Each week I'll write about the sport I love, college basketball:
• The rich get richer. Duke landed transfer Rodney Hood from Mississippi State. Hood was the third-leading scorer (behind Arnett Moultrie and Dee Bost) on Rick Stansbury's team as a diaper dandy, averaging 10.3 points per game. He averaged over 32 minutes per game and shot a respectable 36.4 percent from three-point range. Hood will sit out the upcoming season, as will Andre Dawkins. They should form a dynamic duo in 2013-14.
• Illinois added to its coaching staff. New head coach John Groce added Paris Parham as assistant coach. A Chicago native, Parham comes to Illinois after five years as an assistant at Illinois State and is a 17-year veteran of the coaching profession.
• It will seem strange to say farewell to Pacific coach Bob Thomason at the end of the upcoming season. He has already announced plans to retire. Thomason brings 414 career wins into the 2012-13 season and an all-time league mark of 234 Big West league victories. Under Thomason, the Tigers have had nine 20-win seasons and have won 75 percent of their home games. The upcoming campaign will be his 25th season at the helm at Pacific. That's a nice, round number, 25 years as a head coach.
• The NBA draft saw 60 players picked, but there were plenty of talented college performers who were not picked. Those undrafted players became valuable free agents. Former West Virginia star Kevin Jones landed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. You may remember that the Cavaliers signed Samardo Samuels out of Louisville as an undrafted free agent and he was a pleasant surprise. Former Iona guard Scott Machado accepted a deal to play with the Houston Rockets in the Las Vegas Summer League. I believe he has the potential to be a steal after being undrafted. Former Pittsburgh guard Ashton Gibbs is on the Brooklyn Nets summer league roster.
• 6-11 center and Florida International transfer Gilles Dierickx has decided to go to Washington. He will have three years of eligibility at Washington after sitting out the 2012-13 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
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