Saturday's state of the WAC

Too bad for Kyle Gibson as he has dislocated a shoulder  -- read about it here.

+++++

Daniel Lyght offers a must-read article all about the vagaries of the APR. Granted, a measurement tool is needed but this is a sledgeghammer-to-firefly method of operation, with no allowance for explaining situations that are not simply black and white.

+++++

Jason Groves has an interesting blog entry up today about who on the New Mexico State squad should be the 'designated' last shot taker in a close or tied game. Every WAC fan should be pondering this situation for his or her team, especially with the changeovers in personnel on so many squads.

+++++

Chris Murray has the latest on Armon Johnson and Luke Babbitt here.  

+++++

The students at UH are going to have to dig a bit deeper into their wallets to help out athletics -- Dave Reardon and Ferd Lewis offer their respective takes.

+++++

The legend of Bol Kong continues to grow as he has departed Gonzaga and some are speculating about the chances of Kong joining up with Boise State due to the Leon Rice connection. Right now, that seems very unlikely if not a put-to-bed option.

+++++

Yahoo Sports has a piece on the NCAA issuing a directive to coaches prohibiting financial contributions to a Pump Brothers foundation.

+++++

Maybe we are in the minority or even alone on this one but we don't even bother with ESPN's SportsCenter anymore. An Rx is offered here that might get us back to watching but our sense is matters will get worse before any sort of intervention takes place.

A few more WAC items for Tuesday

Ethan Conley reports that Kyle Gibson has hooked up with the Miami Heat for the summer. It's a team needing more than a handful of players, having jettisoned most of the existing roster in preparation for the free agency bounty currently on the market. This could work out.

+++++

PTW noticed in the Deseret News that former Hawaii backcourter Dom Waters will summer with the Utah Jazz. He transferred to Portland State after his sophomore season in the islands.

+++++

Tony Jones reports on the signing of Norvell Arnold here.

It's Gameday

Chris Murray has a preview of the Nevada - Idaho matchup here.

+++++

Sam Wasson offers multiple features. Here is a preview featuring a Marvin Menzies video interview. Sam also breaks down each tournament game today and that can be found here.

Jason Groves interviews departing Aggie senior Jonathan Gibson here.

+++++

Jimmy Watson features Kyle Gibson in a Les Stroud/Bear Grylls reference here. It's been a tough tenure for the LA TECH star but he's going out on a high, competing for the WAC championship and, no, he doesn't enjoy grubs and other creepy crawlies as snack food. Let's hope KG is back to full health and feeling no aftereffects from his ankle sprain.

+++++

So you think you can dance? Paul George answers in the affirmative in Daniel Lyght's feature here.

+++++

Nick Jezierny offers his game breakdown here. There's Billyball, small ball and also long ball -- Nick says here that Boise State is counting on the latter to take down USU.

Jared Eborn says tyhe Aggies are looking to roll a trey in the next few days here. Shawn Harrison offers that Utah State is all Buster Poindexter at the moment (hot hot hot) here. Tony Jones is here with his pre-game coverage.

The 411 on Kyle Gibson

We received a pair of responses to our query about how Louisiana Tech was able to land Kyle Gibson out of SoCal.

The first was posted as a reply to the original story by Bret H. McCormick - FYI, here is his blog:

"The story we heard at Louisiana Tech was that Tim Floyd was recruiting Kyle while he was at Southern Cal. Was really impressed with what he saw, but he didn't think Kyle was quite good enough to play at USC. Of course, he'd love to ship him off the West Coast and also help out his alma mater, so he passed a tip along to then Louisiana Tech coach Keith Richard. La. Tech looked at Gibson on tape, made the offer and the rest, as they say, is history."

