The Morning Dish – Monday, October 13th
And BC Makes 12: The other shoe dropped yesterday, as the ACC formally invited Boston College to leave the Big East and join the ACC, which the school quickly accepted. The move, which had been speculated upon since the NCAA vetoed the ACC’s plan to have a football championship game with 11 member institutions two weeks ago, now clears the way for a 12-team leage and a lucrative football championship game. The school, which missed the window to leave the Big East with Virginia Tech and Miami, may be able to join the ACC by 2005. Though the vote was announced as 9-0, both North Carolina (academic fit) and North Carolina State (geography) had objections when the Miami and Virginia Tech invites went out in June.
BC will have to pay the Big East an exit fee, rumored to be as high as $5 million (Miami’s wa only $1 million), and may have to wait for 27-months under a new Big East bylaw to leave the conference. Additionally, they are probably the latest defendant in the Big East lawsuit, which still remains against Miami for allegedly “plotting to weaken and destroy” Big East football. The Connecticut-based suit was dismissed against the ACC this past week, as a judge found little evidence that the ACC did business in Connecticut. The Big East is to meet early next month, and it was assumed that with BC, the conference would invite four Conference USA schools to join, but now the Big East must figure out what they’re doing with their roster of 11 schools, as other conferences are waiting for the Big East to make their move.
Former Ohio Star Killed: The 1999 Ohio Mr. Basketball, Emmanuel Smith, was found dead early Sunday morning, the victim of an apparent robbery-homicide. Smith’s body was found in a donut shop parking lot, with no money or wallet on his person. Smith, who averaged 28 points per game for Euclid High School near Cleveland, sat out his freshman season at Akron, and contributed 11 points and 3 boards per game in for the Zips in the 2000-01 season before being declared academically ineligible, and last played collegiately at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.
He’s Back: Just a week after being ruled academically ineligible, Washington recruit Tre Simmons has enrolled at the Seattle campus, with two years of eligibility for the Huskies. Simmons was able to provide additional information from his first stint at Bellevue Community College, prior to his two years at Green River Community College. Simmons averaged 29.8 points per game for Green River, and has been auditing classes at Washington since the semester started September 29th.
Bliss Funded League: Baylor’s internal review committee announced Friday that former head coach Dave Bliss had boosters give large amounts of cash to a summer league program in Houston. The program, the Houston Superstars, received as much as $10,000 from boosters, which could have influenced recruiting. Both the Houston program and the similar Texas Blue Chips from Allen, Texas, were scheduled for exhibition games against Baylor, and that three players from the summer league teams (Kenny Taylor, John Lucas III, and Tyrone Nelson) were later signed by Bliss to play at Baylor. While not against NCAA rules per se, it is frowned upon, as there’s a financial link between a recruiting body and an institution.
Bear Leaving: Montana sophomore forward Mike Chavez has left the Grizzlies team, haveing withdrawn from classes and left te campus for personal reasons. Chavez’s mother has told the Associated Press that he is leaving the program due to medical reasons, and may return to school as soon as next semester. Chavez, who averaged 4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game as a freshman last season, was arrested last February for DUI after running a red light and hitting a car, resulting in a five game suspension. Two weeks ago pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that required him to undergo alcohol addiction treatment.
