SB Nation - Nick Calathes

Know your March Madness Spoilers

SFBE.NF — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:34:26 -0000

Joe Lunardi resurfaced today on ESPN.com, and he wasn't kind to the little guy. This year, according to the original Bracketologist, only Xavier will qualify as a non-BCS, at-large tournament team. It's sad to think, but maybe true. I say we blame the economy!

Despite this sobering news, below are 10 players we reccommend you at least take heed of, so you're not Googling them when Greg Gumbel is singing their praises after an incredible first round upset in March.

Luke Babbitt; Sophomore, Nevada - So you're a McDonalds All-American and receive offers from nearly every Pac 10 school, Ohio State and Gonzaga...what do you do? Well, if you're Luke Babbitt, you stay close to home and go to Nevada. After initially committing to play for Thad Matta, Babbitt got cold feet and decided he wanted to remain near his parents. He's a pro prospect, but playing in a lesser conference seems to put more pressure on the sophomore, who will be expected to be great for the entire season, turn his "Freshman of the Year" award into "Player of the Year" and build upon his 17/7.3/1.3 stat line.

Marqus Blakely; Senior, Vermont - OK let's get this out of the way...America East is one of the least basketball-centric conferences in the country, so when a player catches our eye, he must be impressive. Blakely is a two-time American East player of the year and is going to have quite a burden on his shoulders, as the Catamounts graduated 35 percent of their scoring and it's all time assists leader Miki Trimboli. But at 6'5" 235, Blakely is an explosive scoring threat, and a feared shot blocker who probably will lead his team in all major categories.

Osiris Eldridge; Senior, Illinois State - Finishing a close third to Siena's Just-in'love Smith and Cal's Bak Bak, Eldridge holds claim to one of the baddest names in the college game. Last season ended on a sour note for Eldridge, as he missed a three pointer that would have forced a second overtime against Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Tourney Final. Expect the Redbirds to be matched-up against the Panthers once again when the precious NCAA Tournament berth is on the line. Also please take note of his nicely maintained Euro-hawk.

Kenneth Faried; Junior, Morehead State - Quick, who was second in the NCAA last season in double-doubles? No idiot, it wasn't Eric Devendorf, this title belongs to Faried, a New Jersey native who migrated to eastern Kentucky to serve as one of the most imposing players in Ohio Valley Conference. This guy probably plays harder, meaner and faster than any of his opponents, and just may be the country's most prolific rebounder by the end of this season.

Paul George; Sophomore, Fresno State - Come March, George's time as 'just a nice mid-major player' will likely be long gone. After a surprise freshman season (averaging 14 and 6) George often executes foolish dunks, strokes at a 45 percent clip from behind the arc, and is a legit NBA prospect drawing comparisons to Rudy Gay. Yeah, many BCS-schools are kicking themselves for missing this one.

Anthony Johnson; Senior, Montana - In his first season playing DI basketball as a JuCo transfer, Johnson lit up the Big Sky last year putting up scoring numbers not seen by the conference since Rodney Stuckey was killin it at Eastern Washington. Johnson is the reigning conference POY and as a 6'3" wing player, is very efficient . He shoots at 50 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from long range.

Johnathan Jones; Senior, Oakland - Last season's NCAA leader in assists, Jones dropped double-digit dimes (now there's some alliteration) in nine of the Grizzlies last 12 games. Starting every game since he's been on campus, and the only player to ever chalk up 1000 points and 500 assists in a career, Jones has already earned the title as the program's most decorated player. And with that darling Ben Woodside of North Dakota State moving on, Oakland is the favorite to win the Summit league as Jones will enjoy dishing out to three other returning starters all season long.

Larry Sanders; Junior, Virginia Commonwealth - No Eric Maynor, no Anthony Grant, no problem! The 6'10" junior who shares the same name as Gary Shandling's hit HBO show is still here! Sanders has a freakish 91 inch wingspan, and was 11^th in the country last season in blocks. While it's quite rare in college basketball, Sanders will be a triple-double threat this season if CAA players repeatedly try and shoot over this guy. NBA scouts like him, but will love him if he develops are more consistent offensive game this season. Nonetheless, first year coach Shaka Smith has a real asset in his frontcourt.

