Graduation Rates Are Awesome

Derrick Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe is not happy about the graduation rates of some of the universities in the NCAA tournament.

The NCAA publishes an annual list of graduation rates and it provides serious tsk-tsk material for sports writers who otherwise act as homers for their local college basketball favorites. The list comes out in November, but it's scrutinized at the time of national collegiate championships, particularly football and basketball.

What Could Have Been

You have to believe when UConn set the all time record for consecutive wins, two women contemplated decisions they made that coincided with the start of the streak. As the UConn women's basketball team marches (again) into the history books, Pat Summit and Elena Delle Donne must be at least thinking about what could have been.

Two years ago, Delle Donne was the most heavily recruited high school senior in the country. Even with the incredible Maya Moore (pictured) finishing just her freshman year at UConn, Della Donne seemed to be the next cover girl for the program, poised to be the next Diana Taurausi.

Minnesota is Apparently Desperate for a Point Guard

by Jerry Holt, Star Tribune

As I was looking for articles praising excoriating Brett Favre for his late-game decision-making, I came across this little gem. An 8th grader who's starting for his high school's varsity team has caught the attention of Tubby Smith, coach of UMinnesota.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Apple Valley eighth-grader Tyus Jones is already a starting point guard on the varsity team, and his exploits have caught Tubby Smith's attention."

The Flutie Effect

Le Moyne College continues to gather publicity for its pre-season upset of Syracuse University. A New York Times article and a similar Associated Press posting has kept the story alive.

Division I coaches seem to be astonished that a DII program could defeat a top-5 powerhouse. But they assume that Le Moyne has a once in a blue moon team. They'd like to believe that Syracuse was defeated by an unusually talented small college team.

Real life being what it is, however, the Dolphins - with their $3,900 recruiting budget and $70,000 per year head coach - have not been able to be Cinderella. The magic slippers have just not fit. Despite boasting a DII All-American who might get a shot at the NBA, they've been just so-so in their conference. In retrospect, it appears that they anticipated a solid season this year. After all, they even scheduled a game with St. Bonaventure. The game turned out to be a 9 point loss, but that's hardly unexpected.  What is unexpected is a record closer to .500 than a national title.

Le Moyne has a long basketball tradition. They've beaten Boston College the last two times they played. Current Michigan coach John Beilein is a former Dolphin coach. And they have a substantial advantage over former rival and current MAAC power Siena College.

All of this forms a backdrop to a possible move to Division I.  It would be better than playing in front of 800 fans on a snowy January evening, I imagine.

No. 25 Syracuse loses stunner to Le Moyne

Nice way to wake up this morning. I didn't even know that Le Moyne and Syracuse had started their seasons.  Le Moyne scored 50 points in the second half and overcame a 10 point second half deficit.  Le Moyne will use this picture in a lot of recruits homes in the next few years. Especially as they (tentatively) prepare to go D1 by the middle of the next decade. 

Update 1/20/10:: Syracuse has risen to the top 5.

Now the Fun Begins

College basketball is here. No grousing about the fact that only 3 non-BCS schools are mentioned in the pre-season polls. Which is three too many for UConn Coach Jim Calhoun who's still upset by the fact that Emeka Okafor did not win the National Player of the Year Award four years ago.

And let's face it, Davidson is going to struggle to be a top 25 school by the end of the year.

So here's a two-parter:

• Who are the first three teams in the ESPN pre-season poll to fall out of the top 25? (my guesses: Davidson, Miami and USC)
  

• Who are the first three teams that enter the top 25? (my guesses: Xavier, Syracuse and UNLV)
  

The Next Great Basketball Player?

If you haven't heard already, the next basketball superstar is living on the West Coast. Jamie Nared is so skilled, she's having a hard time finding a team to play on. She was recently kicked off a boys' team for being too good.

The 6-1 twelve year old is currently playing on a travel team with high schoolers. The story of this talented girl is told in this NY Times Play article.

Possibly even more interesting is that it took the threat of a lawsuit to clear the way for her to play once again against boys.

Let's see: Division I Coaches; Lawyers threatening lawsuits; leagues resurrecting arcane rules; parents on television. Sounds like a game to me.

Take a look at this video from ABC's Good Morning America to meet a youngster who, at least so far, has stayed away from the chaos being generated by the adults around her.