SPORTS N STUFF

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury was hospitalized Monday for tests after complaining of severe migraines and flu-like symptoms, according to a university spokesman.

It was not immediately clear whether Stansbury would be available to coach the Bulldogs in their next game, at Cincinnati on Thursday night. Associate head coach Robert Kirby has taken over in Stansbury’s absence.

Stansbury, 48, became ill Sunday night and initially was admitted to Oktibbeha County Hospital, said Gregg Ellis of Mississippi State’s media relations department. He said Stansbury received a shot at the hospital that provided some relief.

Ellis said Stansbury was moved Monday morning to Northeast Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, a larger hospital, for precautionary reasons. Ellis said more tests were planned “to make sure this is nothing more than a virus.”

Stansbury was expected to remain in the hospital Monday night, with results from a spinal tap expected by Tuesday morning, according to a news release.

Stansbury is in his 11th season at Mississippi State. He received a new 4-year contract renewal this year that runs through 2011-12. He has compiled a 215-118 record, including 7-3 this season.

Utah has suspended guard Luka Drca for two games for an intentional foul committed in a loss to No 4 Oklahoma.

Drca tripped Blake Griffin as the Sooners were on a fast break with a 14-point lead early in the second half of Saturday’s game. Oklahoma’s Willie Warren was called for a technical for jawing with Drca, who was whistled for an intentional foul.

Utah coach Jim Boylen said in a release Monday that he was suspending Drca for two games.

Boylen says he wasn’t required to suspend Drca, but felt the trip was unacceptable behavior. The junior from Serbia will sit out Saturday’s home game against Weber State and the Utes’ road game against Utah State next Monday.

CLEVELAND STATE 72, (11) SYRACUSE 69

SYRACUSE, New York Cedric Jackson banked in a heave from well past halfcourt to give Cleveland State a 72-69 upset of No. 11 Syracuse.

Trailing by five points with 2 1/2 minutes remaining, the Orange (9-1) managed to tie the game at 69-69 when Arinze Onuaku rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Andy Rautins and converted a layup with 2.2 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, Jackson – a transfer from St. Johns – got the ball on the left sideline, took a dribble up the court and flicked a last-second shot that went in off the backboard, stunning the fans at the Carrier Dome.

Jackson finished with 13 points and JNathan Bullock scored 18 – all in the second half – for the Vikings (7-4).

The big shot made a winner out of Gary Waters, who is in his third season with Cleveland State after leaving Rutgers following the 2005-06 season. The 57-year-old had lost his previous four trips to the Carrier Dome with the Scarlet Knights.

Although Jackson ended the game with a bang, the big hero for the Vikings was Bullock, who shook off an 0-of-7 performance in the first half to carry his team after the break.

Despite being just 6-5, Bullock was able to maneuver his way around the lane, getting a number of shots off against the much-taller Onuaku.

Bullock sandwiched a pair of close shots around a 3-pointer by Eric Devendorf for a 59-58 lead with 4:18 to play. Onuaku split two free throws to knot the game at 59-59 just 20 seconds later – one of 16 ties in the contest.

Cleveland State then made a break for the win, as freshman Jeremy Montgomery rebounded his own missed 3-pointer, leading to a basket from the arc by Norris Cole.

Syracuse coughed it up on the other side, as Rautins made an ill-advised pass on a drive, leading to a fast-break layup for DAundray Brown and a 64-59 advantage with 2:30 left.

Devendorf, who finished with 17 points, hit a 3-pointer moments later, but the Vikings came up with another offensive board on their next possession, leading to a tough bank shot from Bullock.

The Orange came roaring right back, as Jonny Flynn raced up the court before finding Paul Harris for a finger roll that cut the deficit to 66-64 with 56 seconds left.

Bullock, who ended up 8-of-21 from the floor, came up big again, hitting his only 3-pointer of the game for a 69-64 cushion with 25 seconds left.

Flynn answered right back with a shot from the arc with 19 seconds to go and got the ball back in Syracuses possession afterwards when he deflected the ensuing inbounds pass on a press before it went off a Cleveland State player.

