Great/crazy story from Shwetha Surendran of ESPN on Cal State University Bakersfield MBB scandal
California school hired a coach, but police say he moonlighted as a pimp
www.espn.com/college-spor...
In which I explain very politely to the Sun Belt, and all its detractors, that the Sun Belt ladder format is objectively right. www.basketunderreview.com/the-sun-belt...
Great newsletter to see in my inbox.
@mattbrown.bsky.social with receipts of some HMs Miami (OH) tried to play but were scared.
Example: 😂 Pitt lost buy game on same day anyways
What a line 😂
"Steve Pikiell's agent negotiated one of the all-time one-sided contracts. Rutgers might dissolve as a university if it paid out the remainder of his contract: the school would be on the hook for more than $20 million."
The bosses asked me to write up an overview of the 2026 coaching carousel.
We've still got a lot of fogginess, but I think this is a fair assessment of the hot seat as of this week. My over/under for high-major job changes: 10.5.
Certainly possible we get a surprise pop in the next 10-15 days.
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
How Gonzaga-Saint Mary’s evolved into one of college basketball’s most riveting rivalries | West Coast Conclusion
The DUNKERQUE, where Murray State frosh standout Roman Domon played
NCAA ties:
Edon Maxhuni: Long Beach St
Mike Lewis, Duquesne
Chris Babb: Iowa State
David Joplin: Marquette
Jacob Gilyard, Richmond
And they got the French LOUKA ... Louka Letailleur, big timer in 2008 gen
Cholet has very impressive young PG Aaron Towo-Nansi, at 5'9, 16, getting real run in French Pro A + FIBA Basketball Champions League (3rd tier, one behind EuroCup).
To be this short/young and getting run vs. grown men in good league, rare!
Cholet NCAA ties
TJ Campell (Portland), 5'9 PG getting it done at 38 ... mid major killers!
Mo Diarra (NC State)
Chibuzo Agbo (USC)
Qudus Wahab (Penn St)
Keshawn Justice (Santa Clara)
Jamuni McNeace (Oklahoma)
Deandre Gholston (Mizzou)
Also Gerald Ayayi, brother of Joel (Gonzaga)
LIVE HOOPS!
"Looking for SLEEPERS, in the countries ... that everybody sleeping on!"
DEEP in the part of France a lot of French people haven't even been to ... Maine-et-Loire region, CHOLET, aka handkerchief town aka "The house that Rudy Gobert built"
Cc: @maxjacoby.bsky.social
"He admits he overlooked Tanner in his initial roster evaluation.
And then Byington actually had his first real conversation with Tanner and his family.
"I sat down with him for like five minutes, and I'm like, 'I might have just met the best young man I've ever met in my life,'" Byington said.
Good morning from glazed-over Nashville. Here's a big column on a small guy who plays larger than anyone on the court.
Tyler Tanner is a diminutive dynamo who grew up 15 minutes from Vanderbilt but rarely went to the games—because Vandy often lost.
Now he's changing all of that for the 18-3 Dores.
Brayden Burries ... The guys who go about things the right way in recruiting process seem to find their way. Pops seems plugged in on the right things
Arizona is 21-0.
It dangerously flirted with being 20-1.
But it's 21-0.
And it just induced AJ Dybantsa into the worst game of his college career.
I talked to Tommy Lloyd and Brayden Burries—who vastly outplayed Dybantsa—after last night's win. Column from Provo:
No. 25 Miami is college basketball’s best-kept secret: Why the RedHawks are ranked, undefeated, and unsatisfied
www.cleveland.com/sports/colle...
"There are student-athletes who are at their 4th & 5th college & several who are older than NBA MVP [SGA] who played his last college game for me 8 years ago
While this plays out, college students are transferring so frequently that they’re not staying on track to earn a degree
Didn't expect this when perusing the international and domestic news of the day. 😂
John Calipari has penned an op-ed in Washington Post
How to stop the chaos of college sports
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Column: Everyone is trying to figure out Indiana's secret sauce under Curt Cignetti. The main ingredient is stunningly simple. A breakdown of the Hoosiers' historically great ability to not screw up. bit.ly/49GRbVP
#Nebrasketball is HERE
Nebraska basketball’s stunning rise: Huskers crack top 10 for first time since 1966
apnews.com/article/top-...
