May 10, 2011 - 8:41 AM
---Lots of reaction to Maryland naming Mark Turgeon its new coach. Turgeon, who has spent four years at Texas A&M, will reportedly make close to $2.5 million a year as the new coach of the Terrapins. Matt Norlander wonders if Turgeon is a good fit for the Terps, while Arizona's Sean Miller cleared up the confusion about his role in Maryland's coaching search. Turgeon might not be the best hire, but he may be the savviest, while Mike DeCourcy says he is not the right one.
---Rodney McKissic
May 9, 2011 - 9:20 AM
---When Syracuse assistant coach Rob Murphy accepted an offer to become the coach at Eastern Michigan, Orange coach Jim Boeheim wasted little time hiring Murphy’s successor. On the same day Murphy held his farewell press conference, Adrian Autry was on the Syracuse campus. With the hiring of Autry, Syracuse’s lineup of coaches looks like an alumni function. Boeheim and his top three assistants – Autry, Bernie Fine and Mike Hopkins – all graduated from Syracuse.
In addition, the Orange basketball program also includes former players Lazarus Sims as the director of player development and Gerry McNamara as a graduate assistant.
---Rodney McKissic
May 8, 2011 - 12:11 AM
Jordan Heath, the older brother of Canisius signee Josiah Heath, is transfering to the school from NAIA Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, according to a source.
Heath must sit out the 2011-12 season and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. The 6-10, 225-pound Heath averaged a team-high 14.7 points and 7.2 rebounds for Roberts Wesleyan, who finished 21-14 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the NCCAA Tournament. They lost to eventual national champion Dallas Baptist in the semis. Heath was named to the all-tournament team and was also an honorable mention All-American.
Josiah Heath signed with the Golden Griffins last month as part of a seven-man recruiting class.
---Rodney McKissic
May 6, 2011 - 3:46 PM
May 6, 2011 - 1:24 PM
---St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt played for Gary Williams for three seasons at Boston College during the early 80s. Schmidt shared his thoughts on Williams, the former Maryland coach, who retired on Thursday:
He’s leaving a tremendous legacy and his biggest legacy is he won doing it the right way. He didn’t cheat and he did the way you’re supposed to do it. He didn’t cut corners, he did it the blue collar way.
He’s a great Xs and Os and he’s always the underdog. He didn’t have everything that Carolina and Duke had but he was a fighter. I heard someone say one time that he’s a coach’s coach. He epitomized everything that’s in a good coach. The passion that he had, the commitment, the drive. It’s a tremendous legacy especially at Maryland where he took over a program that was on probation and it wasn’t a great situation but he built it into a national champion.
He wasn’t into AAU coaches, he did it his way and he didn’t always have the best players. He didn’t always have the highly recruited players but he coached them and most of those guys maximized their abilities under his tutelage. He’s one of the coaches who has been very successful for a long time that didn’t bend the rules. That’s hard to say in today’s world. You can never say he cheated. He did it the right way. He won the right way.
---Rodney McKissic
May 6, 2011 - 12:43 PM
---During our NFL Draft chat last week, Bills fans were begging for the team to select a quarterback and tight end. WalterFootball.com offers a 2012 mock draft that has the Bills taking both, including USC quarterback Matt Barkley.
---Rivals.com's list of the top football/basketball programs during the BCS era.
---Here's a list of all the bowl games for the 2011-12 season.
---Rodney McKissic
May 6, 2011 - 12:11 PM
---St. Bonaventure added a pair of guards today in 6-5 Chris Johnson from Nova Scotia and 6-3 Jordan Gathers from Los Angeles.
Johnson played at Kilgore (Texas) College for two seasons before signing with Liberty last April but he never played for the school. He sat out last season to concentrate on academics and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Johnson averaged 18.9 points in 11 games despite a foot injury which caused him to miss much of the 2009-10 season at Kilgore.
Gathers, the nephew of the late Hank Gathers, attended Rise Academy (Pa.) last season and committed to the Bonnies Thursday night.
Also, The Buffalo News has learned St. Bonaventure is no longer recruiting Kansas City, Kan. guard Tra'Vaughn White, who reportedly gave a verbal commitmedto the Bonnies last month.
---Rodney McKissic
May 6, 2011 - 7:56 AM
---According to Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch, Gus Johnson and CBS Sports could not agree on a new contract now that Johnson's current contract has ended, and he could end up calling football games as part of the new FOX Pac-12 package.
---Rodney McKissic
May 5, 2011 - 8:03 PM
Orchard Park native Jeff Tundo has been suspended indefinitely from the Ohio State men's lacrosse team.
After an inquiry, I received an email from the Ohio State sports information department stating that Tundo is "currently suspended indefinitely for a violation of the student code of conduct."
Tundo, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound sophomore attackman, is second on the team in scoring with 23 goals and 35 points. He started all 12 of the games he had played, scoring at least one goal in each contest.
The Buckeyes' season could end tonight. Fourth-seeded Ohio State (8-7) faces top-seeded and host Denver tonight in the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament. It will be the third straight game Tundo has missed. Tundo is still listed on the Ohio State roster on the team's Web site and in its media notes, which also include notes about his play this season.
At Orchard Park, Tundo was a two-time All-Western New York first teamer in both lacrosse and football. He was the inaugural winner of the Tom Borrelli Memorial Award, given to Western New York's top senior boys lacrosse player.
---Keith McShea
(www.twitter.com/keithmcsheabn)
Western New York native Bob DiCesare covers UB football, Big 4 basketball and writes an occasional column. He still holds a grudge against Chris Ford who, he's convinced, cost St. Bonaventure the 1970 NCAA basketball championship.
Rodney McKissic began his journalism career in 1989 after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and has worked for The Buffalo News since 2001. A proud father of four children, he enjoys reading in his spare time.
Amy Moritz, a native of Lockport, hhas covered colleges for The Buffalo News since 1999. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism/mass communication from St. Bonaventure University and a master’s degree in humanities from the University at Buffalo. An endurance athlete, she has completed several triathlons, half marathons and marathons.
