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He replaces Mark McCarthy. From the Charlotte Observer-
East Carolina has turned to former Auburn coach Jeff Lebo to lead its long-struggling men’s basketball program.
The school announced Monday it had hired Lebo to replace Mack McCarthy, who spent three seasons on the sideline for the Pirates before stepping down to take a fundraising job in the school’s athletics department. Lebo had spent the past six seasons at Auburn, going 96-93 overall before he was fired earlier this month.
The 43-year-old coach played at North Carolina under Dean Smith in the late 1980s and had coached at Tennessee Tech and Chattanooga previously.
The school has scheduled a news conference for Lebo on Tuesday.
Lebo inherits a difficult job at East Carolina, a Conference USAb school located in the shadows of instate Atlantic Coast Conference programs Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State.
East Carolina hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1993 and has had only been .500 or better once since then. Lebo faces a next impossible task in turning around the Pirates fortunes.
Inconsistent play by the Conference USA team may have done him in. From AP-
Tom Penders has resigned as coach at Houston, ending a six-year tenure that culminated in the Cougars’ first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1992.
The Cougars qualified after winning the Conference USA tournament, but lost to Maryland 89-77 in the first round Friday night.
The 64-year-old Penders became just the eighth coach to take four different schools to the NCAA tournament. He had also led George Washington, Rhode Island and Texas there.
Penders has been successful whereever he has coached. Considering his age, I don’t know if Penders will want to try a fifth school.
The rumor mill is already at work in concern to who will be Penders’ replacement. Right now the name that is being floated around is Sam Houston State’s Bob Marlin.
The Knights last made the NCAA tournament in 2005. From AP-
Kirk Speraw is out after 17 years as Central Florida’s coach.
UCF announced Monday that Speraw would not be retained after a disappointing 15-17 season, ending one of the longest active tenures in the nation. Associate head coach Mike Jaskulski will serve as interim coach.
UCF athletics director Keith Tribble said in a statement that it “was not an easy decision, but one we felt will serve in the best interest of our program’s direction.”
Speraw finished as the school’s winningest coach with a 279-233 record.
UCF has always been a lesser college basketball in Florida. If the goal of the school is to upgrade the basketball program, the firing of Speraw makes sense. I just don’t think the Knights will be more than the 4th best school in the states for at least a few more years.
2008 must be the year for fluke injuries in sports. The latest happened in Marshall’s 37-23 defeat of Houston last night.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Cougars. They lost tackle Josh Bell to a torn Achilles tendon then later lost freshman wide receiver Patrick Edwards after he suffered a serious leg injury in the third quarter.
Edwards, running deep for a pass from Blake Joseph, ran out of the back of the end zone into a band equipment cart parked just beyond the out-of-bounds line. The impact, captured by ESPN’s cameras, caused a compound fracture of Edwards’ right leg according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cougars coach Kevin Sumlin told the Chronicle that while he had “his opinions” on the subject, he would offer no comment on such a dangerous situation. Houston athletics director Dave Maggard said he will pursue the subject with Marshall officials.
Having watched the video, I think Houston has a legitimate gripe. Equipment like the cart shouldn’t have been anywhere near the playing field.
If you want to see the video, click on the link at the top of this post.
Players and coaches are telling entirely different stories as to how Ereck Plancher died last month. From the Orlando Sentinel-
Ereck Plancher, a 19-year-old receiver from Naples, was taken to a hospital March 18 and was pronounced dead about an hour after the workout, known as a “mat drill.”
A preliminary autopsy was inconclusive. Further tests are under way to determine the cause of Plancher’s death.
The UCF players, who asked for anonymity because they fear retribution from football coaches, said Plancher’s final practice was more intense than the basic-conditioning workout described by UCF officials.
Students on scholarship have a great deal to lose by speaking up. Whereas government officials want annonymity for a myriad of reasons when they leak which is often done for their egos, I’m more inclined to believe these students.
In an interview with the Sentinel, UCF coach George O’Leary and his football staff disputed the four players’ account of Plancher’s final practice.
