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Post by Retired Coach on Aug 8, 2006 21:31:23 GMT -5
Maric says he's leaving NUBy CURT McKEEVER/Lee Enterprises LINCOLN - On Monday, Aleks Maric said he's so disturbed by the departure of Nebraska men's basketball coach Barry Collier that he, too, has decided to leave the Huskers. That announcement certainly won't put a smile on the face of Doc Sadler, who today will be announced as NU's next coach. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Maric - a 2006 honorable-mention All-Big 12 Conference honoree after averaging 10.9 points and 8.1 rebounds as a sophomore - was the only center on Nebraska's roster and the anchor for next year's team. Maric, in Australia preparing to play for his country's Senior National team at the World Championships, said he's -50” on either transferring to another university or starting a professional career in Europe. Maric had declared early for the NBA draft shortly after the person who recruited him to Nebraska, associate head coach Scott Spinelli, left to take an assistant's position at Wichita State. Maric later pulled out and indicated he would return to the Huskers following his commitment with the Australian team. That thinking changed shortly after Collier was introduced as the athletic director at Butler University last Tuesday. “Had Coach Collier been there, that's where I want to be,” Maric said of Nebraska. “That's not how it is now. When Scott left, that was tough for me, but I'm a loyal guy.” Maric said he spoke to Nebraska athletic director Steve Pederson and basketball AD Marc Boehm last week requesting to be released from his scholarship. Since then, he hasn't heard from either. Neither Pederson nor Boehm could be reached Monday night for comment. “There might be a problem, but they just have to be professional about it,” Maric said. “They said ‘Don't make a quick decision,' but it wasn't. It's well thought out. “I'd like the athletic department to cooperate. I had two great years there.” Maric played down the possibility that he could reunite with Spinelli at Wichita State. “To tell you the truth, the last time I spoke to Scott was before I left for Australia,” he said. “I don't really see myself in the Missouri Valley Conference.” Maric admitted the news about Collier leaving came as “a little bit” of a shock. At the same time, he understood why Collier could want to return to his alma mater. “You can't please everyone,” he said. No doubt, the latest news about Maric won't make Husker fans happy. “I'd love to be back at Nebraska,” he said, “but that's not the right environment for me.” With Maric leaving, NU is down to 10 scholarship players for next year's team. www.columbustelegram.com/articles/2006/08/08/sports/sports2maric.txt
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 16, 2006 21:20:17 GMT -5
Anyone have any idea what "team rule" Chancellor broke or if he has been in trouble at WSU before now? It seems odd that he would be kicked off the team if this was a first offense.
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 6, 2006 19:07:02 GMT -5
Congratulations Joe. Lets go Mets!
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Post by Retired Coach on Nov 28, 2006 20:36:06 GMT -5
At least the article didn't bring up why he had to leave WSU.
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 5, 2006 16:38:57 GMT -5
I just don't like people that take shots at someone when he is gone. We heard you the first 5 times you posted in this thread.
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 4, 2006 18:08:48 GMT -5
I think it would be best if we all move on and forget about Paul Biancardi. He made his bed and is now lying in it.