The Orange then went for the lead on Rautins 3-point attempt from the right corner, but Onuaku worked the weak side for the rebound and the layup to tie the score moments before Jacksons prayers were answered.

Devendorf scored 17 points and Flynn added 16 and five assists for Syracuse, which shot 54 percent (27-of-50), including 6-of-15 on 3-pointers, in defeat.

(2) CONNECTICUT 91, STONY BROOK 57

HARTFORD, Connecticut – Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet both scored 18 points as second-ranked Connecticut flexed its inside muscle in a 91-57 victory over Stony Brook.

Jerome Dyson scored 16 points and A.J. Price and Craig Austrie added 13 each for the Huskies, who started a season 9-0 for the third time in four seasons.

A big reason for another stellar start by Connecticut is the inside might of Adrien and Thabeet, who combined to shoot 13-of-15 from the field and grab 19 rebounds.

The Huskies turned inside right from the start against the overmatched Seawolves, as Adrien had eight points and Thabeet four en route to a 16-9 lead inside the opening 6 1/2 minutes.

The inside duo both ended up with 12 points in the first half as UConn took a 44-30 lead at the break. The Huskies continued to pull away with a 12-0 run in the middle of the second half.

Danny Carter scored 18 points for Stony Brook (5-5), which dropped its second straight game after a four-game winning streak.

Three-star Williams ready for more visits.
Derrick Williams has a favorite school on his list and a number of others that he is looking closely at. The 6oot-8, 210-pound forward from La Mirada (Calif.) High School is trying to uncover all of the stones before he makes his decision.

Williams has visited Washington, Southern Cal and San Diego already. His trip to Southern Cal was his only official visit and he liked his time on campus. Why wouldnt he? He was in town when the Trojans played Ohio State in football. Williams said the visit help him with his opinion.

USC is basically my number one school right now, Williams said. The game helped top it off, too.

The three-star forward said he enjoyed the other two visits that he has already taken.

San Diego was nice. Its not too far from home and the weather is really nice there. Its only an hour and a half from my home, too. The basketball team is getting better and I like their players, Williams said.

Washington was pretty nice. The only bad thing about Washington was the weather. It rains a lot there. But it was nice.

Williams will visit Nevada this weekend and he has his sights set on UAB, Marquette and Santa Clara for visits, too.

I want to see basically how the school is set up, he said of his upcoming trips. The campus is one of the biggest things that Im looking at. I want to look at the coaching staff and whether or not they are good or not. The team, then, will be important too. I want to be able to relate to them on a personal level.

So what will a team need to do in order to overcome USC at the top of his list?

The coaching staff and the players will have to win me over. I know a lot of those guys personally. That is another big plus for them, Williams said.

Coach Rick Pitino has four guards. Who at one time or another in their collegiate careers have been full-time starters. What coach in America wouldnt take his chances with that scenario?
Last years Cardinals starters, Jerry Smith and Andre McGee, return. McGees emergence forced 2006-07 starter Edgar Sosa to the bench. Coming in to lend a hand and plenty of depth, if not vie for a starting role this year, is Mississippi State transfer Reginald Delk. Delk started in 59 of his 65 games with the Bulldogs.

Sosa and Smith have averaged double-figure scoring in a season, Sosa in 2006-07 and Smith last year. Delk averaged 9.5 as a sophomore at Mississippi State. So there is scoring punch, too. And all four have shot at least 37 percent from 3-point range in a season, so they can dial it up from the perimeter at any time. Smith had a team-high 68 3-pointers last season, McGee was second with 52, and Sosa was fourth with 47.

The odd thing, though, is not one of the four is particularly adept at distributing the ball. Not one averaged 2.0 assists per game. But they all take reasonably good care of the ball. McGee led the team in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Sosa worked his way deep into Pitinos doghouse and had a hard time getting out. The head man expects a big change in the young guard. Pitino said some players take longer to mature and that Sosa, a Big East All-Rookie selection two years ago, is finally understanding what team is all about and is maturing into the type of basketball player I want him to become.

Frontcourt

Center David Padgett (11.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.0 apg) finished up his career, and Juan Palacios (6.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and Derrick Caracter (8.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg) are gone, too. For most teams that loss of production would be a major blow, but most teams dont recruit as well or have as much talent returning as the Cardinals.