“I did not see him struggle on the field,” O’Leary said of the morning Plancher died. “From my professional opinion, what should have been done for his care was being done.”
O’Leary’s professional opinion included puffing up his resume which when discovered caused him to resign as head coach of Notre Dame. This coach has lied when its suited his purposes in the past. Is he lying now?
The next part of the article is interesting.
The players said they decided to talk to Sentinel reporters because they were upset about the school’s portrayal of a “10-minute, 26-second” workout that included a “weights component” described by UCF Athletic Director Keith Tribble in a news conference the afternoon of Plancher’s death. UCF Executive Associate Athletic Director David Chambers a week later clarified Tribble’s statement, saying the workout lasted about 20 minutes. UCF spokesman Grant Heston said Thursday that officials were relaying what they thought was accurate information.
“We were acting on the best information we had available in the hours immediately after Ereck’s death,” Heston said. “Subsequently, we learned that the workout was lengthier than we originally believed.”
The school is backtracking already. UCF coaches had to know what drills were conducted. How or why misleading information was given out, I think we all can take a guess at that.
I’m putting the rest of the Sentinel article beneath the fold. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. George O’Leary may soon be out of work again. UCF gave this disgraced coach a second chance. If O”Leary is found to be lying, he should be fired. Football isn’t worth dying for.
Players said the March 18 workout included:
*Multiple agility work stations that lasted five minutes each.
*Two runs on a 200-yard obstacle course.
*Two timed sprints from sideline to sideline.
They said those drills, conducted in the Knights’ indoor fieldhouse, came after players lifted weights for an hour, also a supervised activity.
“Everybody was struggling at times,” one player said. “. . . But he [Ereck] was running, and I could tell something wasn’t right. His eyes got real dark, and he was squinting like he was blinded by the sun. He was making this moaning noise, trying to breathe real hard.”
The four players said Plancher fell during the final sprint and members of the UCF coaching staff yelled at him to finish the drill.
“Ereck took off running about 5 yards and fell; the coaches were yelling at him to get up, and of course he came in last,” one player said.
O’Leary said he didn’t see Plancher fall but did see him get up during one of the two runs.
Offensive coordinator Tim Salem said he saw no signs that Plancher was having problems during the workout.
“When he was coming through my station, he actually was passing people. He was not struggling at that time. He was working harder than other kids.”
After the workout, the team huddled in the middle of the field, where O’Leary singled out Plancher and cursed at him for lack of effort during the final sprint, the four players said.
All four players recall that O’Leary said to Plancher, “That’s a bunch of [expletive] out of you, son,” in the huddle. O’Leary denied cursing at Plancher but recalled telling people around him, “He’s better than that.”
“Ereck was in the back when O’Leary was yelling at him, but Ereck couldn’t even look at him,” one of the players said. “He was trying to catch his breath the whole time, and he never could.”
Plancher was noticeably woozy and staggering as he tried to participate in the final jumping-jacks drill, the players said. The team finished those exercises, then huddled one final time. Plancher collapsed while walking away from the huddle, the players said.
Salem confirmed that the post-weightlifting workout involved mat drills, a series of strenuous agility drills that are considered to be among the most difficult football conditioning drills.
The four players interviewed by the Sentinel said several players vomited during the workout.
“It wasn’t just Ereck that was hurting. It was six or seven other people,” one of the players said.
The players said they did not see Plancher vomit. O’Leary said he only saw one player vomit, and that player “throws up all the time.”
O’Leary reiterated his March 20 comment that the workout was not taxing.
“I always look at the kids, at their sweat,” he said. “They had little rings of sweat around their neck and a little under their armpits. That’s how I just know whether it was a taxing workout.”
One of the four players who spoke with the Sentinel, a veteran, disagreed, saying: “It was the toughest workout since I’ve been here. It definitely was not a light workout.”
O’Leary said that when the players got to the huddle after the drills, “I told them what time practice was tomorrow. I talked about academics. I basically said what the dress was for the next day. Then players went for their cool-down and jumping jacks.”
