Like most college basketball/Duke basketball fans, I was not surprised to wake up to the news that the Memphis basketball team is under investigation for infractions during their Final Four season.

You remember that fantastic team that coach John Calipari had, with freshmen star Derrick Rose and other great athletes.  ESPN reports that the player in question is Derrick Rose himself.  And that his SAT scores might have been altered and that his brother may have been given money and allowed to travel with the team.  Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but the most important aspect is that it once again shows that a Calipari run program participates in shady practices.

Lets be clear here.  Calipari was told by the NCAA that he will not be in trouble, but he will be asked to testify.  While I applaud the NCAA for actually doing their job, I find it funny that even though Calipari was at the wheel he won’t be given the citation.

I don’t hide my dislike of Calipari.  His practices have always been questionable and if all pans out, this will be the second program he leaves with a tainted legacy.  This could be his second Final Four that has been taken away (the first being at UMASS).  Which would give him a grand total of zero.  Not bad for one of the highest paid coaches in the NCAA.

Memphis was already a program that was trying to find a new identity after Calipari bolted for Kentucky (which I find interesting since he knew about the investigations in January), but now they will be at the center of possible sanctions when it seems the former coach was the one pulling the strings.  However, the silver lining might be that Memphis doesn’t still have Calipari on the staff and eventually can move on.  Memphis might be in trouble, but the media scrutiny will follow Calipari.
P.S.  I wonder if A Sea Of Blue will be linking this post?

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I recently added a Duke Basketball twitter update feed to my website. Its at the bottom of the homepage. http://www.dukereport.com

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@coach_collins I’d love to trade places with your dad.

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No, not the lovable brother of Vincent Chase.  John Wall, the recruit who actually made ESPN start follow recruiting, unfortunately.

Now that Duke fans have moved on for what captivated us for two months, and ran the risk of keeping us guessing for a few more, you have to wonder what some of these kids think.

Who knows what was really going on in Wall’s head, or his “advisor” Brian Clifton for that matter.  However, it ends where all the controversy started.  New Kentucky coach John Calipari, got the commitment he wanted more than anything and now has every media outlet in awe of his great recruiting prowess.  Calipari, who by the way hasn’t won anything yet, and only has one Final Four  (Final Fours that are taken away don’t count).

I can understand Wall wanting to get away from Carolina, since most of his troubles are here, but the locked down confines of the Duke basketball program seemed like a great place for him to hide from any controversy, and polish for the NBA for one year.  To him it wasn’t.  In my opinion he went for the “questionable” NBA connections that Calipari hangs over a recruits head.  And I guess if the NCAA doesn’t care, then all power to you.  My problem with the NCAA is for another time though.

As of now a few journalist are starting to question the ethics that Calipari is showing by inviting more players that he has scholarships, basically giving lesser talented players a pink slip in waiting.  You can bet that none of these journalist are anywhere near Lexington, and I am sure any Kentucky fan will justify it.  This great basketball institution just loves to have coaches the not only touch the gray area, but jump right in.  Will it eventually blow up in their face, my guess is probably.  But with the NCAA not really looking in to something so borderline wrong, who knows how long Calipari will be able to rule/ruin college basketball.

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Paulus to Syracuse.

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Dahntay Jones completely posterizes Eric Dampier…amazing.

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With everything going on in the sports world and especially recruiting, you might have missed what is a huge story in the college basketball world.

The NCAA announced that next year the deadline for college players to withdraw from the draft would be moved from mid-June to May 8th.

I consider the NBA draft process to be a two part guessing game for coaches and fans.  First players have until April 29th to declare if they will test the waters/hire an agent.  And then, which is now May 8th, to withdraw or stay in.  I still feel they could stand to move the declare deadline up a week or two, but at least they are going in the right direction.  For an organization that has continued to be the NBA’s whipping boy, it seems they are finally taking these matters into their own hands.  These kids know well in advance what they are going to do, and for the most part waiting just kills the team for next year.

The next step would be a change in how long recruiting can go into the summer, but who knows how long before that is changed.

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