Hooray For Links! March 10

I was never a big proponent of doing link dumps and the like on this site because, well, it didn't really make sense to me. Why would I simply reproduce things that are already out there? But as I did my own scouring of the Intertubes for college hoops content, I realized there was just too much quality (and, at times, utterly awful) stuff out there to simply leave untapped. So I give you Hooray For Links! which should appear at completely random intervals. Because without links, it's not really a blog, it's just a place to put thoughts I might not want to forget.

Them links be after the jump.
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First off, I was gonna do one of these last week but didn't get around to it so if any of these are old news or have already been determined as uninteresting, I apologize.

- The new Deadspin Media Approval Ratings have been very interesting, especially the results surrounding some college hoops folk. Here they are:

Doug Gottlieb: 44.3%
Billy Packer: 9.5%
Gus Johnson: 90.4%
Erin Andrews: 95.2%
Mike Patrick: 47.8%

It's worth mentioning that ESPN is known for infiltrating these polls when they involve one of their people, which could be why the derisive Gottlieb is near 50 percent (despite being a bully) and the brain-dead Patrick is above 3 percent. Obviously the 5 percent that disapproves of Andrews are women and the 10 percent that disapproves Gus are deaf (my feelings on him are well-documented). Billy Packer's 9.5% was provided solely by the Nantz family.

- Speaking of Gottlieb, USA Today did a feature on him for no apparent reason whatsoever, except to give an already hefty ego and even greater boost. I think Gottlieb is a pretty smart guy and definitely is one of the smarter ESPN hoops analysts. But the way he presents his opinions in that pompous, I'm-the-voice-of-reason-in-college-hoops, I-think-Tom Brennan-is-a-huge-douche type of way, not to mention a completely boring way with no sense of humor (like Brennan), is just unnecessary. I've said this before but he's like one of those guys on the message boards that happens to know more than everyone else and wants them all to know it. Anyway, the feature was an absolute puff piece, barely mentions the credit card thing at Notre Dame or many of his controversial statements. It also contains no sources from Gottlieb detractors, only speaking with his family and co-workers. But read it if you want a reason to dislike Doug Gottlieb some more.

- Dana O'Neill at ESPN.com continues to crank out outstanding pieces in her first few months on the job. This one on Michael Beasley, perhaps the 20th I've read on him, is probably the best look into Beasley's life and mind that has been written. Beasley comes off as a pretty intelligent, thoughtful guy, especially when speaking about the true impact of being a really freaking good 19-year-old basketball player.

"I'm still a kid; I'm still irresponsible and I want to still be irresponsible sometimes," Beasley said as the fans circled behind him. "When I go to the NBA, that's over. My life is America's life. LeBron James gets a speeding ticket, the cop goes on with his day and LeBron is all over 'SportsCenter.' Britney Spears shaves her head, it's everywhere. You shave your hair, who cares? That's why I'm not sure I'm ready for the NBA.

"I mean, what's being famous anyway? It's a popularity contest. Don't get me wrong. I'm lucky. I love my life, but I just don't understand it. I brush my teeth with the same Crest. I use the same bar of soap. My house gets junky just like yours. I'm just a regular guy who can play basketball. I'm normal."

Nah dude, I use Colgate. And unlike the Gottlieb piece, O'Neill confronts Beasley on Dalonte Hill, Bob Huggins and all the weirdness around his recruitment. He acknowledged that he's only at KSU because of Hill but said Frank Martin's head coach position is legitimate. I disagree, but whatever, I can't drop 44 in a Big 12 game.

- Speaking of Kansas State, Big Sexy Jason Whitlock weighs in on the squad and its recent struggles. And wouldn't you know it, Mr. Whitlock has something critical to say. He calls out the fans, Crazy Person Frank Martin's sideline antics and the sulking so often seen from the young guys (not sure I agree on this). Whitlock's a great writer so it's worth a read but don't expect to be smiling when you're done reading.

- I've written a bit on Philadelphia hoops phenom, the as yet unsigned Tyreke Evans. The New York Times decided to do the same and turns in a good feature on the completely ridiculous amount of hoopla surrounding his senior season.

- Kevin Love. John Wooden. Outlet passes. And Brent Musberger gets his first erection in years.
/shudders


- I Loooovveeeee The Drake around here and given the Bulldogs complete destruction of the Missouri Valley, I link this column from ESPN.com's Pat Forde from a couple weeks ago on just how much he too, loves the Drake.

- Patrick Patterson may be coming back to school next year... according to his Facebook page.

