Bumpshack post Questioning Whether a Chris Douglas Roberts Trip to an NBA Playoff Game on LeBron's Private Jet Was Calipari Recruiting Violation

http://bumpshack.com/2010/03/24/did-chris-douglas-roberts-accidentally-tell-on-coach-cal-www/

Did Chris Douglas-Roberts Accidentally Tell on Coach Cal and WWW?


Former Memphis Tigers star and current New Jersey Nets player Chris Douglas-Roberts might have accidentally let something slip on Twitter last week that he might shouldn’t have.

The Twitter ‘Trending Topic’ was #whenIfirstmet and CDR had tweeted his first time experiences meeting such celebs as Jay-Z, Beyonce, John Calipari, and finally NBA mega-star and Nike spokesman LeBron James.

On the surface it might not seem like such a big deal and just an innocent tweet. But it got me to thinking about the shadiness of former Memphis and current Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach John Calipari and how he works the system, legally and in some cases illegally according to some.

Coach Cal is infamously associated with the mysterious basketball power broker known as William ‘World Wide Wes (WWW)’ Wesley who is extremely tight with dozens of NBA, college, and AAU basketball players and coaches across the country. The most famous of his NBA marriages is - naturally - to LeBron James.

WWW is often seen courtside at Cavs games. He was at the Palace of Auburn Hills when the infamous Ron Artest brawl took place. He was seen at numerous Memphis games when Calipari coached there and now he, naturally, pops up at Kentucky Wildcats games (see photo above, to the right of Ashley Judd).

So back to the CDR-Twitter story. Douglas-Roberts tweets that, when he was 17-years old, that the great LeBron James had his private jet pick him up and take him to the Denver-Minnesota playoff game in Denver.

This could have taken place for one of two games. Either, the game on April 24, 2004 or the game on April 27, 2004, as Denver only hosted two home playoff games against the Timberwolves in 2004.

So five months after LeBron flies him down to Denver for a NBA Playoff game, Douglas-Roberts then commits to play basketball at the University of Memphis for coach John Calipari. Are you picking up on the CDR-LBJ-WWW-CAL connection?

LeBron said on The Best Damn Sports Show several years ago that if he had gone to college he would have gone to Memphis so he could have played for Coach Calipari.

I am not sure of the NCAA rules regarding this. I would have to assume it’s a legal loophole and the one that William Wesley and Calipari have shadily mastered, ever since they first arranged for Dajuan Wagner and his father Milt Wagner to show up in Memphis. Wagner was the first big time recruit to sign with Calipari at Memphis.

Whether it was illegal or not, it’s pretty easy to follow the breadcrumbs here: Coach Cal was recruiting Chris Douglas-Roberts back in 2004. How can he impress a highly impressionable 17-year old kid from Detroit? He can call his good buddy William Wesley who phones into a favor to LeBron, and LeBron has his private jet pick up CDR and fly him to the Minnesota-Denver playoff game.

Lets not forget that CDR turned into a great college basketball player and NBA player, but he was not highly recruited out of high school. He was ranked 75th nationally and 26th at his position. So it is not like LeBron was sending the jet for the second coming of himself. It was either as a favor to William Wesley or perhaps LBJ Airways provides this service for all Top 100 recruits in the country.

The underlying connection to it all? NIKE! Coach Calipari is under contract to Nike and for his teams to wear Nike, and LeBron James makes 8 figures annually as a Nike endorser. It creates a full circle pipeline of talent that almost always ends up as Nike endorsers. [see update below]

CDR is from Detroit, the same city that William ‘WWW’ Wesley now makes as his home. Also, the same city that Derrick Rose (or someone like him) allegedly took the SAT back in 2007. The test was invalidated due to fraud by the standardized testing committee. The NCAA claimed that Memphis should have known that Rose didn’t take the test and had someone else take the test for it. The handwriting on the test in question doesn’t match Rose’s penmanship.

The NCAA stripped the Memphis Tiger’s 2008 Final Four appearance earlier this year over the issue and also for allowing Derrick’s brother to fly on the team’s charter plane without being charged.

The vacated Final Four is the second of John Calipari’s college coaching career. He is the only coach in NCAA history to have two Final Four appearances removed from the record books.

[UPDATE: Several people have mentioned that Memphis wore adidas shoes until Calipari's last year when the Tigers switched over to Nike. This is true, but Calipari changed from adidas to Nike after the adidas deal expired. In his 2006 contract renegotiation Cal negotiated to "negotiate a shoe deal" and "keep all the income" according to Sports Business Daily (April 19, 2006).

He will also receive a $300,000 guarantee in shoe/apparel money. Calipari is allowed “to negotiate a shoe deal with any company and keep all the income,” money he previously had to share with UM. Calipari is expected to earn $225,000 in shoe money from adidas in ’06-07, meaning he will earn at least $1.525M next year.

So as soon as the adidas deal expired Nike and Cal exchanged vows, and in the process Coach Cal got to keep all of the money. Cal has always been 3 steps ahead of whoever he was negotiating with, and with Memphis AD R.C. Johnson, Calipari was likely a good half-marathon ahead.

Calipari was working with Nike and through its subordinates, Wesley, LeBron and company, long before he could officially get the Tigers switched over to Nike. As soon as he had the power, he negotiated the deal for the University and kept the money in the process per his 2006 contract extension.]

A closer look at the top potential candidates for the UCF men’s basketball coaching job

A closer look at the top potential candidates for the UCF men’s basketball coaching job

UCF Basketball — posted by Iliana Limón on March, 24 2010 7:27 AM

I wrote about the UCF men’s basketball coaching search for today’s edition of the paper. Here’s a closer look at several prominent coaches have been tied to the job:

– Todd Bozeman, Morgan State head coach
Buzz: Bozeman was a talented young coach at California who was booted out of coaching when he admitted to paying a player’s parents. He spent nearly a decade away from college basketball working as an NBA assistant and AAU coordinator. He took over Morgan State five years ago. He has led the school to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Although UCF recently was hit with an NCAA major infractions case in football, Tribble didn’t rule out considering candidates with NCAA baggage.

– Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech head coach
Buzz: A lot of dominos would have to fall in order for UCF to get land the Yellow Jackets’ coach. Hewitt is widely considered a strong recruiter, but he has been under fire for failing to get those players to perform consistently. It seems Georgia Tech would like to see him go and Hewitt doesn’t sound happy dealing with negative attention, but he has a $7 million buyout that would have to be waived by both sides in order for him to make a move. Georgia Tech officials did confirm they have granted Hewitt permission to speak with St. John’s about its head coaching job. Hewitt told the Atlanta Journal Constitution Tuesday he didn’t not plan on leaving Georgia Tech.


– Buzz Peterson, Appalachian State head coach
Buzz: Peterson is in his second stint at Appalachian State. After leading the program to three regular-season Southern Conference championships, he was named head coach of Tennessee where he posted a 61-59 record from 2001-05. The former North Carolina standout was roommates with NBA legend Michael Jordan, whose son Marcus Jordan is on the UCF basketball team.

– Reggie Theus, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant
Buzz: Theus is a former Rick Pitino assistant at Louisville. During his second year as head coach at New Mexico State, he led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament. He accepted a head coaching job with the Sacramento Kings soon afterward, but did not last long with the struggling franchise. He is now an assistant with the Timberwolves.

– Donnie Jones, Marshall
Buzz: It would cause huge waves in Conference USA if the Knights managed to lure away a division rival’s head coach. If Jones were still an assistant at Florida, he would be an obvious choice for the job. He is a strong recruiter and rumored to be considering the Knights because of the program has more resources and room for future growth.

– Billy Kennedy, Murray State head coach
Buzz: Kennedy was an assistant coach at Miami during the 2005-06 season before taking over as Murray State’s head coach. The No. 13 seed Racers advanced to the second round of the tournament.

– Mark Gottfied, ESPN analyst
Buzz: The former Alabama coach led the Crimson Tide to the Elite Eight in 2004. After a string of player injuries, disappointing play and the departure of star player Ronald Steele prompted Alabama to fire Gottfried in January 2009.

– My colleague Jeremy Fowler also spoke with a few of his Florida Gators contacts. They said no members of the Florida Gators staff have been contacted about the UCF vacancy.

Pastner in the mix at Iowa?

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Memphis Tigers' coach Josh Pastner is one of a large group of potential candidates for the Iowa job.

In fact, the headline on Scott Dochterman's blog post today is "Iowa search reaches Day 9; Memphis' Pastner picks up steam?" but nothing in the blog leads one to believe the school is closing in on Pastner. Instead, the blog is full of links about potential candidates and things that have been written about them lately.

Barbee keeps the C-USA coaching carousel turning

Barbee keeps the C-USA coaching carousel turning

UTEP Coach Tony Barbee is leaving the Miners for the SEC and Auburn, according to multiple sources. Barbee led UTEP to a 26-7 record overall, 15-1 mark in Conference USA, a C-USA Tournament finals appearance and a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Assuming Derrick Caracter stays in school, which certainly isn’t a lock, whomever inherits that program will be ready to rock and roll.

