Latest Basketball News and Rumors

Jeremy Lin has been at the forefront of the positive things to help lead the NBA out of lockout hell. And it turns out, he could be at the forefront of what winds up leading us back into it in six to ten years. Billy Hunter recently told Bloomberg that Lin is likely to wind up as the player’s representative to the NBPA and could get a spot on the executive committee. From Bloomberg:

Jeremy Lin probably will be the next player representative for the New York Knicks and might win a spot on the union’s executive committee, the head of the National Basketball Association players union said.

Billy Hunter said Lin, the second-year point guard with an economics degree from Harvard University who has led the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak and sparked what’s become dubbed “Linsanity,” expressed an interest to be more involved in the National Basketball Players Association.”

At the least he’d be the player representative for the Knicks,” Hunter said in a telephone interview. “If not something higher.”

via Knicks’ Lin May Utilize Harvard More Than Hoops as NBA Union Rep – Bloomberg.

See, because he’s wicked smaht.

I’m torn on this one, because at one level, Lin shouldn’t have to be treated any differently from any other NBA player just because he happens to have a higher IQ or series of test scores than the average player, nor should his expectations for being some sort of genius exist just because he went to Harvard. Lots of people went to Harvard. (I did not go to Harvard. They would not let me go to Harvard.)

But on the other, Lin’s sudden explosion is affording him opportunities, and let’s face it, the more brains the NBPA can get on the exec committee the better. Which isn’t to say the committee isn’t comprised of smart individuals, “How U” to the contrary. But they did run out of options and inventive solutions during the beatdown throughout the lockout (though, all things considered, they came out pretty well. This is complicated. And giving me flashbacks. I hate you, lockout.)

It’s another opportunity Lin is playing his way into. Which is nice for him, really.

The Basketball News Digest delivers the latest basketball news and rumors. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NBA news see: Hunter: Jeremy Lin could wind up on NBPA executive committee.

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As the new basketball coach at the University of Maryland, Mark Turgeon hopes to experience the same kind of success he enjoyed at Texas A&M.

The Terrapins are counting on him to do just that.

Turgeon was hired on Monday night to succeed Gary Williams, who retired last week after a 22-year run at Maryland. The 46-year-old Turgeon leaves the Aggies after making four consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament and going 97-40 in his four-year stay at College Station.

“It was just too good an offer for me to pass on,” Turgeon said in a release. “The thing that made it the most difficult was the players. Those guys have done everything I’ve asked for four years and we’ve had a great ride.”

Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson believes Turgeon has the ability to extend the winning tradition built by Williams, who won the national championship in 2002 and reached the NCAA tournament 14 times. Just as important, Williams ran a clean program and maintained tight control over his players.

“We’re thrilled to bring Mark to the University, where I’m sure he will continue to build on the great legacy and success of Maryland Basketball,” Anderson said. “In Mark, we have brought one of the outstanding young coaches in the country, and one who has a proven record of achievement on and off the court. We couldn’t be more excited.”

Turgeon will be introduced at press conference on Wednesday afternoon at the Comcast Center, where Williams formally stepped down in an emotional ceremony on Friday.

Turgeon joins the Terrapins and the Atlantic Coast Conference after earning Big 12 coach of the year honors with A&M in 2010 and 2011. He is the only coach in Big 12 history with at least 24 victories in each of his four seasons.

Turgeon is 250-159 after 13 seasons overall as a head coach, including seven with Wichita State. He went 128-99 with the Shockers and reached the round of 16 in 2006.

He began his head-coaching career at Jacksonville State, going 17-11 in his final season there (1999-2000) after going 8-18 in his first year.

Turgeon was an assistant at Kansas for five seasons. He also played guard for the Jayhawks from 1984-87.

He said leaving Texas A&M was one of the most difficult decisions he’s ever had to make.

“Marriage was easy for me. I knew I was in love. Going to KU was easy, that’s where I always wanted to play college basketball,” he said. “Going to Wichita State was easy. Going to Texas A&M was an easy choice. Today was one of the hardest choices I’ve had to make because of the young men in that locker room.”

