John Clay's Sidelines

For today’s SEC links, Kentucky-Tennessee isn’t the only SEC basketball game on tap tonight. There is an important one in Fayetteville where Arkansas (3-3 in league play) meets Vanderbilt (5-1). Road wins have been few and far between in the league this year. Vanderbilt has two of them, beating South Carolina 67-57 in Columbia and Alabama 69-59 in Tuscaloosa. The Hogs and ‘Dores start at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

Meanwhile, it’s the eve of a southern holiday, national letter-of-intent day for college football. LSU got a big commitment Monday, and by big we mean a Jared Lorenzen-sized quarterback out of Mississippi. Arkansas is still in the hunt for the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Dorial Green-Beckham, a wide receiver out of Missouri.

Signing day is Wednesday.

Continue reading ‘SEC: On signing day eve, Hogs-Vandy a big one in hoops’

After being in the mix for several other head coaching jobs, including Vanderbilt, Auburn’s creative offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn is hired by Arkansas State. So the Tigers are replacing both their OC and DC after Ted Roof left for Central Florida.

In other news, Mississippi State won another basketball game. So did South Carolina as the Gamecocks rallied to beat Presbyterian.

• Malzahn new coach at Arkansas State, reports Birmingham News’ Charles Goldberg.
• Malzahn to be introduced this afternoon, says Joel Erickson of Ledger-Enquirer.
• Bost rescues Mississippi State, reports Brandon Marcello of C-L.
• South Carolina beats Presbyterian, reports Andrew Shain of The State.

Larry Munson (UGA photo)

A sad day for the SEC as the league loses two, one a legend, the other far too young.

Long-time Georgia play-by-play announcer Larry Munson passed away Sunday night from complications associated with pneumonia. Munson was 89. As Mark Bradley nails it in the AJC, “From property being destroyed on St. Simons after Belue-to-Scott to the Knoxville noses broken by the hobnailed boot, the Munson sense of imagery was a gale force unto itself. Nobody else sounded like him. Nobody else would choose the words he chose. The first time I heard Munson doing a Georgia game, I thought I had, by some trick of the ionosphere, tuned into some ham radioman having a nervous breakdown. The more I listened to the great man, the more I realized my first impression wasn’t far wrong, and I mean that in the best possible way.”

Continue reading ‘SEC: Legendary Larry Munson passes at 89′

A leaking roof abbreviated the Tennessee-Ole Miss women

SEC links for Friday:

• Florida beats Georgia to clinch share of SEC East title, reports Kevin Brockway of Gainesville Sun.
• Georgia stumbles to lose 71-62, writes Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph.
• Tennessee women beat Ole Miss 66-39 in odd game, reports Dan Fleser of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• UT-Ole Miss women’s game shortened by weather and a leaky roof, reports David Brandt of the AP.
• Division is nice, but Gators want to win the entire conference, writes MIke DiRocco of the Florida Times-Union.
• No way Chandler Parsons was sitting this game out, writes Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun.
• Parsons provided the second-half spark the Gators needed to win, writes Rachel George of Orlando Sentinel.
• The NCAA tease continues with the Bulldogs, says Jeff Schultz of the AJC.
• NCAA committee will decide UT’s fate, reports Andrew Gribble of News-Sentinel.
• Kidney failure forcing Jack Cristil to retire at MSU, writes Brandon Marcello of the C-L.
• Auburn beats Lady Bulldogs 63-58, reports Roger Clarkson of Athens Banner-Herald.
• LSU beats South Carolina women in OT, reports Scott Rabalais of The Advocate.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Florida clinches; Rain shortens basketball game’

SEC links for Friday:

• Steve Kragthorpe on LSU offensive coordinator search list, reports Randy Rosetta of The Advocate.
• Tennessee wants a new streak at Georgia, writes Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Can Georgia repeat last year’s win over the Vols? asks Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Two-sport failure is rare for Tennessee, writes John Adams of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Andy Kennedy to pay attention to Ole Miss’ defense, reports Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.
• Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal writes that Jalen Steele is stepping up for Mississippi State.
• Auburn guard Frankie Sullivan will be shut down for the rest of the season, reports Evan Woodbery of the Birmingham News.
• Auburn wide out Darvin Adams entering NFL draft, reports Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News.
• Auburn basketball no match for football, reports David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Jemal Farmer’s status uncertain at Arkansas, reports Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.

Justin Hamilton

SEC links for Tuesday:

• LSU basketball picks up 6-foot-11 transfer from Iowa State, Gary Laney of The Advocate reports.