Here’s a rundown for Conference USA’s coaching musical chairs:

UTEP — Tony Barbee to Auburn; Next coach: ESPN’s Andy Katz mentions Tim Floyd and Billy Gillispie among others.
Memphis — Josh Pastner
UAB — Mike Davis
Marshall — Donnie Jones
Tulsa — Doug Wojcik
Southern Miss — Larry Eustachy
Houston — Tom Penders resigns/retires/fired/forced out; Next coach: USA Today lists John Lucas and Billy Gillispie as front-runners.
Southern Methodist — Matt Doherty
UCF — Kirk Speraw fired; Next coach: The Orlando Sentinel runs through a list of candidates. The Herd’s Donnie Jones is mentioned.
East Carolina — Mack McCarthy out; Jeff Lebo in after leaving door open for Barbee at Auburn.
Tulane — Dave Dickerson
Rice — Ben Braun

Tony Barbee hired as Auburn's basketball coach

Tony Barbee hired as Auburn's basketball coach
By Andy Bitter - abitter@ledger-enquirer.com

AUBURN, Ala. -- Tony Barbee, a long-time protege of John Calipari, will now have a chance to match up against his mentor in the SEC.

Auburn hired Barbee as its head basketball coach Wednesday night, a source close to the situation told the Ledger-Enquirer. The 38-year-old Barbee has spent the last four years at UTEP, where he's gone 82-52.

Barbee was considered a hot name in the coaching market, having been linked to both the Iowa and DePaul jobs this offseason as well.

His hiring comes comes 12 days after Auburn fired Jeff Lebo after six seasons.

Auburn interviewed a host of candidates for the position, including former Tigers great and Los Angeles Lakers special assistant Chuck Person on Wednesday night, before hiring Barbee.

In four years with UTEP, Barbee took the Miners from 10th place in the Conference USA to first. They went 26-7 this season and won the C-USA regular season title, making the NCAA tournament as a 12th seed. They lost to Butler in the first round.

Barbee has been associated with Calipari since he played for him at UMass from 1989-93. He got his coaching start at his alma mater as a graduate assistant from 1995-98.

After one season as an assistant with Wyoming, Barbee reunited with Calipari at UMass. Barbee followed him to Memphis in 2000, serving as Calipari's top assistant and recruiter from for six seasons.

The Tigers won 148 games in that span. Rivals.com ranked Barbee as the No. 3 recruiter in the country while he was at Memphis.

Barbee took the UTEP job in 2006 and went 14-17, 19-14, 23-14 and 26-7 in his four seasons. He was named the 2010 Conference USA Coach of the Year.

Orlando Sentinel - UCF hunts for strong recruiter, charismatic leader to take over men’s basketball program

UCF hunts for strong recruiter, charismatic leader to take over men’s basketball program

List of potential candidates to replace veteran coach Kirk Speraw includes Morgan State’s Todd Bozeman, Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt, Appalachian State’s Buzz Peterson and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Reggie Theus

March 23, 2010|By Iliana Limón, Orlando SentinelUCF Athletic Director Keith Tribble isn't naming names.

Tribble has declined to share the list of top candidates as the search for a new UCF men's basketball coach continues this week.

He did, however, describe his ideal coach. Tribble offered insight into his top priorities as he looks to replace veteran coach Kirk Speraw.

Marietta (GA) Daily Journal - Kendrick celebrates McDonald's team honor

Kendrick celebrates McDonald's team honor

by Carlton D. White
cwhite@mdjonline.com
March 24, 2010 01:00 AM

MARIETTA - According to Wheeler boys basketball coach Doug Lipscomb, Jelan Kendrick gets a lot of attention and accolades because he is a talented and versatile player.

The 6-foot-7, 195-pound Kendrick can play both guard positions, or play under the basket as a forward or even a center.

"It's what makes kids like him special," Lipscomb said. "It's a blessing to have kids of that caliber in our program and to see them go on to be successful."

Thanks to his versatility, Kendrick can now add another position to his portfolio - barista.

As a promotion for his inclusion as part of McDonald's 2010 All-American team, Kendrick donned an apron and went behind the counter as prepared one of the restaurant's trademark coffee drinks Tuesday morning at a Cobb Parkway franchise.

With the McDonald's honor, Kendrick will compete with - and against - some of the nation's best high school basketball players when they come together March 31 for the McDonald's All-American Game in Columbus, Ohio.

"It's a great accomplishment being the only player from Georgia this year selected to play in this game that I always dreamed of playing in," Kendrick said. "I'm just honored."

Kendrick joins three other Cobb County players, and two other Wheeler standouts, who have been named McDonald's All-Americans. Brian Oliver was honored in 1986 for his play at Wills High School, which was later merged into the present-day Campbell High School. Wheeler's Shareef Abdur-Rahim followed in 1995, with J.J. Hickson playing in the game in 2007.

"A lot of work and work ethic was put into this to try to get to this level that a lot people said I couldn't get to," Kendrick said. "Once I accomplished it, it was kind of a relief. To play in this game is tremendous, and I get to represent my state - the state that I love so much - and the people that I love in this state.

"I get to represent them in one of the biggest games in high school basketball."

The McDonald's All-American award is one of several honors recently bestowed upon Kendrick, a Memphis signee. He was also recently tabbed a 2010 Parade All-American as well as a Jordan Brand All-American.

Ranked No. 8 nationally in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.com and a consensus top player in the state of Georgia, Kendrick helped lead Wheeler to a 23-6 overall record and the second round of the state playoffs.

"All of these are great honors," Kendrick said. "They are prestigious awards that not everyone gets to enjoy in their high school career. I'm just looking to prosper in these games and, hopefully, bring back an MVP trophy or something like that."

The Jordan Brand All-American team features 20 of the nation's top seniors, who will play in next month's nationally televised Jordan Brand Classic game at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Joining Kendrick in the Big Apple will be Lipscomb, who was chosen as the head coach for the East team. A 17-year veteran as Wheeler's coach, Lipscomb has coached the Wildcats to five state titles, 10 region championships and was the head coach for the McDonald's All-American game in 2006.

"It's fantastic," Lipscomb said of being chosen as a head coach at the Jordan Brand Classic. "I'll be with some of the best kids in the country, and I'm looking forward to going to New York again. I've been there before with the Wheeler basketball team, and it should be a fun event. It will be another great event to have associated with Wheeler High School."

2010 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Team Announcement (Will Barton in All-American Game)

2010 Jordan Brand Classic Regional Team Announcement

NEW YORK — Jordan Brand, a division of NIKE, Inc., announced today the rosters for the Jordan Brand Classic Regional Game, which will be a part of the Jordan Brand Classic, presented by Foot Locker, at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 17. The game will feature the top prep players from the New York City metropolitan area in a City vs. Suburbs showdown.

Heading to many of the top college programs in the northeast — including St. Johns, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Seton Hall, Kansas State, Temple, Rutgers, Boston, Vermont, Richmond, Manhattan, Stony Brook — the players represent one of the most talented classes in the history of the Regional Game.

The City Team will include Michael Alvarado (All Hallows/Bronx, NY), Maurice Barrow (Christ the King/Middle Village, NY), David Coley (Thomas Jefferson/Brooklyn, NY), Branden Frazier (Bishop Loughlin/Brooklyn, NY), Leory Isler (Boys & Girls/Brooklyn, NY), Kadeem Jack (Rice/New York, NY), Ryan Rhoomes (Cardozo/Bayside, NY), Jeffrey Short (John F. Kennedy/Bronx, NY), Shane Southwell (Rice/New York, NY) and Malik Thomas (Wadleigh/New York, NY).

The Suburban Team will feature Gilvydas Biruta (St. Benedict’s Prep/Newark, NJ), Aaron Brown (St. Benedict’s Prep/Newark, NJ), Fuquan Edwin (Paterson Catholic/Paterson, NJ), Marcus Henderson (Newburgh Free Academy/Newburgh, NY), Antoine Mason (New Rochelle/New Rochelle, NY), J.J. Moore (South Kent School/South Kent, CT), Jason Morris (The Hotchkiss School/Lakeville, CT), Ronald Roberts (Saint Peter’s Preparatory/Jersey City, NJ), Brian Voelkel (Iona Preparatory/New Rochelle, NY) and Derrick Williams (St. Anthony/Jersey City, NJ).

The City Team will be coached by Paul Gilvary (Holy Cross High School/Flushing, NY) and Edwin Gonzalez (Bishop Loughlin High School/Brooklyn, NY) while the Suburban Team will be have Mike Kelly (Saint Peter’s Preparatory School/Jersey City, NJ) and Bill Murphy (New Rochelle High School/New Rochelle, NY) on the bench.

Sponsored by Jordan Brand, the event is also annually attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars, who have included Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, CC Sabathia, Chris Paul, LL Cool J, Warren Sapp, Terrell Owens, Floyd Mayweather, Kanye West, Mya, Boyz II Men, Fat Joe, Ludacris, Ahmad Rashad and Vince Carter.

