Not just BBQ in Memphis
Dick Vitale
SPECIAL TO ESPN.COM
May 9, 2007
I recently read that my esteemed ESPN.com colleague Andy Katz picked Memphis number one for next season. In my book, I am going with North Carolina because the Tar Heels are loaded up front with Tyler Hansbrough, plus the backcourt is returning. I also feel North Carolina will have a chip on its shoulder after the disappointing loss to Georgetown in the Elite Eight.
Let me tell you, there is a lot to be said about how good John Calipari's Tigers will be. This is a program that has made the Elite Eight back-to-back seasons. I can tell this is going to be a big season for Memphis simply based on hearing the excitement in Calipari's voice when I spoke to him recently. There was a special tone that indicated he can't wait for the 2007-08 campaign to begin.
There is good reason for optimism with the addition of diaper dandy Derrick Rose. My friends, this young man will be a superstar right away out of the Windy City. He should contribute immediately as an instant dominator. Memphis also brings back the likes of Chris Douglas-Roberts, Robert Dozier, Antonio Anderson, Joey Dorsey, Andre Allen, Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack. The lone senior of note lost from last year's squad was Jeremy Hunt.
The Tigers will dominate Conference USA and the big question will be, "can the Tigers go unblemished in league play once again." Calipari will also play his share of tough non-conference foes to improve the program's RPI. The Tigers are in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic with Kentucky, Connecticut and Oklahoma. Wow, could we see a match-up of Mr. Calipari and new Wildcats coach Billy Gillispie? Maybe a renewal of the Calipari vs. Jim Calhoun rivalry we saw when Massachusetts and Connecticut used to hook up? Those challenges will help in the long run as this team prepares for tournament play.
There will big things happening in Memphis. People are not just going out to see Elvis' mansion. Last year's 33-4 record wasn't a fluke and Calipari knew he had a young squad. Last season's experience will help make this team even better. They will be stopping off to the FedEx Forum to see Calipari's team make a run at the Final Four.
It's ironic that last season ended in a loss to Ohio State at San Antonio. This season's goal is a return to San Antonio as that is the site for the Final Four. Calipari's got the horses to get him there.
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
From the C-USA Meetings: 30 Second Clock
C-USA idea: 30-second clock
Innovative thinking could elevate league
By Dan Wolken
May 17, 2007
DESTIN, Fla. -- The basketball coaches of Conference USA finished their spring meetings Wednesday afternoon without passing any significant pieces of legislation.
They did, however, leave on a creative note. Among the ideas that got some positive feedback in the closing discussion, according to coaches in the meeting, was using a 30-second shot clock in league games as opposed to the standard 35-second shot clock used throughout college basketball.
"I think it would be great," University of Memphis coach John Calipari said. "It would be like, let's see how it does, let's see if it increases scoring, you know? If somebody says, well, would it affect you in the NCAA Tournament? The way we play, if you looked at all of last year's tapes, we shot probably before 20 seconds 70 or 80 percent of the time."
Though no official steps were taken to implement that idea, the discussion reflected the coaches' consensus that C-USA should think outside the box to make its mark on the college basketball landscape.
Houston coach Tom Penders -- a huge proponent of any idea to speed the game up -- said adopting a 30-second clock would be like the Atlantic 10 using a 3-point line in the mid-1980s, a year before the rest of the country followed suit.
Not only would it attract attention nationally, he said, but it could help the league schools gain an edge in recruiting.
"That really helped the Atlantic 10," Penders said. "They were fighting the Big East to be different. You try to find ways to be creative. When you're out recruiting, you can tell a kid, we play our conference games at 30 seconds, more like the NBA (which uses a 24-second shot clock)."
It was unclear when -- or if -- the idea would be discussed further. To even begin the process of approval, the coaches would have to vote on it and send it to the league's athletic directors. From there, it would require further stages of approval before being implemented in games.
In other words, don't expect to see a 30-second shot clock any time soon. But the idea at least piqued the interest of coaches enough to generate initial talks.
"Is it realistic? I don't know," Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik said. "I'm not the deciding guy, but I like the idea. We're trying to think ahead, where things may go, how we could maybe influence the game to some extent for the fan, generate fan interest. Maybe you can do something different to try to bring some attention to the conference. Not to be revolutionary, but maybe to do something a little different."
Certainly, this is a good environment to talk about rule changes, given how the NCAA earlier this month approved moving the 3-point line back a foot to 20 feet, 9 inches beginning in 2008.
But Penders believes there are other rule changes that could improve the game more.
"We're the only ones in the world playing a 35-second clock," he said. "The lane is still too narrow. People say moving the (3-point) line out will relieve the congestion. Baloney."
Another thing C-USA might consider is putting a "block-charge" circle under the basket like the NBA does.
"That's something that probably should be implemented in college," Calipari said.
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Innovative thinking could elevate league
By Dan Wolken
May 17, 2007
DESTIN, Fla. -- The basketball coaches of Conference USA finished their spring meetings Wednesday afternoon without passing any significant pieces of legislation.
They did, however, leave on a creative note. Among the ideas that got some positive feedback in the closing discussion, according to coaches in the meeting, was using a 30-second shot clock in league games as opposed to the standard 35-second shot clock used throughout college basketball.
"I think it would be great," University of Memphis coach John Calipari said. "It would be like, let's see how it does, let's see if it increases scoring, you know? If somebody says, well, would it affect you in the NCAA Tournament? The way we play, if you looked at all of last year's tapes, we shot probably before 20 seconds 70 or 80 percent of the time."
Though no official steps were taken to implement that idea, the discussion reflected the coaches' consensus that C-USA should think outside the box to make its mark on the college basketball landscape.
Houston coach Tom Penders -- a huge proponent of any idea to speed the game up -- said adopting a 30-second clock would be like the Atlantic 10 using a 3-point line in the mid-1980s, a year before the rest of the country followed suit.
Not only would it attract attention nationally, he said, but it could help the league schools gain an edge in recruiting.
"That really helped the Atlantic 10," Penders said. "They were fighting the Big East to be different. You try to find ways to be creative. When you're out recruiting, you can tell a kid, we play our conference games at 30 seconds, more like the NBA (which uses a 24-second shot clock)."
It was unclear when -- or if -- the idea would be discussed further. To even begin the process of approval, the coaches would have to vote on it and send it to the league's athletic directors. From there, it would require further stages of approval before being implemented in games.
In other words, don't expect to see a 30-second shot clock any time soon. But the idea at least piqued the interest of coaches enough to generate initial talks.
"Is it realistic? I don't know," Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik said. "I'm not the deciding guy, but I like the idea. We're trying to think ahead, where things may go, how we could maybe influence the game to some extent for the fan, generate fan interest. Maybe you can do something different to try to bring some attention to the conference. Not to be revolutionary, but maybe to do something a little different."
Certainly, this is a good environment to talk about rule changes, given how the NCAA earlier this month approved moving the 3-point line back a foot to 20 feet, 9 inches beginning in 2008.
But Penders believes there are other rule changes that could improve the game more.
"We're the only ones in the world playing a 35-second clock," he said. "The lane is still too narrow. People say moving the (3-point) line out will relieve the congestion. Baloney."
Another thing C-USA might consider is putting a "block-charge" circle under the basket like the NBA does.
"That's something that probably should be implemented in college," Calipari said.
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Cal Says Holy Cross Not to Play Tigers
Holy Cross drops off U of M schedule
By Dan Wolken
May 16, 2007
DESTIN, Fla. -- John Calipari said Tuesday that Holy Cross dropped out of its commitment to play the University of Memphis next season, leaving the Tigers with an opening on their non-conference schedule.
Memphis had agreed to pay Holy Cross $70,000 to play at FedExForum, a relatively high figure for a "buy" game. Holy Cross was considered a good non-conference opponent for Memphis because it will enter next season as the favorite to win the Patriot League.
Calipari said Memphis will likely look for another "buy" foe to replace Holy Cross. Even with the opening, Memphis' schedule is further along than usual for this time of year.
No decision
Though it was discussed Tuesday morning in a meeting between Conference USA's basketball coaches and athletic directors, no decision will be made this week about where to hold the 2009 men's basketball tournament. Memphis will host the 2008 tournament, but the league is not in a hurry to name a site for future years. The majority of coaches would like to try another site, but at this point it would be a huge financial risk to move it. There is a chance that Tulsa -- which is opening a new downtown arena -- could get in the mix for 2009.
"We're not going to make any decision on '09 down here," Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson said. "But the question was raised, here we are, the kingpin of the league and we're hosting the conference tournament. Is that really right? From a financial standpoint and a fan standpoint, it's the only way to go. But if you're an AD or coach at one of these other schools, at some point you're going to say, 'How many times do we have to go to Memphis?'"
Schedule news
Coaches spent part of their meeting Tuesday with Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's vice president for basketball and business strategies. Shaheen explained some of the discussion that took place during last year's NCAA Tournament selection process and talked about issues like scheduling and the RPI.
Scheduling has been a big topic of discussion this week, with teams like UAB and Southern Miss having difficulty getting the kind of non-conference games that could help them get NCAA bids.
Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy, whose team will be one of the favorites next year, has booked games at Alabama and against Ole Miss at the DeSoto Civic Center. Other than that, "we have a tough time scheduling," Eustachy said. "Arkansas won't play us at Arkansas. UNLV won't play us at UNLV.
"I can't get Mississippi State to play us. We'll even play there twice, but they won't do it. But you've got a guy like Andy Kennedy who is terrific and is trying to give something back to basketball because that's what the state of Mississippi wants to see. I always did that at Iowa State; we played everybody. So we'll play (Ole Miss) there, play in Jackson, then play on the coast, kind of a three-year deal."
Houston coach Tom Penders has Arizona and Kentucky coming to Hofheinz Pavilion. But unlike previous years, Penders isn't taking his team on the road to play high-level competition because he doesn't believe teams are getting rewarded for doing that in the current RPI structure.
"Now you can go and get more points for playing Prairie View on the road and winning than you do for beating Arizona at home. It's nuts," Penders said. "So we've watered down our schedule significantly from last year. ... We're going to play like 19 home games. We're going to do what everybody else is doing. We won't play as bad a schedule as some of those who never leave home, but we're going to try to play all our non-league at home except for (the San Juan Shootout). ... You've got to figure out ways to make the tournament."
By Dan Wolken
May 16, 2007
DESTIN, Fla. -- John Calipari said Tuesday that Holy Cross dropped out of its commitment to play the University of Memphis next season, leaving the Tigers with an opening on their non-conference schedule.
Memphis had agreed to pay Holy Cross $70,000 to play at FedExForum, a relatively high figure for a "buy" game. Holy Cross was considered a good non-conference opponent for Memphis because it will enter next season as the favorite to win the Patriot League.
Calipari said Memphis will likely look for another "buy" foe to replace Holy Cross. Even with the opening, Memphis' schedule is further along than usual for this time of year.
No decision
Though it was discussed Tuesday morning in a meeting between Conference USA's basketball coaches and athletic directors, no decision will be made this week about where to hold the 2009 men's basketball tournament. Memphis will host the 2008 tournament, but the league is not in a hurry to name a site for future years. The majority of coaches would like to try another site, but at this point it would be a huge financial risk to move it. There is a chance that Tulsa -- which is opening a new downtown arena -- could get in the mix for 2009.
"We're not going to make any decision on '09 down here," Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson said. "But the question was raised, here we are, the kingpin of the league and we're hosting the conference tournament. Is that really right? From a financial standpoint and a fan standpoint, it's the only way to go. But if you're an AD or coach at one of these other schools, at some point you're going to say, 'How many times do we have to go to Memphis?'"
Schedule news
Coaches spent part of their meeting Tuesday with Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's vice president for basketball and business strategies. Shaheen explained some of the discussion that took place during last year's NCAA Tournament selection process and talked about issues like scheduling and the RPI.
Scheduling has been a big topic of discussion this week, with teams like UAB and Southern Miss having difficulty getting the kind of non-conference games that could help them get NCAA bids.
Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy, whose team will be one of the favorites next year, has booked games at Alabama and against Ole Miss at the DeSoto Civic Center. Other than that, "we have a tough time scheduling," Eustachy said. "Arkansas won't play us at Arkansas. UNLV won't play us at UNLV.
"I can't get Mississippi State to play us. We'll even play there twice, but they won't do it. But you've got a guy like Andy Kennedy who is terrific and is trying to give something back to basketball because that's what the state of Mississippi wants to see. I always did that at Iowa State; we played everybody. So we'll play (Ole Miss) there, play in Jackson, then play on the coast, kind of a three-year deal."
Houston coach Tom Penders has Arizona and Kentucky coming to Hofheinz Pavilion. But unlike previous years, Penders isn't taking his team on the road to play high-level competition because he doesn't believe teams are getting rewarded for doing that in the current RPI structure.
"Now you can go and get more points for playing Prairie View on the road and winning than you do for beating Arizona at home. It's nuts," Penders said. "So we've watered down our schedule significantly from last year. ... We're going to play like 19 home games. We're going to do what everybody else is doing. We won't play as bad a schedule as some of those who never leave home, but we're going to try to play all our non-league at home except for (the San Juan Shootout). ... You've got to figure out ways to make the tournament."
Local Banker Harold Byrd New President of Rebounders Club - Goal is Season Ticket Sellout
Filling Forum president's goal
Harold Byrd aims to fill the upper level of FedExForum for Tiger basketball games. The newly elected president of the Rebounders club says one way is to encourage businesses to buy the tickets and donate them to deserving youth.
Election of Byrd figures to invigorate Rebounders
By Dan Wolken
May 13, 2007
For years, the University of Memphis Rebounders club has not been a place for the mega-boosters, but rather those whose enthusiasm for the program is far greater than their financial clout.
This week, however, the Rebounders significantly expanded their reach by electing Harold Byrd -- Bank of Bartlett president and key UofM donor -- as the group's new president, succeeding Win Rainey.
While that may seem like an odd fit on the surface, there was a clear purpose behind it. Ever since last season ended, coach John Calipari has been preaching about the opportunity to amp up every aspect of the program, fueled by the momentum of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.
With Byrd's influence and contacts in the local business community, the opportunity is there to take the Rebounders to another level while still relying on its core constituency.
"Naturally I'm involved in a lot of other things, but I feel like the great amount of goodwill and the national acclaim that the basketball team has brought to the city and the university is just enormous," Byrd said.
"These kids have represented the university so well, and what John wants the Rebounders to become is to build on what Win and that group have done but also to have the FedExForum sold out for every game, to have the Rebounders help lead that charge to do that as well as bring new people into the program."
While the Rebounders will still organize road trips and hold receptions at home games, the group will also be part of the effort to fill the upper deck of FedExForum in 2007-08, which is still a point of concern for Calipari and athletic director R.C. Johnson despite the Tigers' loaded home schedule and possible preseason No. 1 ranking.
One idea, Byrd said, is to encourage businesses to buy those tickets and donate them to local charities that serve economically challenged youth.
"We take it for granted when we go to the FedExForum and watch a Jeremy Hunt or CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts) play," Byrd said. "The younger kids have been turned on by what the program has done, and this is a way to do a lot of things, to get the younger generation involved in the University of Memphis program and inspire them to academic success."
Agenda setting
For the first time since Conference USA realigned two years ago, there won't be any major pieces of legislation regarding men's basketball on the agenda for the league's annual meetings, which begin Monday in Destin, Fla.
Chris Woolard, the C-USA assistant commissioner who oversees men's basketball, said most of the heavy lifting was done the last two summers on key issues like a 16-game conference schedule, the conference tournament format and non-conference scheduling guidelines.
The focus this year will be on how to get the league's second tier of teams -- UAB, Houston, Southern Miss and Tulsa primarily -- into the discussion for postseason bids in 2008. Last year, the league was shut out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT aside from Memphis.
"It will be more of a reflection of where we are," Woolard said. "We'll look at the policies we have in place, figure out where we are and then see if we need to tweak anything as we move forward. ... Any (topic) can be raised and discussed, but I don't think you'll see any legislation put in place unless there's enough people adamant about it."
One issue that will be debated is whether to move the 2009 or 2010 C-USA Tournament out of Memphis. The 2008 event has already been confirmed at FedExForum, but there is clearly a movement among the league's coaches to try another site (at least for a year) because of the advantage Memphis has had playing at home.
Groups from practically every major city in the league have made it know they'd like to host a league tournament. But are there any truly viable options? Even the two cities that make some sense -- Tulsa and Birmingham -- can't guarantee the kind of revenue the league generates in Memphis.
Penny's trainer
Over the past two years, former Tigers star Penny Hardaway has been training for an NBA comeback with Miami-based Ed Downs. Now, Hardaway is helping promote Downs' patented "CoreTwist" training system.
Downs is selling his patented, air-filled discs and a set of DVDs that explain his workout program. Hardaway said training on the discs, which promote core strength, has helped him finally overcome the knee injuries that have limited him to just four NBA games over the past two seasons.
Several other pro athletes use Downs' system, including Baron Davis, Alonzo Mourning and NFL receiver Jerry Porter.
"I designed it for everybody to use," Downs said. "I was using it with NBA and NFL players and getting great results. I'm like, you know what? It only takes 15, 20 minutes to do a workout. That's why I said, it's time to bring it out to the public."
For more information, visit coretwist.com.
Recruiting news
Calipari has a history of recruiting Puerto Rican players, both at UMass and Memphis. Could two more be on his radar for 2008?
Memphis has at least some interest in two highly rated Puerto Ricans, 6-9 forward Victor Davila and 6-10 forward Angel Garcia, both of whom played in U.S. high schools last year.
Garcia appears to be more of a target after his performance at the Pittsburgh Jam Fest in April, which inspired Rivals.com to move him up from 89th to 33rd in its 2008 rankings. A skilled big man who moved to East Chicago, Ind., last year, Indiana appears to be the team to beat for Garcia.
Meanwhile, the stock of three more players being recruited by Memphis apparently went up during the April evaluation period. Chicago guard DeAndre Liggins was promoted to the No. 18 prospect overall (from No. 90), St. George's guard Elliot Williams moved up to No. 20 (from No. 28), and 6-10 forward Kenny Kadji of Florida is No. 21 (from No. 40).
A new name on the recruiting list is Tulsa-area star Rotnei Clarke, a pure shooter who averaged 37.6 points last year and is ranked 80th by Rivals. According to the Tulsa World, Memphis has joined Gonzaga, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oral Roberts and others in his recruitment.
To reach reporter Dan Wolken, call 529-2365
Harold Byrd aims to fill the upper level of FedExForum for Tiger basketball games. The newly elected president of the Rebounders club says one way is to encourage businesses to buy the tickets and donate them to deserving youth.
Election of Byrd figures to invigorate Rebounders
By Dan Wolken
May 13, 2007
For years, the University of Memphis Rebounders club has not been a place for the mega-boosters, but rather those whose enthusiasm for the program is far greater than their financial clout.
This week, however, the Rebounders significantly expanded their reach by electing Harold Byrd -- Bank of Bartlett president and key UofM donor -- as the group's new president, succeeding Win Rainey.
While that may seem like an odd fit on the surface, there was a clear purpose behind it. Ever since last season ended, coach John Calipari has been preaching about the opportunity to amp up every aspect of the program, fueled by the momentum of back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.
With Byrd's influence and contacts in the local business community, the opportunity is there to take the Rebounders to another level while still relying on its core constituency.
"Naturally I'm involved in a lot of other things, but I feel like the great amount of goodwill and the national acclaim that the basketball team has brought to the city and the university is just enormous," Byrd said.
"These kids have represented the university so well, and what John wants the Rebounders to become is to build on what Win and that group have done but also to have the FedExForum sold out for every game, to have the Rebounders help lead that charge to do that as well as bring new people into the program."
While the Rebounders will still organize road trips and hold receptions at home games, the group will also be part of the effort to fill the upper deck of FedExForum in 2007-08, which is still a point of concern for Calipari and athletic director R.C. Johnson despite the Tigers' loaded home schedule and possible preseason No. 1 ranking.
One idea, Byrd said, is to encourage businesses to buy those tickets and donate them to local charities that serve economically challenged youth.