Earl Clark blossomed into a major scorer and rebounder as a sophomore last season. He posted 10 double-doubles, and it wouldnt be a surprise if he nearly doubled that total this season. He was a dominant force in the Cardinals run to the Elite Eight, averaging 14.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots while shooting 62.2 percent from the floor during the NCAA tournament. As much as last year could be called a breakout year for Clark, bigger and better things are in store.

The other returning starter up front is Terrence Williams, the Cardinals assist leader (4.5 per game) last season and another main scoring option. Hes a 6-foot-6 all-court player who compensates for spotty perimeter shooting with his ability to put the ball on the floor, score around the rim, rebound and set up his teammates. Williams had two triple-doubles last season, just the third and fourth in Louisville history. With Padgett gone, the leadership role falls squarely on him.

The fifth starter probably will be five-star freshman Samardo Samuels, a 6-8, 240-pound power forward who will emerge quickly as a favorite because of his work ethic and diligence on the boards. He was ranked the No. 9 overall prospect in the class by Rivals.com, and No. 2 at his position. He is a force down low, where he can score with a variety of post moves and rebound. Samuels already has NBA strength. He also passes well out of the post, one of Padgetts best attributes. Samuels will vie for Big East rookie of the year honors.

The top man off the bench up front should be another five-star power forward, Terrence Jennings. The 6-10 Jennings was the No. 18 overall prospect, and No. 5 at the position. Hes not as polished as Samuels, but he runs the floor very well for a player his size and can finish around the basket. He also is a big-time shot-blocker.

Offense

Pitino has a variety of offensive options. The chief creator is Williams, who can drive and kick or score in the lane. Clark can face up from 15-18 feet or score on the block. No doubt Pitino also will try to get the ball inside to Samuels on occasion.
Defense

The Cardinals ranked second in the Big East and 22nd nationally in scoring defense (61.5 ppg). Their full-court pressure and half-court trapping not only wear out opponents but also force them to go late in the shot clock. The result is hurried shots, bad looks or turnovers. When opponents are able to set up, Louisville plays an attacking man-to-man and gets into the passing lanes.

Shoes to Fill

Padgett. Pitino ran a good bit of the offense through Padgett because of his decision-making and leadership. Those are tough qualities to replace.

Must Step Up

Clark. He has NBA first-round talent. He considered leaving Louisville after last season, but hes back to ensure lottery-pick status.

Impact Newcomer

Samuels. You dont find many high school players as ready to bang with the big bodies in the Big East as Samuels. He will give as much as he gets.

Beverley agent eyeing Europe, D-League.
Patrick Beverley’s agent says he’s working on lining up a team for the former Arkansas guard to join in Europe – and that Beverley could also end up in the NBA Development League.

“We’re just trying to look through a couple different options for him, European-wise,” said Bernie Lee, who represents Beverley.

Lee, of Lee Basketball Services, didn’t want to say who Beverley might sign with overseas. He said he might consider the NBA D-League as an option for his client. Beverley played two seasons at Arkansas. He would have been the team’s top returning scorer, but the school announced in August he wouldn’t be playing this season. The school didn’t say why.

Beverley started 33 games last season, averaging 12.1 points per game.

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Southeast Missouri fires AD.

Southeast Missouri State has fired its athletic director and placed its men’s basketball coach on administrative leave three days after the NCAA notified the school of possible major violations.

The firing of Don Kaverman and discipline of Scott Edgar on Thursday came three months after the women’s basketball team forfeited 44 victories, and the women’s and men’s programs were placed on two years’ probation for major and secondary violations.

The school in Cape Girardeau, Mo., said in a release that Kaverman was placed on administrative leave until Feb. 7, 2009, when his contract will end. Associate athletic director Cindy Gannon was appointed as interim director. The school hopes to hire a replacement by Jan. 1.

Montgomery eager to build Cal program.
With the first official practice quickly approaching, the round table in Mike Montgomery’s office is covered in paperwork. He’s busy at it, scribbling away.