But the challenge of coaching Maryland and competing in the ACC, against such powerhouses as Duke and North Carolina, was too hard to resist.

“Maryland’s got a great basketball tradition,” Turgeon said. “It’s a gut feeling. I’m a blessed person to have the choice that I had to make today. They’re both great programs. The one thing I feel good about is I inherited a good team and I think I’m leaving my best team behind. That made the decision really hard.”

Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said he was sorry to see Turgeon go and the coach did a “tremendous job” at the school.

Byrne will seek to find a replacement immediately.

“We always keep a list. We always know some people that we think will work well with us here, so we’ll start that process again,” he said.

FOXSports.com was the first to report the hire.

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FAIRFAX, Va. (AP)—After losing a Final Four coach to the Atlantic Coast Conference, George Mason got one in return.

The Patriots on Saturday hired former Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt to replace Jim Larranaga, who left this month for the University of Miami.

“Both are very good coaches,” George Mason athletic director Tom O’Connor said. “We were glad to have Jim, and we’re proud to have Paul.”

Hewitt was fired by Georgia Tech last month. He took the Yellow Jackets to the Final Four in 2004, but that was the only season he had a winning record in ACC play. He went 190-162 over 11 years at the school and was 72-104 in the conference.

Georgia Tech went 13-18 this season and failed to sell out any games at its 9,100-seat arena.

Money was a major reason the Patriots lost Larranaga, who took George Mason to the Final Four in 2006 and is the winningest coach in school history. Hewitt, 47, is receiving a $ 7.2 million buyout over five years from Georgia Tech, which would seem to make him more affordable for a Colonial Athletic Association school like GMU.

“That was never a consideration we had,” O’Connor said. “We felt like he was right person to have. He fit all the criteria we were looking for.”

Hewitt arrived at Georgia Tech in 2000 after posting a 66-27 record in three seasons at Siena.

George Mason plans to introduce Hewitt at a news conference on Monday.

“Paul is an excellent teacher of basketball,” O’Connor said. “He’s a great communicator. He’s done wonderful things in the community. We felt he was the total package.”

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WASHINGTON (AP)—Karl Hobbs was fired Monday as men’s basketball coach at George Washington after 10 seasons at the school.

A person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said that Hobbs was offered the chance to resign but refused to do so.

Hobbs’ firing comes less than a week after Patrick Nero was introduced as George Washington’s new athletic director. Jack Kvancz is stepping down from that position during the summer.

“Karl Hobbs brought GW men’s basketball to new heights of success and achieved many firsts for GW men’s basketball that will never be forgotten,” Kvancz said in a statement.

Hobbs’ contract was set to expire next year. His release is effective immediately.

“It has been an honor to serve as head coach of the George Washington University’s men’s basketball team,” Hobbs said in a statement. “I am proud of what we achieved here and am grateful to have had the chance to work with and guide the development and accomplishments of so many outstanding student-athletes.”

The school said a national search would begin immediately.

Hobbs was the A-10 coach of the year after leading George Washington to a 27-3 record in 2005-06, including 16-0 in the conference. In his 10 seasons, Hobbs posted a 166-129 record.

In the past four seasons, George Washington has struggled going 52-64 overall and just 25-39 in the conference under the 49-year-old Hobbs.

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SAN DIEGO (AP)—University of San Diego President Mary E. Lyons said Friday that she and the school’s trustees have “unwavering support” for men’s basketball coach Bill Grier and athletic director Ky Snyder as the FBI investigates a bribery case involving two former players and a former assistant coach.

Lyons, Grier and Snyder spoke for the first time since federal authorities announced Monday that Brandon Johnson, the school’s all-time leading scorer, former coach T.J. Brown and former player Brandon Dowdy were among 10 people charged with running a sports betting business to fix games.