A.J. Slaughter; Senior, Western Kentucky - He's still eligible? That's right, after two years of playing along side Courtney Lee, Tyrone Brazelton and Orlando Mendez-Valdez, Slaughter is still kicking around and arguably the top player in the Sun Belt. Along with Steffphon Pettigrew, Slaughter will lead a team that returns four starters and itching to get back to the dance after being on the wrong side of one of last season's plays of the year.

Edwin Ubiles; Senior, Siena - For what it's worth, Edwin Ubiles has won more NCAA Tournament games than recent college basketball notables Nick Calathes, Eric Gordon, and Greg Monroe combined. After a dramatic victory over Ohio State last season, Siena comes in this season as the trendy mid-major looking to be a Top 25 mainstay this season- and Ubiles will be the man to lead them. Georgia Tech aside, the Saints schedule is pretty benign, so the selection committee will leave little wiggle room for this program to be an at-large bid candidate. Ubiles' athleticism is on par with the top players in the country, and if he develops any sort of outside game he could be an NBA draft pick.

Basketball Begins Tonight, Sort Of

mlmintampa — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:38:35 -0000

In exhibition play, your Florida Gators face St. Leo in the first scrimmage of the season. Before real live basketball begins on Nov. 15, the Gators will get to see how legit Vernon Macklin and and Kenny Boynton are. You have to hope these two bring much needed toughness, especially Macklin as a former Georgetown center. Boynton will not be able to fill the void left by Nick Calathes exile to Greece, so you will see a UF squad much different than previous seasons.

UF will play Webber on Nov. 9 for their second and final exhibition game.

Thursday Zags Around the Web: SB Nation gets a Makeover

Zach B — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:31:35 -0000

The new SB Nation: It's all you'll ever need to keep up on sports!

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Just a few links for you this morning as we continue to await the release of the Gonzaga basketball schedule. Looking back to last year, it appear that the schedule wasn't released until late September so I guess we shouldn't be getting our hopes up too much but I think we've already got a pretty good grasp on the nonconference which makes it a lot easier.

-- First and foremost, as you all know, The Slipper Still Fits is a part of the SB Nation network and late last night, the network made a huge jump and updated their homepage. There are a number of new features to fiddle around with. The one I like the most is the top row of scores that also gives you a look in at live game threads and how active they are. The site will keep you updated to the very second when news breaks and should hopefully become your one-stop place to keep up on all sporting news. Click here to see a post outlining the new site, otherwise just browse around and enjoy the hard work SB Nation has put in to make the site what it is.

-- A pretty dull summer as far as recruiting goes should be heating up as the fall starts up. Today marks the first day of Darrell Williams' official visit to the Gonzaga campus. Darrell is currently enrolled at Midland Junior College after transferring from Chipola JC in Florida. He is obviously a player that has arisen out of nowhere and on to our radar but after watching a few videos on him from Chipola, it is pretty clear that Gonzaga has been tracking him for quite some time. Williams is a wide-bodied, 6'8'' post player with some above average athleticism. He falls in the 2010 cycle of recruiting which is very competitive at this point for Gonzaga because of their limited scholarship availability. It remains to be seen whether or not Mark Few will decide to bring anyone in with the 2010 class but at this point, Williams is one of the candidates. Hopefully some of our student-readers have their eyes peeled this weekend and can report back to us if they happen to catch a glimpse of big Darrell Williams.

-- Elias Harris' minutes have steadily increased while playing in Poland with the German Senior National team. Elias' most recent game came against Latvia and he showed very well in his 16 minutes of action. Harris attempted two shots in the game, a three-pointer and a two and connected on both of them. He also matched those five points with five rebounds including two of the offensive glass. Germany's next game will take place tomorrow against Greece which has yet to lose a game and features players like Kosta Koufos and Nick Calathes.

