The Morning Dish – Saturday, January 29th
All It Takes Is a Few Wins: Minnesota coach Dan Monson was all but fired entering this season. His tenure at Minnesota had seen a lot of losing and a lot of turmoil in his short stint there. But this season, Monson has turned the Gophers around. And now he has the support of his athletic director. University of Minnesota athletics director Joel Maturi made his strongest public comments to date in favor of Monson. Maturi said Monson needs more time to coach without the weight of NCAA sanctions weighing down the program. This is the first season since the sanctions were lifted against Minnesota for NCAA violations stemming from the academic scandal under former coach Clem Haskins.
Illini Celebrate 100 Years of Hoops Today: Life just keeps getting better for top-ranked Illinois. In addition to enjoying one of its finest seasons of all-time thus far, the team will celebrate 100 years of Illini basketball with a throng of former Illini stars. The marquee guest will be former Illini coach Lou Henson, who recently announced his retirement from New Mexico State. Henson coached the Illini for 21 seasons, compiling a 423-224 record. He’ll be watching new coach Bruce Weber and the Illini host a surprising Minnesota team.
Cameron Crazies Hoodwinked: As if a loss to Maryland wasn’t bad enough for Duke’s famous student section on Wednesday night. But also, a clever Maryland supporter entered a fake cheer on Duke’s game-day “cheat sheet.” The prankster planted false information about Maryland star Nik Caner-Medley. In the section on Caner-Medley, in addition to details of his summer arrest in Maine, was a statement about his girlfriend: “NCM’s girlfriend is named Myra, and her pet name for him is ‘Piggy.’” The Duke fans made oink noises and chanted “Piggy” not only while Caner-Medley was attempting free throws but also throughout the game. But the information about his girlfriend and her pet name for him was false, planted by a person who wished for the Cameron Crazies to embarrass themselves. If the Cameron Crazies had chanted “Myra Piggy,” it would have sounded like “Myron Piggie,” the name of a former basketball coach and crack cocaine dealer who pleaded guilty to giving money to college basketball players, including former Blue Devil Corey Maggette, in one of Duke’s scandals.
Former Duke Star to Try Broadcasting: Bobby Hurley has signed on to try broadcasting for the YES Network. The 33-year-old New Jersey native started last night by calling the Yale vs. Penn women’s game. He plans on doing a six-game YES Ivy League schedule – the other five will be men’s games – before deciding if he wants to pursue more. Since finishing his NBA career in 1998, Hurley has done some high-school coaching and some NBA scouting, but has mainly been involved in the purchase and breeding of horses. In 2001, Hurley’s horse, Song And A Prayer, ran in the Kentucky Derby.
Dotson Deemed Ready for Trial: The former Baylor basketball player accussed of killing a teammate has regained his competence to stand trial and is ready to be returned from a state hospital, a psychologist says. Teh 22-year-old Dotson had been taken to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon after a defense psychologist, state psychiatrist and court-appointed independent psychiatrist all found that Dotson was incompetent to stand trial in the death of Patrick Dennehy. Dennehy’s body was found in a field near Baylor’s Waco campus in July 2003. He had been missing for about six weeks. Dennehy played two seasons for the New Mexico Lobos before transferring to Baylor in the spring of 2002.