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Post by Retired Coach on Aug 1, 2006 18:48:29 GMT -5
August 01, 2006 (News Release/Baseball) Mets Call Up Former Hurler Smith to Double-A Brooklyn, NY – Just two months after helping the Wright State baseball team win their first Horizon League Championship since 1994, former pitcher Joe Smith was called up from the New York Mets Single-A Brooklyn club to Double-A Binghamton on Monday, July 31. Smith is the first player ever to make the jump from Brooklyn, the Mets short-season Single-A team, to the Double-A Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League. While Smith was with the Cyclones he was a dominating force in the New York-Penn League as he posted an ERA of 0.45 in 20 innings of work. “I’m excited,” Smith said when asked about the opportunity. “I love playing baseball, I loved playing in Brooklyn, and I am grateful for the opportunity to help Binghamton win ball games.” The side-winding closer from Cincinnati was a thorn in batters sides while with the Cyclones, holding opposing hitters to a batting average of .141, striking out 28 batters and walking only three. Smith had posted nine saves before the promotion, ranking third in the league, and had made 17 appearances out of the bullpen. While at Wright State, the former walk-on had one of the most prolific seasons for a pitcher in recent history. After being named to the NCBWA “Stopper of the Year” watchlist, Smith garnered Horizon League Pitcher of the Year honors and helped the Raiders reach the NCAA Regional in Corvallis, OR. . Smith posted a 0.98 ERA while with the Raiders and struck out 63 batters in 55 innings of work. Smith’s 13 saves rank second all-time in a single season at WSU and he was only the second pitcher to win the pitcher of the year honor, joining major leaguer Brian Anderson. www.wsuraiders.com/cgi-bin/athletics/news.cgi?action=features&id=2901
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Post by Retired Coach on May 28, 2006 8:08:27 GMT -5
I love the way the NCAA treats a coach from a major program vs the way they treat a coach from a mid-major. Sampson and Biancardi both received recruiting bans for breaking NCAA rules. Biancardi isn't allowed to participate in recruiting at all for almost 2 years. Sampson is only punished for 1 year and is only limited in off campus recruiting. This is just another example of the NCAA having double standards.
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Post by Retired Coach on May 28, 2006 8:02:42 GMT -5
I don't think this is a new rule. It has been buried in the NCAA rule book for years and has been forgotten by many coaches and NCAA members. The rule has now been unburied and I would guess the loophole will be fixed in the near future. The rule was put in place with good intentions. It makes sense when you refer to a pure student-athlete, an athlete that actually is going to school to obtain a degree and is pursuing a higher level of education at the graduate level. Many schools do not provide graduate programs for selected majors and requires the student-athlete to transfer so they can continue to pursue their graduate level studies. However, in reality, since the rule is out in the open, the rule will be abused by many of the D-1 bloodsucking coaches; therefore, it needs to be fixed.
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 8, 2006 19:08:27 GMT -5
Mason's run widened rift between majors, middlings June 8, 2006 By Gregg Doyel CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer George Mason didn't heal college basketball, at least not from the inside. The Patriots' run from the NCAA Tournament bubble to the Final Four excited fans and attracted television viewers, but it had a different effect on the game's foundation. It scared the biggest schools. And it galvanized the small ones. Two months later, coaches around the country tell CBS SportsLine.com, the rift between majors and mid-majors is bigger than ever. Which is saying something. As a group, college basketball's biggest schools have only embraced the smaller schools as sparring partners, someone to be bloodied in the pursuit of national championships. Because of that, the majors and the mid-majors have never gotten along. Never have, never will. There's too much pride and money -- mostly money -- at stake. But now it's getting contentious. "We've created a lot of interest in that topic," George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. You can see it in the sudden move -- triggered by the biggest schools -- to expand the NCAA Tournament from 65 teams to a number closer to 80. It's no coincidence that in the same season the Big East grew to an unrealistic 16 teams and the NCAA Tournament invited more mid-majors than ever, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim began lobbying for expansion. The rest of the Big East and the game's biggest conferences have had Boeheim's back, saying at various league meetings this spring that college basketball has outgrown the tournament's 65-team field. "Everyone is alarmed," Illinois coach Bruce Weber told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The success of the mid-majors backed the committee's decisions. Now if they have a choice between a mid-major or high-level team, it's probably going to be the mid-major that gets in. So it's not a surprise that the big guys are clamoring." The biggest mid-majors support expansion, too, but