Michael Beasley Fined By the NBA

Here’s an interesting story of the NBA’s Michale Beasley. Insider say he is a head case and the Pat Riley will have his work cut out for him. Check out the link below.

http://www.examiner.com/x-426-Sports-Examiner

Rick Barnes Developes NBA Ready Players

Rick Barnes is on our radar screen as a big-time recruiter and a developer of NBA players- check out the results over the last few years.

With the Selection of D.J Augustine by the Charlotte Bobcats with the 9^th pick, Texas continues to attract top talent and NBA ready player. La Marcus Aldridge was selected with the number pick in 1996 by the Chicago Bulls. In 2006 P.J. Tucker was selected 35th overall pick by Toronto and Daniel Gibson 42nd overall pick by Cleveland. In 2007 Kevin Durant was selected number 2 in the NBA draft by the Seattle Sonics. Durant went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year honors. PJ. Ford was the No. 8 pick by Milwaukee in the 2003 Draft. Barnes has produced four NBA Lottery Picks- Chris Mihm, T. J. Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge, DJ Augustine, and Kevin Durant.

So Barnes knows talent and has a knack for developing it. Barnes a North Carolina Native has guided Texas to nine straight NCAA tournament appearances. And eight straight 20 wins seasons- a school best. Barnes made coaching stops at George Mason, Providence College, Clemson and now Texas. He is a native of Hickory, North Carolina.. He served as an assistant coach at Alabama and Ohio State. Barnes overall coaching record is 418-220 over 20 years.

One and Done Rule Has Changed College Basketball For Good Or Bad

College coaches continue to make the big bucks. In addition to their huge contracts. Huge incentives, shoe contract, television shows, uniform contracts and incentives for winning. A Division I college coaching job is not at all a bad proposition.

College basketball is a big time business. Especially for the major Division I institutions where the rich just keep getting richer. The one and done athletes continually select the large top ten schools for their one year of college basketball sabbatical; someplace where they can get great exposure and raise their draft position.

It is winning a proposition for College coaches at the power Division I colleges, because not only do they have an excellent chance at going to the big dance; but they have a great shot at winning it all. To do so means an incentive bonus for the coach and a huge payday for them school.

To hire a well known coach is like hiring a marketing brand in itself like. Roy Williams, Bill Self, Ben Howland, Lute Olsen, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, all are big time coaches that are tremendous draws. The blue chip college athlete is more than likely to choose their school. What that means is usually a cash bonanza for both the coach and the school.

While the coach and the school make out the one and done blue chip athlete makes out even better. Where does it leave the other less talented players? They do get scholarships and a four year college education; if they take advantage of the opportunity. Lute Olsen after losing California High Schooler Brandon Jennings possibly to European Professional Basketball, has vowed that he will never again recruit one and done players. Olsen calls the rule that requires a high school player to not enter the NBA draft until they turn 19 years of age, a farce. Most elect to attend one year of college.

Many coaches don’t see it the same way as Olsen. Tim Floyd Head Coach at USC , who signed OJ Mayo to what turned into a one year contract, said his one year with Mayo did wonders for his program and for the school.

Tubby Smith says who wouldn’t want to coach the best talent available even if it is for one year.

But something is inherently wrong when colleges place so much emphasis on cash cow sports and not enough on making sure all students both athlete and non-athlete have a real chance in life, by making sure that they receive a college education.

The Cost of attending a four year college; both state and private has skyrocketed to the point, that the average student would be hard pressed to fund a college education and it would be harder for the parents as well. As it stands now colleges are in the middle of misguided rules set up by the NBA and it is affecting everyone; coaches, players and their families, and not to mention involving unscrupulous agents as soon as high school player hit the recruiting radar screen

Derrick Character Saga Continues

The Derrick Character story is intriguing. Most of you probably don’t know a thing about Character; but he has been a very sharp thorn in Louisville coach, Rick Pitino’s side. It has literally been a two year roller coaster ride for Pitino For his credit he has bent over backward to help Character, but always with tough love.

Pitino has shown a real interest in the person; the individual and because of that he has a tendency to try to help whenever possible; almost to a fault. But that’s Pitino; who shows tough resolve but also compassion. When it is all said and done; Pitino has a good heart.

So the Headlines reads, Pitino gives Character A Second Chance. It should read 4th chance, because it has taken Character all of four chances to get things right. He has not succeeded or traveled long to this point. You Really can’t say that he has learned from his mistakes. Because he keeps making them over and over.

Character, a 6′ 9′ center, has a wealth of talent that could be further refined His life long ambition was to go to the NBA. Pitino arranged a tryout at the Orlando combine. Character had a profile in the combine media guide, and at the last minute he decided not to attend and he took his name out of the NBA Draft Lottery.

