By Franz Beard
A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:
“The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky it will probably slap another two years probation on Cleveland State.” – Jerry Tarkanian
Oh my, the NCAA must really be mad at LSU because not only did it finally hit Will Wade and the basketball program with a Notice of Allegations but it included the football program – sacré bleu! – in its notice. The allegations against Wade date back to an FBI wiretap of a conversation between Wade and an Adidas exec regarding a cash offer he made for recruit Javonte Smart. The football allegations involve former LSU All-American Odell Beckham giving cash to players in the locker room after the 2019 national championship game and booster John Paul Funes paying the father of an offensive lineman $180,000 of money he embezzled from Baton Rouge hospitals.
The wheels of justice have been turning slowly and they aren’t going to move quickly now that the NOA has been served because LSU has several weeks to respond to the NOA and then it will be a few months before there is hearing in front of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP). The IARP is like a court trial whose judges, unlike the NCAA Infractions Committee, are not currently employed by any university. With the IARP, schools hope to get what they perceive is a “fairer” trial but there is a catch since they cannot appeal any decision.
This is why an NOA that combines both basketball and football allegations is most interesting. LSU had tried desperately to separate the two of them by self-imposing a bowl ban in 2020, cutting eight scholarships over two years and banning Beckham from the LSU athletic facilities for two years. Including football in the NOA means the NCAA ignored the self-sanctions and essentially gave LSU the fickle finger of fate.
Including the two sports also makes it more difficult for LSU to avoid the dreaded “lack of institutional control” tag. When you get, any violation in any sport no matter how small can be written up and sanctioned as major. That is huge.
The initial allegations against Wade were during the administration of Crazy Joe Alleva, who suspended Wade for the NCAA Tournament in 2019 only to reinstate him after the season. Since then, Scott Woodward has taken over as the AD and has spent the last couple of years saying there is no concrete evidence against Wade. An NOA is the NCAA’s way of saying, “We’ve got the goods on you. You’re guilty as hell. Now we get to decided how hard we’re going to stick it to you.”
What happens at LSU does affect both Florida basketball and football. A hard probation to both LSU’s football and basketball programs – considered highly likely after today’s revelations – may have a noticeable affect on Florida’s recruiting in both sports. Mike White runs a clean program but he’s lost high level recruits to LSU and Wade over the past five years. LSU football is Florida’s permanent SEC West opponent. Billy Napier is recruiting Louisiana heavily and LSU traditionally has recruited hard in the state of Florida.
Publicly, if they’re asked about what’s happening with the NCAA and LSU, Mike White and Billy Napier will say all the right things. In private, they’re busting a gut because they’re giggling so hard.
CASTLETON MAKES SECOND TEAM COACHES ALL-SEC
For the second day in a row, Florida’s Colin Castleton was named to the All-SEC second team, this time by the league’s coaches. It is the second year in a row Castleton has been selected second team.
First team: JD Notae, Arkansas; Jaylin Williams, Arkansas; Walker Kessler, Auburn; Jabari Smith, Auburn; Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky; Tari Eason, LSU; Iverson Molinar, Mississippi State; Santiago Vescovi, Tennessee; Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt
Second team: Jaden Shackleford, Alabama; Colin Castleton, Florida; TyTy Washington, Kentucky; Sahvir Wheeler, Kentucky; Darius Days, LSU; Kobe Brown, Missouri; Kennedy Chandler, Tennessee; Quenton Jackson, Texas A&M
All-Freshman: Charles Bediako, Alabama; JD Davison, Alabama; Jabari Smith, Auburn; TyTy Washingotn, Kentucky; Brandon Murray, LSU; Devin Carter, South Carolina; Kennedy Chandler, Tennessee; Zakai Ziegler, Tennessee
All-Defensive: Keon Ellis, Alabama; Jaylin Williams, Arkansas; Walker Kessler, Auburn; Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky; Zakai Ziegler, Tennessee
Coach of the Year: Bruce Pearl, Auburn; Player of the Year: Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky; Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jordan Wright, Vanderbilt; Freshman of the Year: Jabari Smith, Auburn; Sixth Man of the Year: Tari Eason, LSU; Defensive Player of the Year: Walker Kessler, Auburn
SEC Tournament
Wednesday’s games: 1. Ole Miss (13-18, 4-14 SEC) vs. Missouri (11-20, 5-13 SEC); 2. Georgia (6-25, 1-17 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (15-15, 7-11 SEC)
Thursday’s games: 3. FLORIDA (19-12, 9-9 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (20-11, 9-9 SEC); 4. Game 1 winner vs. LSU (21-10, 9-9 SEC); 5. Mississippi State (17-14, 8-10 SEC) vs. South Carolina (18-12, 9-9 SEC); 6. Game 2 winner vs. Alabama (19-12, 9-9 SEC)
GATORS SHUT OUT JU, 1-0
Tyler Nesbitt, Ryan Slater and Nick Ficarrotta combined to limit Jacksonville to three hits and Kendrick Calilao drove home the game’s only run with a sixth-inning single as the Gators (11-3) shut out the Dolphins, 1-0, Tuesday night at the Florida Ballpark.