not with the zeal of the majors; leagues like the Missouri Valley and Colonial are starting to break through for multiple bids, with or without expansion. George Mason made it to the Final Four. Wichita State and Bradley reached the Sweet 16. UW-Milwaukee and Montana reached the second round. The smaller leagues -- the bottom third of college basketball -- aren't happy about expansion at all. They know expansion would mean more bids for the ACC's sixth-best team or the Big Ten's No. 7 finisher, not more bids for the Southern Conference or Ohio Valley runner-up. Additionally, expansion would mean another layer of play-in games. Which teams would get stuck in that already unpopular event? The lowest seeds, from leagues like the Northeast and Mid-Continent. For those leagues, tournament expansion ultimately would mean tournament shrinkage. Hello, Dayton. Goodbye, actual NCAA Tournament. But the rift goes deeper than the makeup of NCAA Tournament. As the biggest leagues have done for years, colluding to control the game and ultimately its $6 billion NCAA Tournament contract (through CBS), the mid-majors are finally beginning to think and act as a group. Already two mid-major leagues -- the MAC and the Ohio Valley -- have decided not to sell themselves to the highest bidder for "guarantee games," which for years have tilted the balance of power toward the biggest leagues. Guarantee games are essentially bought victories, and the money (and victories) only flow in one direction. For example, a big school from the SEC pays a small school from the SWAC a fee in the neighborhood of $40,000 -- the guarantee -- to play one game on the SEC team's court. According to research by his staff, Larranaga says the home team won roughly 95 percent of the guarantee games played during the 2004-05 season. With a 5 percent win rate and the crushing impact that has on a conference's RPI, why would smaller schools continue to serve themselves up on a platter to the majors that are trying to take their spot in the NCAA Tournament? "If ACC teams play six guarantee games each, that's 72 games and they're likely to go something like 68-4," said Larranaga, who favors NCAA Tournament expansion. "It means that league is going to have a tremendous RPI." For leagues like the SWAC and America East, whose basketball programs arguably couldn't survive unless they sold losses to the highest bidder, guarantee games are a necessary evil. But for the bigger mid-majors -- now that the NCAA Tournament selection committee has begun to award multiple bids to their leagues -- guarantee games have become more of a hindrance than a help. Which is why league officials from the Missouri Valley, Colonial and Horizon are considering following the lead of the MAC and OVC, and urging their memberships to quit selling itself to win-hungry and money-bloated majors. Smaller schools also are bristling under the leadership of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the profession's governing body that is closer to the U.S. Senate than the House of Representatives -- an elite and misrepresentative group, in other words. The NABC represents more than 1,000 schools at all levels of basketball, with less than 10 percent of those schools in the major Division I category. However, the NABC's Board of Directors counts 13 of its 21 members (62 percent) from major schools. One of the NABC's purposes, according to its website, is "to unify coaches on issues pertaining to basketball at all levels." Making better choices as NABC president -- the programs of several past NABC leaders, including Kelvin Sampson, Eddie Sutton, Denny Crum and Mike Jarvis, have been found guilty of recruiting violations -- would help. There is much to unify. The NABC had better get started. Giving more of a voice to smaller schools -- or stifling the majors, whatever -- would be a good place to start. www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9487118
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 3, 2006 14:55:32 GMT -5
Pump up the tournament?By Jeff Rabjohns Jeff.rabjohns@indystar.com It's time to expand the NCAA Tournament. Sixty-five teams aren't enough. So says Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. And Billy Donovan of Florida. And Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech. Heck, Oliver Purnell of Clemson wants to double the field. Amid such opinions -- often loudly expressed -- from such high-profile coaches, the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee plans to discuss expanding the event at its meeting June 25-30. It's doubtful any change is imminent, and one would need to pass through a series of legislation. But there appears to be growing support for a move to 68 teams within five years, and bumping the field to 80 in the future isn't out of the question. Here are some common arguments for and against expansion: PRO: It would increase interest and money. The tournament has expanded nine times since starting in 1939 with eight teams. Public interest has increased along the way, thanks in no small part to Cinderella upsets. CBS currently is paying $6 billion over 11 years because of strong viewership from the first round through the Final Four. Increasing the field would mean more possible Cinderellas, and more moneymaking games overall. A 65-team field means 64 games; an 80-team field likely would mean 79. CBS would pay more to cover the event, which would mean more money distributed