College Basketball Capsules: Texas G Bradley to declare for NBA draft
AUSTIN — Texas freshman guard Avery Bradley will declare himself eligible for the June NBA draft, but doesn’t plan to hire an agent.
Bradley said Thursday that he’ll stay enrolled in class this semester and will schedule workouts around his class schedule. By not signing with an agent, he could choose to withdraw from the draft and return to the Longhorns next season without losing eligibility.
Bradley averaged 11.6 points last season for Texas, which reached No. 1 for the first time in school history.
Other Big 12 Men
Oklahoma’s Warren opts to enter NBA draft
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma guard Willie Warren said Thursday he plans to enter the NBA draft and give up his final two seasons of eligibility with the Sooners.
The formal announcement came in a news release from the university, after The Oklahoman and Tulsa World reported in Thursday’s editions that Warren had decided to turn pro. Warren said in the release that he has not signed with an agent but expects to do so soon.
"This was a stressful decision and one that I’ve been stuck in the middle on for a little while," Warren said. "I didn’t like how things went this year with my injury and everything, but I also feel like I have the skills to take the next step. Some of the things I need to work on like being a better leader and being more vocal are things I can do at the next level."
Warren said he’s spoken "extensively" about the decision with his mother and that he thinks it’s time to enter the NBA. He said Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel "is in my corner" and has promised to help Warren make the transition.
"I’m very happy for Willie and definitely think he’s ready for the next level," Capel said in a statement. "I appreciate everything he’s done for our program and look forward to watching another Sooner in the NBA."
Warren was projected by some as a first-round pick following his freshman season, when he was the Big 12’s freshman of the year. Warren opted to return to the Sooners, who were coming off an NCAA tournament regional final appearance keyed by national player of the year Blake Griffin, who was the No. 1 pick in last year’s NBA draft.
Oklahoma’s fortunes plummeted amid injuries, suspensions and team chemistry issues and the Sooners finished 13-18, their first losing season since 1980-81. They ended on a nine-game losing streak, the program’s longest skid since dropping a school-record 10 in a row in 1964.
Warren led the Sooners in scoring at 16.3 points per game and averaged 3.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He missed 10 games, including eight because of an ankle injury. He underwent season-ending arthroscopic surgery on the ankle March 3 and said his ankle is "doing great."
"My freshman year I feel like I made some big contributions and I was somewhat satisfied," Warren said. "I feel like I could have scored more, but I understood the makeup of our team and it was a great feeling to make it all the way to the Elite Eight. My sophomore year was up and down and tough on all of us. It was a roller coaster ride, especially for me with my ankle injury and being sick.
"But if I had to make my decision all over again, I would make the same one to attend OU. It was the best experience of my life and I want to thank all the Sooner fans who were behind me."
Warren is the second Oklahoma player to announce he’s turning pro. Fellow guard Tommy Mason-Griffin announced his plans to do so last month.
Another guard, Ray Willis, has said he plans to transfer.
Audit of Oklahoma athletics finds no major issues
NORMAN, Okla. — An external audit of Oklahoma’s athletic department found no major issues with the school’s policies on practices as it tries to move out of an NCAA-imposed probation for major violations by the football and men’s basketball programs.
However, the audit did not extend to the Sooners’ football team. According to the documents, Oklahoma’s compliance department planned new procedures to monitor the football program’s activities starting this spring.
Oklahoma contracted with a law firm to audit the athletic department over a five-year span as the school seeks ways to improve its rules compliance after two black marks in the past five years.
Details of the audit were released to The Associated Press on Thursday following an open records request.
The audit performed by Bond, Schoeneck and King found that Oklahoma’s systems for monitoring compliance are "functioning well" and "designed to both detect and prevent violations" of the NCAA’s rules limiting practice time. The Sooners have not been accused of exceeding those limits — the type of allegations the NCAA leveled against Michigan’s football team earlier this year.