"We take it for granted when we go to the FedExForum and watch a Jeremy Hunt or CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts) play," Byrd said. "The younger kids have been turned on by what the program has done, and this is a way to do a lot of things, to get the younger generation involved in the University of Memphis program and inspire them to academic success."
Agenda setting
For the first time since Conference USA realigned two years ago, there won't be any major pieces of legislation regarding men's basketball on the agenda for the league's annual meetings, which begin Monday in Destin, Fla.
Chris Woolard, the C-USA assistant commissioner who oversees men's basketball, said most of the heavy lifting was done the last two summers on key issues like a 16-game conference schedule, the conference tournament format and non-conference scheduling guidelines.
The focus this year will be on how to get the league's second tier of teams -- UAB, Houston, Southern Miss and Tulsa primarily -- into the discussion for postseason bids in 2008. Last year, the league was shut out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT aside from Memphis.
"It will be more of a reflection of where we are," Woolard said. "We'll look at the policies we have in place, figure out where we are and then see if we need to tweak anything as we move forward. ... Any (topic) can be raised and discussed, but I don't think you'll see any legislation put in place unless there's enough people adamant about it."
One issue that will be debated is whether to move the 2009 or 2010 C-USA Tournament out of Memphis. The 2008 event has already been confirmed at FedExForum, but there is clearly a movement among the league's coaches to try another site (at least for a year) because of the advantage Memphis has had playing at home.
Groups from practically every major city in the league have made it know they'd like to host a league tournament. But are there any truly viable options? Even the two cities that make some sense -- Tulsa and Birmingham -- can't guarantee the kind of revenue the league generates in Memphis.
Penny's trainer
Over the past two years, former Tigers star Penny Hardaway has been training for an NBA comeback with Miami-based Ed Downs. Now, Hardaway is helping promote Downs' patented "CoreTwist" training system.
Downs is selling his patented, air-filled discs and a set of DVDs that explain his workout program. Hardaway said training on the discs, which promote core strength, has helped him finally overcome the knee injuries that have limited him to just four NBA games over the past two seasons.
Several other pro athletes use Downs' system, including Baron Davis, Alonzo Mourning and NFL receiver Jerry Porter.
"I designed it for everybody to use," Downs said. "I was using it with NBA and NFL players and getting great results. I'm like, you know what? It only takes 15, 20 minutes to do a workout. That's why I said, it's time to bring it out to the public."
For more information, visit coretwist.com.
Recruiting news
Calipari has a history of recruiting Puerto Rican players, both at UMass and Memphis. Could two more be on his radar for 2008?
Memphis has at least some interest in two highly rated Puerto Ricans, 6-9 forward Victor Davila and 6-10 forward Angel Garcia, both of whom played in U.S. high schools last year.
Garcia appears to be more of a target after his performance at the Pittsburgh Jam Fest in April, which inspired Rivals.com to move him up from 89th to 33rd in its 2008 rankings. A skilled big man who moved to East Chicago, Ind., last year, Indiana appears to be the team to beat for Garcia.
Meanwhile, the stock of three more players being recruited by Memphis apparently went up during the April evaluation period. Chicago guard DeAndre Liggins was promoted to the No. 18 prospect overall (from No. 90), St. George's guard Elliot Williams moved up to No. 20 (from No. 28), and 6-10 forward Kenny Kadji of Florida is No. 21 (from No. 40).
A new name on the recruiting list is Tulsa-area star Rotnei Clarke, a pure shooter who averaged 37.6 points last year and is ranked 80th by Rivals. According to the Tulsa World, Memphis has joined Gonzaga, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oral Roberts and others in his recruitment.
To reach reporter Dan Wolken, call 529-2365
Holy Cross Reported Backs Out of Game in Memphis
Never Mind
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Never mind
Holy Cross won't be going to Graceland after all.
The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reports the Crusaders have dropped off of Memphis' schedule, opting out of a reported $70,000 buy game.
John Calipari told the paper HC had dropped its commitment to play the Tigers at the FedExForum. Since HC never announced the date, we will wait until there is word from Ralph Willard before buying into Calipari's renege allegations.
Our guess is most likely no contract had been signed and Calipari likely was premature in announcing the game.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Never mind
Holy Cross won't be going to Graceland after all.
The Commercial Appeal in Memphis reports the Crusaders have dropped off of Memphis' schedule, opting out of a reported $70,000 buy game.
John Calipari told the paper HC had dropped its commitment to play the Tigers at the FedExForum. Since HC never announced the date, we will wait until there is word from Ralph Willard before buying into Calipari's renege allegations.
Our guess is most likely no contract had been signed and Calipari likely was premature in announcing the game.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Tre'Von Willis Says He Is Staying In Memphis
Tre'Von Willis Says He's Staying
Last Update: May 10, 2007 9:03 PM
Posted By: Jamie Griffin
Eyewitness News ABC 24 Memphis
Back at home in Fresno, California, Tre'Von Willis addressed his basketball future with the Tigers to a local television station. Willis said was not happy with his playing time, but put to rest rumors that he's consider transferring to Fresno State .
"Memphis is like my second home," said Willis. "I haven't even thought about (leaving)."
Willis played in just 17 of the Tigers' 37 games this past season, his freshman campaign.
Last Update: May 10, 2007 9:03 PM
Posted By: Jamie Griffin
Eyewitness News ABC 24 Memphis
Back at home in Fresno, California, Tre'Von Willis addressed his basketball future with the Tigers to a local television station. Willis said was not happy with his playing time, but put to rest rumors that he's consider transferring to Fresno State .
"Memphis is like my second home," said Willis. "I haven't even thought about (leaving)."
Willis played in just 17 of the Tigers' 37 games this past season, his freshman campaign.
Great Article on Calipari from FoxSports.com's Dick Weiss
Calipari using familiar formula for success
Dick "Hoops" Weiss / Special to FOXSports.com
(Thanks to G. for pointing this article out to me, ed.)
When Conference USA blew up two years ago, the earthquake tremors shook up the college basketball landscape.
DePaul, Marquette, Louisville and South Florida left for the Big East, while St. Louis and UNC-Charlotte inexplicably resurfaced in the Atlantic 10.
Memphis coach John Calipari was faced with two options.
The Tigers, who were left behind in a non-BCS conference needing major reconstructive surgery, could either drift into the shadows or separate themselves from the rest of the league like he did at UMass.
Calipari took UMass — which had a 295 RPI out of 306 Division I teams and very little tradition and funding when he arrived in 1988 — off the scrap heap, winning five consecutive Atlantic 10 championships in the early 90's, advancing to an Elite Eight in 1995, and a No. 1 ranking and a Final Four appearance the following season before he left for the NBA's New Jersey Nets.
How he resurrected the Minutemen was one of the greatest stories in the history of college basketball.
What he is doing at Memphis is pretty much a Xerox copy, even though the Tigers have far more tradition, past NCAA success and a more fertile recruiting base in the city.
Calipari, who inherited a stagnant program in this border town, just across the river from Arkansas, has coached the Tigers to a pair of 33-4 seasons, two Top -0 finishes and two consecutive Elite Eights the past two seasons. He has a legitimate chance this upcoming season to win the school's first national championship.
Provided Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert — two projected lottery picks — leave Georgetown early, the Tigers will get our vote for pre-season No. 1 ahead of North Carolina, Indiana, UCLA and Louisville. They, along with Louisville, are the two teams not affected by early defections to the draft.
Calipari has his entire starting five — center Joey Dorsey, forward Robert Dozier and guards Antonio Anderson, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Willie Kemp — back from a 33-4 team that beat Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 in a less than neutral San Antonio before losing to Ohio State in the South Regional finals.
They also have Shawn Taggart, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Iowa State; 6-8 sophomore Pierre Niles; 6-10 Kareem Cooper; backup point guard Andre Allen and guard Donnell Mack and two blue chip recruits — 6-4 McDonald's All American guard Derrick Rose from Chicago Simeon and 6-5 swing forward Jeff Robinson from USA Today's second-ranked St. Patrick's of Elizabeth, N.J., giving them 12 useable players who can all play in a big-time game.
And they have Calipari, a coaching animal and Larry Brown disciple, whose track record speaks for itself. Calipari has won more games (374) in his first 15 years than any other coach beside Hall of Famer Roy Williams, who won 418 in that period at storied Kansas before moving on to North Carolina. He is one of only three coaches — along with Williams and Bill Self of Illinois and Kansas — who have coached two different teams to No. 1 seeds.
"BCS teams all want to do the Wal-Mart thing,'' Calipari said. "They all want to dominate the world. We're like a thorn in their side. Here we are, just like the UMass days. We've bumped into their parade, their party.''
Calipari has already produced four pros in the last five years, despite signing just two so called McDonald's All Americans — guard DeJuan Wagner from Camden, N.J., who was the sixth pick in 2002; and guard Darius Washington from Orlando Edgewater. Last year, he produced two first-rounders — forwards Rodney Carney and Shawnee Williams. This year, sixth man Jeremy Hunt — the only senior of significance — has been invited to the Orlando pre-draft camp.
And the assembly line is just getting started.
Calipari has done all this while working at a disadvantage. Memphis does not have the pedigree of programs like Duke and Kansas, and there have been times when he has been unfairly vilified because his 1996 UMass team had to vacate its Final Four appearance after star center Marcus Camby admitted to accepting money from an agent.
Calipari was never personally cited by the NCAA.
"Most BCS schools walk away with between $9, $10, $11 million a year,'' Calipari said. "With non-BCS schools, it's more like $1.5 million. We've been able to raise $5 million a year for our basketball program, but we're lucky. We're in a urban area with great wealth. Most can't do it.''
As much talk as there was about parity in the tournament after George Mason made it to the Final Four in 2006, there was only four non-BCS teams — Memphis, Southern Illinois, Butler and UNLV — in the Sweet 16 this spring.
Calipari has survived — even flourished — because of his ability to produce a high visibility program that plays to sellout crowds at FedEx Arena, his reputation for preparing players for the NBA and ability to graduate players.
Still, there is a chance he will never get the credit he deserves. Calipari has built his current program in much the same way he did at UMass — with creative recruiting, continuous dominance in his league and a willingess to upgrade his RPI by scheduling elite programs in the non-league.
This upcoming season, he has Arizona, Gonzaga, Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss, Holy Cross and possible matchups against Kentucky and UConn in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Calipari has had opportunities in the past two years to move to more sanitized surroundings. He was approached by Missouri and romanced heavily by NC State last year, and Arkansas offered him an outlandish amount of money to move this spring.
But, in many ways, he seems happy where he is — a blue collar kid from Moon Township, Pa. who is comfortable working with first-generation college players, who all seem to get better both on and off the floor.
Calipari is all about giving kids like himself a chance. Six of his current players were post graduates from prep schools — four from Laurinburg, N.C. Institute — which may be why he has taken a strong stand against the NCAA's decision to come down hard on all fifth-year players attending prep schools by limiting them to just one core course to improve their GPA.
"They couldn't get Philly Lutheran so they're trying to blow up a fly with bazooka and blow up every prep school,'' Calipari said. "Not every prep school is bad. I think it's time to go back to partial qualifiers — give a kid a scholarship and let him sit out.
"The way it is now, they're targeting one group.''
Calipari can back up his theories with the fact he graduates his players — 80 percent at UMass and 12 of 15 at Memphis, which had a zero graduation rate when he arrived.
It's time to start showing him a little more love.
Veteran college basketball writer Dick "Hoops" Weiss is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
Dick "Hoops" Weiss / Special to FOXSports.com
(Thanks to G. for pointing this article out to me, ed.)
When Conference USA blew up two years ago, the earthquake tremors shook up the college basketball landscape.
DePaul, Marquette, Louisville and South Florida left for the Big East, while St. Louis and UNC-Charlotte inexplicably resurfaced in the Atlantic 10.
Memphis coach John Calipari was faced with two options.
The Tigers, who were left behind in a non-BCS conference needing major reconstructive surgery, could either drift into the shadows or separate themselves from the rest of the league like he did at UMass.
Calipari took UMass — which had a 295 RPI out of 306 Division I teams and very little tradition and funding when he arrived in 1988 — off the scrap heap, winning five consecutive Atlantic 10 championships in the early 90's, advancing to an Elite Eight in 1995, and a No. 1 ranking and a Final Four appearance the following season before he left for the NBA's New Jersey Nets.
How he resurrected the Minutemen was one of the greatest stories in the history of college basketball.
What he is doing at Memphis is pretty much a Xerox copy, even though the Tigers have far more tradition, past NCAA success and a more fertile recruiting base in the city.
Calipari, who inherited a stagnant program in this border town, just across the river from Arkansas, has coached the Tigers to a pair of 33-4 seasons, two Top -0 finishes and two consecutive Elite Eights the past two seasons. He has a legitimate chance this upcoming season to win the school's first national championship.
Provided Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert — two projected lottery picks — leave Georgetown early, the Tigers will get our vote for pre-season No. 1 ahead of North Carolina, Indiana, UCLA and Louisville. They, along with Louisville, are the two teams not affected by early defections to the draft.
Calipari has his entire starting five — center Joey Dorsey, forward Robert Dozier and guards Antonio Anderson, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Willie Kemp — back from a 33-4 team that beat Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 in a less than neutral San Antonio before losing to Ohio State in the South Regional finals.
They also have Shawn Taggart, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Iowa State; 6-8 sophomore Pierre Niles; 6-10 Kareem Cooper; backup point guard Andre Allen and guard Donnell Mack and two blue chip recruits — 6-4 McDonald's All American guard Derrick Rose from Chicago Simeon and 6-5 swing forward Jeff Robinson from USA Today's second-ranked St. Patrick's of Elizabeth, N.J., giving them 12 useable players who can all play in a big-time game.
And they have Calipari, a coaching animal and Larry Brown disciple, whose track record speaks for itself. Calipari has won more games (374) in his first 15 years than any other coach beside Hall of Famer Roy Williams, who won 418 in that period at storied Kansas before moving on to North Carolina. He is one of only three coaches — along with Williams and Bill Self of Illinois and Kansas — who have coached two different teams to No. 1 seeds.
"BCS teams all want to do the Wal-Mart thing,'' Calipari said. "They all want to dominate the world. We're like a thorn in their side. Here we are, just like the UMass days. We've bumped into their parade, their party.''
Calipari has already produced four pros in the last five years, despite signing just two so called McDonald's All Americans — guard DeJuan Wagner from Camden, N.J., who was the sixth pick in 2002; and guard Darius Washington from Orlando Edgewater. Last year, he produced two first-rounders — forwards Rodney Carney and Shawnee Williams. This year, sixth man Jeremy Hunt — the only senior of significance — has been invited to the Orlando pre-draft camp.
And the assembly line is just getting started.
Calipari has done all this while working at a disadvantage. Memphis does not have the pedigree of programs like Duke and Kansas, and there have been times when he has been unfairly vilified because his 1996 UMass team had to vacate its Final Four appearance after star center Marcus Camby admitted to accepting money from an agent.
Calipari was never personally cited by the NCAA.
"Most BCS schools walk away with between $9, $10, $11 million a year,'' Calipari said. "With non-BCS schools, it's more like $1.5 million. We've been able to raise $5 million a year for our basketball program, but we're lucky. We're in a urban area with great wealth. Most can't do it.''
As much talk as there was about parity in the tournament after George Mason made it to the Final Four in 2006, there was only four non-BCS teams — Memphis, Southern Illinois, Butler and UNLV — in the Sweet 16 this spring.
Calipari has survived — even flourished — because of his ability to produce a high visibility program that plays to sellout crowds at FedEx Arena, his reputation for preparing players for the NBA and ability to graduate players.
Still, there is a chance he will never get the credit he deserves. Calipari has built his current program in much the same way he did at UMass — with creative recruiting, continuous dominance in his league and a willingess to upgrade his RPI by scheduling elite programs in the non-league.
This upcoming season, he has Arizona, Gonzaga, Tennessee, USC, Ole Miss, Holy Cross and possible matchups against Kentucky and UConn in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Calipari has had opportunities in the past two years to move to more sanitized surroundings. He was approached by Missouri and romanced heavily by NC State last year, and Arkansas offered him an outlandish amount of money to move this spring.
But, in many ways, he seems happy where he is — a blue collar kid from Moon Township, Pa. who is comfortable working with first-generation college players, who all seem to get better both on and off the floor.
Calipari is all about giving kids like himself a chance. Six of his current players were post graduates from prep schools — four from Laurinburg, N.C. Institute — which may be why he has taken a strong stand against the NCAA's decision to come down hard on all fifth-year players attending prep schools by limiting them to just one core course to improve their GPA.
"They couldn't get Philly Lutheran so they're trying to blow up a fly with bazooka and blow up every prep school,'' Calipari said. "Not every prep school is bad. I think it's time to go back to partial qualifiers — give a kid a scholarship and let him sit out.
"The way it is now, they're targeting one group.''
Calipari can back up his theories with the fact he graduates his players — 80 percent at UMass and 12 of 15 at Memphis, which had a zero graduation rate when he arrived.
It's time to start showing him a little more love.
Veteran college basketball writer Dick "Hoops" Weiss is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
Friday, May 04, 2007
SI.com's Luke Winn's Top 5 (Plus His Very Strange Humor and Random Thoughts About Obscure Items)
SI.com
Early returns
Post-draft deadline, a look at the landscape for '07-08
By Luke Winn
Posted: Tuesday May 1, 2007
I present the first, post-draft-deadline Power Rankings, based on a few educated guesses: Georgetown's Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Brandan Rush and Julian Wright and Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young will stay in, while Texas A&M's Joseph Jones, USC's Gabe Pruitt and Marquette's Dominic James will come back.
1) North Carolina - I present the first, post-draft-deadline Power Rankings, based on a few educated guesses: Georgetown's Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Brandan Rush and Julian Wright and Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young will stay in, while Texas A&M's Joseph Jones, USC's Gabe Pruitt and Marquette's Dominic James will come back.
2) UCLA - Darren Collison's return to the Bruins mattered far more than Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's. Collison should be a preseason first-team All-America, and with him, UCLA could win its first post-milennium national title. Yet I'm more curious about what Luc will do as a junior. Will he prove that his quiet '06-07 was just an injury-induced fluke? Will a likely move to the three spot -- with Kevin Love and Poolside Mata playing the four and five -- enhance or hurt the Prince's game? Mbah a Moute's sophomore year was a letdown, as was his admission to me during the Final Four that he had shelved FIFA Soccer (a topic of an offseason Q&A tangent) in favor of Madden '07, on which his favorite team is the Falcons. Please, Luc, ditch the virtual Mike Vick and reunite with Eto'o.
3) Memphis - The Tigers might be the biggest winners of the offseason. Forward Joey Dorsey could have made an ill-advised decision to enter the NBA Draft early. He didn't. Guard Chris Douglas-Roberts could have turned pro early, too -- and he might have played his way into the first round. CD-R opted not to take the risk. Coach John Calipari could have jumped ship on an active offseason carousel. He took a $500,000-per-year raise instead. Thus the Tigers have their coach and their top nine players coming back, plus the nation's best point guard prospect, Chicagoan Derrick Rose, coming in. They're going to destroy the rest of Conference USA ... and I expect to see them in San Antonio.
4) Louisville - Rick Pitino's personal Web site started off strong in '06-07. He was posting revealing assessments of his young team during its Canadian tour in August, from the point guard battle to Derrick Caracter's weight issues. The dispatches were regular through November, then pretty much died. The last team-related post was from March 1; it seems to be the results of a team bowling trip (Pitino had the high score, a 183, while Earl Clark rolled a team-worst 54). The most recent post, from April 18, has the title "Horse buyers and Blood Stock Agents Red Alert!!!" and a recommendation for a horse appraiser. The point of all this being, it seems that when Pitino's team was bad, he wrote a lot, and once they got good, he wrote a lot less. Seeing that the Cardinals should be phenomenal next year, I wouldn't expect many new posts.
