The Morning Dish – Wednesday, December 15th
Majerus Is In: After several days of speculation and discussion, USC officials hired Rick Majerus, the former Utah coach and current ESPN analyst. Majerus said he plans to let interim coach Jim Saia complete the season as the Trojans’ coach. But doing so means that Majerus would be unable to recruit or officially represent the team. The deal is reportedly for five years and will average nearly $1 million per year. He succeeds former USC coach Henry Bibby, who was fired last week.
Memphis Blues: The Memphis Tigers don’t need more bad news following an embarrassing home loss to Mississippi this past weekend. But coach John Calipari issued an off-court blow to the team by suspending sophomore forward Sean Banks, the team’s leading scorer. He cited violations of team rules and did not specify a timetable to reinstate Banks, who averages 16 points per game. A pre-season candidate for player of the year, Banks is one of the team’s most talented players.
In addition to Banks, the Tigers’ depth took a hit with injuries to junior guards Jeremy Hunt and Clyde Wade. Hunt had successful surgery on his left wrist and will be out four to six weeks, while Wade’s season is over after he tore his ACL. The two combined to average 6.3 points and four rebounds per game. The rest of the team will need to step up Saturday against Austin Peay. If Banks misses about a week or more, the Tigers will need answers to beat Louisiana Tech and Providence. At 5-4, these next few games could make or break the Tigers’ season.
Upset Special: With three starters missing from the lineup, it was probably just a matter of time until Michigan lost in what would otherwise be a major upset. But few would have expects the upset to occur at home to Boston University. The Terriers won 63-52 as the Wolverines essentially ran with only a seven-man rotation. Only two players reached double figures in scoring, and sophomore guard Dion Harris had to play every minute of the game. Senior guard Chaz Carr led Boston with 16 points, including 14 in the second half.
Gimpy Frog Done for Season: TCU officials confirmed the worst-case scenario for junior forward Chudi Chinweze: a season-ending knee injury. They didn’t provide details about the type of injury. The Horned Frogs will miss their leading rebounder. Chinweze averages 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game off the bench for TCU. He has helped the Horned Frogs to a decent start this season, including a win against Florida State.
Full Cupboard Leaves No Room for White: Connecticut junior forward Marcus White announced that he is no longer a Husky and will leave the school at the end of the semester. White played in four games this season and averaged 3.2 points and 4.6 rebounds in a little more than seven minutes. He had back surgery during this past summer, but the Huskies’ wealth of young forwards had to be a contributing factor to White’s decision. Sophomores Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva and freshman Rudy Gay are the team’s stars in the paint. Juniors Hilton Armstrong, Ed Nelson and Denham Brown also consume many of the minutes at forward for Connecticut, leaving White without a niche.
Battle of Illinois in the Works: If negotiations pan out, Illinois and Southern Illinois will meet in three consecutive seasons, including one trip by the Illini to Carbondale, Ill., to visit the Salukis. Southern Illinois is one of the premier mid-major teams in the country, playing in the Missouri Valley Conference. Officials at Illinois, currently the best team in the land, are discussing a scenario in which Southern Illinois will play at Illinois one year, the two will play at Chicago another year, and Illinois will travel to Southern Illinois in the third match up. This accord would be a breakthrough for Southern Illinois, which struggles to attract major opponents because of the heightened potential for an upset. Just ask Indiana. The Hoosiers were the last major program to come through, and the Salukis beat the eventual national runner-up.
Whispers from Some NBA Scouts: Although the 2005 NBA Draft is still six months away, NBA teams are infiltrating the practice facilities of colleges and universities nationwide. Rumor has it that scouts like the athleticism of high school senior Gerald Green but feel that his game could use some growth. He’s a possible lottery pick, but he’s no Dwight Howard or LeBron James. In the college ranks, Kansas guard J.R. Giddens’ stock is dropping after a slow start to this season, meanwhile another Big XII star, Texas A&M junior forward Antoine Wright, is attracting more attention. More underclassmen will certainly catch scouts’ attention as the season progresses.
Clemons Comes Up in Another Scandal: The much-beleaguered former Missouri Tiger guard Ricky Clemons may have arrived in Missouri via shady conditions from the start. Never mind the subsequent fiasco involving possible payments and other NCAA violations. Clemons attended Barton County Community College, where his coach, Ryan Wolf, misreported information about his players. Wolf also obtained grants and campus jobs that his players were not qualified to receive. According to the report by officials, there’s no proof yet that Wolf’s players were aware of the violations. But Wolf also duped the community college by falsely asserting that some players had earned high school equivalency degrees. And the players had to know that there’s a problem with that. Wolf most recently was an assistant coach at Murray State, but he quit before the season started because of personal reasons.
Tonight’s Menu
• Several ranked teams are in action tonight, but if you’re looking for a competitive game, check out Louisiana-Lafayette at North Carolina State. The game is a rematch of the teams’ first-round battle in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, another good game should be the Horizon Conference’s Wisconsin-Milwaukee visiting Big Ten title-contender Wisconsin. Do we have a candidate for another upset special?
