http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/unlikely-trick-play-gives-naia-team-a-buzzer-bea
UConn legend Tate George charged in $2 million Ponzi schemeMemphis?? Will Barton makes another national title predictionBig 12 preview: Q&A with Baylor point guard Pierre JacksonUNLV won??t be without leading scorer Chace Stanback for longBeing â??an absolute jerkâ?? cost Kris Humphries a Kansas offerBig 12 Preview: Ranking the 15 best non-conference gamesBig 12 preview: Ex-OU guard Michael Neal projects the leagueColorado Stateâ??s Tim Miles plays the role of Twitter super heroThree-time state player of year not surprisingly picks KansasEx-Pittsburgh assistant: Move to ACC will have ??zero effect??
UConn legend Tate George charged in $2 million Ponzi schemeMemphis?? Will Barton makes another national title predictionBig 12 preview: Q&A with Baylor point guard Pierre JacksonUNLV won??t be without leading scorer Chace Stanback for longBeing â??an absolute jerkâ?? cost Kris Humphries a Kansas offerBig 12 Preview: Ranking the 15 best non-conference gamesBig 12 preview: Ex-OU guard Michael Neal projects the leagueColorado Stateâ??s Tim Miles plays the role of Twitter super heroThree-time state player of year not surprisingly picks KansasEx-Pittsburgh assistant: Move to ACC will have ??zero effect??
Until Friday, ex-UConn guard Tate George was best known for sinking one of the most famous game-winning shots in NCAA tournament history.
Now the hero of the Huskies' 1990 Sweet 16 victory over Clemson has another more unfortunate reason for being in the news.
Federal authorities arrested George on Friday morning on charges that the real estate firm he ran was actually a Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors allege that between 2005 and March 2011, George claimed to be managing a real estate portfolio worth more than $500 million and persuaded clients to invest $2 million in development projects in Florida, Illinois , Connecticut and New Jersey.
Instead of using the money to fund the promised projects, George allegedly used it to pay existing investors, to fund improvements on his home and to pay for food, gas and clothing. In reality, George's real estate firm allegedly had essentially no means of generating income.
The revelation of George's investment fraud scheme is a sad chapter in the life of a player beloved by UConn fans for sinking maybe the most memorable shot in the history of its program. George's brief four-year NBA career with the New Jersey Nets and [Milwaukee]e|bucks Bucks was unremarkable to say the least, but his place in UConn lore was secure.
George was charged with one count of wire fraud and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted.
Will Barton couldn't resist another bold prediction.
One year after Barton boldly guaranteed a group of Memphis fans at the school's annual High Tops Party that the freshman-laden Tigers were going to win the national title , the sophomore guard found himself on stage at the same party, microphone in hand. Needless to say, barely making the NCAA tournament and falling to [Arizona]e|wildcats in the opening round last year didn't make Barton any less audacious with his predictions.
Coach Pastner said I can't say it," Barton told the crowd.
"If he says it, he's got to back it up," Pastner responded, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.
"I'm gonna say it then. We're going to win it all," Barton announced to a cheering crowd before turning to address a reporter. "Don't put this in The Commercial Appeal. I don't want to see it on ESPN or none of that this year. Let's keep it in the party. Off the record."
Well, unfortunately for Barton, neither the Commercial-Appeal nor ESPN heeded his advice. And now his prediction is once again national news just as it was this time last year.
In Barton's defense, the Tigers are far more likely to make a deep NCAA tournament run this March than they were a year ago. The highly touted freshman class that propelled Memphis to the Conference USA tournament title last March has returned intact and matured to the point where the Tigers should be a top 15 team in most preseason polls.
Nonetheless, a national championship still seems like a long shot. Memphis will have to surprise a lot of people to make Barton's prediction come None.
When Las Vegas native Pierre Jackson informed his friends back home that he would be attending Baylor this year, the point guard said there was one question that almost all of them inevitably would ask.
"Everyone asked where Waco is," Jackson said with a chuckle. "So we need to win some games, get back to the NCAA tournament and make a run at a championship. Then everyone will know where Baylor is."
On a Baylor team loaded with highly touted pro prospects at every position besides point guard, it's probably Jackson who holds the key to the Bears accomplishing those goals. Coach Scott Drew recruited Jackson from College of Southern Idaho in hopes that he could step in and solve the point guard woes that contributed to the turnover-prone Bears failing to make the NCAA tournament last season after their Elite Eight run the year before.
An undersized guard who received minimal Division I interest prior to last season, Jackson caught the attention of Drew and numerous other college coaches by averaging 18.6 points and 4.4 assists and leading College of Southern Idaho to a national title. The 5-foot-9 junior spoke with me recently about his goals for the season, how he has become a better student since high school and why he thinks Baylor can be a championship contender.