• Jim Kleinpeter of the Times-Picayune has more on Justin Hamilton coming to LSU.

• Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury turns down Clemson, reports Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal.

• Chris Dearing of The State reports that Steve Spurrier is playing a waiting game with Stephen Garcia.

• Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News asks if Auburn should name its new basketball court after Sonny Smith and Joe Ciampi.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: LSU basketball picks up 6-11 transfer’

Greg Byrne

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Greg Byrne leaving AD post at Mississippi State for Arizona, reports Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger.

• Byrne left his mark in Starkville, writes Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger.

• Brad Locke of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal writes that State is disappointed with Byrne’s decision.

• Auburn will interview North Texas coach Johnny Jones, reports Charles Goldberg of the Birmingham News.

• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel thinks a Florida receiver should repent after dissing Tim Tebow.

• AP reports that father of Alabama’s Mark Ingram will serve more prison time.

• The State reports that ex-Carolina coach Dave Odom may be a candidate at Charlotte.

• Dan Fleser of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports on Lady Vols’ drubbing of Dayton to reach Sweet 16.

• Georgia’s Lady Bulldogs reach the Sweet 16, reports Jack Magrudger of the Athens Banner-Herald.

• Duke women surge past LSU, reports Scott Hotard of The Advocate.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Byrne leaving Mississippi State for Arizona’

Andy Kennedy

SEC links for Tuesday:

• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger reports that Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy gets to keep his job after entering guility plea in Cincinnati.
• Gainesville Sun reports that Florida has finalized the hire of Richard Pitino as basketball assistant.
• Joe Biddle of the Tennessean writes that Vols show spring in their step heading into fall camp.
• Drew Edwards of the Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Tennessee fans are developing a feel for Lane Kiffin.
• Darren Epps of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes that Kiffin shows confidence on caravan.
• Evan Woodbery of the Mobile Press-Register writes that Auburn still has questions after spring practice.
• Also in the Press-Register, Paul Finebaum writes that Auburn has a tough year in store.
• In the AJC, Tony Barnhart tells Georgia fans not to forget about Arkansas.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Kennedy gets to keep his job’

SEC links for Monday:

• David Brandt of the Clarion-Ledger reports that Ole Miss basketball coach Andy Kennedy is expected to plead guilty today in a Cincinnati court.
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun writes that the hard part starts now for Florida football.
• Mark Schlabach of espn.com writes that Florida is focused on a repeat.
• Gentry Estes of the Huntsville Times reviews Alabama’s spring game.
• News columnist Kevin Scarbinsky writes that first start is a good start for Bama’s new quarterback.
• Aaron Suttles of the Tuscaloosa News writes that Greg McElroy made a convincing case.
• Tuscaloosa News columnist Cecil Hurt writes there were no big surprises in Bama’s spring game.
• Birmingham News columnist Ray Melick writes that Auburn coach Gene Chizik gives them something to talk about.
• Montgomery Advertiser’s Josh Moon writes that Auburn made big plays in its spring game.
• Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel writes that eager Tennessee fans got a grip on Lane Kiffin.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Kennedy to plead guilty; Spring wrap-ups’

Updated at 8:20 a.m. with Kevin Brockway link with Donovan’s thoughts on Knight.

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Georgia would be foolish to hire Bob Knight.
• Also in the AJC, others say Knight would be a good fit in Athens.
• At CBS Sportsline, Gary Parrish writes that Georgia should avoid bad recruiter Knight.
• Dick “Hoops” Weiss  of the New York Daily News believes Georgia should pass on The General.
• Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun has Billy Donovan’s thoughts on Knight.
• In the Tennessean, Bryan Mullen reports that Bruce Pearl believes now that Tennessee’s non-conference schedule was too tough.
• In the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Dan Fleser reports on Oklahoma’s win over the Lady Vols, denying Pat Summitt her 1,000th win. For now.
• The Clarion-Ledger reports on a video that shows the arrest of Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy.
• In The State, Ron Morris writes that confidence is helping South Carolina basketball.
• Gentry Estes of the Mobile Press-Register reports on the Alabama coaching search.
• In his SEC blog for ESPN, Chris Low reports that LSU is atop the national football recruiting rankings.
• In the Birmingham News, Ray Melick writes that nothing is certain in recruiting until the name is on the dotted line.
• In the Gainesville Sun, Robbie Andreu writes that Florida needs a strong finish to secure a Top 10 class.