Former Iowa Forward heading to Tennessee

In a not very shocking move at all, former Iowa forward Tyler Smith will be heading to Tennessee to play for Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers.

Smith, who averaged 15 points and 5 boards a game as a freshman last year, decided to transfer from Iowa to be closer to his sick father. Since he's from Tennessee, his dad still lives in Tennesse, and he's a good player, I figured it would either be Tennessee or Memphis.

An interesting wrinkle here is that Smith plans to petition for a waiver from the NCAA due to his circumstances so he wouldn't have to sit out the usual transfer season and would play immediately next season for the Vols.

If that happens, Tennesse would be an instant title contender. The Vols took Ohio State down to the wire last season, and return almost that entire team, losing only one player who averaged 5 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game, and are projected as a #3 seed by Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com without Smith.

Sampson on his Way?

As mentioned below, Andrew Brommer has reopened his recruitment and may not end up a Gopher.

Tubby may be all ready to fill that scholarship offer with Ralph Sampson III, a three-star recruit according to both Rivals and Scout, and the 23rd best center in his class according to Scout.

As mentioned previously, Sampson was in town and took a visit to the University of Minnesota campus last week. According to Rivals, the 6-11, 220 pound Sampson really enjoyed his visit. They report

"This past weekend at the Nike Memorial Day Classic Ralph Sampson III made a big name for himself with his outstanding play. Minnesota was his first visit three weeks ago and Sampson enjoyed his trip as well as the personnel he met while in the Twin Cities. It is believed that Sampson may be close to committing but is that fact or fiction?"

Unfortunately, I don't have the kind of money to spend on a ridiculously expensive membership at rivals.com to find out the answer to this and other burning questions. So, I'm just going to assume it's fact and say that Ralph Sampson III is very close to signing with the Gophers.

Sweet.

Oh no! Not that!

The Star Tribune reports that one signing for 2008 is backing out of his verbal commitment and will reopen his recruiting.

The Good news is that it is Andrew Brommer of Rosemount, not Nathen Garth. Brommer is a 6-8 forward who averaged 16 points per game this past season.

Even though both Rivals.com and Scout.com have Brommer as a three-star, a lot of things I've read make it sound like he's not a Big Ten caliber recruit. The speculation currently is that Tubby doesn't think he really wants Brommer around and doesn't think he'll get much playing time, and likely told Brommer as much, prompting him to reopen his recruitment.

I've never seen him play, but based on the fact that the Great Dan Monson signed him, I'm inclined to not really mind seeing him go. Teams in the running for his services look to be Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Illinois, and Virginia. Let's just hope he doesn't go to a Big Ten team and end up being dominant or anything stupid.

This News is Shocking to Me!

As I mentioned previously, the Gophers' Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson put there names into the NBA Draft as early-entry candidates.

I have recently learned that somehow they were not invited to the NBA's Pre-Draft camp in Orlando, Florida, which began this week.

Travesty.

So you're telling me that Spencer and Coleman aren't among the top 100 or so prospects for the upcoming draft? They aren't even good enough to be alternates, along with JamesOn Curry, Joseph Jones, and Dominic James? I guess they aren't guarenteed to be drafted after all, and might want to consider pulling out before the June 18 deadline.

Seriously though, the fact that these two put their names in is either completely stupid or a pretty good joke.

I know that the theory is they put their names in to get more publicity, so people might pay attention to them and they might get drafted next season. That's just as ridiculous as thinking they'll get drafted this year. These guys are both mediocre players who wouldn't start for any Big Ten team other than Minnesota, Penn State, or Northwestern. So what's even the point. NBADraft.net has profiles of both of them, and for both under NBA COMPARISON it says "N/A".

Sure, they might improve. But Coleman has had three years to get tougher, get stronger, learn to play defense inside, learn to play defense on the perimeter, and get a post-up game. He hasn't done any of them, so why start now? And Tollackson is basically a poor man's Jeff Hagen.

The other possibility is that they have always wanted to put their names in and know they have no shot but wanted to do it for fun.

If that's the case, I think it's pretty cool. But I doubt it.

Royce White Visits

According to Charly Walters in the Pioneer Press, Royce White made an unofficial visit to Tubby Smith and the University of Minnesota over the weekend.

This is good.

The Gophers are Good at Baseball

Even though I don't follow the team very closely - ok, not at all - congratulations to the Gopher baseball team on making the NCAA tournament.

The gophers made it in as a three seed in a four-team regional (there are 64 teams invited total). If they manage to win the double elimination regional, they advance to a SuperRegional, and from there possibly to the College World Series.