This year’s tripleheader will begin with the Regional Game at 3:30 p.m. followed by the International Game at 5:30 p.m., and the All-American Game at 8:00 p.m.

The International Game will feature the top 15-16 year old players from around the world, including 10 European players, who were recently selected at a Jordan Brand training camp held in Istanbul, Turkey on March 6-7. Additional players from China, Brazil and Africa will also join the International Team — roster to be announced at a later date.

The All-American Game of the Jordan Brand Classic will include the top 20 players in the country including the top-ten ranked ESPNU 100 prospects No. 1 Harrison Barnes (Ames, IA/North Carolina), No. 2 Jared Sullinger (Columbus, OH/Ohio State), No. 3 Brandon Knight (Coral Springs, FL/Undecided), No. 4 Kyrie Irving (West Orange, NJ/Duke), No. 5 Tobias Harris (Dix Hills, NY/Tennessee), No. 6 Will Barton (Baltimore, MD/Memphis), No. 7 Josh Selby (Baltimore, MD/Undecided), No. 8 C.J. Leslie (Holly Springs, NC/Undecided), No. 9 Perry Jones (Duncanville, TX/Baylor) and No. 10 Tristan Thompson (Brampton, ONT/Texas)

Recent Jordan Brand Classic All-Americans have included NBA stars Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose as well as current NCAA standouts John Wall (Kentucky), DeMarcus Cousins (Kentucky), Xavier Henry (Kansas), Sherron Collins (Kansas), Derrick Favors (Georgia Tech), Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Willie Warren (Oklahoma) and Kyle Singler (Duke).

Tickets are now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations, the Madison Square Garden box office, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 212-307-7171. For more information, please visit the official web site, www.JordanBrandClassic.com. Live webcasts of the Regional and International games, produced by the High School Basketball Network, are also available at www.JordanBrandClassic.TV.

The Daily Helmsman - 2009-'10 over, Tigers shift focus to national title in 2011

2009-'10 over, Tigers shift focus to national title in 2011
By: Joseph Russell
Posted: 3/23/10

From the coaching vacancy in April to the scramble for a new head coach and ending up with Josh Pastner, from coming within inches of knocking off No. 1-ranked Kansas to losing on the road against Southern Methodist, from narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament and falling to Ole Miss in the NIT - the 2009-'10 season for The University of Memphis men's basketball season was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride.

"Not even a year ago, we didn't know what would happen," senior guard Doneal Mack said. "The whole coaching staff left. We had three players in the gym and a strength and conditioning coach. This was a persevering year."

Fellow senior Willie Kemp, one of just two players on this year's roster than have played four years for the Tigers, admitted that the year wasn't what they hoped, but it's no reason to hang their heads.

"We didn't know what we were going to have," he said. "We didn't know who was going to coach us, we didn't know who was coming in. I think we had an unbelievable year. With the players we had, we made it work."

But just as quickly as it came, it's now gone.

And so the Tigers must look forward to their next ride, one in which they hope ends with a national championship in 2011.

Junior forward Will Coleman, who finished the season averaging 7.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game, went as far as to guarantee the NCAA Championship for The U of M next year.

"Number one, for sure," he said. "Nothing lower than that. We're trying to win next year and take it all, everything. We aren't leaving anything on the table. We're taking everything."

Coleman, who spent the last month of the season as the squad's only true big man, has the potential to become one of the nation's more dominant post players next season. The junior college transfer struggled at times this season, but when the pressure was put on him to perform with the departure of Pierre Henderson-Niles, Coleman answered.

"I just kept working," he said. "I made a promise and I wanted to stick by it and keep it. That's what I did."

While Coleman remains a constant for next year's squad, questions have surrounded other players for weeks as whether they will return, try out for the NBA or even transfer elsewhere.

Sophomore forward Wesley Witherspoon, who averaged 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, said he hasn't even thought about not being a Tiger next season.

"I plan on being here four years and graduating," he said. "That's what I signed up for. I'm a University of Memphis student and that's what I plan on doing."

Meanwhile, perhaps the biggest question mark for Tigers fans is sophomore guard Elliot Williams, the Tigers' leading scorer at nearly 18 points per contest.

The Memphis native, who transferred to The U of M after a freshman season at Duke, has made several appearances in various NBA mock drafts, which put him towards the end of the first round.

Williams reputed the rumors, stating that "as of right now I'm returning" and that anything less than a national title in 2011 would be a disappointment.

"This year was fun and it was overachieving, but our mindset now goes from holding everything together and stabilizing," Pastner said. "Now let's take the next step and we'll work in doing the very best we can. Our goal is winning a national championship."

With the recruiting class that the Tigers have coming in next year, it perhaps rivals the group of players that Memphis fans were hoping on having for 2009-'10 before they bolted elsewhere following the coaching change in April.

"You've got to have players," Pastner said. "If you have players and they play hard, you have a chance to win a lot of games."

The U of M's 2010 recruiting class, highlighted by five-star guards Will Barton and Memphis product Joe Jackson, has already garnered attention as one of the best groups of incoming freshman in the country.

Barton, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Brewster Academy in Wolfboro, N.H., is ranked by rivals.com as the No. 2 shooting guard in the nation. Meanwhile, Jackson, from White Station High School in Memphis, is a 5-foot-11 point guard known for explosive drives to the basket and is ranked the No. 5 point guard in the country.

Joining them will be 6-foot-6 forward Jelan Kendrick from Marietta, Georgia, who was a surprise addition later in the signing period. Known for playing multiple positions, Kendrick is expected to add even more versatility to Pastner's squad.

Two more local products will join the fray in 6-foot-7 center Tarik Black from Ridgeway and 6-foot-4 guard Chris Crawford from Sheffield. Both are four-star recruits ranked in the nation's top 65 players.

Rounding out the class is three-star recruits Antonio Barton, a 6-foot-2 guard and brother of Will, and 6-foot-8 forward Hippolyte Tsafack.

"They're going to be a team to be reckoned with," said Kemp. "All this year, we didn't want to talk about next year, but now you can talk about it. They're going to be great. They should come into the year ranked in the top five, and I'm going to watch them all the time."

Even though he has potentially the best incoming backcourt in the country, Pastner said he may be even more excited about his team's inside game next season.

"People ask me if I want to sign another big guy - you tell me," he said. "With Will Coleman and Angel Garcia, that's a very good frontline. And Wesley is a perimeter player, but we can do some things inside too. Plus with the recruits we have coming in, Tarik and Hippolyte, that gives us a great frontline presence."

Even though a national championship is at the front of everyone's mind for 2010-'11, Pastner said, there's still a lot of work they have to do in order to get there.

"The mindset and the mentality of working is that you have to be a pro and win a national championship," he said. "That doesn't mean you have to be a pro or win a national championship, but it means you've got to work with the discipline, with the dedication, with the determination of those things - every single second."

As far as his name being brought up in coaching changes, Pastner said there's no place he'd rather be next year than Memphis, even if other schools offer a big contract.

"This is one of the top ten jobs in America, maybe one of the top five," he said. "When you're winning and you have good players, money is no issue. It's about being happy."
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© Copyright 2010 Daily Helmsman

Houston Chronicle Commentary: Penders leaves mediocre mark at UH

By RICHARD JUSTICE
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
March 22, 2010, 11:20PM

Perhaps we’ll eventually find out that Tom Penders did an extraordinary job under nearly impossible circumstances at the University of Houston.

Let’s revisit the topic in three years and see if UH basketball is better off without him. At UH, they clearly think they can do better than Tom Penders. Hope springs eternal, etc.

Penders might disagree. By the time he finished running down his accomplishments in Monday‘s exit news conference, he’d made getting the Coogs to one NCAA Tournament game in six years sound like turning water into wine.

"We have set the bar very high," he said. "We have changed the culture here."

Oh, Tommy, you hush up. Don’t you know you’re supposed to let others say the nice things while you sit there with your hands folded saying, "Oh gosh, it was nothing. Would someone pass the Grey Poupon?"

Don’t overstate it

Penders elevated UH hoops from irrelevant to mediocre, and there aren’t many statues that say, "He was mediocre, but we loved him just the same."

On the other hand, one Tournament game in six years might be every bit the astonishing accomplishment Penders sold it as being. This is the kind of tough-love chat UH fans hate.

They sometimes see the program for what it once was — or what they’d like it to be — instead of what it is. Mack Rhoades is the latest in string of athletic directors to attempt to make UH a competitive Division I program.

Did you see Steve Campbell’s nugget the other day that UH had a $400 basketball marketing campaign?

Really? What does $400 buy? Why bother? Whoever inserted $400 into the basketball budget for marketing ought to be charged with coming up with clever wants to spend it?

Besides, Penders doesn’t need a marketing budget. No one sells his program — or himself — better than Turnaround Tommy.

You can say that stuff isn’t important, but when you’ve got acres of empty seats and when coaches are being more secretive and less available than ever, Penders is a refreshing throwback.

