. It may be tough logistically, but it would be a great way to pay tribute to the historic 1963 Loyola of Chicago–Mississippi State NCAA Tournament Mideast Regional semifinal game that was notable for Mississippi State leaving the state against court order to play against a team with African-American players on it.
3. If Nebraska is going to join the ranks of the elite basketball programs in the Big Ten, one key will be to have facilities on par with those other programs. The Chicago Bulls seem to think that is the case. Executives from the Chicago organization toured the Hendricks Training Complex in Lincoln, and were blown away. “That’s one of the highest compliments we’ve had,” Marc Boehm, Nebraska’s executive associate athletic director, told the Omaha World-Herald.
4. Minnesota‘s new athletic director, Norwood Teague, officially began his tenure on Monday and said negotiations with basketball coach Tubby Smith were in the “eleventh hour.” “I think it’s going really well,” Teague told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “What happens with these negotiations is you get the bulk done and then these little things hold you up and then you worry that they’re larger things – and they’re not.”
5. Draymond Green was the face of the Michigan State basketball team this season and went on to be named the conference’s Player of the Year while leading the Spartans to a Big Ten championship and No. 1 seed on the NCAA Tournament. As he prepares for the upcoming NBA Draft, the Big Ten accolades continue to pile up for the versatile big man.

1. After all the publicity (most of it unwanted in Wisconsin and Bo Ryan‘s case), Jared Uthoff is going to stay in the Big Ten after all, officially transferring from Wisconsin to Iowa. Uthoff told the Associated Press on Wednesday that he’s joining the Hawkeyes even though Ryan restricted Iowa from contacting him. Uthoff will have to pay his own way next year at Iowa and will also have to sit out the 2012-13 season because of transfer rules.
2. Michigan State lost a key piece when Branden Dawson went down with a torn ACL toward the end of last season, but it looks like he is on his way back to making it for the 2012-13 campaign. The sophomore-to-be is doing well in his rehab, from what Tom Izzo told The Lansing State Journal, with an expected return in September if not sooner.
3. It looks like we won’t soon have a repeat of arguably the best game of the year last season. Indiana and Kentucky still can’t come to terms for a meeting next season — whether a home-and-home or at a neutral site — and it’s turned into a bickering session between coaches and athletic directors. Said Kentucky coach John Calipari when asked about it most recently: “Like I told Tommy (Crean), ‘Tommy, move on. It’s done. We’re good. I’m good, you’re good. You have your schedule, we have our schedule.’ “
4. New Minnesota athletic director Norwood Teague is making Tubby Smith one of his first orders of business. Teague, who has not even officially taken office yet, is already thinking about a contract extension for the Golden Gophers’ coach, who has two years left in a seven-year contract that pays him $1.75 million annually. “I think we’re pretty far down the road on that and I’ve felt good about that, getting him solidified there and completing that process,” Teague told The Star Tribune. “It’s not done yet, but hopefully it’s something that will be done very soon.”
5. Indiana‘s Cody Zeller could have been a lottery pick if he had opted for the NBA Draft after last season, and he could very well be a lottery pick if he leaves now after his sophomore campaign. The Bleacher Report thinks Zeller could very easily regret his decision to return to school, but the Indianapolis Star‘s Terry Hutchens disagrees.

1. Plenty of Big Ten programs have undergone change in the last few months, and that includes Tubby Smith’s program at Minnesota. The most important news is that Trevor Mbakwe will return for another season, giving the Gophers a shot at finishing near the top of the conference standings next season. They’ll return some good young talent, and with a new athletic director at the helm, this group could finally be ready for a break-through. Amelia Rayno helps to catch us up.
2. Indiana is such a hot spot now that it’s become a game of musical chairs to find open scholarships. Matt Roth seems to be the odd man out at the moment, though he still remains hopeful that something will open up for his fifth season with the Hoosiers. As Terry Hutchens points out, Roth is eligible for another season as a medical redshirt, but a scholarship would have to become available on a roster that is already over-committed by one player. His other option is to walk on and pay out-of-state tuition.
3. It looks like Michigan State‘s modus operandi of scheduling some of the top non-conference opponents in the country will continue yet again for Tom Izzo’s group. It was announced recently that the Spartans will host Texas at Breslin Center this upcoming season.  The Spartans, who have played Rick Barnes’ team semi-regularly over the last decade or so, already also have Kansas on the schedule as part of the Champions Classic in Atlanta on November 13.
4. There’s no area more important to Illinois recruiting than Chicago, so there may not be an assistant coach more valuable to John Groce’s staff than Isaac Chew. Per this Chicago Tribune story, Chew has become Groce’s go-to man in the Windy City. The Chicago native has quickly risen through the ranks at Murray State and Missouri, and now has the opportunity to make his mark — and help Groce do so, as well — in Champaign.
5. Wisconsin and coach Bo Ryan received some unwanted attention this spring with the news surrounding Jarrod Uthoff and his desire to transfer elsewhere. The issue was finally resolved, but not until after the program’s image took a significant public relations hit. The Journal Sentinel‘s Jeff Potrykus recognizes that fact, but still believes Ryan and the program can recover quickly from the incident.

