http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2010/02/17/20100217asu-football-matt-lubick.html

The Arizona State football coach who lured five-star talent Vontaze Burfict to Tempe is leaving.

 

Matt Lubick, ASU's assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator, finalized a multiyear contract Wednesday to accept different positions at Duke University.

Lubick, who also coached defensive backs for ASU the last three seasons, will be Duke's recruiting coordinator, passing game coordinator and receivers coach. Moving eastward affords him the opportunity to have a hands-on role on the offensive side of the ball.

Well, that's just great.  We lost probably the two best recruiters on the staff (Lubick and Yarber).

Things are not looking good for the ASU football team.

Edit: Jeff Metcalfe has some ideas for what DE should do

AZ Republic LINK

I think we know why Pat Murphy was fired now....

Even the dreaded "lack of institutional control" phrase is dropped.  This could get ugly -- and not just for the baseball program.

A portion of the notice obtained by The Republic shows that ASU is being accused of at least nine violations. A key one is that the university lacks "institutional control."

"It is alleged that the institution violated the principles of institutional control in that it failed to ensure adequate systems to monitor for compliance and provide adequate NCAA rules education involving the baseball program and student athletes," the NCAA stated on Page 15 of its notice.

The notice refers to infractions involving telephone-recruiting violations, impermissible coaching activities, employment of student athletes and relationships with outside contractors. The partial report contained few details.

ASU President Michael Crow and Lisa Love, vice president for athletics, declined to comment on the allegations.

"ASU is working with the NCAA on an investigation of the university's baseball program involving allegations of infractions of NCAA legislation," ASU spokesman Virgil Renzulli said in an e-mail Wednesday.

"This is an ongoing process, and we do not currently have an estimate for the completion of the effort and the release of results," Renzulli wrote.

Murphy also declined to comment on the allegations, on the advice of his attorneys.

"It is very frustrating that I am unable to set the record straight and state my side of the story," he said Wednesday.

If the NCAA finds a major violation occurred, it would be ASU's ninth such case since 1953, more than any other school in the country. ASU is now tied for violations with Southern Methodist University in Texas, which was given the "death penalty" by the NCAA in the 1980s when it banned the football program from competing for three years.

In November 2005, the NCAA put ASU on two years of probation for a lack of institutional control and impermissible financial aid. That case involved former football player Loren Wade receiving improper benefits from an athletic-department employee.

The NCAA also found that 61 athletes received impermissible financial aid from 2002 to 2004 and that athletes were improperly given books to sell for personal gain.

Penalties for a repeat case of lack of institutional control could include a prohibition of competition, including some or all postseason games. Penalties also could result in elimination of scholarships and recruiting restrictions in baseball.

Outside of baseball, the university could face multiyear probation, suspension or termination of staff and ASU officials being banned from NCAA leadership positions for up to four years.

Link to article

Arizona State is in the market for a new offensive coordinator.

Dennis Erickson said Thursday that he is not bringing Rich Olson back for a fourth season, the first coordinator-level change since Erickson became head coach in 2007. The move comes after a second consecutive losing season, the first of Erickson college career, in which ASU was 90th or below nationally in total, rushing and scoring offense.

2 words: Thank God

So let the speculation begin on the new OC....

Link to story

Arizona State quarterback Danny Sullivan will not play at No. 13 Oregon on Saturday because of a biceps injury that prevented him from practicing this week.

The senior will travel with the team, coach Dennis Erickson said Thursday, to provide sideline support for Brock Osweiler, a true freshman making his first start, and sophomore backup Samson Szakacsy.

 

As happy as I am about Brock getting an opportunity -- I'm not very optimistic about his first start coming at Autzen.

At 6 foot 5 inches, 230 pounds, Jeffcoat has drawn comparisons to such greats as Julius Peppers with his lean, long body and athleticism.

And a few weeks ago, as first reported in The Dallas Morning News, Jeffcoat narrowed his college choices down to six schools with signing day coming on Feb. 3. While many athletes choose to commit early, Jeffcoat is likely to wait right up until signing day or even until the day itself to reveal the lucky school.

Jeffcoat's list now reads as follows: Arizona State, Florida, Houston, Oklahoma, Texas and USC.

Reads like a wishlist of schools for potential college players to go, with the exception of one -- Houston.

But the Cougars are on the rise under head coach Mike Sumlin, and oh yeah, there's one more thing, Papa Jim is an assistant coach under Sumlin. If the Cougars were to land Jeffcoat it would be one of the greatest recruiting coups of all time.

Article on Jeffcoat

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1635429.html

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090924&content_id=7133582&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

via texas.rangers.mlb.com

That would be a good thing IMO.  I keep having this feeling like "be careful what you wish for" when thinking about new ownership.  But, I think Nolan would be able to keep "the plan" going.  This should probably be a fanshot, but I'm already too far into it to switch.

Rudy Carpenter is going to get alot of playing time in the Cowboys/Vikings game tomorrow night.  I figured most on here will revel in the chance to watch him fail, so there's your chance.  He doesn't have a very good shot of making the roster, but a spot on the practice squad could be a possibility.

I imagine Andrew Walter will get a lot of playing time for the Pats this weekend too.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/tennis/03/24/larryscott/index.html

Larry Scott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour since 2003, is stepping down to take the job as commissioner of the NCAA's Pac 10 athletics conference, multiple sources have told SI.com.

 

I think having new blood will help alot.  Hansen was just AWFUL.  Let's hope he can get a better TV contract (like getting rid of the only one team on TV at a time rule).