to schools. Everybody wins. CON: Everybody wins but fans. Fans may love upsets, but the fact is major ones are rare. A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1. How would an 18th or 20th seed fare against Duke? "More opportunity to be involved in a great sporting event sounds like a positive, but you have to weigh that against, 'What would that do to a great sporting event?' " said Butler coach Todd Lickliter, who has been to the Sweet Sixteen and had a 25-win team left out of the tournament. PRO: D-I has grown; so should the tournament. There were 282 colleges competing in Division I in 1985 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams. That's 22.7 percent of teams making the NCAA field. Now there are 326 D-I teams. Having 65 teams in the tournament is just 19.9 percent. The field would need to be bumped to 74 schools to get back to that 1985 ratio. CON: Really, most every team is in it now. Every D-I conference but the Ivy League has a postseason tournament whose winner gets an NCAA bid. Therefore, as ESPN commentator Dick Vitale said, all those teams are essentially in the tournament already. "If they have a poor season, they have that one last dream and opportunity to pull out a miracle and get in the NCAAs," Vitale said. PRO: Too many big-conference schools are left out. This seems to be the main argument from those pushing hardest for expansion. It's obvious mid-major schools have improved relative to bigger counterparts, a product of the latter increasingly losing underclassmen to the NBA. But fuzzy feelings aside, how many mid-major powers are really better than midlevel big-conference schools? Last year only four ACC schools made the tournament; does anyone really believe only four ACC teams were among the nation's 65 best? And shouldn't that be what it's all about? Keep the Cinderellas. But make room for more deserving teams. CON: Don't cry for the bigs. Mid-majors aren't window dressing. This past season, George Mason reached the Final Four, Bradley and Wichita State the Sweet Sixteen. Plus, it's laughable to pity the big schools, who have so many advantages. For one, they often "buy" as many as 10 games per year, paying inferior foes to come to their building for an easy win. Last season, Syracuse didn't leave New York until Jan. 11. The mid-majors don't have the money for that, and often have to travel to play better competition. Bottom line: If teams can't win in their own conferences, they don't belong in the tournament. PRO: A bigger field would ease unfair expectations. None other than John Wooden thinks all 326 teams should be invited to the tournament, for one reason because it has become so big, so all-or-nothing status-wise, that there is too much pressure on coaches to get there. Many a coach has won a lot of games but been fired because athletic directors (and fan bases) wanted to reach the tournament more often. CON: Coaches' high salaries demand pressure. This is just big-school coaches protecting themselves. Florida's Billy Donovan once lamented that, "If it's about intercollegiate athletics and it's not just a money-making situation, then we need to find a way to let everyone in." But consider this money-making situation: Donovan's $1.7 million annual compensation is nearly 23 times that of the average UF professor. Shouldn't he be expected to win? www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060603/SPORTS/606030498/1004
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 1, 2006 18:13:44 GMT -5
65 To 80? NCAA Tournament may expandBy Stu Durando ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 05/31/2006 Many NCAA basketball power brokers would like to see a bigger Big Dance, and the idea will be discussed at the end of June. (Gerry Broome/AP) Barry Hinson's pain was not the incentive that prompted college basketball's hierarchy to discuss expansion of the NCAA Tournament. The push for growth has been led by the game's power brokers, such as Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, and has received boisterous support from the almighty Atlantic Coast Conference. Yet, there is probably not a more passionate supporter than the Missouri State coach, whose 2005-06 team became one of the most qualified based on Ratings Percentage Index not to be selected for what is now a field of 65 participants. "If we are the largest revenue-generating sport that pays a majority of all the NCAA's bills, then why in the world would we not try to expand?" Hinson asked. "Don't give me the saying, 'If it's not broke, don't fix it.' Let's not be complacent with what we have. Let's find a way to get better." Missouri State was No. 21 in the RPI on Selection Sunday but was bypassed for an at-large berth, giving the Bears the best RPI of any team not to play in the NCAA Tournament. The men's basketball tournament committee is expected to address expansion when it meets June 26-30 in Orlando, Fla. And the idea is being supported by coaches at every level and of every degree of success. A specific proposal has not been discussed. Talk has ranged from the addition of play-in games for each region to a jump to 80 teams. "We had that discussion at the Big Ten meetings, and everyone was unanimous that it needs to be done," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We've continued to expand the number of teams, and the gap is getting smaller between the bigs and littles. ... It would be helpful if they would open it