Mike Gottfried stepped down in the middle of the season at Alabama and in stepped my main man Anthony Grant. First let me say Gottfriend is not done and I won’t be surprised to see him back somewhere in the future. Now, onto my main guy Anthony Grant. To me he is the least talked about up and coming coach. He did serious work at VCU and put that program on the map. He runs his own version of the “40 Minutes of Hell” and I love it. Before VCU he was actually very crucial in landing the ’04 class at Florida that went on to lay wood on UCLA and Ohio State. If Grant can keep rising stud sophomore JaMychal Green happy then look for the Tide to be contenders in the SEC West next year.
Arizona has basically been minus a coach for about the past two years as they had two interim head coaches running that program. Russ Pennell left after leading the Wildcats on a surprise run to the Sweet 16 and in stepped the best young coach out there, Sean Miller. Miller is a very competitive guy and will early on have to deal with some losing which is something he’s not used to, but trust me, he’s going to change things out there. Another adjustment will be recruiting as he has never recruited the area out there. One thing that will help him recruit is Emanuel “Book” Richardson who went with Sean out there. Book is a big time name amongst the AAU realms and has unbelievable connections and the ability to help recruit guys. Miller may have trouble getting guys for next season so look for him to begin building that program with class of 2010 guys. I would imagine he may be hollering at Tom Crean on how to rebuild a program because that’s what Sean will be doing over the first couple of years. James Whitford will be following Sean to Arizona as well and will continue to be a solid bench coach, recruiter, and scout coach for Sean.
At Georgia Dennis Felton is out and in steps Mark Fox from Nevada. An interesting but good move for the Bulldogs. Fox picked up where Trent Johnson left and kept Nevada at a high level. Fox like most of the other coaches who moved around will be entering a new recruiting area. Atlanta has entered the map rather quickly as a fertile area to recruit some high level cats who can really hoop. Unfortunately UGA is going to have to battle with the North Avenue Trade School aka Georgia Tech to try and get these homies from the ATL.
Goodbye Billy Gillespie, hello John Calipari. I’m not a Kentucky guy but I’m excited to see what Cal does at UK. Calipari already caught a good break in bringing DeMarcus Cousins to come with him. If he can get Jodie Meeks back and if Pat Patterson returns UK could really be dangerous next year. Calipari is a proven winner and will do so at UK. It may take some time before they’re talking titles down in Lexington but that swagger is back.
Josh Pastner filled in the vacancy left by Calipari at Memphis. If no one has heard this guy’s story it’s pretty unreal. He was helping recruit dudes to Arizona as a senior in high school, talked his way on as a walk on at Arizona, graduated in two years, became a GA, and is now the Memphis head coach at the ripe young age of 31. Pastner will most likely look to get some old wise owls on the bench to help him in key moments. But, one thing Pastner can do is recruit. He won’t be expected to keep the recruiting class but if he can keep everyone besides Tyreke Evans to stay then Memphis will most likely be a top 25 team next year.
Dave Leitao was bought out at UVA and in stepped Tony Bennett. Not the singer, but the coach from Washington State. Bennett comes from a long line of success. His dad more or less made Wisconsin what they have been recently and he turned Washington State around. In 2007 he was the National Coach of the year so he’s obviously proven that he can coach. Early on Bennett will be on the road recruiting and trying to get some talent into UVA. Expect to see the same old tough nosed pack-line defense played in Charottesville but the type of personnel on the team will dictate the offense.
Shaka Smart filled the void at VCU. Smart is a young guy from the land of the Gators. Smart will have to prove he can run a program as he was not a top assistant at Florida. If Larry Sanders stays VCU should be pretty solid and again compete for the CAA title.
Ken Bone from Portland State was hired at Washington State. Bone is a northwest guy who wanted the job so it made sense for the hire. Bone will probably look to change the style of play early on at Pullman. However, at least he’s familiar with the area and recruiting in the northwest. To avoid taking a major step back they must make sure that stud freshman Klay Thomposon doesn’t bolt for the League or for another program.
The spot at Xavier is still open and they are interviewing possible candidates. Assistant Chris Mack is the clear and obvious choice. Mack is a Cincinnati native, hoped at St. X, hooped and graduated from Xavier, spent time under the late great Skip Prosser, and was Sean Miller’s top assistant for the past 5 years. Mack has also been key in landing the majority of the recruits at Xavier. If he were to take over there will be little change in the way things are done on Victory Parkway. The defensive scheme will remain the same, tough and in your face pack-line defense. The offensive scheme may change slightly but not by much.
Who likes orange juice? I do. Who likes mayonnaise? I do. Who likes both? I do. What do you get when you put them together? O.J. Mayo of course. I wanted to give an update on this guy since we won’t be seeing him in the playoffs. He is quietly having a very good rookie season. In fact, he could win Rookie of the Year. He is leading all rookies in scoring at 18.7 ppg. He is also snagging 4 rebounds a game and diming out 3 assists per game. I think Memphis has a bright future with all the young talent they possess. They have Mike Conley Jr., Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, and O.J. Actually, little known fact, Darko Milicic is on the Grizzlies. I thought that guy had disappeared off the face of the Earth. I love O.J.’s game. He was already for the League when he was at USC. He has range, he can slash, and he’ll get you from mid-range as well. I think he’s slowly but surely adjusting to the NBA and learning some things along the way. Look for him to be a staple in the League in the future.