- The blinding brilliance of Kissing Suzy Kolber and Big Daddy Drew applies itself to college hoops and Coach K (via Deadspin). And all is right with the world.

- What dreams of made of.


- You've probably heard by now that Lil Romeo is going to USC on a basketball scholarship. You've probably considered how ridiculous this is. The Wall Street Journal would like to confirm how ridiculous this is... as would Tim Floyd. Apparently this is just a package deal with DeMar DeRozan, who is apparently really freaking good and tight with Romeo. Obviously everyone at USC denies that.

- This post at FreeDarko on Mike Dunleavy and his days at Duke, where he recorded a video with a campus comedy group, might be completely useless or awe-inspiringly awesome. Decide for yourself. A teaser: Dunleavy plays Death in Stratego.

- Your obligatory Erin Andrews item.

- Never have I been more excited after a college basketball play than I was after Kristof Ongenaet's steal/crossover/posterizing of Marquette Saturday. I'm assuming that is what people felt like after Jason McElwain made all of those threes.

Tyreke Evans Is Now Slightly Less Attractive To Recruiters... Well, Except Calipari

Most college basketball fans don't know Tyreke Evans. Not yet. And that's probably because he is not yet a college basketball player. But he is probably the top unsigned high school senior and there's a chance he might be regretting not committing somewhere sooner. In a police affidavit released last week, it was revealed that Evans was driving a car when a passenger, his 16-year-old cousin, shot and killed someone on Nov. 25 in Evans' hometown of Chester, PA. The cous was charged with first degree murder (obviously) but Evans won't be charged.

Evans is a 6-6 guard who plays at American Christian in Aston, PA. He is filthy and a national star already. He's more of a point guard in the Lebron James and OJ Mayo mold. Rivals has him as the No. 6 player in the class, Scout has got him at No. 7.

He is also a bit of a shady character, in the, well, Lebron James and OJ Mayo mold. His brother Reggie, also his legal guardian, handles all of his recruiting and media contact and was also given an AAU team to run by Nike. He has been linked to ubiquitous basketball diplomat William Wesley, who has allegedly been responsible for John Calipari landing a number of recent recruits, including DaJuan Wagner, Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts. It's tough to describe Wesley succinctly so I recommend reading those links, but he is essentially an agent, a shoe rep, a scout and a recruiter all rolled into one. What he does isn't illegal per se, but a lot of people could perceive it as unethical.

Around the middle of his junior year, it seemed like a lock that Evans would go to UNC, where his family is from. But he eventually backed out of that, most likely because people told him to wait it out so the interest would grow. He had long said that a decision would be made by this year's signing period, which came and went in November without Evans making a commitment. The supposed frontrunner changes every week, from UNC (who has now been ruled out) to Villanova to Memphis to Louisville, who is said to be the momentary leader, with Texas and UCONN rounding out his top five.

I'm mostly speculating (because that's what bloggers do), but I've got to think Nova might lay off Evans after the latest red flag given his growing notoriety in the area (although Jay Wright has said otherwise). Obviously Rick Pitino and John Calipari have had no problem choosing talent over public image so I don't see any reason for them to show trepidation. But the issue here isn't how it will affect recruiting, but the reasons it won't affect recruiting. Evans, by all accounts, seems to be a good enough kid himself but with all of the precedent following athletes who keep criminals as company, will there ever be a point where talent can be trumped? I don't need to run down all the past offenders but it's clear that in a number of cases where a kid showed red flags, he was still recruited and he ended up falling into the same trap when he got to college (Derrick Caracter, Sean Banks, Billy Edelin, Herb Pope, the list goes on).

Clearly, there is very little concern for rehabilitating kids off the court -- which should be one of the main benefits for inner city players to go to college -- as long as they perform on it. And it's not enough to just suspend a kid or kick him off the team, it should be a coach's responsibility to simply not let a situation get to that point. If the NCAA doesn't want college players to just appear as cash cows, then it has to make sure coaches turn them into good people as well as good players. It's an issue that has been argued about forever and certainly there will be kids who cannot be helped, but is it too much to ask for progress over all these years?

Evans has a lot of things to worry about outside basketball now; he is a cooperating witness in a homicide case in one of the worst neighborhoods on the East Coast and will not be charged because of his cooperation. By all accounts he is a one and done player so, as a player, prepping for the NBA may be more important than prepping for college. But it would be nice if whichever high-paid, high-profile, supposed "leader of men" coach lands him, puts an end to the trend of big-time recruits controlling their own lives and everyone around them and teach him something besides a jump shot and preps Evans for life, not just basketball.