The Morning Dish – Thursday, December 11th
Clemons Implicates Mizzou: The Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune has released transcripts of prison tapes from former Missouri guard Ricky Clemon’s conversations while incarcerated on assault charges this past summer. The tapes have Clemons stating that he had received money from two assistant coaches while at the university, and was told by one of Missouri’s assistants to lie about receiving funds if asked by prosecutors. Clemons also said that he wasn’t the only Tiger to receive illegal funds from the coaching staff, and named current Missouri stars Arthur Johnson and Rickey Paulding as cash recipients, as well.
Tigers head coach Quin Snyder would not comment about Clemons’ allegations due to NCAA and internal school investigations that are underway. Clemons was kicked off the team in July after a judge had ordered him to jail for violating terms of his previous sentence. Over 24 hours of recordings were released to the Daily Tribune by Boone County Sheriff Ted Boehm, after receiving them back from the FBI this summer. The FBI were reviewing the tapes during an investigation into intimidation tactics against a witness in Clemons’ assault case. No charges were filed by the FBI in that matter. For some of the additional quotes made by Clemons, check out this week’s College Quotebook.
Another “One” Bites the Dust: Florida became the third number one team in as many weeks to lose a game as the Gators dropped an overtime thriller to Maryland, 69-68. Terps’ sophomore Travis Garrison hit the winning jumper with 18 seconds left in OT which not only secured the upset, but gave Maryland coach Gary Williams his 300th career victory. Nik Caner-Medley led all scorers with 22 points in the win for Maryland (5-2), while Anthony Roberson contributed 20 in Florida’s (5-1) losing effort.
Garcia Raises Cards: Louisville sophomore Taquan Dean nailed a three-pointer with just over a minute left in regulation to break a 71-71 game, helping the Cardinals pull out an 80-71 win over visiting Seton Hall. Louisville (3-1) received 24 points from Francisco Garcia just one day after the sophomore learned his brother had been shot in New York City. After hearing of the incident, Garcia told Cardinals coach Rick Pitino that he wanted to play in the game and paid tribute to his family member by nailing 5 of 13 field goal attempts and 10 of 12 foul shots to carry Louisville to the victory. On the other side, Andre Barrett poured in 21 for the Pirates (3-2).
Hot Water for JvbK: The NCAA has announced that it may charge former St. Bonaventure coach Jan van Breda Kolff (JvbK) with unethical conduct for his role in a player eligibility scandal that occurred last season. Last season, JuCo transfer Jamir Terrell was ruled ineligible, causing the Bonnies to forfeit 12 wins and prohibit the squad from the A-10 Tournament. Van Breda Kolff allowed Terrell on the team despite the fact that he failed to meet junior college transfer guidelines with his welding certificate (Terrell was ramrodded through admissions by former president Robert Wickenheiser). The scandal caused the termination or resignation of president Wickenheiser, JvbK, athletic director Gothard Lane, and assistant coach Kort Wickenheiser (thanks, Dad!). The scandal is also thought to have been the motivating factor in St. Bonaventure chairman of the board of trustees William Swan’s suicide in August. Van Breda Kolff’s role in placing Terrell onto the squad is now the focal point of the NCAA’s investigation, and a guilty verdict may restrict the coach from returning to college ball for a while. At present, van Breda Kolff is an assistant with the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.
‘Hawks Double-Up Fort Hays: Kansas, the number one team last week, easily routed Fort Hays State at home, 80-40. The Jayhawks out-rebounded the Tigers 55-22 (25-2 on the offensive glass) in the win, and held Div. II Fort Hays to under 33 percent shooting for the game. Freshman center David Padgett led all scorers with 19 points in the victory, while teammates Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens each chipped in a dozen. Kansas (4-1), which was coming off a 64-58 loss to Stanford dropping them from the top spot in the rankings, next plays Oregon on Saturday.
Wisconsin Curds Green Bay: Wisconsin extended its winning streak at home to 17 games after taking out Wisconsin-Green Bay, 73-57. The Badgers (5-1) struggled for most of the night against the Phoenix (2-4) before pulling away with three minutes to go in regulation. UWGB shot a blistering 54.5 percent for the game, but couldn’t overcome a Badgers team led by the trio of Devin Harris, Freddie Owens and Mike Wilkinson who combined to net 46 points in the victory.
Ticket Gate: No. 20 Michigan State not only has lost some tough games in the past two weeks, they’ve also lost some fans, thanks to several ticketing problems for the Spartans’ upcoming game against No. 5 Kentucky at the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field, in downtown Detroit. The game, dubbed by promoters as the “BasketBowl”, has had many green and white fans seeing red, as requests for tickets made by season ticketholders are coming back incorrect, in terms of quantity of seats, as well as pricing. Grumblings include requests for 10 or 12 $25 seats (of the anticipated 78,000) being sent two tickets for $12 seats. The Detroit Free Press chronicled a season ticket holder that had requested eight seats, been billed $480 for them, but received two tickets for $12 seats. Additionally, seats that were paid for are now showing up as being available for the general public, even though the event sold out in two weeks this summer. Not only are the seating assignments being screwed up, but every request was paid for in advance, and there’s a lot of cash that needs to be refunded.
Coaches vs. Cancer: Former Connecticut head basketball coach Donald Rowe yesterday underwent surgery for liver cancer, the school announced yesterday. Rowe, nicknamed “Dee”, coached the Huskies from 1969-77, with a 120-88 record at Storrs. His 1976 squad made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. He currently serves as a special adviser to the athletic department at UConn.
Tonight’s Menu:
• No. 17 Purdue (6-0) at No. 10 Oklahoma (5-0): The game of the night involves two undefeated squads – the Boilermakers and Sooners – which will meet on the hardwood this evening in this Big Ten-Big 12 battle. These two schools last met in the second round of the 2000 NCAA tournament with Purdue winning that one 66-62. But times have changed, and Oklahoma, fresh off an impressive 80-77 win over Michigan State, will look to reverse the Boilermakers’ fortunes at home in Norman.
• No. 14 Illinois will host Maryland-Eastern Shore, in tonight’s only other ranked game. Some regional matchups take place, as Miami (Ohio) faces Wright State, and Davidson travels to Charlotte.
