ESPN Men's Basketball

1. Kentucky coach John Calipari said Tuesday afternoon that Rod Strickland, a director of basketball operations, would be staying with the Wildcats and not heading to work for Larry Brown at SMU. Calipari said his entire coaching staff will remain intact; assistants Kenny Payne and Orlando Antigua had interest in a few openings but never got too far in the process. Assistant John Robic has been a steady presence next to Calipari during his tenure. Meanwhile, Calipari said he’s hopeful that the Wildcats can add one more recruit after already securing a top-five class.

2. Tony Benford could have joined Larry Brown’s staff but made the wise choice. Benford has longed to be a head coach and getting a North Texas gig that will be one of the best in its current and possible future league makes sense. The SMU staff situation continues to be an odd process as the school/Brown search for a possible coach-in-waiting rather than dealing with the now and simply turning to recruiting and coaching. SMU was supposed to hire one coach, not one for now and one for the future.

3. Loyola (Md.) coach Jimmy Patsos would be a great choice for Virginia Tech after he made the NCAAs and coached in the ACC as an assistant. Patsos is a tremendous worker and brings unbelievable enthusiasm. But the Hokies will likely look for high-level coaches they can’t get (VCU’s Shaka Smart), flirt with others who may make too much money or have a buyout (Richmond’s Chris Mooney) before looking at coaches who fit for cost, timing and location of this job. I will be surprised if Virginia Tech were to lure a coach who has a solid, stable situation in a top-eight league.

Yesterday, I warned you of an impending sports radio invasion. Richmond coach Chris Mooney signed on to do a live, three-hour radio show as one of the hosts of Richmond ESPN 950's "Hardly Working." This was kind of exciting, at least for college hoops and/or sports radio fans, because it would be interesting to see how Mooney, one of the game's smartest young coaches, handled the rigors of the drive-time sports talk radio. I also thought he needed a goofy nickname, and then I learned he already had one.

So, how did the radio show go? You can see some snippets in video below, which Richmond's athletic department posted on YouTube today. Mooney opines on everything from the NBA draft to his role at Richmond to his dislike of the designated hitter:



Two things stuck out at me. One, Mooney was even reading news updates; that's how you know this wasn't some pampered quasi-coaches show. Real deal stuff, there. You have to earn your way up the ladder somehow.

Two, Mooney's headphones crack me up. I don't know if I've ever seen a pair of studio headphones that small. I'm pretty sure those are the old-school Discman headphones I used to rock Coolio so my parents couldn't hear the foul language. Come on, ESPN 950. Can we get the man some Beats by Dre?

Anyway, cool stuff all around. If this whole college hoops thing doesn't work out, Chris can always fall back on this extensive broadcasting experience, tiny headphones or no.

Oh, and in case you're just in love with this whole coaches-guest-hosting-radio-shows thing, Memphis coach Josh Pastner will apparently take over for CBS writer and Memphis ESPN radio host Gary Parrish Thursday afternoon from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. If Pastner's even half as enthusiastic and engaging as in most of his press conferences, that should be worthwhile listening.

So here's a fun bit of news for those of you looking for something to listen to in your cubicles this afternoon. At 3 p.m. ET, Chris Mooney is taking over the Richmond, Va. airwaves.

The Richmond coach is a frequent guest on Richmond affiliate ESPN 950's "Hardly Working" program, which airs from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on weekdays. Today, per a release from the school that hit the inbox Tuesday morning, Mooney will be sitting alongside co-host (and Richmond alum) Matt Smith for the full three hours.

This isn't exactly breaking news, but I'll be tuning in, and here's why: Mooney is one of the most intelligent and reasonable coaches in college hoops, and it will be interesting to hear him discuss Richmond's run to the Sweet Sixteen, his decision to stay at the school despite myriad offers to coach elsewhere, and, frankly, anything else that enters the drive-time radio's purview. Overwrought discussion on LeBron James? NFL lockout freak-outs? Draft insight? People screaming at each other about the Chicago Cubs? That's what I usually get on sports talk radio; I want to see if Mooney can handle the pressure.