Montgomery recently got rid of the row of red binders filled with basketball plays and practice routines and replaced them with blue folders, clearly more fitting for his new gig as coach at California.

And a far cry from the Cardinal red that was an integral part of him for more than two decades in charge of the Stanford program.

Back in the college game where he seems to best belong, Montgomery certainly has made the rounds when it comes to Bay Area basketball. He also coached the Golden State Warriors through two losing years in his last coaching job. Now, he looks right at home and comfortable in Berkeley, with his athletes popping by to visit or another coach coming in for a quick word.

“Sure, why not?” Montgomery said with a smile, dressed recently in navy blue slacks and a white polo shirt with blue stripes. “It’s what I’ve done all my life.”

That is, aside from the television work and the behind-the-scenes help he gave Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby between his stint with the Warriors and the new job at Cal.

“So far in practice he’s only had one real slip-up. We were doing a drill and he said, ‘Red team, over here,”‘ Cal forward Theo Robertson recalled. “It’s only happened once. We all had a little laugh about it. It’s just being there so long. He’s definitely a Golden Bear now.

“The funniest thing is, when we’re doing drills and he sees something we’re doing wrong, he doesn’t just blow the whistle. He jogs over and shows us how things are supposed to be done. You can see it’s good for him to be back.”

The team takes the floor as a full unit for its first practice Oct. 17.

Montgomery accepted the Cal job only a few days before Stanford lost coach Trent Johnson to LSU. Montgomery had been working for Bowlsby and Johnson had coached under Montgomery.

Montgomery is quick to point out that all of that is moot now. He’s at Cal and he’s not looking back to what might have been had the timing been different and allowed him to stay at Stanford.

“The problem is people say that in a way that says, ‘Well, this isn’t as good. You could have done that,”‘ Montgomery said. “That’s them talking, there (at Stanford). That’s not people here talking. That’s what-ifs. Frankly, I did that for 18 years. This is different, this is good, this is new. It’s a challenge. Any time you say this is good here, somebody then takes that to mean it was bad there. Clearly you don’t mean that at all. I don’t think anybody would not understand that I had a great career at Stanford and I retired from Stanford. This is now what I’m going to try to do. It’s as simple as that.”

He inherits a team that finished ninth in the Pac-10 last season and lost the conference’s scoring leader, Ryan Anderson, to the NBA after his sophomore year.

Montgomery replaced the fired Ben Braun, who spent 12 years at Cal and made the NCAA tournament five times but only once in the past five seasons. The Bears went 17-16 overall and just 6-12 in the conference. They could score with the top teams, but didn’t defend well and consequently lost close games.

Montgomery is emphasizing the fundamentals.

“Everyone’s really embraced him and his style and his experience,” said Robertson, who missed last season following hip surgery. “He knows the game and he’s really a technician. He’s really hands on and likes to show us how it’s supposed to be done.”

Losing has never sat well with Montgomery, who took Stanford to the second round of the NCAA tournament for 10 straight seasons before bolting for the rigors of the NBA.

He quickly found that working with grown men instead of college kids meant altering his approach. The pros responded differently to criticism and instruction and Montgomery had to rid himself of some old habits. That proved to be his biggest challenge during his short NBA tenure.

“There’s a lot of positives in the NBA. There’s a lot of good people. The basketball is excellent by and large,” he said. “The guys are really talented, they’re phenomenal athletes. There’s definitely some difference in terms of the personal dynamics of who you deal with on a day-to-day basis and how that works itself out.

“Probably for my personality and just the way I deal with things, college is a better environment for me. There’s no looking back. I don’t regret that. I wish I’d done a better job. I wish I’d won more games. In the NBA, it is strictly about the number of games you win. There are no graduation numbers or relationships with people.”

Montgomery has noticed there are big differences in recruiting now, specifically the layers of people a coach must go through to land an athlete: from parents, to personal trainers, coaches and even friends or others who try to get involved in the process. Like Stanford, Cal is a top academic university, but it attracts a slightly different student-athlete.

One of Montgomery’s greatest relationships on campus so far is a family one.

His new corner office has an impressive view over the Cal pool and is about 10 feet from his son, John, the Bears’ first-year director of basketball operations under his father.

