The Morning Dish – Sunday, May 1st
Cardinals Assistant Gets His Own Gig: Louisville coach Rick Pitino continues to churn out future head coaches. This time, assistant coach Scott Davenport will leave Pitino’s staff to take the head coaching position at Division II program Bellarmine. Davenport becomes the 21st assistant coach under Pitino to get the top job at another school. Davenport had been an assistant at Louisville for nine years, including five under former Cardinals coach Denny Crum. Former assistant Reggie Theus also left Pitino’s staff this off-season for a head coaching position. He accepted the job at New Mexico State.
LSU Transfer Good Fit for Vandy: LSU sophomore forward Ross Neltner has decided to transfer to Vanderbilt. He was highly recruited after announcing his intention to leave the Tigers. Illinois, Florida, Georgetown and Michigan sought the big man, who also likes to shoot away from the hoop. His talents match coach Kevin Stallings’ game plan at Vanderbilt very well. He fits in the mold of players such as Matt Freije, who could play in the post but also was equally likely to be found on the perimeter jacking up three-pointers.
No More Illini? NCAA officials asked Illinois, among 30 other schools, to explain and defend their usage of an American Indian as a school symbol. In an attempt to be more sensitive to other cultures, NCAA officials will sanction programs that do not produce adequate responses to the inquiry. Illinois officials maintain that the use of Chief Illiniwek as a school symbol is ok because the board of trustees has ownership of his tradition. But they have also reduced his appearance at school functions and on official school documents such as stationery.