-- Another 2010 recruit of interest for Gonzaga fans is off the board. Keala King, who wound up being the top-rated player out of California according to Rivals.com, has committed to Arizona State and Coach Herb Sendek. King's 6'5'' point guard who really blew up this summer and had the entire Pac-10 after him. Gonzaga's interest seemed to be fleeting so this isn't a huge surprise but I thought that Arizona and Stanford had a very good shot at him.

-- Just a scheduling reminder: Gonzaga women's volleyball and soccer are on the road this weekend but the men are hosting the Nike Soccer Classic at Gonzaga. Tomorrow they will be taking on Georgia Southern at 4 PM and Sunday they will face off with Detroit at 1 PM. As always, keep updated on Gonzaga fall sports with our Google Calendar on the right sidebar.

The Real Decision Time For Calathes: Greece or Minnesota?

mlmintampa — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:05:29 -0000

Nick Calathes was selected 45th by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Draft. But if Calathes wants to purify himself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, instead of the Aegean Sea, the T-Wolves will have to hand over $500,000 for a buyout in addition to probably matching the $2 million deal in Greece.

Calathes also has himself in a clusterf, if he is not committed to one or the other. The Greek team signed a former Indiana Pacer to play the point, possibly sticking Calathes on the bench. The T-Wolves drafted three point guards before they even got to Calathes. (This is like the Detroit Lions with wide receivers.) The T-Wolves will hold Calathes rights, so it does not make sense for Calathes to leave for the NBA now. In Greece, he is a backup at worst. In Minnesota, he's behind draft picks Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson and veteran Sebastian Telfair. Unless he wants precious summer league minutes, he will stay in Greece.

Nick Calathes the Target at 24?

Wes Cox — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:22:31 -0000

Draft Express is hearing that the Mavs target with the 24th pick is Florida PG Nick Calathes.

We're receiving some indications that the Dallas Mavericks are still in hot pursuit of Greek-bound Nick Calathes with the #24 pick. Owner Mark Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle are both fans of the big point guard, and appear to be willing to wait a year until signing him. There is a school of thought that Calathes may be able to get out of his contract with Panathinaikos and play for the Mavs this year already, possibly with a buyout, but we're not sure of how accurate that is...

...Sacramento likes Calathes at 23, but appears to be leaning in other directions, although that could change.

Mike Fisher has also heard that the Mavs' really like him'. This goes along with the quotes yesterday that Dallas thinks they can get their guy at 24, because I don't think I've seen a mock that has Calathes going higher than 22. Chad Ford currently has him at 26 to Chicago.

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #29: Los Angeles Lakers

Scott Schroeder — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:44:03 -0000

With the twenty-ninth pick in the SBNation Mock Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers (We know they sold it, but we're still putting this up because we felt like it), represented by Dexter Fishmore over at Silver Screen and Roll, select... (Drum Roll please)

With the next-to-last pick in the first round, assuming it hasn't been traded away by the time you read this, the Virtual Lakers select Nick Calathes of Florida. Woo... hoo?

You'll forgive Laker fans if their level of excitement for this year's draft is something less than feverish. Prospect hounds hither and yon seem to agree that the 2009 harvest is an uncommonly poor one, and even were that not the case, the end of the first round is never where a defending champ restocks for the repeat campaign. Draft day, after all, is the yearly occasion the NBA devotes to punishing the successful. You say you were the best player in the college game last year? Congratulations! Donald Sterling as a W-2 for you to fill out. Your franchise just won 65 games and a league title? Good for you. Now kindly chill for a couple hours while your vanquished opponents are afforded exclusive negotiating rights to the best prospects. Once they're done, we'll let you sift through the bargain bin for a little something for your D-League roster.

The institution bears the stink of Marxian class warfare and would no doubt make the Founding Fathers' blood run cold.

