Calhoun
HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun has acknowledged that he or his staff may have made mistakes in recruiting basketball player Nate Miles.
Calhoun said it’s sometimes hard to determine what is or is not permissible under the NCAA’s recruiting guidelines.
“Do I know if any has been made? No, I’m not making judgment one way or the other,” Calhoun said Friday, as the top-seeded Huskies prepared for the West Regional final against Missouri in Glendale. “I said there could have been a mistake made.
“I have done this for 37 years,” he added. “I truly believe that everything I have tried to do, I have done with a good, clean conscience and if we made a mistake, we’ll find out about it. If we didn’t, we will also find out about that.”
Yahoo! Sports reported Wednesday that Miles, a 6-7 guard from Toledo, Ohio, was given lodging, transportation, meals and representation by sports agent Josh Nochimson, and that a UConn assistant coach knew about the relationship between the player and the agent. The story cited interviews, documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws, and other sources.
Alabama hires Grant
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Anthony Grant has been hired as Alabama’s coach after three successful years with Virginia Commonwealth, leaving a school with no football program to take over one where the gridiron reigns.
The 42-year-old Grant, a former Florida assistant, led VCU to two NCAA Tournaments in three seasons. He becomes the most prominent black coach hired at Alabama and the first in the two major sports, football and men’s basketball.
The Rams’ season ended with a 65-64 loss to UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Alabama finished 18-14 and lost to Tennessee in the second round of the Southeastern conference tournament.
Booker coming back
CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson star Trevor Booker will return for his senior season.
Tigers coach Oliver Purnell made the announcement Friday. The 6-foot-7 Booker became the first player since Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan 12 years ago to lead the Atlantic Coast Conference in field goal percentage and rebounding.
Booker averaged 15.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and two blocked shots a game this season.