Tuesday's WAC roundup

Treesap32 & SeldomSeenSmith have tracked down the whereabouts of former USU Aggies Adam Thoseby and Igor Premasunac respectively.

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Matt Sonnenberg has posted selection #17 in his detailing of the Top 20 performers in the Stew Morrill era.

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Brian Murphy has the latest on the options for the Western Athletic Conference. Start humming 'you know it don't come easy' as even Houdini never faced such a formidable task.

Sunday's WAC roundup (such as it is)

Teddy Feinberg writes about the upcoming (this week) WAC meetings.

Ferd Lewis looks at the same from Hawaii's perspective -- two quotes in particular sum up these times:

"...the conference has become, in the words of a former athletic director, a parking lot for schools without options."

and

"We knew when the music stopped not everybody was going to end up with a chair. But we feel like we got the equivalent of a recliner." -- Hawaii AD Jim Donovan

Jon Wilner/Mercury News on the WAC

Here's Jon Wilner with the latest on the WAC:

WAC not on verge of collapse, commissioner says
Jon Wilner
Mercury News
11/22/2010

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson on Monday sought to reassure fans and recruits that the conference will survive if Hawaii departs after the 2011-12 school year.

Hawaii is expected to join the more prestigious Mountain West Conference in football and place its other teams in the cost-saving Big West Conference.

Speaking on a teleconference, Benson disputed reports that Hawaii's departure could cause the WAC to collapse because of precariously low membership. (Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada already announced they will join the Mountain West.)

Go here for the remainder.

Friday's WAC news and notes

Dave Reardon leads PTW off with his report on Hawaii departing the WAC for the Mountain West Conference. Stephen Tsai also has his take.

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We got your NMSU - Arizona game reports right here: Sam Wasson/Bleed Crimson and Jason Groves/Las Cruces Sun-News.

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Here's a fascinating article on the it-ain't-over-til-the-LOI-is-signed (and maybe not even then) world of college sports recruiting. San Diego State has inked DeShawn Stephens who initially committed to Utah State (for a few days) and Kevin Young who 'supposedly' was a lock for Fresno State and attending Fresno City College. A tip of the hat to OldFigBBJ2 for locating and posting this at the Bark Board Save Mar6t Center MB.

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Here's a report on Bob Nash's season so far in Japan:

"...With a league-worst 2-8 record entering this weekend, the Saitama Broncos face an uphill battle to qualify for the bj-league playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Coach Bob Nash, in his first season at the helm, recognizes this challenge, but is keeping a positive attitude as he tries to inspire the team to a dramatic turnaround.

"I think our guys have worked awful hard," Nash said by telephone on Tuesday. "The results may not have showed that, but they have worked awful hard."

This is Nash's first coaching job in the professional ranks after two-plus decades at the University of Hawaii, where he served as a longtime assistant coach and for the previous three seasons as the bench boss.

"We are learning," the ex-NBA player said. "This is obviously new for me with this level of play and being in a foreign country. I'm trying to learn the players and learn the system.

"It's been a little bit slower than I have anticipated. But the players have been very open and receptive to teaching and learning and that has been a real positive. They are working really hard and that's a positive. . ."

With the addition of ex-Indiana center George Leach, a standout with the Takamatsu Five Arrows and Ryukyu Golden Kings in recent seasons, the Broncos have solidified their frontcourt. The All-Star veteran is slated to make his season debut this weekend against Toyama.

Nash said Bruce Brown and Gordon Klaiber, Saitama's center and power forward, have not been as effective as the team had hoped from the get-go.

Their adjustment to this league has been a work in progress, he added.

"As a result, our post play has been inconsistent on offense and defense. That has been the biggest negative for us," Nash said.

Now it's back to square one with Leach expecting to make a major impact in the middle.

"There are brighter days ahead," Nash said. "We rededicated ourselves yesterday to getting this thing turned around."

What was his message to the team?

"We can't afford to take any more time off," Nash said. "We've got to get better in a hurry and just get back to work.

"I told the players that there's no elevator or escalator to success. It's just one step, one game, and our guys understand that."

