The Morning Dish – Friday, September 24th
Third Player Charged: The horror show that is the La Salle basketball program got a little scarier yesterday, when forward Dzaflo Larkai was charged with rape – the third La Salle player to be charged. Larkai, who was dismissed from the team and the university following the arrest, is being charged with raping a player on the La Salle’s women’s team – separate charges from those facing Michael Cleaves and Gary Neal. That women’s team member claimed that she went to both head coaches, men’s coach Billy Hahn and women’s coach John Miller, who urged her to keep quiet, a charge both denied when stepping down last month. Cleaves and Neal are being charged with raping a female basketball camp counselor from the University of New Haven. Those charges led Larkai’s alleged victim to come forward.
Rutgers Extends Waters: Rutgers announced yesterday the signing of head coach Gary Waters to a two-year contract extension as a reward for the team’s first 20-win season since the Reagan administration. Waters, who is now under contract to the Scarlet Knights through the 2009-10 season, led New Jersey’s team to the NIT finals, losing to Michigan 62-55. After three seasons, Waters has a 50-42 mark at Rutgers, and has a 142-102 record in eight years as a head coach, which included three consecutive 20-win seasons at Kent State. After first spending 16 seasons as an assistant at D-II’s Ferris State (Big Rapids, Michigan), he was an assistant at Eastern Michigan for seven seasons, and then took over the Golden Flashes program in 1996, leading them to two NCAA Tournaments and the NIT in five seasons.
Irish Down in Celebration: Notre Dame has announced yet another injury to its Fighting Irish program, this time to freshman forward Rob Kurz. Kurz, a 6-9 forward out of Philadelphia, received a broken jaw in an off-campus incident on September 11th, during celebrations of the Irish football victory over rival Michigan. According to a Notre Dame spokesperson, Kurz underwent successful surgery the following Tuesday, and will have his jaw wired shut for 3-4 weeks. He should be available for the start of practice on October 16th.
Blue Ribbon Names Duck, Deacon: Chris Dortch’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, available in mid-October, has announced that Oregon incoming freshman Malik Hairston has been named its preseason rookie of the year, while Wake Forest’s sophomore guard Chris Paul is their preseason national player of the year. Hairston, a 6-6 guard, will likely start for the Ducks, increasing his chance of making an impact. A McDonald’s All-American, the Detroit native won the Michigan Class-B Championship with Renaissance High School and their 27-0 record. Hairston averaged 20 points and 11 boards per game, as well as tallying 4 blocks and 6 assists per contest last season. Paul averaged 14.8 points per game last season, second best for the Demon Deacons. Paul also notched a 46.5% average from 3-point land, and averaged 3.3 boards and 5.9 assists last season.
Former Wildcat Arrested, Again: Former Kentucky player Desmond Allison was arrested in Tampa last week for possession of crack cocaine and marijuana. According to the Tampa Tribune, Allison was a passenger in a vehicle that had been stopped for expired tags and a broken taillight. When the officer noticed Allison try to hide an open beer, ran his ID, and arrested Allison on an outstanding warrant from May for marijuana possession. Allison was released on bond the following day. Allison played for two seasons for Kentucky in the late 90’s, and was dismissed from the team after being arrested for DUI and marijuana possession (notice a trend?) on the eve of the NCAA Tournament. He finished his collegiate career at the NAIA Martin Methodist College (Pulaski, Tennessee), and tried out for the Toronto Raptors in 2002.
Former Trojan Passes On: USC announced yesterday that former Trojan All-American Lee Guttero passed away August 29th in Torrance, California. He was 92. Guttero, a 6-2 center, was the first USC player to be named to two All-American teams, and led SC to three straight conference titles, and also led the Trojans in scoring from 1933-35. Southern California went 54-19 during his playing days, and Guttero was named MVP of the 20-6 1935 squad, a team that he scored almost 35% of SC’s points. He was inducted into the USC Hall of Fame in 2002.
Morgan State signs Grant Hill: Well, his art, anyway. Morgan State’s James E. Lewis Museum of Art will be featuring an exhibition called “Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African-American Art”. The collection, gathered during the former Duke star’s travels with the NBA’s Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic, features 40 works of both prominent and obscure African-American artists, including Romare Bearden, painter-sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee-Smith, Malcolm Brown, John Biggers, Phoebe Beasley, Arthello Beck Jr. and John Coleman. Hill credits his father, former Dallas Cowboy Calvin Hill, for introducing him to art during visits to museums in NFL cities during his playing days. Hill will be in Baltimore today to open the exhibition in a private ceremony. The exhibit runs through November 30th.