Oklahoma has been overhauling its compliance department following major rules violations in the school’s two biggest sports. The Sooners’ men’s basketball team was disciplined in 2006 after former coach Kelvin Sampson made more than 550 impermissible phone calls to recruits. The following year, the football program was punished after players including starting quarterback Rhett Bomar received payment for work they didn’t do at a Norman car dealership.
Those two major violations landed Oklahoma on probation until next month.
Last week, Oklahoma acknowledged it was investigating a report of a possible NCAA rules violation involving basketball player Tiny Gallon. However, it did not release any documents related to that investigation.
The documents also show the school self-reported 50 secondary rules violations in the last academic year, with most relating to recruiting phone calls and text messages and athletes receiving extra benefits.
Among the most recent violations reported were 31 impermissible recruiting phone calls — 16 made and 15 received — by an assistant recruiting coordinator who is no longer employed by the football team and an impermissible text message sent by assistant coach Bobby Jack Wright to a football recruit’s mother.
The school prohibited football coaches from making any recruiting phone calls for a three-week span as a result of the secondary rules violations.
The university also disputed the NCAA’s suggestion that three men’s basketball players received preferential treatment by being allowed to participate in a voluntary summer workout for free during the offseason. The NCAA claimed others would have been charged $1,000 to attend. Oklahoma contended that only NBA players and players who have signed with an agent are charged for the workouts while members of the general public can participate for free.
The school eventually reported the participation as a secondary violation and the players paid $1,000 to a charity.
-- Jeff Latzke
Oklahoma hoop assistant coach Taliaferro resigns
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma assistant basketball coach Oronde Taliaferro is leaving the Sooners after three seasons.
Head coach Jeff Capel announced Taliaferro’s resignation Thursday in a brief news release from the university. The release says Taliaferro has indicated he plans to focus on other job opportunities.
Taliaferro joined Capel’s staff in 2007 after working the previous five seasons as an assistant coach at Arkansas. He also spent one season as an assistant at Kent State and before that he worked as a high school coach in Michigan.
The Sooners finished 13-18 this past season, their first losing record since the 1980-81 season.
Capel says a search will begin soon to fill the vacancy on his staff.
Big 12 Women
Missouri taps MVC for new women’s hoops coach
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri hired Robin Pingeton of Illinois State as its new women’s basketball coach, pledging to spend more money in hopes of turning around a struggling program in the talent-rich Big 12.
The former Iowa State assistant was introduced by athletic director Mike Alden at a Thursday morning news conference. She has a 5-year contract with a base salary of $300,000 and the chance to earn up to $600,000 with incentives.
That’s a $100,000 increase from former Coach Cindy Stein’s base salary, and nearly twice as much as Stein’s total pay package.
Alden said Missouri is committed to narrowing the spending gap with other conference teams. Missouri consistently spends less on its women’s program than nearly every other Big 12 school, federal Education Department records show.
"It’s important to be financially competitive," he said.
Pingeton, 41, had a 144-81 record at the Missouri Valley Conference school, averaging 27 wins the past three seasons. She was twice named MVC coach of the year and led the Redbirds to two NCAA tournaments and three Women’s NIT appearances in seven years.
She previously spent three years as Bill Fennelly’s assistant at Iowa State and began her career as head coach at her alma mater St. Ambrose, an NAIA school in Davenport, Iowa.
Pingeton called the Missouri job "a gold mine." She said the team will run a fan-friendly motion offense and pressure defense — a style of play she and Alden hope will elevate Missouri from the bottom in average league attendance.
Missouri averaged fewer than 2,000 fans in 15,061-seat Mizzou Arena, which the athletic department considers one of the country’s finest campus gyms.
"It’s going to be a journey," Pingeton said. "But we are going to get some amazing things done."
Calling herself "a Christian who happens to be a coach," Pingeton was accompanied by her husband and 3-year-old son. An aunt and uncle who have lived in Columbia for nearly 50 years sat proudly in the audience.
She emphasized the theme of family throughout her remarks, noting that the three assistants who will follow from Illinois State are each married with children.
