The Morning Dish – Monday, May 3rd
Minor Violation at Kentucky: Kentucky officials plan to report a minor NCAA violation that was caused by non-compliance with housing rules at the Wildcat Lodge, which is home to the Wildcats. NCAA rules mandate that the number of non-athletes living in a campus dorm must exceed the number of athletes by one. School officials said they interpreted the rule to mean that the facility must have more space for non-athletes. They didn’t feel that the rule applied to a head count. But the latter is true, and the school plans to either increase the number of non-athletes living there or reduce the number of athletes by one or two. Right now, 16 athletes live there, but only 12 non-athletes do.
Trojan Assistant Moves East: Eric Brown departed USC to accept a position as an assistant coach at Iowa State. The former Trojan assistant had worked for former coach Henry Bibby for the past four seasons. He fills the spot at Iowa State vacated by Bob Sundvold, who left the Cyclones last October to become head coach of the Kansas City franchise of the American Basketball Association. Brown also has coaching experience at Cal State – Northridge and at the junior college, high school and AAU levels.
Jeter Names Assistants: Wisconsin – Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter, Bruce Pearl’s replacement, has named four assistants. Brian Bidlingmyer joins the Panthers after working at Binghamton for the past two years. He also has six years’ previous experience as an assistant at Lamar and Marquette. Boudreau has been an assistant for six seasons at the successful Indian Hills Community College at the NJCAA level. Conroy returns to Wisconsin – Milwaukee after working at Wisconsin as director of basketball operations under coach Bo Ryan, who was also a coach of the Panthers. Conroy was on Ryan’s staff when he coached at Wisconsin – Milwaukee. And lastly, Jeter named former Panther player Jones as the team’s director of basketball operations.
White Looking for Feedback: Cincinnati junior guard James White knows he needs more work with the Bearcats before he’s ready to compete for an NBA roster spot. So White declared for the NBA Draft to receive feedback from pro scouts but plans to withdraw his name in a few weeks to return to school. He correctly figures that he can only gain exposure and helpful advice by taking advantage of a rule that allows NCAA players to declare for the draft and then pull out. But they can only do so once. White averaged 10.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game last season.
Not In My Backyard: Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said he will not release point guard Gary Ervin from his scholarship if Ervin intends to transfer to another SEC school. Why help your foes? Ervin has stated his intention to leave the program and has received interest from Arkansas. If Stansbury refuses to release Ervin, he could still transfer to another SEC school, but he would not be able to play on scholarship until two years from the date of transfer. Normally, transfers sit out a year and play on scholarship the following season.
Webster Eligibility In Doubt: Although Washington recruit Martell Webster is not officially in the NBA Draft, he has one foot in the door right now. And he may not be to pull it out. According to several sources, Webster may have signed a document with agent Eric Goodwin that could negate his collegiate eligibility. Regardless of the details of the incident, Webster’s family members have recently instructed the potential lottery pick to avoid all contact with agents and reporters. Webster averaged more than 27 points and 10 rebounds per game last season in high school.