They’ve always wanted to work together and finally are getting that chance.

“That was part of the motivation to get back here,” Montgomery said. “He got good experience and I was able to hire him back. We could have been somewhere else. It just so happened this job came available. And I like the Pac-10. I’m more comfortable in the Pac-10.”

After his playing career at Loyola Marymount, John Montgomery spent last year as an assistant at Furman, which was a positive experience and a chance to see another part of the country.

“It’s a dream come true working for my dad,” he said. “There’s no negative. All the time he said: ‘You’re crazy to get in his business. You’ve seen what I’ve done to be at Stanford for 18 years – it’s not the norm.’ At LMU, the coach said to me, ‘You can’t compare Stanford to here.’ It’s crazy when you grow up at Stanford. You don’t like Cal. You see Telegraph (Avenue) and think that’s a weird place.”

Montgomery bought a house in the upscale East Bay suburb of Orinda, having sold his home near Stanford. The laid-back, liberal Berkeley climate featuring its share of hippies and tie-dye is strong on campus, too. It’s about as opposite from Stanford as you can get.

No question this is a fresh start for Montgomery.

“I can imagine when you’re going right down the road and coaching at our rival, it’s going to make some news,” new Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins said. “He’s a great coach. I look forward to coaching against him.”

Someschools off to early start of hoops practice.
Kentucky, West Virginia and several other schools plan an early start on Midnight Madness by taking advantage of an NCAA practice rule.

The official opening of practice for the 2008-09 season is Oct. 17, but the NCAA has allowed two hours of team workouts per week since mid-September.

National Association of Basketball Coaches spokesman Rick Leddy said the intent of the rule was for coaches to work on skill development, not to raise the rafters.

But that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

West Virginia’s basketball office decided to ring in the upcoming season with a fan-oriented event Friday night as part of the football team’s homecoming weekend. The football team already has four home games scheduled in a five-week span with a bye weekend Oct. 18.

“We thought this was the best thing for our basketball program and the fans,” WVU basketball spokesman Bryan Messerly said. “It would be hard to ask Mountaineer fans who drive long distances to come five straight weeks to Morgantown.”

The Mountaineers will usher in coach Bob Huggins’ second season with pizza and T-shirt giveaways to fans, a slam-dunk contest, scrimmages and a two-ball competition between the men’s and women’s teams.

While West Virginia typically draws only a few thousand fans for the event, Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness at Rupp Arena has attracted more than 23,000 fans in each of the last three years.

“Everybody in the country could have done the same thing,” Kentucky basketball spokesman DeWayne Peevy said. “It didn’t cause any problems for us here. If there was a rule in place that prevented us from doing it, we wouldn’t have had a problem in abiding by that.”

In Champaign, Ill., the men’s and women’s basketball teams will head onto a court set up behind one of the end zones Saturday at Memorial Stadium after the conclusion of Illinois’ game with Minnesota. The basketball practice, to be held on a donated court, will be canceled if it rains.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our players to be on this type of stage,” Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber said.

And Marshall coach Donnie Jones decided to hold the first basketball practice Saturday night during a bye week for the football team.

The schools checked with the NCAA first to see whether the early practice was allowed, which it was. But the NABC fears a perception that the schools are trying to skirt the rule’s intent.

“This allows because of the timing of it for more prospects to come to the program and see it and then it turns into a recruiting tool. If schools have it earlier, is that an advantage?” Leddy said. “There’s a lot of ways to look at it and all we’re trying to do is protect the integrity of the rule and the intent of the rule change.

“We don’t want to hurt further (NCAA) legislation in trying to have coaches have more access to their players.”

The NABC stopped short of asking the schools from holding the week-early events.

“We didn’t do any arm twisting,” Leddy said.

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson didn’t immediately return a telephone message Thursday.

Unlike West Virginia, Kentucky decided to keep its first practice separate from football’s homecoming weekend. After all, basketball is king in Lexington.

“For Kentucky’s sake, we were just looking at an opportunity to highlight our program,” Peevy said. “It was a better weekend for us. We just moved our Big Blue Madness up a week.”

