Pistol

Joakim Noah is on the Bulls, and has been little more than a headcase so far- complaining to the media, showing up late, missing meetings, etc. His immaturity is costing him and the team big time.

Please don't forget SirValiant Brown. I got curious about other names this year and found this list (plenty of A10 love): http://bleacherreport.com/articles/5694-Co...lege_Basketball

Exactly. And even though the situation with Sampson is unclear right now, I don't know why everyone's so low on Roth. Having a shooter like him is an incredibly valuable and underrated asset.

Steve Smith was the guy from LaSalle, although I think he goes by Steven Smith now to avoid confusion with other athletes and announcers. He was A10 player of the year in 2005 and 2006, and I thought for sure he'd find a comfortable home on an NBA roster. He went undrafted in 2006 after declaring in 2005 to test first-round interest and withdrawing his name. He was waived by the 76ers last year, played for Anaheim in the NBDL for a while, and now plays in Italy's top league. I would not be surprised to see him back in the NBA someday.

He's still tied by the LOI, but can be released if the school grants him one. I see no reason why they wouldn't release him if he requested it, and schools have been more generous about that in recent years.

Is this official yet? Do you have a link? I've heard rumors of this all morning, but haven't seen it confirmed anywhere. The rumor I heard only involved Chicago and Cleveland and had Duhon, Wallace, and Smith (and others) going to the Cavs in exchange for Hughes and Gooden (and others). Sounds like a blockbuster is in the works.

I may be biased because I've seen the kid play 6 times this year, but Lavender controls every aspect of XU's game. He's the reason they have 6 guys averaging 10+ ppg. He's the reason they are 10-1 in the conference and have won their close games. He makes everyone better.

Another Billiken Club question- I sent in my registration and payment last week. How long does it typically take before I should receive some acknowledgement or registration confirmation or membership card? Do they give out membership cards? When you go to events, how do people know you're in the Billken Club (for access to the physical club area)?

Memphis is the #1 team in the country and no one else in the CUSA is even close, probably no other shot at an at-large bid. XU is first in the A10, is not as strong as Memphis and the rest of the conference is not as weak as the rest of the CUSA. Also, I don't know if you've seen the past several wins by XU, but they are just barely beating teams (URI by 4, Charlotte by 2, St. Joe's by 4, SLU by 2). The disparity between XU and the A10 and between Memphis and CUSA are not even close- no one in their right mind could argue that. Go to the XU page of the Cincinnati Enquirer's sports section, and read the list of headlines. You'll see that this team is not coasting through the league. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art.../802150438/1065 http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/sec...ategory=SPT0102

If they were in a holding cell for getting in trouble one night, they would be in there with whoever else is in trouble that night (drunks and the like), none of whom would have weapons. When you get in there, they take everything from your pockets along with your belt, shoes/shoelaces, etc. They even feed you a bologna sandwich. I think Roy means if they get arrested one night for something dumb, a few hours in a holding cell isn't going to kill them.

I couldn't agree more with this statement. That's what should make Floyd Irons' actions all the more infuriating to the black community. A man who pretends to be their champion exploits their young men for his own personal and financial gains, and any opposition or questioning is met with complete abuse of the race card.

That all depends on what you mean by "POSSIBLE." If they can subpoena schools for no reason other than hearsay or DJ-like finger pointing, then no. But if they have some substantial reason/evidence/warrant, then I do not see a reason why the state's authority on high school sports can't do everything in its power to clean up the system. But it is a flawed organization, so they'd probably screw it up.

Which is ironic, because I think DJ was the one that pointed at DeSmet and Chaminade and lambasted them for supposedly recruiting "these black kids." I guess he doesn't support them all, just the ones that played for Floyd.

At the same time, if the kids receive no punishment, then what is the incentive for kids in their situation in the future not to take cash, housing, food, cars, etc.? I hate to see an example made out of teenage kids, but they knowingly accepted these benefits that they aren't supposed to receive. The shame of it is that when you have a high-pressure coach from a winning program on one hand and your own father on the other hand both telling you to do the same thing, you aren't going to say no.

I agree with you guys- he didn't have any business going to college. I just wonder how it would have affected his game. He's had stretches where he's played very well but has never been more than a contributing role player at best. That's disappointing for a #3 pick. Disappointing for the fans, anyway- I don't think he goes home to cry all over his piles of cash.