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8602

Five-Star Prospects
1. Neftali Feliz, RHP
2. Justin Smoak, 1B
3. Derek Holland, LHP
Four-Star Prospects
4. Michael Main, RHP
5. Engel Beltre, CF
6. Elvis Andrus, SS
Three-Star Prospects
7. Martin Perez, LHP
8. Max Ramirez, C
9. Taylor Teagarden, C
10. Neil Ramirez, RHP
11. Wilfredo Boscan, RHP

Just Missed: Julio Borbon, OF; Blake Beaven, RHP; Jose Vallejo, 2B

Ranking Challenges: The top of the list was fairly straightforward, but ordering the last five spots proved to be a significant challenge; the deeper I went with the analysis, the more flipping, adding, and removing I did. This is a tremendously deep system filled with legitimate prospects, many of whom are not even included here, though they would easily rank in the middle of other team's lists.

The Sleeper: Hampered by injuries last year, Venezuelan teenager Wilmer Font is a massive power righty with plus-plus velocity and the ability to throw consistent strikes. Some in the Rangers front office believe that he's already a Top 10 prospect in the system.

http://www.portlandtribune.com/sports/story.php?story_id=123605303168855000

Ha, I'm guessing he doesn't read H.o.S.

Many on the Arizona State message boards were less than forgiving with the team or its coach last season, which caused Erickson to lose very little sleep.

“I don’t pay any attention to those chat boards,” says Erickson, proving his point with the fractured nomenclature of the computer-challenged. “They’re so ridiculous. Some of my assistants look at them, and the stuff people write ... I tell them, ‘Why would you guys ever read those things? Those people don’t count.’

“That stuff doesn’t bother me. It never has and it never will. People are going to say what they want to say, but we have a plan. I’ve been around a long time and have been pretty successful. We have great boosters here and a real solid alumni group that knows what we’re doing and is very supportive.”

Lubick gave some quotes to Metcalfe on the players we signed a few weeks back.  Some pretty interesting stuff in there.

I liked the quote about Burfict:

LB Vontaze Burfict: "He has everything physically. He's a legit 6-2, maybe 6-3, 245 and can run a legit 4.5. That's kind of freakish. The way he plays, he dominates the game. (Chandler Hamilton's) Steve Belles coached at the U.S. Army (All-American) game and said he was a man amongst boys. We'll have as fast a linebacker corps as anybody in the conference."

Let's pray he stays eligible.....

LINKY

Metcalfe Link

Arizona State tight ends coach Dan Cozzetto appears bound for Washington either as offensive line coach and/or offensive coordinator.

Cozzetto could not be reached for comment Wednesday night, but sources said it appears that he will join first-year coach Steve Sarkisian's staff.

If the job is to become offensive coordinator, it could be too lucrative for Cozzetto, a native of Spokane who coached at Washington under Keith Gilbertson in 2003, to turn down. Jim Michalczik was going to earn $350,000 as Huskies offensive coordinator/offensive line coach before leaving after less than two months to become Oakland Raiders offensive line coach.

Cozzetto returned to ASU for a second coaching stint when Dennis Erickson was hired as head coach going into the 2007 season. He was Sun Devils offensive coordinator and offensive line coach under Bruce Snyder from 1992-99.

ASU has one assistant coaching change in Erickson's second season when Greg Burns replaced Al Simmons working with cornerbacks.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/135028

Didn't see this posted anywhere...

Just barely #1 over UCLA.  I wish I knew more about this year's team but it's so hard to keep up with all the new players every year.

 

Despite losing 15 players from the 2008 team to professional baseball, Arizona State has been tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the Pac-10 baseball title in a vote of the 10 conference coaches.

The Sun Devils, ranked as high as sixth in national preseason polls, received three first-place votes and 69 total points in the Pac-10 voting, barely edging UCLA (three first-place votes and 67 overall points) for the top spot. Stanford was picked third with one first-place vote and 64 points, Oregon State fourth with two first-place votes and 58 points and Arizona fifth, garnering one first-place vote and 56 points.

"There is no question that this projection is a sign of respect for the past success of Sun Devil baseball since we only return four players with any significant Pac-10 experience," said ASU coach Pat Murphy. "We are very aware of the challenge ahead of us."

ASU, which has won the last two Pac-10 championships, has 17 newcomers on its 2009 roster but has the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation as well as returning All-Americans Mike Leake and Raoul Torrez.

The Sun Devils are coming off their ninth straight trip to the NCAA tournament after finishing 49-13, including a 16-8 mark in Pac-10 play.

The Sun Devils open the 2009 season on Feb. 20 when they host Wisconsin-Milwaukee at Packard Stadium.

Results of the poll are as follows. Nine points are awarded for a first-place vote, eight points for a second-place vote, and so on. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.

School (first-place votes) Points

1. Arizona State (3) 69

2. UCLA (3) 67

3. Stanford (1) 64

4. Oregon State (2) 58

5. Arizona (1) 56

6. California 42

7. USC 38

8. Washington State 24

9. Washington 23

10. Oregon 9

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122693827604333637.html

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed insider trading charges against Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, for allegedly dumping shares in Mamma.com upon learning it was raising money in a private offering (full text of complaint).

The SEC alleges in a civil action that Mr. Cuban sold his entire 6% ownership stake on June 28, 2004, after learning that Mamma.com was raising money through a private investment in a public entity, or PIPE. The next day, on June 29, the company announced the PIPE financing and shares of the company dropped by more than 10%. By selling his stake, the SEC alleges, Mr. Cuban avoided more than $750,000 in losses.

In a PIPE transaction new shares are issued at a discount to the current trading price. An announcement of a PIPE transaction is often followed by a drop in the stock price as shareholders anticipate their stake will be diluted.

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