The All-CMG 1st and 2nd team

Actually we (Hville and I) came up with this a couple weeks ago, but I forgot to post it.

Mine:
1st Team:
PG- Antoine Pettway (the best PG we've under CMG)
SG- Mo Williams (the 3rd best PG, but probably the best overal G)
SF- Rod Grizzard (when he was hot he carried the team)
PF- Erwin Dudley (the hardest working player under CMG)
PF- Chuck Davis (the 2nd hardest working player under CMG)

2nd Team:
SG- Earnest Shelton (edges out Meade due to his clutchness)
PG- Ronald Steele (agree with this year defining him)
SF- Kennedy Winston (if he stayed another year...)
PF- Richard Hendrix (a more athletic Dudley, yet not quite as good... yet)
C- Jermareo Davidson (only because Kenny Walker had the worst hands I ever saw)

Hville:
1st Team
PG- Antoine Pettway (ain't nothin' but a winner!)
SG- Mo Williams (even though he played point, he really was an SG)
SF- Kennedy Winston
PF- Chuck Davis
C/F- Erwin Dudley (my favorite player under CMG)

2nd Team:
PG- Ronald Steele (his senior year is very important to his legacy)
SG- Ernest Shelton (this has been CMG's Achilles heal his entire tenure. It's not going to take much for Justin Tubbs to better the success of Terrance Meade or Travis Stinnett)
SF- Emmett Thomas (more consistent than Grizzard and Alonzo Gee, which vanished when SEC play started this season)
PF- Richard Hendrix (Gerald Wallace played out of position in college, and only for 1 year)
C/F- Kenny Walker (One of the best FT shooting big men I have seen. Jermareo Davidson barely gets edged out. I think Jemison is primed to be as good as some of our other PFs)

We agree on 4 of 5 first team and 3 of 5 2nd team.

Hville also added a biggest bust team (which I can't disagree with).
Biggest busts
G- Ray George (signed him twice, never made it on campus)
G- Glen Miles
SF- Albert Weber (Schea Cotton and Justin Jonus get honorable mention)
PF- Rodney Bias (signed him twice, never made it on campus)
C/F- Akini Adkins (Shawn Taylor a close second)

As I was posting this I thought of Verice Cloyd. While I don't think he's a bust per se, there was a lot of hoopla about him getting in... and after all that trouble he leaves after a year.

Tickets onsale for Las Vegas Classic (Dec 22-23)

Plenty of good seats available. You have to buy the entire 2 day package.
At the Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV.

To be honest, it's an underwhelming lineup of teams in this tournament of sorts. We should be the best ON PAPER. Still, it's an excuse to visit Vegas and cheer on the Crimson Tide. What's better than that?

Note- This is not to be confused with the Las Vegas Invitational that features North Carolina and Louisville. That tournament is played on November 23rd and 24th.

Wake Forest HC Skip Prosser dies at 56

Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser died on Thursday morning of an apparent heart attack shortly after jogging.

Prosser was rushed to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Prosser, 56, was one of the most well-liked coaches in the industry and known for his witty and sarcastic sense of humor.

He grew up in Pittsburgh and went to high school at Carnegie before attending the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Prosser has spent the past seven seasons at Wake Forest after spending one year at Loyola (Md.) and seven at Xavier. He has a career record of 291-146.

Prosser led Wake Forest to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four seasons and the Demon Deacons won the ACC regular-season in 2003. The Demon Deacons have struggled recently — missing the tournament in each of the past two years.

From Foxsports.com

My thoughts go out to his family and friends. From what I understand he was a great human being.

Shorter lineup at UK this season

It's been a really slow week of news so this will have to do.

When Gillispie got to Lexington, UK had two signees for the class of 2007-08. Although it was late in the recruiting process, Gillispie managed to double the size of the incoming class for this season, including capturing coveted Huntington, W.Va., forward Patrick Patterson.

He also received commitments for each class up until the 2010 season, where he already has two players committed to the Cats."I think it's gone OK," Gillispie said.

