E'Twaun Moore Testing NBA Draft Status

E'Twaun Moore is following Purdue teammate JaJuan Johnson into the NBA Draft.  Like Johnson, Moore will not get an agent.  That means they have until May 8th to withdraw their names and return to Purdue.

Purdue coach Matt Painter said in a statement that both players had his support in considering their options.

"There are a lot of positives that can come out of the information gathering that takes place this time of year," he said.

Moore, a six-foot-four guard, led the team with 16.4 points per game as the Boilermakers went 29-6 and shared the Big Ten regular-season title.

I just do not see Moore actually going through with this and skipping his final year.  Moore is a great player, but I don't know if he is good enough for the NBA.  It's a good move by him to get free advice and NBA workouts to evaluate his status.

Johnson is another story.  While he is still raw in his development, he could have a long NBA career.  Ideally, he could use another season to get bigger and mature physically.  However, with an NBA lockout looming a lot of players that maybe would not go pro are now considering it.

"I'm confident that this process will make me stronger as a person and a player," Moore said. "It's important to me to leave open the option of returning to Purdue, but I also want to take the first step toward getting my game ready for the next level."

Purdue's JaJuan Johnson Reportedly Going Pro

Purdue's Final Four chances in 2011 have already taken a major hit.  The Sporting News is reporting that JaJuan Johnson will not return for his senior season and enter his name into the June NBA Draft.

Johnson averaged 19 points in helping lead Purdue to the Sweet Sixteen.  Johnson is projected to be a late first round or early second round selection.

The Sporting News cites a source that says Johnson's decision was bolstered by seeing teammate Robbie Hummel blow out his knee at Minnesota.

Johnson is not expected to hire an agent immediately which leaves the door open for him to return.

I interviewed Johnson a few times and found him very enjoyable and intelligent.  I wish him all of the best if he indeed goes to the NBA.

Wayne Hart vs. David Heckard -- Cornell vs Purdue!

I decided to have some fun today at work with two of my favorite co-workers.  Cornell grad Wayne Hart and Purdue alum David Heckard are pretty pumped up about their basketball teams, and rightfully so.

So i did a funny story about the two of them and their schools.  Wayne even came in on his vacation day to do the story.  Thanks to Wayne and David for having fun with it.

I hope you enjoy:

Wayne Hart & David Heckard -- Weather/Basketball Rivalry! from Lance Wilkerson on Vimeo.

Bartel: NCAA Selection Committee is Lazy

By Sean Bartel

If I had to describe the tournament committee's performance Sunday,
one word comes to mind.

Lazy.

How else can describe sliding Temple down to a five seed, even though
the Owls have the following over the four seeds (Wisconsin, Maryland,
Vanderbilt, and Purdue): more top 50 and top 100 RPI wins, a better
road/neutral court record, better record the last ten games, and a
better RPI? Or how else would you describe California insanely jumping
to an eight seed despite having just one win against the RPI top 50
(against 11 seed Washington) and three losses to teams outside the RPI
top 100?

But wait: Cal plays in a BCS league and Temple in the Atlantic 10. Lazy anyone?

What about saying your total body of work matters, then bumping Notre
Dame and Marquette up to six seeds? While the Golden Eagles and Irish
have looked like their seeding the last month, their whole season did
not bear out a seeding that high.

Or how angry should Richmond be? The Spiders have a stellar resume,
made the Atlantic 10 finals, beating Xavier just to get there. They
have more RPI top 50 wins than the Musketeers (and a better record),
similar stats everywhere, and lost in double overtime at Xavier just a
few weeks ago. Yet who gets the higher seed?

Xavier, at six. Richmond at seven. Lazy.

How does West Virginia finish the year playing the best basketball in
the country, then lose not only a one seed, but get put into
Kentucky's bracket? Better yet, how does Duke win a weak tea ACC (and
putrid ACC tournament) and somehow get seeded higher than every team
in the Big East? Certainly they're deserving of a one seed, but are
they really saying Duke had a better year than Syracuse, a team that
lost ONE road game?

But the greatest case for the committee's laziness comes with one of
the most glaring errors in bracketing history. I'll show my inner
bracket nerd by pointing this one out.

Years ago the NCAA created a rule stating teams from the same
conference must be seeded so they cannot meet until the regional
finals; this was to discourage regular season rematches, and make sure
each conference got as many teams as far as possible in the tournament
(f.e. If Kansas is 1 seed in the Midwest region, Oklahoma State or any
Big 12 team could not be seeded 16th, 8th, 9th, 4th, 13th, 5th or
12th. They'd have to be on the other side of the region, like the
Cowboys are now at 7). In 2006, when the Big East expanded to 16 and
the ACC to 12, the NCAA relaxed those rules, saying teams could meet
earlier than the regional finals, but only (we assumed) if a
conference got in nine teams, thus making it impossible for teams to
be separated until the late rounds.

