A couple more items

Jeff Goodman offered a pair of WAC-related items in his column today.

In an item about Marshall University Coach Tom Herrion's recruiting class, Goodman wrote this:

"...Herrion also signed ... former New Mexico State guard Johnny Higgins – who spent last season at a junior college in Texas..."

plus this:

"...Want a player to watch this season that you’ve probably never heard of?  Nevada’s Devonte Elliott, who didn’t qualify out of high school a year ago, is expected to be cleared by the NCAA to play for the Wolf Pack this season. Elliott has grown to 6-foot-10 and has a chance to be special..."

Are we piling on?

Somehow we missed this before but Gary Parrish's blog had this snippet about the now departed Johnny Higgins:

NEW MEXICO STATE’S OFF-COURT TROUBLES CONTINUE

"...Now freshman guard Johnny Higgins, according to sources, has been kicked out of the program for his role in a pair of altercations..."

Two?

An ESPN scouting report describes Higgins thusly: "...an extremely powerful point guard who is able to out-muscle virtually any opposing lead guard..." and "...his best work comes at the defensive end of the floor where his size and quickness, along with his tough and aggressive nature..."

We obviously have no idea if the blowups happened on or off the court and understand that altercations do happen, especially nowadays and at that age. While we certainly don't wish to go after an 18-year-old there clearly are some anger management issues that he had better address before his basketball recruiting gets curtailed or even worse.

Higgins not at NMSU but is in New Mexico

Now Gary Parrish has gotten into the act and is reporting that New Mexico State freshman point Johnny Higgins is at a junior college in The Land of Enchantment.

Gary Parrish
September 24, 2008

Johnny Higgins is leaving New Mexico State before he ever played a game.

"He's going to transfer," Higgins' former AAU coach, Anthony Lewis, told CBSSports.com by phone. "He's transferring to New Mexico Junior College."

Though Lewis said he had no knowledge of an incident, a source told CBSSports.com that Higgins was involved in a physical altercation that precipitated this development. Reached by phone late Wednesday, New Mexico State coach Marvin Menzies declined comment but said the school did plan to make a Thursday morning announcement about Higgins, a 6-2 point guard who played at Notre Dame Prep last season...

A quick question: This same thing took place last season with Troy Gillenwater, Hamidu Rahman and Robert Lumpkins each getting acclimated to post-high school life and school with enrollments into the New Mexico junior college ranks. For the record, they were not 'exiled' due to any behavioral issues. We have no idea how many units each was enrolled in but did wonder at the time about the affordability of out-of-state tuition for the trio. The same goes for Higgins who recently arrived in the state.

Let's hope Coach Menzies clears up the Higgins situation today with either a press conference or an official statement. To us, it appears Higgins has the possibility of earning his way back to the Aggies because there's no other reason for him to be at a junior college in New Mexico.

Why the 'mainstream media' is indispensable

Sure, a decent percentage of what turns into actual articles on newspaper and other sports media sites first appears on message boards and the like.

But the problem is the trustworthiness of message board postings as anonymity rules in that domain and it so hard to determine the veracity of both a poster and the message(s).

So yes, newspapers may be struggling to some degree -- although earnings sure seem to be fairly healthy -- but where would we bloggers be without the material provided by beat reporters and the like? It's a symbiotic relationship -- they report and we link.

Something becomes official under the masthead of a newspaper which is not the process for an item on a message board.

Take the situation with NMSU freshman Johnny Higgins.

His 'situation' first came to light on a message board and it was up in the air as to the validity. But now, Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News has posted something and now we can rest assured that Higgins indeed gotten himself in some proverbial hot water in Las Cruces,

On Thursday, Groves posted this about walk-on tryouts for men's basketball at NMSU:

"This is interesting

I don't know if this is to promote some interest in the team on campus or perhaps it's a common occurance all over the country, or is evidence that the Johnny Higgins was dismissed rumor to be true. My understanding is that his fate at NMSU is yet to be determined. Stay tuned."

Jason Groves with more on Johnny Higgins

We learn a little bit more about one of Coach Marvin Menzies' latest recruits:

Higgins happy to be an Aggie
Jason Groves
Las Cruces Sun-News
5/18/2008

LAS CRUCES — After visiting Las Cruces last weekend, Johnny Higgins made up his mind to become an Aggie.

On Friday, New Mexico State announced that Higgins, a three-star guard according to Rivals.com, and 7-foot center Abdoulaye N'doye committed to play at NMSU next year on scholarship.

"When I came on my visit, I just realized it's something different," said Higgins, who played the last two seasons at Notre Dame Prepatory School in Fitchburg, Mass. "I'm from the East Coast, so stepping into that environment out West was like where I want to be. As the week went on, I was asking myself, "why wouldn't I want to be there?'"

Before the Aggies could bring him in, Higgins was released from his letter of intent at Duquesne University, where he said he committed in November to follow former Notre Dame Prep coach Bill Barton, who landed an assistant coaching job. According to Higgins' father, Melvin Bartee, Higgins was never excited about playing in Pittsburgh.

"We just decided to go our separate ways," said Higgins, who was released from Duquesne in April...

Go here for the remainder.