O’Leary said he broke the huddle, and “the next thing I saw, I turned, I saw the trainer with Ereck. Robert Jackson was the trainer there. I went over, and Ereck was just taking a knee. I asked, ‘Did you have breakfast?’ ”
Plancher “was already not responding,” said one player who participated in the workout.
O’Leary said the trainer and the receivers coach were trying to give Plancher water. Players carried Plancher outside and waited for an ambulance to arrive while UCF athletic trainers began rescue breathing and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, called 911 and attached an automated external defibrillator.
UCF police officers arrived at 10:52 a.m. to find Plancher unconscious and lying on a bench. Plancher was taken to Florida Hospital East and pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m.
Chris Metzger, Plancher’s football coach at Lely High in Naples, said Plancher told him in late March or early April of 2007 that he collapsed during a workout at UCF. Several of Plancher’s relatives and friends also said the player told them he collapsed during a UCF workout.
“He told me he was having a hard time with the workouts and had even passed out once,” Metzger said. “That was unusual for him because he was in great shape. I asked him if the team had checked him out, and he said they did. He said they told him everything was fine, so I told him to keep working at it and everything would be OK.”
Ereck’s father, Enock, said he had never heard of his son having health problems at UCF.
“He was in perfect health,” Enock Plancher said. “He never even got sick or had a cold.”
Ereck’s mother declined to talk to reporters.
UCF officials said they have no knowledge of Plancher, a freshman who was 5 feet 10 inches and 180 pounds, having any medical problems. Officials said there was a note in Plancher’s medical file about him needing liquids during a summer workout in 2007.
Tribble said March 18 that Plancher passed an NCAA-mandated physical. Coaches and team trainers later said Plancher had a spotless medical record.
“We have no record of Ereck requiring any medical attention . . . while at UCF,” Tribble said in a statement.
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Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that my bracket was terrible–I had Texas beating Memphis to advance to the Final Four, which just goes to show what I know. But I’m going to throw myself on the mercy of the court because I simply didn’t have much time to follow basketball this year, so my pro-KU, pro-Big 12 prejudices dominated my thinking about the brackets.
I’ve gotten caught up in a hurry so that I can fully savor tonight’s game.
On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, all I heard about in the media was about how there was simply no way that Kansas could beat UNC. After all, they had a high speed offense led by Tyler Hansbrough that had been shutting down defenses all year.
Well, after reading that I did some stats looking, and determined that while it was true that UNC had a high powered offense, it’s also true that KU does too–only one that’s more balanced and doesn’t depend on a single player for execution. So that real battle, I decided was going to be on the defensive end. It didn’t take long to conclude that here KU had a monster advantage–UNC’s defense was, at the time, ranked only 17th in the nation, and its performance tended to be worse against top-25 teams. So I went around obnoxiously telling everyone I talked to the game about on Friday and Saturday (before the game) that KU’s defense was going to be the reason why KU would win it.
And, as it turns out, I was right.
Defense, however, is not Memphis’s weak point. They’ve got some great action and good shot blockers, and have been consistently performing well all year. Indeed, as every sports columnist in the country has noted–KU and Memphis boast similar offensive strategies. I agree–we should be looking at a fast-paced, high scoring game. In all probability. And in a fast-paced, high scoring game, I have to give a slight edge to the Jayhawks. The simple reason?
Depth. KU is balanced enough down the bench that will simply have the ability to out-rotate players over Memphis. In a fast paced game, that can make all the difference. It certainly made a big difference against UNC, who staged a pretty scary comeback but couldn’t make it stick because their players just. got. tired.
There is also, I admit, something nagging me in the back of my mind. As noted above, I do agree with sports pundrity that we’re likely to see a fast-paced, high scoring game–lots of intensity and crowd pleasing steals and alley oops.
But here’s the thing…
Bill Self likes to mix it up. He likes to focus on other team’s weaknesses and stab at them, like he did with weak side defense against UNC. KU and Memphis typically play with similar styles–fast pace, etc. But where KU almost stumbled in the tournament was against Davidson–who managed to slow down the tempo of the game and make it a grinding defensive and outside shooting battle. Seeing as how Memphis plays a similar game to KU, one can’t help but wonder if a slower game might cause them to stumble, too.
