The Morning Dish – Wednesday, August 27th
Seven Men In: Baylor basketball now has seven players on the squad for the upcoming season. Others that had wavered, Harvey Thomas, Tommy Swanson, and Carl Marshall all started classes yesterday at Baylor. They join Ellis Kidd, Terrance Thomas, Matt Sayman, and R.T. Guinn, who had previously requested his leave from the team, prior to Scott Drew’s hiring. Drew will be without the top three returning scorers from last season, as Lawrence Roberts, John Lucas III and Kenny Taylor have all transferred. Meanwhile, arrangements have been made for a Baylor campus memorial service for Patrick Dennehy. The service will be held Thursday at 8 p.m. in the Paul W. Powell Chapel on Baylor’s Waco campus.
Murder Indictment Sought: Tomorrow prosecutors are going to seek a murder indictment against Carlton Dotson, charged with Dennehy’s murder. McLennan County DA John Segrest stated that he will seek an indictment from a grand jury, which should jumpstart the extradition process of Dotson from his jail in Maryland. Only investigating officers are expected to testify.
Sooner To Play Later: Oklahoma sophomore guard De’Angelo Alexander dislocated his shoulder in workouts and will be out up to six weeks. Alexander, who will have an MRI later today, hurt his shoulder while diving for a loose ball during early practice to prep Kelvin Sampson’s squad for an exhibition trip in Costa Rica this weekend. Alexander averaged 7 points per game last year, and averaged 12 in the NCAA’s.
Wildcats Interrupted: According to Villanova, the NCAA will reinstate two players, guards Randy Foye and Allan Ray, who were originally suspended in the Villanova phone scandal from last March. The players were two of eight Villanova players caught using an unauthorized university calling card. Four of the eight were seniors, and thus missed the last three games of their Wildcat days last March in the Big East Tournament and the NIT. Senior Andreas Bloch and junior Marcus Austin will have to sit out five and eight games, respectively, as they had charged the most phone calls. Bloch has already served three games of his suspension last season.
Raider Transfer: Former Texas Tech sophomore guard Nathan Doudney has announced that he will be enrolling at Gonzaga, and will attempt to walk-on to the Bulldog squad. Using this season as a redshirt season, Doudney will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2003-04 campaign. Doudney, a 6-4 guard from Rockwall, Texas, averaged 4 points and just over 1 rebound in 14 minutes per game last season.
Seminole Delay: Florida State recruit Antonio Griffin, a transfer from Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College, did not enroll in Tallahassee in time for the start of the semester. Griffin, who has not completed the necessary coursework for his associates degree, averaged almost 15 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Artichokes (yes, you read that right, the Artichokes). Saved was FSU center Mike Mathews, who will now have Griffin’s scholarship available for his use.