up. "You're talking about coaching livelihoods. So much is done for the student-athletes, and we need to stick up for ourselves. This is one way we could save a guy's career." Some coaches point to the growing college football bowl lineup to support their argument. Last season, 56 of 119 Division I-A football teams played in a bowl game, and the number of postseason events seems to keep growing. Meanwhile, the number of Division I basketball teams has grown to 334. "I think the more you put in the better," St. Louis University coach Brad Soderberg said. "But on the other hand, where does it end? Where does the controversy end? When everyone is in?" Soderberg has concocted his own system, which involves a complete overhaul of the tournament. Under his proposal, every regular-season conference champion would qualify automatically. He would eliminate conference postseason tournaments in favor of "district" tournaments based on geography, with the winners of each district filling out the field. Meanwhile, more modest changes are being considered. A group of coaches recently met with the committee, and chairman Gary Walters later told reporters, "We're going to have a serious discussion, and then we'll make some decision about where we'll proceed from there." The tournament added one team in 2001 when a play-in game was squeezed into the mix. The last large-scale addition came in 1985, when the field increased from 53 to 64. If expansion is approved, it would not be implemented until at least 2008. Doug Elgin, commissioner of the St. Louis-based Missouri Valley Conference, pointed out that myriad logistical problems would be created by expansion. He is curious how the seeding of teams would change and when the additional games would be played. And there's the issue of distribution of tournament funds, which is now set at $164,000 per unit. More teams would probably mean less money per team. "Right now I would favor it because in most years the Missouri Valley has one or more teams that don't get in that are absolutely deserving," he said. "The most important thing is having access to the championship." As usual, many teams left out of the field in March complained they were more deserving than others. Maryland, Florida State and Cincinnati were among them. The selection of several mid-major programs in 2006 and their subsequent success has raised concern within major conferences. "Everyone is alarmed," Weber said. "The success of the mid-majors backed the committee's decisions. Now if they have a choice between a mid-major or high-level team, it's probably going to be the mid-major that gets in. So it's not a surprise that the big guys are clamoring." sdurando@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8232 www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/othersports/story/91324C80F43CB0EC8625717F00220719?OpenDocument
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Post by Retired Coach on Jul 13, 2006 21:06:21 GMT -5
Bucks won't play summer ballBY MIKE DYER | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER Xavier senior forward Justin Doellman said there isn't a good reason not to compete in the Deveroes Summer League at Woodward. But former Xavier coach Thad Matta is not taking any chances with his Ohio State players this summer. For the first time in the event's 25-year history, Buckeyes will not participate in the Worthington McDonald's Summer League. Matta said with six new players, he wanted to take advantage of a new NCAA rule that allows incoming freshmen to take summer classes. "I've chosen to utilize this opportunity to set the stage for our young men to clearly understand the importance of academics as well as mainly adapt to the changes from high school to college - from classes to the different days," Matta said. Matta didn't have a specific opinion on the Deveroes or Worthington leagues. He said each coach has his own plan for building a program. "I'm not ruling out the possibility of our guys playing again in the Worthington League," Matta said. While academics are a concern, other risks include injury or acquiring bad playing habits during the unofficial games. Deveroes league director Dennis Bettis said his league is structured so any team can compete on any given night. "I think up there the league is kind of watered down," Bettis said. "It's not like here. I think (Matta) realized that. It would be a good time (to withdraw) because of the new recruits." Bettis said Matta was always supportive of the Deveroes league when he was coaching at Xavier. But, he understands why Matta might be more cautious in Columbus. Miami coach Charlie Coles said he encourages his players to participate in the Deveroes league because it gives them an opportunity to play against better competition. "We know Xavier, Cincinnati and sometimes Dayton will be there, and on occasion Kentucky," Coles said. "For us, it's a very, very good league. We want our players to be confident when they play guys like that. We are fighting for respectability." news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/SPT0102/607130379/1065/SPT
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Post by Retired Coach on Jun 18, 2006 16:31:31 GMT -5
Summer league games started today. Did anyone go?
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Post by Retired Coach on May 21, 2006 20:15:36 GMT -5
Thanks for the info guys.
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