The Gophers (40-16) will open play in San Diego against #2 seed Cal State-Fullerton (33-23). The other teams in the San Diego regional are #4 Seed Fresno State (36-27) and #1 seed (8 overall) and host San Diego (43-16).

And let me just say it's crap that the Gophers are the only non-western team in the regional, got screwed with their seeding, and I'm filing a protest over this whole anti-Minnesota conspiracy.

HIbbert is Off the Table

Roy Hibbert, the 7-2 barely coordinated giant, is pulling out of the NBA draft and will return to Georgetown for his senior season.

This is fantastic news for Timberwolves fans, as I was almost certain we would somehow end up with the ogre. The Wolves need a big man, it's likely Brandan Wright won't be there, Hibbert is projected to be picked right around that point in the draft, and McHale is mostly an idiot. That would have been a disaster, as I'm fairly certain Roy Hibbert is going to be a horrible pro.

That being said, I don't understand why he is returning. His stock will never be higher than it is right now. He helped lead Georgetown to the Final Four, played a nice game against the top center prospect of the last 20 years in Greg Oden, and showcased a decent jumper from about 13 feet out. He's projected to go in the top ten for some weird reason, and I'm betting that next year he won't go earlier than pick 20, even though he's a center.

Lottery is Over

The NBA Draft Lottery was last night, and the big winners were the Blazers and Sonics, the big losers were the Grizzlies and Celtics.

Even though the Grizz and Celtics had the best chances to get either the #1 or #2 pick, they were pushed to picks #3 and #4 as the Blazers, Sonics, and Hawks all jumped up. This sucks for the Grizz and Celtics, but the Blazers will soon be the new address most likely for Greg Oden, and the Sonics will have Kevin Durant.

The Wolves weren't helped at all, but weren't hurt either, as they stayed right at #7. NBADraft.net predicts the Wolves will take Corey Brewer (awesome), and ESPN.com predicts they will take Brandan Wright (awesomer, but I don't think he'll be available). There's also a chance, according to ESPN, that if Mike Conley is still there, the Wolves would consider him. That would be good, but we have too many guards already so there would have to be some clearing out of players, which would be a good thing.

My biggest concern is that McHale will screw it up because he's proven himself an idiot already. In one mock draft, the pick immediately after the Wolves is predicted to be Roy Hibbert, in the other, Joakim Noah. These picks would be god awful. If McHale gets locked in on the idea that he needs to get a big man (very possible), and Brandan Wright is gone at the Wolves pick (very possible, he's considered the third best overall prospect right nwo), I can see him taking one of those two semi-coordinated giant sized people.

Please don't do that.

Update: White, Williams, Better than Previously Reported

Basketball recruiting site Rivals.com has recently released an updated list of the top recruits of the 2009 class. Royce White of DeLaSalle is now a 5-star recruit, ranked #17 overall for the class, and Rodney Williams of Cooper is a 4-star, ranked #37.

So disregard my previous post about how I thought they might not be worth going after just because they are Minnesota kids. With this updated information, they are now absolutely must-gets. The Gophers can't lose hometown kids of this caliber to Wisconsin or Kansas anymore. Hopefully Tubby can keep them here.

Iowa State is a Damn Mess

Following last season (2005-2006), Iowa State fired coach Wayne Morgan and hired Greg McDermott. It would seem that the players were not super fired up about this, as everybody left.

The Cyclones' top two players, Will Blalock and Curtis Stinson, entered the NBA draft despite no guarentees of even being drafted. Stinson wasn't picked, Blalock was picked at the back end of round two. Top freshman Shawn Taggert transferred to Memphis, fellow freshmen Mike Evanovich (Fairfield) and Farnold Degand (NC State) also transferred, as did returning starter Tasheed Carr (St. Joseph's). Top signee Theo Davis also backed out of his commitment and enrolled in prep school rather than attend ISU.

This off-season, the Cyclones' top player, Mike Taylor, has been in trouble with the law twice, once for Criminal Mischief after tearing down an exit sign and a light, and discharging a fire extinguisher on campus. He was later in trouble again for shoplifting a box of cold medicine from a Cub Foods. Taylor was suspended indefinitely after the first offense, and could be released from the team after this second incident.

And now three more players have left the team, as guards Dodie Dunson (undecided) and Corey McIntosh (Augustana) are transferring, and forward Ross Marsden has quit the team to focus on his studies.

There is a possible light at the end of the tunnel, as McDermott has a very good recruiting class coming in this season, including four-star recruit Craig Brackins from New Hampshire, but as of now, that school is a mess.