The audience included boosters, Chancellor Brady Deaton, men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson and several of the Tigers’ 10 returning players. Pingeton met with her new squad Wednesday night.
Freshman guard Sydney Crafton said the team is eager for a fresh start. Under Stein, Missouri advanced to three NCAA tournaments in 12 years, but finished 10th or worse in the Big 12 the past three seasons.
"I feel like I could trust her," Crafton said. "And we like to run motion."
Missouri has two scholarships available for next season. Pingeton said it is too soon to say how, or if, she plans to fill those spots.
According to Alden, spending more money on women’s basketball was a condition of Pingeton’s hiring. He said that athletics administrators, like players, need to be "coachable."
"Administratively, in order to be supportive of your coaching staff...you want to try to deliver those things that they believe are necessary," he said.
-- Alan Scher Zagier
OU’s Robinson, OSU’s Riley named to USA hoop team
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Point guards Danielle Robinson of Oklahoma and Andrea Riley of Oklahoma State are among 10 players who have been named to the 2010 USA Basketball Women’s Select Team.
USA Basketball will conduct the team’s training camp from April 15-18 in Hartford, Conn., and Storrs, Conn., in an effort to prepare the players for future USA national team events. There are no tournaments scheduled this summer for college-age players.
Robinson, who just finished her junior season, averaged 16.8 points and 5.3 assists per game as the Sooners reached the Final Four. She was a third-team All-America selection.
Riley finished her Oklahoma State career as the Big 12 Conference’s leading career scorer and was a second-team All-America pick. She averaged 26.7 points and 6.5 assists this season as the Cowgirls reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.
National Men
Stevens signs 12-year deal with Butler
INDIANAPOLIS — Brad Stevens is content to keep coaching the Butler way.
The 33-year-old coach, who came within a buzzer-beating shot of winning the NCAA men’s basketball championship, signed a 12-year deal Thursday that extends through the 2021-22 season.
Team spokesman Jim McGrath declined to say how much the deal was worth, though Stevens had a total compensation package of $750,000 last season. Athletic director Barry Collier acknowledged Tuesday that Stevens was in line for a pay raise.
The Bulldogs got the man they wanted to stay.
"Brad has demonstrated that he’s the right fit for Butler University," Collier said in a statement. "Our program has grown under his leadership, and we’re excited about our future under his direction."
Stevens is expected to answer questions at a news conference Friday morning.
The move should end, at least temporarily, speculation that Stevens would jump to a BCS-conference school. Jobs at Oregon, of the Pac-10, and two ACC schools, Clemson and Wake Forest, are open.
But Stevens had said Tuesday that he would speak with Collier, a Butler alum and former head basketball coach, before entertaining thoughts of leaving.
Collier never gave Stevens, one of college basketball’s best young coaches, a chance to reconsider.
"Tracy and I are thrilled and very thankful for the opportunity to continue to play a role for Butler University," Stevens, referring to his wife, said in a statement. "We are already looking forward to the 2010-11 season."
Stevens just completed the most successful season in school history.
The Bulldogs won a school-record 33 games, set the Butler mark with a 25-game winning streak and became the only Division I team to finish with a perfect conference record this season.
Butler reached the regional semifinals for the third time since 2003 and advanced to the title game by upsetting Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State. The Bulldogs lost to Duke on Monday night in the closest title game in two decades.
Along the way, Butler went from virtual unknown to household name, and Stevens’ exposure made him the hottest person on the coaching carousel.
But Stevens has never followed the conventional road. He has produced the school’s only two 30-win seasons and is 89-15 in three seasons with the Bulldogs. The 89 victories are a national record for coaches over their first three seasons. Stevens was also the Horizon League coach of the year each of the past two seasons.
So the Bulldogs hoped they wouldn’t have to make a change. Butler has now answered one of the two biggest questions it faced this offseason.