He added: "We are losing by an average of 12 points per game, or three points per quarter. We need to be a little better on defense and a little better on offense.

"We've had 10 games to analyze where we are, who we are and what were are capable of doing, and now it's time to sharpen the focus on what were are capable of doing individually and collectively."

Bobby Nash, the coach's son, is the Broncos' leading scorer (13.0 ppg)..."

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Dayton Morinaga introduces readers to Trevor Wiseman. Dayton's preview on tonight's UH - Central Arkansas matchup includes a two-minute video interview with Assistant Coach Walter Roese.

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Leon Rice and Bill Grier will again be on the same court tonight but on opposite sides as Boise State travels to San Diego for a game. It's a homecoming for La'Shard Anderson.

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The BYU Jumbotron operator added end-of-the-game combustible material to the Cougar - USU rivalry. Check it out here.

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At the Go Vandals Vandal Basketball MB, Tron 13 confirms that now former Vandal backcourt recruit Gary Winston's new home will be Portland State.

The where-in-the-world-is-Renado-Parker search continues. We found Waldo. Renado, hopefully you're next.

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Louisiana Tech athletics writes that Justin Raqke has left the team after 1+ seasons, Stojan Gjuroski will redshirt and Romario Souza will be sitting for four games due to professional situation in Brazil.

Andy Katz on the WAC additions

ESPN's Andy Katz makes it official -- Seattle is on hold until Montana decides:

Sources: Three teams to join WAC
Andy Katz
ESPN.com

November 10, 2010

University of Denver, Texas-San Antonio and Texas State will join the WAC in 2012-13 to offset the departures of Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada to the Mountain West, multiple sources told ESPN.com...

Go here for the remainder.

Has a deal been reached?

Kraig Williams has a couple of tweets about a resolution with the WAC family divorce -- you will eventually work your way here.

Get the welcome wagon ready for the Denver Pioneers and the Seattle Redhawks in hoops.

Gotta be Texas San Antonio and Texas State -- at least -- in football.

Balling Is A Habit previews the WAC

Rob Dauster at the Balling Is A Habit site offers a lengthy and solid WAC preview here.

Please, please, please -- no Tony Woods to the WAC

Thankfully, there are no indications of former Wake Forest center Tony Woods being wooed by any WAC team but we still wanted to get this out there. As one might tweet: no Woods 2 da WAC.

Maybe we should start a poll -- where will Woods land?

__ Kentucky

__ Southern Mississippi

__ UTEP

__ Connecticut

__ Louisville

Who did we miss?

We're calling it WAC Thursday

Shawn Harrison leads us off with more on the WAC tête-à-tête in Dallas. Yikes, as if the remaining WAC members needed another burden -- this one negative recruiting.

Teddy Feinberg provides more, including some doubt about Seattle.

The UH coaches are indicating a transfer to the Big West Conference would suit them just fine. The travel expenses budgets -- at least for those besides football -- agree.

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Nick Jezierny has additional information on BSU's newest basketball verbals.

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The Indiana Pacer coaching staff has formed a mutual admiration society with Magnum Rolle, ex-Louisiana Tech star and now an NBA rookie. So much so that Rolle was offered a three year contract. But thinking ahead, Rolle decided a two-year one was sufficient:

"He's so athletic," O'Brien said. "He is extremely quick to the offensive glass. Because offensively he's always a threat from 17 feet away, a lot of the offensive rebounds he gets are away from the basket. It's hard to put a body on somebody that quick."

Go here (and scroll down).

Kraig Williams a-Twitterin'

Kraig Williams has a litany of tweets (no, that's not a disease and not to be confused with a of bevy of twits) on Commish Karl Benson's presser today -- go here for the latest on WAC expansion.

Karl Benson speaks

The Idaho Statesman's Brian Murphy has Commish Karl Benson talking about tomorrow's get-together in big D -- go here.

We can't quite figure out our caption for this post

PTW has mixed feelings on this one. Is the above a brilliant strategic marketing move or is the cat out of the so-called bag at this point and the focus can only be on future prevention? Relating this situation to the WAC,  it's sort of like the WAC losing Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada when only the first departure was expected. The $5,000,000 family control device, if you will, didn't work because a couple of parties furtively removed it.

