The Morning Dish – Monday, June 9th:
Buff Graham?: Reports out of Boulder, Colorado, are indicating that head coach Ricardo Patton will be hiring former Washington State head coach Paul Graham to his staff. Graham, who was replaced by Dick Bennett after a 7-19 record for the Cougars, would replace the opening created by the departure of assistant Larry Gay. Gay turned in his resignation on May 9th, though it’s not effective until June 30th. Prior to coaching Washington State, Graham coached at Southern Methodist, Oklahoma State, and New Mexico, with 12 NCAA Tournament appearances in 16 years.
Glide Behind Bars: Former NC State and Harlem Globetrotter star Clyde Austin was arrested in Las Vegas on federal charges of wire and mail fraud, along with the obligatory money laundering, eventually bilking investors out of $10 million. (Sidebar: is there anyone other than investors that get “bilked”? Why don’t mailmen get bilked? How about teachers? Truck drivers? We digress.) The 45-year old Austin, known as “The Glide”, allegedly used his prominence as a hoopster and, more recently, an ordained minister, to con 200 people on investments that returned zilch – essentially a Ponzi scheme. Three others, including former VCU player Lamont Knight, were also indicted with Austin.
Lumberjack Nabbed: Three Northern Arizona students, including former player Kendall Minor, who played in the 2002-03 season, were arrested in Flagstaff on federal cocaine distribution charges. Minor, who transferred from Washington State, was declared academically ineligible for fall semester and removed from the team after the season. Minor had also accused NAU head coach Mike Adras of racially motivated physical and verbal abuse – Adras was cleared of any wrongdoing by an investigation by the school president’s office. Minor, who averaged 2.5 points per game, is accused of being a distributor in a Phoenix-based cocaine and Extasy organization, where Minor would travel to Phoenix (2-12 hours south) once a week and return with up to 4 ounces of cocaine.