But back to Calathes. He's a 20-year-old nominal point guard who was the best player on a couple NIT Gator teams. Depending on whom you ask, he's either 6'5" or 6'6", which would normally mean that he's too tall to play the point in the Association; the Lakers' system, however, doesn't require or even really prefer a drive-and-distribute point guard in the classical mold. Phil Jackson has always had a fondness for tall, hybrid guards who can pass and defend - think Ron Harper - an archetype that Calathes fits into quite snugly. He needs to get stronger and work on his free-throw stroke, but his shooting from the field has been sound enough to suggest that the skills are there, and that improvement from the line will occur in due course.

And here's the best part: the Lakers won't have to pay him next year! He's headed off to Greece to play for Panathinaikos, which works out great for everyone concerned. The Lakers don't have any minutes for him yet and have better uses for their money than to pay a rookie benchwarmer. And in A1 Ethniki, Nick will face better competishe than he would in the D League. So while he's off doing the sorts of things all American postcollegiates do in Europe - growing unfortunate facial hair, learning to ride a Vespa and developing enthusiastic opinions about public health care - the Lakers will keep an eye on his evolving skills and, a year from now, decide whether buying out his Euro deal and putting him on a rookie scale contract is less hassle than negotiating with the Chinese government to keep Sun Yue in the States.

(Also, it will give everyone a year to learn how to pronounce Calathes, which I think rhymes with pilates. Please note, however, that I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce pilates either.)

Anyhow. Enjoy Greece, Nick. We'll call you when we need you.

Tuesday News and Notes: Jodie Meeks to Remain in NBA Draft and other News

Gamecock Man — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:36:03 -0000

The big story today is that Kentucky's Jodie Meeks is going pro. Meeks was the last major SEC player who was undecided about his draft status. His choice to stay in means that, of all the league's players that were considering the jump, only Meeks and Florida's Nick Calathes (who has signed a contract to play in Europe) won't be back next year.

Now that we knows who's coming back and who's not, what can we expect in the league next year? Like Seth Emerson, I tend to think that Kentucky will weather losing Meeks. Meeks is certainly a great player, but with the talent John Calipari has brought to Lexington, it's hard to imagine that any team in the SEC is better than the 'Cats. As Emerson says, the only question mark for Kentucky right now is that they will be an extremely young team next year. With South Carolina and Tennessee returning extremely experienced teams (we'll likely be starting three seniors and two juniors--when was the last time that happened?), the 'Cats youth could be a liability for them. They'll have to quickly mesh as a team, which could be a challenge considering that all the freshmen were prep stars that have been used to being the center of their teams' offenses. If they can do that, though, they should still be the team to beat in the SEC.

Things are a little more uncertain for the Gators. Of all the highly recruited players Billy Donovan has brought to Gainesville since winning back-to-back national titles, only Calathes seemed capable of living up to his billing. He was the center of his team last year, so one would think losing him would really hurt Florida. However, some Gators fans I've talked to felt like Donovan should have made Calathes distribute and get other players involved more, and it's certainly true that Florida hasn't lived up to expectations with Calathes running the offense. That being the case, it's always possible that a lineup change could end up being good for the rest of the team. Florida also has highly rated point guard prospect Kenny Boynton on the way. Boynton should be ready to contribute immediately. All in all, I'd say that the Gators should be able to handle losing Calathes, but I'm not as confident about that as I am when I say it about Kentucky.

One thing that is apparent is that the SEC East will be very good next year. While Kentucky is a clear favorite, only Georgia appears to lack the talent to make an NCAAs run. Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt will all have good teams next year, so expect a closely played division.

A few more tidbits:

CFN previews South Carolina. This is one of the more optimistic previews I've seen. While CFN points out that we lose a lot, they also look at several indications that we may be better this year and state that nine or ten wins is a possibility.
QB Dylan Thompson signs LOI of 2010. Thompson hails from Boiling Springs and is currently rated at three stars. Welcome aboard!
DeAngelo Mack signs with the New York Yankees. Good luck to DMack in the pros.