We're back

Yeah, someone is singing "how can we miss you if you won't go away..." (h/t to Dan Hicks) as we lost all connectivity yesterday at 2 p.m. but a newly installed modem has us back on-line.

So what did we miss?

The WAC went all legal (as expected) on Fresno State and Nevada. Bryant Jon-Anteola/Fresno Bee covers this move, as does Dan Hinxman/Reno Gazette-Journal and here's what is being asked from the announced departees:

WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff prays for relief as follows:

1. For a declaration from this Court that the effective date of the withdrawal of Nevada from the WAC is June 30, 2012, in accordance with the bylaws.

2.For a declaration from this Court that the effective date of the withdrawal of Fresno from the WAC is June 30, 2012, in accordance with the bylaws.

3.For an injunction against all the Defendants prohibiting them from scheduling any athletic contests which will interfere with the scheduling of conference games between Fresno and Nevada with the remaining WAC Members through the 2011-2012 athletic seasons.

4.For such other and further relief as to the Court may seem just and proper.

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Tony Jones checks in of USU basketball doings especially at the defensive end-- go here.

The post-holiday WAC report for Tuesday

AW Prince at the Silver and Blue site provides an informative look at the recent off-the-field doings in the WAC -- we loved his lead paragraph. So will it or won't it be "Karl, I'll take the MWC for $5 million"? Go here for the read.

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The Louisiana Tech schedule certainly has an 800-pound gorilla early on as the Aggies travel to Texas on November 10 to tangle with the Longhorns. Go here for the full schedule.

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According to one of Texas' better prospects, an official to Fresno State should be scheduled fairly soon. 6-foot-6 Jalen Jones is fleshing out his five visit allotment and the Bulldogs are in the inner circle. Damon Sayles at the Rivals TexasHoops.com site has the details and a sub is required.

After an April tourney, DFW Basketball News had this description of Jones: "Strong wing prospect with great athletic ability. Scored basketball continously off the dribble. Very good offensive rebounder, played games with a lot of energy and desire."

From the Dallas Showtyme site comes this: "I get bombarded with calls all the time from players/parents/coaches about kids all the time. About 6 months ago Erven “Big E” Davis told me about Jalen Jones from Mansfield Timberview. At the time the 6’5 wing was playing as an undersized post for his high school squad. Jones is the epitome of why grassroots basketball is so important. If a college coach was to watch Jones play in high school, one would assume that his talents were limited to the paint, after last week’s performance at the GASO, and this weekend’s Top 20 All-Star game performance at the Pangos All-American Camp, Jones established himself as a talented wing prospect.

Jones doing his thing out in the LBC didn’t come as a surprise, but the text message we received at 11:17 a.m. local time from Eric Bossi (Rivals.com) quickly confirmed that Jones was taking his game to another level.  “Glenn, who is this Jalen Jones kid!” In the last 24 hours we have field calls from schools in the Big 12, Big East, and Pac-10 wanting to know more about the rising the 2011 standout. Not to bad for a kid that’s “back for the first time”.

More WAC musical meanderings

Commish Karl Benson has another tune he's singing today, cue up Bono and the boys:

I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you...

...I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone...

...But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

Wednesday and the WAC

K.C. Ross-Miller did some mutual wooing with Nevada a while back -- although it always seemed a long shot for the Wolf Pack to land the young man -- until the point cast his lot with Louisiana State.

It turns out that Ross-Miller's academics, even with the additional year, didn't fulfill NCAA requirements.The acceptability of homeschooling courses appears to be the issue.

Eric Bossi of Rivals is reporting that Ross-Miller is headed to Florida International (and Isiah Thomas) but is also trying to get the NCAA to reconsider. Go here (a Rivals sub is required).

Here's a July article on the subject.

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Per Tony Jones and out of Karl Benson's mouth, "everyone is in play" when it comes to the current WAC team roster.

Matt James offers some interesting takes, including a bit of history, on Fresno State's move.

It makes sense geographically but does Hawaii want to drop down -- at least a bit -- and join up with the Big West Conference in all sports other than football? Can UH really make a go of it as an independent in football? Read Ferd Lewis here.

