The Morning Dish – Wednesday, September 17th
Thomas Finds a Home: Former Georgia center Steve Thomas has announced he’s transferring to Middle Tennessee State, after being dismissed by Georgia head coach Dennis Felton last week. Thomas, who averaged 10.2 points per game and 7.3 boards, was dismissed from the Bulldogs after several clashes with Felton over new stricter team rules. Thomas was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “I had trouble adjusting to what he wanted, but he’s got an ego problem.” Thomas will sit out the 2003-04 season due to NCAA transfer rules, and will have one season of eligibility remaining.
Webber Sentenced: Former Michigan and current Sacramento Kings forward Chris Webber had his sentence for lying to a grand jury in the Michigan-Ed Martin scandal deferred for two years by a District Judge. Judge Nancy Edmunds deferred the sentencing until August of 2005, but ordered Webber to perform 150 hours of community service for each of the next two years as a provision of his bond. Webber had pled guilty to lesser charges of criminal contempt after the prosecutions’ lead witness, former Ford Motor Company electrician Ed Martin died last February. The community service will require Webber to work at a six-week literacy program at Butzel Middle School in Detroit in the summers of 2004 and 2005.
Bearcat Charges Dropped: Charges against Cincinnati sophomore forward Armein Kirkland were dropped yesterday, thus allowing Kirkland to return to the Bearcat team. Kirkland, who pleaded innocent to charges of assault and domestic violence against his girlfriend, had the charges dropped after she retracted her statements. His girlfriend faces the same charges resulting from a July argument in the couple’s apartment. Cincinnati officials were awaiting the results of the criminal case to determine what steps, if any, they would take against Kirkland, who averaged 3.4 points and 2 boards last season.
Another Eagle Down: Boston College junior center Nate Doornekamp fractured his left foot playing pickup hoops on Sunday, and will have surgery Friday. Doornekamp, a starter every game of his BC career, averaged 3.3 points and 4 boards per game last season. He’s expected to be out six to eight weeks. The Eagles are running out of players, as senior guard Ryan Sidney has left the team in August due to personal reasons, forward Andrew Bryant was dismissed from the team in July due to academic reasons, and recruit Dan Coleman decided to leave Boston to be closer to his Minnesota home.
Operation Horned Frog?: The Dallas Morning News is reporting that TCU, Houston, and Tulane are expansion targets of the Western Athletic Conference. In a letter obtained by the media, WAC commissioner Karl Benson urged WAC member institutions to take advantage of the uncertainty in Conference USA, brought by the ACC expansion. The resulting WAC may feature a two-division 12-team conference, with the new teams potentially joining Tulsa, SMU, Louisiana Tech and Rice in a Central time zone division. TCU left the WAC in 2001 to join Conference USA. As you’ll recall, several years ago, eight WAC members bolted to form the Mountain West conference, which is also rumored to be looking to expand.
Randall Update: The 8-year old son of former Dartmouth player Bryan Randall died yesterday, two days after his father committed suicide by driving their truck into the path of an oncoming semi truck. Bryan Randall II, the oldest of Randall’s four children, was in critical condition from injuries sustained in the crash. Six-year old Julian was still listed in stable condition after the wreck. Two days prior, Randall attempted to drown his two youngest children in an Orlando-area lake, claiming the life of 2-year-old Yanna, and 4-year-old Regal was still in critical condition after being rescued by a fisherman. Randall had been distraught over divorce proceedings with his wife Lisa, who had obtained a restraining order against him. Dartmouth head coach Dave Faucher, an assistant when Randall played, said, “He was a dedicated player and a wonderful person … We don’t have any answers.”
