Eye On College Basketball

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06/06: Book Richardson receives prison sentence, and more college coaches are likely to get the same Jun 07, 2019

Show notes

On Thursday, Book Richardson was sentenced to three months in federal prison. It was a history-making decision by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos. Matt Norlander was in the courtroom, as he has been throughout both trials, and brings perspective and details from Thursday and beyond. He and Gary Parrish spend the first 40 minutes of the podcast discussing Richardson's sentence, Arizona's next steps, the NCAA's unfolding investigation and why Richardson said he didn't believe Sean Miller paid for players. After that, the guys touch on the new NCAA rules for 2019-2020 (48:30), most notably the extended 3-point line. They wrap by hitting on the 10-15 teams with the best odds to win the 2020 national title (58:30).

05/30: Winners + losers from NBA Draft deadline decisions; Kansas' flurry of roster ups and downs; college basketball's talent drain May 31, 2019

Show notes

Nearly 90 underclassmen opted to stay in the 2019 NBA draft pool. And nearly 90 decided to come back. Which schools benefitted most or were hurt significantly? This pod opens on that, then gets to a discussion (12:00) on the growing trend in college basketball to have more and more guys leaving early, even when they're not expected to be drafted. The guys zero in on Kansas (28:00) and R.J. Hampton's decision to bypass college and play in New Zealand. The pod wraps with a look at Parrish and Norlander's respective top fives (54:00) heading into the heart of the offseason.

05/22: Michigan gets its best realistic replacement for John Beilein by hiring Juwan Howard May 23, 2019

Show notes

On Wednesday, Michigan officially hired alumnus Juwan Howard to coach its men's basketball program. The first 20 minutes of this podcast are dedicated to that decision, with Parrish and Norlander bringing some deeper context into why this decision was made and why it's different from the Penny Hardaway hiring at Memphis. Then the guys get to notable five-star commitments within the past week (20:00): Precious Achiuwa to Memphis; Jaden McDaniels to Washington; Trendon Watford to LSU.

05/13: John Beilein stuns college basketball by leaving Michigan to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers May 14, 2019

Show notes

The basketball world woke up to surprising news Monday morning: John Beilein was walking on Michigan to take a job with the shaky Cleveland Cavaliers organization. This episodes goes heavy on that, including why Beilein doing this should -- or maybe shouldn't -- be that surprising, in addition to evaluating Michigan's program in the greater hierarchy of college basketball (20:00) and trying to establish which candidates actually make sense at the early stage of UM's search. From there, GP and Norlander get to Kentucky taking back its standing with the No. 1-rated recruiting class (40:00), followed close behind by -- well, well! -- Memphis (49:00) and the apparent monster Penny Hardaway has assembled for 2019-20.

With the second trial over, and more guilty verdicts delivered, which schools were hurt the most -- and what will the NCAA do now? May 09, 2019

Show notes

Our final podcast dedicated to the second college basketball federal trial opens on what the government set out to do, and failed. Then Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander take a tour of the schools that were hurt the most in all of this, and what might come next. Plus, Christian Dawkins, who again was found guilty by a federal jury, provided some helpful-yet-damning quotes once more in relation to Arizona coach Sean Miller after the trial ended Wednesday. Ultimately, the legacy and effects of this case will rest on the shoulders of the NCAA, which has a monumental challenge awaiting its enforcement division, effective immediately.

05/01: The federal trial has been worse for Arizona than maybe everyone was expecting May 02, 2019

Show notes

College basketball has maybe never been as newsy and buzzy on the first day of May as it is this. That's because the second of three scheduled federal trials is providing a lot of allegations, evidence and more against prominent names and schools. But nothing's hit as hard as the stuff attached to Arizona. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this episode by discussing what the trial is really getting at and what the government is trying to prove, then move on to Sean Miller and the pivotal calls played in court Wednesday (8:30) that have his former assistant, Book Richardson, alleging Miller was paying Deandre Ayton and Rawle Alkins. Norlander and GP close out the pod by hitting on Texas Tech ponying up huge money to pay Chris Beard (41:15) and get into some of the leftover stuff reported this week about UCLA's search.

04/24: The second federal trial has Christian Dawkins on video accusing Arizona coach Sean Miller of cheating to get players Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Sean Miller's name is in headlines again thanks to the second college basketball corruption trial, which on Wednesday turned its attention the Arizona program due to video wiretaps that were played in court. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spend the first 40 minutes of this episode catching you up on the case, the implications for Miller, why Dawkins is to be believed and what else has happened this week in lower Manhattan. The final 15 minutes of the podcast are dedicated to North Carolina landing a commitment from elite 2019 guard Cole Anthony, Duke again securing the No. 1 class in college basketball and a new top 10 from Parrish for 2019-20. The Blue Devils aren't No. 1, but they're close.

04/16: LSU shocks the college hoops world and reinstates Will Wade; the Hauser brothers shock Marquette and leave the program Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

Minutes before the season premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones started Sunday night, LSU announced Will Wade had been reinstated to his post. So Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander start there, then lay out how this could still go wrong -- or, in a long shot, right -- for LSU and Wade. From there, the guys talk the shocking transfer decisions from Sam and Joey Hauser (23:00), who are leaving Marquette and thus tanking the Golden Eagles' 2019-20 stock. The guys get some trivia time in, look back on their preseason player rankings, then talk about Cincinnati hiring John Brannen (41:00) over Nick Van Exel and Darren Savino.

04/09: Virginia beats Texas Tech and completes one of the all-time incredible stories in college basketball history Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

Norlander was right: Virginia won the national title. It did so in a great game, probably one of the 10 best in NCAA Tournament title game history. Texas Tech had it! Until it didn't. So it went for every team UVA played in the NCAAs. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander give a lot of time to the title game, to Tony Bennett, to the Cavaliers' biggest plays from the NCAA Tournament, to all you want to hear about in the wake of the end of the 2019 season. From there, some news away from the tourney, including UCLA hiring Mick Cronin (42:00), Chris Mullin stepping down at St. John's (53:00), and a flurry of early NBA drafts decisions (58:00) -- but two huge ones that involve players coming back to college.

04/07: Virginia-Auburn insanity, Texas Tech throttles through again, and now we have an epic defensive title game matchup Apr 07, 2019

Show notes

For the first time in 40 years, a national championship game will feature two schools that have never before made it this far. But first, GP and Norlander pick apart and set the scene for Virginia's inexplicable escape over Auburn in the Final Four. That was one of the wilder endings imaginable on the biggest stage in college hoops. From there, they get into Texas Tech's 61-51 win over Michigan State (23:00) and Izzo's 3-7 record in the Final Four. They close, naturally, with their thoughts and predictions (36:00) on what Monday night's title game will bring -- and they disagree on who wins and who covers.

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