Still, Gillispie will be facing problems in his first year as coach.Of the four players UK will not be returning from last year, none was shorter than 6-foot-8.

Of the four players UK is slated to bring in for next year, only one is taller than 6-foot-8.

"I would think that this will probably be one of the smaller teams that we'll have," Gillispie said.

Although Gillispie said he does not know what type of style to expect from the team, this year's squad will undoubtedly have an unconventional look.

"I'm always used to having two big, strong post players out there with three guards on the perimeter," Gillispie said.

From the Kentucky Kernel.

From the looks of it, most of the SEC will be fielding shorter than normal teams. The only exception I can think of is Arkansas.

Las Vegas Classic matchup set

TUSCALOOSA – The University of Alabama basketball team will open the sixth annual 2007 Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic hosting Wofford in the first round and UT Pan American in the second round before travelling to Las Vegas to play perennial Missouri Valley Conference contender Missouri State in Las Vegas.

The rest can be read at rolltide.com

I'm not used to hearing about our upcoming basketball schedule this early in advance. Now I have to figure out a way to slip in a business trip that weekend (g).

Tennessee extends Pearl's contract through 2013

Coach Bruce Pearl has agreed in principle to a one-year contract extension that will keep him at Tennessee through 2013 and increase his compensation package to $1.3 million this year.

The 47-year-old Pearl has revived the Volunteers' men's basketball program with showmanship - including his bright orange blazers - unbounded enthusiasm and winning since his arrival two years ago.

The Vols have reached the NCAA tournament twice in as many years, appearing in the round of 16 this past season after a 24-11 regular season and second-place finish in the SEC.

"Not only is Coach Pearl one of the very best coaches in the nation, but more importantly he has become a great ambassador for our university during his tenure," Tennessee President John Petersen said in a statement.

Pearl was scheduled to get a $100,000 raise to $1.2 million next season under his old contract. Now he will get an additional $100,000. Scheduled raises in future years will take him to $1.7 million in 2011-12.

From cstv.com

This was expected, but being the cynic that I am the contract extension means nothing to me. Pearl will jump ship for a bigger fish when they come calling.

Bama hoops news, July 16

Mikhail Torrance and Demetrius Jemison were among eight collegians who flew halfway around the world to play exhibition games in China as part of a cultural exchange trip for Sports Reach, International. Bad news, though: they both lost weight on the trip. At a time when our guys should be bulking up and adding strength, Torrance and Jemison are shrinking. Do I hear Sam Haginas all over again?

Erwin Dudley, one of my all-time favorite players, has decided to return to play for Turk Telekom in Ankara, Turkey. Instead of a possible NBA tryout, Dudley takes the sure thing, which pays him more than $500,000 per season, which is obviously more than the NBA minimum. But at the same time, he is famous over there, which has to count for something. And since it is overseas, the money is tax free. Where can I get a job like that?

And lastly, we all knew about Chuck Davis' recovery from a knee injury, but apparently, he has also been fighting a blood disorder and is on blood thinners. Sadly, the Knciks were interested, but with his health problems, his chances of landing in the league are waning....

U.S. cuts Pan Am roster to 14 heading into Brazil trip

USA Basketball is expected to officially announce the roster Sunday morning.

If Wright were selecting the team for himself then he might not have chosen five big men. But, since this is a committee decision, the group went with putting together a team that reflected how they played over five practices at Haverford College from Thursday through Saturday as well as projecting how they may play in an international competition against potential pros from Brazil and Argentina.

The five big men that made it were Hibbert, White, Gist, Dorsey and Leunen. Hibbert and White are considered more traditional low-post scorers while Dorsey would potentially give the U.S. a physical presence on the boards. Gist is more of a tweener in this group while Leunen proved to be the best face-up forward of those trying out.