Grier and Snyder “continue to have our trust and our confidence,” Lyons said. “It’s very important for me to say that publicly.”

Lyons and Snyder said it was shocking for those at the small Catholic college, which plays in the West Coast Conference, to learn of the case.

“No institution is ever immune from difficulties, and this is a lesson that we’ve learned this week, for sure,” Lyons said.

Snyder agreed.

“Other than a tragedy happening to a student-athlete, there is nothing worse that can happen in collegiate athletics than point shaving,” he said. “In sports, there is nothing worse than losing the integrity of the game. It calls into question all who are involved: Was it real or was it not? … One of our student-athletes asked this week, ‘How much of my career was real?’ This is the damage that point shaving inflicts. This is not a victimless crime.”

Johnson finished his college career in 2010. Brown was an assistant coach at the school in the 2006-07 season, and Dowdy played at USD in the 2006-07 season before transferring to UC Riverside.

Authorities did not say how the alleged scheme worked and said they were trying to determine its scope, including the number of games allegedly involved.

The indictment alleges that Johnson, 24, took a bribe to influence a USD game in February 2010 and solicited someone else this January to affect the outcome of USD basketball games while playing for the Dakota Wizards, a development team for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.

Federal authorities didn’t name the USD opponent in the February 2010 game, saying only that Johnson was the school’s starting point guard at the time.

Johnson “was intricately involved in both the illegal gambling business and in the sports bribery schemes,” U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said at a news conference Monday.

The investigation evolved from a probe of a marijuana distribution operation that began about a year ago.

Lyons said she has spoken with NCAA officials. Both she and Snyder said they’ve been told the NCAA won’t look into the case until the FBI finishes its investigation.

Lyons said she was told that historically, point shaving cases involve isolated individuals and do not usually involve institutional collusion.

Grier said the first he heard of the investigation was when two FBI agents came to his home at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

Asked if he was suspicious that anything was going on in the program, he said: “Good players have bad games, bad players have good games. I don’t think either is an indication that anything is going on. That’s the nature of athletics.”

Asked if specific games stood out to him and if he had heard that a player was approached last season, Grier said he couldn’t answer due to the ongoing investigation.

“If the allegations are true, I am deeply disappointed and feel betrayed,” Grier said. Asked to elaborate, he said he “did a lot” to help Johnson.

Johnson, who finished his college career as USD’s all-time leading scorer with 1,790 points, was on the team that stunned Connecticut in overtime in the first round of the 2008 NCAA tournament, the biggest win in school history. USD finished 22-14 that season, and has struggled ever since under Grier. It finished 6-24 last season.

Johnson averaged 6.1 points a game this season for the Dakota Wizards. The team wrapped up its season April 4.

“We are not diminished by these events. This university is built on a foundation of many, many years of ethics and integrity,” said Lyons, who called the allegations an “aberration.”

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP)—A former associate director in charge of the University of Kansas ticket office and “gatekeeper” for stolen tickets was sentenced Thursday to 57 months in prison for her role in the million conspiracy.

Prosecutors accused Charlette Blubaugh, 44, of providing tickets for basketball and football games to others who then sold them for personal profit.

Blubaugh and her husband, Thomas, both of Medford, Okla., pleaded guilty in January to a single count of conspiracy to defraud the United States through wire fraud, tax obstruction and interstate transportation of stolen property.

She was also sentenced to pay a share of the more than million in restitution along with others convicted in the conspiracy, and was ordered to spend three years under court supervision once she is released from prison. Her husband has been sentenced to a 46-month prison term.

The government said Charlette Blubaugh provided the tickets to the other four conspirators as well as two other officials who were convicted in a related case on a lesser charge. Prosecutors said she manipulated the computer system to cover-up and facilitate the conspiracy, lied to investigators and discussed ways to manipulate or sabotage the computer system to prevent investigators from using it to trace stolen tickets back to the conspirators.

“The defendant was not the highest ranking employee of KU involved in this conspiracy, but she is one of the most culpable,” prosecutors wrote in their presentencing memo to Judge Wesley Brown. “She was the gatekeeper for all stolen tickets.”