But first, he needs a silly nickname. How about "The Moon?" You're listening to "Hardly Working" with "Matt and The Moon!" [Insert zany sound effect here.] Hey, you know, that just might work.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Weeks after star forward Robbie Hummel tears his ACL, Purdue limps to a brutal first-half performance and a disappointing loss against a sneakily good team.

Sound familiar?

It should. After all, the Boilermakers have been here before.

Purdue's 14-point first half against Richmond in the Chicago Invitational Challenge on Saturday was eerily reminiscent of last season's March 13 loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament, when the Boilers famously scored a mere 11 points in a blowout.

This time around, Purdue scored a mere 14 points in the first half. The Boilers shot 4-of-25 from the field in that span -- good for a blistering 16 percent -- missed all seven of their 3-point attempts, and generally looked disjointed, stagnant, and far too reliant on one-on-one play to get decent looks at the bucket.

It was not a pretty performance, and the result -- an ugly 65-54 loss -- served as dual notice: Richmond is a team to be reckoned with, and Purdue still has plenty of figuring out to do.

"If you throw out strategy in this game, and you just simply asked who played harder, who was quicker to the ball, who rebounded, who wanted it more, all those answers are Richmond," Purdue coach Matt Painter said.

"I told our guys: [Richmond] didn't play well," Painter said. "They played hard ... but they didn't shoot the ball as well as they were capable of. I told our guys this could have been a lot worse than it was."

The main question for last season's Boilermakers team was how to generate offense without Hummel's ability to score, rebound, and facilitate. In 2010-11, the question -- one the Boilers have spent much of the time since Hummel's injury discussing -- is already rearing its ugly head.

Saturday night wasn't the first time Painter's players have struggled to score, but it was the first time they did so against a team capable of maintaining its own lead throughout the second half. It would be foolish to lay all the blame for the loss at Purdue's feet; that would discredit Richmond's impressive defensive performance, anchored by a matchup zone that kept E'Twaun Moore and company out of the lane.

It would also ignore Richmond guard Kevin Anderson, the reigning A-10 player of the year and one of the more underrated players in college basketball. (For example: How many people could tell you who the best player on Richmond is? Or who won A-10 Player of the Year last season? Exactly.) Anderson is instant offense, the kind of pure scorer who can beat any defender off the dribble, get in the lane, and drain mid-range floaters with intuitive ease.

He did that -- and plenty more -- on Saturday. Anderson finished the game with 28 points, five rebounds and tournament MVP honors. His offensive brilliance helped Richmond build its steady lead, and his quickness with the ball in the open court made it impossible for Purdue to trap the ball and produce turnovers with the full-court press late in the game.

"Everyone should know how good Kevin Anderson is," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "He's done that against everyone, in every situation, every kind of environment, even when they know how good he is. He's really a special player."

Neither Anderson nor the Spiders looked like the scrappy underdog here in the Chicago suburbs. They were the more composed, veteran bunch, and their athletic ability and defensive prowess bode well for another successful A-10 campaign and NCAA tournament appearance. If the Spiders keep beating ranked teams -- they've won six out of nine games against ranked teams in three years under Mooney -- the hoops world will be forced to take even greater notice.

"This was a marquee win for us," Anderson said. "We've had a lot big wins in the past, and this win solidified that this year."

In other words, Purdue fans might not want to freak out just yet. The Boilermakers lost to a good team led by a great point guard in front of a tiny crowd on a neutral floor in late November; the loss doesn't exactly doom the team's season to failure. But there are disconcerting signs at work in West Lafayette, Ind. -- shooting and offensive rebounding chief among them -- and in their first real test of the season, this team decidedly failed.

"Sure, it concerns you," Painter said. "Any time you have bad starts three games in a row ... just trying to execute to get better shots is important.