Tuesday News and Notes: Regional Matchups and SEC Tidbits

Gamecock Man — Tue, 26 May 2009 02:04:58 -0000

I just got back from New England. The trip included a visit to the nineteenth-century whaling town New Bedford, a historic visit to Boston, and a visit to Maine that included a successful whale watching expedition. As a youngster growing up in Mobile, AL, I never got to see all the historic whale stuff that understandably fascinates kids (although I did spend many great times on the Gulf), so the whale-related trips brought out the inner child in me. Overall, it was a great, refreshing vacation for someone that's been putting in lots of hours of work over the past few months.

Onto the news. USC landed at the second seed in the Greenville, NC (East Carolina) regional and will open against George Mason. East Carolina gets fourth seed Binghamton. Here's the basics of what you need to know about the seeds:

1. East Carolina: 42-17 Conference USA champ
2. South Carolina: 38-21 at-large pick from SEC
3. George Mason: 42-12 at-large pick from Colonial Athletic Association
4. Binghamton: 29-20 America East champ

Binghamton isn't a particularly good team and won't last very long barring a Cindarella run. George Mason totally dominated their conference but hasn't faced much competition from elite teams. Their best non-con win came against a mediocre NC State team, and they lost a handful of games against other non-elite teams from major conferences. Based on a taste test, they appear to be a good but not great team. East Carolina more or less dominated the the relatively stiff C-USA slate and has a decent record against a moderately tough non-con slate. They beat a handful of decent teams and came up just short against powerhouse UNC. My guess is that we should be able to take George Mason but that beating ECU will prove pretty tough. A likely matchup against UNC or Coastal Carolina would likely await us if we advance.

A few more tidbits. Phil Steele has begun counting down his Top 40. Although he's been a little off in recent years, Steele is still one of the better prognosticators out there, so he's worth paying attention to. So far, he has three of our opponents listed, with Tennessee at 39, Arkansas at 33, and NC Stateat 32. With several more of our opponents sure to be listed, it looks like Steele thinks we'll have another brutal schedule. I'm also wondering if he'll list us. Steele has generally liked us in the past and in 2007 infamously picked us to win most of the games we lost during the slide, so maybe we should hope he doesn't list us for luck's sake.

ESPN is listing their top players in the SEC. Eric Norwood is number eleven. Too high or two low?

UPDATE: C. C. Whitlock arrested and suspended again. I would expect that Spurrier and staff will give Whitlock a chance to defend himself but, if things don't go his way, they'll boot him off the team. He just blew his last chance.

Nick Calathes has decided to sign with a European team, which means that the star Gator will certainly miss next year. That's probably good news for the rest of the SEC, although the fact that Billy Donvan signed star PG prospect Kenny Boynton may negate the effect of the Gators' loss of Calathes.

Finally, Kentucky defensive star Jeremy Jarmon has been barred from participating in the upcoming season after failing a test for a performance enhancing drug he was taking to help him rehabiltate from an injury. Jarmon claims he was unaware that the supplement he was taking contained a banned substance, but apparently that possibility didn't sway the NCAA. Losing Jarmon will be a significant blow to the 'Cats attempt to make a fourth straight bowl game this year.

Sprints is Taking on the Feds // 05.25.09

cocknfire — Mon, 25 May 2009 09:06:48 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

Jeremy Jarmon: Not a villian, not a victim.

Browse more photos »

PED: Performance-enhancing diet. So, C&F thought he had his lead item for Sprints in mind. Traveling for much of Sunday, he wasn't able to get to toast the LSU Bayou Bengals when they won the SEC Championship. They would make the perfect top item.

Then, he opened his RSS reader: Jeremey Jarmon. The mind creaked, snapping back into football season mode. Right, Kentucky.

NCAA ruling. Well, that can't be good. Either he screwed up, or the association is up to its usual ~~idiocy~~ strict enforcement of the code.