5) Kansas - With an elite starting backcourt of Sherron Collins, Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson, the Jayhawks are still top-five material, but I still get the feeling '06-07 may have been their year to win a national title. KU won't be such a well-oiled, unselfish offensive machine with Brandon Rush and Julian Wright gone, and the most interesting storyline will be the progression of Collins from auxiliary frosh to sophomore star. Is he ready to become a 13- or 14-point-a-game scorer, like Rush was, or will Collins take over games and regularly drop 20? If the latter happens, KU can contend. In the meantime Collins is just getting over the surprise of Rush's late departure. "I think Brandon could have told us and had us ready for something like this," Collins told the Lawrence Journal-World. "We are upset with him a little bit."
Early returns
Post-draft deadline, a look at the landscape for '07-08
By Luke Winn
Posted: Tuesday May 1, 2007
I present the first, post-draft-deadline Power Rankings, based on a few educated guesses: Georgetown's Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Brandan Rush and Julian Wright and Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young will stay in, while Texas A&M's Joseph Jones, USC's Gabe Pruitt and Marquette's Dominic James will come back.
1) North Carolina - I present the first, post-draft-deadline Power Rankings, based on a few educated guesses: Georgetown's Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Brandan Rush and Julian Wright and Georgia Tech's Thaddeus Young will stay in, while Texas A&M's Joseph Jones, USC's Gabe Pruitt and Marquette's Dominic James will come back.
2) UCLA - Darren Collison's return to the Bruins mattered far more than Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's. Collison should be a preseason first-team All-America, and with him, UCLA could win its first post-milennium national title. Yet I'm more curious about what Luc will do as a junior. Will he prove that his quiet '06-07 was just an injury-induced fluke? Will a likely move to the three spot -- with Kevin Love and Poolside Mata playing the four and five -- enhance or hurt the Prince's game? Mbah a Moute's sophomore year was a letdown, as was his admission to me during the Final Four that he had shelved FIFA Soccer (a topic of an offseason Q&A tangent) in favor of Madden '07, on which his favorite team is the Falcons. Please, Luc, ditch the virtual Mike Vick and reunite with Eto'o.
3) Memphis - The Tigers might be the biggest winners of the offseason. Forward Joey Dorsey could have made an ill-advised decision to enter the NBA Draft early. He didn't. Guard Chris Douglas-Roberts could have turned pro early, too -- and he might have played his way into the first round. CD-R opted not to take the risk. Coach John Calipari could have jumped ship on an active offseason carousel. He took a $500,000-per-year raise instead. Thus the Tigers have their coach and their top nine players coming back, plus the nation's best point guard prospect, Chicagoan Derrick Rose, coming in. They're going to destroy the rest of Conference USA ... and I expect to see them in San Antonio.
4) Louisville - Rick Pitino's personal Web site started off strong in '06-07. He was posting revealing assessments of his young team during its Canadian tour in August, from the point guard battle to Derrick Caracter's weight issues. The dispatches were regular through November, then pretty much died. The last team-related post was from March 1; it seems to be the results of a team bowling trip (Pitino had the high score, a 183, while Earl Clark rolled a team-worst 54). The most recent post, from April 18, has the title "Horse buyers and Blood Stock Agents Red Alert!!!" and a recommendation for a horse appraiser. The point of all this being, it seems that when Pitino's team was bad, he wrote a lot, and once they got good, he wrote a lot less. Seeing that the Cardinals should be phenomenal next year, I wouldn't expect many new posts.
5) Kansas - With an elite starting backcourt of Sherron Collins, Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson, the Jayhawks are still top-five material, but I still get the feeling '06-07 may have been their year to win a national title. KU won't be such a well-oiled, unselfish offensive machine with Brandon Rush and Julian Wright gone, and the most interesting storyline will be the progression of Collins from auxiliary frosh to sophomore star. Is he ready to become a 13- or 14-point-a-game scorer, like Rush was, or will Collins take over games and regularly drop 20? If the latter happens, KU can contend. In the meantime Collins is just getting over the surprise of Rush's late departure. "I think Brandon could have told us and had us ready for something like this," Collins told the Lawrence Journal-World. "We are upset with him a little bit."
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Calipari "We'll be Over 925" (NCAA Mandated Academic Progress Rating)
Calipari: We'll be over 925
Basketball, two other Tiger squads fall short
By Dan Wolken
May 3, 2007
Three University of Memphis varsity programs -- men's basketball, men's soccer and men's cross country -- fell short of the NCAA's mandated Academic Progress Rating score of 925, according to figures released Wednesday that take into account three years worth of data.
Though those programs won't be subject to immediate penalties, they'll be dangerously close to losing scholarships if they don't improve when the four-year averages are released next year.
Basketball coach John Calipari, however, said his program monitors the APR on a month-by-month basis and projects to be over 925 by September. Men's basketball is currently at 916.
"We're going to be over unless something outrageous happens, which I don't see," Calipari said. "As we get into the guys enrolling in September, we'll be over the 925 and at 928 or something like that, which is pretty good. I understand where we are now, but where we were six years ago, it was a struggle to get the thing right."
The NCAA introduced the APR -- a formula that measures the eligibility and retention of student-athletes -- as a replacement for the traditional graduation rates. A 925 is supposed to equate to roughly 60 percent graduation and frees programs from any potential penalties.
Programs that score between 900 and 925 could lose scholarships next year if a student-athlete left school while academically ineligible.
"Every indication we have is that -- we're in final exams right now -- if everything plays out, our four-year rate when it is released right now will be above a 925," Joe Luckey, director of the school's Center for Athletic Academic Services, said.
"If for some reason after this year we don't get it above the 925, as long as nobody leaves our team ineligible, we wouldn't have a penalty."
The U of M men's soccer team scored 922, and the indoor/outdoor track team scored 895.
The UofM's 12 other varsity sports are in no danger of losing scholarships. Football came in at 954, which ranks in the top 30 percent. Baseball scored 958, well above the Division 1 average of 934. Women's basketball earned a public recognition award for ranking in the top 10 percent with a score of 992.
In the APR system, a team earns points for retaining players and keeping them NCAA eligible. Memphis has lost points in men's basketball mainly due to defections of players like Sean Banks, Ivan Lopez and Tank Beavers.
For players who have left early to turn professional, schools can file a waiver to get the retention point restored as long as they were academically eligible when they left.
"Most of the points we're losing are the retention points," Luckey said. "Across the board, for our sports that are losing points, it's because students aren't coming back to school... You're going to have students that come into athletic teams and they're going to leave. It's not realistic to think in a four year average we'll have teams with perfect scores."
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Basketball, two other Tiger squads fall short
By Dan Wolken
May 3, 2007
Three University of Memphis varsity programs -- men's basketball, men's soccer and men's cross country -- fell short of the NCAA's mandated Academic Progress Rating score of 925, according to figures released Wednesday that take into account three years worth of data.
Though those programs won't be subject to immediate penalties, they'll be dangerously close to losing scholarships if they don't improve when the four-year averages are released next year.
Basketball coach John Calipari, however, said his program monitors the APR on a month-by-month basis and projects to be over 925 by September. Men's basketball is currently at 916.
"We're going to be over unless something outrageous happens, which I don't see," Calipari said. "As we get into the guys enrolling in September, we'll be over the 925 and at 928 or something like that, which is pretty good. I understand where we are now, but where we were six years ago, it was a struggle to get the thing right."
The NCAA introduced the APR -- a formula that measures the eligibility and retention of student-athletes -- as a replacement for the traditional graduation rates. A 925 is supposed to equate to roughly 60 percent graduation and frees programs from any potential penalties.
Programs that score between 900 and 925 could lose scholarships next year if a student-athlete left school while academically ineligible.
"Every indication we have is that -- we're in final exams right now -- if everything plays out, our four-year rate when it is released right now will be above a 925," Joe Luckey, director of the school's Center for Athletic Academic Services, said.
"If for some reason after this year we don't get it above the 925, as long as nobody leaves our team ineligible, we wouldn't have a penalty."
The U of M men's soccer team scored 922, and the indoor/outdoor track team scored 895.
The UofM's 12 other varsity sports are in no danger of losing scholarships. Football came in at 954, which ranks in the top 30 percent. Baseball scored 958, well above the Division 1 average of 934. Women's basketball earned a public recognition award for ranking in the top 10 percent with a score of 992.
In the APR system, a team earns points for retaining players and keeping them NCAA eligible. Memphis has lost points in men's basketball mainly due to defections of players like Sean Banks, Ivan Lopez and Tank Beavers.
For players who have left early to turn professional, schools can file a waiver to get the retention point restored as long as they were academically eligible when they left.
"Most of the points we're losing are the retention points," Luckey said. "Across the board, for our sports that are losing points, it's because students aren't coming back to school... You're going to have students that come into athletic teams and they're going to leave. It's not realistic to think in a four year average we'll have teams with perfect scores."
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Tigers Add to FedEx Forum Revenue
Tigers add to forum's revenue
By The Commercial Appeal
May 3, 2007
There's a $1.15-per-seat rental fee on all events at FedExForum -- one of several revenue streams used to pay off arena bonds.
That revenue stream is performing well despite the Grizzlies' slumping attendance, in part because financial projections hadn't anticipated the University of Memphis basketball team also playing in the arena. So the Tigers' presence has been a boost for the Memphis & Shelby County Sports Authority, which issued the bonds. Overall on arena revenue streams, there's projected to be a surplus of $14 million by 2010.
Authority member R.C. Johnson, reacting to that positive news during Wednesday's board meeting, put on his other hat -- that of U of M athletic director -- and asked, "Is there any possibility of readjusting or reducing or pulling out or renegotiating" the seat fee for Tiger games?
Johnson added, drawing a laugh: "I've got to pay (Tigers coach John) Calipari."
Johnson was serious about the question, but conceded it probably wasn't a matter for the authority. It wasn't immediately clear what entity he should approach on the issue.
By The Commercial Appeal
May 3, 2007
There's a $1.15-per-seat rental fee on all events at FedExForum -- one of several revenue streams used to pay off arena bonds.
That revenue stream is performing well despite the Grizzlies' slumping attendance, in part because financial projections hadn't anticipated the University of Memphis basketball team also playing in the arena. So the Tigers' presence has been a boost for the Memphis & Shelby County Sports Authority, which issued the bonds. Overall on arena revenue streams, there's projected to be a surplus of $14 million by 2010.
Authority member R.C. Johnson, reacting to that positive news during Wednesday's board meeting, put on his other hat -- that of U of M athletic director -- and asked, "Is there any possibility of readjusting or reducing or pulling out or renegotiating" the seat fee for Tiger games?
Johnson added, drawing a laugh: "I've got to pay (Tigers coach John) Calipari."
Johnson was serious about the question, but conceded it probably wasn't a matter for the authority. It wasn't immediately clear what entity he should approach on the issue.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
FoxSports.com "These Coaches Will Ride Carousel Next Year"
Thanks to my friend G for finding this article, ed.
These coaches will ride carousel next year
Jeff Goodman / FOXSports.com
Now that the coaching carousel has basically come to an end this season, the only natural thing to do is take a look at those who might be on the move next season. We'll give you a breakdown of 10 head coaches who could have new jobs and then 10 assistants who should be in the mix for head jobs.
First, here are 10 head coaches who should be "hot" names in about 11 months or so.
1. Anthony Grant, VCU: He's the hottest young coach out there. A protégé of Billy Donovan, the 41-year-old Grant has the charisma and intelligence, and quickly earned the respect of his players and peers in his rookie season with the Rams. He won a school-record 28 games — with the biggest being a first-round upset over Duke.
2. Tony Bennett, Washington State: We know he signed a long-term extension to remain in Pullman, but there will still be plenty of options after next season — and depending on his buyout, he'll be able to leave for a more attractive situation, probably in the Big Ten. The 37-year-old won 26 games in his first season taking over for his father, Dick, and led the Cougars to their first NCAA tournament win in 24 years.
3. Tom Crean, Marquette: It's hard to tell what's going to open, but expect Crean to be in demand for any of the elite jobs. He's done a terrific job at Marquette and is a tireless worker. The Golden Eagles have won at least 19 games in each of Crean's last seven seasons at the helm.
3. Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois: Lowery is another one who inked a hefty, multi-year deal (seven years for $750,000 per season), but if the Salukis make another NCAA tournament run, expect the big boys to finally come hard after him. Lowery, 34, won a school-record 29 games a year ago and was the youngest coach in the Big Dance.
4. Mark Fox, Nevada: His name wasn't tossed around in the off-season as much as it should have been, but Fox has done a terrific job since he took over the program. His record is 81-18 in his three years and he has gone to the NCAA tournament each season.
5. Reggie Theus, New Mexico State: The natural fit is for Theus to go to his alma mater, UNLV, when Lon Kruger leaves. However, no one really knows whether Kruger wants out of Vegas or not. Theus' Aggies could win the WAC and that should mean that some of the big boys will come calling. Also, let's not forget that he worked for Louisville coach Rick Pitino — who has plenty of juice when it comes to who gets hired.
6. Brad Brownell, Wright State: One of the most underrated coaches in the country. Enjoyed success at UNC-Wilmington before a rift with the administration basically forced him to take the Wright State job. He picked up right where he left off, taking his new team to the NCAA tournament this past season and finishing 23-10. His career coaching mark in five seasons: 106-50.
7. Cliff Warren, Jacksonsville: Won just one game his first season at the helm and had his program contending for the league crown this past season. If he can put up 20 or so wins this year, he'll be a hot commodity after the year.
8. Randy Rahe, Weber State: Took over a program and brought in a ton of new players — and still managed to have success this past season. Weber State went 20-12 and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.
9. John Calipari, Memphis: No matter what, Calipari always finds a way to get his name involved in coaching rumors. Next year will be no different. He likes the attention and will talk to virtually anyone about an opening.
10. Andy Kennedy, Mississippi: He's entering his second season and is from the state, but he'll get some looks because he'll have the Rebels once again in contention for the NCAA tournament.
Here are 10 assistant coaches who could make the jump and run their own program in 2008.
1. Derek Kellogg, Memphis: The Tigers are among the best teams in the country and Kellogg is a major reason why.
2. Chris Collins, Duke: If he's smart, he waits for the right opening. We know that former Coach K assistants haven't all had a stellar track record, but Collins will be a star one day.
3. Robert Burke, Georgetown: Burke watched his two fellow assistants, Kevin Broadus (Binghamton) and Sydney Johnson (Princeton) get jobs. Next year it'll be his turn.
4. Mark Montgomery, Michigan State: He's a Tom Izzo assistant and the Spartans will be among the best teams in the country next season.
5. Philip Pearson, Alabama: If Ron Steele hadn't been injured all season, the Crimson Tide would have fared much better — and Pearson would have already earned a head gig. It should happen next year.
6. John Groce, Ohio State: Obviously the Buckeyes will be down a little bit, but Groce is waiting for the right job to come along.
7. Joe Dooley, Kansas: He had one shot at East Carolina when he was very young — and Dooley should get another crack at it soon.
8. Rob Senderoff, Indiana: Has done a terrific job at Kent State and now at Indiana. With the Hoosiers back among the nation's elite teams, he'll be in the mix.
9. Josh Pastner, Arizona: With a couple of jobs certain to open in Texas, the energetic Wildcats assistant should be in line for something after the season.
10. Mike Hopkins, Syracuse: The only thing here is that Hopkins is the heir apparent once Jim Boeheim retires. His name may be tossed around, but it would have to be a terrific situation for him to leave the Orange.
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at GoodmanonFOX@aol.com.
These coaches will ride carousel next year
Jeff Goodman / FOXSports.com
Now that the coaching carousel has basically come to an end this season, the only natural thing to do is take a look at those who might be on the move next season. We'll give you a breakdown of 10 head coaches who could have new jobs and then 10 assistants who should be in the mix for head jobs.
First, here are 10 head coaches who should be "hot" names in about 11 months or so.
1. Anthony Grant, VCU: He's the hottest young coach out there. A protégé of Billy Donovan, the 41-year-old Grant has the charisma and intelligence, and quickly earned the respect of his players and peers in his rookie season with the Rams. He won a school-record 28 games — with the biggest being a first-round upset over Duke.
2. Tony Bennett, Washington State: We know he signed a long-term extension to remain in Pullman, but there will still be plenty of options after next season — and depending on his buyout, he'll be able to leave for a more attractive situation, probably in the Big Ten. The 37-year-old won 26 games in his first season taking over for his father, Dick, and led the Cougars to their first NCAA tournament win in 24 years.
3. Tom Crean, Marquette: It's hard to tell what's going to open, but expect Crean to be in demand for any of the elite jobs. He's done a terrific job at Marquette and is a tireless worker. The Golden Eagles have won at least 19 games in each of Crean's last seven seasons at the helm.
3. Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois: Lowery is another one who inked a hefty, multi-year deal (seven years for $750,000 per season), but if the Salukis make another NCAA tournament run, expect the big boys to finally come hard after him. Lowery, 34, won a school-record 29 games a year ago and was the youngest coach in the Big Dance.
4. Mark Fox, Nevada: His name wasn't tossed around in the off-season as much as it should have been, but Fox has done a terrific job since he took over the program. His record is 81-18 in his three years and he has gone to the NCAA tournament each season.
5. Reggie Theus, New Mexico State: The natural fit is for Theus to go to his alma mater, UNLV, when Lon Kruger leaves. However, no one really knows whether Kruger wants out of Vegas or not. Theus' Aggies could win the WAC and that should mean that some of the big boys will come calling. Also, let's not forget that he worked for Louisville coach Rick Pitino — who has plenty of juice when it comes to who gets hired.
6. Brad Brownell, Wright State: One of the most underrated coaches in the country. Enjoyed success at UNC-Wilmington before a rift with the administration basically forced him to take the Wright State job. He picked up right where he left off, taking his new team to the NCAA tournament this past season and finishing 23-10. His career coaching mark in five seasons: 106-50.
7. Cliff Warren, Jacksonsville: Won just one game his first season at the helm and had his program contending for the league crown this past season. If he can put up 20 or so wins this year, he'll be a hot commodity after the year.
8. Randy Rahe, Weber State: Took over a program and brought in a ton of new players — and still managed to have success this past season. Weber State went 20-12 and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.
9. John Calipari, Memphis: No matter what, Calipari always finds a way to get his name involved in coaching rumors. Next year will be no different. He likes the attention and will talk to virtually anyone about an opening.
10. Andy Kennedy, Mississippi: He's entering his second season and is from the state, but he'll get some looks because he'll have the Rebels once again in contention for the NCAA tournament.
Here are 10 assistant coaches who could make the jump and run their own program in 2008.
1. Derek Kellogg, Memphis: The Tigers are among the best teams in the country and Kellogg is a major reason why.
2. Chris Collins, Duke: If he's smart, he waits for the right opening. We know that former Coach K assistants haven't all had a stellar track record, but Collins will be a star one day.
3. Robert Burke, Georgetown: Burke watched his two fellow assistants, Kevin Broadus (Binghamton) and Sydney Johnson (Princeton) get jobs. Next year it'll be his turn.
4. Mark Montgomery, Michigan State: He's a Tom Izzo assistant and the Spartans will be among the best teams in the country next season.
5. Philip Pearson, Alabama: If Ron Steele hadn't been injured all season, the Crimson Tide would have fared much better — and Pearson would have already earned a head gig. It should happen next year.
6. John Groce, Ohio State: Obviously the Buckeyes will be down a little bit, but Groce is waiting for the right job to come along.
7. Joe Dooley, Kansas: He had one shot at East Carolina when he was very young — and Dooley should get another crack at it soon.
8. Rob Senderoff, Indiana: Has done a terrific job at Kent State and now at Indiana. With the Hoosiers back among the nation's elite teams, he'll be in the mix.
9. Josh Pastner, Arizona: With a couple of jobs certain to open in Texas, the energetic Wildcats assistant should be in line for something after the season.
10. Mike Hopkins, Syracuse: The only thing here is that Hopkins is the heir apparent once Jim Boeheim retires. His name may be tossed around, but it would have to be a terrific situation for him to leave the Orange.
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at GoodmanonFOX@aol.com.
Tigers Attendance Steady
Memphis Tigers Basketball Attendance Steady
Last Update: Apr 30, 2007 10:14 PM
Posted By: Jamie Griffin
Memphis basketball attendance statistics the past two seasons reflect back-to-back Elite Eight campaigns. Once again the Tigers averaged more than 14,000 tickets sold per home game in 2006-2007.