Do you think one year at St. John's would have been good for Miles? Would he even have been eligible? I'm just curious to get people's thoughts on this because so many guys who jumped straight to the league could have benefited from a year or two at the NCAA level, but what about a guy who went #3 overall and might not have been academically eligible anyway?

I don't think it's a coincidence at all that race is a factor in HS recruiting, but in this case, I don't believe it was a factor. Floyd is responsible for multiple forms of fraud over the course of multiple decades. Everyone involved was the same race. The way I see it, the high school recruiting that generally gets brought up because of race involves predominantly white schools with black basketball players. Someone on this board mentioned DeSmet and Chaminade the other day- do people see those as 'recruiting'? These are schools that don't have major violations, but also aren't subject to the same rules as public schools (i.e. the district boundaries that Floyd disregarded). Is it so outrageous that the black players' families are paying tuition for their kids to go there? I know for a fact they have to fulfill their admission and academic requirements like every other kid at those schools. These schools also have strong endowments and can be generous with financial aid to those who show need. What about a school like MICDS? They haven't hid the fact that wealthy parents will pay full tuition scholarships to kids who otherwise wouldn't be able to pay tuition there and who also go there to play sports. The kids have to get the grades to make it in and stay eligible, just like at the MCC schools. The only exception I can think of is when Hughes and Tatum were at CBC, and definitely did not experience a level academic/admission playing field as the other students.

The club is so hot it closes at midnight.

"Don't you people have homes?!" Caddyshack- that was a layup. Also, in complete agreement with your comment on Coach K- that's been news for a few years. A few of those guys' families got taken care of. Coach K is a master of making sure they do well academically, behave off the court, and keep a good image.

I also like the travel element of his blog. That's a huge part of his personal experience in being the beat writer for the team. The other nice thing about it is that we wind up with free travel tips for each A10 city if we get the chance to catch the Bills on the road.

Amen, Basketbill. The Jesuits are ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the Church. Unless the Vatican figures out that it does in fact need to head "left" in certain areas, the Church will continue to lose numbers and influence. A Bomb, the point of the article was not just that the Jesuits are tending to the left (particularly in Central and South America), but that they are going to die off because of it. Don't be as reductive as the author. I'm not arguing that they are tending to the left- never do I deny that. I am arguing that this clueless NR journalist is completely wrong. Even though the Jesuits are undeniably losing numbers and favoring left-wing ideologies in the Americas, they are doing all right as a whole- look at my (and others') comments in this thread about Jesuit schools thriving ,which is what they work for as a teaching order. Forget politics, the Jesuits emphasize education and helping the poor. If a writer from an uber-Conservative publication wants to call them Marxists and write them off, fine, but he's just missing the point that the Jesuits care more about their mission than what they will be labeled.

I watched him play against Texas Tech last week, and he looked great. Had a few long 3's (one was a bank shot) and a few very nice drives and finishes in traffic. He's more athletic than I thought he'd be, and knows how to compensate for his slightly smaller size.

I didn't say it was right or wrong, I just said it's a reflection of what the people believe. You might not want to believe it, but Chavez is immensely popular there. A lot of those who don't like him have left. There are also problems because so many different militias are fighting, governments are changing too rapidly or overrun with corruption, drug demand from outside the countries has exacerbated their problems, etc., etc. It's too complex (and non-Billiken hoops related) to argue here. Despite all these problems, a big chunk of the poor population, i.e. the majority, in Central and South America believe that Socialism can work for them. This is probably true if the right people and right government ever come to power and can stay in place long enough to implement productive change. But that's a big 'if' and it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon- which doesn't stop the ideology from being popular. Of course, I'm sure you believe that they can just pull themselves up by their ol' bootstraps and everything will be perfect, just like it is here.

But it's much funnier the original way...

You are wrong, A Bomb - the National Review deserves no kudos. The publication and its writers are hopelessly out of touch on deeper issues that actually affect us. This article is a perfect example. The Jesuits' involvement in Central and South America with political ideologies different than ours here in the US is a reflection of the people they are helping, the poor. The Jesuits there, who have sacrificed all other parts of their lives to help these people, probably know better than a writer already coming from the opposite end of the political spectrum in the stuffy NR office what is best for the people they serve. If that means leaning way left, so be it.