That is, until Sunday.

This year's committee saw fit to put two possible Sweet 16 Big East
rematches: 6th-seeded Notre Dame and 2nd-seeded Villanova in the
South, and 6th-seeded Marquette and 2nd-seeded West Virginia in the
Midwest. Why? So far, committee chairman Dan Guerrero has offered
vague, weak reasoning that they tried to avoid regular season
rematches, but couldn't, blah blah blah.

Problem is Kentucky's half of the East bracket and Kansas's half of
the South had no Big East teams. Zero. Zilch. Nada. In this situation,
why not just shift Marquette or Notre Dame there? Guerrero would
probably say doing that, and thus moving them up to a five seed, would
be seeding them too high. And while that's true, I've made ten
brackets so far this year, with nearly everyone including eight Big
East teams, and I've found a way to keep these teams separated until
the regional finals. Yet a committee of "basketball people" locked in
a room can't get this done?

Perhaps I'm just not lethargic enough to be a part of this committee.
But laziness shouldn't be something linked to the most important
college event of the year.

Other mistakes ....

-- I guess the committee doesn't consider the latter a screw up, but
for bracketologists, believe me: It is. The last time the committee
screwed up this bad was 2003, when it accidently put BYU in a region
where they might have to play a regional finals game on Sunday
(because of the school's Mormon faith, BYU doesn't play on Sundays).
So, the tournament committee made a unique ruling: If BYU made the
sweet 16, it would switch from the South region into the Midwest
region, thus screwing up everyone's bracket.

Fortunately for the NCAA tournament committee and its brain freeze,
UConn beat BYU in the first round, and disaster was averted.

-- In case you're wondering, I got 33 of the 34 at-large berths
correct (Mississippi State was left out, and Florida put in) and 52 of
the 65 teams within one seed of their actual seeding. The only one I
was way off on? California as an 8 seed - I had them as an 11. But
I've already stated how thoroughly I disagree with the committee's
choice there.

-- Don't have stats on this, but I'd guess Texas, as an 8 seed in the
East, has the lowest seed ever for a team that reached number one in
the country at some point during the season.

If you're thinking the Longhorns can upset Kentucky in the second
round, you might want to rethink that: UT has struggled the second
half of the season, and is still dealing with a couple of bad
injuries. I'm going with one and done for Texas.

BTW, committee gets credit here: I seeded Texas way too high at six.
Kudos to them for not being fooled by Texas's early season results.

-- Remind me again: How do we seed here? San Diego State and UNLV have
similar resumes (save SDSU's much higher RPI); the Aztecs won the
Mountain West tourney title (beating UNLV for the second time this
year) ... and UNLV is seeded three slots higher?

Is this the reputation NCAA tournament?

-- Only 13 coaches have won two national titles, and just two are in
this tournament: Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Florida's Billy Donovan.
Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Kansas's Bill Self look like the only
1-time title winning coaches in position to join them.

-- Congrats to Kansas, the team with the highest RPI for this season.
What does it mean?

Nada. Out of the previous 16 teams to win the regular-season RPI
title, only two, yes, TWO, have won the national title (2001 Duke and
1996 Kentucky).

Here's something fascinating: Duke has had the highest RPI in the
country five of the last 11 regular seasons (2009, 2006, 2004, 2001,
1999), yet has only won a single national title (2001).

-- If Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orange make the second round? He moves up
to 7th all time in career wins. Final Four? He's in sixth. From there
it gets difficult - he'll be chasing Krzyzewski, and be 45 wins behind
Kentucky's legendary coach Adolph Rupp.

-- Longest streak without a tournament win for a team in this year's
field? That goes to Baylor - way back in 1950 was the last Bear
victory, when BU won a 56-55 thriller over BYU. Close behind is St.
Mary's, who hasn't won since 1959. Or you have San Diego State, making
its sixth appearance while looking for victory number one. Similarly
Cornell is making its fifth appearance sans a win. Its been 27 years
since Ohio or Robert Morris won in the big dance.

But none are trying to re-create the memories Houston is: 26 years ago
Guy Lewis's team fell short against Georgetown in the NCAA Finals.
Back then, that was the Cougars' third straight Final Four, and second
straight national title game. Incredibly, Houston hasn't won a
tournament game since; in fact, they've only made it to the dance four
times. Beating Maryland would be a good way for the NCAA to remember
the best school of the 1980's to not win a national title.