He who has the gold, rules

As much as we may not like it or admit it, college football and basketball are now business enterprises/corporations. As fans and in the throes of fan-dom, we don't want to acknowledge such but the truth, as someone said speaking on another subject, is self-evident.

Yes, even though they are affiliated with an entity of higher learning, the heads of collegiate teams keep their jobs by winning, usually many more games than they lose. Doing so brings in television appearances and bowl game invites/Big Dance appearances and positive overall publicity, the trifecta that keeps the financial coffers full.

Achieve this troika and most personal peccadilloes or worse and/or those of the student-athletes are tsked at but generally overlooked. It's basic: win and you are a success in the world regardless of anything else.

The athletic directors -- call them the CEOs -- of these coaches keep their positions by maintaining and/or lengthening the plus side of the balance sheet.

The bigtime boosters (measured in financial contributions, not by mere loyalty) are the shareholders.

We're in the peanut gallery, offering opinions on this or that but having no real influence on personnel policy.

With that hopefully clarified, maybe such will help explain the past/present/future conduct of the various WAC members.

The WAC (nor do other leagues) doesn't function based upon any sort of sacred vows. The 'until death do you part' of certain marriage ceremonies has never and will never seep into any sort of conference bonds.

All is a business operation.

Similarly, corporations have agreements with others until such no longer provide the benefit wanted or desired. If a better (more profitable or beneficial) deal can be made elsewhere, it's value will be measured and an agreement possibly pursued.

That's the nature of the business beast and the very same financial model on which college athletics (football and basketball) function.

Human-like feelings -- empathy, family, loyalty and the sort -- do not apply. All is profit/success driven. The shareholders must be kept happy and satisfied. The product must be sale-able to enough of the masses.

Or heads roll.

Any CEO is 'required' to look further into such if a new proposal/deal provides greater visibility and the possibility of larger income generation. This allows for the possibility of strengthening his or her products.

The same is also true for any athletics director.

In this atmosphere, any given word on any matter is truly only good for the very moment it is issued.

Constant re-evaluation carries the day.

It's hard (and probably unfair) to label any of the individual actors in the current WAC situation as good or bad, heroes or villains. They are simply doing what they are designated and situated to do.

We may want matters to be different, desiring collegiate athletics to be something with a positive purity quotient but that train has left the station -- if it ever was a reality to begin with.

Decision making based upon any sort of common good is incongruent thinking in the corporate world mindset as well as college athletics because neither apparatus is currently designed for such.

He who has the gold, rules and the maximization of profit carries the day.

Hunting for answers

Nevada and Fresno State had to know for some time about the proposed shift of BYU to the WAC.

Taking that a step further, each must at least have entertained the thought that the Mountain West Conference might then come calling.

Karl Benson certainly did, hence the large buyouts.

So why did the respective schools agree to such?

Did they consent prior to serious feelers from the MWC?

Prior to the actual offers?

Or would declining to do so have tipped their respective hands?

Paging Miss Marple.

Better yet, how about getting Anton Chigurh to handle sorting out the truth from the fiction.

Short of that drastic move, let's host a sodium pentathal party.

BSU and Fresno State will need to pick up recruiting

Nevada has been quite successful but will still need to pick up recruiting some in preparing for the Mountain West Conference MWC) basketball play. It's Boise State and also Fresno State who need to make major strides in bringing in talent.

Success is the MWC generally requires a player or two who are either NBA caliber or on the edge of being such -- so the Broncos and Coach Leon Rice must make inroads with higher caliber recruits. Let's see what happens come November and also the later signing period.

Similarly, PTW believes it's likely that Fresno State will be minus Greg Smith (dependent on him enjoying a breakout season) come the move to the MWC, so a major infusion of frontcourt talent is a must.

As for the MWC, New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV are the Big Brothers in hoops, with Texas Christian and Wyoming as possibilities of being contenders down the road. The Big Three can be caught, now it's up to the respective coaching staffs to do so.

Sam Wasson interviews Karl Benson

Sam Wasson of the BleedCrimson.net site has posted his interview with WAC Commissioner Karl Benson. Go here to access it.