The Tigers experienced a minor drop in attendance despite playing fewer high powered teams at FedExForum in '06-'07. In '05-'06 the Tigers' non-conference home schedule included Tennessee, Gonzaga, and Texas; all NCAA Tournament teams that season.
This past season top home opponents for the Tigers included Cincinnati and Ole Miss, two teams that failed to make it to the Big Dance the past two years.
Below are the numbers:
Season, number of home games, total attendance, average attendance
'05-'06, 20 games, 297,328, 14,867
'06-'07, 19 games, 276,014, 14, 527
Statistics from the University of Memphis
Last Update: Apr 30, 2007 10:14 PM
Posted By: Jamie Griffin
Memphis basketball attendance statistics the past two seasons reflect back-to-back Elite Eight campaigns. Once again the Tigers averaged more than 14,000 tickets sold per home game in 2006-2007.
The Tigers experienced a minor drop in attendance despite playing fewer high powered teams at FedExForum in '06-'07. In '05-'06 the Tigers' non-conference home schedule included Tennessee, Gonzaga, and Texas; all NCAA Tournament teams that season.
This past season top home opponents for the Tigers included Cincinnati and Ole Miss, two teams that failed to make it to the Big Dance the past two years.
Below are the numbers:
Season, number of home games, total attendance, average attendance
'05-'06, 20 games, 297,328, 14,867
'06-'07, 19 games, 276,014, 14, 527
Statistics from the University of Memphis
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
ESPN.com's Andy Katz Picks Memphis Preseason #1
After losing no one, Memphis takes top spot
By Andy Katz,ESPN.com
Why not Memphis?
Why not tab the Tigers as a possible pre-preseason No. 1?
John Calipari is hoping a more mature Joey Dorsey returns to anchor the post.
The deadline to declare for the NBA draft was Sunday night. Of all the potential favorites, Memphis was the only team that didn't get hit. And if you watched any of the high school all-star games the past month, you know the Tigers are adding one of the best players in the country in big guard Derrick Rose.
So add in Rose, along with another high school senior stud in wing Jeff Robinson, to a core of players like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Robert Dozier, Joey Dorsey, Antonio Anderson, Doneal Mack, Willie Kemp, Andre Allen and Kareem Cooper, and you have the makings of a potential national champ.
Remember, this core group has been in back-to-back Elite Eight games. They have the experience. They are clearly winners. The only departure is senior Jeremy Hunt, whose toughness, according to Memphis coach John Calipari, will be replaced by Rose.
"It's scary," Calipari said Sunday. "Everybody lost somebody except for us.
"Derrick Rose will blend in with our team and both he and Jeff are physically strong, tough kids."
Oh, by the way, the Tigers also had 6-foot-10 Iowa State transfer Shawn Taggart sitting out last season, and he should help in the post immediately.
"Adding him in the mix, and it being Joey's senior year with the hope that he'll be a bit smarter and more mature helps us," Calipari said, alluding to Dorsey's goading of Greg Oden prior to their Elite Eight showdown.
"You can make a case [for us as No. 1]. Everyone talks about our offense but we were in the top 10 defensively in three categories."
Actually, Memphis was No. 12 in field-goal defense (39 percent), 14th in steals (9.3) and 12th in blocked shots (5.9), none of which is too shabby at all.
"We've got a terrific defense coming back, too," Calipari said.
Memphis will have the schedule, once again, to back up the talent. The Tigers, who finished 33-4 (16-0 Conference USA) and didn't lose a game between Dec. 20 and March 24, will play Arizona (Dec. 29), Gonzaga (Jan. 19, 2008) and Tennessee (Feb. 23, 2008) at home. Calipari said he purposely spread out these three nonconference games around the C-USA schedule. But that's not it, either. Memphis is in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, with potential meetings against Connecticut, Kentucky and/or Oklahoma in New York. The Tigers play USC in the Jimmy V Classic in New York, at Ole Miss and at Cincinnati, and take on Middle Tennessee State as part of a doubleheader in Nashville (Tennessee plays Western Kentucky in the other game).
The buy games -- against Holy Cross, Pepperdine and possibly Appalachian State -- aren't a cakewalk, either. And Conference USA should be much better with Robert Vaden and Walter Sharpe eligible to play for UAB after transferring from Indiana and Mississippi State, respectively.
So why not make Memphis No. 1?
OK, I will.
By Andy Katz,ESPN.com
Why not Memphis?
Why not tab the Tigers as a possible pre-preseason No. 1?
John Calipari is hoping a more mature Joey Dorsey returns to anchor the post.
The deadline to declare for the NBA draft was Sunday night. Of all the potential favorites, Memphis was the only team that didn't get hit. And if you watched any of the high school all-star games the past month, you know the Tigers are adding one of the best players in the country in big guard Derrick Rose.
So add in Rose, along with another high school senior stud in wing Jeff Robinson, to a core of players like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Robert Dozier, Joey Dorsey, Antonio Anderson, Doneal Mack, Willie Kemp, Andre Allen and Kareem Cooper, and you have the makings of a potential national champ.
Remember, this core group has been in back-to-back Elite Eight games. They have the experience. They are clearly winners. The only departure is senior Jeremy Hunt, whose toughness, according to Memphis coach John Calipari, will be replaced by Rose.
"It's scary," Calipari said Sunday. "Everybody lost somebody except for us.
"Derrick Rose will blend in with our team and both he and Jeff are physically strong, tough kids."
Oh, by the way, the Tigers also had 6-foot-10 Iowa State transfer Shawn Taggart sitting out last season, and he should help in the post immediately.
"Adding him in the mix, and it being Joey's senior year with the hope that he'll be a bit smarter and more mature helps us," Calipari said, alluding to Dorsey's goading of Greg Oden prior to their Elite Eight showdown.
"You can make a case [for us as No. 1]. Everyone talks about our offense but we were in the top 10 defensively in three categories."
Actually, Memphis was No. 12 in field-goal defense (39 percent), 14th in steals (9.3) and 12th in blocked shots (5.9), none of which is too shabby at all.
"We've got a terrific defense coming back, too," Calipari said.
Memphis will have the schedule, once again, to back up the talent. The Tigers, who finished 33-4 (16-0 Conference USA) and didn't lose a game between Dec. 20 and March 24, will play Arizona (Dec. 29), Gonzaga (Jan. 19, 2008) and Tennessee (Feb. 23, 2008) at home. Calipari said he purposely spread out these three nonconference games around the C-USA schedule. But that's not it, either. Memphis is in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, with potential meetings against Connecticut, Kentucky and/or Oklahoma in New York. The Tigers play USC in the Jimmy V Classic in New York, at Ole Miss and at Cincinnati, and take on Middle Tennessee State as part of a doubleheader in Nashville (Tennessee plays Western Kentucky in the other game).
The buy games -- against Holy Cross, Pepperdine and possibly Appalachian State -- aren't a cakewalk, either. And Conference USA should be much better with Robert Vaden and Walter Sharpe eligible to play for UAB after transferring from Indiana and Mississippi State, respectively.
So why not make Memphis No. 1?
OK, I will.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Raise Lifts Cal Into Top Salary Tier
Raise lifts Cal into top salary tier
Memphis' John Calipari has joined a select group of college basketball coaches near the top of the salary chart. He makes more than $1.8 million
By Dan Wolken
April 29, 2007
John Calipari's latest raise from the University of Memphis makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.
According to a copy of the contract amendment he signed earlier this month, Calipari received a raise of more than $500,000, bringing his total guaranteed compensation to $1.816 million per year.
While Calipari's base salary remained the same at $155,000, his radio/television appearance money was increased from $460,000 to $733,000. His compensation for public relations activities went from $385,000 to $658,922.
Calipari's athletic shoe, apparel and/or equipment guarantee went from $300,000 to $270,000, with the $30,000 difference being re-distributed equally to assistants John Robic, Derek Kellogg and Chuck Martin.
The only other change in Calipari's contract regards the bonus for won/loss record and graduation rates. Previously, if Memphis won 81 percent of its games and graduated 60 percent of its players, Calipari received a bonus of $160,000. Now, instead of using the graduation rate, the bonus will be based on the NCAA's four-year academic performance rating called the APR.
If Memphis achieves an APR of 925 -- the NCAA cutoff point before sanctions are issued against a school -- Calipari is eligible to collect the bonus.
Calipari will still collect a $2.5 million annuity if he stays at Memphis through the 2009-10 season.
With this most recent raise, Calipari is now near the top 10 in college coaching salaries. Only a handful of coaches make $2 million or more, including North Carolina's Roy Williams ($3 million), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (reportedly $3 million), Kentucky's Billy Gillispie ($2.3 million), Ohio State's Thad Matta ($2.1 million), Louisville's Rick Pitino ($2 million), Texas' Rick Barnes ($2 million) and Florida's Billy Donovan (his raise is currently under negotiation).
Calipari's financial package is now on par with the likes of Michigan State's Tom Izzo ($1.8 million) and Marquette's Tom Crean ($1.7 million).
Calipari received roughly a $300,000 raise after the 2005-06 season, when he coached the Tigers to a 33-4 record and an Elite Eight appearance. This year, athletic director R.C. Johnson approached Calipari about a contract renegotiation the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
On the heels of another 33-4 record and second straight Elite Eight, Memphis will likely be ranked in the top three of all preseason polls for 2007-08.
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Memphis' John Calipari has joined a select group of college basketball coaches near the top of the salary chart. He makes more than $1.8 million
By Dan Wolken
April 29, 2007
John Calipari's latest raise from the University of Memphis makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball.
According to a copy of the contract amendment he signed earlier this month, Calipari received a raise of more than $500,000, bringing his total guaranteed compensation to $1.816 million per year.
While Calipari's base salary remained the same at $155,000, his radio/television appearance money was increased from $460,000 to $733,000. His compensation for public relations activities went from $385,000 to $658,922.
Calipari's athletic shoe, apparel and/or equipment guarantee went from $300,000 to $270,000, with the $30,000 difference being re-distributed equally to assistants John Robic, Derek Kellogg and Chuck Martin.
The only other change in Calipari's contract regards the bonus for won/loss record and graduation rates. Previously, if Memphis won 81 percent of its games and graduated 60 percent of its players, Calipari received a bonus of $160,000. Now, instead of using the graduation rate, the bonus will be based on the NCAA's four-year academic performance rating called the APR.
If Memphis achieves an APR of 925 -- the NCAA cutoff point before sanctions are issued against a school -- Calipari is eligible to collect the bonus.
Calipari will still collect a $2.5 million annuity if he stays at Memphis through the 2009-10 season.
With this most recent raise, Calipari is now near the top 10 in college coaching salaries. Only a handful of coaches make $2 million or more, including North Carolina's Roy Williams ($3 million), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (reportedly $3 million), Kentucky's Billy Gillispie ($2.3 million), Ohio State's Thad Matta ($2.1 million), Louisville's Rick Pitino ($2 million), Texas' Rick Barnes ($2 million) and Florida's Billy Donovan (his raise is currently under negotiation).
Calipari's financial package is now on par with the likes of Michigan State's Tom Izzo ($1.8 million) and Marquette's Tom Crean ($1.7 million).
Calipari received roughly a $300,000 raise after the 2005-06 season, when he coached the Tigers to a 33-4 record and an Elite Eight appearance. This year, athletic director R.C. Johnson approached Calipari about a contract renegotiation the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
On the heels of another 33-4 record and second straight Elite Eight, Memphis will likely be ranked in the top three of all preseason polls for 2007-08.
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Cal Will Recruit Actively for 2008, Potential Mass Exodus to NBA
Calipari will recruit actively
Mass exodus of talent could follow '08 season
By Dan Wolken
April 29, 2007
Technically, the University of Memphis has just one scholarship to give for 2008: the one currently occupied by senior-to-be Joey Dorsey. Coach John Calipari said this week, however, he wants to sign as many as five players for the class of 2008.
It's not hard to read between the lines.
"In all likelihood," Calipari said, "we're going to clear the decks in another year."
While Memphis has escaped this spring without any early defections to the NBA Draft, Calipari is not expecting the same thing next April. If the Tigers have the kind of season most people expect -- which is to say, a Final Four-type season -- Calipari is ready to re-stock his roster for 2008-09.
"Obviously Joey will leave and maybe two, three, four of the other guys will have an opportunity to go if we do something unique," Calipari said.
Certainly, Calipari will have to replace incoming point guard Derrick Rose. It would be a huge surprise if Rose, a projected top-three pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, stays at Memphis for more than one year. Chris Douglas-Roberts could also be a candidate to leave after his junior year. The Web site nbadraft.net currently projects Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers' leading scorer last season, as a late first-round pick in 2008. If forward Robert Dozier has a big junior year, he too could explore leaving early.
Calipari also hinted at the possibility a scholarship will open up this summer, which he would save for the 2008 class.
"This year we only had 12 guys on scholarship," he said. "Next year, I bet you we'll only have 12 guys on scholarship."
For that to happen, somebody currently on the roster would have to transfer. Though all is quiet on that front, it wouldn't be a surprise if one of Memphis' little-used scholarship players leaves after the school year ends.
For Tre'Von Willis, Hashim Bailey and perhaps even Kareem Cooper, it will be a struggle to break into the rotation next season. With Rose, Jeff Robinson and Iowa State transfer Shawn Taggart coming into the fold -- and all three are expected to contribute -- the Tigers project to have a 10- or 11-man rotation.
The wild card is freshman Pierre Niles. If he commits himself to a rigorous summer conditioning program, he'll get plenty of minutes as Dozier's backup, which is something Memphis lacked last season.
As far as who would fill the open scholarships, two of them are already spoken for. Twin forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris, who signed letters of intent last fall, will go to prep school as expected. With the three remaining slots, Calipari is looking for a wing, a guard and an athletic big man.
Though it's still early, Memphis is recruiting a number of highly rated players for the 2008 class. St. George's guard Elliot Williams has been a top target all along, but he is thought to be favoring Virginia or Vanderbilt.
The Tigers are also heavily involved with other guards like Tyreke Evans of Aston, Pa. (ranked fifth overall by Rivals.com), Jordan Theodore of Paterson, N.J. (ranked 56th), Chicago's DeAndre Liggins (ranked 90th), Craigmont's Terrico White and Brian Walsh, who is from Calipari's hometown of Moon, Pa.
Memphis is also looking at several big men, including 6-9 Laron Dendy, a borderline top-50 player who originally committed to Clemson but has re-opened his recruitment and is listing Memphis among a number of schools including Arizona, Texas, Maryland and Florida State.
Camp dates
Memphis is now taking applications for the John Calipari Basketball School with four camps for ages 7 through 18.
The first camp from June 4-7 focuses on practice skills and work habits and costs $175. The second, Mike Miller's shooting camp, runs from June 11-13 and costs $175. The Elite Overnight camp is June 15-17 and is $185. From June 25-28, Rod Strickland will run a camp with appearances by NBA players. The camp costs $225.
More information and registration can be obtained at coachcalipari.com or by calling 678-2346.
Back again
The Memphis radio broadcast team will return intact for 2007-08.
Learfield Sports, the parent company of Tiger Sports Properties, recently renewed the contracts of play-by-play man Dave Woloshin, color commentator Matt Dillon and studio host Forrest Goodman for another year. Jeff Brightwell has also been retained as the engineer.
Dillon and Goodman will continue to co-host the pre- and post-game shows on WREC-AM (600).
Dillon is entering his 35th season calling Memphis basketball on either television or radio.
Etc.: Memphis' non-conference schedule, the details of which were reported in last Wednesday's editions of The Commercial Appeal, is based on a 16-game Conference USA slate. At one point, Calipari was going to lobby his league coaches to go back to the 14-game schedule used in 2005-06. But with other leagues going to an 18-game schedule, including the Big East, Calipari said he was fine with 16 C-USA games. ...Calipari will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday night at AutoZone Park for the UofM's baseball game against Ole Miss. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
To reach reporter Dan Wolken, call 529-2365
Mass exodus of talent could follow '08 season
By Dan Wolken
April 29, 2007
Technically, the University of Memphis has just one scholarship to give for 2008: the one currently occupied by senior-to-be Joey Dorsey. Coach John Calipari said this week, however, he wants to sign as many as five players for the class of 2008.
It's not hard to read between the lines.
"In all likelihood," Calipari said, "we're going to clear the decks in another year."
While Memphis has escaped this spring without any early defections to the NBA Draft, Calipari is not expecting the same thing next April. If the Tigers have the kind of season most people expect -- which is to say, a Final Four-type season -- Calipari is ready to re-stock his roster for 2008-09.
"Obviously Joey will leave and maybe two, three, four of the other guys will have an opportunity to go if we do something unique," Calipari said.
Certainly, Calipari will have to replace incoming point guard Derrick Rose. It would be a huge surprise if Rose, a projected top-three pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, stays at Memphis for more than one year. Chris Douglas-Roberts could also be a candidate to leave after his junior year. The Web site nbadraft.net currently projects Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers' leading scorer last season, as a late first-round pick in 2008. If forward Robert Dozier has a big junior year, he too could explore leaving early.
Calipari also hinted at the possibility a scholarship will open up this summer, which he would save for the 2008 class.
"This year we only had 12 guys on scholarship," he said. "Next year, I bet you we'll only have 12 guys on scholarship."
For that to happen, somebody currently on the roster would have to transfer. Though all is quiet on that front, it wouldn't be a surprise if one of Memphis' little-used scholarship players leaves after the school year ends.
For Tre'Von Willis, Hashim Bailey and perhaps even Kareem Cooper, it will be a struggle to break into the rotation next season. With Rose, Jeff Robinson and Iowa State transfer Shawn Taggart coming into the fold -- and all three are expected to contribute -- the Tigers project to have a 10- or 11-man rotation.
The wild card is freshman Pierre Niles. If he commits himself to a rigorous summer conditioning program, he'll get plenty of minutes as Dozier's backup, which is something Memphis lacked last season.
As far as who would fill the open scholarships, two of them are already spoken for. Twin forwards Marcus and Markieff Morris, who signed letters of intent last fall, will go to prep school as expected. With the three remaining slots, Calipari is looking for a wing, a guard and an athletic big man.
Though it's still early, Memphis is recruiting a number of highly rated players for the 2008 class. St. George's guard Elliot Williams has been a top target all along, but he is thought to be favoring Virginia or Vanderbilt.
The Tigers are also heavily involved with other guards like Tyreke Evans of Aston, Pa. (ranked fifth overall by Rivals.com), Jordan Theodore of Paterson, N.J. (ranked 56th), Chicago's DeAndre Liggins (ranked 90th), Craigmont's Terrico White and Brian Walsh, who is from Calipari's hometown of Moon, Pa.
Memphis is also looking at several big men, including 6-9 Laron Dendy, a borderline top-50 player who originally committed to Clemson but has re-opened his recruitment and is listing Memphis among a number of schools including Arizona, Texas, Maryland and Florida State.
Camp dates
Memphis is now taking applications for the John Calipari Basketball School with four camps for ages 7 through 18.
The first camp from June 4-7 focuses on practice skills and work habits and costs $175. The second, Mike Miller's shooting camp, runs from June 11-13 and costs $175. The Elite Overnight camp is June 15-17 and is $185. From June 25-28, Rod Strickland will run a camp with appearances by NBA players. The camp costs $225.
More information and registration can be obtained at coachcalipari.com or by calling 678-2346.
Back again
The Memphis radio broadcast team will return intact for 2007-08.
Learfield Sports, the parent company of Tiger Sports Properties, recently renewed the contracts of play-by-play man Dave Woloshin, color commentator Matt Dillon and studio host Forrest Goodman for another year. Jeff Brightwell has also been retained as the engineer.
Dillon and Goodman will continue to co-host the pre- and post-game shows on WREC-AM (600).
Dillon is entering his 35th season calling Memphis basketball on either television or radio.