Defense attorney, David Rapp, said Blubaugh accepted responsibility for her actions.

“Of course she is sorry,” Brown interrupted. “We’re all sorry this occurred, but it did occur.”

In a court filing last week, Charlette Blubaugh said the school did not actually lose any money because those tickets would not have been sold anyway— an argument the government has called an “incredible and frivolous claim.”

Another defense attorney, John Rapp, wrote that the tickets his client stole from Kansas Athletics Inc., the nonprofit that promotes Kansas athletics, were hold tickets used to correct last-minute seating problems that would not have been sold. He also claimed it “appeared likely” that no one was denied a ticket by her illegal conduct.

But prosecutors argued that 14 boxes of unsold tickets and parking passes recently recovered from the couple’s personal storage unit showed the loss to the university could be higher than previously known. Some of the tickets were unsold—known as deadwood tickets—but there were also more than 3,000 tickets in those boxes for a sold-out Orange Bowl, along with thousands of parking passes and tickets to sold-out football games with Kansas State University.

Seven people have been snared in the investigation into the unlawful sale of football and basketball season tickets by key athletics department officials to ticket brokers and others in which the employees pocketed the money. All pleaded guilty. Blubaugh is the sixth defendant to be sentenced in the case.

Former associate athletic director of development Ben Kirtland is set for sentencing on May 12.

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)—Miami is searching for a men’s basketball coach, raising money for some major construction initiatives and has already taken the first steps toward trying to revitalize its football program.

Given all that, Shawn Eichorst knows he will not be able to settle slowly into his new job.

Miami’s new athletic director said Wednesday that he’s ready for all those simultaneous challenges, starting with priority No. 1—finding someone to coach a team that went 21-15 this past season and then lost Frank Haith to Missouri in a move that caught the school by surprise.

“Everybody who has an interest in being our basketball coach here at the University of Miami will get consideration,” Eichorst said.

Eichorst offered no timetable to complete the hiring process and did not discuss any specific candidates, though insisted on two points: No one has been excluded from the search and no one has been offered the job, despite widespread speculation to the contrary on both counts.

“Any account or report otherwise is inaccurate and pure speculation,” Eichorst said. “From this point forward, I will take complete charge of the search and will exhaust all means to find a coach who stands for the great values of this institution, is a fundamentally sound teacher of the game and will positively lead our players with a tremendous amount of passion, integrity and dedication.”

Eichorst spoke on a conference call one day after being named Kirby Hocutt’s replacement as the person in charge of the Hurricanes’ athletic department. The 44-year-old former Division III football player most recently was Wisconsin’s deputy athletic director, and also worked at South Carolina and his alma mater, Wisconsin-Whitewater.

At Wisconsin, he was the Chief Operating Officer for athletics, overseeing a million budget and being closely involved with a 0 million construction project for ice hockey, swimming and football.

“He’s a person who is just a class act and one that has the integrity of the entire athletic department,” said Bob Berezowitz, who was Eichorst’s coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater—then had the former player become his boss when he returned there as athletic director after graduating from Marquette Law. “I think he will do everyone down there justice in what they’re looking for in an athletic director.”

Eichorst was highly recommended for the Miami job by his now-former boss with the Badgers, athletic director Barry Alvarez, who has remained close with Miami President Donna Shalala from her time at Wisconsin. Shalama was Chancellor there from 1987 through 1993.

Said Shalala, in a statement released by the university: “Shawn Eichorst has the skills, experience, and philosophy to elevate UM athletics and exceed our highest expectations.”

Eichorst interviewed in person on Sunday, sitting down with new football coach Al Golden, women’s basketball coach Katie Meier and others, collecting information from them as they tried to glean the same from him.

“I’m pretty prepared in everything I do,” Eichorst said. “I had done a lot of due diligence in a lot of people that I met with, and we quickly developed a chemistry and the pace of the situation moved quickly. I think our values and our core beliefs and our philosophies started to mesh. I’m just so darned excited to get there.”