JE: You had a number of schools show interest after last year. How much of the reason you chose Baylor was that you saw an opportunity to make an immediate impact at point guard?
PJ: That was definitely part of it. I've watched Baylor over the years and the frontcourt is always really good. This year we've got Quincy Miller, Quincy Acy, Perry Jones ... we have a lot of good players. I'm just trying to help the backcourt, come in and make a big impact and get the team where we want to be going.
JE: How critical for your future was the run you guys went on to win the junior college national championship? Do you think the way you played caught the attention of a lot of coaches?
PJ: That was really big. Coach (Steve) Gosar at College of Southern Idaho, he put a lot of pressure on my back to perform well. I had a little slump in the middle of the season and I had to pick it back up and play better. I was extremely happy with the way it turned out, us winning a championship and my recruitment shooting through the roof. It was great.
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Since Chace Stanback had no history of legal trouble prior to his May DUI arrest and he has displayed genuine remorse and a strong work ethic ever since, UNLV coach Dave Rice felt a minor punishment was sufficient for his leading returning scorer.
Rice announced Thursday morning that Stanback will be suspended for UNLV's Nov. 1 exhibition game against Washburn and the Nov. 11 season opener at home against Grand Canyon. The decision from Rice came about an hour after the senior forward plead guilty to driving under the influence of marijuana.
"Chace is a quality person who has had an outstanding track record in three-plus years at UNLV," first-year coach Dave Rice said in a statement. "That said, he made a bad decision that negatively impacted our program. We can't have that."
Some have already labeled Stanback's punishment "a slap on the wrist" since UNLV could probably find a fraternity intramural team that could give Grand Canyon a good game, but Rice's punishment isn't all that bad for a first offense.
The Las Vegas Sun reported Thursday that UNLV's departmental policy is that the only required punishment for first-time offenders is a treatment or education program. Furthermore, the punishment is virtually identical to the one UCLA senior point guard Jerime Anderson received earlier this week for stealing a laptop during the summer.
Stanback blossomed into one of UNLV's top players as a junior, averaging 13.0 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds and helping lead the Rebels to the NCAA tournament. He, returning guards Oscar Bellfield and Anthony Marshall and UCLA transfer Michael Moser will form the core of a team that hopes to contend with New Mexico for the Mountain West title next season.
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Turns out it isn't just Kim Kardashian's sisters that Kris Humphries has rubbed the wrong way.
The former University of [Minnesota]e|goldengophers star and new Mr. Kardashian apparently has a long history of bad first impressions dating all the way back to when he took an official visit to Kansas during his senior year of high school.
In an excerpt from the soon-to-be-released book "Beyond the Phog: Untold Stories from Kansas Basketball's Most Dominant Decade," former guard Keith Langford told author Jason King of Yahoo! Sports why Humphries never became a Jayhawk. Langford said he and his teammates were so disgusted with Humphries' arrogance that they encouraged then-Kansas coach Roy Williams to stop recruiting him.
Kris Humphries came on a visit and tried to commit. He really wanted to come here. But no one on the team liked Kris Humphries. He was arrogant. He told everyone he was going to come in and be the leading scorer as a freshman and that we'd all have to take a backseat to him. We were trying to be respectful and not say anything. But he was an absolute jerk. It was tough, because Roy was really excited about him. Kris Humphries was a big deal. He was a one-and-done or a two-and-done kind of player. Roy wanted him to commit on his visit. But we told him, "Coach, you can't bring this guy in. You can't do it." You'd figure Roy would say something like, "Let's work on him," or "Let's give him another chance." Instead he told Humphries, "Sorry, but you can't come."
That Williams would turn down a McDonald's All-American for his team demonstrates why he's so revered by his players and how confident he was that he could attract enough top prospects to be selective. Langford said current Kansas coach Bill Self did the same thing when future Louisville star Terrence Williams didn't mesh well with the team.
After Kansas turned down Humphries, the 6-foot-9 Minneapolis native eventually chose Duke before changing his mind and attending hometown [Minnesota]e|goldengophers instead. Humphries scored 21.7 points and grabbed 10.1 rebounds a game in his lone season with the Gophers, but the team struggled, flailing its way to a 12-18 record and a 3-13 mark in Big Ten play.
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The Dagger's week-long Big 12 preview continues with a look at the conference's 15 most intriguing non-conference matchups next season.
1. Kansas vs. Kentucky, Nov. 15
Comment: It won't take long to find out how Kansas is adjusting to the loss of four starters from last season's Elite Eight squad. Up second on the schedule is a nationally televised matchup at Madison Square Garden against Kentucky, the No. 2 team in the nation behind only North [Carolina]e|tarheels in most preseason polls.
