Craig Robinson.
College hoops links for Friday:
- Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com reports that ex-U of L head case Derrick Caracter has landed at UTEP. Goodman: “Tony Barbee felt it was worth the risk. The UTEP head coach, who had recruited Derrick Caracter for two years back when he was an assistant at Memphis, decided that it was the right move to bring the talented 6-foot-8 New Jersey native on board. Here’s the thing: Caracter won’t be on scholarship for the rest of this season – and will pay his own way with the help of financial aid.”
- It’s been a good week for Obama’s brother-in-law as Will Brown of the Oregonian reports on Oregon State’s upset win at Cal. Brown: “Most importantly, OSU clawed back from an early deficit. I watched this same team completely fold against UW last Saturday, yet there they were tonight, putting on a 16-4 run to get right back into it after falling behind by 11 – on the road. That sort of resiliency is beginning to be the hallmark of this team. When they start to show it consistently (and I’m willing to believe the UW game was an aberration), you’ll know these players have finally ditched last year’s losing mentality.”
- Liz Clarke of the Washington Post reports on Georgetown’s homecourt loss to West Virginia. Clarke: “The final statistics provided a diagnosis of what ails the Hoyas (12-5, 3-3 Big East). They committed 19 turnovers, were outrebounded 39-31 and made just 2 of 16 three-point attempts. Meantime, Georgetown allowed West Virginia (14-4, 3-2) to shoot 48.4 percent, compared with its own 39.2 percent shooting.”
- ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has 44 thoughts on the college game’s midpoint. Lunardi: “Look out SEC. “Big Blue” (Kentucky) has emerged as the team to beat.”
- This is a couple of days old, but in question 3, the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy takes up for Kansas’ coach Bill Self. DeCourcy: “I’m not an NCAA compliance officer, but I’ve been around college sports enough to know an illegal bump when I see one. Based on what’s been reported and what Self has admitted to saying, there was nothing here that was outside the boundaries of NCAA rules. Self, regardless, has been dragged through the headlines because the wires picked up this story on a slow news day.”
- Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline shows his softer side by agreeing this is much ado about nothing. Doyel: “Inappropriate conduct is a big pile of dung. If that’s the best we can do, as a gotcha society, to bust a basketball coach, then why bother? Inappropriate conduct? Are you kidding? The Big 12 is the same league that allowed several coaches to hire men for the sole purpose of delivering a recruit. Baylor — another finalist for John Wall — hired one of his AAU coaches last year. Self hired Mario Chalmers’ father before landing Chalmers, a McDonald’s All-American now in the NBA. Kansas State let Bob Huggins hire Delonte Hill for the sole purpose of signing Hill’s buddy, Michael Beasley. That’s just one conference, and those moves were all allowed. They were legal.”
Continue reading ‘HL: Caracter headed to UTEP’