Etc.: Memphis' non-conference schedule, the details of which were reported in last Wednesday's editions of The Commercial Appeal, is based on a 16-game Conference USA slate. At one point, Calipari was going to lobby his league coaches to go back to the 14-game schedule used in 2005-06. But with other leagues going to an 18-game schedule, including the Big East, Calipari said he was fine with 16 C-USA games. ...Calipari will throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday night at AutoZone Park for the UofM's baseball game against Ole Miss. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
To reach reporter Dan Wolken, call 529-2365
Cal Says He 'Over-Scheduled' With Arizona, Gonzaga, Others
Tigers vs. Vols on TV beefs up schedule
Calipari says he 'over scheduled' with Arizona, Gonzaga, others
By Dan Wolken
April 25, 2007
There are still a few details to work out, a handful of dates to finalize. But the University of Memphis' non-conference basketball schedule for 2007-08 is practically done, and it includes challenges at every turn.
Perhaps the biggest of those will occur Feb. 23, when Memphis hosts Tennessee in what could be a matchup of two top-10 teams. ESPN has already committed to the game as its feature that night, and the network's "College GameDay" broadcast will originate from Memphis.
Memphis will face at least three more teams that project to be in the top-25, hosting Arizona on Dec. 29 and Gonzaga on Jan. 19.
The schedule also includes a December trip to New York to face Southern Cal in a made for TV game. That contest will be billed as a matchup of arguably the top freshmen guards in the country in Derrick Rose and USC's O.J. Mayo.
The Tigers will likely make another trip to New York to start the season in the Coaches vs. Cancer event.
Should Memphis win two games at FedExForum against mid-major level opponents -- those are still unknown at this point -- it will advance to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals. The other regional hosts are Connecticut, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
Memphis will play two true road games during the non-conference schedule, traveling to Cincinnati and Ole Miss.
"I probably overscheduled again this year," coach John Calipari said. "But if you're going to do it, this is probably the year."
The Tigers will play Middle Tennessee State at the Nashville Arena -- that game might be part of a double-header with Tennessee and another regional school -- and round out its schedule with home games against Pepperdine, Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Arkansas State and Austin Peay.
Those "buy games" were chosen to help boost the Tigers' strength of schedule. Appalachian State, for instance, just missed an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament last season after going 25-7 including victories over Vanderbilt and Virginia.
Holy Cross won the Patriot League last season and lost to Southern Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Ralph Willard, who coaches Holy Cross, upset Memphis in the 1993 NCAA Tournament when he coached at Western Kentucky.
Though Pepperdine struggled to an 8-23 record, that team is expected to be better next season with a solid recruiting class coming in. Pepperdine is coached by Calipari's friend, Vance Walberg, who created the offensive system Memphis now runs.
Arkansas State, Austin Peay and Middle Tennessee were kept on the schedule because Calipari believes they are going to be competitive in their respective leagues.
"Those teams are going to win 20 games," Calipari said.
The date of the Tennessee matchup is intriguing, because non-conference games are very rarely played that late in the season. Calipari's scheduling philosophy -- especially since Conference USA's reorganization -- has been to play one big non-conference game in January and one in February.
The date of the Memphis-Tennessee game has been a point of contention for both sides the last two years, with UT coach Bruce Pearl unhappy that the 2005-06 game was played in January and Calipari upset last season that the Tigers had to go to Knoxville and play their third game in five days.
But the amount of exposure ESPN will generate for this game is something both coaches can agree on.
"ESPN's 'GameDay' will be there, and we're assured of tremendous exposure all day long because they'll be broadcasting from the early morning,'' Pearl told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. "Normally, I would prefer to play the game during the traditional non-conference portion of our schedule.''
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
TIGER BASKETBALL
2007-08 non-conference opponents
Unless noted, dates have not been determined:
At FedExForum
Arizona (Dec. 29), Gonzaga (Jan. 19), Tennessee (Feb. 23), Pepperdine, Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Austin Peay
On the road
Ole Miss, Cincinnati
At Nashville
Middle Tennessee
At New York
USC (in Jimmy V Classic), Coaches vs. Cancer Classic
Calipari says he 'over scheduled' with Arizona, Gonzaga, others
By Dan Wolken
April 25, 2007
There are still a few details to work out, a handful of dates to finalize. But the University of Memphis' non-conference basketball schedule for 2007-08 is practically done, and it includes challenges at every turn.
Perhaps the biggest of those will occur Feb. 23, when Memphis hosts Tennessee in what could be a matchup of two top-10 teams. ESPN has already committed to the game as its feature that night, and the network's "College GameDay" broadcast will originate from Memphis.
Memphis will face at least three more teams that project to be in the top-25, hosting Arizona on Dec. 29 and Gonzaga on Jan. 19.
The schedule also includes a December trip to New York to face Southern Cal in a made for TV game. That contest will be billed as a matchup of arguably the top freshmen guards in the country in Derrick Rose and USC's O.J. Mayo.
The Tigers will likely make another trip to New York to start the season in the Coaches vs. Cancer event.
Should Memphis win two games at FedExForum against mid-major level opponents -- those are still unknown at this point -- it will advance to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals. The other regional hosts are Connecticut, Oklahoma and Kentucky.
Memphis will play two true road games during the non-conference schedule, traveling to Cincinnati and Ole Miss.
"I probably overscheduled again this year," coach John Calipari said. "But if you're going to do it, this is probably the year."
The Tigers will play Middle Tennessee State at the Nashville Arena -- that game might be part of a double-header with Tennessee and another regional school -- and round out its schedule with home games against Pepperdine, Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Arkansas State and Austin Peay.
Those "buy games" were chosen to help boost the Tigers' strength of schedule. Appalachian State, for instance, just missed an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament last season after going 25-7 including victories over Vanderbilt and Virginia.
Holy Cross won the Patriot League last season and lost to Southern Illinois in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Ralph Willard, who coaches Holy Cross, upset Memphis in the 1993 NCAA Tournament when he coached at Western Kentucky.
Though Pepperdine struggled to an 8-23 record, that team is expected to be better next season with a solid recruiting class coming in. Pepperdine is coached by Calipari's friend, Vance Walberg, who created the offensive system Memphis now runs.
Arkansas State, Austin Peay and Middle Tennessee were kept on the schedule because Calipari believes they are going to be competitive in their respective leagues.
"Those teams are going to win 20 games," Calipari said.
The date of the Tennessee matchup is intriguing, because non-conference games are very rarely played that late in the season. Calipari's scheduling philosophy -- especially since Conference USA's reorganization -- has been to play one big non-conference game in January and one in February.
The date of the Memphis-Tennessee game has been a point of contention for both sides the last two years, with UT coach Bruce Pearl unhappy that the 2005-06 game was played in January and Calipari upset last season that the Tigers had to go to Knoxville and play their third game in five days.
But the amount of exposure ESPN will generate for this game is something both coaches can agree on.
"ESPN's 'GameDay' will be there, and we're assured of tremendous exposure all day long because they'll be broadcasting from the early morning,'' Pearl told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. "Normally, I would prefer to play the game during the traditional non-conference portion of our schedule.''
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
TIGER BASKETBALL
2007-08 non-conference opponents
Unless noted, dates have not been determined:
At FedExForum
Arizona (Dec. 29), Gonzaga (Jan. 19), Tennessee (Feb. 23), Pepperdine, Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Austin Peay
On the road
Ole Miss, Cincinnati
At Nashville
Middle Tennessee
At New York
USC (in Jimmy V Classic), Coaches vs. Cancer Classic
Tigers to Face Vols in Late February 2008
Tigers to face Vols in late February
By Dan Wolken
April 24, 2007
University of Memphis fans will have to wait until Feb. 23rd for the Tigers to host Tennessee next season.
That's just one detail about the 2007-08 nonconference schedule, which coach John Calipari said Tuesday was almost done.
In addition to the Tennessee game, which will be part of ESPN's college basketball GameDay pregame show, Memphis will host Arizona on Dec. 29 and Gonzaga on Jan. 19.
The other home opponents will be Pepperdine, Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Arkansas State and Austin Peay. The Tigers will also play a neutral-site game against Middle Tennessee at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center.
The Tigers will play road games at Ole Miss and Cincinnati and make two trips to New York. The first will be for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, where possible opponents include Kentucky and Connecticut.
The second trip will be to play Southern Cal.
By Dan Wolken
April 24, 2007
University of Memphis fans will have to wait until Feb. 23rd for the Tigers to host Tennessee next season.
That's just one detail about the 2007-08 nonconference schedule, which coach John Calipari said Tuesday was almost done.
In addition to the Tennessee game, which will be part of ESPN's college basketball GameDay pregame show, Memphis will host Arizona on Dec. 29 and Gonzaga on Jan. 19.
The other home opponents will be Pepperdine, Holy Cross, Appalachian State, Arkansas State and Austin Peay. The Tigers will also play a neutral-site game against Middle Tennessee at Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center.
The Tigers will play road games at Ole Miss and Cincinnati and make two trips to New York. The first will be for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, where possible opponents include Kentucky and Connecticut.
The second trip will be to play Southern Cal.
Monday, April 23, 2007
No Summer Vacation for Tigers
No summer vacation for Tigers
By Dan Wolken, Memphis Commercial Appeal
April 22, 2007
The University of Memphis won't hold an official basketball practice for nearly six months, which means this is Richard Hogans' time of year.
And Hogans, the Tigers' director of performance enhancement, hopes his offseason is a busy one.
Though it's becoming more common, Memphis is still one of relatively few programs with a strength and conditioning coach who only works with the basketball team. Coach John Calipari does not require his players to train with Hogans during the summer, but those that don't take advantage do so at their own risk.
"I want to help them all," Hogans, a former UofM football player, said this week. "They're not mandatory workouts, but if you want to win games ..."
For a handful of players who came out of the 2006-07 season either overweight, underweight or injured, there is plenty of incentive to spend a good chunk of their summer in the weight room. With playing time at a premium next year -- Memphis could legitimately go 11 or 12 deep -- only the strong will survive a cutthroat competition for minutes.
Here are some of the players Hogans hopes to see a lot of over the next few months:
Pierre Niles: The 6-8 forward got down to 278 pounds before injuring his knee in the preseason. Now, Niles is weighing in at 315. If he doesn't drop the weight, Niles will be doomed to another season wasting his vast potential on the bench.
"It's going to be easy if he puts his mind to it, but it's all up to Pierre," Hogans said. "I can only give him the guidelines. ... I think he's there. Last year he wasn't there. He wasn't even trying to hear me, but now his mind is starting go, 'Wait, they're serious, I can't play like this. Cal ain't gonna let me play like this so I have to get in shape.'"
Robert Dozier: Though Dozier looked like an NBA player at times in the NCAA Tournament, he got pushed around down low most of the season. The 6-9 Dozier can't afford a repeat of last summer, when he bulked up to 220 pounds but then went home. He weighed in at 205 when he came back, irritating the Memphis coaching staff.
"I want to get him up to 220 or 225, good solid weight," Hogans said. "His frame can hold it. I think that will give him a little more confidence in the post and just make him a little tougher. "
Kareem Cooper: The skilled big man never got in shape last season, weighing as much as 310 pounds (he played at 270 during the 2005-06 season). The coaching staff has tried to cure Cooper of what appears to be a lazy streak, but so far the results have not been there.
"It could be crazy for Kareem," Hogans said. "He's the strongest guy on our team. When he was seriously in here, he was tearing some stuff up."
Shawn Taggart: After spending his transfer season rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, the 6-10 Taggart is finally ready for some serious work. The year off gave him an opportunity to work on his upper body strength, which is a good head start.
"Tag is going to be nice," Hogans said. "He's been grinding and getting in here and doing what he needs to do. He's looking good, he's running good. That's another guy who really needs to get his stuff done this summer."
Hunt hoping
Jeremy Hunt's name isn't showing up on many mock drafts, at least not yet.
But Hunt believes he still has an opportunity to get picked somewhere in the NBA Draft, and the former Tiger will apparently get an opportunity to prove he belongs. Though the official list of participants for the May 29 NBA pre-draft camp won't be distributed until early next month, Hunt said he's already gotten an invitation to Orlando, where he'll get a chance to improve his draft stock against most of the top prospects.
"Worst-case scenario," Hunt said, "I don't get drafted, I try to get on somebody's summer league team, get invited to camp and we'll go from there. That's the worst case."
Whether or not Hunt gets drafted, his performance last season ensured he'll make money playing basketball somewhere in the world. After what turned out to be a year-long suspension from the program for off-court issues, Hunt returned as a fifth-year senior and was the Tigers' second-leading scorer at 14.1 points per game.
Though various injuries over the years have robbed the 6-5 guard from Craigmont High of some of his explosiveness, Hunt showed last season he has true NBA range on his jump shot. He made 89 3-pointers, nearly twice as many as any other Memphis player, many of them coming from well beyond the college 3-point line.
The other factor helping Hunt is his performance on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. In Memphis' Sweet 16 victory over Texas A&M, Hunt had 19 points in 26 minutes on 6-of-12 shooting. He was even better against Ohio State in the Elite Eight, scoring 26 points in 35 minutes and making 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
"To go out with a bang like that, that really helped me," Hunt said.
Hunt has not yet hired an agent, but he's likely to sign with Memphis-based Tim Jumper.
Golf tournament
The Memphis Rebounders are now taking entries through May 11 for the John Calipari Golf Classic on May 17 at The Club at North Creek in Southaven. The format is a four-man scramble, and the registration fee is $150 per person.
Proceeds benefit the Rebounders' Walk of Fame project. Contact Bob Kennedy at bobkenned@earthlink.net for more information.
Etc: Ryan Miller, who worked on Memphis' basketball operations staff from 2003-06, has joined Steve Alford's staff at New Mexico as an assistant coach. Miller, the brother of Grizzlies guard Mike Miller, was an assistant last season at Pepperdine. ... Incoming freshmen Derrick Rose and Jeff Robinson got to team up Saturday for the Jordan All American Game in New York. Both of them played on the "Yellow" team, which was coached by Kevin Boyle, Robinson's coach at St. Patrick's High in Elizabeth, N.J.
To reach Tiger basketball reporter Dan Wolken, call 529-2365
By Dan Wolken, Memphis Commercial Appeal
April 22, 2007
The University of Memphis won't hold an official basketball practice for nearly six months, which means this is Richard Hogans' time of year.
And Hogans, the Tigers' director of performance enhancement, hopes his offseason is a busy one.
Though it's becoming more common, Memphis is still one of relatively few programs with a strength and conditioning coach who only works with the basketball team. Coach John Calipari does not require his players to train with Hogans during the summer, but those that don't take advantage do so at their own risk.
"I want to help them all," Hogans, a former UofM football player, said this week. "They're not mandatory workouts, but if you want to win games ..."
For a handful of players who came out of the 2006-07 season either overweight, underweight or injured, there is plenty of incentive to spend a good chunk of their summer in the weight room. With playing time at a premium next year -- Memphis could legitimately go 11 or 12 deep -- only the strong will survive a cutthroat competition for minutes.
Here are some of the players Hogans hopes to see a lot of over the next few months:
Pierre Niles: The 6-8 forward got down to 278 pounds before injuring his knee in the preseason. Now, Niles is weighing in at 315. If he doesn't drop the weight, Niles will be doomed to another season wasting his vast potential on the bench.
"It's going to be easy if he puts his mind to it, but it's all up to Pierre," Hogans said. "I can only give him the guidelines. ... I think he's there. Last year he wasn't there. He wasn't even trying to hear me, but now his mind is starting go, 'Wait, they're serious, I can't play like this. Cal ain't gonna let me play like this so I have to get in shape.'"
Robert Dozier: Though Dozier looked like an NBA player at times in the NCAA Tournament, he got pushed around down low most of the season. The 6-9 Dozier can't afford a repeat of last summer, when he bulked up to 220 pounds but then went home. He weighed in at 205 when he came back, irritating the Memphis coaching staff.
"I want to get him up to 220 or 225, good solid weight," Hogans said. "His frame can hold it. I think that will give him a little more confidence in the post and just make him a little tougher. "
Kareem Cooper: The skilled big man never got in shape last season, weighing as much as 310 pounds (he played at 270 during the 2005-06 season). The coaching staff has tried to cure Cooper of what appears to be a lazy streak, but so far the results have not been there.
"It could be crazy for Kareem," Hogans said. "He's the strongest guy on our team. When he was seriously in here, he was tearing some stuff up."
Shawn Taggart: After spending his transfer season rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, the 6-10 Taggart is finally ready for some serious work. The year off gave him an opportunity to work on his upper body strength, which is a good head start.
"Tag is going to be nice," Hogans said. "He's been grinding and getting in here and doing what he needs to do. He's looking good, he's running good. That's another guy who really needs to get his stuff done this summer."
Hunt hoping
Jeremy Hunt's name isn't showing up on many mock drafts, at least not yet.
But Hunt believes he still has an opportunity to get picked somewhere in the NBA Draft, and the former Tiger will apparently get an opportunity to prove he belongs. Though the official list of participants for the May 29 NBA pre-draft camp won't be distributed until early next month, Hunt said he's already gotten an invitation to Orlando, where he'll get a chance to improve his draft stock against most of the top prospects.
"Worst-case scenario," Hunt said, "I don't get drafted, I try to get on somebody's summer league team, get invited to camp and we'll go from there. That's the worst case."
Whether or not Hunt gets drafted, his performance last season ensured he'll make money playing basketball somewhere in the world. After what turned out to be a year-long suspension from the program for off-court issues, Hunt returned as a fifth-year senior and was the Tigers' second-leading scorer at 14.1 points per game.
Though various injuries over the years have robbed the 6-5 guard from Craigmont High of some of his explosiveness, Hunt showed last season he has true NBA range on his jump shot. He made 89 3-pointers, nearly twice as many as any other Memphis player, many of them coming from well beyond the college 3-point line.
The other factor helping Hunt is his performance on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. In Memphis' Sweet 16 victory over Texas A&M, Hunt had 19 points in 26 minutes on 6-of-12 shooting. He was even better against Ohio State in the Elite Eight, scoring 26 points in 35 minutes and making 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
"To go out with a bang like that, that really helped me," Hunt said.
Hunt has not yet hired an agent, but he's likely to sign with Memphis-based Tim Jumper.
Golf tournament
The Memphis Rebounders are now taking entries through May 11 for the John Calipari Golf Classic on May 17 at The Club at North Creek in Southaven. The format is a four-man scramble, and the registration fee is $150 per person.
Proceeds benefit the Rebounders' Walk of Fame project. Contact Bob Kennedy at bobkenned@earthlink.net for more information.
Etc: Ryan Miller, who worked on Memphis' basketball operations staff from 2003-06, has joined Steve Alford's staff at New Mexico as an assistant coach. Miller, the brother of Grizzlies guard Mike Miller, was an assistant last season at Pepperdine. ... Incoming freshmen Derrick Rose and Jeff Robinson got to team up Saturday for the Jordan All American Game in New York. Both of them played on the "Yellow" team, which was coached by Kevin Boyle, Robinson's coach at St. Patrick's High in Elizabeth, N.J.
To reach Tiger basketball reporter Dan Wolken, call 529-2365
Thursday, April 19, 2007
John Calipari's Latest Contract Signed and Sealed
John Calipari's Latest Contract Signed and Sealed
Eyewitness News ABC 24 Memphis
Apr 18, 2007 10:53 PM
Posted By: Jamie Griffin
The sixth amendment to Memphis basketball coach John Calipari's contract has been signed. Below are some of the highlights of the new agreement:
1. Calipari's Radio and Television arrangement has been raised from $460,000 to $733,000.
2. Calipari gets a bonus if the Tigers win 74% of their games, and a bigger bonus if the team wins 81% of their contest.
3. Calipari receives a bonus if the team reaches academic goals, based on a system calculated by the NCAA.
4. Calipari's public relations agreement with the university increased from $460,000 to $733,000.
5. $30,000 of Calipari's shoe sponsorship will be paid to the University on the condition that the University use those funds to compensate each of his three assistants coaches $10,000.
