‘Cats Do Right Thing Re: Sina, Plus Bracket Busting

Well, the initial fallout of the Bill Carmody firing is underway. Yesterday, Jerry Carino of NJ Hoops Haven (which I saw linked via SippinOnPurple) reported that Northwestern is releasing former commit, pg Jaren Sina, from his national letter of intent. It was the right thing to do.  Holding a high school kid hostage to a commitment made to a previous coach is the type of thing that some schools do and in my opinion, that is about the last thing we should be doing in this situation.  While Sina’s father did not mince words in advance of the potential Carmody axe falling down, I think many of us were hoping he’d at least consider the new Wildcat coach to be.

Well, Nick Medline of Scout.com’s PurpleWildcats.com was tweeting yesterday that Sina is exploring many schools and there is “no leader”.  We knew this was a distinct possibility, but it sure doesn’t make it easier to take. I’ll still hold out a glimmer of hope that our coach to be is going to be such a dynamic recruiter that he can retain Sina, but if he can’t, so be it. This isn’t a one year, two year or likely even three year rebuilding project.  Kudos to Jim Phillips for doing the right thing.

AD of The Year Finalist

Sports Business Journal announced its annual AD of the year finalists yesterday and Jim Phillps was named one of the final five.  We’ll keep you posted.

Buffalo Basketball Similarities

Thanks to Willie. W. for forwarding THIS link about University of Buffalo and the firing of Reggie Witherspoon. No, Reggie is not likely a candidate for NU. However, the striking similarities to the Carmody firing are too much to overlook.  Witherspoon went 14-20 after the best four year run in recent Buffalo hoops history.  He graduated (while NU lost them to injury) several starters and it was year 14 of his tenure. Nothing crazy, but just seemed very similar in many ways.

Bracket Madness

If you want a good bracket, don’t do as I do.  I somehow find my bracket taking control of me and then I end up with a Final Four that I say, how the heck did I get here? My Final Four? Miami, Florida, Michigan State, Ohio State. That’s right, not a single 1-seed, which is blasphemy based on recent years.   I get too emotionally attached to a)great storylines b)teams I’ve seen play a lot and c)Providence College connections.

Ironically, as “wild” as my Final Four is, I didn’t pick many upsets throughout the earlier rounds. I have 11-seed Bucknell (music tone…Northwestern coaching watch) upsetting 6-seed Butler.  I’ve got likely the wrong 12-5 as I do every year and other than that, it is chalk city. Until the Elite Eight.  I went with Miami because I’m loving the seniority on the team and Jim Larranaga (PC graduate).  I went with Florida because I love Billy Donovan (PC grad) and am buds with assistant coach Rashon Burno (more on him tomorrow).  I went with Sparty because I think they have the ingredients to make a run and I’ve seen them the most of any B1G team this year. Ohio State, well, it just kind of ended up that way.  I’m excited to hear more about your picks.

The LTP Tourney Pool (that is the group name) is up for you to join at ESPN.com.  We’ll be tracking the results throughout the Tournament, which technically begins tonight in Dayton.