This meant that Washington's Jon Brockman, Wisconsin's Brian Butch, N.C. State's Brandon Costner, Alabama's Richard Hendrix, LSU's Tasmin Mitchell and Saint Joseph's Ahmad Nivins didn't make the cut. Butch and Brockman were said to have had their best practices of the five on Saturday but that didn't do enough in the decision process, according to multiple sources. Costner played well on day one but wasn't able to differentiate himself the rest of the weekend.

The rest can be read here.

Note- this isn't official (yet).

It looks like Hendrix and Gee aren't going to make the cut. Well, at least CMG gets the opportunity to be there.
The biggest ommision to me is Chris Lofton. I figured he'd be a shoo-in.

Mo's turn to get paid...

... I think he's set for life now as Milwaukee signs the former Alabama great PG to a 6 year/$52 million contract. Congrats to him. He busted his ass as a 2nd round draft pick of the Jazz in 2003, moved on to the Bucks in 2004 and has been there ever since. I don't know much about the Bucks, but I think I'm accurate in saying they're a long way from being a contender in the east. Maybe they'll add some more pieces to challenge Detroit and Chicago (Cleveland was a fluke this season).

He proved a lot of people wrong (that includes me) by making it in the NBA. Still, if he came back his junior year he would've been a 1st rounder IMO.

Bobcats keep Wallace with $57m deal

Gerald Wallace, the Charlotte Bobcats' top scorer from last season, has reportedly agreed to the Bobcats' offer of a six-year, $57 million contract. The sixth year of the deal will be Wallace's option and he can earn as much as $2 million each season in bonuses.

I knew he could hang around the league for a while. But getting with the Bobcats has turned out to be the right thing for him. I never thought he might get a deal like this....

Can you believe he is still just 24?

UPDATE!!!

Mo Williams will be returning to the Milwaukee Bucks after agreeing in principle to a six-year, $52 million contract

Update to Yamene arrest

It seems it was unauthorized use of an Alabama Action card not a credit card. That sounds better (even though it's a still a crime). Mark Gottfried supports Yamene.

"As the facts get here and we learn more about it, I'm very confident this will not be as it appears to be at this particular time," Gottfried said. "I really can't talk about it. But I believe in Yamene."

Gottfried said he would make any additional statements regarding the arrest at a later date.

Coleman was not made available for comment.

Update to Yamene incident

Yamene Coleman arrested and charged with 8 counts...

... of fraud with a credit card. I'll say this... if the charges stick he should be dismissed from the team. Bail set at $21,000.

Story from tidesports.com. This is not the type of news I wanted to hear about the team in the off-season. Damn.

Edit- Bail is set at $12,000. It was reported earlier at $21K. Still, that a lot of cash.

ESPN's Andy Katz- Vols should be class of the SEC

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl wasn't hiding from the obvious at the adidas It Takes 5ive Classic on the Cincinnati campus Saturday. He said he will start the former Iowa forward this fall. And he will highlight Smith's ability to score inside and out, saying that Smith will flourish in his ball-screen offense, using him off pick-and-pop plays and allowing the Smith to play small forward and power forward.

Pearl said he will likely have three Smiths in the starting lineup -- Tyler and guards JaJuan and Ramar Smith (unrelated) -- to go along with SEC Player of the Year favorite Chris Lofton at guard and forward Wayne Chism. The starting five will be quick but on the smaller side with the 6-foot-7 Tyler Smith and the 6- 9 Chism as the only players taller than 6-2.

That lack of size shouldn't matter. This will be a classic Pearl team -- scrappy, wiry and all over the court.

Landing Smith is by far the least expected move in Pearl's tenure.

Link to the rest of the ESPN article is here.

Unfortunately I can't disagree with that. On paper they should the favorites in the conference. Assuming Pelphrey is a better coach than Heath, Arkansas should be the best in the West.

The great Cliff Ellis (former Auburn coach) returns to coaching and more

The 61-year-old Ellis has been a successful coach throughout his career, amassing a Division I record of 534-337 (.613) record and 612-349 (.637) as a head coach overall, ranking him 47th in nation in all-time Division I wins prior to the 2006-07 season and will re-enter the game as the 12th winningest active Division I coach by victories. He is also just one of 10 coaches in NCAA Division I history to post 100 or more wins at three separate schools and has been named conference Coach of the Year five times in his career.

