What’s wrong with college basketball?

THIS IS REALLY GOOD.  You’ll see, even though it is “anonymous”, it’s still not 100% accurate… but it’s pretty good.  Coaches will still be self-serving and self protective even when being anonymous.  It’s as close as I’ve seen to the “truth” though.

By Dana O’Neil  ESPN.com

The image of college basketball has taken a beating in recent years, with rumors, murmurs and innuendo about cheating spreading like wildfire. Cynics believe no one is trying to follow the NCAA rulebook and that the game has fallen victim to the begging hands of agents, runners and hangers-on looking to collect on the next NBA star.

Is it that bad? What are the real problems? And is the NCAA doing enough to fix those problems?

To get the answers, ESPN.com went to the sources. During the EYBL Peach Jam last week, we interviewed 20 high-profile head coaches, representing each of the six power conferences. With the promise of full anonymity, we asked them to tell the truth about their sport.

And they did.

What is your least favorite part of summer recruiting?

No one likes the constant travel, the bad basketball and the emphasis on individual skills instead of team play.

Coaches travel everywhere to watch high school kids in July, but can’t keep an eye on their own.

But of the coaches surveyed, many — eight of the 20 — cited the time away from campus and their own players as the biggest problem with the summertime.

“I have my team over for a barbecue before I leave in July,” one coach said. “Little do they know it’s a farewell, not a welcome barbecue.”

“You walk into a living room and promise a mother that you’ll be there for her son,” said another. “And as soon as they get on campus, you’re gone.”

“They’re all on campus and I’m on the road,” added another. “If they do something stupid, I’m going to get fired — but I can’t be there to see what they’re doing.”

Some other popular grievances:

“What don’t I like? All of it. I don’t think there should be summer recruiting, period. They want to clean it up? Get rid of it.”

“I’ll tell you another problem — 70 percent of the kids we’re sitting here watching should be in summer school. They shouldn’t be here.”

“What don’t I like about summer? Everything. The babysitting, the ass-kissing. Does that cover it?”

Continue Reading…

2009-10 D1 Men’s Basketball Attendance

Interesting… The Sporting News (Digital Edition) released today all the Men’s Division I basketball attendance figures for the 2009 – 10 season.  There is both the Top 100 individual schools as well as the conference by conference breakdown.

The page is linked below.

Division I Men’s 2009-10 Attendance

2010 Wade Trophy Finalists Announced

The 12 finalists for the 2010 Wade Trophy, the “Heisman” of women’s basketball, were announced today by the State Farm Wade Trophy Committee in conjunction with the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS).

“This is definitely a time of year that I look forward to annually as I get to announce the 12 finalists for The State Farm Wade Trophy,” said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. “The prestige of this award goes without saying, and I can only imagine how excited these 12 student-athletes are to be on this list. We wish them the best of luck in the remainder of their seasons.”

The short list includes last year’s winner, Maya Moore of Connecticut, as well as her teammate, Tina Charles. Ohio State (Jantel Lavender, Samantha Prahalis) and Stanford (Jayne Appel, Nnemkadi Ogwumike) also had two players apiece on the list of finalists.

The complete list of 12 finalists includes:

Monica Wright Named AP First Team All-American; First In School History

There are moments in coaching for all of us, many moments, when you feel just so damn proud.  Like the look on Sheri Coale’s face last night when she was being interviewed after her team’s win over Kentucky.  Same feeling.  Those are the moments we coach for.  People, media and the rest can say what they want about dollars, levels, wins and loses, ego garbage – but, in the end it’s these moments that are really what is good in intercollegiate athletics.

This is one of those moments… Thank You Monica.

Monica Wright

Virginia senior guard Monica Wright (Woodbridge, Va.) has been named to theAssociated Press All-America first team, the organization announced Tuesday (March 30). Wright becomes the first Cavalier to earn first-team honors.

Wright is joined on the 2010 squad by Tina Charles (Connecticut), Kelsey Griffin (Nebraska), Jantel Lavender (Ohio State) and Maya Moore (Connecticut).

“This is a tremendous honor and I can honestly breathe a sigh of satisfaction knowing that four years of hard work has paid off,” Wright said. “To be mentioned in the same breath as some of the all-time great players at Virginia is wonderful. I obviously would like to thank my coaches and teammates but also a big thanks goes out to my family for all their support throughout the years.”

Wright wrapped up her illustrious career at Virginia as the Cavaliers’ all-time leading scorer with 2,540 points, a total that ranks third on the ACC’s all-time scoring list. This past season, Wright set the UVa single-season scoring mark with 734 points, breaking her own school-record of 696 points set in 2008-09. She averaged 23.7 points per game, which led the ACC and ranked seventh in the nation, and she tallied eight 30-point games and 22 20-point games in 2009-10.

She was named the WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year on Monday (March 29), and averaged 3.6 steals and 6.5 rebounds per game this season. Wright tied the school-record with 10 steals in a game vs. Liberty on Dec. 29.

Wright was named the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-ACC as a senior. She was also named to the ACC All-Tournament second team and was tabbed the Richmond Times-Dispatch State Player of the Year.

Wright has started and played in every game during her four years with the Cavaliers. She was a State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team regional finalist as a junior and sophomore and was the ACC Rookie of the Year her freshman year. She is majoring in sociology.

Associated Press All-America First Team
Tina Charles, Connecticut
Kelsey Griffin, Nebraska
Jantel Lavender, Ohio State
Maya Moore, Connecticut
Monica Wright, Virginia

Second Team
Jayne Appel, Stanford
Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee State
Brittney Griner, Baylor
Nnemka Ogwumike, Stanford
Andrea Riley, Oklahoma State

Third Team
Elena Delle Donne, Delaware
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
Amber Harris, Xavier
Danielle Robinson, Oklahoma
Jasmine Thomas, Duke

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

Good updates, stories and links

NCAA Women’s Tournament at a GLANCE

University of Georgia PREVIEW

Saturday’s 4-Game Preview (ESPN)

ESPN NCAA Tournament Central

CBSSports.com NCAA Tournament Central