The Morning Dish – Thursday, May 29th:
First a hearty welcome back to Army Reservist Stephen Murphy, who has been active in the War on Terror overseas since February. Stephen returns with a great D-I Indpendent Recap. Welcome back, Stephen!
It’s Official: Michigan State made it official. As you’ll recall from yesterday’s dish, the Spartans are shooting for the college basketball attendance record by using the NFL Detroit Lions’ Ford Field. The opponent: A rematch of last year’s thrilling 71-67 win over Kentucky. The date: December 13th, 2003. Both coaches are thrilled with the opportunity.
But here’s the hidden story: The game is likely slated for the same weekend of the traditional Michigan-Duke matchup, scheduled for Ann Arbor – a mere 35 minutes away on I-94. This game is quite the opportunity for Michigan State to thumb its nose towards Ann Arbor, and Kentucky towards Durham. According to both Duke and Michigan basketball officials, the schedule hasn’t been announced, and CBS Sports representatives have not finalized their broadcast schedules as of today. First news should come from Durham, as the Blue Devils will be releasing their schedule by the end of June.
More Bad News in Fresno: Adding more fuel to the fire, a former academic adviser for the Fresno State basketball program has allegedly been linked to the program’s cheating scandal. According to the Fresno Bee, former adviser Kaite Felten orchestrated some of the cheating during the Jerry Tarkanian reign, which she has denied. But according to documents obtained by the Bee, the NCAA and the school believe Felten was involved. This finding could lead to severe penalties against the Bulldog program. The NCAA infractions committee will hear from Fresno State on June 14th in Kansas City, Missouri.
Holding Court: Former Duquesne hoopster Courtney Wallace is suing the university and doctors for failure to properly treat his medical condition as a player. Wallace claims that Allegheny General Hospital, his health care provider while in school, didn’t treat him for hypertension after he informed the hospital of his ailment. Due to the condition, Wallace is now suffering from kidney failure. Last spring, after returning from playing professional basketball in South America, Wallace was diagnosed with kidney failure by Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. The university has not commented as of yet.
He’s Back. Nope, He’s Gone: Iowa State freshman forward Adam Haluska changed his mind again, and has indicated he will transfer from the Cyclones program. Haluska, who was troubled by the Larry Eustachy mess (weren’t we all), started every game as a freshman this past season and averaged over 9 points and 3 boards per game. Haluska has not mentioned a possible target school.
Senate Expands to 53 States: Congress believes in the Big East. Members of Congress wrote a letter to the “ACC Three” (Miami, Syracuse, and Boston College) imploring them to stick with the Big East so as not to screw up the gains made by women’s athletics. Senators from Connecticut, West Virginia, New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania signed the letter – all from non-transitional Big East states. No reaction from the schools, of course.
