Terrence Jones to UW

We finally know where Terrence Jones will be heading for college hoops: the University of Washington.

Over 25,000 people watched Jones make his announcement live over the internet. His long decision making process did wonders for churning up the public interest. Jones said the delay was because he really hadn't made up his mind.

Jones teared up while reminiscing on his time at Jefferson High. This was the latest example of how strongly Jones values his teammates and those close to him, a value that was the main reason I predicted Jones would ultimately head to UW. There he can be in an impressive program, stay close to home and family, build real connections with teammates (as opposed to a more stepping stone environment like Kentucky), and have his friend Terrence Ross as a teammate. Not to mention he seems like the perfect player to fill the role of the departing Quincy Pondexter. It seems a great "get" for UW and a great fit for Jones.

Not insignificant is that three other Jefferson players are also going Division I. (Holy crap.) As previously mentioned, Terrence Ross is headed to UW along with Jones. Stephen Madison is going to the University of Idaho. AJ Johnson is off to play for Texas Southern. Talent factory.

Latest rumors on Terrence Jones & Terrence Ross

Kendall Marshall, a point-guard bound for UNC, predicted that both Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross will be heading to the University of Washington.

Meanwhile, Jones isn't narrowing his list of schools but expanding it. He plans on visiting Kansas later in the month.

Ross had said he will make his decision after visiting Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Washington.

University of Oregon's Awesome Coaching Search

Not long ago I wrote an entry on the University of Oregon's search for a new basketball coach. Throwing a ton of money at names that you don't have a chance to get is a poor strategy.

I wasn't the only one who thinks so. ESPN's Dana O'Neil has written a more detailed and ESPNy column on how bad Oregon has done with their coaching search. Read the whole thing if you're interested. Here's an excerpt:

Universities don't want to look bad for swinging and missing, and no coach wants to be viewed as the second or third choice.

Trouble is, the ego cover-up often backfires.

Look at Oregon.

The school may not have interviewed that long list of candidates, but the school is perceived as striking out more than Ryan Howard.

The most unfortunate part could be that Oregon's hubris-fueled botched coach search may end up costing them Terrence Jones, an in-state super recruit that is surprisingly seriously interested in being a Duck. He is giving Oregon every opportunity to hire a coach before he decides on a school, but time is running out.

Akeem Scott Playoff Update

Akeem Scott's LrNMKY team was unable to earn a victory against KTP and were bounced from the playoffs. Akeem notched 16 points in the loss. For the series Spider-Keem averaged 19.3 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game.

We're sad to see Keem gone from the playoffs but are looking forward to more Akeem Scott in the future. His strong play this season and newly granted Jamaican citizenship mean that we are likely to see the PC back on the court soon enough.

In the mean time we look forward to more videos, music, and whatever else Keem puts out into the universe in the near future. And oh yeah, the film is coming along nicely.

Akeem Scott, PLAYOFFS

The playoffs have gotten underway in Finland and the P.C. is on a quest for his second consecutive league championship. As you can see from the Eurobasket graphic above Akeem's LrNMKY squad is down 0-2 in the series to KTP.

In the first game, LrNMKY didn't have much of a chance against a KTP team that was on fire. Akeem did play well with 17, 4, 4, and 3 steals.

In the second game KTP's shooting came back down to Earth. LrNMKY seemed to be on the verge of evening the series behind Akeem's 25, 9, 9, and 2 steals. Unfortunately, KTP's shot at the buzzer lifted them to an 80-78 victory.

One blowout and one heart breaker aren't the ideal way to start off the playoffs. Stay tuned to see if LrNMKY can overcome the rough start.

Terrence Jones really considering University of Oregon?

We've known that the University of Oregon was one of several schools on the short list of possible destinations for Portland-product and super recruit Terrence Jones.

There were logical reasons not to get too excited over that.

First of all, the competition for Jones is fierce. Schools like Kentucky, Kansas, and UCLA want him. Then there was the fact that Ducks basketball hasn't exactly been impressing lately. Then they fired their coach. What star player would want such a situation?

It turns out Terrence Jones might. This could be me getting way too excited by the slightest prospect of keeping Jones in the state of Oregon, but this quote happened:

During the ESPN broadcast, analyst Jay Williams said Jones will wait until Oregon fills its coaching vacancy before choosing a college.

Whaaaaaaat?!

Whoever Oregon's new coach turns out to be, having a five-star recruit fall into his lap would be a great way to get his tenure started. If I'm the University of Oregon (which would be weird because I'm a human and the University of Oregon is an academic institution) I'd be trying to get that little snippet some more attention.

This could create a fairly unique situation where a potential recruit is used to attract a coach. Whether Jones ends up at the University of Oregon or not, it would be interesting if the mere possibility of his enrollment could help Oregon get the coach they want. Of course, if Jones did choose Oregon and the Ducks did get the coach they want...

University of Oregon still getting it wrong

Inspired by the multiple text messages I received today about the University of Oregon supposedly offering Tubby Smith a couple million dollars a year to coach Ducks basketball.

First things first, Tubby is one of those coaches that gets linked to job after job after job. During the tournament he was reportedly close to signing a deal with Auburn. In January he was linked to University of Alabama job. When Lute Olsen retired it was Arizona. This has been the story since he came to Minnesota. When a coach's name is bigger than his current program everyone just sort of expects him to leave as soon as he has the chance. That isn't to say that Tubby won't dump Goldy for greener (like money, ha!) pastures, or that there is no merit to the Oregon rumors. I'm just saying his name comes up a lot.

As for the University of Oregon, their high profile coaching search could end up being the latest thing to bite their sports department in the ass.

First of all, the only good thing about this job for a big name coach is the money. Keep in mind that a top-tier coach will have to walk away from a most likely cozy current situation to take this job. University of Oregon sports isn't exactly in a good place right now. The basketball team has been underachieving for a while. Football players are getting arrested. The Attorney General is looking into Belotti's shady severance pay. The program lacks the kind of historical tradition that might appeal to some coaches. Not to mention a coach may have less control of the program than they enjoy currently. That Nike money can be a double-edged sword when you have a hands on mega-booster like Phil Knight.

Considering all of the above there is only one reason an elite coach would take this job: money. But how sustainable is a program lead by a person that values dollars so much more than anything else? Is that the type of coach that stays long enough to build a real program? Am I the only one that thinks bringing a potentially morally questionable coach into an already morally questionable sports department is a bad idea?

Additionally, Oregon's strategy of throwing big money to get a big name to take a bad job doesn't seem likely to pay off. We may be seeing some negative effects already. Big money and big names mean big media coverage. Every time a name is linked to the job, only to be followed by reports that said name rejected the deal, the job gets less desirable to subsequent names on the list. Would you leave a comfortable situation for a higher-paying but less comfortable situation, after everyone knows a handful of your peers have turned down a similar offer?

If Oregon doesn't get a top name soon the Ducks sports department could become even more of a joke. They could become the place that is so awful they can't get a coach even when they offer the world.

The Ducks aren't exactly masters of subtly (which reminds me, please chill out with the football uniforms), but I can't help but think they should have at least tried to keep a low-profile this time. They could have acknowledged that they don't have the type of situation an elite coach wants to walk into. They could have recognized that throwing around cash and getting rejected might come back to bite them. They could have understood that their job is most appealing to up and coming coaches (who would probably hang around long enough to build a respectable program) or respected coaches looking to get back into the game. (Steve Lavin might not take the job, but considering the circumstances he seems like a much more likely candidate than Tom Izzo.)

Oregon didn't do any of those things. They went for the glitz instead. Now they could end up paying the price. Again.