Nesbitt, who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, pitched the first two innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out three. Slater gave up one hit and struck out two over the next five innings to earn the win while Ficarrotta went the final two innings, allowing a hit and two walks with two strikeouts for his third save of the season.
With two out in the bottom of the sixth, Wyatt Langford walked and moved to second on a bunt single by BT Riopelle. Calilao hit the first pitch he saw to left field to score Langford with the game-winner.
The Gators and JU will go at it again this evening at 6 p.m. (SEC Network+) at the Florida Ballpark.
KELLY RAE FINLEY NAISMITH COACH OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST
Kelly Rae Finley did such a great job of coaching the Gators after she was named the interim head coach back in the summer that athletic director Scott Stricklin removed the interim tag just last week. A day later, Finley was named the SEC Coach of the Year by the USA Today network of newspapers. Tuesday, Finley was named a semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Award, which is presented yearly by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
Finley took over a team that had not experienced a winning season in five years and proceeded to direct the Gators to a 21-10 record and a fifth place finish in the SEC. Along the way, the Gators beat five ranked SEC opponents for the first time since 2004.
REPORT: GEORGIA WILL PINK-SLIP TOM CREAN
Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Tom Crean will be cleaning out his office and seeking gainful employment elsewhere once Georgia’s basketball season comes to a merciful end in Tampa. Crean is 6-25 this season at Georgia, 1-17 in SEC play. In his four years on the job, Crean is 47-74 overall, 15-57 in the SEC. Predecessor Mark Fox was 163-133 overall, 77-79 in the SEC. By comparison, Fox seems like John Wooden.
Towers is also reporting that Georgia’s four candidates to replace Crean are Cleveland State head coach Dennis Gates, Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes, Southern Cal head coach Andy Enfield and former Bulldog and now Xavier associate head coach Jonas Hayes. Forbes was just named ACC coach of the year and got a brand new deal at Wake Forest, so forget him. Gates, a former Florida State assistant, is 50-38 in three years at Cleveland State. Enfield, who has Southern Cal 25-5 and ranked No. 21, makes about $1.5 million. Given California taxes and sharing a city with UCLA, me might be ready to make a move eastward. He’s 182-115 since taking the USC job.
Hayes is the twin brother of Jarvis Hayes, a former first round draft pick of the Washington Wizards and two-time All-SEC selection. Jonas Hayes was an assistant for Mark Fox from 2013-18. He is considered the odds-on favorite to get the job.
HERB MAGEE RETIRES: 1,144-450 RECORDThis is a name that basketball purists know quite well but someone most outside of Philadelphia have never heard of. Herb Magee spent 54 years as the head coach at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, which was known as Philadelphia Textile before changing its name to Philadelphia University and then merging with Thomas Jefferson University in 2017. He took his team to 31 NCAA Division II tournaments and won the national championship in 1970 with a stunning upset of Tennessee State and its stud guard Ted “The Hound” McClain.
A great shooter who scored 2,235 points in his collegiate career, Magee became the head coach at Philadelphia Textile when he was 26 years old. Known as “The Shot Doctor,” I saw Magee teach shooting fundamentals at a clinic back in the 1970s. Impressive would be an understatement. The only other person I ever saw who had shooting down to a science was the late, great Bill Sharman. Every college basketball coach should make “Sharman on Basketball Shooting” required reading by every player on his team.
Magee was offered plenty of Division I jobs but he stayed loyal to the school that gave him a chance. He’s 81, plans to play plenty of golf and has his “The Shot Doctor Is In” shingle out in case some coach needs shooting fundamentals taught to his team.
ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Considering his bloodlines – grandson of Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli – it’s no surprise that Arch Manning (6-4, 215, New Orleans, LA Isidore Newman) is the hottest quarterback prospect to come along in years. Tuesday it was reported that Manning has narrowed his choices to six schools – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas.
We’ve known of his interest in Alabama, Georgia and Texas for some time. Archie and Eli played at Ole Miss so it’s no surprise the Rebels are on the list. LSU is an hour down the road in Baton Rouge. Tennessee, where Peyton played, isn’t on the list nor is Clemson, which worked Arch hot and heavy for the past year.
The surprise to most of the nation is the inclusion of Florida on that list. Maybe it surprises everyone else, but I get the feeling it’s not the least bit surprising to Billy Napier. Judging by the comments he’s made at the few press conferences he’s held since becoming Florida’s coach back in December and by things I’ve read or heard others say about him, I don’t think Billy Napier is ever surprised when a 5-star recruit has the Gators on the short list.
I get the impression that Billy Napier EXPECTS 5-star recruits to not only consider the Gators, but sign an LOI to play for the University of Florida. Napier doesn’t have the brash personality of Steve Spurrier and he doesn’t talk 800 miles an hour like Ron Zook. He is every bit as intense as Urban Meyer, but unlike Meyer, who you felt was going to burst a vein any minute, Napier comes across laid back.
It is a very quiet, yet self-assured presence, yet you’re very aware of his presence.
Already the recruiting gurus are saying this is going to come down to a battle between Alabama, Georgia and Texas and it very well may. Something about the way Billy Napier goes about his business tells me it’s not smart to write off Florida’s chances. Arch Manning may choose someplace other than Florida, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t give the Gators a long and very serious look.
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