Big Blue Links for Wednesday:
- NEW: Card Chronicle confirms Pitino’s hiring of Shabaka Lands, Marquis Teague’s assistant coach.
- Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader reports on the impact being made by juco transfers Chris Matthews and DeQuin Evans.
- Karla Ward and Greg Kocher of the H-L report on former UK player Ed Davender being involved in a basketball ticket scam.
- Zagsblog reports that Rick Pitino has hired Marquis Teague’s assistant coach as assistant to the head coach at Louisville.
- Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes on UK receiver Chris Matthews.
- Jody Demling of the C-J reports on John Calipari’s book signing in Louisville.
- Nick Craddock of the Kentucky Kernel writes on UK linebacker Danny Trevathan.
- H-L report on Jesse Witten’s win in first round of U.S. Open tennis.
- Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger writes that his readers still believe in Calipari.
- Tom Leach has some links about Miami of Ohio.
- The Shiver reports that UK target Adreian Payne will visit Kansas. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)
- A Sea of Blue looks at the UK secondary.
- Straitpinkie breaks down UK’s special teams.
Wow, what a sleezy move by Pimptino. Wonder how many ESPN.com articles Pat Forde will write about how now UL’s coach “operates in the gray”, how he “plays close to the line”, how he “is dancing around NCAA rules”?
Is all of college basketball getting to the point where there are no ethics anymore?
We can’t say much about this as this happens a lot in the big business of college basketball. If anyone thinks that high level D1 basketball is not about getting the best players at any cost and winning then you are delusional. There is big money at stake and these coaches are paid to rake it in. Our current coach (Cal) has been known to offer up the package deal as have others in D1 so how can we judge Pitino for doing things others already are.
so how is this different than when cal hired dajuan wagner’s dad at memphis
I don’t know if this is a sign of desperation, or if he just feels, “Who cares what people think of me anymore?” He will get no positive feedback from this!
Wagner’s dad worked 6 years at Memphis after DaJuan left for the NBA, so we shall see if Teague’s assistant gets the same job security.
How is this different, and how can we judge Pitino? When the sports media (especially ESPN) starts treating Pitino like they do Calipari, as soon as their is some fairness and equality in reporting.
oooh, he operates in the gray of the law, he plays loose with NCAA guidelines, he is ethically questionable. How many times was that said about John Calipari in the last 3 months? And that is fine, but when Pitino does something similar to what Calipari has done, then he should be written of in the same way. Actually maybe Pitino should be judged a little more harshly, of the 2 coaches he is the only one who PERSONALLY was cited by the NCAA for cheating (8 violations), he is the one embroiled in an embarrassing and sleezy affair.
I’ve done some reasearch on this Lamb character, he has little value to offer other than personal relationship with Teague. He was suspended and then kicked off his college team, he is not an AAU coach, and he was only at Pike HS a couple of years. One reason and one reason only he was hired, to land Teague for UL.
Quote from ITV: If Pitino wanted Lands to recruit Teague, he would have left him in Indianapolis where he could be closer to him. Hiring him now, two years before Teague would arrive on campus, is proof that he was hired for his coaching ability and not to influence Teague. Rick wanted Lands, but he didn’t want to give so much as the appearance of impropriety. Therefore, it was necessary to hire him now rather than waiting until Marquis would actually be on campus.
Laughable justification from ITV there Wilson. Teague is by all reports going to commit to a school any day now, he has stated he wants to do so before the start of his HS season.
Pitino got nervous by all the reports of how well Teague’s visit to UK went last weekend so he goes with this ethically questionable move. Lamb isnt well thought of in the AAU circuit, he isnt well thought of in Indianapolis, he had a troubled college career….the only positive on his resume is being a friend of the Teague family.