Plus, this came to us anonymously:

"Gibson had a significant injury during/immediate after his senior year of high school so he received no scholarship offers. He did not attend college anywhere over the next year while getting healthy. He intended to play at nearby USC and would workout with several of the players in their offseason. Tim Floyd, Louisiana Tech grad and then USC head coach, really liked Gibson but did not have any slots open on his roster. He called his long time friend Keith Richard and made a recommendation and the rest is history."

So there we have the story behind the story. A tip o' of hat to Brett McCormick and Mr/Ms/Mrs Anonymous. Sometimes The Shadow knows, most of the time the readers know.

We had completely forgotten that Gibson came to LT when Keith Richard was the head coach.

How did Kyle Gibson get out of southern California?

Does anyone know the answer?

To the question of how Dorsey High's (Los Angeles) Kyle Gibson signed on with Louisiana Tech?

Gibson played for his father at Dorsey High. He averaged 23 points per game as a senior and was an All-City selection since his sophomore season so his bonafides were established and his talent/potential well known.

He got his feet wet as a Bulldog freshman and has been a mainstay ever since then for the LA TECH program.

So why didn't one of the many colleges/universities throughout California gobble up the young man? Please do not take any of this as anywhere remotely close to being pejorative -- it's simply an 'inquiring minds want to know' thing.

Was Gibson somehow overlooked? Was he not ranked among the better players in SoCal as a senior? Did the recruiting 'herd mentality' strike?

Kyle Gibson is the WAC POW

Per Jason Erickson, the WAC Director of Media Relations, Louisiana Tech's Kyle Gibson is the WAC Player of the Week:

Louisiana Tech's Kyle Gibson has been named the Verizon Wireless Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week award for Gibson.

Gibson, a senior guard from Los Angeles, Calif. (Dorsey HS), helped the Bulldogs to a 2-0 record last week with wins over ULM and Northwestern State. Gibson scored 26 points, including the game-winning three-pointer as time expired to give Louisiana Tech a 76-73 victory over ULM. Gibson also scored a career-high 29 points with a career-high seven assists in a 98-70 win against Northwestern State.

On the week, Gibson averaged 27.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He shot 59.3 percent from the field (16-of-27) and 92.3 percent from the free throw line (12-of-13).

Other nominees:

* Boise State senior forward Ike Okoye
* Fresno State senior forward Sylvester Seay
* Hawai'i senior forward Petras Balocka .
* Idaho senior guard Kashif Watson
* Nevada junior guard Armon Johnson
* Utah State senior guard Jared Quayle

Ron Tyler posts about Kyle Gibson

Ron Tyler offers some love for Kyle Gibson, readying for his senior season with Louisiana Tech. Of anyone in the WAC considering what he has played through, Gibson deserves a season surrounded by talented teammates implementing an 'all for one, one for all' philosophy and zero player disruptions and defections.

Kyle Gibson keeps getting better
Ron Tyler
A Closer Look at LATECH Hoops
August 30, 2009

Remember how Kyle Gibson averaged 20.5 points over the last eleven games of the season and I said he’s going to have a huge senior year…..

He kept up where he left off in March this summer playing in the Drew Summer League in Los Angeles. In fact Kyle was named the MVP of the Championship Game. What is the Drew Summer League you ask? Who did Kyle spend the summer playing against?

Go here for the remainder.

Kyle Gibson also sniffing out the NBA

Joining teammate Magnum Rolle, Louisiana Tech backcourter Kyle Gibson will also be checking out what the NBA poobahs think of his game.

From the LT athletics site:

Gibson Also Considering NBA; Will Not Hire Agent
Gibson to Test NBA Waters
April 26, 2009

RUSTON - Like junior Magnum Rolle before him, Louisiana Tech junior Kyle Gibson will also consider the 2009 NBA draft but not hire an agent so he can have the option to return to the Bulldogs for his senior season.

Gibson was Tech's leading scorer last season at 16.1 points per game and was named to the All-WAC Second Team. Gibson was also first-team All-LSWA for his efforts in the 2008-09 season...

Go here for the remainder.