Kanaskie in position to leave a legacy.
When Middle Tennessee senior guard Kevin Kanaskie entered the Blue Raider basketball program in 2005, few if any would have guessed he would be on the doorstep of some major milestones three years later.

Thats exactly where the senior from State College (Penn.) is today though, with a chance to solidify his place as one of the programs best players in history while also playing a key role in the programs quest to return to the NCAA Tournament.

Kanaskie will begin his senior season with 365 career assists, good for fourth on the schools all time list and just 99 assists away from taking the top spot in Blue Raider history which is currently held by Gerald Harris.

With 873 career points through three seasons, Kanaskie also has an excellent chance to finish his career in the top 20 on the all time scoring list.

Defensively, if he repeats last years performance hell have a chance to finish in the top five of Middle Tennessees all time steals list.

Kanaskie has improved his game every year and has grown into one of the most consistent and steady performers of the Kermit Davis era.

It will all add up to little in Kanaskies mind though if this season doesnt end with the Blue Raiders hoisting some hardware.

I think Ive made good progress (in my career), Kanaskie said. But obviously we havent won (a championship). Thats why I came here is to win. It has kind of been disappointing but I dont care about the past. I just want to win our conference and hopefully we will be able to do that. I like (the makeup of this years team). We have some work to do. I think the new guys fit in pretty well and we have some experienced guys that have been here for four years I really like our team.

Kanaskie worked last season to develop more as a vocal leader but that role may be even more important this year with the Blue Raiders welcoming in some new contributors that could provide the missing pieces to a championship run.

Kanaskie says the early returns look good from the new arrivals and that he and his fellow seniors have enjoyed being a guide for them early in their college careers.

We have worked with (the young players and new arrivals) a lot. They have been doing a nice job asking questions and they are very positive about things. I think everyone is getting on the same page. They all have (caught my eye). Eric (Allen) and Montarrio (Haddock) came in a little overweight but they have really worked hard. Eric is a really good shooter and Montarrio is really working hard and fitting into the system.

Kanaskies role in his final year may not require him to be one of the teams top scoring threats. With Desmond Yates, Demetrius Green, Eric Allen, Nigel Johnson, and other teammates more than capable of scoring the basketball, Kanaskie should be able to pick his spots to make a major impact in the scoring column.

But he certainly has that ability, particularly from behind the three point line, where he made a team leading 61 long range bombs last year.

He says the extra few inches that have been added to the line for this season have not affected him so far in practice. If it stays that way in games, he can also make a major dent into the school record books three point shooting chapter.

He is 57 treys away from breaking the career record currently held by Robert Taylor, which stands at 222.

But dont expect Kanaskie to get caught up in any of his own personal accolades.

Hes focused on an upcoming season that presents the Blue Raiders some exciting opportunities as well as his own leadership role on the team, which he is using to preach that the team has to be true to the cliche of taking it one game at a time.

Thats especially true with the team scheduled to play a couple of early games that will generate plenty of hype, most notably Tennessee on November 21st at Murphy Center.

Its pretty good to have Tennessee coming in here, obviously because they are a BCS school. But every game is important. If we lose the first two then the third one is really not that important anymore. We have to treat every game like its a big game.

Treat every game like its a big game.

Thats exactly what Kanaskie has done his entire career and Blue Raider fans will get to enjoy him for one more season.

Guards J C Clark and Jamel White were both dismissed. From the Louisiana Tech mens basketball team, the school announced on Monday.

The senior Clark and the Nebraska transfer White were both kicked off the team due to a violation of unspecified team rules.

Although I am disappointed by these circumstances, there is an expectation of conduct that will not be compromised in our program, coach Kerry Rupp said. Every member of our team is also a representative of this university, and we will continue to reinforce the core values that are the backbone of our program.

The 6-0 Clark appeared in 30 games – 28 starts – last season, finishing second on the team in scoring with 9.5 points. He also averaged 2.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals.

The 6-3 White sat out last season after transferring from Nebraska, where he averaged 9.3 points as a sophomore in 2006-07.

The Bulldogs, who went 6-24 last season en route to finishing last in the Western Athletic Conference, will open the regular season against Louisiana-Lafayette on November 15.