Tiny Gallon: The backboard-shattering Oklahoma Sooners freshman star was wired $3,000 last August from a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch. According to TMZ, the advisor, Jeffrey Hausinger, reps several pro athletes. Oops. Don't these people have runners on the ground who can deliver straight cash, homey? Can't have a paper trail. Gallon averaged 10.3 points and 7.9 rebounds. The OU athletic department offered one of those, "we'll look into it" type of comments. Jeff Capel's top priority this morning is to read up on John Calipari's reaction to the Marcus Camby situation at UMass. "What? I had no clue!" [TMZ] (14)
“… freshman center DeMarcus Cousins took the opportunity to give head coach John Calipari one of the greatest ‘Honky, please’ looks since the demise of Richard Pryor, and a backup named Daniel Orton was told to absent himself briefly from the proceedings and walked up the tunnel, leaving Kentucky undermanned and the broadcast crew completely baffled.” Prepare to laugh out loud reading this. Charles Pierce should not consider vacationing in that vibrant cultural crossroads of Lexington, Kentucky for the next few years. [Slate]
Gene Cross, the Toledo basketball coach, surprisingly resigned this week. It probably wasn’t because of his 11-53 record – the school’s athletic director said “it’s fair to say” Cross would still be the coach if he hadn’t resigned. By walking away, he left more than $700,000 on a 5-year deal. So why’d he do it? Read the rest of this entry »
Texas vs. Nebraska Officiating Crew: Some conspiracy theorists - probably residing in Nebraska - are filling the interwebs with some fun facts about the officiating crew from the Big 12 Championship game. A reader emails in: "Gene Semko, Side Judge, El Paso, Tx. Mike Defee, Back Judge, Beaumont, Tx. Bobby Ables , Field Judge, Texarkana, Tx. Walt Anderson, head of Big 12 Officiating, Sugarland, Tx and alum of UT Dental School." The reader noted that the referee, Tom Walker, is from Omaha, Nebraska. We're still waiting to see what college the time clock operator went to. [World Herald, OWH] (22)
We’ve got some pretty terrific tipsters who are like us: They enjoy a good conspiracy theory. Consider the following:
* Eugene Parker used to be Deion Sanders’ agent. (Haven’t been able to find a link anywhere talking about why or when they parted.) * When Michael Crabtree announced he was going to the NFL, he worked out at Prime U, Deion’s “workout camp.” Crabtree signed with Eugene Parker. Read the rest of this entry »
Dez Bryant: The Oklahoma State wide receiver's facebook posting has now been basically confirmed by Deion Sanders, who spoke to the New York Times about what the Snafu in Stillwater. "Sanders said he and Bryant visited an athletics center called Fieldhouse USA, where Sanders met with a group of business partners to consider using it for Prime U, his organization for training players in preparation for the N.F.L. Sanders said he did not enter into a business agreement with Fieldhouse USA ... Sanders said Gary Oliver, director of operations at Fieldhouse USA, called the N.C.A.A. to report a violation involving Bryant’s interaction with Sanders."[Bold emphasis ours.] Before dismissing this as a disgruntled businessman ratting someone out ... we'd love for some folks to look into the background of Prime U. "Training players in preparation for the NFL" ... wonder if any NFL agents are connected to those guys? [New York Times] (13)
Just when you thought you’d never hear the name Myron Piggie again in college basketball circles, Gary Parrish of CBS Sports asks a question that will surely invite an avalanche of angry rants from Durham fanboys: Read the rest of this entry »
“… freshman center DeMarcus Cousins took the opportunity to give head coach John Calipari one of the greatest ‘Honky, please’ looks since the demise of Richard Pryor, and a backup named Daniel Orton was told to absent himself briefly from the proceedings and walked up the tunnel, leaving Kentucky undermanned and the broadcast crew completely baffled.” Prepare to laugh out loud reading this. Charles Pierce should not consider vacationing in that vibrant cultural crossroads of Lexington, Kentucky for the next few years. [Slate]
Louisville’s 
Just when you thought you’d never hear the name Myron Piggie again in college basketball circles,