Student-athlete Olympic medalists, prestigious college basketball programs and Fighting Sioux mascot - Aug 26, 2008 | 10:32:30
posted by: Howard Smith
- Throughout the Olympics, The NCAA News tracked the medalists who are current or recently graduated collegiate student-athletes. In total, 33 student-athletes earned a total of 41 medals, led by Southern California swimmer Rebecca Soni's three medals - a gold and two silvers. There were six student-athletes who claimed two medals each - Tennessee swimmer Christine Magnuson, LSU track star (representing Trinidad and Tobago) Richard Thompson, Oklahoma gymnast Jonathan Horton, Stanford swimmer Julia Smit, Florida State track athlete Walter Dix and Duke fencer Becca Ward.
- The United States won the most medals in Beijing, although there is some thought that the country's dominance might dwindle in upcoming years as Olympic sports teams get cut from college athletics programs. For instance, as we mentioned in yesterday's Morning Coffee, James Madison eliminated 10 teams in 2007, which included Olympic sports like swimming, gymnastics and wrestling. Do you think cutting Olympic sports at the college level will have an impact on the country's performance in upcoming Olympic competitions?
- Did you know that Oregon State men's basketball coach Craig Robinson is the brother of Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama? The Princeton graduate was hired in Corvallis this year after coaching the last two seasons at Brown. Last year, he led Brown to a school-record 19 victories.
- ESPN.com ranked the top 10 most prestigious college basketball programs since 1984-85, which is the year in which the NCAA Tournament expanded to a field of 64 teams. After setting up a point value scheme, the most prestigious programs were as followed: Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona, Connecticut, UCLA, UNLV, Syracuse, and Georgetown. This list seems reasonable from a basketball perspective, although it should have taken APR and graduation rates into consideration to be complete in my opinion.
- Legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson returned to North Dakota - his alma mater - to receive an honorary doctorate. In his speech, he spoke about the school's Fighting Sioux nickname and urged the institution to think about changing it. Under North Dakota's current arrangement with the NCAA, it has three years to get the approval of the North Dakota Sioux tribes if it wants to keep the name without sanctions, or else it will have to change its mascot. As for a new nickname, one commenter on USA Today suggested that Jackson donate $5 million to the school and then it could be called the Jackson 5. Any other ideas for possible nicknames?
- Have you ever heard of a kid not being allowed to play in a baseball league because he is too good? Well, that is what occurred in New Haven, Connecticut, with nine-year-old pitcher Jericho Scott. He throws too hard, and even though he has good control (he hasn't hit a batter all year), league officials won't allow him to pitch anymore after some parents from opposing teams raised safety concerns. Is it really fair to penalize Scott for being too good? If you were running this league, how would you handle this situation?