The other question is whether sophomore swingman Gordon Hayward will leave early for the NBA. That answer might not come until next week, at the earliest, but the Bulldogs are hoping that Stevens’ return will sway Hayward to come back.
"We’re continually trying to do everything we can to improve our program, and we’ll continue to do that," Collier said.
-- Michael Marot
Rutgers basketball coach Hill reportedly out
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Fred Hill appears to be out as Rutgers basketball coach after four seasons.
Hill was informed on Thursday by the university that he wouldn’t be retained because of multiple violations of the conduct clause in his contract, The Home News of New Brunswick reported, quoting a source close to the situation.
The newspaper said that Hill has been offered a buyout and was deciding whether to accept it.
Rutgers spokesman Kevin Lorincz said the university had no comment.
Hill’s dismissal comes three weeks after athletic director Tim Pernetti gave the coach another year to turn around the program that had gone 47-77 in his four years as coach, including a 15-17 mark this season.
Part of the reason that Hill was retained was Rutgers avoided paying him a $1.8 million payout if it fired him.
Hill got in trouble last Thursday when he yelled obscenities at coaches from Pittsburgh after a baseball game at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are coached by Hill’s father and Rutgers had just defeated the Panthers.
A Pittsburgh school official complained to Pernetti on Friday.
The Home News reported that Hill also was insubordinate to Pernetti and failed to communicate critical program details to him.
Hill met with his players on Thursday afternoon. His 13-57 record in Big East play is the worst in league history for anyone who coached at least three years.
Rutgers has not made the NCAA tournament since 1991.
Finding a good coach will not be easy for Rutgers since many programs have already found replacements.
Former St. John’s coach and current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla has said recently that he wants to return to coaching. Former Ohio State and Boston College coach Jim O’Brien also is considered a potential candidate.
Iona hires Cluess as men’s basketball coach
NEW YORK — Iona has hired Tim Cluess as its men’s basketball coach.
Cluess coached Division II C.W. Post to a 98-23 mark over four years, including a school-record 30 victories two seasons ago.
A former player at St. John’s who played pro ball in Europe and Australia, Cluess will be introduced at a news conference Friday.
The highly successful Cluess replaces Kevin Willard, who left for Seton Hall after three years rebuilding the Gaels. Iona was 21-10 this past season.
Cluess led the Pioneers to a 23-6 record this past season and reached the East Coast Conference title game for the fourth year in a row. He also coached one year at Suffolk Community College, leading the team to the final eight of the NJCAA Division III tournament.
Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy to enter NBA Draft
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt junior center A.J. Ogilvy will skip his final season and enter the NBA Draft.
The Commodores announced Thursday that the 6-foot-11 Sydney, Australia native will also hire an agent in advance of the June 24 draft, ending his collegiate eligibility.
Coach Kevin Stallings says he appreciates everything Ogilvy has done in helping lead Vanderbilt to two NCAA tournament bids in the past three years.
Ogilvy was an All-Southeastern Conference honorable mention this season and averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his three-year career. He is the Commodores’ all-time leader in free throws made with 471 and blocks per game with 1.51.
West Virginia’s Butler undergoes knee surgery
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia says Da’Sean Butler has undergone surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.
WVU basketball spokesman Bryant Messerly says Butler had surgery Thursday at The Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Butler was hurt during a hard collision in the Mountaineers’ loss to Duke in the Final Four in Indianapolis. The senior finished his career as the third-leading scorer in WVU history with 2,095 points.
Teammate Darryl "Truck" Bryant underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a fractured right foot.
Penn State’s Battle to enter NBA draft
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State junior guard Talor Battle is entering the NBA draft.
Battle said Thursday that he won’t hire an agent, meaning he has until May 8 to decide to withdraw his name from consideration and return for his senior season.
Battle hopes to hold workouts for several NBA teams during the next few weeks, though he hasn’t scheduled any.
The 5-foot-11 Battle averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists, all team highs, this season for the Nittany Lions (11-20).
He is seventh in career scoring and eighth in assists at Penn State.