"The thing that kind of frustrates you a little bit is when you have good shooters taking shots and just not making them," Painter continued. "In those two other games with Oakland and Southern Illinois [both Purdue wins], we eventually started making those shots. Tonight we didn't."

Nor did Purdue get second chances once those shots clanged off the rim. The Boilermakers grabbed only three offensive rebounds in the first half; they grabbed a mere 13 percent of available offensive boards in that span.

Things didn't improve much in the early goings of the second half, either. Painter's team started the half with a contested, hesitating 3 from guard Terone Johnson on offense, and then allowed Anderson to grab an offensive rebound and putback in the lane. Painter immediately called a timeout and it was already clear a sudden second-half turnaround wasn't in the cards.

Purdue did eventually show signs of life. A couple of 3-pointers fell -- the first came with 12 minutes left in the second half, and several followed it -- and Moore and Johnson began to assert more influence on the game with penetration and offensive rebounding, respectively. But Anderson's offensive brilliance, coupled with the athletic interior play of forward Justin Harper, was enough to keep the Boilers from ever seriously threatening to overtake the lead.

In the meantime, Purdue's two stars never did get it going. Moore finished 4-for-17 from the field. Johnson finished 4-for-11.

Last March, Purdue did eventually figure things out. Without Hummel, Painter eschewed the offensive glass in favor of a conservative defensive style, and while Purdue took a dip on the offensive end, they finished No. 3 in the nation in defensive efficiency and made a somewhat surprising run to the Sweet 16.

This season, the story is the same, even if conditions have changed. In addition to Hummel, the Boilermakers lost Chris Kramer to graduation. Kramer's ability to lock down opposing stars was sorely missed Saturday night. And while they face a similar Hummel-less challenge as last season, the timing of the forward's second injury gives them much more time to congeal as a team without him. All is not lost.

The good news for Painter and company? It's still early. Very early. Purdue still has plenty of time to figure how to get buckets without Hummel, and the Johnson/Moore combo isn't going to go 8-for-28 all too often.

But the moral of the story is the same: Without Hummel in the lineup, Purdue's offense struggles.

The Boilermakers have been here before. And as Saturday night showed us, losing Robbie Hummel isn't any easier a second time around.

Richmond, like most of the teams in the Atlantic-10, is not a program you'd expect to recruit with the big boys. The Spiders are solid, no doubt; last year Richmond went 26-9 in a tough A-10 and got a bid to the NCAA tournament, where they ran into a hot St. Mary's team in the first round. Still: Despite recent success, Richmond is Richmond. It's not exactly a recruiting powerhouse.

Just don't tell that to Alonzo Nelson-Ododa. Mr. Nelson-Ododa gave the Spiders a rather large recruiting win yesterday, committing to coach Chris Mooney's staff despite offers from California, Wake Forest, and NC State. Why the love for the little guy? Relationships:

The 6-foot-8 Nelson-Ododa had built a relationship with Richmond before his stock soared over the summer at camps. “The Richmond staff had been recruiting me the longest and hardest and I thought that showed their commitment to making me a better player and helping me reach my goals,” [Nelson-Ododa said].

Nelson-Ododa isn't an elite-level recruit, sure. ESPNU's recruiting analysts don't have a ton of data about him, but the Winder, Ga. native is considered a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and other recruiting services. Still, any three-star get is a major win for Richmond. When that player happens to have been coveted by a handful of teams from the big six conferences, it means even more.

While Kentucky coach John Calipari was anticipating for the past month that he might lose his fence-sitters in the draft, he also knew he could still withstand the blow by recruiting at an elite level.

North Carolina State and Richmond are two programs that couldn't afford a setback.

On the surface, there is no reason to believe NC State's Tracy Smith or Richmond's Kevin Anderson would stay in the draft. Neither had much buzz about them, but this is an era where just having someone mention you might be a first-round pick, or even a second-rounder, can entice a player to say goodbye to school.