Don’t aim too high

As to why he’s leaving UH, Penders said his work was done and that it was time to find another challenge. Where’s that grain of salt when you need it?

He also made it clear he still wants to coach. I just hope he’s not trying to parlay winning the Conference USA Tournament into, say, the Oregon job.

"I feel I can do no more (at UH)," he said, "and I’m proud of what we’ve done."

Rhoades agreed.

"This is a hard job," he said. "I know what we don’t have."

Few Division I coaches had less to work with than Penders in terms of facilities, budget and attendance. Penders pushed that part of his story in recent weeks, probably as he felt the walls closing in on him.

He left out the part about him doing a terrible job recruiting local high school talent and not winning enough games, but who wants to spoil a nice going-away party with facts?

Beating UTEP should not qualify as a signature victory at the University of Houston, but who knows anymore?

Guess how long it has been since UH won an NCAA Tournament game. If you answered 26 years, you’d be right.

For a bonus question, guess how many weeks UH has been in the Associated Press Top 25 these last 26 years? Two.

Rhoades will look for a coach willing to buy into a vision that doesn’t exist. It’s a leap of faith, but so is imagining a bracket with Saint Mary’s, Cornell and Baylor in the Sweet 16 instead of Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA.

Stay closer to home

UH’s next coach must do a better job competing for every top Houston high school player. Penders may have relied on transfers and juco players because that’s all he can get, but UH must compete with A&M, Texas and Baylor for local high school talent.

By the time Penders finished telling his heroic tale to that guy from the
New York Times last week,
it appeared as if he’d taken the UH job as an act of mercy.

Memories blur over time, but it seems he took the UH job because he wasn’t exactly a hot coaching candidate after ugly departures from Texas and George Washington.

But let’s not quibble over silly little details.

"I’m just glad I got the chance to go out on my own terms," he said.

Now about that. He apparently walked into a Sunday afternoon meeting with Rhoades and resigned before they got around to discussing whether he was welcome to stay.

We may never know. However, it speaks volumes that Penders and UH will negotiate a buyout of the remaining $500,000 on his contract.

Since UH is losing money by the buckets, it’s hard to imagine Rhoades giving Penders more than a handshake if there wasn’t something else at play.

Now UH will find out if someone else can do the things Penders couldn’t. It’s no sure thing, but it’s a chance worth taking.

richard.justice@chron.com

If you can stomach the read, here is the report findings from the NCAA Infraction Appeals Committee

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/91576c8041d7a0978637ff9f9b3d3926/20100322+Memphis+Public+Report+Only.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=91576c8041d7a0978637ff9f9b3d3926

Jelan Kendrick does radio interview with J Nicks at HOT 107.9

Jelan Kendrick does radio interview with J Nicks at HOT 107.9 (courtesy of CourtCred.com)

http://courtcred.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=203:jelan-kendrick-does-radio-interview-with-j-nicks-at-hot-1079&catid=42:features&Itemid=44

MaxPreps on Will Barton (10 to Watch in 2011)

10 to watch for 2011: Brewster Academy's Will Barton
MaxPreps examines 10 high school seniors that will prove to be impact performers in next year’s field of 65.
Friday, March 19, 2010
By: Jason Hickman
MaxPreps.com

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/Fnf7AzLgEd-UswAcxJTdpg/10-to-watch-for-2011--brewster-academys-will-barton.htm

No. 7 Will Barton
6-6 / 170 / Guard
Brewster Academy (Baltimore, Md.)

Headed to: Memphis

2009-10: After leading Baltimore’s Lake Clifton High School to a state championship a year ago, Barton took his game to the prep ranks for a fifth year this winter. Even with five other future Division I players on the roster at Brewster Academy, the skinny guard posted 20.8 points per game and was named NEPSAC Class A Player of the Year, as well as MVP of the NEPSAC tournament.

Next-level analysis: The backcourt is going to be awfully crowded at Memphis next year with returning guards Elliot Williams, Wesley Witherspoon and Roburt Sallie, plus five highly-touted newcomers. Barton, known primarily for his scoring prowess, should find a way to carve out plenty of minutes as he can do much more than just put the ball in the bucket. He was a frequent double-digit rebounder at Brewster this season and can cause problems defensively with his length.

Barton spent just a year at both Lake Clifton and Brewster Academy, but contributed to a 62-5 combined record in those two seasons and helped each capture a championship. Another bonus at Memphis will be re-uniting with brother Antonio. The two last played together during the 2008-09 campaign at Lake Clifton.

The potential negative for Barton at the next level isn’t tough to spot. He weighs just 170 pounds and it’s tough to recall a college star in recent years with a frame as slight as Barton’s. The Baltimore native has been able to work around the lack of bulk and strength to this point in his career. Expect an adjustment period as he learns to do the same at Memphis.

Will Barton's 3 Slam Video from BallIsLife.com

Will Barton 3 Dunks On 3 Back to Back Plays
Added by Arek Kissoyan on March 22, 2010 at 12:04pm

Check the latest play of the day clip featuring Will Barton one of the top shooting guards in the nation. Check out Will Barton at the McDonald's All American and Jordan Brand Classic games.

http://www.ballislife.com/video/will-barton-3-dunks-on-3-back

Slate.com - The Sleaziest Coach in a Sleazy Game

The Sleaziest Coach in a Sleazy Game

John Calipari and college basketball are a match made a few levels below heaven.
By Charles P. Pierce
Posted Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at 4:24 PM ET


John Calipari and John Wall I do not believe that Kentucky is going to win this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. This is one reason why: I watched them beat the tar out of Tennessee in the SEC tournament, a ridiculous 74-45 blowout during which freshman center DeMarcus Cousins took the opportunity to give head coach John Calipari one of the greatest "Honky, please" looks since the demise of Richard Pryor, and a backup named Daniel Orton was told to absent himself briefly from the proceedings and walked up the tunnel, leaving Kentucky undermanned and the broadcast crew completely baffled. Meanwhile, Calipari was all over starry freshman guard John Wall, who was visibly counting down the seconds until the end of the season, whenever it is. And all this in a game that Kentucky won by 29.

So that's one reason why they're not going to win, even though the team is undeniably talented. (But not as talented as Kansas, to my mind anyway. I think the Jayhawks might be the most complete college basketball teams since the easily loathed Christian Laettner Duke teams of the early 1990s.) In Cousins, Wall, and Eric Bledsoe, Kentucky depends on three freshmen, at least two of whom—Cousins and Wall—likely will be gone for good within the next few weeks. (It's possible that Bledsoe might enter the draft, too, although he probably shouldn't.) By all the available evidence, these two guys have already partly checked out. Their concern for their draft status might be enough to motivate them to play hard in the tournament. But if they do, it won't be because of the motivational genius of John Calipari. He's already distant white noise in their lives.

Here's the other reason: Even if Kentucky wins, historical precedent says that, sooner or later, they won't win. For example, in 1996, a 35-2 University of Massachusetts team coached by John Calipari made it all the way to the Final Four. A year later, because of a tangled scandal involving Marcus Camby, jewelry, and hookers, the NCAA stripped UMass of its tournament victories, forced the school to pay back $151,617 in tournament revenues, and expunged the team's accomplishments from the official record book. Then, in 2008, a 38-2 Memphis team coached by John Calipari made it all the way to the championship game. A year later, because of a tangled scandal involving papier-mâché SAT scores, the NCAA stripped Memphis of its tournament victories, forced the school to pay back more than $500,000 in tournament revenues, and expunged the team's accomplishments from the official record book.


This is awe-inspiring. Two schools, at different times and in different places, both with their greatest seasons erased from the record books, and both of them coached by the same guy. None of college basketball's other historic buccaneers ever pulled this off. Not Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach and UNLV. Not Norm Ellenberger, the New Mexico coach who came a cropper because he committed recruiting violations over a telephone that already had been tapped by the FBI. Not even the late Dana Kirk, one of Calipari's predecessors at Memphis, whose corruption was so blatant that he actually went to prison. None of these legends have accomplished what John Calipari's programs have.

So there you have it. The 2010 Kentucky Wildcats—perhaps soon d/b/a as Later Vacated.

Anyone who follows college basketball sooner or later develops a kind of ethical dementia. The sport is a perfect example of a functioning underground economy. Players have skills that CBS—to name only the most prominent parasite—values at something over $1 billion a year. Because this is not Soviet Russia, players find ways to get paid for these skills under the table, largely because a preposterous rulebook (and a feast of fat things called the NCAA) works diligently to prevent anyone from getting paid over the table. Since everybody involved in the sport has known this for decades, there's a lot of the old nudge-nudge, wink-wink going on.

Back when I covered the sport full time in the early 1980s, there was a kind of generally accepted low comedy to the corruption. My favorite story is the one about the New York City street agent who got an assistant coach from a prominent school to loan him a car in return for delivering a prospect, whereupon the street agent drove the car two blocks and into a building, whereupon he walked back to the coach, tossed him the keys, and asked him for another car. Whether you think this is a funny story pretty much defines how willing you are to overlook how the college hoops sausage gets made.

