BATTLE!!!

Wisconsin students drown sorrows in beer after losing to Penn State 52 to 56


Seriously. We need to start calling Penn State the ranked team assassins. Wisconsin had the game in hand but credit Nittany Lion guard Talor Battle. He single handedly beat the Badgers with a barrage of threes in the second half and this was the THIRD time he has done this. But we're assuming you guys have already saw or read all this elsewhere...

Here is what you will NOT see: We now are predicting Penn State will be in March Madness as a 12-16 seed. Deal with it.

Welcome to the club

Welcome UCF to the world of the Top 25! With your shiny new ranking you are now afforded exclusive benefits not available to those who hold rankings outside the best college teams in the country. Like recruiting. You whip out that ranking baby and elite talent is yours. Like Michael Chandler. He is the 4th best high school center in the country and 47th best player overall. And he just committed to the Knights:

"They made me feel comfortable with going to UCF. There is no reason for me to look anywhere else."



Membership has it's privileges indeed.

The present that keeps on giving

Ex-Ohio State guard J.J. Sullinger: "I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, but you need to offer my brother a scholarship."
Ohio State coach Thad Matta: "Julian?"
J.J.: "No. Jared."
Thad: "Your fat brother?"

And the rest is amazing history unfolding before our eyes. Now J.J. sends text messages to coach Matta constantly saying "your welcome, you lucky bastard." And looking at their remaining schedule it doesn't seem entirely impossible for the Sullinger led Buckeyes to go undefeated. No, we are not predicting anything. We are just saying their stiffest competition in conference play is Michigan State. Yes, that Michigan State.

The six game itch

Josh Selby, the former national five star recruit that Kansas so desperately sucked dick to sign has been banned from playing in 6 games for the Jayhawks because he accepted illegal benefits (Editor's note: Wow, it seems the NCAA has been busy lately).

That will put him in the game in time for the Southern Cal warm-up before heading off to Big 12 action in January. Coach Self was obviously excited about getting the point guard back. But there are a few folks out there who could care less about Selby:

"In the case of Selby being a Jayhawk, I’ll be honest... I’m not sure it even matters. Selby isn’t good enough to make much difference."

Perhaps, but that was harsh. Guess we will see next year. Kansas has pretty high standards obviously, but we're not willing to totally write him off yet. We think Selby will start to make some noise come late February.

Tears Of Unfathomable Sadness

"In life, you can't just get married to the first girl you meet. You have to see if its right."
- Myck Kabongo

And with that Kabongo, Texas's only five star basketball recruit dumps the Longhorns:

Their football team is currently going through The Season Of Despair(tm) and now this. The days of Kevin Durant seem so far away. Oh, I believe in yesterday...

The savior has spoken

Uber recruit and part time criminal John Wall has chosen Kentucky.

And Wildcat fans are rejoicing everywhere (replete with ass slapping).

John Wall to play college hoops up to 4 years!

In an interview with Brian Clifton (Mr. Wall's errand boy agent friend mooch guardian) he made the following statement about Wall's possible choice to play for the University of Miami...

"If you're going to be away from home for a year, or two years, or four, there are much worse places to be."

Really? REALLY?

For those who are late to the party, Wall is a ridiculously gifted high school senior that every college wants to get their paws on. And Mr. Clifton is saying that Wall might not be another one-and-done NBA thug? C'mon, we're not the fools you take us for. At least some of us.

(HT: The Dagger)

This motherf-er is sick

Let the OJ Mayo/Erik Murphy style recruiting madness begin!



Introducing John Wall. Your wife/girlfriend would sleep with him (and we mean penetration activity, not "cuddling") if it meant that he would commit to her favorite college.

And Wall knows this. Should be interesting.

Well, what would you expect?

Remember future face of the UConn program and irresistible Nate Miles, who apparently was very much resistible to some? Well, come to find out Connecticut might have broken some NCAA recruiting laws in their quest to land Mr. Miles who they subsequently expelled.

Multiple sources were cited in establishing a relationship between Miles and Josh Nochimson, who became an agent after his years as a UConn student manager. By N.C.A.A. rules, Yahoo reported, Nochimson would be a representative of the college’s athletic interests. Therefore, providing Miles with lodging, transportation and meals, which the report alleges, would be a serious violation.

A violation indeed. We doubt this will even be a minor issue for the Huskies as they continue their run for the NCAA Tournament title. But it is funny how such a flame out could cause all this.

WHAT?

The NCAA voted Thursday to redefine college basketball prospects from ninth grade to seventh grade. This move was in response to an increase in the number of camps for elite seventh and eighth grade players.

What?! Have these coaches lost their cotton-pickin' minds? If it was up to us, you couldn't prospect until they were juniors. Geez, this is so bad just because of the precedent it sets. *shakes head* What were they thinking anyways?

You wanna go where? Really?

We were quite surprised when Auburn announced it had grabbed four early commitments to it's program.

AUBURN - Frankie Sullivan, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard from Uniontown, Ala.; Tay Waller, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound guard from Manchester, Ga.; Kenny Gabriel, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound small forward from Charlotte, N.C.; and Johnnie Lett, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound power forward from Mobile, Ala.; have signed national letters of intent to attend Auburn University and play basketball in 2008-09, head coach Jeff Lebo announced Tuesday.

