Still no announcement from Tyler Smith from Hargrave. Not unexpected, since all reports said he would take his time during this signing period. If, as his coach suggested, Pitt and Iowa are the top two schools he is deciding between then a bit of shake-up at Iowa might make things more interesting.
Iowa coach Steve Alford announced in a statement released late Tuesday afternoon that assistant coach Greg Lansing and director of basketball operations Rich Walker would not have their contracts renewed when the fiscal year ends in June.
Alford also announced that sophomore guard Carlton Reed and sophomore forward Alex Thompson had been released from their scholarships and would be transferring.
That means that the Hawkeyes will have only six scholarship players returning from last season’s team that finished second in the Big Ten, won the conference tournament, and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
So Iowa will have definite playing time available. Neither was a starter. Thompson was 8th on the team in minutes played and expected to be up for a starting forward gig with all of the graduating seniors on the team.
The coaching shake-up, though, might affect Smith’s choice if either was substantially involved in his recruitment. The story indicates that at least one of the coaching vacancies will likely be filled by the former Ball St. head coach, so that won’t be much of an impact on Smith.
Bob Smizik mails-in his column on Aaron Gray and Gray considering the NBA.
Seven-footers who walk and chew gum at the same time get NBA attention. When they average a double-double (points and rebounds) in a league as competitive as the Big East, they get scrutiny. Gray led the Big East in rebounding with an average of 10.5 a game and was 20th in scoring with an average of 13.9. He was the only player in the league to average in double figures in both categories. He also was first-team all-conference.
At least one Internet site has Gray ranked in the NBA draft, which will be in June. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks Gray as the 39th-best prospect and predicts him to go late in the first or early in the second round — if he opts for the draft.
Of course, Gray is not ready to play in the NBA. His game needs to improve, he needs to get stronger and better conditioned. But being ready is not the issue. A lot of players who weren’t ready entered the draft. For some it was a wise move, for more it was not.
The whole thing is just filled with the kind of strong opinion you’d expect. By the way, Ford now has him down another spot to #40 (Insider Subs). It’s not like there is anything in there with which to really disagree or take issue. You just kind of look at the column and think, “And?…”
Stupid statements regarding the lack of good centers in the draft “this year” annoy the hell out of me. There aren’t very many good centers in the draft in any year. That’s why you shake your head years later and wonder aloud, “How the hell was Chris Mihm the #7 pick in the draft?” Michael Olowokani #1 in 1998, Kwame Brown #1, Tyson Chandler #2 and Eddy Curry #4 in 2001 all Centers. The NBA draft history is littered with centers who flopped. Hell, just look at the NBA rosters and you can name only a handful of good centers in the league.
It’s why players like Mark Blount and Eric Dampier can parlay their one good season (that just happened to be in their contract year) into ridiculous contracts.
So, Gray is listed as the 5th best Center prospect in the draft (behind O’Bryant, Hilton Armstrong, Paul Davis and Josh Boone) and is down at the 40th pick. Either the NBA draft is finally wising up, or the Centers are that bad this year that nothing is going to make them rise much.
Gray’s decision to stay (not “enter”) in the NBA draft all depends on the Orlando camp. That will do the most to determine his draft stock.