But even in this culture, which is pretty much what a dockside saloon in Singapore would be if it had shoe contracts and golf outings, John Calipari always has been notable for the baroque happenings that seem to surround his every move. Coaches who have barbered the rulebook like Edward Scissorhands look upon Calipari with a weird mixture of awe and disdain. When he was but a baby brigand in the employ of the University of Pittsburgh, Calipari's recruiting tactics very nearly incited a general hooley at the Big East's annual meeting.

During his brief, and clamorously unsuccessful, stint coaching the NBA's New Jersey Nets, a job he landed because of that UMass Final Four run that doesn't officially exist any more, Calipari enlivened things by calling a reporter a "Mexican idiot." Then he moved on to Memphis, a university with a proud history of employing coaches whom you would not trust to hang up your coat. The aforementioned Kirk, who died in February, had his 1985 Final Four appearance officially Later Vacated.

Unless the school wins its pending appeal before the NCAA, the Memphis program will have two Later Vacateds in its history, and John Calipari will have two Later Vacateds on his résumé. This was a match made a few levels below heaven.

In 2005, long before the questions arose over who exactly took Derrick Rose's SAT, there was a break-in at the apartment where several members of the Memphis team lived. According to police reports, the items stolen included $3,600 in fake fur coats, $6,000 worth of shoes, and however many throwback jerseys $2,150 will buy you. It is possible that the players in question amassed this bounty on only what they received for books, tuition, room and board, and fees, or out of the largesse of their respective grandmothers. It is also possible that Maggie Gyllenhaal waits for me around the next corner. Then came that great season that doesn't exist any more, and the scandal, and Calipari was off to Kentucky while Memphis took the NCAA sanctions right in the face.

But the man is a master at walking between the raindrops. The argument in his defense is, always, that nobody investigating the scandals at UMass and Memphis ever found anything they could pin directly on John Calipari. It was always the players who betrayed his fundamentally naive trust in their integrity, or the shifty characters around the players who induced them to abuse the good nature of a decent chap who's only trying to play by increasingly complex rules. While Calipari knew Memphis was under investigation before he scurried off to Lexington, the NCAA itself has said that Calipari is not "at risk" in its investigation of the Memphis program. His responsibility for knowing what was going on with his players ended at ... well, it's hard to say where it ended because, by the logic used in this defense, it never really began. What was he supposed to do, anyway? How can a poor man stand such times and live?

Geoff Calkins: University of Memphis' appeal of NCAA sanctions was doomed from start

Geoff Calkins: University of Memphis' appeal of NCAA sanctions was doomed from start

University of Memphis' appeal of NCAA sanctions was misguided, doomed from start
Posted March 23, 2010 at midnight

The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee rejected the University of Memphis's effort to overturn the ruling of the Committee on Infractions.

Well, duh.

Who but Shirley Raines didn't know this was coming?

Who but John Calipari still held out hope?

Derrick Rose's time at the University of Memphis will ultimately be remembered for the forfeiture of 38 victories and a lot of revenue.

University of Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson is seen here in a 2009 file photo, discussing the school's decision to terminate head football coach Tommy West.
Who but R.C. Johnson believed Memphis really deserved to get off?

"I am extremely disappointed with the findings," Johnson said.

I am extremely disappointed that anyone would be surprised.

This was a charade, it was always a charade.

It was more about protecting reputations — Raines', Johnson's and Calipari's — than anything else.

The university got off easy, honestly. The future of the basketball program isn't affected at all.

So why spend the money and hire an outside counsel to make the appeal?

Because how could the university justify keeping Johnson in his position otherwise? How could Raines rationalize the way she handed the reputation of the university over to Calipari to trash?

That's why they had to sound so indignant, why they had to launch their long-shot appeal. Because otherwise, it would look like Calipari ran a fast-and-loose program while Johnson and Raines sat idly by.

Which is exactly what happened, of course.

Shouldn't someone be disappointed by that?

The Infractions Appeals Committee — unlike the Committee on Infractions — found that Memphis knew or should have known that Derrick Rose was ineligible during the 2007-08 season for two reasons:

1. On Oct. 25, 2007, the Illinois Inspector General notified Memphis administrators of an allegation that one of Rose's teammates had taken a standardized test for Rose.

2. On March 17, 2008, the Educational Testing Service sent a letter to Rose notifying him that there was "substantial evidence" that his SAT score was invalid.

Now, you can quibble with these conclusions if you like. The Illinois allegation concerned an ACT test, not the SAT that was subsequently invalidated. The March 17 letter was sent to Rose's Chicago address and there's no specific evidence that Rose or Memphis administrators ever saw the thing.

But that's where every other test-related letter had been sent, and Rose always got those. Beyond that, the Infractions Appeals Committee seemed to imply, there was so much smoke around Rose that it's not credible to suggest that Memphis was somehow taken by surprise.

That's a hard one to dispute, isn't it? If you're being honest with yourself? Heck, does anyone outside the state of Kentucky doubt that Calipari knew exactly what was going on?

Rose had taken the ACT test in Chicago three times before May 2007. He had failed to get a qualifying score each time. So one month before Rose was scheduled to arrive on the Memphis campus, he traveled to Detroit, home of the infamous William Wesley, and took the SAT using — this was the really tricky part — someone else's handwriting.

Think Rose kept his soon-to-be coach in the dark about all this? Or told him he was taking the test in Detroit for good luck? If not, what exactly is there to be outraged about today?

Memphis hired a coach with a reputation, a coach whose previous trip to the Final Four was stripped by the NCAA. Memphis knew the risks that came with that. Now that the risks have become reality, it's long past time to move on.

And, yes, I understand if some of you are frustrated that Memphis has had to suffer all the consequences while Calipari escaped unscathed. Except, ask yourself: Did he really escaped unscathed?

He is Jerry Tarkanian now, a permanent outlaw. Just last week, Charlie Pierce wrote a piece on Calipari in Slate titled, "The Sleaziest Coach in a Sleazy Game."

That's how he is considered now. That will be on his coaching tombstone. Calipari may shortly become one of just two coaches to lead three different programs to the Final Four. He'll forever be the only coach to have two of them vacated by the NCAA.

To reach Geoff Calkins, call 529-2364 or e-mail calkins@commercialappeal.com.

Jeff Lebo Named ECU Basketball Coach

Jeff Lebo Named ECU Basketball Coach
Former All-ACC guard placed in charge of resurrecting Pirate Hoops

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Jeff Lebo, who has 12 years of collegiate head coaching experience leading three programs to post-season or conference championship game appearances, has been named men's basketball head coach at East Carolina according to an announcement from director of athletics Terry Holland Monday.

Lebo, whose appointment is pending approval by the ECU Board of Trustees, will be introduced to the media at a 4:30 p.m. press conference Tuesday. He takes over the Pirate program after spending the last six seasons at Auburn.

Lebo has averaged nearly 18 wins per season during his head coaching career, compiling an all-time record of 211-156 (.575). He has been asked to rebuild three programs during that span and responded by leading each program to at least one 20-win season before departing. He has guided two teams into National Invitation Tournament (NIT) play, winning five of seven contests - falling on both occasions to teams which advanced to the NIT Championship Game.

Lebo, 43, will become East Carolina's 23rd head men's basketball coach in the school's all-time history and directly succeed Mack McCarthy, who recorded a 34-57 mark in three years heading the Pirates' program.

"Jeff Lebo has established a well-deserved reputation as a 'program turner,'" Holland said. "He has a proven track record as a player, as an assistant coach and as a head coach. When you combine those attributes with his desire for his family to be located in eastern North Carolina, it gives me great comfort that we have the opportunity to establish something very special for our basketball program over the next few decades under Jeff's leadership."

In six years as a collegiate head coach prior to his appointment at Auburn, Lebo turned around programs at Tennessee-Chattanooga and Tennessee Tech en route to a 115-63 combined record at those institutions, an average of over 19 wins per season. A pair of Ohio Valley Conference titles and a trip to the NIT quarterfinals dotted Lebo's ledger at TTU.

Lebo initiated his head coaching career at Tennessee Tech in 1998-99, when he took over a team with four consecutive losing seasons that was capped by a 9-21 campaign the year before his arrival. Two years later, the Golden Eagles posted their first 20-win season since 1946-47. He immediately followed with a school-record 27 victories a year later in 2001-02 that earned the school its first post-season appearance since 1963. TTU took advantage of its NIT opportunity, winning three-straight contests until dropping a 79-73 decision against eventual tourney champion Memphis on the road.

Lebo was honored with three consecutive OVC Coach-of-the-Year awards for his unprecedented success at Tennessee Tech. In addition, he was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 7 Coach-of-the-Year and the Tennessee Coach-of-the-Year at the conclusion of the 2001-02 season.

He then accepted the head coaching position at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and during his first season, led the Mocs to a 21-9 mark - producing the program's first 20-win season in six years. The Mocs followed by winning 19 games during 2003-04 and came within one game of the NCAA Tournament for a second-straight season after losing in the Southern Conference title game both years.