1. Wisconsin has been in the news quite a bit over the last week or two, and it’s not good offseason publicity for coach Bo Ryan’s program. Ryan and Jarrod Uthoff became embroiled in a very public and heated controversy about Uthoff’s options after a transfer from Wisconsin. After Ryan tried to place a number of restrictions on Uthoff’s transfer, he made a few important gaffes over the airwaves and via social media, and eventually the coach lifted all restrictions except for schools in the Big Ten. Think Wisconsin fans are ready for games to start already?
2. Tom Izzo is another coach who has seen some ugly offseason incidents over the last few years, and there’s already been a hiccup this year in East Lansing. Derrick Nix, who became a big contributor in the post this year and figured to be a prominent leader for the Spartans next season, pleaded guilty to impaired driving and had a marijuana possession charge dropped in East Lansing. Nix and his coach addressed the media after the incident and Izzo — after suspending Nix indefinitely — said the center would be reinstated to the team under some specific to-be-determined guidelines. Stay tuned.
3. There will be no surprises this year — Jared Sullinger will not return to Ohio State for his junior year. What does that mean for the Buckeyes? We’re not entirely sure, but we know what it will mean for Amir Williams, who is likely to eat up a lot of Sullinger’s minutes in the post. The former McDonald’s All-American averaged just 1.7 PPG and 2.1 RPG  in 6.6 MPG as a freshman, but says he’s ready to make that leap to becoming a big-time contributor.
4. Tubby Smith has a new boss at Minnesota and that could mean huge improvements for the Golden Gophers’ program. Smith has long said that the university needs to have Big Ten-type facilities to keep up with the conference’s elite such as Ohio State and Michigan State, two programs that boast some of the very best in the country. Norwood Teague said he recognizes the importance of those facilities and, coming from VCU where basketball was ever-important, his word could go a long way toward helping Smith’s recruiting pitch.
5. Things are moving a mile a minute for new Nebraska head coach Tim Miles, who is doing all he can to catch up and progress in Lincoln at the same time. He’s been spending time with his family in Colorado, getting acquainted with folks in Nebraska, and burning hours upon hours recruiting all over the road. Miles seems excited, and he feels that the Nebraska fan base equally shares his enthusiasm. “The response has been incredible,” he told the World Herald. “People are hungry. This is how you play the game, being out there. Putting the program in the forefront. But the talking part is easy.”

Evan Jacoby is a regular contributor for RTC. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter.

Florida International has never made any meaningful noise on the basketball court (one NCAA Tournament appearance in school history), yet the Golden Panthers continue to create plenty of buzz off of it. Over the weekend it was announced that Richard Pitino, the 29-year-old son of famed Louisville coach Rick Pitino, would be taking over as head coach at FIU. Richard Pitino was a Louisville assistant and replaces the recently fired Isiah Thomas, who of course is one of the NBA’s all-time great players as well as a former head coach and executive at the highest level in the NBA. Thomas’ buzzworthy hire did not equate to any success in three years with the program (26-65 record) so FIU will now give it a second shot with another big name. Pitino immediately becomes one of the youngest head coaches in Division I, taking up after his legendary father who got his start at Boston University at just 26 years old. Richard is just one of many Pitino assistants that have moved on to become head coaches, as we take a look at how widespread and successful the Rick Pitino coaching tree has become over the years.

Richard Pitino (Left) Looks to Continue Blossoming His Father's Enormous Coaching Tree (USA Today)

We start all the way back in 1985 with Pitino’s head coaching gig at Providence, the first of three schools he would eventually take to a Final Four. The 1987 Friars that advanced to the Final Four included three young assistants by the names of Stu Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and Herb Sendek. Jackson went on to become a head coach at Wisconsin and later for the New York Knicks, and he is now the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the NBA, one of the highest executive positions in the sport. Van Gundy, of course, also went on to become an NBA guy, coaching both the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets. Sendek, meanwhile, has become a longtime college coach with NC State and Arizona State, where he remains today. Sendek himself has helped groom some tremendous head coaches like Thad Matta, John Groce, Chris Mack, and Sean Miller. In addition to all of the coaches that sprung from the Providence years, Pitino also coached Billy Donovan, the starting point guard for the Friars at the time. Donovan has since gone on to win two National Championships for Florida with assistants-turned-coaches Anthony Grant and Shaka Smart, among others. Pitino’s three years at Providence produced an extensive history of coaching talent, and we are just getting started.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. The Hoosiers are getting some love for next season from ESPN. Several media outlets have ranked Indiana as one of the top teams in the country based on the talent returning to Bloomington. Now, we all know this is way too early. But for what it is worth, Andy Katz of ESPN ranked Indiana as his top team for the 2012-2013 season. If Cody Zeller comes back next season, Tom Crean’s squad should compete for a Big Ten title and beyond.
2. The Jared Sullinger watch officially started, which started Sunday, ended today as the Ohio State junior announced that he would be entering the NBA Draft. Last season, after the loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16, Sullinger did not take much time letting the media know that he would return for his sophomore season. This season, however, he was almost as quick with his decision. It does not seem surprising that Sullinger is leaving Columbus even if his last performance in a Buckeye uniform raised plenty of questions about his ceiling as a pro.
3. Tom Izzo‘s team has some issues off the court after an excellent season on the court. Derrick Nix was with marijuana and Izzo suspended him immediately after his arrest. Nix will be out indefinitely and Izzo has made it clear that such behavior will not be tolerated. Nix is a crucial part of the rotation for the 2012-2013 season and his suspension could be troubling news for Spartan fans.
4. Tubby Smith‘s contract is still in works, but all reports indicate that he will be sticking around Minneapolis for a few more years. He has two years left on his current contract, but the administration is leaning towards giving Smith a multiple year extension by the end of April. The Gophers’ late season charge towards the NIT final has boosted his resume especially after losing his best player, Trevor Mbakwe to an injury for the whole season.
5. Big Ten teams are not the only ones losing their cast upon graduation or to the NBA Draft. The Big Ten Network will be without one of their analysts next season as Keno Davis has been hired at Central Michigan. Davis coached at Providence before moving on to a job at the Big Ten Network for one season. Davis has midwestern roots because he coached at Drake in the Missouri Valley before heading to the Big East job at Providence. Davis won’t be a huge loss for BTN, but they need to make sure to hold on to Gus Johnson!