"Today I am not here to discuss the name of the substance that I took nor the place that I got it from." Wait a minute, that sounds like baseball. Specifically, it sounds like ...

And it is. An illegal supplement. And here we go.

If you haven't read Jarmon's statement, you should. It is how this type of thing should and must be handled. Sure, Jarmon talks about a reasonable enough excuse for taking it (dieting) and not knowing that the supplement was banned. But there are also stark expressions of guilt and culpability.

I made the decision to purchase this supplement. I made the decision to use this supplement. ...

I always had full intentions of telling the staff exactly what I was taking at an earlier date, but I was occupied with rehabbing and when I finally decided to inform the staff of my decision to take this supplement it was too late. ...

However, it was my responsibility to research this before I bought it or have it looked at by someone in our athletic facilities. All athletes at the University of Kentucky are well informed about the consequences of purchasing a supplement like I did. Every year we go through programs that outline and explain the rules. Clearly, I did not follow those rules on this one occasion.

Maybe C&F is being a bit gullible, but he finds this far more plausible than A-Rod's teary confession to Peter Gammons. ("Really, Alex. Have another cookie. There, doesn't that feel better?")

Tru at A Sea of Blue doesn't think this is fair, especially because Jarmon's name was withheld from the panel that judged him, which had to make a decision after essentially reading about his case.

Many will think that getting banned from NCAA participation for a year is unduly harsh punishment, and I agree. In an effort to remove the subjectivity from the process, the NCAA has essentially decided that college sports has no room for the fallibility of human memory when it comes to amateur athletics, and will brook no excuses or mitigating circumstances. ...
The question is why, in an area of reality where the imperfection of youthful decisions are acknowledged and often the basis for leniency, have we removed instances like this to an impersonal, anonymous process?

Unfortunately, we have to. As Tru himself alludes to, baseball tried to separate out the "really bad users" and the "not-so-bad users" in the beginning days of its drug-testing program. The result was a policy that lead to more suspicions, more Congressional hearings and more damage to the sport. We have a home run king tainted by talk of steroids. We have a potential successor, tained by a positive test. And the successor's teammate, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, fighting a legal battle about his alleged PED use.

John Clay also brings some perspective to the issue.

We're not talking steroids. We're talking an over-the-counter dietary supplement. ...

Does the punishment fit the crime? Taken as an individual case, no. But if the NCAA is serious about cleaning up the game, then its rules have to be strict, its penalties have to carry significant weight. The players are warned.

But he also, almost as an aside, poses an interesting question.

Dietary supplements exist in a shadowy, complicated drug world, one unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Why the **** not? Jarmon made the same mistake that thousands of college athletes could make, not to mention tens of thousands of high schoolers not equipped with trainers and S&C coaches might make. You get "nutritional" stores and supplement makers touting "More muscle mass! Less fat?" And the FDA is more concerned with -- what, exactly? Face paints that cause rashes?

Well, it's not entirely fair to say the supplements are "unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration." They'll step in once somebody dies.

Just in the nick of time.

Now for that congratulations. Enough with the righteous indignation. The LSU Tigers are your SEC Champions after breezing by Vanderbilt 6-2. The Bengals recover from an early loss to the Dores to take the win and carry momentum into the NCAA tournament. Mikie Mahtook takes the MVP award, and deservedly so after batting .455 in the SEC tourney.

The upshot for regionals: Hosting honors go to LSU, Ole Miss and Florida. C&F plans to liveblog the unveiling of the full bracket at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the SEC wrestles with how to fix the late ending time of games in fairness to the fans. Somehow, I'd rather have 2 a.m. baseball than 9 a.m. baseball.

Two things I never expected to write on this Web site -- The Riverdance and H/T: Huffington Post. But we have a dance-off between the USF and UConn baseball teams. One sincerely hopes this is not how they decide the Big East baseball title. The Macarena begins around 1:55, the Riverdance around 6:22. Don't say I didn't warn you.