Chattanooga ranked among the nation's top eight in scoring offense in each of Lebo's two campaigns on the sideline, averaging over 81 points per game both seasons. The Mocs also stood sixth nationally in field goal percentage and assists per game during the 2003-04 season.

After the 2003-04 campaign, Lebo accepted the head coaching position at Auburn despite inheriting a program facing NCAA sanctions and became the fifth-winningest coach in 104-year history of Tiger basketball with a 96-93 record during his tenure at the Southeastern Conference member school.

Of the five scholarship players during his first season at Auburn, four were guards that resulted in the Tigers' distinction as one of the smallest Division I teams in the country. Despite the obstacles, Lebo posted his first winning season just two years later and laid the groundwork for a 24-victory campaign in 2008-09 - tying for the second-highest win total in Auburn Basketball history.

Hal Baird, an ECU alumnus who was Auburn's long-time successful baseball coach and interim athletics director when Lebo was hired, was impressed with how hard and smart Auburn teams played under Lebo's leadership.

"He faced many obstacles when he arrived, which really allows his 24-win season and his overall winning record to serve as a testament to his remarkable achievements," Baird said. "He always represented Auburn in a first-class manner with dignity and character, and I'm thrilled that Jeff Lebo will be the next head men's basketball coach at East Carolina."

Lebo began his coaching career as an assistant at East Tennessee State under Alan LeForce for two seasons from 1990 to 1992. The Buccaneers made two-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, advancing to the second round in 1992 after the 14th-seeded Bucs upset third-seeded Arizona. ETSU, which was finally eliminated from the NCAA Tournament by eventual national runner-up Michigan, 102-90, went 24-7 and won both the 1992 Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Bucs went 28-5 in 1990-91 and won both the Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles before losing to Iowa in the NCAA Tournament.

Lebo joined Eddie Fogler's staff as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt in 1992-93. During his only season in Nashville, Lebo helped coach the Commodores to an SEC Championship, a Sweet 16 appearance and a 28-6 record.

He then followed Fogler to South Carolina the following year, where he spent five seasons and played a key role assisting the Gamecocks to their only SEC title in 1997 and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. In his final three seasons in Columbia, Lebo helped the Gamecocks to an average of 22 wins per year, posting records of 19-12, 24-8 and 23-8.

A four-year letterman at North Carolina, Lebo played for legendary coach Dean Smith and was part of a Tar Heel program that posted a 116-25 record during his career, captured a pair of ACC regular season titles and clinched the 1989 ACC Tournament title. UNC advanced to the Sweet 16 each of his four years and made two Elite Eight appearances. He was a three-time All-ACC Tournament selection and a second-team all-conference pick in 1988.

Upon graduation in 1989, Lebo was honored with the prestigious Patterson Award as the school's top student-athlete. On the floor, he currently ranks eighth on the school's career assists list and 24th on its career scoring chart.

He was a high school All-America selection at Carlisle (Pa.) High School, where he was a four-year starter for his father, Dave, and contributed to a 108-9 prep record.

Lebo is married to the former Melissa Mills of Williamston, N.C. and they are the parents of daughters Addison and Mills, along with son Creighton. Lebo's father-in-law, former ECU football letterman `Dink' Mills, served Williamston High School as its long-time football coach and athletics director.

Memphis Flyer - Tiger Hoops Recap Part 1

Tiger Hoops Recap: Part 1
Posted by Frank Murtaugh on Mon, Mar 22, 2010 at 9:02 AM

This is the first in a five-part review of the 2009-10 Tiger basketball season.

A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE

Not since Chris Massie in 2003 have the Tigers been able to suit up a low-post scoring presence. (Joey Dorsey managed to play in 149 games — the second most in Tiger history — without reaching the 1,000-point plateau.) Shawn Taggart averaged 10.4 points a game in 2008-09, but was better suited to the power forward position.

This season, though, that offensive vacuum at the center position became especially evident. Pierre Henderson-Niles played in 23 games before being dismissed from the team in early February, and reached double figures but four times. (He scored more than 11 points only once.) Will Coleman, like Dorsey, is built for the part, but not until March arrived did he become the kind of presence that might force an opponent to sag into the middle. In 34 games, Coleman scored as many as10 points eight times, and four of those performances came this month.

Considering the Tigers won 24 games with an offense driven by long-distance shooting and Elliot Williams’ ability to get inside, it’s scary to consider what this team may have been with an inside threat. Had opponents been forced into a zone more often, Doneal Mack and Roburt Sallie would have had that much more elbow room from beyond the arc.

The Tiger offense was an outside-in attack this season. In their 10 losses, the center position (for seven of those games Henderson-Niles and Coleman, the last three Coleman alone) averaged 8.8 points. Particularly in a league like Conference USA — hardly known for its bruising or size — 8.8 points per game from your big men simply won’t cut it.

But there’s reason for hope. Over his last four games, Coleman averaged 13.5 points and 10.7 rebounds. If 6’11” Angel Garcia returns healthy for the 2010-11 campaign, he’ll boost the interior attack by himself (as long as he doesn’t fall in love with his long-distance shooting, which should be a complementary weapon in his arsenal). Then there’s Tarik Black. Ranked as the seventh-best prep center in the country by Rivals.com, Black is a more developed offensive player than Henderson-Niles . . . as a senior at Ridgeway High School. Nothing like a little competition for playing time to raise the intensity level at the center position. You can bet coach Josh Pastner will be looking at this trio’s ability to “score the ball” as his predecessor often emphasized.

My Tats Don't Lie

AP Video - NCAA Rejects Final Memphis Appeal to Keep Wins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wALFsthw8HM&feature=player_embedded

The Commercial Appeal - University of Memphis appeal turned down by NCAA; school may seek Calipari's bonuses

University of Memphis appeal turned down by NCAA; school may seek Calipari's bonuses
By Dan Wolken
Posted March 22, 2010 at 10:58 a.m. , updated March 22, 2010 at 3:36 p.m.

The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee “found no basis” to reverse the penalties levied against the University of Memphis for men’s basketball violations during the 2007-08 season, it said in a release this morning.

The final decision now brings to a close the issue involving former point guard Derrick Rose, who was ruled retroactively ineligible by the NCAA after his SAT score was invalidated by the Educational Testing Service. There were also violations involving Rose’s brother, Reggie Rose, who was not charged by the university for more than $2,000 in travel expenses with the team. Memphis was only charged with a failure to monitor for the travel issue.

Last August, Memphis was ordered to vacate its NCAA-record 38 wins from the 2007-08 season and forfeit all revenue associated with its run to the national championship game. Memphis appealed the penalties, but the Infractions Appeals Committee said it found no basis to conclude that the penalties were excessive.

The University issued a release today saying it “strongly disagrees with the result, but understands that the decision is final.”

“ I am extremely disappointed with the findings,” athletic director R.C. Johnson said. “However, the ruling has been handed down and we must move forward. The future of Tiger athletics is indeed, very bright.”

John Calipari, the Tigers' coach when the violations occurred and now coach at Kentucky, issued a statement on his Web site and noted that he would have no other comment: "I am disappointed in the Association’s denial of the appeal and I’m saddened for the players who worked so hard for all we accomplished that season. My hope is that individual player records for games played and won over a four year period will stand."

As a result of the financial penalties, Memphis will forfeit roughly $615,000 in NCAA Tournament revenue, most of which had not yet been disbursed to the school.

Last August, Johnson said the school would consider recalling Calipari's bonuses associated with the 2007-08 season if the appeal failed. Calipari earned $200,000 for making the Final Four and $160,000 for winning 81% of his games.

"That is now on the table, and we’re going to take a look at that and decide what to do," legal counsel Sheri Lipman said. "R.C. gave that answer and said we would pursue it. We’re going to be looking at that internally."

Lipman said Memphis would "absolutely" have to remove its 2008 Final Four banner from FedExForum.

Bob Eoff, vice president for communications, public relations and marketing for the U of M, said university president Dr. Shirley Raines would not be available for further comment. He referred The Commercial Appeal to the school's official release, in which Raines urged more cooperation and communication between the ETS, the NCAA Eligibility Center and universities to work together on test score issues.

"She is heading to the NCAA next week and plans to deliver a message to the board at that time that coincides with the statement released this morning about the cooperation between the testing service and the NCAA to keep this kind of thing from happening again," Eoff said.

USA Today - Report: Tom Penders to resign as coach at Houston

Report: Tom Penders to resign as coach at Houston

The Houston Chronicle reports that after leading his team to a surprise run to the NCAA tournament, Tom Penders will resign as basketball coach at the University of Houston.

The Cougars earned a spot in the NCAA tournament by winning the Conference USA championship when they knocked off top-seeded Texas-El Paso in the conference title game.

In the NCAA tournament, the Cougars lost to Maryland in the first round Friday. The Chronicle reports that Penders had a meeting with athletics director Mack Rhoades Sunday.

When asked for comment, Rhoades said "there will be an announcement regarding the future of the men's basketball program in the near future." In six seasons, Penders has gone 121-77.