So here’s where that might come in–when it comes to the frontcourt and post, KU has an edge over Memphis. I can’t help but wonder if it might not be a bad strategy for KU to simply slow the game down by playing a zone, eschewing their three-guard setup in favor of a big man in the middle and keeping Memphis to the perimeter, creating a lower-scoring, outside shooting battle. That’s the kind of game Self liked to coach when he started at KU, and still does it occasionally. I don’t honestly expect to see that, but I won’t be too surprised if it happens, either.
In either case, I do think that if KU can keep their mistakes to a minimum, they have an edge over Memphis and will take the national title for the first time in 20 years. We’ll know for sure tonight.
Not too long ago this would have been a move from one Southwest Conference school to another. From AP-
FORT WORTH, Texas – Houston coach Art Briles is next to take on the task of pulling Baylor out of the Big 12 basement.
Briles confirmed he was leaving in a news conference Wednesday at Houston after meeting with his players.
Baylor spokesman Nick Joos said a news conference was scheduled later in the day on the Waco campus to announce the school’s new football coach.
Briles led Houston to four bowls in his five seasons. He was offered the job Wednesday, a day after meeting with Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw in Dallas.
“Life is full of decisions. Sometimes, you have to look at things from a professional, personal standpoint,” Briles said. “Professionally, (Houston) … is great university with a situation I’m proud to be a part of. Personally, the move allows a person of my nature a little more security. When you’re getting up in my age, that’s an important factor in life.”
The Houston Chronicle reported on its Web site that Briles will get a seven-year contract for about $1.8 million per season. Briles, who turns 52 Monday, had four years left on his Houston contract with a base salary of $900,000 annually.
Briles replaces Guy Morriss, who was fired Nov. 18 after five seasons. Morriss’ firing came the day after the Bears (3-9) completed their 12th straight losing season with their 12th consecutive Big 12 loss, 45-14 to Oklahoma State.
Unless Briles’ status as UH coach was shaky for some unknown reason, this is certainly a down market move. Baylor has been hapless since Grant Teaff retired as head coach. I’m betting the 100% increase in salary was the motivating factor for Briles. Athletes, Coaches, plaintiffs in lawsuits are all alike. They never say it’s never about the money.
Not enough teams may get the six wins needed for a bowl game berth. From the Orlando Sentinel-
The Conference USA bowl scenario is going to get interesting over the last three weeks of the regular season.
Entering the week, UCF is one of four C-USA teams now eligible for bowl berths.
While Knights Coach George O’Leary was safe not to say his club was definitely going bowling by just reaching the necessary six victories Saturday with its win over Marshall, there doesn’t appear to be any scenario in which UCF will be left out of the postseason. Especially with UCF’s remaining opponents boasting a combined 7-20 record.
But C-USA is actually in danger of not qualifying enough teams to fill its six tie-ins this season. UCF, East Carolina, Houston and Tulsa all have six wins. But it may come down to the wire to get two more teams there.
The East Division’s bubble teams are Southern Miss (5-4) and Memphis (4-5).
The West’s only remaining candidate is UTEP, which is 4-5.
The Golden Eagles should be safe to get one more win with remaining games against Memphis on Saturday, followed by a trip to UTEP and a finale against Arkansas State (4-5).
UTEP will be favored Saturday at Tulane (2-7) but will have to upset either Southern Miss or win at UCF to get its sixth win of the year.
Memphis has it a little easier, hosting UAB (2-7) and SMU (1-8) after traveling to Hattiesburg.
I think the moral of the story is- There are too many darn bowl games. Outside of Oklahoma and Oregon, Who would watch a Oregon St-Tulsa game?(I’m making up a bowl match up)Does a 6-6 deserve a trip? I can remember Florida State getting no bowl bid after going 8-3 in 1978.
From AP-
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A University of Memphis football player was fatally shot on campus in a targeted attack and classes were canceled Monday as a precaution, officials said.
“We found him with a bullet wound to the body and the ambulance took him to the hospital where he was pronounced (dead),” said Roger Prewitt, a Memphis Police inspector.
