Horns247 Board

Iowa State picked up Monte Morris, consensus top 100 PG (Rivals 61, Scout 81, ESPN 95) from Flint, Michigan.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120627/SPORTS/306270077/Iowa-State-men-s-basketball-Top-100-recruit-chooses-Cyclones?odyssey=tab%7Cmostpopular%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE

Obviously, Hoiberg is not going to rely so heavily on transfers in the future. He has already acquired a pair of top 100 guards for 2013.

Oklahoma has a 17 man roster for 2012-13.

http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/062712aaa.html

One would think that a team with that much experience and the talents of Pledger and Osby should do a lot better than last year's 5-13, but last year's team suffered from having next to no reliable outside shooters other than Pledger and from having pretty pronounced defensive inadequacies everywhere (allowed most points per game in conference, allowed highest opponent fg%). Maybe M'baye will help with some of the deficiencies, but I don't know if he really profiles as the "beast" he was called by opposing MWC coaches while he was at Wyoming. 5.7 rebounds in 30 minutes a game doesn't translate to "beast" to me for 6'9" guy. Then again, I don't know about the 6'9" part. See video below. He definitely looks to have more bulk, strength, and attitude than Fitzgerald, and he will give them at least a third guy to rotate in with Osby and Fitzgerald.

Tech

Rodrigo Silva to redshirt. Given Tech's lack of quality players in most positions, this might say volumes about Silva's current ability, but both Tapsoba and Kravic were held out last year and will be available.

http://www.doubletnation.com/2012/6/27/3085156/texas-tech-basketball-five-thoughts-about-the-juco-signees

Tech was and still is a mess. Tech has signed 19 players in the last two recruiting classes, 10 of them JUCOs. Six guys transferred out this spring, including freshmen Petteway, Minnis, Forte and Wagner, 2011 JUCO recruit Nash, and Knight era holdover Willis. Gotcher went down with a bad ankle in December and missed the rest of the year, forcing Tech to play all short guards. They won't be running out multiple midgets and some of the incoming players were sought by big schools when they were in high school, but we still have to learn if Bail and Carey get past the clearinghouse. Maybe by recruiting lots of JUCOs and redshirting them, Gillispie is planning to put a bunch of 24 year olds on the floor every year.

Big 12 players drafted

Round 1

5 T Rob
16 White
28 P. Jones III

Round 2

7 Acy
8 Miller
9 Middleton
11 Taylor
14 English
29 Denmon

Big 12 coaches that are so inclined can use this draft to show top ten recruits that Baylor is the place to go to ruin their draft status.

To wrap up a slow news week, I can offer one observation:

If you're bringing a ton of pot into Douglas County, then it makes sense to offer at least some of it to Jayhawk hoopsters.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8113994/report-alleged-pot-dealer-supplied-kansas-players

I suspect marijuana use is pretty prevalent among college basketball players, but this is the fourth time KU players or former players have been implicated in use in the last 4 years. Chalmers and Arthur were kicked out of rookie transition program for pot. Selby pled to a misdemeanor possession charge. Now this.

I suspect a lot of the short player suspensions we hear about from various schools for "undisclosed violations of team rules" are in the nature of someone getting wind (or a whiff) of a player sucking on the weed. Usual procedure would be for a little note to be marked down in compliance logs, the logs being forwarded to the NCAA, and that's the end of it.

What might cause problems with the NCAA is not the actual occasional use of marijuana by student athletes, but the failure of athletic department staff to report it when they are aware or should be aware of it.

NCAA bans the use of "street drugs." Div. I Bylaw 31.2.3.4 (e).

Marijuana is considered to fall under the NCAA definition of street drug.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Health+and+Safety/Drug+Testing/Resources/NCAA+banned+drugs+list

One of the requirements placed on the member institutions is to have a policy for controlling use of banned substances. Athletic department personnel who learn of a violation are required to see institutional procedures are followed.

10.2 KNOWLEDGE OF USE OF BANNED DRUGS
A member institution’s athletics department staff members or others employed by the intercollegiate athletics
program who have knowledge of a student-athlete’s use at any time of a substance on the list of banned drugs,
as set forth in Bylaw 31.2.3.4, shall follow institutional procedures dealing with drug abuse or shall be subject to
disciplinary or corrective action as set forth in Bylaw 19.5.2.2.

This last bit makes no sense to me, since Bylay 19.5.2.2 refers to probationary conditions and not to bringing corrective action against schools found in non-compliance.

But this is the scenario for which a stink was raised against Boeheim in March--failure to report widespread "recreational" drug use, going all the way back to the 2003 National Championship team. Don't you just wonder what might have happened if an important player on that team had to serve a suspension sometime during that season and maybe during the tournament?