One name mentioned by The Chronicle as a possible successor to Penders is former UTEP, Texas A&M, and Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. Before becoming A.D. at Houston, Rhoades was a senior staffer in UTEP's athletics department when Gillispie was head coach of the Miners.

Gillispie did not coach this season after being fired by Kentucky after a two-year stint in Lexington.

-- Tim Gardner

Hattiesburg American - C-USA still in search of hoops respect

C-USA still in search of hoops respect
By Patrick Magee • March 21, 2010

CONFERENCE USA didn’t exactly have a grand showing at the NCAA Tournament this season.

Both UTEP and Houston were bumped in the first round by Butler and Maryland, respectively. With the early exit, the league still finds itself in search of respect.

It was definitely a positive for the league that two teams entered the field rather than just one. But C-USA teams will have to pull off some big non-conference wins next year if the league is going to secure multiple bids again.

UAB, Memphis, Southern Miss, UTEP and Marshall have to be considered the league’s top five teams headed into the offseason.

But the fortunes for UTEP and Marshall could change if some of their players decide to jump to the NBA.

Marshall’s Hassan Whiteside, a talented shot-blocker, is predicted by some to be a top 10 pick in the NBA Draft. UTEP could be missing a pair of important pieces to the puzzle if Derrick Caracter and Arnett Moultrie also decide to go pro.

Memphis rebound

Making the biggest leap in talent next season will be Memphis with coach Josh Pastner possibly bringing in the best class of signees in the nation. It doesn’t appear that the Tigers will be relegated to the NIT again anytime soon if Pastner continues to recruit at such a high level.

The team that will take the biggest drop in C-USA is probably Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane weren’t particularly deep this season but still managed to get 23 wins thanks to Jerome Jordan and Ben Uzoh. Both of those players have used up their eligibility.

Justin Hurtt is a talented guard for the Golden Hurricane, but it’s unlikely that he will have the support necessary to allow Tulsa to compete with the top teams in Conference USA.

Flowers power

Southern Miss coach Larry Eustachy said that Gary Flowers is “definitely” returning for his senior season and that means he will be among the five best players in Conference USA next year.

Flowers, UTEP’s Randy Culpepper, Elliot Williams of Memphis and UAB’s Elijah Millsap will be the players in the running for preseason C-USA Player of the Year. Whiteside and Caracter could also be in that mix if they decide to come back next year.

Despite its poor showing in the postseason, C-USA was definitely a deeper league this season. There was a good deal of parity between the league’s top eight teams, and the same should be expected next year.

It’s now a matter of teams like Rice, Tulane, East Carolina showing improvement.

It’s unlikely the Pirates will be able to show immediate progress with a change at head coach and Tulane coach Dave Dickerson will have to find some help in the post if the Green Wave are to improve on just three league wins.

SMU and Rice appear ready to make the most significant improvement as a part of the league’s bottom five teams while UCF is hoping to hit a home run with a new coaching hire.

Kevin Scarbinsky -- The Birmingham News "Not everyone in Memphis hates Calipari"

Scarbinsky: Not everyone in Memphis hates Calipari
By Kevin Scarbinsky -- The Birmingham News
March 19, 2010, 5:30AM

I found him. He’s as rare as Bigfoot, and some people think he’s a myth, but I actually found him.

There really is one person in the city of Memphis who doesn’t want John Calipari to crash and burn as soon as possible in the NCAA Tournament, then later in a much hotter environment.

It’s Josh Pastner.

You know, the guy who worked for Calipari as a Memphis assistant and then, after Cal broke the city’s heart by leaving for Kentucky, became the Memphis head coach.

Talked to Pastner on Thursday for another story to come later in the tournament. He had nothing but good things to say about his old boss.

"I wouldn’t be the head coach here at Memphis without Coach Cal," Pastner said. "He brought me here.

"I learned so much from him. I loved working for him, he was great to me and I have great respect for him."

How does Pastner expect to make it big with that attitude?

He sounds as nice as Murry Bartow, who got a shot at Calipari but missed Thursday night as Kentucky looked very much like a No. 1 seed in its 100-71 stretching exercise against East Tennessee.

I suggested last year, when Alabama was searching for a head basketball coach, that it could follow the Nick Saban model and go after Calipari.

You could say that each is the best at what he does. (And Pastner did say that, at least about Calipari.)

"Coach Cal is probably the best coach in the college game today," Pastner said. "Period. If not the best, you could say him and Bill Self are the top two.

"Cal’s very, very, very good."

You also could say that there are people in college basketball that don’t like Calipari just as there are people in college football that don’t like Saban.

Cal has become the Tark the Shark of his time.

All of that gives Memphis basketball fans a lot in common with LSU football fans.

They each watched a coach take them to giddy heights, only to drop them flat to go do the same thing somewhere else.

At least Saban had the decency to spend two years in NFL purgatory before returning to the SEC.

My friend Geoff Calkins, the fine columnist for the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, wrote this week, "It’s time that we, as a city of diverse people, come together to pull for one thing.

"Kentucky, falling flat. John Calipari, choking."

Calkins could run for mayor on that single-issue platform and win in a landslide.

LSU football fans had it worse than Memphis basketball fans because LSU football fans had to watch Saban beat their team en route to the national title.

But, in another way, Memphis basketball fans may suffer even more for the next three weeks. They have to watch Calipari dribble-drive toward the Final Four with their players.

At one time or another, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe all looked like they were headed to Memphis.

Give Pastner just one of them, and his Tigers wouldn’t be preparing for a second-round game in the NIT.

They’d be playing in the Bigger Dance.

That said, Pastner can’t bring himself to wish ill will upon the coach he assisted and the players he recruited.

He’s too nice a guy, and Calipari meant too much to his career.

"My focus is for us to win as many games as we can," Pastner said, "but I’m rooting for ..."

He paused, perhaps feeling the pulse of the city pounding in his ears.

"I think Kentucky and Kansas are the two best teams, so to be honest with you, I think those two are in the championship game, and it’s a complete toss-up."

There are major differences, starting with age and experience, between the old and new Memphis coaches.

Here’s one more:

If the No. 1 recruiting class in America he’s already signed leads Memphis to next year’s Final Four, it’ll be hard to find anyone — outside of the UAB family — pulling against Pastner.

Or, as a Memphis fan might say, good can come from evil after all.

The Coach Is Back

Well, after a year off, I am back posting to the blog again. My schedule has freed up just enough to allow me to get back in the saddle yet again. So, without much fanfair, let's get started.................

The Brothers Barton

I got a chance to see Will and Antonio Barton face off against each other today at Pembroke Academy, in the finals of the NH Prep School Classic, where Will's Brewster Academy, of Wolfboro NH, beat Antonio's Notre Dame Prep, of Fitchburg MA, 93-89 in overtime.

Antonio scored 10 points, and played steady basketball at the point, for much of the game. Will was the slasher, and played all but one minute of the contest, which might account for the way he seemed to pace himself during the game.

In college I would expect he will learn to play with high intensity at all times, and isn't this a challenge for almost every freshman, in division one.

It's not that Will is lackadasical. I was impressed with the way he orchestrated the team. He was clearly the leader. Clearly the one who managed the on-court huddles, and directed the defense.

And when he has the ball in his hands, in the half court, there is no one who can stop him from getting to the rim, or at least within jump shot range.

He scored twenty five points, including an important bucket with less than a minute left in the overtime, and one three pointer, in the opening minutes of the second half.

Brewster has a lot of guns, and plays like your high level travelling AAU team, with speed and elbows and jams.

At one point the team on the floor was 6'10" Maurice Walker (undeclared, ESPN center #8) , 6'7" C.J. Fair (Syracuse bound, ESPN small forward #12), 6'6" Melvin Ejim (Iowa State bound, ESPN small forward #68), 6'6" Will Barton (Memphis bound, ESPN shooting guard #1), and 6'1" Ashton Kahn (undeclared, ESPN point guard #121).

Perhaps it's because Kahn is more of a combo guard, and not too likely to be the pure distributor, but Will was left to basically create his own shot, which was fine when he had the ball in his hands.

He has a sweet flutter step, and the defender never knows which way he is going to go, and whether he is going to go to the rim, or stop for a short jumper.

But as a shooting guard, Will never came off a screen to take a pass, and make the shot. In fact, I don't think anyone got an assist, feeding Will the ball, at any point in the game.

Which is another way of saying, I guess, that Will didn't seem to move well without the ball. But perhaps this is just the style that Brewster plays, where Will is being asked to take the ball and be creative.

On defense, Will was all over the court, with five steals/deflections, but at times he was gambling too much, found himself out of position, and got burned.

And on one such occasion it was brother Antonio, who blew past him to the rim.

Unknown in the U.S., Parks has celebrity status in the Philippines

Unknown in the U.S., Parks has celebrity status in the Philippines
Luke Winn, SI.com

PHILADELPHIA -- The boys' varsity basketball team at St. George's Independent School in Collierville, Tenn., enjoys the luxury of having many of its games webcast on the site justin.tv, a channel run by a student named John Christian Williams. During breaks in the action, Williams will monitor the chat room that accompanies the live feed of the Gryphons' games, and typically, a few students and local fans drop by during road games or weekday games that they can't attend. The rest of the chatters, however, tend to be from a place with a 13-hour time difference: the Philippines.

