Illinois took
a major hit when Jamar Smith was kicked off the team on Thursday.
Smith was serving a probation after an alcohol-related car accident last year.
According to a source close to the situation, Smith will remain in school and
has no plans to transfer.
While the chances of him ever playing in an Illini uniform again are slim, the
larger concern is about Smith’s personal issues at this point.
``This is about a kid’s health,” the source said. ``He’s just trying to get his
life together.”
Remember, this is a kid who left teammate Brian Carlwell at the scene of a car
accident a year ago. It’s clear that there are some things he needs to work
through
Smith’s probation included a ban on drinking and while he wasn’t inside a bar
when the police saw him on Friday morning, he did admit to drinking, according
to the police report.
Smith is one of the best perimeter shooters in the entire country and his
return, along with the addition of Kentucky
transfer Alex Legion, was supposed to put the Illini back in the NCAA
tournament this season.
Now Bruce Weber’s team may have to wait another year – when an impressive 2009
recruiting class lands on campus.
WAKE UP
There’s no doubt that the addition of Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods and Ty Walker
were huge for Wake Forest, but these guys won’t necessarily be the ones
responsible for getting the Demon Deacons into the Big Dance next season.
The core of Wake’s team will be the backcourt of Ishmael Smith and Jeff Teague
and forward James Johnson.
``I think they are really good players that can come in and improve the
program,” Wake coach Dino Gaudio said of the heralded freshman class. “We’ll be
a better team because of them.”
Gaudio said he welcomes the expectations of being a Top 25 Preseason club
because, frankly, he was on the other end of it when he was the head coach at
Army.
``I don’t mind it at all,” Gaudio said. “When I was at Army, there were no
expectations. I’ve been on the other side of the fence and I’d much rather have
it this way.”
Gaudio admitted that the key to the team’s success this season is team
chemistry, but he also said someone – or more than one person – will need to
step up and provide quality leadership.
``If we get one good leader, we can be good,” Gaudio said. “If we get a few, we
can be great.”
SAM HOUSTON ESTABLISHING TRADITION IN LONE STAR STATE
How about the fact that Sam Houston State, since head coach Bob Marlin arrived
a decade ago, is the second-winningest program in the state of Texas (behind
Rick Barnes’ Longhorns).
Marlin has won 182 games in Huntsville
and despite the fact that the Bearkats lost a pair of all-league players in
Ryan Bright and Shamir McDaniel, Sam Houston should still be battling for the league
title.
``We couldn’t score last year,” Marlin said. “But it was the best defensive
team I’ve had.”
That should change with the addition of Corey Allmond and Preston Brown – a pair
of junior college kids who should step right in.
By the way, if you’re a non-conference team, you probably don’t want to go to
Huntsville because Marlin & Co. have won 44 consecutive non-conference home
games – which ranks second in the nation behind Duke.
RANDOM NOTES: Villanova received a
verbal commitment from junior James Bell, a New Jersey
native who is transferring from Arlington Country Day to Montverde
Academy in Florida.
… Missouri landed local senior point
guard Michael Dixon of Lee’s Summit
West High.
I would like to know why you would make a big deal out of nothing by turning in the Memphis Tigers to the NCAA. The Tigers knew nothing about the phone call and the phone call wasnt meant to recruit. It was a simple "congratulations" phone call from a boss to an employee. He didnt call the recruit and offer him a new Hummer!!! I think you, as well as most of the other press, dont give the Tigers the respect we deserve. We earned it in the tournament, so its time to man up and just deal with the fact that we have one of the best basketball programs in the nation!! So knock the chip off your shoulder and show some respect for us for a change!!! GO TIGERS!!!!
Last edited by TIGERFAN09 on August 1st at 1:43 PM.
I think it was the tree Jamar left at the scene? How did he leave the scene without Brian? Brian was in the car; they had to cut him out. Jamar actually drove back home, about 2 miles or so, in a wrecked car, with a concussion, intoxicated, to get help. It is sort of rural-ish out there, and there was a blizzard going on. He had no call phone. Remaining at the scene would have been a bad idea. A charge of failing to report in a timely manner was dropped
because there were extenuating circumstances. There never was a question of leaving the scene.
Many people are discussing it at free inter-racial dating site ' blackwhitemate.com' where i upload my photos and find real girls to spend lonely night...
hello guys, Why not join in sports lover club
(((((==== M i x e d m i n g l e.c o m====))))to chat with black and white single beauties ? It is a place where I keep meeting many BLACK and WHITE single handsome and beauties...
RIF, I was commenting on the oft repeated falsehood that Jamar Smith left Brian Carlwell at the scene; an action that would have been impossible. This is about Jamar's actions after he had driven drunk in a blizzard and had hit a tree. He did not, as widely reported, illegally leave the scene, abandon his passenger, or intentionally fail to report an accident with injuries. He returned home and sought help.
There is no excuse for being intoxicated while underage, driving while intoxicated, driving in unsafe conditions, and so on. I am sure no one reading this ever did such foolish things. My only comment was about the widespread misreporting on his actions after the accident.
enjoy sports enjoy life..friends come here __BOOMERCUPID.COM___ that s for you.. boomercupid has become more and more popular for meeting mature men and women. Check out my profile by a simple signup.
Let's chat.
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com - This is the only place you'll find continuous daily updates from the world of college basketball, so check back as often as you'd like.