Purdue Adjusts to Life Without Robbie Hummel

Here is my profile on Purdue adjusting to playing without junior standout Robbie Hummel:

Purdue Cruises Past IU -- My Trip to Mackey

AP Photo/Michael ConroyAll season I have been looking to go to Mackey Arena and cover Purdue.  With just two of us in the sports department, it is hard to find the flexibility on a slow night to get away.  Tonight worked out perfectly, and it was ironic that the Boilers hosted arch rival Indiana.  NEWS 25 meteorologist David Heckard made the trip with me.  Ironically, all of our weather guys are huge sports fans, and Heckard is a Purdue alum.  Thanks to him for his help and driving the entire trip!

I am not a fan of either team, but I certainly root for both.  I have always admired Purdue Football and Basketball, and I really thought this was the year for the Boilers to make it to the Final Four.  Then star junior Robbie Hummel went down for the season with a blown knee last week.  I briefly talked with Hummel tonight.  I said to him, “Get back better than ever next year.”  With a big smile Hummel responded, “I guarantee you I will, I can’t wait.”

Tonight was just the second game for Purdue without Hummel.  They lost on Sunday to Michigan State.  The Boilers were not going to be denied on senior night against IU.  Chris Kramer had one of his best games of his career on his final game at Mackey.  He had 18 points and was met with loud ovations throughout the night.

One thing I love about my job is developing a relationship with players and coaches.  Granted, for players on Purdue I have only interviewed them twice all year.  However, you can learn a lot about players during one on one meetups.  Chris was very accommodating and we talked for quite awhile.  He told me how much he loved his time at Purdue and the fans that have supported him, how the team is responding without Hummel, and how much they want to beat Penn State this weekend to claim a share of the Big Ten Title.

JaJuan Johnson is also very respectful and pleasant to be around.  He also granted me a one on one interview.  He was really happy for his senior teammates for going out on top.  Johnson had 14 points and 7 rebounds against IU.  I said it last time, and I will reinforce it…Johnson is a nightmare matchup for teams.  He’s a tall athletic inside outside player that can hit free throws.  Those are hard to find.

There is not a lot to say about the game.  It was never close, and I don’t think fans from either team thought it would be.  The atmosphere at Mackey is fantastic.  The student section all had the same shirts on and they were all over the Indiana team.  The “IU Sucks” chant was frequent, and there was one IU fan at the top of Mackey above the student section.  I am not exaggerating when I say that half of the arena pointed him out and continued the chant.  Now you could make the argument that is classless, and you may be right….but I laughed.  I also laughed when I saw a sign that said: “You can’t spell SUCK IT without IU”.  Oh to be a college kid again!

The Hoosiers look like beaten down mules.  I feel terrible for them.  They have lost 11 straight games, and it has been in some regards an even worse season than last year.  Tom Crean was all over the referees tonight.  I thought a little too much.  After awhile that becomes the boy who cried wolf.  I am sure Crean is just extremely frustrated. 

I know that Crean has a near impossible task and it will take a lot of time to get the program back to respectability, but one moment stuck out for me.  In the first part of the second half, there was a loose ball.  Two Purdue players got to it and because they were fighting with themselves the ball squirted loose again.  It just rolled on the court for seemingly forever.  Not one IU player dove on the ball or made an effort.  That set off an alarm for me.  You cannot be out-hustled or outworked even if you are in the middle of an eleven game losing streak. 

Back to the Boilers…can they make it to the Final Four?  I doubt it.  How can you expect a team to overcome such a huge loss with just three games left in the season?  I hope I am wrong, I would love to see such a great group of kids make a deep run into the post-season.

Here is my story from tonight.  The players shown in order on the video: Chris Kramer, JaJuan Johnson, Mark Wohlford of Purdue and Verdell Jones of Indiana.  Also included are some highlights from both halves.  Enjoy:



Heading to Mackey for Purdue vs. IU

I am getting ready to drive up to Purdue with David Heckard to cover the Boilers hosting arch rival Indiana. It was a great game to cover in Bloomington.  However, a lot different dynamic to this matchup. 

The Hoosiers are reeling losing ten straight and the natives are getting restless by their poor play.  An IU win would be huge to salvage something at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Purdue is playing its second game without Robbie Hummel.  The Boilers have to have the victory to stay in the conference championship hunt.  More importantly they need to figure out how to make their team effective without Hummel going into the post-season.  A loss to hapless Indiana would really hurt the Boilers seeding.

I'll have a report and complete coverage from Mackey Arena on NEWS 25 at 6pm and 10pm tonight.  I'll do my best to give some twitter updates too.