2. Ohio State at Kansas, Dec. 10
Comment: The Buckeyes and Jayhawks entered the NCAA tournament last March as favorites to meet for the national championship, but neither one managed to even make it to [Houston]e|cougars . Eight months later they'll square off in Lawrence in what should be a stiff test to Kansas' run of home-court dominance.
3. [Texas]e|am A&M vs. Florida, Dec. 29
Comment: From the late December date to tropical [Miami]e|place location, this matchup between football schools with formidable basketball programs may have the feel of a bowl game. [Texas]e|am A&M didn't challenge itself much with its cupcake-heavy non-conference schedule this season, but this veritable road game against guard-heavy Florida will be a difficult game for the Aggies to win.
4. [Texas]e|am at UCLA, Dec. 3
Comment: The last time [Texas]e|am visited Pauley Pavilion in Dec. 2007, it held Kevin Love in check and handed a Final Four-bound UCLA team its first loss of the season. The stakes won't be as high this season, but this matchup still represents an early chance to see if the oft-questioned [Texas]e|am frontcourt can hold its own against UCLA's enviable collection of quality big men.
5. Kansas at Maui Invitational, Nov. 21-23
Comment: There aren't any pushovers besides Chaminade at this year's loaded Maui Invitational, but Kansas still caught a break with its side of the draw. An opening-round matchup with Georgetown followed by a likely semifinal against UCLA is a forgiving path to the title game considering that Duke, Memphis and Michigan are all on the other side of the bracket.
6. West Virginia vs. Kansas State, Dec. 8
Comment: In a game that's rich with storylines, Bob Huggins' Mountaineers will travel to Wichita to face his former team, Kansas State, coached by Huggins' former assistant Frank Martin. It would be even better to see Huggins return to [Cincinnati]e|bearcats to get a well-deserved ovation from Bearcats fans, but this is a nice consolation prize.
7. Baylor at BYU, Dec. 17
Comment: With all due respect to a quirky road game at Northwestern two weeks earlier, this matchup at BYU will be Big 12 contending Baylor's first None test of the season. The post-Jimmer Cougars won't be a juggernaut, but the deafening Mariott Center has a well-deserved reputation for making life difficult on opposing teams.
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Each Wednesday until the season starts, a former player will help The Dagger preview his former conference. Ex-Oklahoma guard Michael Neal spoke to me this week about his thoughts on next season's Big 12.
JE: Kansas has won at least a share of seven straight Big 12 championships. The Jayhawks lost four starters, but are they still the favorite in your eyes?
MN: It's wide open, but I still think Kansas will be up there. They lost a lot of guys, but they've never had a problem overcoming that in the past. They have a rich tradition of winning. Players coming out of high school look at Kansas and say I want to be a part of that and Bill Self always does a good job of finding guys who fit what they want to do. It seems like even when they have guys leaving, there are always a few guys who stick around and teach the newcomers what winning is all about. You've got to tip your hat to Bill Self and his coaching staff because he does a good job every year.
JE: Is there a dark horse in the Big 12 who you think will be better than most people think?
MN: People aren't looking at Oklahoma as a team that can make noise, but I think they could finish as high fourth, fifth or sixth. Last year was tough. We had guys leave early to pursue their dreams and it hurt the program. But the experience these guys went through the last two years, it's helped them a lot. Andrew Fitzgerald and Steven Pledger are doing a good job being leaders and (Mississippi State transfer) Romero Osby, he's their best player in practice. Lon Kruger has these guys working hard. I'm around these guys a lot and I see it changing. I wouldn't be surprised to see Oklahoma in the mix.
JE: Who do you think is the front runner for Big 12 player of the year?
MN: I look at Perry Jones and you've got a guy who's capable of doing a lot of things. When you play Baylor the first thing you think about is who's going to guard him because it's hard to match up with him. He's 6-9, 6-10, he can run the floor and he can shoot. He's my choice for player of the year. I don't see anybody else playing well enough to take that away from him.
JE: Which player do you think is most underrated from the Big 12?
MN: Phil Pressey from Missouri. When they played Kansas or they played [Texas]e|am , he was always under control. Nothing seemed to rattle him. After what I saw from him last year, I think that guy has the potential to be first team all-Big 12. I like him a lot. He runs his team, he's hard to handle, he draws fouls and he gets his team situated in its offense. And you've got to account for his scoring too. He doesn't put up huge numbers, but he's a threat to score every time he has the ball.
JE: What will the impact be of [Colorado]e|state and Nebraska being gone and this being the first season of the double-round robin schedule?