The part that really surprised us was Tay Waller signing because he had some top 10 basketball teams after him. And he went with... Auburn?

That maddening middle of the road so close but so far light years away from being a contender Auburn? THAT Auburn?

Okie.

Welcome aboard. Enjoy your stay.

Heat

So, Anthony DiLoreto was headed to Cal Poly SLO on a basketball scholarship. But he allegedly decided to participate in a bank robbery instead.

"Seven-footer Anthony DiLoreto was arrested Saturday at his parents’ Minnesota home for suspicion of participating in a bank robbery earlier that day in Wisconsin..."

So he threw away a full ride to college to get some benjamins? That's crazy. But no citizen, that is only the start. What makes this story so insane in the membrane is the series of events that happened:

* DiLoreto was allegedly seen leaving a nearby station without paying for gas

* A deadly ATV crash occurred by coincidence across the street from the gasoline theft

* There was also an unrelated heart-attack victim in the area

While the police were going bat shit with all that, they managed to pick up DiLoreto along the way.

The charges were a shock to... Mustangs coach Kevin Bromley... Apparently headed to trial on state robbery and gun charges, the would-be Mustang likely won’t make the first day of classes Sept. 15."

Gee, ya think?

Overkill? Naw...

HBO is set to do the first ever documentary on the Duke-UNC rivalry...



< /sarcasm>

Because we really need to know exactly how it started and why it continues. Really, this will basically explain the game of basketball itself. And it airs a month before March Madness 2009 no less. We can't wait. We are so excited. Our TiVos are ready. Yeah...

Next up, star high school b-ball player decides he can make a name for himself slinging cane rather than playing college basketball.

Benjamin Brooks, 18, of Williston, Vt., was charged with multiple counts of cocaine sale, each punishable by up to 5 years in prison, police said.

Brooks is a star at Champlain Valley Union high school and is currently serving a deferred sentence for a 2007 drug arrest. Police seized cocaine, marijuana, scales and drug paraphernalia from his home. He was allowed to play basketball after the arrest.

The best, he was "allowed" to keep playing after he was arrested. Hmmm, criminal acts and possible jail time or a phenomenal college basketball career? Tough choice for some.

Dear Lord...

So, ummmm... You probably heard of Master P's son, Lil' Romeo. If not, here is a quick primer.

Average rapper just like his dad. Average basketball player just like his dad. Average actor just like his dad. Honestly I didn't even know his dad was even on that Nickelodeon show.

Anyways, Master P met with USC's Tim Floyd to talk about his son and show him this video:



Coach Floyd was so blown away, he signed the high school senior to a full basketball scholarship!!!

...Romeo is not a good player at Beverly Hills High School, is too short, doesn't play much and has a bum leg.

Success for Floyd meant giving him a scholarship.

Or could it be that Floyd's other superstar recruit DeMar DeRozan who CAN play is BFF with Romeo?

Floyd denies that, saying Romeo's friendship with DeRozan was ''not a factor at all'' in his interest in the rapper.

Both scholarships were announced, according to the Wall Street Journal, at a news conference at the Four Seasons Hotel, arranged by Master P's PR firm.

Uh-huh.


OMFG!!!11!! We're gonna be Trojans!!!!

(Major HT: Fan IQ)

Billy Donovan finally replaces Joakim Noah

Super recruit Erik Murphy commits to Florida giving people an OJ Mayo for the East Coast.

"Overall, I loved everything about it," Murphy said. "I felt comfortable after taking a visit there. I was ready to go, but my dad wanted me to wait and make sure I still felt the same way. I still feel the same way."

Translation: I'm gonna be neck deep in Gainesville punani and barbecue so hell yeah I wanted to go! True dat!



But my dad wanted to make sure Coach Donovan took care of the family too if you know what I mean. Once that was set, I hit up coach's digits.

We've written about Murphy before and the insanity around his recruitment. But for every hyper recruited and worshiped Kobe Bryant JJ Reddick Adam Morrison Michael Jordan there will be at least 30 Latrell Sprewells, Joakim Noahs, and Ron Arrests... I mean Artests. Freudian slip there. Yeah.

The next OJ Mayo

Have you heard of Erik Murphy? He's some 16 year old snot nosed kid from New England. And he rules the recruiting landscape right now.

I mean we are talking private jets flying in to see an invitation only game featuring the kid. Billy Donovan, Roy Williams, Ben Howland, Skinner, Paul Hewitt, Tom Crean, John Beilein, Tim Welsh and Dave Leitao were all there. I think every school in the blogpoll was represented! If your team is in a rebuilding mode for the next couple of seasons, you need this kid. In a big way.

"I've never been at anything like this," said Crean, one of eight coaches who already have offered scholarships to Murphy.

Indeed.

"I try to stay humble," Murphy said. "I'm just glad I have the opportunity."

And I give it one year before that's over and he's demanding Elite Model Management talent to make Mickie D runs for him.


With extra cheese, bitches!

All kidding aside, this is just nuts. The only basketball player I can truly say was worth all the hype was UNC's Michael Jordan. We treat these kids like they're gods and then we wonder why they crash and burn. Kinda sad really.