(HT: Huffington Post)

'Bear Bryant: spread offense innovator?' Well, of course. All the good coaches are now experimenting with the spr -- Bear Bryant's dead? Really? That's what I get for listening to Alabama fans. (And I hereby officially retire the Bear Bryant is dead joke for the next six months on Team Speed Kills. I won't use it unless it's really, really funny.)

The Blotter. At first, South Carolina signee Ben Axon looks like yet another arrest for marijuana possession. Nothing new to see here, folks. Then you get to this sentence.

The officer smelled marijuana, and Axon showed him 23 baggies of marijuana that he said belonged to him.

Twenty-three baggies? Granted, that doesn't make the kid the Cali Cartel or anything, but what's the street value of 23 baggies of weed? (I am actually surprisingly ignorant of these things. But even if you go conservative and say it's a thousand or so, figure that if true this either isn't the first time Axon allegedly did this and/or wasn't the last time he allegedly planned on doing this -- well, then you're talking real money.)

It's all Greek to me. Florida's Nick Calathes will leave Gainesville to play for Panathinaikos, a Greek basketball team with a long name. Gator Clause sees this as an indication that Billy Donovan's program might be "in turmoil." Orange and Blue Hue sees "an incomplete legacy."

Look for South Carolina in the Top 10 -- again. Phil Steele is rolling out his Top 40 teams leading up the June 9 national holiday release of his preview magazine. (C&F was originally turned off by the design -- but a college football fan has to buy Steele. It's one of the most incredible things you'll ever see. It might also be one of the last things you'll ever see due to the eye strain caused by trying to read 3-point type, but it's worth it.) So far: Arkansas at 33, Tennessee at 39. We'll see if Phil has come to grips with the fact that South Carolina just has the dumb luck of losing a lot of close games, will always lose a lot of close games and should never come anywhere near his "Most Improved Teams" list.

Les Miles will work for peanuts. Or taffy, really. The article itself is interesting enough, but then you hit another one of those "slam on the breaks and back up the truck" sentences.

"I certainly understand the nature of the extraordinary times that we're in right now," said Miles, who holds a degree in economics from Michigan. "And I certainly am a part of this community. I hope it certainly doesn't get to that." [EMPHASIS C&F's]

So the fate of our nation's economy rests in the hands of people who took the same college courses as Les Miles? That explains so, so much ...

Successful coaches beware. That's the word from John Adams, who rallies to Mark Richt's defense with this gem:

Never mind that Georgia beat Alabama and Florida in 2007. SEC fans have short memories.

Now, C&F is on the record as saying the only reason he believes Georgia should dismiss Mark Richt is to help the Gamecocks. But please. Georgia beat Alabama in 2007?!? Louisiana-Monroe beat Alabama in 2007. So Richt proved Georgia was as good as ULM? That's the best defense you can come up with for one of the most successful coaches in the country over the last decade?

Wind Sprints. ASOB sums up a Scout article on Kenfucky's slate thusly, with emphasis added by C&F: "Kentucky's SEC schedule is daunting, but the OOC schedule isn't." Is it ever? ... Oh, to be a fly on the wall ... Rocky Top Talk is skeptical that Meyer will change his offense for Jesse Scroggins. Either him or John Brantley ... Houston Nutt & Co. commit a fairly bland secondary violation. I expect more style ...

Calathes Won't Go To NBA; He's Going To Greece

mlmintampa — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:15:27 -0000

I don't want to make a comment about the quality of Nick Calathes' personality, so I'll just list the facts and you decide.

1. Decides to enter name in NBA Draft, but does not hire an agent.

2. Is projected as a late first rounder, due to some uneven workouts.

3. Reportedly signs deal with a Greek team paying him about the same as an NBA first rounder.

4. Profit.

I'm not knocking a guy playing in Europe (Matt Walsh has been very successful there), but this is Christian Drejer territory. Actually, comparing Drejer to Calathes is a comment on Calathes' personality. I better stop now.