Another week, two more coaches out of jobs.
The first came after a player revolt of sorts at Dartmouth,
where Terry Dunn was forced to resign.
Then DePaul’s Jerry Wainwright, one of the true good
guys in college basketball, was let go on Monday morning after the
Blue Demons — coming off a winless Big East slate a year ago
— had been struggling once again.
It’s become a disturbing trend.
Wainwright became the fourth coach to be replaced since the
season began, joining Dunn as well as Fordham’s Dereck
Whittenburg and Penn’s Glenn Miller — both fired last
month.
I understand if something happens in which a move must be
made, but now the tally is up to four coaches let go in the middle
of the season and we’ve barely hit the New Year.
It’s just a poor example to set for college kids.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Initially, I was set to go with
a Georgia team that had knocked off Georgia Tech on the road and
then nearly beat undefeated Kentucky at Rupp Arena. However, an
undermanned Tennessee team changed all that after the Vols pulled
an improbable upset in Knoxville against No. 1 Kansas on Sunday
night. The Vols, down four players (three suspended and one
dismissed), got a huge 3-pointer from walk-on Skylar McBee with 35
seconds left to deliver the Jayhawks their first loss of the
season. Tennessee, which played three walk-ons in the win, had also
taken care of Charlotte earlier in the week.
STUD (PLAYER OF WEEK): Georgetown junior guard
Austin Freeman has always been capable of going for 30-plus, but
the Hoyas offense isn’t built for one player to erupt. Well,
Freeman went for a career-high 33 points — including 28 in
the second half — as Georgetown staged a furious comeback to
beat UConn at home Saturday. Freeman also had 20 points and six
boards in a loss at Marquette earlier in the week.
BEST PERFORMANCE: Georgia wasn’t the only
team that had no business doing what it did this past week.
Marquette, a team expected to finish near the cellar of the Big
East after losing its guard trio from a year ago, pulled off a win
against Georgetown and nearly knocked off Villanova.
DUD: N.C. State losing at home to Virginia. This
was likely a battle of the bottom two teams in the ACC, but
Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett has a built-in excuse since it’s
his first year in Charlottesville. Sidney Lowe, on the other hand,
has none as he’s now in his fourth season and has yet to get
into the Big Dance.
WEEK TO FORGET: New Mexico — The Lobos were
one of the nation’s biggest surprises early in the season,
but Steve Alford’s team has came back to earth last week
after a road setback at San Diego State and a home loss to UNLV.
MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: College of Charleston
— Bobby Cremins’ team pulled the upset against North
Carolina in overtime and then took care of business with a victory
over The Citadel. Andrew Goudelock hit a huge 3-pointer with 2.1
seconds left to force overtime against the Tar Heels and had 22
points and a career-high 10 rebounds against The Citadel.
WORST LOSS: Oregon State’s humiliating 99-48
loss to Division 1 Independent Seattle University at home. The
worst part is that Seattle standout Charles Garcia only played 15
minutes due to foul trouble and Craig Robinson’s team still
got smacked by 51 points. The craziest part is that Robinson &
Co. came back and beat Oregon in the final Civil War matchup held
on McArthur Court.
WELCOME BACK: Last week marked the return of Evan
Turner (Ohio State), Courtney Fortson (Arkansas) and Mouph Yarou
(Villanova). Turner struggled through foul trouble in his first
game back, a win over Indiana, before going for 19 points, 8
rebounds and 7 assists in a loss to Minnesota. Fortson nearly led
Arkansas to an upset over Texas in his first game back and Yarou,
the talented freshman big man who has been out with Hepatitis B,
continues to work himself back.
SAYING GOOD-BYE: Tennessee senior Tyler Smith was
kicked off the team after the Vols forward was one of four players
caught in a rental car with two guns, a bag of marijuana and an
open container of alcohol. Smith was booted after taking
responsibility for the two guns.
STILL STANDING: Purdue lost on the road to
Wisconsin. Add that to Kansas' loss to Tennessee on Sunday and that
leaves just two unbeaten teams on the board — which also
happen to be FOXSports.com Nos. 2 and 3 in the preseason: Texas and
Kentucky. There are also just two teams in the Div. 1 ranks without
a victory: Alcorn State and Bryant.
BEST NUMBERS FROM A PLAYER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD
OF: Providence sophomore Jamine Peterson is averaging a
double-double at 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. The
athletic and undersized Peterson went for 29 points and 20 boards
in a win over Rutgers on Saturday
WEEK’S TOP MATCHUPS:
1. Syracuse at West Virginia, Saturday at 12 p.m.
ET: Two of the top 10 teams in the country go at it in
Morgantown.
2. Georgetown at Villanova, Sunday at 12 p.m.:
Syracuse and West Virginia play the day before, and the other two
top teams in the Big East matchup in Philly.
3. Kentucky at Florida, Tuesday at 9 p.m.: The
Gators are struggling, but the young Wildcats will still get
arguably their most difficult road test to date.
4. Ohio State at Purdue, Tuesday at 7 p.m.: Evan
Turner is back and looking more like himself each game, while the
Boilermakers are coming off their first setback of the year.
5. North Carolina at Clemson, Wednesday at 9 p.m.:
The Tar Heels already have four losses and go on the road to face
the Tigers in Littlejohn.
6. Dayton at Xavier, Saturday at 11 a.m.: This
should be a matchup that helps determine A-10 supremacy.
