Poor Billy G, schools from the cellar of the Big 12 to the C-USA have said "No Thanks." He could have been a living legend in El Paso or College Station. Maybe, the grass isn't always greener.
Outside Looking In: When the Iowa State job opened up, Billy Gillispie called Iowa State personally to express his interest in the job. Iowa State passed and hired Fred Hoiberg instead.
Money Talks: The city of Memphis has increased their bid for the 2011 C-USA Tournament's. UTEP's bid is believed to be $1,000,000. Memphis, just got a gift that increased their bid to $750,000. The Memphis Commercial Appeal' Dan Wolken makes Memphis' case. I can't imagine travel costs will be the primary factor in decision making. How about shunning Memphis for begging for a Big East spot?
The real decision will be whether the supposed $250,000 difference between the bids will be worth the hassle of taking the tournament out to El Paso where fewer fans can access it and 11 teams will have to either charter flights or find commercial flights (which is really expensive and not so easy to do when you have an entire basketball team and staff on open-ended tickets because teams don't know when they're going to be heading home). When the tournament is in Memphis, as many as five teams are able to take charter buses. There's also the issue of better facilities in Memphis (both arena and hotel) and a history of the community supporting the tournament.
Another One Bites The Dust: Bill Knight reports that Matt Korcheck has been released from his LOI. Not a surprise, with Harris and Bohannon coming in to play in the post. Best of luck to Korcheck wherever he lands.
Four players signed with then-UTEP coach Tony Barbee during the early signing period, but three now have de-committed -- guard Jamison Sterns of Waxahachie, Texas; forward Darrious Curry of Houston; and center Matt Korcheck of Tucson. John Bohannon, a 6-10 center from the Dallas suburb of Lancaster still is coming to UTEP.
#11: The UTEP women's track team is ranked eleventh in the country.
A Bad Draft for Q Demps: The Philadelphia Eagles drafted a safety in the first round and have brought in some free agents. His days may be numbered.
Quintin Demps – Like Laws, he doesn’t represent much value, but a team in need of a decent kick returner and a reserve safety might be interested. With Macho, Marlin and a draftee, Demps is the odd man out.
SMU Mustangs
Pony Express: Some more Ponies signed NFL free agent deals.
Bryan McCann- Dallas cowboys, Shawnbrey McNeal- san diego chargers The best things come in threes. This past NFL draft weekend proved it. Former SMU Mustangs Emmanuel Sanders, Bryan McCann, and Shawnbrey McNeal can now call themselves NFL players.
Rice Owls
Another QB Competition: Miami Hurricane transfer Taylor Cook and Taylor McHargue are battling it out to become Rice's next quarterback.
Taylor Cook drew headlines by transferring from Miami, but Taylor McHargue is the one drawing second looks. The 6-1 redshirt freshman quarterback from Vista Ridge wears No. 16, and his scrambling ability and intangibles are reminiscent of the last Owl to don that jersey, Chase Clement. A starter hasn't been named (8-of-11 for 126 yards and three touchdowns) suggests the position will be in good hands in 2010.
Central Florida Golden Knights
So, You're Telling Me There's a Chance: Three UCF Knights will have tryouts for free agent deals next week. Good luck to Rocky Ross, Michael Greco, and Cory Hogue.
American Idol? A former UCF football player, Michael Lynche, is competing for a Top 5 spot on American Idol. After reading this, I hope Lynche wins the title.
Lynche, a St. Petersburg native, played on the defensive line for two seasons at UCF. He had 70 tackles, 14 tackles for a loss and three sacks as a freshman and sophomore during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. His promising career was cut short when he left the team in 2003 to care for his ailing mother who was battling cancer. She died in 2004.
Around the League
Represent: C-USA had more draft picks than all of the other Non-BCS conference's (7).
Liberty Bowl: The Big East has added the Liberty Bowl to it's lineup. The problem? The SEC is still in the mix too. So, is the C-USA out? Not completely, but it doesn't sound good.
"It's just a very tricky, very complex formula," Ehrhart told the Memphis newspaper. "It just depends on certain years what teams are available, and [if] we wanted a certain matchup like West Virginia vs. Ole Miss. It's something we'd try to work out with the conferences and our TV partner ESPN.
Makes Sense: Army might play a C-USA or MWC team in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Beef O' What? The C-USA and the Big East signed a new agreement to keep the St. Petersburg bowl match-up alive and well.
A Whirlwind: Former Miner recruit Darrious Curry is now a West Virgina Mountaineer. Things change quickly.
Darrious Curry was in possession of a signed National Letter-of-Intent April 12 to play basketball at the University of Texas-El Paso. A week later, he was on the phone with West Virginia and talking about playing with the Mountaineers. The next day, Bob Huggins and assistant Erik Martin were in Curry’s Houston high school watching Curry play. Curry was in Morgantown three days later. Yesterday he signed a NLI to play for the Mountaineers beginning next fall.