"And I don’t think I agree that based on past precedent in terms of who the first four out and the bubble teams are, that it’s the 12th, 13th and 14th power-conference schools. "
New: Q &A with NCAA president Charlie Baker. Eligibility, portal, NIL, CSC, tourney expansion … and his favorite sporting events since becoming the most enthusiastic fan to ever lead the association. bit.ly/45x3OAn
“I would just say with the players, obviously with all the G League (guys), I just had no idea that that was even an option. I thought it was actually a joke when I saw it. I just assumed that when you stay in the draft or you get drafted that you would forgo your college eligibility. I was not aware of the loopholes in it. My biggest thing I would say is, listen, player empowerment’s great. Players have to do what they can to make sure that they're doing what's in their best interest. They're taking advantage of those opportunities now with NIL and the portal. The coaches are obviously always gonna do what’s in their best interest if they can grab a player from somewhere. It's gone on forever. Coaches have cheated in recruiting for years. They’ve paid players. I mean, the coaches are gonna find ways to make their team the best they can be. But I would say my biggest thing is: who’s looking out for the shield, the college basketball (shield)? Who’s protecting college basketball, one of the most special things we have in sports. College basketball, March Madness, the second biggest annual sporting event every year. We need a commissioner. We need rules, we need guidelines. The frustrating part is we all are willing to adapt and play this new game in this new era of, I guess college sports, or whether it's G League — I don't know what we're in exactly right now — but it's a frustrating game to play when you don't know the rules and rules are being made up as you go and there's no communication and there's no leadership. So, I think college basketball needs a commissioner. A (Roger) Goodell. A David Stern. Somebody that's gonna make decisions and start making moves that are in the best interest of college basketball, not just having coaches and players do what's in the best interest of them.”
I reached out to Dan Hurley for a quote about Baylor adding a former NBA pick/in-season roster adds. He left me a voice memo tonight with a thought on the state of CBB. Hurley understandably catches flack about his sideline antics, but IMO he cares about the sport as much as any coach out there.
Baylor has landed an in-season free agent who was an NBA pick in 2023. The news set the college sports world aflame.
I talked to Scott Drew this morning about why he did it, but more than that, laid out just how increasingly common rostering pros is becoming in college sports.
Please read:
"a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll of 1,032 American adults found plummeting support for sports gambling nationwide, compared with a similar poll conducted in 2022, and widespread concern about the possibility of fixed or rigged outcomes"
"the integrity of games — perhaps the most precious commodity in sports and the one that once united the leagues’ commissioners against gambling — is increasingly being called into question, a trend some are calling an existential threat to the long-term viability of sports."
"“Journalism has had a problem where it does not speak up for itself enough,” Torre said.
“And fundamentally, I just won’t apologize for that. And so if I’m going to come off like an influencer in that regard, this is what I have made peace with in 2025.”
Interesting @washingtonpost.com profile of Pablo Torre
www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...
“Journalists maybe stopped appreciating how cool their job is.
"You guys are basically detectives if you’re actually reporting s---. Bringing people into the process is like bringing them into a movie.”
It’s not even January, but Tim Bergstraser is already delivering feats the Denver men’s basketball program hasn’t seen in over 20 years.
www.denvergazette.com/2025/12/26/t...
D.J. Wagner, once the nation's No. 1 recruit, embraces his role as a college basketball veteran
www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2025/de...
Wyoming's Wicks not using NIL as an excuse
www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/un...
“We can’t be the team that sits there and has an excuse like, ‘Ah man, we’re not quite there yet, and our budget’s not quite there yet, and we don’t have what Grand Canyon has,’”
