The Morning Dish – Tuesday, November 4th
Today is the Day: The Big East today will announce its full expansion plans, with Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, South Florida to be added (DePaul and Marquette will be basketball only). Cincinnati, Louisville, and USF will take the place of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College in football, though it’s not exactly a straight-up trade. Once C-USA is pilfered of its top basketball schools, the conference will formally add WAC refugees Rice, SMU, and Tulsa, and the conference is expected to add Central Florida and Marshall as well. Still up in the air is what the A-10 will do, with rumors of grabbing Charlotte and St. Louis, as well as the Mountain West, who is expected to lure TCU and possibly Boise State.
High Crimes: The University of Arizona was rocked with scandal yesterday, as junior forward Isaiah Fox admitted to stealing. A bagel. And a candy bar. Fox, who walked out of a student store last week with those items, as well as two packets of cream cheese, admitted to stealing the $2.58 worth of food, and was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting. Head coach Lute Olson had no comment, citing privacy rights. In a statement released by the school, Fox said “I’m very sorry for the embarrassment this has cost my team and coaching staff, the fans and the University of Arizona. It’s a humbling experience that was my own doing, something that won’t happen again.”
Dotson Innocent?: Well, that’s what attorneys for Patrick Dennehy, Sr. claim. In the civil suit against Baylor University, filed by Patrick Dennehy’s father, attorneys claim that Carlton Dotson will be found innocent, and that Dennehy was killed by someone other than Dotson. Daniel Cartwright, who didn’t mention any other specifics, stated in court that “It is our belief, based on our investigation, that Dotson is innocent. There are certain people at Baylor who know that, and they have been working very hard to cover that up, according to our investigation.” Cartwright added that his investigative staff found evidence of three or four people at the crime scene, and reminded the court that Dennehy and Dotson were friends and feared for their lives from other people. Baylor attorneys stated that the accusation didn’t merit a response, as no other possible suspects were identified, and Waco Police sure are interested in who Cartwright claims is the actual perpetrator, as are attorneys for Dotson, who pled not guilty last week in Dennehy’s murder hearing. Meanwhile, Judge Bruce Oakley granted Baylor’s request to move the trial from Houston to Waco, citing the inconvenience of witnesses, most of whom are in the Waco area.
No Foul: According to attorneys for Arkansas, the NCAA will not investigate claims presented by former Razorback Glendon Alexander to Sports Illustrated. Scott Varady, general counsel for the school, indicated that the NCAA would not investigate the claims because they fell outside of the four-year statute of limitations for infractions. As you’ll recall from yesterday, Alexander claimed that Arkansas boosters paid him $10,000 in 1996, never attended classes, and that when he was transferring, SEC, Pac-10, and Big 12 officials all paid him cash as an enticement for him to jump to their schools. He’s currently serving a five-year federal sentence for mail and wire fraud.
Kentucky State Details: As we mentioned yesterday, Kentucky State head coach Winston Bennett had been suspended without pay following an alleged assault of one of his players. Senior guard Ricky Green filed a criminal complaint with the Franklin County attorneys office, alleging that Bennett struck him in the face, giving Green a bloody nose, and tearing his shirt. Bennett, who corroborated the accounts, which happened in a 6am practice on Thursday in front of the entire team, is entering his third season at Kentucky State, following a successful playing career at Kentucky, a Kentucky broadcasting stint, and several years as an assistant under Rick Pitino. Assistant coach Tom Patterson will take over the Thorobreds for the time being, and the school opens its season next week against Bellarmine.