Williams estimates that each of his webcasts is viewed by at least 10 Filipino fans; Filipinos also search out the highlight reels Williams posts on his Web site, gryphonsbasketball.com, on the days after games. If Williams is delayed in posting those compilations -- say, by homework, or an impending test -- he can expect an e-mail from someone in the Philippines. "Hey, John, I know you might be busy," it might read, "but if you have a chance to post last night's highlights, I'd love to see them."

What those Filipino fans are obsessing over, specifically, is a St. George's junior-to-be named Ray Parks.

Who is Ray Parks? In the U.S. recruiting scene, he's a left-handed, 6-foot-3 guard with no profile page on Rivals.com, and a meager profile with a two-star rating (as "Bobby Parks") on Scout.com -- a sleeper prospect with limited exposure. On the official roster for the Reebok All-America Camp this week at Philadelphia University, he's listed by his full name, Bobby Ray Parks Jr. "We use that name for events," explains his father, Bobby Ray Sr., who made the trip from Memphis to Philly to watch his son at the camp. "My name is recognizable, and you have to do everything you can to help him get noticed. After that, it's up to him to show his talent." Memphis fans, or at least older Memphis fans, know the name Bobby Ray Parks. He starred for the then-Memphis State Tigers from 1980-84 under coach Dana Kirk, and is currently the program's 15th-leading scorer of all-time.

The Atlanta Hawks selected him in the third round of the '84 draft, but his NBA career didn't make it past training camp. He was cut, then floated through a tryout with the Clippers, and stints in the CBA and France for a couple of years before settling in a country where his name now extremely well-known.

"My dad," Ray says, proudly, "is like the Michael Jordan of the Philippines."

That comparison isn't overly hyperbolical. In a 12-year career (1987-98) in the Philippines, where basketball is by far the most popular sport, Bobby Ray Sr. was named the Philippine Basketball Associate's Import of the Year -- the equivalent of the MVP award -- a record seven times, including after a season (1989) in which he averaged 52.6 points per game. In September he'll become just the second American (the other is Norman Black) to be inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame. Parks was Converse's main pitchman in the Philippines during his playing days, and also had roles in two Filipino films. The one the family owns a copy of, Wooly Bully 2, was a comedy released in 1990. "He was better than I expected," Ray says of his dad's acting chops. "I don't think anyone expects to see a giant black guy in a Filipino comedy, though."

Bobby Ray Sr. moved back to the U.S. from Manila in 2005, and Ray followed in 2006, before his eighth-grade year. Both Ray's mother (Marifer Celine Barbosa, who is divorced from Bobby Ray and now lives in Los Angeles) and stepmother (Jasmine, who lives with Ray in Memphis) are Filipino, and Ray fluently speaks Tagalog at home. Ray had been born and raised in Manila, where, because of his father's status as a pro athlete, the family had maids and a driver -- and therefore, Bobby Ray says, "the hardest part of bringing him to the U.S. was domesticating him.

"Ray had never seen a washing machine; he had never heard the words, 'Cut the grass,' because we had people doing everything. I had to keep nagging on him [to do chores]."

The main point of the move, though, was to expose Ray to better basketball competition so he could earn a Division I scholarship in the U.S., and pursue a potential pro future. Ray enrolled at St. George's because Elliot Williams, a first cousin of Bobby Ray's and a good friend of Ray's, was playing at the school. (Williams played a prominent role as a freshman for Duke last season, before transferring to Memphis this offseason to be closer to his mother, who's battling cancer.) Gryphons coach Jeff Ruffin says Ray can play nearly every position -- "He's a hard-nosed kid who can bring up the ball against pressure, or play on the wing, or even in the post as a five if we had a great matchup" -- and as a sophomore, he led the Gryphons to the Tennessee Division 2-A state title game, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a heartbreaking, last-second loss.

Filipino fans discussed Ray's sophomore season -- and the justin.tv webcasts -- in a 24-page thread on the message board InterBasket titled "Filipino Ballers in the US ... News and Updates." Much of the thread was devoted to Ray and Western Kentucky center Japeth Aguilar, who's also of Filipino descent, in hopes that both of them would eventually make significant contributions to the country's struggling national team, which is 63rd in FIBA's world rankings, one spot behind Estonia and one spot ahead of Indonesia.

Parks made news in the Philippines in January by returning there to try out for the Under-16 national team. He made the squad and was also told he'd likely have a place on the country's senior national team when it attempts to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

There were also pleas for him play his final two years of high school in Manila, against college competition; Ray says there's only a slim chance of this happening, but that a few Filipinos have e-mailed him "essays" on why he should stay in the country. (In an article in the Philippine Star in January, national team executive director Noli Eala went as far as to say, "Ray-Ray [his nickname] has the perfect basketball body -- long-limbed, slim, just like his father. ...The kid is special. Bobby is open for Ray-Ray to play college in Manila and his godfather Norman [Black, now a coach there], I'm sure, is talking to Ray-Ray about the possibility.")

At the Reebok camp, the night before the games began on Wednesday, Bobby Ray received a call from a representative of the junior national team, who asked, "Can you bring Ray over in September?" Ray plans to play with the team in a tournament in November, but they want him to come two months early -- when his dad arrives for the Hall of Fame ceremony -- to begin training. "I want him to play for the national team, and he wants to play, too," says Bobby Ray, "but I don't know if I can pull him out of school for two months."

Given that Ray is already spending much of his summer away from home -- he went to elite camps at Virginia and Alabama, then the Reebok camp, and will be traveling with the Memphis-based Mike Miller AAU program to Las Vegas -- traveling for the entire fall as well is not ideal.

If Ray is considered high-major college material by next summer, Memphis and Virginia -- both of which already have some interest -- would be his two most likely destinations. The Tigers make sense because Bobby Ray played there, still lives there, and is currently on scholarship at the school -- at the invitation of the athletic department -- as he takes adult education classes in hopes of earning the degree he didn't finish while playing for the Tigers. The Cavaliers make sense because Bobby Ray is currently the personal assistant to John Paul "Jack" Jones, a wealthy Memphian and UVA alum for whom the school's new basketball arena is named.

Looking much further into the future, Bobby Ray makes a point of noting, "There's never been a Filipino to make the NBA, and if [Ray] did that, it would open up such a big market [of 92 million Filipinos] for the league. But" -- and this is his realistic addendum to NBA dreaming -- "Ray's only been here for a few years, and he's barely even had a chance to get on the radar yet."

Ray plans on following in his father's footsteps in some regard -- no matter whether he sticks on the radar as Ray Parks, or Ray-Ray Parks, or Bobby Parks, or Bobby Parks Jr.; or whether he ends up making a bigger name as a hoopster in Memphis or Manila. As he played in Philadelphia on Wednesday, his camp-issued Reeboks were covered in black-markered inscriptions. One line, in English, read "Got it from my pops," while another, in Tagalog, read "Pangalawang laro." That, Ray says, means "Second game."

"My dad was the first game," he says, "and I've gotta do good, because I'm what's next."

Man oh man, there is never a dull moment in Tiger land

Wednesday Is a Big Day for Pastner and Memphis

Well, according to MemphisRoar Eric Bledsoe will choose Kentucky tomorrow over Memphis. That is quite unfortunate if it, in fact, does play out that way. However, it really wouldn't surprise me. At this point it is hard to expect the student (Pastner) to beat the teacher (Calipari) in the recruiting game. As a matter of fact, I would really expect that Pastner will need two or three years of coaching experience under his belt to effectively recruit versus Cal.

It was reported a few days ago that Lance Stephenson was considering both Arizona and Memphis after moving past St. John's and Maryland. Once again, it would be difficult to expect Pastner to beat out Sean Miller all things being equal. Yes, both are considered up and commers in the world of D1 basketball, but Miller has ten years coaching experience beyond Pastner. Yes, Miller only has four years as a D1 head coach, but he took Xavier to four straight NCAA appearances including an Elite 8 and Sweet 16 appearance. Ok, yes, he inherited a great program from Thad Matta, but he also kept it at a very high level.

Now all of this might be talk for nothing, as yesterday stories surfaced that Arizona would not take Stephenson. That, of course, remains to be seen. But, let's consider for a moment, would Josh Pastner take Lance Stephenson considering the similarities to O.J. Mayo. Stephenson is considered a selfish player and a locker room issue. Of course, so was Tyreke Evans and he proved his critics quite wrong during this one year stay in Memphis.

Don't get me wrong; if Lance Stephenson wants to come to Memphis, then by all means, figure out a way for that to happen. Pastner needs some good things to happen to keep this program in Top 20 range. Memphis is perhaps one player away from staying at that level - perhaps a Bledsoe, Williams or Stephenson.

Tomorrow the chips start falling.