The Morning Dish – Sunday, April 10th
Cleveland Takes Over: Fresno State named Steve Cleveland as its new head coach on Saturday, and he immediately made it his goal to restore integrity to the program after years of scandals. Cleveland was previously the head coach at BYU, where he posted a 138-108 record in eight seasons, and a big reason for his hire was likely the fact that he ran a clean program at the Mormon Church-owned university. Cleveland replaces Ray Lopes, who resigned on March 17 after a school investigation found that he had broken an NCAA rule about telephone calls to recruits.
Leitao is Latest at Virginia: Virginia officials met with DePaul head coach Dave Leitao on Friday to discuss the Cavaliers’ head coaching vacancy. Leitao was in Virginia to attend the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where Blue Demon seniors Drake Diener and Quemont Greer were competing, before meeting with Virginia officials and returning to Chicago. In three years at DePaul, Leitao has a record of 58-34 in his second head coaching job.
Savannah State Has New Leader: Savannah State, which just finished the second winless season in NCAA Division I in the last 50 years, hired Horace Broadnax on Friday as its new head coach. Broadnax, the point guard on Georgetown’s 1984 NCAA championship team, was previously a head coach at Bethune-Cookman from 1997 to 2002 before moving on to pursue a law career. Since 1998, he has been a partner at a law firm in Orlando.
Hayes Headlines Portsmouth: Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes was the MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a pre-draft camp for seniors, after leading his team to the championship on Saturday. Hayes, a 6’6″ power forward, scored 16 points, hauled down seven rebounds, and handed out five assists with no turnovers in the championship game. It capped a three-game tournament where Hayes scored 46 points, grabbed 28 rebounds and handed out 11 assists. More details on this tournament will be coming up soon, including the All-Tournament Team, which will be announced on Sunday.
Tiger Forward Moves On: Sophomore forward Ross Neltner is leaving LSU to pursue other opportunities. In two seasons, he played in 51 games and averaged 13.5 minutes per game. He played in all 30 games in the recently completed season, averaging 2.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per game and becoming one of four LSU players named to the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll this year.
Olson Wants More Exposure: Arizona head coach Lute Olson went a little further this week in talking about the Pac-10 Conference’s lack of national television exposure. He questioned Fox’s commitment to the conference and said the Pac-10 should put some heat on the network since its contract with the league runs out after next season, calling for a Wednesday rivalry game with Arizona State on ESPN. The Feb. 26 game at Washington, which was not received in some markets but was said to be a national game. Olson’s comments also included a note on how it hurts the conference in recruiting, and as several coaches have commented on how much national television exposure helps recruiting, he is simply the latest coach to point it out.
Assistant Charged: A former assistant coach at Barton County Community College was indicted on Thursday. Matt Skillman, an assistant coach under Ryan Wolf during his tenure at the school and now an assistant at Arkansas Tech, was indicted by a federal grand jury for one count of embezzlement and one count of mail fraud. The indictment claims that he prepared false time sheets for players at the school, and that he sent an official transcript indicating that Randy Pulley was eligible to play at the University of Missouri when in fact he wasn’t. Skillman resigned in December 2003. Wolf faces a 37-count indictment charging him with fraud, theft and embezzlement, with a trial to begin next month.
Diaz Staying For Now: Miami sophomore guard Guillermo Diaz will not declare for the NBA Draft to gauge his value. Diaz, who recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, was a second team All-ACC selection this season after averaging 18.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He plans to spend his summer developing his point guard skills, and he could likely play the position more next season in addition to projecting as a point guard at the next level.
Great Alaska Shootout Field Revealed: NIT champion South Carolina will headline the 2005 Great Alaska Shootout, to be held November 22-26. The 28th annual eight-team event, hosted by Alaska-Anchorage, will also include Marquette, Eastern Washington, Monmouth, Oral Roberts, Southern California, and one school to be named later. The Gamecocks finished third in the 1990 edition, while Marquette won the title in 2001 and Southern California played in 1983. All of the other schools will make their debut in the event.
Bibby Resurfaces in the Coaching Scene: The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA hired former USC coach Henry Bibby as their new head coach. Bibby was fired early in the season after posting a 131-111 record in eight seasons at the school, including a trip to the Elite Eight in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. It will be his first experience coaching women.