NC State is a program that should be on the rise. With the return of Smith, the team's leading scorer (16.5) and rebounder (7.3) last season, the Wolfpack may finally turn the corner under Sidney Lowe after four subpar years. The Pack haven't won more than six ACC games under Lowe and won five last season. But NC State won six of its last nine games overall and the recruiting has finally reached a national level.

"We've definitely got momentum," Lowe said. "We finished strong and with quality players coming back and the young talent coming in we're going in the right direction.''

The Wolfpack signed up one of the top perimeters in the fall with guards Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown. Then in late April, they snagged the highly coveted hometown forward C.J. Leslie of Raleigh. If Smith had departed early, the momentum would have been stunted.

"That would have been a tremendous blow to our team,'' Lowe said. "I wasn't worried, but someone got in his ear and told him that it won't hurt to throw your name in. It was all of a sudden. He did tell me that he would come back."

Lowe signed Leslie amid rumors that he was going to be fired (not true) and the athletic director who hired him was going to be out (which turned out to be correct when Lee Fowler resigned last week, effective June 30).

"We got C.J. during a tough time of change," Lowe said. "Lee was good to me. A good man. It was a tough deal."

Now the Wolfpack have the veteran presence in Smith and the high-level talent coming in with Harrow, Brown and Leslie.

"That's what we've been waiting for," Lowe said. "When you look at the top programs that's what they do, year in and year out. This is the group that we've been able to recruit when they were young. We've got guys coming back with some five-star, high-quality players to mix it in."

Programs trying to move upward can't afford to lose talent early to the draft if there isn't a backfill immediately behind them.

Richmond made the NCAAs for the first time under Chris Mooney this past season. The Spiders won nine games in the A-10 in each of the previous two seasons and then last season won 13 and 26 overall before losing to Saint Mary's in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The backcourt of A-10 player of the year Anderson and David Gonzalvez wasn't going to be reunited with Gonzalvez a senior. But had the Spiders also lost Anderson, keeping up with Temple, Xavier and Dayton would have been a chore.

Like Smith, Anderson just wanted to see if he could get a bite. With the short window of opportunity, he did not and returned.

Gonzalvez ate up a lot of minutes last season and Darien Brothers, who played sparingly, Kevin Smith and Greg Robbins -- the latter two more wings than traditional guards -- will share minutes in place of Gonzalvez. Take Anderson out of the equation and there goes Richmond's marquee player, its go-to guy and a veteran presence to ease in these players.

"That would have been difficult to overcome," Mooney said. "We've finished in the top five three straight years in the A-10 and we're on line to finish high again. That would have been a setback. We're building the program to where we want it to be.''

Coaching carousel chatter for a Saturday, culled from a variety of sources close to all the situations:

• Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon was approached by Oregon but has decided to stay at Texas A&M after the Aggies were able to work out some compensation issues. Turgeon was once an assistant at Oregon under Jerry Green. Turgeon ultimately wanted to stay at Texas A&M. Oregon has approached Minnesota’s Tubby Smith, but the Gophers expect Smith to stay with them. A source with direct knowledge of the situation said Smith is beloved at the school, and while they have heard for three years that Smith would leave, they are confident he will stay with them.

• Once Oregon is done with Smith (after not getting Turgeon), Gonzaga's Mark Few, Florida's Billy Donovan and Pitt's Jamie Dixon, the Ducks will have to refocus the search.

• St. John’s interviewed Boston College’s Al Skinner on Friday and met with Siena’s Fran McCaffery on Saturday. The Red Storm is also expected to seek out Temple’s Fran Dunphy and Rhode Island’s Jim Baron for possible interviews over the next two days. On Monday, there is a chance St. John’s will reach out to ESPN analyst and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin.