Eyewitness News ABC 24 Memphis
Apr 18, 2007 10:53 PM
Posted By: Jamie Griffin
The sixth amendment to Memphis basketball coach John Calipari's contract has been signed. Below are some of the highlights of the new agreement:
1. Calipari's Radio and Television arrangement has been raised from $460,000 to $733,000.
2. Calipari gets a bonus if the Tigers win 74% of their games, and a bigger bonus if the team wins 81% of their contest.
3. Calipari receives a bonus if the team reaches academic goals, based on a system calculated by the NCAA.
4. Calipari's public relations agreement with the university increased from $460,000 to $733,000.
5. $30,000 of Calipari's shoe sponsorship will be paid to the University on the condition that the University use those funds to compensate each of his three assistants coaches $10,000.
Louisville Courier-Journal Columnist Rick Bozich Names '08 Final Four - UNC, Memphis, Louisville, Tennessee
Cards will help fill the vacuum in '08 Final Four
Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal
Only 181 days of fussing remain until practice begins for the next college basketball season. That means I'm overdue to throw the first elbows.
Here it goes: I'm ready with my frontrunners to reach the Final Four in San Antonio -- North Carolina, Memphis, Louisville and Tennessee.
What are you waiting on? Speak up. Last season is soooo yesterday.
Another thing: Last month I lamented a record that our local Big Three -- U of L, the University of Kentucky and Indiana University -- established this season. For the first time since the NCAA bracket expanded to 16 teams in 1951, the Big Three wheezed through back-to-back seasons without one making the Sweet 16.
That streak ends next season. I'm confident of that.
I envision at least two Sweet 16 teams in the group -- U of L and IU. I feel better about the Kentucky program than I've felt in nearly four years, especially if Billy Gillispie and his staff finish the job Tubby Smith could not -- the signing of Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas.
And I expect Western Kentucky to join the party and make the NCAA field next season, too.
Burden of success
Let's get back to the Final Four. Applications are now being taken for serious contenders.
Before you make your list, let me give you a cheat sheet on teams that won't be there: A good place to start is with the teams that gathered in Atlanta several weeks ago, with the possible exception of UCLA.
These are frantic times in college hoops. According to some lists, 18 underclassmen have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft.
So much for the theory that the example set by the four Florida sophomores who returned for their junior seasons would slow the sprint to the NBA.
Success does not breed success. Success breeds an exodus.
Every Final Four team figures to take a super-sized hit. The four Florida juniors are gone. Georgetown's two big men -- Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert -- have made themselves eligible. UCLA has lost top scorer Arron Afflalo. Ohio State could lose three members of its dazzling freshman class.
Stability is key
And that leaves … a vacuum atop the ratings.
The safest place to begin is with North Carolina. The Tar Heels could still lose freshman Brandan Wright. But at least Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and a strong supporting class are returning.
The crowd is also clamoring for Kansas. Can't do that until I'm certain Brandon Rush isn't going to follow Julian Wright out the door.
Stability directs me toward Memphis and Louisville. Memphis returns four starters and adds Derrick Rose to replace Jeremy Hunt. Rose for Hunt? Great trade. As long as Memphis remains in Conference USA, the Tigers will roll to a glittering record and high seed.
Louisville figures to return guys who scored nearly 87 percent of its points and collected about 88 percent of its rebounds. That doesn't put the Cardinals' chance of making the Final Four at 87.5 percent. But I believe Rick Pitino's team deserves its place in the discussion.
As does Tennessee. The Vols return the heart of a team that was one possession away from knocking Ohio State out of the NCAA Tournament. In Chris Lofton, Tennessee will have the nation's best senior guard.
The hot seat has space for others -- Southern California, Oregon, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Washington State, Syracuse … and Indiana.
And the Hoosiers look like at least a Sweet 16 team, with center D.J. White announcing yesterday that he will stay at IU for his senior season, joining freshman guard Eric Gordon and the rest of Kelvin Sampson's powerful recruiting class.
We'll know more -- in 181 days.
Reach Rick Bozich at (502) 582-4650 or rbozich@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/bozich.
Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier-Journal
Only 181 days of fussing remain until practice begins for the next college basketball season. That means I'm overdue to throw the first elbows.
Here it goes: I'm ready with my frontrunners to reach the Final Four in San Antonio -- North Carolina, Memphis, Louisville and Tennessee.
What are you waiting on? Speak up. Last season is soooo yesterday.
Another thing: Last month I lamented a record that our local Big Three -- U of L, the University of Kentucky and Indiana University -- established this season. For the first time since the NCAA bracket expanded to 16 teams in 1951, the Big Three wheezed through back-to-back seasons without one making the Sweet 16.
That streak ends next season. I'm confident of that.
I envision at least two Sweet 16 teams in the group -- U of L and IU. I feel better about the Kentucky program than I've felt in nearly four years, especially if Billy Gillispie and his staff finish the job Tubby Smith could not -- the signing of Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas.
And I expect Western Kentucky to join the party and make the NCAA field next season, too.
Burden of success
Let's get back to the Final Four. Applications are now being taken for serious contenders.
Before you make your list, let me give you a cheat sheet on teams that won't be there: A good place to start is with the teams that gathered in Atlanta several weeks ago, with the possible exception of UCLA.
These are frantic times in college hoops. According to some lists, 18 underclassmen have declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft.
So much for the theory that the example set by the four Florida sophomores who returned for their junior seasons would slow the sprint to the NBA.
Success does not breed success. Success breeds an exodus.
Every Final Four team figures to take a super-sized hit. The four Florida juniors are gone. Georgetown's two big men -- Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert -- have made themselves eligible. UCLA has lost top scorer Arron Afflalo. Ohio State could lose three members of its dazzling freshman class.
Stability is key
And that leaves … a vacuum atop the ratings.
The safest place to begin is with North Carolina. The Tar Heels could still lose freshman Brandan Wright. But at least Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and a strong supporting class are returning.
The crowd is also clamoring for Kansas. Can't do that until I'm certain Brandon Rush isn't going to follow Julian Wright out the door.
Stability directs me toward Memphis and Louisville. Memphis returns four starters and adds Derrick Rose to replace Jeremy Hunt. Rose for Hunt? Great trade. As long as Memphis remains in Conference USA, the Tigers will roll to a glittering record and high seed.
Louisville figures to return guys who scored nearly 87 percent of its points and collected about 88 percent of its rebounds. That doesn't put the Cardinals' chance of making the Final Four at 87.5 percent. But I believe Rick Pitino's team deserves its place in the discussion.
As does Tennessee. The Vols return the heart of a team that was one possession away from knocking Ohio State out of the NCAA Tournament. In Chris Lofton, Tennessee will have the nation's best senior guard.
The hot seat has space for others -- Southern California, Oregon, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Washington State, Syracuse … and Indiana.
And the Hoosiers look like at least a Sweet 16 team, with center D.J. White announcing yesterday that he will stay at IU for his senior season, joining freshman guard Eric Gordon and the rest of Kelvin Sampson's powerful recruiting class.
We'll know more -- in 181 days.
Reach Rick Bozich at (502) 582-4650 or rbozich@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/bozich.
Friday, April 13, 2007
CollegeHoops.net Early All-American Teams - CDR 2nd Team, Derrick Rose 4th Team, Joey Dorsey Mentioned
2007-08 Early All-American Team Projection
April 12th, 2007
By Shawn Siegel, CollegeHoops.net
This early projection of the 2007-08 All-American teams will be updated as official NBA Draft decisions are made.
First Team All-American
G. Sean Singletary
G. Chris Lofton
F. Brandon Rush
F. Julian Wright
F. Tyler Hansbrough
Second Team All-American
G. Darren Collison
G. Chris Douglas-Roberts
G. Drew Neitzel
F. Chase Budinger
C. Brook Lopez
Third Team All-American
G. DJ Augustin
G. Dominic James
F. Terrence Williams
F. Michael Beasley
F. Richard Hendrix
Fouth Team All-American
G. Mike Conley
G. Javaris Crittenton
G. Derrick Rose
F. Ryan Anderson
C. Taj Gibson
Next Ten:
Jon Brockman
JamesOn Curry
Stephen Curry
Wayne Ellington
Josh Heytvelt
Marcelus Kemp
DeMarcus Nelson
Tyrese Rice
Rodney Stuckey
Bill Walker
Others in Consideration: Jeff Adrien, Jaycee Carroll, Dionte Christmas, Joe Crawford, Joey Dorsey, Eric Gordon, AJ Graves, Ty Lawson, Tasmin Mitchell, Jason Smith
April 12th, 2007
By Shawn Siegel, CollegeHoops.net
This early projection of the 2007-08 All-American teams will be updated as official NBA Draft decisions are made.
First Team All-American
G. Sean Singletary
G. Chris Lofton
F. Brandon Rush
F. Julian Wright
F. Tyler Hansbrough
Second Team All-American
G. Darren Collison
G. Chris Douglas-Roberts
G. Drew Neitzel
F. Chase Budinger
C. Brook Lopez
Third Team All-American
G. DJ Augustin
G. Dominic James
F. Terrence Williams
F. Michael Beasley
F. Richard Hendrix
Fouth Team All-American
G. Mike Conley
G. Javaris Crittenton
G. Derrick Rose
F. Ryan Anderson
C. Taj Gibson
Next Ten:
Jon Brockman
JamesOn Curry
Stephen Curry
Wayne Ellington
Josh Heytvelt
Marcelus Kemp
DeMarcus Nelson
Tyrese Rice
Rodney Stuckey
Bill Walker
Others in Consideration: Jeff Adrien, Jaycee Carroll, Dionte Christmas, Joe Crawford, Joey Dorsey, Eric Gordon, AJ Graves, Ty Lawson, Tasmin Mitchell, Jason Smith
SI.com's Stewart Mandel Names Calipari in Nation's Top 10 Coaches List
Head of the class
Ranking the top 10 active coaches in the nation
Posted: Wednesday April 11, 2007 11:45AM
With Mark Turgeon's hiring at Texas A&M on Tuesday, an eventful spring coaching carousel (particularly for Arkansas) appears to finally be slowing to a stop. Because so many high-profile programs have changed coaches -- and so many high-profile coaches changing jobs -- now seems as good time as any to survey the current coaching landscape in college basketball.
Much like I've done the past two seasons for football, the following list is an attempt to rank the sport's top 10 coaches right now. It is not a career-achievement list, so while a coach's track record obviously plays a huge part in his reputation, more weight was placed on his most recent performances (sorry, Lute Olson). Similarly, only those who have been head coaches for at least three seasons were considered (sorry, Anthony Grant).
As for the criteria, winning championships and getting to Final Fours is the benchmark by which all college coaches are judged. But I also placed added value on coaches who get more out of less, have recently rebuilt programs or whose imprint is clearly visible in the way their teams play.
Without further ado, the nation's top-10 coaches as of April 2007:
1. Billy Donovan, Florida: The 41-year-old just pulled off one of the great coaching feats of the modern era, molding a cast of four largely unheralded freshmen three years ago into the nucleus of a selfless, highly cohesive juggernaut that pulled off the sport's first repeat national championship in 15 years.
2. Roy Williams, North Carolina: His 524 wins through 19 seasons far eclipse that of any other coach in history (Jerry Tarkanian had 436), and, much like the way his team plays, he only seems to be picking up the pace, having reestablished UNC as an annual national-title threat (the Tar Heels could start next season No. 1).
3. Jim Calhoun, Connecticut: Yes, the Huskies are coming off their worst season since 1992-93, but that can happen when you lose a record five NBA Draft picks. Before that, Calhoun had won two national titles and earned five No. 1 or 2 NCAA seeds in an eight-year span.
4. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke: Coach K was the no-brainer No. 1 for nearly 20 years, but his most recent teams have been plagued by a lack of depth, several high-profile washouts and a tendency to underachieve in the NCAAs (J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams made it out of the Sweet 16 just once despite having a No. 1 seed three times).
5. Rick Pitino, Louisville: It's been nearly a decade since Pitino ended his dominant run at Kentucky, yet his up-tempo style and recruiting prowess have remained a model. Pitino took the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2005 and has them in position to be a top-10 (possibly top-five) team next season.
6. Tom Izzo, Michigan State: It's been a rough couple years for Izzo's program since he lost the core of the 2005 Final Four team (Izzo's fourth trip in seven years), but even so the Spartans have maximized their talent, reaching the NCAAs both years, and should be back in contention for a Big Ten title next season.
7. Ben Howland, UCLA: He pretty much fits all the aforementioned criteria, having rebuilt the Bruins with a clearly defined, defense-oriented philosophy and has reached consecutive Final Fours with a talented but hardly loaded group of players. With star recruit Kevin Love joining the mix this fall, UCLA will certainly have a shot at another.
8. John Calipari, Memphis: Say what you want about the guy's recruiting tactics, or his failed NBA tenure, but Calipari can flat-out coach college basketball, as proven again this past season when, despite losing two first-round draft picks and his starting point guard, he still led a young Tigers team to its second-consecutive Elite Eight.
9. Thad Matta, Ohio State: In seven years as a head coach, Matta has been to seven NCAA tournaments, reached a national-title game with the Buckeyes, the Elite Eight with Xavier and managed to sign one of the most impressive recruiting classes in history despite the Buckeyes enduring NCAA sanctions at the time. More to come.
10. Billy Gillispie, Kentucky: He would have made this list whether Kentucky hired him or not. Gillispie has demonstrated a remarkable ability to make an immediate impact on a program with quick turnarounds at both UTEP (from 6-24 to 24-8) and Texas A&M (from 7-21 the year before his arrival to the NCAAs in his second season and Sweet 16 this year).
Just missed: Michigan's John Beilein, Kansas' Bill Self, USC's Tim Floyd, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Wisconsin's Bo Ryan.
Also considered (in alphabetical order): Texas' Rick Barnes, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, Texas Tech's Bob Knight, Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery, Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, Indiana's Kelvin Sampson, Georgetown's John Thompson III.
In case you're curious why I didn't compile a list of the "five worst" like I do for football -- it's because there are 336 Division I teams, for crying out loud. I'd be lying if I told you I even knew the names of the bottom 150.
But that doesn't mean I won't accept nominations.
Ranking the top 10 active coaches in the nation
Posted: Wednesday April 11, 2007 11:45AM
With Mark Turgeon's hiring at Texas A&M on Tuesday, an eventful spring coaching carousel (particularly for Arkansas) appears to finally be slowing to a stop. Because so many high-profile programs have changed coaches -- and so many high-profile coaches changing jobs -- now seems as good time as any to survey the current coaching landscape in college basketball.
Much like I've done the past two seasons for football, the following list is an attempt to rank the sport's top 10 coaches right now. It is not a career-achievement list, so while a coach's track record obviously plays a huge part in his reputation, more weight was placed on his most recent performances (sorry, Lute Olson). Similarly, only those who have been head coaches for at least three seasons were considered (sorry, Anthony Grant).
As for the criteria, winning championships and getting to Final Fours is the benchmark by which all college coaches are judged. But I also placed added value on coaches who get more out of less, have recently rebuilt programs or whose imprint is clearly visible in the way their teams play.
Without further ado, the nation's top-10 coaches as of April 2007:
1. Billy Donovan, Florida: The 41-year-old just pulled off one of the great coaching feats of the modern era, molding a cast of four largely unheralded freshmen three years ago into the nucleus of a selfless, highly cohesive juggernaut that pulled off the sport's first repeat national championship in 15 years.
2. Roy Williams, North Carolina: His 524 wins through 19 seasons far eclipse that of any other coach in history (Jerry Tarkanian had 436), and, much like the way his team plays, he only seems to be picking up the pace, having reestablished UNC as an annual national-title threat (the Tar Heels could start next season No. 1).
3. Jim Calhoun, Connecticut: Yes, the Huskies are coming off their worst season since 1992-93, but that can happen when you lose a record five NBA Draft picks. Before that, Calhoun had won two national titles and earned five No. 1 or 2 NCAA seeds in an eight-year span.
4. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke: Coach K was the no-brainer No. 1 for nearly 20 years, but his most recent teams have been plagued by a lack of depth, several high-profile washouts and a tendency to underachieve in the NCAAs (J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams made it out of the Sweet 16 just once despite having a No. 1 seed three times).
5. Rick Pitino, Louisville: It's been nearly a decade since Pitino ended his dominant run at Kentucky, yet his up-tempo style and recruiting prowess have remained a model. Pitino took the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2005 and has them in position to be a top-10 (possibly top-five) team next season.
6. Tom Izzo, Michigan State: It's been a rough couple years for Izzo's program since he lost the core of the 2005 Final Four team (Izzo's fourth trip in seven years), but even so the Spartans have maximized their talent, reaching the NCAAs both years, and should be back in contention for a Big Ten title next season.
7. Ben Howland, UCLA: He pretty much fits all the aforementioned criteria, having rebuilt the Bruins with a clearly defined, defense-oriented philosophy and has reached consecutive Final Fours with a talented but hardly loaded group of players. With star recruit Kevin Love joining the mix this fall, UCLA will certainly have a shot at another.
8. John Calipari, Memphis: Say what you want about the guy's recruiting tactics, or his failed NBA tenure, but Calipari can flat-out coach college basketball, as proven again this past season when, despite losing two first-round draft picks and his starting point guard, he still led a young Tigers team to its second-consecutive Elite Eight.
9. Thad Matta, Ohio State: In seven years as a head coach, Matta has been to seven NCAA tournaments, reached a national-title game with the Buckeyes, the Elite Eight with Xavier and managed to sign one of the most impressive recruiting classes in history despite the Buckeyes enduring NCAA sanctions at the time. More to come.
10. Billy Gillispie, Kentucky: He would have made this list whether Kentucky hired him or not. Gillispie has demonstrated a remarkable ability to make an immediate impact on a program with quick turnarounds at both UTEP (from 6-24 to 24-8) and Texas A&M (from 7-21 the year before his arrival to the NCAAs in his second season and Sweet 16 this year).
Just missed: Michigan's John Beilein, Kansas' Bill Self, USC's Tim Floyd, Gonzaga's Mark Few, Wisconsin's Bo Ryan.
Also considered (in alphabetical order): Texas' Rick Barnes, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, Texas Tech's Bob Knight, Southern Illinois' Chris Lowery, Tennessee's Bruce Pearl, Indiana's Kelvin Sampson, Georgetown's John Thompson III.
In case you're curious why I didn't compile a list of the "five worst" like I do for football -- it's because there are 336 Division I teams, for crying out loud. I'd be lying if I told you I even knew the names of the bottom 150.
But that doesn't mean I won't accept nominations.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Former Coach/Player Larry Finch to Have Street Named After Him
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Memphis City Council members voted to name a street after a popular former Memphis State basketball player and coach.
"Larry Finch" signs will go up on Pendleton Street in South Memphis.
In 1973, in his senior year at Memphis State, Larry Finch lead the Tigers to the NCAA men's basketball championship game against UCLA.
Finch went on to become assistant coach and then head coach at Memphis State, now the University of Memphis. He was the head coach at Memphis State from 1986 until 1997.
Larry Finch is the all-time winningest coach in University of Memphis history.
Memphis City Council members voted to name a street after a popular former Memphis State basketball player and coach.
"Larry Finch" signs will go up on Pendleton Street in South Memphis.
In 1973, in his senior year at Memphis State, Larry Finch lead the Tigers to the NCAA men's basketball championship game against UCLA.
Finch went on to become assistant coach and then head coach at Memphis State, now the University of Memphis. He was the head coach at Memphis State from 1986 until 1997.
Larry Finch is the all-time winningest coach in University of Memphis history.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
From the Boston Globe "Anderson, Tigers Refuse to Give Up on Final Four"
Anderson, Tigers refuse to give up on Final Four
By Jeremy Gottlieb
April 8, 2007
Just over two weeks have passed, but the what-ifs remain for University of Memphis guard Antonio Anderson.
For the second consecutive season, Anderson, a former star at Lynn Tech (MA), and his Tiger teammates were one game from NCAA basketball's biggest showcase, the Final Four. And for the second consecutive season, Memphis, seeded No. 2 in the South region, came up just short, falling to No. 1 Ohio State, 92-76, in the Elite Eight at San Antonio's Alamodome.
"Man, it was a tough loss," said Anderson, a sophomore who scored 10 points, grabbed three rebounds, and had four assists in the loss. "No one wants their season to end, especially like that. It was one of the toughest games of the year, if not the toughest. We just played a better team that day."