University police declined to release the name of the student, but the incident “may have involved a current or former football player,” said Bob Winn, associate athletic director at University of Memphis.
Taylor Bradford, 21, was taken to Regional Medical Center at 10:15 p.m. Sunday and pronounced dead, hospital spokeswoman Sandy Snell said.
Bradford, a 5-foot-11, 300-pound defensive lineman from Nashville, was a junior who transferred to Memphis after two seasons at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
University officials closed residence halls on campus for about a half-hour after the shooting before police learned that the shooting was likely personal, spokesman Curt Gunther said.
Tragic. God bless Bradford’s family.
Note how schools are reacting since the Virginia Tech tragedy. A recent incident at Delaware State saw school officials take similar actions. Then why does VT President Charles Steger insist he wouldn’t do anything different? Other Universities have learned a lesson.
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To the surprise of everyone not in their front office, the Philadelphia Eagles took Houston quarterback Kevin Kolb with the 36th pick in the draft, which was their first, having traded out of the first round to pick up a 3rd and 5th from the Dallas Cowboys.
Here is what Scouts, Inc. reports that he’s 6’3-1/8″, 218 pounds, and runs a 4.85 40. Their evaluation:
Strengths: Possesses a very good combination of size, arm strength and mobility. He has adequate height and is well-built. He shows above average arm strength with good zip on the deep out and on vertical throws. Shows good overall touch and knows how to lead his receivers on quick slants and crossing routes. Shows better accuracy in short-to-intermediate passing game than he does in the vertical passing game. He is an effective passer on the run. When on time with his delivery, he can fit the ball into tight spots that many other prospects in this class simply can’t hit. He shows good initial quickness and vision as a runner. He lacks explosive speed but is very much a threat to run. He is a tough, competitive and instinctive runner, who will break some tackles and find the first-down marker. He is intelligent and picks things up quickly. Coaches speak highly of his work ethic, leadership and dedication. He also has been extremely durable and has great experience.
Weaknesses: Comes from a passer-friendly spread offensive scheme in college. He’s intelligent but his NFL learning curve could be steep — he has almost no experience in a pro-style scheme and he’s coming from the mid-major collegiate level. His decision making can be erratic and he must learn to do a better job of protecting the football. He has a bit of a wind-up delivery and will need some mechanical work in order to speed up his release. He also has a bit of a three-quarter delivery and will have too many passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, as a result. He is a streaky passer that will lose the “strike zone” at times. His deep ball sails too often. He still has room to improve in terms of finding “hot reads” and beating the blitz with his arm.
Overall: Kolb started all 13 games as a true freshman and was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year and selected to the All-Conference USA Third Team. He finished the season completing 61-percent of his attempts for 3,131 yards, 25 touchdowns and just six interceptions. In 2004, Kolb again started every game (11) and tallied 2,766 passing yards with a 56-percent completion percentage, threw 11 touchdown passes, and six interceptions. He returned for his third-consecutive year as Houston’s starter in 2005 (12 contests) and was named to the C-USA third team, when he completed 60.5-percent of his passes for 3,258 yards and 19 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. In 2006, Kolb was named the C-USA Player of the Year after he completed 67.6-percent of his attempts for 3,809 yards, 30 touchdowns, and just four interceptions during the 14-game season. Over the course of his career, he also rushed for 751 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Kolb hasn’t consistently played against top competition in college (C-USA) and he also comes from a passer-friendly spread-offense, which generates some legitimate concerns regarding his transition to the NFL game. Even with that in mind, we believe Kolb is one of the more underrated prospects in the 2007 NFL draft class. He possesses a fine combination of size, arm strength and mobility, and he has great experience as a four-year starter. Kolb has enough upside to warrant consideration late on Day 1 or early on Day 2.
So, he’s a four year starter — which Rick Gooselin points out is a huge advantage — but from a third-rate conference. Who was expected to go late on Day 1 or early Day 2 but went at the top of the 2nd round. Hmm.
Obviously, if Kolb turns out to be the second coming of Tom Brady, the Eagles brain trust will look like geniuses. Otherwise….
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