• McCaffery remains one of the two finalists at Seton Hall. The other one is still in question with a number of candidates like Mike Rice of Robert Morris and Kevin Willard of Iona in play. Richmond’s Chris Mooney had one conversation with the Pirates and is expected to get a new deal with the Spiders.

• Iowa doesn't t want to wait for Dayton’s Brian Gregory to finish the NIT, and Gregory won't talk to the Hawkeyes until his season is over. Iowa was extremely interested in Gregory, so this move is odd for them if he’s truly the top choice. Iowa has talked to McCaffery and he remains a finalist with the Hawkeyes. Tulsa’s Doug Wojcik talked to Iowa and could be one of the other finalists. Wichita State’s Gregg Marshall turned down an interview request. Murray State’s Billy Kennedy talked to Iowa as well.

• DePaul wanted Tony Barbee of UTEP. He went to Auburn. The Blue Demons have tried to generate interest from Dixon and UCLA’s Ben Howland. They could be starting over.

• UTEP is serious about Tim Floyd. The Miners can get over the USC issues as the school and Floyd wait for the committee on infractions to issue penalties. Houston is close to getting Billy Gillispie, the former Kentucky, Texas A&M and UTEP coach. But both of these C-USA jobs could still hit a snag due to the nature of both candidates.

• Central Florida is said to be high on Marshall’s Donnie Jones and Kennedy. But UCF is far from having a deal with either.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Quick thoughts on Saint Mary’s convincing 80-71 victory over Richmond in a 10-7 matchup:

• Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett told me he didn’t like the matchup with Richmond when he saw it pop up on Selection Sunday. Why not? The Spiders couldn’t do anything with Omar Samhan except hope that he got into foul trouble. He did with four and it still didn’t matter.

• The Gaels are a much more balanced team with Mickey McConnell, Clint Steindl and Matthew Dellavedova making key 3s.

• The Gaels proved the theory wrong that traveling West to East and handling the early game is an issue. Saint Mary’s seemed more in rhythm from the outset. The Gaels had the fresh legs, which could be because Saint Mary’s hasn’t played since a week ago Monday, while Richmond played last Sunday in a competitive A-10 final against Temple.

• Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett has to feel vindicated in many ways. The Gaels were somewhat politicking to get an at-large bid, but then earned it by beating Gonzaga for the WCC automatic bid, and then came out and convincingly won this game.

• Richmond seemed off, couldn’t offensively rebound and the offense was never in sync.

• Richmond coach Chris Mooney has had a great run this season, and, with the core of this team returning, he should stay put instead of looking elsewhere.

• Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez have been the catalysts for the Spiders but they had to get more out of the role players. They didn’t and they lost.

Richmond coach Chris Mooney discusses the two classic games the Spiders have played against Xavier this season.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- It’s another dreary, rainy and windswept day here in this gritty seaside city. In other words, a perfect excuse to hang out at Boardwalk Hall this afternoon to watch what should be two great games in the Atlantic-10 semifinals.

Three of the top four seeds advanced to the A-10’s final four, and in fact it’s the first time the top three seeds advanced this far since 2006. Temple, Xavier and Richmond are NCAA tourney locks and No. 5 Rhode Island woke up this morning as the last team in the field of 65 in Joe Lunardi’s Bubble Math.

No. 1 Temple (27-5) vs. No. 5 Rhode Island (23-8), 1 p.m. ET

What’s at stake: Temple is the only team still here in AC with a winning record (15-9) in the semifinal round. But the A-10 regular-season champion (Temple has the honor this season) hasn’t won the conference tourney title since George Washington in 2005. The Owls are the two-time defending champion in this tournament while the Rams won their only conference title way back in 1999.

Who has the edge: Temple is 2-0 against Rhody this year, including a tough four-point overtime win (68-64) in Kingston, R.I., on Jan. 10 and a 78-56 walk in Philly on Feb. 13. URI played its best defensive game of the season in beating Saint Louis on Friday but the Rams will have to come up with an even better effort against the well-rounded and versatile Owls. Lavoy Allen and Juan Fernandez present a challenging inside-outside attack to defend. And URI better be prepared to pound the glass like it did against SLU.

