Thursday, March 17, 2011

On NCAA Tourney Upsets, Jeremy Hollowell and Jim Tressel

Are you like us? Did your NCAA tourney pool bracket include Morehead State beating Louisville, Richmond beating Vanderbilt and Princeton nearly upsetting Kentucky?

Yes, we have yet to miss a game as we roll on in what will be a huge financial bonanza and…

Wait. We were dreaming. Our bracket is busted in just one day.

It’s why we have pools but love the tournament. It’s great entertainment and the kind of reality TV that doesn’t force Donald Trump and the Bachelor on you.

Soon, very soon, Indiana will be back in the NCAA tourney business. Until then, well, there’s always Butler to root for. The Bulldogs once again showed they have some magic in March. Will it last to the national title game? Almost certainly not, but at least they’re fun to watch.


*****


Lawrence Central’s Jeremy Hollowell is tired of all this recruiting stuff. It happens to the best of them and this 6-7 junior is among the best in the Class of 2012. He’s ranked No. 37 nationally by Scout.com and is coming off a high school season in which he averaged 18.9 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 41 percent from three-point range.

Hollowell has narrowed his choices to Indiana, Purdue, Cincinnati and Ohio State. He wants to make his decision before his AAU season begins next month.

IU has already leaned up in the Class of 2012, but you can never have enough studs because, as IU has proven, you never know when somebody might get hurt. Also, you can never have enough good shooters who can rebound.


*****


Jim Tressel did the right thing. He’s decided to sit out Ohio State’s first five football games next season for his role in the scandal that rocked the Buckeye world. He didn’t participate in five of his players selling memorabilia and accepting donations on tattoos, a violation of NCAA rules, but he did fail to tell school officials about it for nine months.

That was a big problem and a violation of his own contract with the university. Ohio State had originally suspended him for two games and fined him $250,000. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Tressel decided to make it five games, the same span as his players will have to sit out.

That means he’ll miss Akron, Toledo, Miami, Colorado and Michigan State.

If the NCAA had any teeth, it also would make Ohio State forfeit its bowl victory, but that’s a debate for another blog.

4 comments:

  1. Sports Illustrated had an interesting article this week that says big schools are being given a pass by the NCAA and that Tressel and Bruce Pearl should both be fired.

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  2. Unfortunately, the NCAA tends to look the other way when it comes to their cash cows, for example Auburn (Cam Newton) and now Ohio State. Give me a break. Let theOSU players participate in a bowl game ($$$$) and suspend them for five games next season, four of which are non-conference. And furthermore, Tressel should be history in Columbus if the university followed the provisions of his contract. As they say, "business as usual" for the NCAA and now theOSU.

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  3. The NCAA is corrupt and needs to be investigated itself. How can Guy Marc Michele be singled out and not allowed to play because he basically did some dual courses in high school that somehow started the clock on his eligibility, while Cam Newton's dad takes 75K as the price for his son. All Cam had to say was, "I didn't know anything about it". Since when did that become a valid excuse. The NCAA has been out to get Indiana for all the years they couldn't get Knight because he ran a clean program. Unfortunately, Guy had to pay the price...and a miserable season for IU too.

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  4. I really don't understand why anyone would be surprised by the erratic behavior exhibited by the NCAA. College sports is a business, and anyone who buys into that student-athlete crap should themselves be investigated for a loss of sanity. Lastly, isn't it time for IU fans to quit feeling sorry for themselves? BK was and is a boor, and various administrations looked the other way when he misbehaved, just like the NCAA does with certain high-profile programs today. Who cares about Pearl, Tressel, Calhoun, or Newton's old man? IU fans have enough headaches already!

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