The Morning Dish – Tuesday, September 30th
He’s Back: Former Georgia head coach Jim Harrick has been hired as a scout and coaching consultant for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. Harrick resigned as head coach of the Bulldogs in March following charges of academic fraud and illegal payments to players, causing the school, ranked 23rd at the time, to suspended itself from all postseason play. Harrick was previously fired from the head coaching position at UCLA, and later resigned from Rhode Island from accusations of changing players’ grades. According to the Associated Press, Denver General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe said, “We are thrilled to add Coach Harrick to our staff. He possesses a remarkable basketball mind and will be a great asset to us.”
Pleading: In the ongoing saga of Big East v. the ACC, attorneys for the ACC yesterday asked Connecticut Superior Court Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza to dismiss the suit based on jurisdictional grounds. Basically, the ACC is arguing that since they don’t operate in Connecticut, save for an ESPN deal, the lawsuit should not proceed. The ACC has two agreements with the Bristol, Connecticut-based network, but neither contract includes games in the state, and were negotiated and signed at ACC headquarters in North Carolina. The Big East countered that Miami, who accepted the ACC’s invitation to jump from the Big East, had over 300 business dealings in Connecticut. The Big East and four football schools argue that they wasted millions of dollars based on having Miami and Virginia Tech in the conference, and are seeking retribution. No word when Sferrazza will rule.
Bulldog Arrested: Fresno State sophomore guard Terry Pettis has been suspended indefinitely from the basketball team following a felony arrest last week. Pettis, who was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism and misdemeanor domestic battery, was accused by his girlfriend of hitting her and vandalizing her car and apartment. Bulldog head coach Ray Lopes said that Pettis will attend counseling, and that his suspension bars him from practice, workouts, and games until his court case is resolved.
Wildcat Arrested: Kentucky sophomore guard Ravi Moss was arrested over the weekend for disorderly conduct, along with his father, Austin Moss, stemming from an altercation at the Stadium of Champions. The younger Moss, who averaged less than a point per game in limited action as a freshman last season, was asked to leave an event and started arguing with officers as he was being escorted away. Ravi’s father Austin then allegedly grabbed the sheriff’s deputy away from his son. Both cooled off at the Christian County (Kentucky) Jail for an hour before being released. The two will be arraigned tomorrow on the misdemeanor charges. Austin Moss is a vice president for human resources at Jennie Stuart Medical Center, and the chairman of the Christian County Board of Education. Kentucky head coach Tubby Smith met with the family and declared that it won’t affect Ravi’s status on the team.
Eagles Out: Eastern Michigan has withdrawn from the Pittsburgh Holiday Hoops Classic scheduled for the week before Christmas. The Eagles, who have not commented on the reason for the pullout, leaves Florida State without an opponent for the exempt tournament, where the Seminoles were expected to play four games. The other problem is that not many teams have an exemption for a tournament available, and those that do have likely already finalized their schedules. The dates for the games are two games in Tallahassee on December 16th and 18th, and two games at Pittsburgh on December 20th and 22nd. Pittsburgh, Chicago State, Murray State and Wagner round out the field.
New Owl: Temple has hired its all-time leading scorer Mark Macon to work as an assistant on John Chaney’s staff. Full details will appear in Sunday’s Assistant Coaching Roundup.