His hiring is part of a whirlwind time for the Hurricanes. Golden was hired in December by Hocutt, who several weeks later denied being a candidate at Texas Tech, then ultimately was hired by the Red Raiders. Miami alum and longtime athletics executive Tony Hernandez—who was a candidate for the permanent AD job—took over as the interim, and was overseeing the search to replace Haith.

Plus, the university has long been working on getting a .6 million project for a new sports center, which will house an academic center for members of Hurricane sports teams, a larger sports medicine facility, a new football locker room and a gallery of champions.

Now Eichorst takes over all that, and more. He said he plans to be in South Florida this weekend for meetings with key personnel, the expectation being that those talks will mostly revolve around the basketball coach situation.

Eichorst is married with three sons, and except for about two years with South Carolina, has spent the overwhelming majority of his life living in Wisconsin. He said he’s ready for the challenge of a new climate in South Florida.

“I think you’ve got cheese and milk down there, too,” Eichorst said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP)—Florida native Frank Martin says he hasn’t heard from the University of Miami about its vacant coaching position and while he and his family are happy at Kansas State he will always listen to other offers.

The 2010 Big 12 coach of the year, who has become wildly popular with Kansas State fans, also said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press that in the last two years he has been approached by several other schools with talk of significant pay boosts.

“I’ve never had any other options but to be at K-State this year. And I haven’t had any desire but to be at K-State this year,” Martin said.

When Frank Haith left Miami last week to take the job at Missouri, Martin immediately became the center of speculation in both Kansas and Miami. Martin, born and raised in Miami and the son of a Cuban immigrant, was a successful high school coach there and seemed a natural fit for the job.

But the Hurricanes have not called, Martin said. He said that was not necessarily a disappointment.

“I love it here,” said Martin, who is 95-43 in four seasons at Kansas State. “My family loves it here.”

He wonders if a misunderstanding about his salary might have discouraged the Hurricanes.

“Everyone’s reporting that my salary is .55 million (annually). Actually, my salary is .1 million,” he said. “Now, I’m an old high school teacher who was making 32 grand when I moved to Boston, and I’m extremely grateful and thankful for the salary I make right now.

“If I stayed the length of the (five-year) contract and I collect every bonus on the contract, it will average out to .55. And you know what? There is a chance that the University of Miami never called because they think I make .5,” he said. “There’s a chance just because it was released at .55 the University of Miami said, ‘We can’t call him. Why waste our time? We can’t pay him.”‘

Martin said many people urged him to pursue the Miami job.

“I’ve had numerous friends call me, countless people in that community begging me to go back home,” he said. “The one thing that’s unfair to the University of Miami is that all the media people, locally and nationally, are saying it’s not a good job. And that’s not right. But UM never called. So I have no idea. And I’m not pursuing other jobs. I’ve never chased a job in my life.”

Although he has no desire to leave, Martin says he would always listen to another offer.

“I’m never going to say I’m not listening to anybody. Someone might call and it might be an opportunity, a new challenge, something that intrigues me,” he said. “It might be an (athletic director) that I’ve known my whole life and he says, ‘Frank, I need you.’ I’m never going to come out and say I’m not going to listen.”

The Wildcats won a team-record 29 games and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2009-10 and Martin became a hot coaching commodity then.

“I’ve had job opportunities here the last two years and I haven’t talked much about them,” he said. “They’ve called, they’ve inquired. They throw numbers at me and I’ve said no thank you. And for major salary increases.”

The Wildcats finished 23-11 this season, ousted in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament by Wisconsin. It was an odd year: Kansas State was ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll and picked as a favorite in the Big 12.

Instead, two post players—Freddy Asprilla and Wally Judge—quit a struggling team and Martin installed a new offense just as league play was getting under way. The Wildcats responded and got hot enough to knock off Kansas and Texas headed into postseason play.

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