Memphis's tournament run featured a 65-64 Sweet 16 win over Texas A&M, the Tigers' 25th consecutive victory. Facing a 1-point deficit, Anderson swiped an offensive rebound and drew a foul with just three seconds remaining in the game. He stepped to the free-throw line and icily banged home both shots, allowing the fifth-ranked Tigers to advance. Anderson only scored 5 points against A&M, but the last 2 were the most important of the game. "We were all so tired," he said. "At that point, we just wanted to win the game. I knew I had to stay confident and calm and if I did that, I'd make them."
The Ohio State game was a different story. Memphis led as late as the 10-minute mark of the second half, until Buckeyes star Greg Oden took the game over from the low block and led his team to the win going away.
"He's a great player," Anderson said of Oden, projected to be the No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft. "He's got a big body, he's very aggressive, and he can play so well on both ends. He's going to be one of the top centers in the game."
Memphis shot 10-for-21 from 3-point range in the game and still lost by 16. "They were really clicking," Anderson said of the Buckeyes. "We shot almost 50 percent from deep and they still won. If all five guys on the other team are making shots, it's going to be tough to win."
It was a quick turnaround for Anderson, who made a brief trip to visit his family in Lynn last week before resuming school and beginning workouts for next season back in Memphis. He said that he, his mates, and coach John Calipari already are looking forward to next year, when the entire nucleus of this year's 33-4 team, as well as a couple of blue-chip recruits, will take another run at the Final Four.
"Training starts pretty quickly, but I'll still get to spend part of my summer at home in Lynn," said Anderson. "Next year is already looking good for us. It was such a great stage to play on this year, I can only hope I get the opportunity to take the next step to the Final Four and be a part of something like that as well."
By Jeremy Gottlieb
April 8, 2007
Just over two weeks have passed, but the what-ifs remain for University of Memphis guard Antonio Anderson.
For the second consecutive season, Anderson, a former star at Lynn Tech (MA), and his Tiger teammates were one game from NCAA basketball's biggest showcase, the Final Four. And for the second consecutive season, Memphis, seeded No. 2 in the South region, came up just short, falling to No. 1 Ohio State, 92-76, in the Elite Eight at San Antonio's Alamodome.
"Man, it was a tough loss," said Anderson, a sophomore who scored 10 points, grabbed three rebounds, and had four assists in the loss. "No one wants their season to end, especially like that. It was one of the toughest games of the year, if not the toughest. We just played a better team that day."
Memphis's tournament run featured a 65-64 Sweet 16 win over Texas A&M, the Tigers' 25th consecutive victory. Facing a 1-point deficit, Anderson swiped an offensive rebound and drew a foul with just three seconds remaining in the game. He stepped to the free-throw line and icily banged home both shots, allowing the fifth-ranked Tigers to advance. Anderson only scored 5 points against A&M, but the last 2 were the most important of the game. "We were all so tired," he said. "At that point, we just wanted to win the game. I knew I had to stay confident and calm and if I did that, I'd make them."
The Ohio State game was a different story. Memphis led as late as the 10-minute mark of the second half, until Buckeyes star Greg Oden took the game over from the low block and led his team to the win going away.
"He's a great player," Anderson said of Oden, projected to be the No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft. "He's got a big body, he's very aggressive, and he can play so well on both ends. He's going to be one of the top centers in the game."
Memphis shot 10-for-21 from 3-point range in the game and still lost by 16. "They were really clicking," Anderson said of the Buckeyes. "We shot almost 50 percent from deep and they still won. If all five guys on the other team are making shots, it's going to be tough to win."
It was a quick turnaround for Anderson, who made a brief trip to visit his family in Lynn last week before resuming school and beginning workouts for next season back in Memphis. He said that he, his mates, and coach John Calipari already are looking forward to next year, when the entire nucleus of this year's 33-4 team, as well as a couple of blue-chip recruits, will take another run at the Final Four.
"Training starts pretty quickly, but I'll still get to spend part of my summer at home in Lynn," said Anderson. "Next year is already looking good for us. It was such a great stage to play on this year, I can only hope I get the opportunity to take the next step to the Final Four and be a part of something like that as well."
From the Jackson (TN) Sun "Nike Hoop Summit: Tigers Signee Gets First Taste of Memphis"
Nike Hoop Summit: Tigers signee gets first taste of Memphis
By JOSHUA PARROTT
jparrott@jacksonsun.com
MEMPHIS - Attention Memphis men's basketball fans: Future Tigers guard Derrick Rose arrived in the "Bluff City" earlier this week for the 10th annual Nike Hoop Summit.
But the Chicago Simeon senior has yet to be recognized as an instant celebrity in his future college town.
"I haven't really gotten the whole bang yet," said Rose, a 6-foot-3 guard who will lead the USA Junior National Select team against the 10-man World team at 3 p.m. Saturday at FedExForum. "Hopefully, people see me out (around town) and they'll know who I am and they'll come out to the game."
Rated the nation's third overall senior prospect by Rivals.com, Rose averaged 25 points, 9.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game this season as Simeon (33-2) became the first Class AA program to repeat as Illinois state champions. Simeon finished the season as the nation's top-ranked team by RISE/SI.com and sixth by USA Today.
Rose was brilliant in a 78-75 win over defending national champion Oak Hill (Va.) Academy last January with 28 points and nine assists. He signed with Memphis last November over Indiana and Illinois.
Who's No. 1?
One year after the consensus No. 1 player from the Class of 2006, current Ohio State freshman Greg Oden , chose not to play in the Hoop Summit, this year's event has no shortage of talent.
But who is No. 1 this year?
Maryland's Michael Beasley is considered the best by Rivals.com, while Oregon's Kevin Love is ranked No. 1 by Bob Gibbons All-Star Report. Scout.com and RISE/SI.com. Both have Huntington (W.Va.) standout O.J. Mayo on top of their respective rankings.
Mayo doesn't exactly agree with the rankings, but said the nation's best players are competing in this year's Hoop Summit.
"I don't think we have any one top player in this class," said Mayo, who signed with USC. "I think we have top players at each position. You've got good inside players and good guards.
"I just think we probably have the top five (players) at each position."
In a side note, Mayo and Huntington teammate Patrick Patterson join Episcopal (Penn.) Academy's Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington as the only players from the same prep team to be selected to play in the Hoop Summit in the same year.
Flying high
Oregon's Kevin Love was in Memphis for the first half of Thursday morning's practice before flying to Atlanta to accept the 2007 Naismith Trophy as the male high school basketball player of the year. Love - a 6-10 center who finished as Oregon's all-time leading scorer with 2,628 points - is expected to be back in Memphis on Friday and play for the USA team on Saturday.
Love's father, Stan Love, played in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Bullets.
Still undecided
Huntington forward Patrick Patterson is the only USA player who has yet to sign a national letter of intent with a college. The 6-8 forward has narrowed his choices to Florida, Duke, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
The late college signing period runs April 11-May 16.
"Right now I'm trying to enjoy (the Hoop Summit) so recruiting is the last thing on my mind," Patterson said. "When I get back home, I'm going to talk with my family and narrow my six down to three and at the end of the month I'm going to decide."
What exactly is Patterson looking for?
"I'm a family guy," he said, "so I'm looking for a family atmosphere."
Other Hoop Summit signees include Jerryd Bayless (Arizona), Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse), Kevin Love (UCLA), Donte Greene (Syracuse), O.J. Mayo (USC), Kyle Singler (Duke), Derrick Rose (Memphis) and Nolan Smith (Duke).
Remembering dad
Oak Hill Academy's Nolan Smith has a tattoo on his left arm in memory of his father, former Louisville and NBA guard Derek Smith .
Derek Smith scored more than 1,800 points at Louisville from 1978-82 and played for five NBA teams before dying of an apparent heart attack while on a cruise ship on Aug. 11, 1996.
"Mainly what I remember about my dad is what people tell me," said Nolan, a Duke signee who averaged 22 points per game as a senior for Oak Hill (40-1). "I know every time I step on the court, I'm playing in his memory."
Smith is a name familiar to West Tennessee hoop fans. Smith scored a game-high 34 points back in January in Oak Hill's 83-62 win over Liberty.
After that loss, Liberty won 15 consecutive games to win its second straight Class AA state championship.
Oak Hill beat nine state champions this season and finished ranked No. 1 by USA Today.
"They got after it," Smith said of Liberty, which finished the season ranked No. 13 nationally by RISE/SI.com. "They weren't scared."
-Joshua Parrott, 425-9634
By JOSHUA PARROTT
jparrott@jacksonsun.com
MEMPHIS - Attention Memphis men's basketball fans: Future Tigers guard Derrick Rose arrived in the "Bluff City" earlier this week for the 10th annual Nike Hoop Summit.
But the Chicago Simeon senior has yet to be recognized as an instant celebrity in his future college town.
"I haven't really gotten the whole bang yet," said Rose, a 6-foot-3 guard who will lead the USA Junior National Select team against the 10-man World team at 3 p.m. Saturday at FedExForum. "Hopefully, people see me out (around town) and they'll know who I am and they'll come out to the game."
Rated the nation's third overall senior prospect by Rivals.com, Rose averaged 25 points, 9.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 3.4 steals per game this season as Simeon (33-2) became the first Class AA program to repeat as Illinois state champions. Simeon finished the season as the nation's top-ranked team by RISE/SI.com and sixth by USA Today.
Rose was brilliant in a 78-75 win over defending national champion Oak Hill (Va.) Academy last January with 28 points and nine assists. He signed with Memphis last November over Indiana and Illinois.
Who's No. 1?
One year after the consensus No. 1 player from the Class of 2006, current Ohio State freshman Greg Oden , chose not to play in the Hoop Summit, this year's event has no shortage of talent.
But who is No. 1 this year?
Maryland's Michael Beasley is considered the best by Rivals.com, while Oregon's Kevin Love is ranked No. 1 by Bob Gibbons All-Star Report. Scout.com and RISE/SI.com. Both have Huntington (W.Va.) standout O.J. Mayo on top of their respective rankings.
Mayo doesn't exactly agree with the rankings, but said the nation's best players are competing in this year's Hoop Summit.
"I don't think we have any one top player in this class," said Mayo, who signed with USC. "I think we have top players at each position. You've got good inside players and good guards.
"I just think we probably have the top five (players) at each position."
In a side note, Mayo and Huntington teammate Patrick Patterson join Episcopal (Penn.) Academy's Gerald Henderson and Wayne Ellington as the only players from the same prep team to be selected to play in the Hoop Summit in the same year.
Flying high
Oregon's Kevin Love was in Memphis for the first half of Thursday morning's practice before flying to Atlanta to accept the 2007 Naismith Trophy as the male high school basketball player of the year. Love - a 6-10 center who finished as Oregon's all-time leading scorer with 2,628 points - is expected to be back in Memphis on Friday and play for the USA team on Saturday.
Love's father, Stan Love, played in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Bullets.
Still undecided
Huntington forward Patrick Patterson is the only USA player who has yet to sign a national letter of intent with a college. The 6-8 forward has narrowed his choices to Florida, Duke, Wake Forest, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
The late college signing period runs April 11-May 16.
"Right now I'm trying to enjoy (the Hoop Summit) so recruiting is the last thing on my mind," Patterson said. "When I get back home, I'm going to talk with my family and narrow my six down to three and at the end of the month I'm going to decide."
What exactly is Patterson looking for?
"I'm a family guy," he said, "so I'm looking for a family atmosphere."
Other Hoop Summit signees include Jerryd Bayless (Arizona), Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse), Kevin Love (UCLA), Donte Greene (Syracuse), O.J. Mayo (USC), Kyle Singler (Duke), Derrick Rose (Memphis) and Nolan Smith (Duke).
Remembering dad
Oak Hill Academy's Nolan Smith has a tattoo on his left arm in memory of his father, former Louisville and NBA guard Derek Smith .
Derek Smith scored more than 1,800 points at Louisville from 1978-82 and played for five NBA teams before dying of an apparent heart attack while on a cruise ship on Aug. 11, 1996.
"Mainly what I remember about my dad is what people tell me," said Nolan, a Duke signee who averaged 22 points per game as a senior for Oak Hill (40-1). "I know every time I step on the court, I'm playing in his memory."
Smith is a name familiar to West Tennessee hoop fans. Smith scored a game-high 34 points back in January in Oak Hill's 83-62 win over Liberty.
After that loss, Liberty won 15 consecutive games to win its second straight Class AA state championship.
Oak Hill beat nine state champions this season and finished ranked No. 1 by USA Today.
"They got after it," Smith said of Liberty, which finished the season ranked No. 13 nationally by RISE/SI.com. "They weren't scared."
-Joshua Parrott, 425-9634
Chicago's PG Supreme, Derrick Rose, Looks to Fit In Perfect With Tigers
Chicago's point guard supreme looks to 'fit in perfect' with Tigers
By Dan Wolken
April 6, 2007
In the six months between his visits to Memphis, Derrick Rose made his college decision, was the subject of a feature story in Sports Illustrated, led his Simeon High team to an ESPN-televised victory over Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, won an Illinois state title and watched his future teammates come within one game of the Final Four.
But the biggest thing on Rose's mind lately has been ... summer school?
For Rose, arguably the top 18-year-old point guard in the world, it's down to counting the days until he enrolls at the University of Memphis. Though there's still more than two months left before his first summer classes, Rose said Thursday he was excited to get a preview of his new hometown during the 2007 Nike Hoop Summit at FedExForum.
"I was anxious to get back here. I couldn't wait," Rose said. "When I was on the plane and the pilot said we were landing, man, I couldn't even sleep. I knew I was getting closer. I can't wait to just get down here for summer school and get to know the area and meet the fans."
With each passing day, Rose gets a little bit closer to a debut Memphis fans have been anticipating since he gave an oral commitment to coach John Calipari last October.
After an intensely scrutinized recruitment in his hometown of Chicago, Rose picked Memphis over Illinois and Indiana. The impact of that decision cannot be overstated. The minute Rose's letter of intent paperwork arrived in the Memphis athletic department, the Tigers immediately became one of the favorites to win the 2007-08 national championship.
Six months later, nothing has changed. Unless a current underclassman declares for the NBA Draft -- that seems unlikely at this point -- Rose will join a team returning almost intact off an Elite Eight appearance. Most early top-25 projections for 2007-08 have the Tigers at No. 4 behind Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA.
"Man, we should be up there," Rose said. "The way they played this year, the way they played as a team. The whole year, they got it done and I was cheering them on."
Now, Rose must get ready for the transition from cheering for the Tigers to joining them.
Given Rose's considerable talent and athletic ability, that likely won't be much of a challenge. "I'm going to fit in perfect," he said.
The bigger issue is how Rose will enjoy college life in an unfamiliar place. Before he arrived Thursday with the USA Junior National Select Team, Rose's only exposure to Memphis was a quick two-night official visit during Midnight Madness.
Rose, who got his first tour of Memphis from sophomore Antonio Anderson, said he wasn't worried about fitting in.
"It's like a small part of Chicago," Rose said. "I'm a city boy, and this is kind of like the city in Memphis. There's a downtown, and I like the players. I know they're going to get me right when I come down here."
Rose won't get that chance quite yet. After this weekend, he'll head to New York for the Michael Jordan game before heading back to Chicago for his final weeks of high school.
Though Rose is far from the only attraction on a U.S. team with future stars like O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley, he's hoping Memphis fans make him feel even more at home by Saturday night.
"I hope it's crazy," Rose said.
Summit info
Tickets: $10 (lower bowl), $20 (courtside), $40 (floor) and $75 (floor). Available at the FedExForum box office, Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 525-1515.
TV: SportSouth
Memphis All-Star Classic: A game pitting teams of Memphis all-stars at 12:30 p.m.
By Dan Wolken
April 6, 2007
In the six months between his visits to Memphis, Derrick Rose made his college decision, was the subject of a feature story in Sports Illustrated, led his Simeon High team to an ESPN-televised victory over Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, won an Illinois state title and watched his future teammates come within one game of the Final Four.
But the biggest thing on Rose's mind lately has been ... summer school?
For Rose, arguably the top 18-year-old point guard in the world, it's down to counting the days until he enrolls at the University of Memphis. Though there's still more than two months left before his first summer classes, Rose said Thursday he was excited to get a preview of his new hometown during the 2007 Nike Hoop Summit at FedExForum.
"I was anxious to get back here. I couldn't wait," Rose said. "When I was on the plane and the pilot said we were landing, man, I couldn't even sleep. I knew I was getting closer. I can't wait to just get down here for summer school and get to know the area and meet the fans."
With each passing day, Rose gets a little bit closer to a debut Memphis fans have been anticipating since he gave an oral commitment to coach John Calipari last October.
After an intensely scrutinized recruitment in his hometown of Chicago, Rose picked Memphis over Illinois and Indiana. The impact of that decision cannot be overstated. The minute Rose's letter of intent paperwork arrived in the Memphis athletic department, the Tigers immediately became one of the favorites to win the 2007-08 national championship.
Six months later, nothing has changed. Unless a current underclassman declares for the NBA Draft -- that seems unlikely at this point -- Rose will join a team returning almost intact off an Elite Eight appearance. Most early top-25 projections for 2007-08 have the Tigers at No. 4 behind Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA.
"Man, we should be up there," Rose said. "The way they played this year, the way they played as a team. The whole year, they got it done and I was cheering them on."
Now, Rose must get ready for the transition from cheering for the Tigers to joining them.
Given Rose's considerable talent and athletic ability, that likely won't be much of a challenge. "I'm going to fit in perfect," he said.
The bigger issue is how Rose will enjoy college life in an unfamiliar place. Before he arrived Thursday with the USA Junior National Select Team, Rose's only exposure to Memphis was a quick two-night official visit during Midnight Madness.
Rose, who got his first tour of Memphis from sophomore Antonio Anderson, said he wasn't worried about fitting in.
"It's like a small part of Chicago," Rose said. "I'm a city boy, and this is kind of like the city in Memphis. There's a downtown, and I like the players. I know they're going to get me right when I come down here."
Rose won't get that chance quite yet. After this weekend, he'll head to New York for the Michael Jordan game before heading back to Chicago for his final weeks of high school.
Though Rose is far from the only attraction on a U.S. team with future stars like O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley, he's hoping Memphis fans make him feel even more at home by Saturday night.
"I hope it's crazy," Rose said.
Summit info
Tickets: $10 (lower bowl), $20 (courtside), $40 (floor) and $75 (floor). Available at the FedExForum box office, Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 525-1515.
TV: SportSouth
Memphis All-Star Classic: A game pitting teams of Memphis all-stars at 12:30 p.m.
The Coaching Musical Chairs
Now that the most profiled coaching positions have been filled (and I mean no disrespect to Texas A&M and South Alabama), we can all relax and assume that Calipari is in Memphis for another year. I really doubted that he would leave considering the talent base coming back next fall and the fact that Cal has a rather sizable annuity coming due in a few short years.
It is funny to read all of the Arkansas blogs that swear Cal was offered the Razorback job. Cal says he wasn't and if your Arkansas that is better because you don't want to be turned down by Billy Gillespie, John Calipari, Dana Altman, etc. It sounds better if Cal never received an offer.
So was Cal lying or not? I have no idea and really don't care. I don't think he wanted the job. He probably didn't like the idea of wearing a pig on his head. Dana Altman certainly didn't look too comfortable at his press conference with Frank Broyles doing a pigsooee cheer (and I guess he wasn't considering he went back to Omaha the next day).
It is funny to read all of the Arkansas blogs that swear Cal was offered the Razorback job. Cal says he wasn't and if your Arkansas that is better because you don't want to be turned down by Billy Gillespie, John Calipari, Dana Altman, etc. It sounds better if Cal never received an offer.
So was Cal lying or not? I have no idea and really don't care. I don't think he wanted the job. He probably didn't like the idea of wearing a pig on his head. Dana Altman certainly didn't look too comfortable at his press conference with Frank Broyles doing a pigsooee cheer (and I guess he wasn't considering he went back to Omaha the next day).
