Here's a column saying it is hard for Michigan to fill their schedule with who they want -- specifically a BCS school who will come to their place with no other prerequisites or demands!! he repeatedly calls their scheduling "difficult" so maybe that's why they are "settling" for BU?? ;)
"U-M coach John Beilein said trying to schedule a non-league opponent from one of the BCS conferences is challenging enough that the coaches are looking to play some conference basketball games in early December. One of the stumbling blocks is exam schedules, which vary throughout the conference.
Because U-M is playing the ACC/Big Ten challenge game at Virginia, it's become difficult to find that BCS opponent since most want to host the first year and return the game the second year. With the Maui Invitational and the Challenge road game on the schedule, U-M needs to host the first year now. "It's been very difficult," Beilein said. "We're getting closer. Sometimes you want two or three of those opportunities but you can't do it. We have enough RPI (points) in the Maui."
http://www.freep.com/article/20110519/SPORTS06/105190665/Michigan-Board-Regents-vote-today-second-phase-Crisler-Arena-renovation?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cs
Demetri McCamey "..most underrated point guards" in this year's draft...
http://twitter.com/nbamockdraft/status/71240622610194432
also -- the Bulls giving McCamey "high interest"...
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=6563663
Here's a report this morning about a kid who just verballed to North Carolina State...
http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/22847/wolfpack-adds-to-its-roster-and-schedule/?tc=ar
And here are a couple pictures of the kid....
There are a few things about this kid, Thomas de Thaey, that I find somewhat interesting...
First -- he is yet another kid from the Canarias Basketball Academy on the Canary Islands -- the same facility from which Michael Ochereobia came from.
There are about two dozen grads of the Canarias Basketball Academy now playing ball in the US and Ochereobia is one of them....with de Thaey now being yet another.
BTW de Thaey, like MO, is a lot older than most kids entering college -- he is already well past his 20th birthday.
Second -- and perhaps most interesting, is that the kid's name sounded a little bit familiar to me so I checked out his background -- and sure enough de Thaey has records easily found on line that show he played at the top professional level in Belgium for the previous TWO years before going to the Canarias Basketball Academy!!
In fact, record of his participation in professional games as a full team member playing at the highest professional level in Europe are easy to find - although he's also played on the nation's U20 squad the past year or so in international play. He didn't play a LOT for the professional teams, nor did he rack up any kind of impressive numbers...but clearly the kid has played professional basketball for two seasons in the top pro league in Belgium.
Here are just a few box scores where he played for the Antwerp Giants in the Belgium D-I League - their top pro level.
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Belgium/2010/0417_2638_329.asp
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/Belgium/2010/0227_330_329.asp
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/EuroChallenge/2010/0325_329_161.asp
http://www.eurobasket.com/boxScores/EuroChallenge/2010/0323_161_329.asp
de Thaey even admits in an interview here that he figures he could be good enough to make the NBA and he says after two seasons of playing for the Antwerp Giants (the top pro team in Belgium) that he
"got no respect"
and wasn't getting enough playing time!!!
http://packinsider.com/2011/05/interview-with-thomas-de-thaey-eliteathletes-be/
He is also listed on the listing of Antwerp Giants former players
http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=BELGIUM&Team=329&Page=4
So .... even tho this doesn't impact us so much in the midwest -- what I find interesting is that this player ought to possibly be declared a pro and not play via the exact same rules as used on Enes Kanter -- or at least the kid should be docked some games like John Wilkins, Lucca Staiger, etc...were -- but .........
since he is going to the ACC and not the MVC - I wonder if he'll get treated the same as a kid who is going to Bradley?
I would hope so but I guess only time will tell.
The final thing I find interesting and even a bit ironic about this ...
that he plays for the Antwerp GIANTS...and his appearance hints that he might just have the same medical condition as some of the other very tall basketball players who gained their extreme height because of a medical condition called acromegaly -- which is also referred to as "GIGANTISM".
So the irony is that he already IS a "Giant"...that's the name on the jersey in some of the pictures of him...
His facial appearance with the large, broad jaw is what hints at the medical condition...
it doesn't prove anything but it is clearly suspicious....
The actual "Awareness Campaign" for this medical condition, acromegaly, actually stresses that people should notice the appearance of the JAW, and if it is large or broad -- the athlete should get checked for this treatable condition that Georges Muresan and Andrew the Giant had...
Another known "Giant" was Sun Ming Ming the 7-9 Chinese player who tried to make the NBA..
Here is the poster for the awareness campaign with a photo of a guy who has a similar jaw to the picture of Thomas de Thaey...
Link to poster
More...
Corey Hawkins - who just left Arizona State was looking close at Boston College possibly going to transfer there -- but word this morning is that he will NOT go to Boston College.
I think that's a good move so that he doesn't end up aiming too high multiple times like Cully Payne, Devan Bawinkel, and others....
Here are some brand new rankings for Illinois high school kids...
(they ignore Nate Taphorn!)
Class of 2012
Class of 2013
Here's a story about a fairly obscure kid -- unrated -- not highly recruited - but who had a FULL scholarship offer to play for Rick Majerus at Saint Louis University....
The kid, Jordan Smith from Minnesota, was holding out as long as he could hoping for at least ONE other offer but it never came.
So when faced with his only offer being Saint Louis & Rick Ma -- he spurned the Billikens and will just go to University of Wisconsin and try to walk on for the Badgers...
OUCH -- that's kinda got to be a blow to Majerus' ego.... ;)
"Inviting Smith down to campus, Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus offered the 6-foot-1 shooting guard a scholarship offer (After not getting any major Division 1 interest following his senior season). After mulling the decision over.."he chose Wisconsin as a walk-on......"Smith knew in his heart where he wanted to go."
http://wisconsin.scout.com/2/1073168.html
For those of you who are baseball fans -- really nice story this morning about the three Parr Brothers from IVC who will play baseball at Illinois ...
Josh, Justin, Jordan Parr
One last funny item -- I found it on that same link from above about the Michigan scheduling...
a guy wins the lottery and gets $2 million and the state of Michigan still keeps the guy on their welfare rolls and gives him food stamps!!!
AND -- worse -- the guy doesn't even feel the least bit guilty or embarrassed about being exposed using the state's food stamps after winning $ TWO MIL!!
The guy even had the gall to snap back at a TV reporter doing this story...
"If you're going to ... try to make me feel bad, you aren't going to do it."
http://www.freep.com/article/20110517/NEWS06/110517023/Michigan-man-still-food-stamps-despite-winning-2M?odyssey=mod|mostview
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