Statistically speaking: Temple has won seven consecutive A-10 tournament games and the Owls are now 7-1 all-time in conference tourney games played at Boardwalk Hall. The Owls also come in with a current eight-game winning streak.

-- The 63 points scored by Rhode Island on Friday were the fewest for the Rams in a win this season (they also scored 63 when beating Oklahoma St. 63-59 on Jan. 2). And the 47 points allowed by URI were the fewest for a Rams opponent this season (best the 57 allowed vs. Brown in the season-opening 78-57 win).

Quotable: “They are a very good top 20 team. Excellent players, great coach. They have excellent chemistry and its going to be an excellent challenge for us. We are looking forward to it. We have to be ready intense wise as the [Temple] crowd will be here. But, again, that is what you play for. Our guys are looking forward to the challenge.” -- Rhode Island coach Jim Baron

No. 2 Xavier (24-7) vs. No. 3 Richmond (25-7), 3:30 p.m. ET

What’s at stake: The bad news is that Xavier is just 3-6 in this round of A-10 play. The good news is that all three semifinal round wins eventually became conference tournament championships as the Musketeers are a perfect 3-0 in A-10 title games. Richmond has only played in one A-10 final (a 73-60 loss to XU in ’02) and is just 1-1 in the semifinal round.

Who has the edge: Xavier needed double overtime to beat Richmond (78-76) on Feb. 28 in Cincinnati. Here’s hoping the rematch is that good. The Musketeers had the tougher quarterfinal game as they erased a 15-point second-half deficit against Dayton on Friday night. When it counted, guard Terrell Holloway delivered, as he drew the decisive technical foul against Dayton’s Rob Lowery to effectively seal the XU win. Against Richmond last month, Holloway scored seven of his team high 24 points in the second OT.

Statistically speaking: Xavier has advanced to the A-10 semifinals for an eighth consecutive season and the Musketeers have won eight straight and 12 of their last 13 games.

-- Richmond is 4-0 on neutral courts this season and comes into Saturday’s game having won three straight and 11 of its last 12.

Quotable: “I think we are looking forward to the rematch because at the end of the regulation it was a dead heat and they were able to win the game in overtime. We’re looking forward to it. I know they’ll be ready. I know they’ll be prepared. I know they’re a great program. We’re just pleased to be able to advance and try to play Xavier again.” -- Richmond coach Chris Mooney

CINCINNATI -- Quick halftime thoughts from Cintas Center, where Xavier leads No. 24 Richmond 38-34:

• It was a back and forth first half with six lead changes, but Xavier ended the half with a 9-2 run. Richmond's shot-blocking big man Darrius Garrett picked up two fouls in the first 97 seconds and didn't play again. His replacement, Dan Geriot, got his second foul with 11:03 left.Despite the lack of a post presence, the Spiders stayed in the game with three-point shooting, hitting eight of their first 13 attempts beyond the arc. The Musketeers were just 3-for-11 from three.
• The matchup of arguably the best two guards in the Atlantic 10 is one-sided so far. Crawford has 14 points on an array of jump shots, drives and pull-ups. Richmond leading scorer Kevin Anderson, on the other hand, was held scoreless on just four field-goal attempts, though he does have four assists. Xavier's defense on him has been terrific, but Anderson needs to get going in the second half for the Spiders to get this road win.
• Richmond coach Chris Mooney was upset with the officiating the entire half and pleaded his case again before going into the locker room. Xavier has shot six free throws to none by the Spiders.
• The Spiders came into the game ranked 12th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, but Xavier shot 57.7 percent in that first half. Really, if it weren't for the three-point barrage, the Musketeers should be up by double digits.

Andy Katz covers basketball in the Commonwealth of Virginia with Richmond coach Chris Mooney and Virginia coach Tony Bennett.