No one knows why but Character has discipline issues and needs to learn to follow through on the court and in life.
Character could go far, but needs to address commitment and follow through.

The Real Game of the Century- Texas Western vs Kentucky 1966

The 1966 Texas Western ( now known as The University of Texas at El Paso -UTEP)- Kentucky NCAA Championship Game will go down in history as one of  the most historically significant game. Certainly the most significant game ever played in the history of basketball. Simply because of the segregated nature of basketball in the south during the sixties. This game and this game alone served to remove the barrier and unwritten rules that college coaches observed in the failure to sign the black athletes to a four year scholarship in the segregated south . After this game, the barriers were lifted and southern schools began in earnest to recruit the black athlete.

Adolph Rupp, The head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, went to great lengths not to diligently recruit black basketball players. He did recruit Wes Unseld a graduate of Louisville Seneca High School and he also recruited Butch Beard from Breckenridge County High School in Kentucky, But both players felt at that Kentucky would not be a welcoming environment and they chose to attend the University of Louisville. Rupp did pay a visit to Ron King in his home in 1969.  King along with Otto Petty led  Louisville Central to the 1969 Kentucky State Championship.  The same year King was named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball. King decided to attend Florida State, where Hugh Durham, a Louisville Native coached.
Adolph Rupp won 4 national Championships at Kentucky during his career. He wanted to win just one more championship before he retired and 1966, he felt this was his year to do it. Rupp had a team, featuring five undersized players, led by Pat Riley, current Miami heat Coach, Louie Dampier, Tommy Kron, Thad Jarez and Larry Conley. They were known as Rupp Runts and they terrorized the Southeastern Conference. They were a great team and they played an exciting brand of basketball.

Texas Western had one of the best point guards ever in Bobby Joe Hill from Detroit. Haskins recruited five black players and he promoted that he would flaunt it doing warm ups. He would encourage his players to dunk to create intimidation. Haskins was a con-man, and a pool shark, he transferred those characteristic to the basketball floor.
A white basketball player on Texas Western team, said he grew up hating opposing white players, because of the despicable things that they said to the Texas Western’s black players. Pat Forde, a Reporter for the Louisville Courier Journal, said they brought a street game with them. It started with Don Haskins Texas Western team.
Kentucky won a number one ranking by beating nearly everyone, with a unrelenting defense and fast break offense, Rupp’ s team was a well oiled team. Texas Western survived Kansas by one point in double overtime. The other semifinal game over shadowed the Texas Western-Kansas Game. The general consensus was that the Kentucky – Duke winner would be the National champion. Texas Western was furious. They wanted to beat Kentucky not because they had the possibility of being the first all black team. They wanted to beat them because they were being overlooked.

Haskins made a crucial strategic decision prior to the game. He played three guards to keep up with Kentucky’s speed. Haskins, rolled out five black players to start the NCAA championship Game. Just understand there was an unwritten rule by white college basketball coaches in the south; never start five black players at one time. Haskins did it. It was on. One undefeated team in Kentucky and one once defeated team in Texas Western.

Haskins was a gambler and he would do anything possible to win the gamble; beat the racist coach, Adolph Rupp. Haskins did ,more in this one game to further the cause of integration than Martin Luther King. This game was the defining game of the Century for College basketball.
It had tremendous social implications. I remember seeing the game myself . I was only 11 years old, but this game is sealed in my memory as the most exciting and significant game ever in NCAA finals history. There was the notion that if you had five black players that they were not as intelligent as the white players. If you put pressure on them they would crack. Texas Western proved this to be unfounded.
At the start of the game Big Daddy Latin rejected Pat Riley shot and the next time he dunked over Pat Riley Head. Later, point guard, Bobby Joe Hill made two consecutive steals in the game. Kentucky was down 34-31 at the half. Kentucky kept it close they felt they could win. Texas Western won the NCAA Championship 74-65.

The Texas Western players, as always took it in stride, Haskins hoped his players would be a little excited about the win. Coach Haskins Smiled. Don Haskins begin to realized the impact of the victory. He would later received basketball cans filled with hate mail for coaching all black players. He even received letter from black leaders who called him an exploiter. Haskins, a white coach, paid a price for his courage.

But if it were not for his courage, college basketball would not be where it is today. Adolph Rupp fought the memory of that game for the rest of his life. In a time when our country was in turmoil, fighting for equality for blacks in the south The Texas Western- Kentucky NCAA championship played a significant role in breaking the chains of integration. After this game, White southern Collegiate Basketball Coaches started recruiting the black athlete, one by one the ban was lifted. Adolph Rupp coached five more years before his retirement. He Finally successfully recruited and signed to a scholarship, his first black player, Tom Payne, out of Louisville Shawnee High School in 1969. Rupp died of cancer in 1977. In 1998 Kentucky won the National Championship, ironically, a black coach, Tubby Smith.