Just like the Columbus Crew I support the Columbus Blue Jackets. It sucks being out in Virginia and not getting daily updates on these teams from the Columbus Dispatch. But, I can tell you I celebrated in my apartment the other night when the CBJ beat the Blackhawks in a shootout to achieve their first ever playoff berth. They were the only team in the NHL to not reach the playoffs and this is long overdue. The Bluejackets have been around since 2000. They have been pretty bad and have seen a couple of busts in terms of draft picks. But, one guy who seems to be getting the job done is young Rick Nash. This guy makes the team go. The goalie, Steve Mason could get Rookie of the Year. He has done a heck of a job in front of the net. I’m sure it will be tough for the CBJ to advance in their first ever playoff appearance but I just want to see some hard work on the ice. One thing I do ask of the franchise is that they make sure this is not a one hit wonder team. I want to see the Bluejackets build an empire and someday bring Lord Stanley to Columbus. I have actually seen the Stanley Cup in an Alaskan airport. Some dude was brining it to his hometown after winning. In case you don’t know, each player on the winning team gets to keep the Stanley Cup trophy for a day. So, if Columbus ever wins the Stanley Cup at least Kong can party with his neighbor Rick Nash and raise the Cup above his head.
Angel Cabrera won the Masters in a two hole playoff that included Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry. Campbell got off to a Master’s best ever start but unfortunately fell just short on Sunday. I was pulling for Kenny Perry because his daughter looked STUNNING! I’m not going to say it was a choke job by Perry but after the shot he had on the par three 16 I thought he had it in the bag with a two stroke lead. Good for Cabrera though. He represented Argentina proudly. I don’t play golf as much as I’d like to but I do enjoy watching it. I won’t lie, I’m a Tiger fan but it’s always nice to see guys like Campbell, Perry, and Cabrera competing like they did this week. As I was watching Cabrera win I thought about what the feeling must be like to win something like the Masters. It’s such a high level individual accomplishment. Sure winning a national title or championship with a team is awesome. But, to do something individually like winning the Masters has just got to be so invigorating. I’m looking forward to a great season of golf. My favorite tournament is The Open Championship. The conditions across the pond are always brutal and seeing guys battle those conditions is so fun.
I would like to furthermore point out again the greatness of BJ Raymond. He recently finished competing in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. His team, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard squad, won the entire tournament. Throughout the tournament BJ was really doing the things and could be slowly making a name for himself and fooling around to getting himself drafted. Check these stats out. The man averaged 13 points per game, from the field he shot 44%, but, from behind the arc he was dropping those puppies in at a 53% clip! Along with getting it done offensively, BJ was cleaning the glass with 4 boards a game and 1.67 steals per game. He’s not a point guard but he dimed out 1.33 assists a game as well. I really don’t care what anyone else says but BJ is arguably one of the best players to come through Xavier. Sure he never won player of the year like D. West or scored like Byron Larkin. But, his success and the team’s success that he was a part of outplay all of their individual accolades. Whoever the new coach is at Xavier (COUGH COUGH CHRIS MACK) should just continually share BJ’s story to every incoming player and explain that’s who you should strive to be like when you’re done here. Keep doing it like the post office BJ.
I went to a Three 6 Mafia and Girl Talk concert at James Madison University on Friday night. Wow, what an experience. This marks my second time see Three 6 in concert. I had a blast the first time however this performance by them was better than the performance at Miami (OH) back in 2006. To put their performance in a nutshell DJ Paul and Juicy J would perform about one minute clips of their tracks and then interact with the crowd. Needless to say, they were not on planet earth Friday night. Girl Talk definitely stole the show. Gregg Gillis is a Pittsburgh based DJ who mashes up songs. Basically his show is an hour and half long party filled with pure chaos. I think he went past his designated stage time and just mashed hard. I highly recommend checking this dude out. It is an unreal experience.
I’m counting down the days to seeing The Dave Matthews Band perform here in their hometown, Charlottesville for two nights. These two concerts will mark the 14th and 15th time I’ve seen them live. However, it will be the first time I see them without original member and saxophone great LeRoi Moore. I’m sure the shows are going to rock and I’m looking forward to hearing some new tracks from their upcoming album Big Whisky and the Groogrux King which drops June 2nd! This will be their first album since 2005 and it’s highly anticipated. I’ve already heard great things about this new album. I will be dropping my concert reviews next weekend. In closing, is there anything better than when you’re at a concert and the house lights drop and the band or performer enters the stage? I don’t think there is a better feeling than that. The anticipation of the first song is unreal. When those first notes hit you it’s like being knocked over by a massive wave. I’m predicting Don’t Drink the Water opens up Friday night and One Sweet World opens up Saturday night.
A throwback classic from the vault. Did anyone else ever think it was cool to rock overalls backwards? Did anyone else rock the t-shirt with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck portraying Kriss Kross? I did.
War spring football games being shown on ESPN.
-'Killa