MN: When I played you'd spend more time scouting the teams in your half of the conference. Now you've got to scout everyone more evenly. Everybody plays everyone twice, so you'll really get a chance to see who the best team in the league is. I think it will make for good basketball and it will definitely be harder to win the league. And the fact that the two teams who left weren't two of the stronger teams historically, that's going to make it even tougher.
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Whereas most college basketball coaches use Twitter to encourage fans to buy tickets or to praise their teams after a good day of practice, [Colorado]e|state State 's Tim Miles is one of the few who has proven he can show some personality.
He joked that the humidity eliminated wrinkles in his shirts when he was too tired to iron them at the end of the July recruiting period. He tweeted pictures of his signed contract extension or a referee clad in toe socks. He even poked fun at conference rival New Mexico for banning its players from Twitter.
To capitalize on Miles' social media mastery, [Colorado]e|state State has released a series of commercials promoting not only the program but also the head coach's Twitter account.
One features Miles helping a [Colorado]e|state State fan clean green body paint off his skin in time for a job interview later that day. Another shows Miles critiquing his players' sub-standard tweets and encouraging them to be more creative.
The best of all of them is the video above in which Miles learns that a Rams fan needs help rescuing her cat from a tree. Much to her surprise, Miles shows up at her house and brings 7-foot center Trevor Williams with him.
If the commercials aren't enough to help sell tickets for [Colorado]e|state State, perhaps this stat will help: The Rams have increased their win total each of Miles' four seasons at the school. It may be difficult for [Colorado]e|state State to eclipse last year's 19 victories after losing the program's top two scorers, but if the Rams pull it off, they'll likely make a rare appearance in the NCAA tournament next March.
(Thanks, College Basketball Nation )
Considering that a University of Kansas banner hung above the podium where Perry Ellis made his announcement on Wednesday, there wasn't a lot of mystery to the highly touted power forward's college decision.
The Wichita native chose the Jayhawks over Kentucky, Kansas State and Wichita State , explaining that he felt more at home with Kansas than any of his other suitors.
"I've been there so many times, I just felt so comfortable there," Ellis told reporters during a press conference at his school. "All these schools were real close to me. They've been there three or four years now. It was a tough decision."
Ellis selecting Kansas was no surprise to most recruiting experts, but that doesn't diminish the significance for the Jayhawks. After a series of recruiting misses forced Bill Self to try to unearth some hidden gems in his 2011 class, he couldn't afford to let a consensus top 30 prospect and the three-time Kansas player of the year slip away to either an out-of-state power or one of his in-state rivals.
What makes Ellis an elite prospect is his ability to score in numerous ways, whether in transition, via the mid-range jump shot or off the dribble. The 6-foot-8 senior appears to be the heir apparent to current Kansas starting power forward Thomas Robinson, a projected lottery pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
For in-state schools Kansas State and Wichita State who recruited Ellis for years, Wednesday's announcement was a bitter reminder of the basketball pecking order in the Sunflower State. It hurts Kentucky to lose a player John Calipari targeted this summer, but the Wildcats will recover quickly since they're still in the running for a handful of top 50 prospects and they already landed elite wing Archie Goodwin the previous night.
One of Jamie Dixon's former assistant coaches isn't buying the idea that [Pittsburgh]e|panthers 's move from the Big East to the ACC will have a negative impact on its recruiting.
Second-year Marshall coach Tom Herrion , who worked under Dixon from 2007 to 2010, said he thinks the Panthers will still be able to land top prospects from the Northeast even if most of its league games will come against schools below the Mason-Dixon line.
"I think it will have zero effect," Herrion said Wednesday. "Jamie has built that program to continue to sustain success. They've proven over the last 10 years that program can win against teams all over the country. There will be a transition period and an adjustment geographically, but I think it will have zero effect on the program.
"It might even help them in a lot of areas. They may even be able to go into other areas and get kids that they couldn't before."
The reason some have suggested [Pittsburgh]e|panthers 's basketball program could suffer in the ACC is because the school's recruiting base has traditionally mirrored the Big East's footprint in the Northeast. Only two players on [Pittsburgh]e|panthers 's current roster didn't either grow up in a Northeastern state or play high school basketball there.
Herrion may think [Pittsburgh]e|panthers can continue to thrive in the ACC, but that doesn't mean he was happy to hear the Panthers and are relocating. A Massachusetts native who has also coached Providence , Herrion said he's disappointed to see some of the Big East's tradition disappear with the loss of [Pittsburgh]e|panthers and Syracuse .
"Having been in the Big East twice and been a Northeast guy my whole life, it's hard to fathom the reality that Pitt and Syracuse are going to be in the ACC," Herrion said. "It's always hard for a lot of people to embrace change, but this is especially sad."
