LamarCheeks

I would suspect it's about 99 percent certain that Smith, Green and Durham are returning to school, but I haven't seen anything regarding their decisions. I believe the deadline to withdraw your name from the draft and still be able to retain college eligibility is tomorrow, so I guess we'll find out soon.

Maybe the timing wasn't the best on that, but the Stanley Cup actually is the best trophy in sports. ... And I was born and raised in Indiana, graduated from IU and have watched the Indy 500 for 45-plus years.

Seems very strange to watch the race on NBC after all those years on ABC ... If you're a Danica fan, my apologies, but I cannot stand her. Could definitely do without her as Tirico's sidekick.

Ed Cooley is out. ... I always wonder in situations like this, when a coach "withdraws from consideration" -- did the interview not go well, and the school decides they weren't interested, so to save face, he says he's pulling out of the search. Or did he truly not feel comfortable with the school? ... Like when after Crean was fired and our search progressed, and it was became pretty clear Alford wasn't gonna get it, he goes on national TV and says he doesn't want the IU job. When you know you're not gonna get it, it makes it easier to say you don't want it! Either way, looks as if Juwan Howard is the front-runner now.

A Michigan fan site claims the final four are Juwan Howard, Ed Cooley, LaVall Jordan and Shaka Smart.

Exactly. ... Those guys are pretty good at what they do and how many mediocre coaches have we seen recycled again and again in the Association? ... Except for rare occasions -- Popovich, Sloan (when he was coaching) -- it seems as if many NBA coaches end up having worked for 3-4 teams before they hang up the whistle and clipboard. ... TBH, I think I'd actually rather coach 18-22 year-olds than headstrong dudes making millions, but I sure wouldn't want to have to travel all over the country begging those kids to play for me.

Apparently, according to 247Sports, neither Stevens nor Donovan are interested. That's not surprising to me. The Detroit paper had an update saying Juwan Howard and LaVall Jordan are included on the Michigan AD's list. It also mentions there's been a lot of speculation on Shaka Smart. Also said Ed Cooley is a likely candidate. Interesting about Smart. Coaches seem to do very well at Virginia Commonwealth, but not so much when they move to a Power 5 school. Jeff Capel was great at VCU; fired at Oklahoma. Anthony Grant was great at VCU; fired at Alabama. Shaka Smart was great at VCU; still at Texas, but has been relatively mediocre. Will Wade was great at VCU; is in trouble because he's a cheating dog at LSU. Also, Jalen Wilson -- 6-8 four-star small forward from Denton, Texas -- asked Michigan to be released from his LOI. 247sports says he's a "big perimeter prospect that possesses shooting ability and skill." ... We apparently weren't in on him in his initial recruiting (before signing with Michigan, his other schools listed on that website were Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Arizona State). ... Hoping Archie at least takes a look.

Apparently, Oats already has said he's not interested. ... Jeff Goodman threw Chris Collins' name out there, too.

Yikes. South Carolina the first night, and Baylor the second? ... That could be a couple losses totaling 80 or more points.

Overall, I've got RMK at IU for 29 years and Piggy Lambert at PU for 29 years (though not consecutively). Anybody ever been at a B1G school for a longer period?

Juwan Howard? ... He's a Heat assistant and been a candidate for a couple NBA jobs. Has no college experience, but neither did Penny or Stackhouse.

I can totally see that. Not only is there the frustration with players testing the NBA -- maybe they come back, maybe they don't, and you don't know till the end of May. But he seems like an old-school guy who likes to keep things on the up and up, and he's probably tired of going to recruits with: "We can get you a great education at a great school. We play in the nation's best conference and on a national stage. We can make you a better basketball player." While others go at them with: "I can get you a hundred grand -- maybe 150 grand if you commit within the next week."

If he hadn't just signed a new deal paying him nearly $5 million a year, I could see UM throwing a ton of money at Chris Beard. Maybe they'd still try -- he bolted UNLV not long after signing a deal there. ... Also wonder if they might try throwing big bucks at Tony Bennett. The thought about him has been that he doesn't want to be at a place where he'd be in a fish bowl -- and football always will be king in Ann Arbor. Jay Wright? After reaching two NCAA title games in the past few years, I don't see Michigan going small with this hire. I could be wrong, however (I often am), but I see them wanting to make a huge splash.

OK, after the shock wears off, here's the important question: Does Michigan have any shooters who would want to transfer that we can swoop in on? LOL!

I just hope that at some point, he doesn't say that it's not about the money. Because it HAS to be ... Michigan is a much better job than coaching the Cavaliers! This is awful timing for the Wolf pups. To be searching for a coach in the middle of May -- ish!

Apparently, one of the conditions imposed on Tyronn Lue was that he hire Jason Kidd as an assistant. And now I see that Kidd will be on Vogel's staff. My question: Why didn't the Lakers just hire Kidd as head coach? ... That has become one bizarre franchise.

Am looking forward to seeing what he can do when fully healthy. The little he did play last year, he looked slow and not in game shape. But I'm sure that had to do with having to spend so much time recovering from his concussion ... Interesting that his favorite athlete is Bo Jackson, considering his last appearance as a professional athlete was five years before Race was born.

Sadly for us, I expect to learn later today that next season, Lester will be ...

I didn't realize that the Blazers' coach -- Terry Stotts -- went to high school in Bloomington. He graduated from North in 1976, then played four seasons at Oklahoma. Any of the older crew -- I could consider myself a member, but was only 8 at the time -- know why he didn't play at IU? Was Knight not interested? Was he not interested in IU?

Stay away, Mike! ... Coaching LeBron is all pain, no gain!

Certainly, just being Romeo Langford would be enough to get in good with the ladies, wouldn't it?. Why did he find it necessary to try to pass himself off as Master P's son???

Crazy irony in this question ... Boogie appears to have a very good chance to end up at Memphis. The Tigers are coached by Penny Hardaway -- aka, Butch McRae, who was homesick and hoped to leave Western U., but wanted to know should he do so, would his mother be able to keep the house the alumni bought her. Pete Bell simply said, "Son, you'd better get to practice."

I'm wondering if Arizona is waiting for some sort of smoking gun before making a call on big brother? ... Because all it is right now seems to be hearsay. ... A guy busted for bribery, fraud, etc., can say all he wants that Sean Miller paid players, but if there's no evidence or paper trail and the players aren't talking, where's the evidence? ... I realize that lying under oath would be perjury, which is yet another indication that some serious sh*t went down there, but I guess there's a perception that a guy will say whatever is necessary to save his own tail.

Penny doesn't face-time with Lester every day. Sometimes, Li'l Penny takes care of it.