It's here. The slowness of summer has been masked up to this point by conference realignment, the NCAA's findings on the USC basketball program, and a late flurry of recruiting news. Now, only Derrick Caracter's continued dominance in the NBA Summer league is keeping us going. Even the World Cup is over. September 4, 2010, for the first time in a while, feels very, far away. Even so, the Rush has assembled some links to get you through the day... In The Dig.
3 out of 4 Ain't Bad: UTEP's Derrick Caracter just completed his fourth game in the NBA Summer League. So far, DC has 3 double doubles. Last night, he finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds in a loss to the Kings. He also had 4 blocks. Here are the highlights.
The Steal of the Draft: Derrick Caracter, through four games now, is still ranked as the #1 Rookie at the NBA Summer Camp by NBA.com. This is incredible. Guys that go 58th in the draft don't usually outshine everybody in the lottery.
Be Miner Strong: The UTEP Athletics department won some awards for their spiffy marketing campaigns- including their promotion where UTEP coaches and staff delivered Pizzas.
Due Process: Former Miner star Jamar Hunt is suing the Dallas Cowboys for injuries he sustained when the roof at their practice facility collapsed. Riddick suffered some terrible injuries.
Remember when it collapsed? Here's the video. Crazy.
Doc Is In: The Orlando Sentinel has some notes on C-USA Media Days which will be in Memphis on June 25. C-USA is welcoming in 3 new coaches, the headliner is probably Ruffin McNeill from Texas Tech, but the best name is definitely Doc Holliday.
The Best News Site in the 915? For those of you who want some hard core reporting on EP and border issues, check out Bordezine. The student sponsored program has also had some nice sports features in the past, including an interview with Rush favorite Kelsey Moore and Randy Culpepper. This time, the Zine has some Donald Buckram quotes.
" We need to fire on all cylinders and you need a balanced team to win games. We just need to be more united as a team. Last year’s collapses were flukes and they aren’t going to happen again,"
CMP: I really hope you guys enjoyed the "Where I Come From" Series. I think Miner fans will enjoy reading this post from Coug Center, on their favorite memories as Washington State fans. Mike Price was really loved there.
My most vivid memory from that game was Mike Price crying in the postgame news conference. He kept blaming himself for all of these things, and I remember thinking that he was taking it way too hard. It was only later that I realized why he was crying. They were only the No. 10 team before the loss, but Price already knew what it would take the rest of the season for all of us to figure out: That team was national championship quality.
System QB? Case Keenum might want to hold out on making too many extravagant purchases. The NFL scouts are already starting to dismiss him as a "System QB" who doesn't have Kevin Kolb's talent. Hey, I didn't say it, Sports Illustrated did.
9. Beware the system QB. Houston quarterback Case Keenum could rewrite the record books this season and has a shot to garner Heisman consideration. Just don't expect much out of the 6-foot-2 senior after that. National gave Keenum a 5.2 rating, slotting him between the fifth and seventh rounds. Apparently, National credits the system for Keenum's success. The NFL has shown interest in Houston QBs (Kevin Kolb went in the second round in 2007), but Keenum may not have the physical skills to make that leap.
Got any news for the Dig? Please, FanShot, drop it in the comments, or email me at minerrush@gmail.com with the tip.