The Morning Dish – Friday, January 7th
Longhorns Hang On: Texas closed out Memphis with a 6-0 run in the last two minutes and held Memphis scoreless during the final 2:41 in a 74-67 victory. P.J. Tucker led Texas with 18 points, and his breakaway dunk with 43 second remaining clinched the victory, to the delight of Longhorn fans. Memphis continues to search for a victory against a marquis team. The Tigers have lost to Syracuse, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Mississippi, Louisiana Tech and Providence, mostly on the road.
Pac 10 Roundup: The Pac-10 had a full slate last night, and the favorites created some distance from the rest of the pack. Washington received 22 points from Tre Simmons and 14 from Mike Jensen as the Huskies cruised to an easy 84-59 victory against USC. UW bolted out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed. Arizona received 20 points and eight rebounds from Channing Frye and used an 18-4 second-half run to earn a 87-67 victory against Cal in Berkeley. UCLA beat Washington State 80-77 to move to 2-1 in the conference, and Arizona State picked up its first conference win by sending Stanford to 0-3 by virtue of an 81-69 win.
Unwelcome Arrival: Georgia Tech gave Miami a hospitable welcome to the ACC by handing them an 80-69 beatdown in Atlanta. Senior guard Will Bynum led four Yellow Jackets in double figures with 21 points. The Yellow Jackets were able to overcome the absence of senior guard B.J. Elder.
Blood Vessel on the Brain Ends Price’s Season: High School All-American A.J. Price will miss his entire freshman season at Connecticut. The son of former Penn State star Tony Price has to sit out the remainder of the season because of a blood vessel abnormality in his brain. Price had an intracranial hemorrhage in October and spent several days in the hospital in critical condition.
The abnormality is known as arteriovenous malformation. He is expected to return to classes Jan. 18. He likely won’t be able to practice for several months. The condition causes masses of abnormal blood vessels to grow in the brain. It can develop into a mass that causes bleeding. He will be treated with radiosurgery that focuses a beam of radiation to eliminate the mass. He will be with the team when they travel to games at Georgetown and Oklahoma.
Little Back in the Lineup: One game after being benched by coach Trent Johnson, Rob Little is back in the starting lineup for Stanford. Johnson had inserted Tim Morris in Stanford’s loss against Washington. Morris gave the Cardinal a more athletic look against a very athletic Washington team. After his first career start against UW, Morris was ruled academically ineligible. His loss puts Stanford at nine scholarship players with Arizona coming to Maples Pavilion this weekend.
Bethel Finally Diagnosed: After suffering from flu-like symptoms that have limited his playing time for two weeks, North Carolina State point guard Tony Bethel has been diagnosed with colitis. Colitis is a chronic inflammation of the membrane lining of the large bowel. The Wolfpack hope to have Bethel back when they host Miami Sunday. Also hurting is star guard Julius Hodge who missed last Sunday’s loss to West Virginia with a sprained ankle. North Carolina State has lost three of its last five with Bethel and Hodge limited in action.
Simons On The Move: North Carolina State reserve center Adam Simons has decided he will transfer to Xavier. Simons will become eligible in the second semester of the 2005-06 season with junior eligibility.
White Moving On: Coach Matt Painter has gained another player for his first Purdue recruiting class. Marcus White, a 6’8 forward from Chicago’s Whitney Young High School, has announced he will transfer from Connecticut to West Lafayette, Ind. White was averaging 3.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the Huskies. He will become eligible after the first semester during the 2005-06 season.
K-State Players Confronted by Armed Robbers: Kansas State starting point guard Clent Stewart and reserve guard Curtis Allen were attacked by a pair of armed assailants as they walked through a hotel parking lot south of the Manhattan, Kan., campus. The police reported that the assailants hit 6’4 Stewart in the back of the neck, pulled a gun on him and demanded to have his wallet. Stewart lost $25 and some credit cards. Allen escaped the robbers and entered the hotel to call the police. Stewart has started every game and is averaging 6.1 points and 4.2 assists per game. Allen averages 1.7 points per game in six games.
Barton’s Wolf Pleads Not Guilty: Ryan Wolf, who was a principal character in the Ricky Clemons case, has pleaded not guilty to 36 counts of embezzlement, fraud and theft of federal funds. Wolf, 32, is a former assistant coach and faculty member at Barton Community College in Kansas. He has also been accused of helping athletes obtain financial help and academic credentials. Wolf faces a possible criminal forfeiture count of $89,615.
Wolf allegedly gave false information to officials at Missouri, San Jose State and BYU. The indictment charged that from May 1998 to June 2003, Wolf recruited athletes, including Clemons, to play at Barton, then used his position on the faculty to get players grants for which they weren’t qualified. He also allegedly signed them up for campus jobs that they didn’t do.
Brand Trying to Control Costs: NCAA President Miles Brand’s latest project is trying to control costs. Brand has indicated that athletic department costs are increasing at a rate twice the average of other university expenses. Brand is planning to meet with about two dozen college presidents during the NCAA conventions and discuss his ideas during his state of the NCAA speech. He will address the fact the winning doesn’t increase university donations.