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
SI.com's Luke Winn's Top 10 for 2007-08 (Memphis #4)
Goodbye to the Gators ... and a Top 10 For 2007-08
ATLANTA -- The Florida Era was finished no matter what happened Monday night, but the euphoria of the victory party made it easier to let go. As the Gators' Oh-Fours -- juniors Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Joakim Noah -- were flashing two-finger, two-peat salutes on the stage at the Georgia Dome, only a small pocket of fans piped up with a chant of "One more year!" The plea quickly lost steam and was overwhelmed by the greater celebratory din.
Florida had just made history, beating Ohio State 84-75 to become the first team since Duke in 1991-92 to repeat as national champions, and only the sixth ever back-to-back title-winners. Noah, the indefatigable icon who last year had told reporters that winning the NCAA tournament was "better than sex" (then adding "I should know, because I'm doing it right!") this time made a statement with his actions on the stage. He first removed his mouthpiece and chucked it down onto the court, then took off each of his black Nikes and wildly heaved them into a sea of blue-and-orange fans. The message was clear: I won't be needing these anymore.
None of the Gators were interested in talking three-peat, and really, after two titles, what statements were left to make? Noah hinted that his work was done, saying, "I remember when I was telling people, 'I'm going back to school,' and they were like, 'What? Are you crazy?' But you know what? I feel like now all of a sudden people understand that it's more than money. It's more than that. Now you guys are going to write about history -- one of the best teams ever. That's special. That's something that everybody in this locker room will never forget."
With those memories fresh in the minds, the Oh-Fours are soon expected to make a collective jump to the '07 NBA Draft, where three of them will be Lottery Picks (Horford, Noah and Brewer, in that order) and Green will be fighting his way out of the second round. "If one of us goes," said Brewer, "we all go."
They're going -- and leaving the title race for '07-08 wide open in their wake. Who will cut down the nets next year in San Antonio? Herewith, a first look at the top 10 for 2007-08 (with the assumption Georgetown's Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Brandon Rush, North Carolina's Brandan Wright, Ohio State's Greg Oden, Texas' Kevin Durant, UCLA's Arron Afflalo and USC's Nick Young also make the early jump to the NBA):
1. NORTH CAROLINA Provided Tyler Hansbrough passes on the draft to work on his offensive repertoire, he'll be back with a vengeance for his junior season. After coming within a Georgetown three-pointer of the Final Four in '07, the Tar Heels' baby backcourt of sophomores Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington has matured enough to help Psycho T take Carolina all the way.
2. UCLA Junior point guard Darren Collison, who was snubbed for All-America honors in '07, will emerge from Afflalo's shadow to become a household name. With five-star freshman power forward Kevin Love -- an old-school post player who's been college-ready since 16 -- adding an offensive dimension inside, a third straight Final Four and coach Ben Howland's first national title are well within reach.
3. KANSAS For the second consecutive season the Jayhawks will be the best team on paper -- but can they get it done in March? Ballhawks Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers will ensure the D remains fierce, but bullish guard Sherron Collins and elastic forward Julian Wright need to become scoring stars. Collins' painful knee injury -- he was said to be crying in practice the day before facing UCLA in the Elite Eight -- may have been the difference between KU heading home, or packing for Atlanta.
4. MEMPHIS Chicago phenom Derrick Rose, Rivals.com's top-ranked point guard in the Class of 2007, joins one of the nation's deepest, most athletic rosters and should form a devastating duo in the backcourt with slasher Chris Douglas-Roberts. Look for another undefeated Conference USA season, and a serious run toward San Antonio.
5. OHIO STATE As long as ultrasteady point guard Mike Conley Jr. returns -- and that's no lock -- the Buckeyes will survive without their bearded baron of the paint. Incoming 7-foot freshman Kosta Koufos will try to fill Oden's shoes, while guards Jamar Butler and Daequan Cook, who played auxiliary roles in '07, will shoulder more of the scoring load.
6. LOUISVILLE Rick Pitino's collection of blue-chip youngsters -- particularly breakout NCAA tournament star Edgar Sosa, who dropped 31 on Texas A&M in a near second-round upset -- look ready to out-duel Marquette and Notre Dame for the Big East title.
7. WASHINGTON STATE Tony Bennett-ball was no one-hit wonder. The rookie head coach signed a seven-year extension, and the Cougars only lose forward Ivory Clark from their starting lineup. Led by its Island/Dairyland backcourt blend of Derrick Low (Honolulu) and Kyle Weaver (Beloit, Wis.), Wazzu will be in the thick of a tight Pac-10 race.
8. USC The national spotlight will follow super-recruit O.J. Mayo to Troy, where the Trojans are already loaded. He'll join Daniel Hackett and Gabe Pruitt in a three-headed backcourt, and as long as the chemistry clicks -- and it doesn't become the O.J.-only show -- USC will be a force.
9. TENNESSEE Sweet-shooting Chris Lofton, a likely Wooden Award front-runner, should have a fine swan song in Knoxville after nearly bouncing Ohio State from the bracket in '07. Look for point guard Ramar Smith, one of four freshmen who played major minutes, to have a big sophomore season. He arrived on campus late last fall and missed valuable time to prepare for his rookie campaign.
10. INDIANA Polished scorer Eric Gordon, the Indianapolis recruit who spurned Illinois for the Hoosiers, arrives in Bloomington for what may be his only collegiate season. Paired with forward D.J. White, they'll have Indiana challenging OSU for the Big Ten crown.
ON THE FRINGE: Michigan State, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Butler, Texas A&M, Georgetown, Texas, Kansas State, Arizona, Syracuse, LSU, Oregon, West Virginia, Pitt, Duke, NC State, Gonzaga, Stanford, Wisconsin and Mississippi State.
Labels: Atlanta, Final Four, Florida, Ohio State, The Future, UCLA
ATLANTA -- The Florida Era was finished no matter what happened Monday night, but the euphoria of the victory party made it easier to let go. As the Gators' Oh-Fours -- juniors Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, Al Horford and Joakim Noah -- were flashing two-finger, two-peat salutes on the stage at the Georgia Dome, only a small pocket of fans piped up with a chant of "One more year!" The plea quickly lost steam and was overwhelmed by the greater celebratory din.
Florida had just made history, beating Ohio State 84-75 to become the first team since Duke in 1991-92 to repeat as national champions, and only the sixth ever back-to-back title-winners. Noah, the indefatigable icon who last year had told reporters that winning the NCAA tournament was "better than sex" (then adding "I should know, because I'm doing it right!") this time made a statement with his actions on the stage. He first removed his mouthpiece and chucked it down onto the court, then took off each of his black Nikes and wildly heaved them into a sea of blue-and-orange fans. The message was clear: I won't be needing these anymore.
None of the Gators were interested in talking three-peat, and really, after two titles, what statements were left to make? Noah hinted that his work was done, saying, "I remember when I was telling people, 'I'm going back to school,' and they were like, 'What? Are you crazy?' But you know what? I feel like now all of a sudden people understand that it's more than money. It's more than that. Now you guys are going to write about history -- one of the best teams ever. That's special. That's something that everybody in this locker room will never forget."
With those memories fresh in the minds, the Oh-Fours are soon expected to make a collective jump to the '07 NBA Draft, where three of them will be Lottery Picks (Horford, Noah and Brewer, in that order) and Green will be fighting his way out of the second round. "If one of us goes," said Brewer, "we all go."
They're going -- and leaving the title race for '07-08 wide open in their wake. Who will cut down the nets next year in San Antonio? Herewith, a first look at the top 10 for 2007-08 (with the assumption Georgetown's Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Brandon Rush, North Carolina's Brandan Wright, Ohio State's Greg Oden, Texas' Kevin Durant, UCLA's Arron Afflalo and USC's Nick Young also make the early jump to the NBA):
1. NORTH CAROLINA Provided Tyler Hansbrough passes on the draft to work on his offensive repertoire, he'll be back with a vengeance for his junior season. After coming within a Georgetown three-pointer of the Final Four in '07, the Tar Heels' baby backcourt of sophomores Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington has matured enough to help Psycho T take Carolina all the way.
2. UCLA Junior point guard Darren Collison, who was snubbed for All-America honors in '07, will emerge from Afflalo's shadow to become a household name. With five-star freshman power forward Kevin Love -- an old-school post player who's been college-ready since 16 -- adding an offensive dimension inside, a third straight Final Four and coach Ben Howland's first national title are well within reach.
3. KANSAS For the second consecutive season the Jayhawks will be the best team on paper -- but can they get it done in March? Ballhawks Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers will ensure the D remains fierce, but bullish guard Sherron Collins and elastic forward Julian Wright need to become scoring stars. Collins' painful knee injury -- he was said to be crying in practice the day before facing UCLA in the Elite Eight -- may have been the difference between KU heading home, or packing for Atlanta.
4. MEMPHIS Chicago phenom Derrick Rose, Rivals.com's top-ranked point guard in the Class of 2007, joins one of the nation's deepest, most athletic rosters and should form a devastating duo in the backcourt with slasher Chris Douglas-Roberts. Look for another undefeated Conference USA season, and a serious run toward San Antonio.
5. OHIO STATE As long as ultrasteady point guard Mike Conley Jr. returns -- and that's no lock -- the Buckeyes will survive without their bearded baron of the paint. Incoming 7-foot freshman Kosta Koufos will try to fill Oden's shoes, while guards Jamar Butler and Daequan Cook, who played auxiliary roles in '07, will shoulder more of the scoring load.
6. LOUISVILLE Rick Pitino's collection of blue-chip youngsters -- particularly breakout NCAA tournament star Edgar Sosa, who dropped 31 on Texas A&M in a near second-round upset -- look ready to out-duel Marquette and Notre Dame for the Big East title.
7. WASHINGTON STATE Tony Bennett-ball was no one-hit wonder. The rookie head coach signed a seven-year extension, and the Cougars only lose forward Ivory Clark from their starting lineup. Led by its Island/Dairyland backcourt blend of Derrick Low (Honolulu) and Kyle Weaver (Beloit, Wis.), Wazzu will be in the thick of a tight Pac-10 race.
8. USC The national spotlight will follow super-recruit O.J. Mayo to Troy, where the Trojans are already loaded. He'll join Daniel Hackett and Gabe Pruitt in a three-headed backcourt, and as long as the chemistry clicks -- and it doesn't become the O.J.-only show -- USC will be a force.
9. TENNESSEE Sweet-shooting Chris Lofton, a likely Wooden Award front-runner, should have a fine swan song in Knoxville after nearly bouncing Ohio State from the bracket in '07. Look for point guard Ramar Smith, one of four freshmen who played major minutes, to have a big sophomore season. He arrived on campus late last fall and missed valuable time to prepare for his rookie campaign.
10. INDIANA Polished scorer Eric Gordon, the Indianapolis recruit who spurned Illinois for the Hoosiers, arrives in Bloomington for what may be his only collegiate season. Paired with forward D.J. White, they'll have Indiana challenging OSU for the Big Ten crown.
ON THE FRINGE: Michigan State, Marquette, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Butler, Texas A&M, Georgetown, Texas, Kansas State, Arizona, Syracuse, LSU, Oregon, West Virginia, Pitt, Duke, NC State, Gonzaga, Stanford, Wisconsin and Mississippi State.
Labels: Atlanta, Final Four, Florida, Ohio State, The Future, UCLA
Monday, April 02, 2007
Hogs Hired Creighton's Dana Altmon, Cal Says He Was Never Offered Job
Calipari: I was never offered Hogs job
Tiger coach also denies report of $2 million-plus proposal by Arkansas
By Dan Wolken
April 2, 2007
ATLANTA – University of Memphis coach John Calipari told The Commercial Appeal Sunday he was "never" offered the head coaching job at Arkansas and is not interested in the position.
Though Calipari did meet briefly with Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles this weekend, Calipari said, it was only to discuss potential candidates and offer advice on the coaching search.
"I've had a relationship with Frank Broyles going back to my UMass days," Calipari said inside the lobby of the Atlanta Hilton, where the National Association of Basketball Coaches were wrapping up their meetings.
Calipari said he was not aware of the rumors that he was interested in the Arkansas job until he began receiving phone calls Saturday night.
By then, word had leaked out that Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson had granted Arkansas permission to speak to Calipari. Then, a Little Rock television station, citing unnamed sources, reported that an offer was on the table to Calipari for more than $2million annually.
"Not true," Calipari said.
From the moment the Arkansas rumors began to circulate, several close to Calipari expressed doubt that he would seriously consider leaving Memphis for Fayetteville.
Among the reasons were its rural location and the fact that Calipari would be leaving behind what should be his best team since coming to Memphis. The Tigers are expected to return all their top players, except senior Jeremy Hunt, and will add a recruiting class ranked 11th by Rivals.com. With the addition of the nation's top high school point guard, Derrick Rose, Memphis should be ranked in the top-five of all preseason polls.
If Calipari left for any job, he'd also be walking away from a $2.5 million annuity he will collect if he coaches at Memphis through 2009-10. In other words, any job offer would have to guarantee an $833,000 raise over Calipari's salary at Memphis over the next three seasons just to make the money match up. Calipari made $1.6 million this past season, excluding performance bonuses.
After Memphis was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight last Saturday, Calipari said he wasn't interested in any other coaching jobs and that he'd have the kind of team "you just don't leave" unless the school's commitment to the program changed.
Two days later, Calipari agreed in principle to a raise and one-year contract extension through 2011-12. Johnson said he would not reveal the amount of the raise until the extension is signed. Calipari has not signed the extension yet because he's been in Massachusetts and Atlanta this week.
Asked if he was finished renegotiating his contract, Calipari said: "Yeah. That was done, what, two weeks ago?"
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Tiger coach also denies report of $2 million-plus proposal by Arkansas
By Dan Wolken
April 2, 2007
ATLANTA – University of Memphis coach John Calipari told The Commercial Appeal Sunday he was "never" offered the head coaching job at Arkansas and is not interested in the position.
Though Calipari did meet briefly with Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles this weekend, Calipari said, it was only to discuss potential candidates and offer advice on the coaching search.
"I've had a relationship with Frank Broyles going back to my UMass days," Calipari said inside the lobby of the Atlanta Hilton, where the National Association of Basketball Coaches were wrapping up their meetings.
Calipari said he was not aware of the rumors that he was interested in the Arkansas job until he began receiving phone calls Saturday night.
By then, word had leaked out that Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson had granted Arkansas permission to speak to Calipari. Then, a Little Rock television station, citing unnamed sources, reported that an offer was on the table to Calipari for more than $2million annually.
"Not true," Calipari said.
From the moment the Arkansas rumors began to circulate, several close to Calipari expressed doubt that he would seriously consider leaving Memphis for Fayetteville.
Among the reasons were its rural location and the fact that Calipari would be leaving behind what should be his best team since coming to Memphis. The Tigers are expected to return all their top players, except senior Jeremy Hunt, and will add a recruiting class ranked 11th by Rivals.com. With the addition of the nation's top high school point guard, Derrick Rose, Memphis should be ranked in the top-five of all preseason polls.
If Calipari left for any job, he'd also be walking away from a $2.5 million annuity he will collect if he coaches at Memphis through 2009-10. In other words, any job offer would have to guarantee an $833,000 raise over Calipari's salary at Memphis over the next three seasons just to make the money match up. Calipari made $1.6 million this past season, excluding performance bonuses.
After Memphis was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight last Saturday, Calipari said he wasn't interested in any other coaching jobs and that he'd have the kind of team "you just don't leave" unless the school's commitment to the program changed.
Two days later, Calipari agreed in principle to a raise and one-year contract extension through 2011-12. Johnson said he would not reveal the amount of the raise until the extension is signed. Calipari has not signed the extension yet because he's been in Massachusetts and Atlanta this week.
Asked if he was finished renegotiating his contract, Calipari said: "Yeah. That was done, what, two weeks ago?"
-- Dan Wolken: 529-2365
Sunday, April 01, 2007
As Predicted - Calipari Not Interested in Arkansas Job
Calipari says he's not interested in Arkansas job
By Dan Wolken
April 1, 2007
ATLANTA – University of Memphis coach John Calipari told The Commercial Appeal Sunday he was "never" offered the head coaching job at Arkansas and is not interested in the position.
Though Calipari did meet briefly with Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles this weekend, Calipari said, it was only to discuss potential candidates and offer advice on the coaching search.
"I’ve had a relationship with Frank Broyles going back to my UMass days," Calipari said inside the lobby of the Atlanta Hilton, where the National Association of Basketball Coaches were wrapping up their meetings.
Calipari said he was not aware of the rumors that he was interested in the Arkansas job until he began receiving phone calls Saturday night.
By then, word had leaked out that Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson had granted Arkansas permission to speak to Calipari. Then, a Little Rock television station, citing unnamed sources, reported that an offer was on the table to Calipari for more than $2 million annually.
"Not true," Calipari said.
From the moment the Arkansas rumors began to circulate, several close to Calipari expressed doubt that he would seriously consider leaving Memphis for Fayetteville.
Among the reasons were its rural location and the fact that Calipari would be leaving behind what should be his best team since coming to Memphis. The Tigers are expected to return all their top players, except senior Jeremy Hunt, and will add a recruiting class ranked 11th by Rivals.com. With the addition of the nation’s top high school point guard, Derrick Rose, Memphis should be ranked in the top-five of all preseason polls.
If Calipari left for any job, he’d also be walking away from a $2.5 million annuity he will collect if he coaches at Memphis through 2009-10. In other words, any job offer would have to guarantee an $833,000 raise over Calipari’s salary at Memphis over the next three seasons just to make the money match up. Calipari made $1.6 million this past season, excluding performance bonuses.
After Memphis was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight last Saturday, Calipari said he wasn’t interested in any other coaching jobs and that he’d have the kind of team "you just don’t leave" unless the school’s commitment to the program changed.
Two days later, Calipari agreed in principle to a raise and one-year contract extension through 2011-12. Johnson said he would not reveal the amount of the raise until the extension is signed. Calipari has not signed the extension yet because he’s been in Massachusetts and Atlanta this week.
Asked if he was finished renegotiating his contract, Calipari said: "Yeah. That was done, what, two weeks ago?"
— Dan Wolken: 529-2365
By Dan Wolken
April 1, 2007
ATLANTA – University of Memphis coach John Calipari told The Commercial Appeal Sunday he was "never" offered the head coaching job at Arkansas and is not interested in the position.
Though Calipari did meet briefly with Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles this weekend, Calipari said, it was only to discuss potential candidates and offer advice on the coaching search.
"I’ve had a relationship with Frank Broyles going back to my UMass days," Calipari said inside the lobby of the Atlanta Hilton, where the National Association of Basketball Coaches were wrapping up their meetings.
Calipari said he was not aware of the rumors that he was interested in the Arkansas job until he began receiving phone calls Saturday night.
By then, word had leaked out that Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson had granted Arkansas permission to speak to Calipari. Then, a Little Rock television station, citing unnamed sources, reported that an offer was on the table to Calipari for more than $2 million annually.
"Not true," Calipari said.
From the moment the Arkansas rumors began to circulate, several close to Calipari expressed doubt that he would seriously consider leaving Memphis for Fayetteville.
Among the reasons were its rural location and the fact that Calipari would be leaving behind what should be his best team since coming to Memphis. The Tigers are expected to return all their top players, except senior Jeremy Hunt, and will add a recruiting class ranked 11th by Rivals.com. With the addition of the nation’s top high school point guard, Derrick Rose, Memphis should be ranked in the top-five of all preseason polls.
If Calipari left for any job, he’d also be walking away from a $2.5 million annuity he will collect if he coaches at Memphis through 2009-10. In other words, any job offer would have to guarantee an $833,000 raise over Calipari’s salary at Memphis over the next three seasons just to make the money match up. Calipari made $1.6 million this past season, excluding performance bonuses.
After Memphis was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight last Saturday, Calipari said he wasn’t interested in any other coaching jobs and that he’d have the kind of team "you just don’t leave" unless the school’s commitment to the program changed.
Two days later, Calipari agreed in principle to a raise and one-year contract extension through 2011-12. Johnson said he would not reveal the amount of the raise until the extension is signed. Calipari has not signed the extension yet because he’s been in Massachusetts and Atlanta this week.
Asked if he was finished renegotiating his contract, Calipari said: "Yeah. That was done, what, two weeks ago?"
— Dan Wolken: 529-2365
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