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Top 10 Most Read is released every Friday afternoon, allowing you to compare the most read stories over the past seven days to your own interest list. Feedback, as always, is welcome to Matt@D1ticker.com.
#10:Louisville's response to the NCAA Notice of Allegations in connection to the MBB-Katina Powell saga hit the wire. Of note, The Compliance Group's Smrt did interview former AC McGee before the supposed tell-all book from Powell was published, though the conversation didn't provide a significant amount of clarity. The university questions Powell's credibility on a number of fronts. HC Pitino argues he did have proper monitoring on his program, including McGee. "Louisville says in its response that the amount of actual cash (not cash value of services) provided in NCAA allegations is $805." WDRB's Crawford covered the latest from virtually every angle & a quick look through his Twitter feed provides a bevy of additional information. (link)
#9: The Chicago Tribune's Greenstein explores the story of Oklahoma FB student-athlete Swenson one year after the former Michigan HC Hoke commit was not offered a scholarship by then-new Wolverines HC Harbaugh. Swenson says he's no longer upset with Harbaugh and is "thankful" that he ended up in Norman. As far as Harbaugh, he was happy to share his side of the story with Greenstein, which left the reporter impressed, "I fully expected the Michigan coach to duck comment, given how harsh I had been to him in a column about the Swenson situation last year. The fact Harbaugh called me within hours of the request, from the recruiting trail, showed a certain thickness of skin. It also spoke to his comfort in how Michigan handled this." (link)
#8:Southern Illinois is looking into the academic eligibility of MBB student-athletes Lloyd & Vincent & AD Bell says Saluki coaches & players did nothing wrong. HC Hinson even more vocal, "Unequivocally, me, nor my staff, and more importantly, the two players, are in no way, shape or form at fault here. Absolutely no fault. I am extremely, extremely upset. I have never been this mad as a coach in my 36 years of coaching, and I'm disappointed, and at 4 o'clock I had to meet with the team and tell them of the news, and watch two kids cry. In a team room, before we play one of the best teams in our conference. That's the hardest thing I've done in a long time, and the anger in me is boiling, and that's all I can say. I wish I could say more." Hinson believes there will be a resolution to the situation within 48 hours. (link)
#7: The new, new Billiken mascot has been revealed, this time St. Louis called on some 17K alumni and survey respondents to help overhaul the smile, eyes, head and skin tone of the new look. (link)
#6: From the NCAA Convention in Nashville:
+ SEC Commish Sankey commented Saturday on why he's not in favor of FB recruiting calendar changes. Includes thoughts on why a December early signing period may be misguided, "College football programs wouldn't want the NFL draft November 15. They just wouldn't. It would be a huge distraction. So now we're about to put a signing date in the middle of December when in some states high school football playoffs are taking place. That's not providing the right level of attention to high school football programs, which provide a basis for college football. We've talked about colleges' needs, but not about the impact on high school football, and I think that has to be a part of the early signing consideration." Lots more. (link)
+ No more practices during vacation periods, including Spring Break. Passed 58-20. Michigan AD Manuel: "I’m open for the discussion to ensuring that our students have opportunities to have down time. But I think to isolate it to one specific area, one specific time of the year where we don’t vote against not having practice, we just vote that you can’t go anywhere else and have practice, I think it’s missing the point." Again, lots more. (link)
+ A bunch went down Saturday in Nashville & if you're looking for a quick view, I would suggest thumbing through the Twitter feeds of USA Today's Wolken or Inside the NCAA. (link); (link)
+ Here are the detailed voting results from the Autonomy Session. (link)
#5: Checkout this video tour of Arizona State's latest construction at the Student-Athlete Facility & Sun Devil Stadium. Starts with space for the training table & recruiting room & includes renderings to go along with continued heavy on-site work. Relocating 'Tillman Tunnel' is a key piece, which will include alumni lining the space as the team takes the field next year. Locker room & players lounge walls going up & drywall looks ready to hang. New scoreboard measuring 180' wide by 60' tall will be installed in March. Oh, it's one square foot larger than its counterpart in Tucson. Lots more. (link)
#4:Southern Miss hires Tennessee Executive Senior Assoc. AD Gilbert as its new AD in Hattiesburg. Prez Bennett says Gilbert is the "right person at the right time," points to his new AD's compassion, transparency & honesty as reasons he was the choice. Gilbert promotes his "broad-based knowledge of athletics," believes he's a cultural fit in Hattiesburg, notes there was discussion during the process around the hire of former MBB HC Tyndall from USM to UT, compares the revenue situation for the Golden Eagles as not terribly different - though on a different scale - to when he arrived in Knoxville & the Vols had some catching up to do. Bennett expects to build an equally quality relationship with Gilbert as he had with former AD McGillis, now the AD at San Diego. More. (link, link); Full presser video. (link); 247Sports.com's Brice reported yesterday afternoon that Tennessee Senior Assoc. AD for Administration & Sports Programs Ward would likely join Gilbert at Southern Miss, which would have been the third senior-level exit from the UT department in the last few months, but he's since reversed field & now says Ward will stick with the Vols. (link)
#3: Oregon's newly-appointed FB co-CO Reaves was charged with a DUII (driving under the influence of intoxicants, a state-specific term), reckless driving and reckless endangerment early Sunday morning. Ducks AD Mullens: "Reaves has been placed on administrative leave and the process to terminate his employment with cause has commenced. The University has high standards for the conduct of employees and is addressing this matter with the utmost of seriousness." His two-year deal, worth $300K annually, allows the school to discipline him or terminate the contract for cause for "any material violation of local, state or federal law." (link)
#2: A bench-clearing altercation during the UAB-Louisiana Tech MBB matchup last night in Birmingham led to the Bulldogs playing the final six minutes with just four players. "Both head coaches remained. Assistant coaches and support staffers for both teams were ejected. Only trainers remained on the benches, except for UAB's two players - Mehinti and Smallwood - who didn't leave the bench." Both HCs say the altercation is not a good representation of their programs. Conference USA expected to comment today. (link)
#1: Tucson.com really knows how to generate clicks, at least from our crowd, updates its slideshow with 12 potential candidates to be the next AD at Arizona. If I recall the original list correctly, there are a couple of new additions, like Kansas State AD Currie, Texas A&M Deputy AD Rempe & Utah boss Hill. Three internal candidates continue to be mentioned. Each of the 12 has a profile of their body of work & background. (link)