Good luck to him I say... he replaces the even greater Buzz Peterson (you know him from his not so successful stint at Tennessee). The rest can be read here.

Since this is now the really, really slow time of the year for college hoops news I thought I'd post the top ten all-time winningest teams. This is from ncaasports.org. Note- the link is a direct one to a pdf (acrobat) file.

1) Kentucky- 1876
2) North Carolina- 1827
3) Kansas- 1825
4) Duke- 1737
5) St John's- 1668
6) Syracuse- 1630
7) Temple- 1623
8) Pennsylvania- 1572
9) Indiana- 1555
10) Notre Dame- 1548

Arkansas comes in at 27 while Alabama is sitting at 29. Notice that UCLA isn't in the top 10... they didn't start playing basketball until 1920. Still, they're 12th thanks in large part to John Wooden. St John's is still in the top 5 despite being really bad the last 10 years. I still believe the day they changed ther team name from Redmen to Red Storm the program went to crap.

Anyways, something to look over on a slow day.

Bama Hoops News, July 3

Tony Mitchell, a 6'6", 185 lbs small forward from Swainsboro, Georgia, committed to play for the Tide. On Rivals.com, he is listed as the #9 SF in the country in the 2008 class.

On the scheduling front, Coach Gottfried has added Texas A&M as a home-and-home series, with the Tide traveling to College Station this season. There is also a home-and-home deal with Clemson that begins this season when the Tigers play in Tuscaloosa. In addition, Alabama will host teams such as George Washington (Red Auerbach's alma mater), Southern Miss, and Belmont. Also, on Dec. 5, Alabama plays Georgetown at the Birmingham-Jefferson CC at 8:30 p.m. Alabama is also playing in a Las Vegas-based tournament (around Thanksgiving) that will feature Purdue and Iowa State. The Aggies and new coach Mark Turgeon bring a team that finished 27-7 (13-3 Big 12) and ninth in the final AP poll last season. Clemson began the season with 17 wins, but eventually settled for the NIT. George Washington, which just received news that star Maureece Rice is staying in school, was 23-9 with an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Lastly, just as a reminder, Alabama juniors Richard Hendrix and Alonzo Gee are among 30 players invited to USA Basketball's Pan American Games team trials that will be held July 12-14 in Philadelphia. Gottfried is an assistant coach for the USA team under Jay Wright of Villanova.

Auburn and it's $92 million investment in basketball

Auburn trustees unanimously approved construction of a $92.5 million basketball arena Friday, the state's largest one-time expenditure for an athletic building.

The new complex will have 9,600 seats, two practice courts, a weight room, premium and courtside seating and 12 suites with outdoor areas that will also open on football Saturdays. The university will accept construction bids next spring, and the arena is expected to be ready for the 2010-11 season.

An artist's rendition was unveiled Thursday, when the board's Property and Facilities Committee OK'ed it.

Men's coach Jeff Lebo called the arena "a gigantic step for Auburn basketball."

"This is a monumental day for Auburn University, the Auburn athletics department and the future of Auburn men's and women's basketball," athletic director Jay Jacobs said. "Construction of a new arena will help our basketball programs compete for championships, give our fans and students a venue that they can enjoy, and provide a facility in which Auburn University can take great pride."

The rest can be read here.

It seems like Auburn is trying to basketball seriously. Damn me for saying this, but this is a great move on their part. The next issue is getting talent to take a chance on Auburn and letting them know it's not in NY or GA. Anyways, Lebo should be thrilled (as he said above). I believe they one upped us. Saying that, I doubt Lebo will be there to christen the new arena if he has a good year before the 2010-2011 season.

Coleman Colesium should've been leveled instead of renovated. While it looks nicer than it did when I was in school, I don't think the investment was worth it. At least the top rows aren't as dark as they used to be.