LSU's Slime Tarnishes March Madness; Okorie's Future; Trivia Time; Cabinet Clowns

This should be the high point of the year for college basketball.

March Madness has featured some terrific games with the usual down-to-the-wire finishes, buzzer beaters, and phenomenal performances. UConn's last-second win over Duke last night was a game for the ages.

We're looking forward to next weekend's Final Four. Our pick is Arizona.

But there's inevitably some ugly scandal or coaching move that will take away the sport's luster and remind us that a few of the people in charge have no morals.

Drumroll. LSU, take a bow.

Not content to have one of the slimiest coaches in college football after luring him from Ole Miss, LSU has now done the same in basketball by hiring serial cheater Will Wade.

If someone were to create an award for poaching coaches from other schools in such a classless manner, and hiring two men with a complete lack of loyalty and integrity, surely LSU would win it for bringing in Wade and Lane Kiffin. The school also employs the insufferable Kim Mulkey in women's basketball.

Kiffin, you'll recall, left his school hanging for two weeks and then bailed on his team just before it competed in the College Football Playoff.

Over the course of a few weeks, LSU was tarnished not only by Kiffin's behavior, but by the drama surrounding the firing of head coach Brian Kelly, the messy meddling of Governor Jeff Landry, the forced resignation of Athletic Director Scott Woodward, the absurd claim Kelly hadn't been "officially terminated," and the subsequent attempt to change his firing to "for cause" to justify avoiding a $53 million buyout.

Now LSU has gone deeper into the sewer by rehiring the basketball coach it fired four years ago because of a truckload of NCAA violations, including payments to a player's fiancee and a wiretapped conversation promising a "strong-ass offer" to a recruit. (This was pre-NIL).

But in college basketball, memories are short, and if you win, suddenly all is forgiven.

Wade rehabbed his resume by winning at McNeese State, and then took the job at NC State this year. Now he's gone after one season, and Governor Landry's footprints are all over this one as well.

First, LSU hired former McNeese State president Wade Rouse (the man who hired Wade at McNeese) as its new president. Then Rouse hired McNeese AD Heath Shroyer as "Senior Deputy AD" at LSU.

Landry, Rouse and Shroyer began courting Wade, who two weeks ago pledged his loyalty to NC State, while the current LSU coach, Matt McMahon, twisted in the wind.

Finally, last Thursday, McMahon was fired with three years to go on his seven-year contract, and Wade was brought back to a hero's welcome. LSU will be paying Kelly and McMahon over $60 million in buyouts.

NC State Athletic Director Boo Corrigan, who was foolish to believe Wade would stay for more than a cup of coffee, admitted to "feeling lied to" and that Wade's resignation came "in an email that we received from his agent."

Once a snake, always a snake.

I hope LSU loses every game.

Okorie's Future: There were many comments, emails and texts from our readers about last week's piece on Stanford's sensational freshman basketball star Ebuka Okorie.

Most centered on his future, and whether he'll be back in a Stanford uniform next season.

There has been no clear indication yet from Okorie regarding his plans. He's apparently considering three possibilities. 1) Staying at Stanford, the only Power 4 Conference school that recruited him. He has to be impressed with the talent that is coming in--four four-star recruits--as opposed to the group he played with this year. 2) Transferring to another school. Okorie is going to get big offers from programs who have a shot at the NCAA Championship. 3) Going pro. He's also hearing from agents who're telling him he will be a first round NBA draft pick. 

For Stanford's sake, I hope Okorie stays on the Farm.

For Okorie's sake, I hope he doesn't go the NBA route. He can learn from history. If he pays any attention to how Stanford players have done who left school early, he'll stick around. Consider two recent examples.

Tyrell Terry: As a freshman in 2019-20, Terry averaged 14.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, hit 40.8% from three-point range, and then declared for the NBA draft. He was taken with the 31st pick of the first round by the Dallas Mavericks, but spent most of his rookie year in the G League. He played in only 11 NBA games and averaged one point per game, then was waived.

He signed with Memphis Grizzlies for '21-22, again spent most of the year in the G League, played in two games and scored two points. He was waived at the end of the year and then retired from pro basketball, citing mental health reasons.

Ziaire Williams: Williams was the highest rated recruit in modern Stanford history, ranked as the top small forward and one of the best six players in the country when he signed with the Cardinal in 2020. As a freshman part-time starter, Williams averaged 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 37.4 percent from the field and 29% from three point range. After the season he declared for the NBA draft. He was picked 10th by the New Orleans Pelicans and immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. 

Now in his fifth year, his career has been a disappointment. He averaged between five and eight points per game in three seasons with the Grizzlies, rarely starting and shooting less than 30% from three point range, before being traded to Brooklyn. He has done somewhat better with the Nets, averaging 10 ppg last season and the same this year.

Granted, Okorie's freshman season was superior to both Williams and Terry. However, his game still needs work, especially his passing and three-point consistency. 

There's also the NIL factor. If Terry and Williams had stayed, they would've gotten a scholarship, nothing more. Okorie is looking at a seven-figure NIL deal, at Stanford or elsewhere.

Stick around, Ebuka.

Trivia Time: Interesting factoid courtesy of John Canzano and Pete Newell Jr.

What do these six Power 4 Conference schools have in common: Auburn, Boston College, Florida State, Mississippi State, Rutgers and Stanford?

None of these schools played in a college football bowl game or made the NCAA Tournament in men’s or women’s basketball. A very disappointing year for all concerned.

Cabinet Clowns: If you happened to catch the president's cabinet meeting last Thursday, you saw a pathetic display of groveling and ass-kissing by one of the saddest collections of yes-men and sycophants ever assembled.

After president Trump's rambling discourse on the Iran War--full of easily contradicted lies--he was followed by Steve Witkoff, "special envoy to the Middle East," and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, two clowns who continued the stream of untruths and inflated accolades, all designed to curry favor with the boss.

Remember the days of the "best and brightest", when the cabinet was full of seasoned experts who provided leadership, new ideas, and perspective, and weren't afraid to challenge the president?

Those days are gone.

Now we have a group of ignorant and unqualified boot-lickers, some of whom, like Hegseth, are also blatant racists.

It's enough to make you sick.