Sun Belt Basketball

Alassane Kah, a 6'10" power forward from Fishburne Military Academy, committed to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Tuesday night, according to Corey Albertson of Rivals.com.

Kah, a native of Senegal, moved to the United States in 2009. Like most kids in Africa, Kah grew up playing soccer and learned about basketball from watching games on television. Kah will be attending Fishburne for postgraduate school; he attended Walnut Ridge High School in Columbus, Ohio last year.

"I had a bond with the team and coaches." Kah told Jordan Wells of InsideHilltopperSports.com about his commitment to WKU. "The people around there are so nice. It's the right fit."

Kah chose WKU over Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Bowling Green, and Delaware. The head coach at Fishburne, Ed Huckaby, said Kah really enjoyed WKU's environment and coach Ray Harper.

Last year, Kah helped Walnut Ridge to a 21-2 record and was named to the Columbus All-City basketball team.

"Kah has major athleticism," Huckaby said. "He is an explosive athlete around the rim. He is long, athletic, and does a good job finding the ball off the glass. He gets his hands on a lot of balls and plays with high energy."

Huckaby added, "Offensively, he is a very good shooter with range to arc. He does a good job using his length and quickness to attack the rim. His ballhandling ability is good for a big man and he has good hands and feet, because of his time playing soccer. He has a good base and the learning curve to develop a solid all-around game."

Kah is Western Kentucky's first commit for the 2013 class. Coach Ray Harper is recruiting several prospects from around the state of Kentucky including Trinity High School guard Darryl Hicks and Ballard High School guard Lavonne Holland.

Jon Hancock is a contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

You can follow Jon on Twitter @JonKYSportsCo

This is getting crazy.

So far, the 2012 college basketball offseason has been eventful and intriguing. Earlier this week, the Butler Bulldogs announced they would leave the Horizon League to join La Salle and Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic Ten.

Out in the west, Utah State and San Jose State have recently moved to the Mountain West, after leaving the WAC. 

And then comes the C-USA.

After Georgia State left the CAA for the Sun Belt in early April, Conference USA has added five new schools. A confirmed source reported that FIU, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Texas San-Antonio, and Charlotte are leaving their conferences for the C-USA. Old Dominion is still undecided.

C-USA was forced to add teams, as Houston, SMU, UCF and Memphis all left to join the Big East. The WAC and Mountain West are basically trading teams, but the real loser in these moves is the CAA.

When the conference lost Georgia State, no one really thought about it. The Panthers moved to the Sun Belt for football reasons, a weakness of the CAA. Old Dominion isn't like Georgia State, however.

The Monarchs are perennial favorites to win the CAA in College Basketball, and with the CAA potentially losing ODU is almost like the ACC losing Duke or North Carolina. The conference is getting weaker and weaker.

Drexel's strength of schedule will get worse and worse, with teams like Hofstra, William & Mary, Towson and James Madison clogging the bottom spots in the conference.

It gets even worse. A report earlier this year said that VCU and George Mason were expected to join the Atlantic Ten in 2013, absolutely diminishing the credibility of the conference. The Rams and Patriots have been members since the late 80s and early 90s.

The Atlantic Ten has to be the real winner in this scuffle, gaining Butler and possibly VCU or George Mason. Another rumored candidate to replace Charlotte and Temple is Creighton But the Jays are a terrible geographic fit, so the move is very unlikely.

Losing Charlotte isn't the biggest loss, but the Temple move will certainly haunt the conference for years to come.

Fans keep asking me "Why?," but the answer is simple. These moves are all about money. Charlotte and Georgia State switched conferences because of their new football programs. College football drives in much more money than basketball, so the reason is understood.

For the record, Texas State left the WAC after only one year, before joining the Sun Belt.

The winners are obvious, folks. The C-USA should be parading, while the A-10 is glorifying the chance to go to Hinkle Fieldhouse. The CAA, however, is in grave danger of losing the credibility of their conference.

Much more of the 2012 college basketball offseason will be right here on Bleacher Report. Contact Teddy Bailey on Twitter (@Teddy_Bailey) or shoot him an email at teddybailey2@gmail.com. Comment Below!

Isiah Thomas is one of the best basketball players ever, but his tenures as a coach and GM have been marked by monumental failures and ridiculous situations.

Even after being fired, the man cannot escape controversy.

It just makes sense that after he was finally let go from Florida International University, his Golden Panther players have been unable to find a way to transfer away from the program.

According to a report by the Associated Press:

Dominique Ferguson said that his request to be released from his scholarship was denied by Pete Garcia, the school's executive director of sports and entertainment. A subsequent appeal process that Ferguson said included a meeting with university President Mark Rosenberg also did not bring the release he sought.

Several other FIU players are apparently seeking transfers as well now that Richard Pitino has been hired as the head coach in Thomas’ stead.

Ferguson isn’t going to be among them if they are finally approved, as he has hired representation and elected to turn pro.

"After much discussion with my family and support base we have decided to hire an agent and attempt to play professionally in the states or overseas," Ferguson wrote in a news release announcing the decision.

The 6’9”, 210-pound sophomore was able to put up 8.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game during his two years in the Miami area.

While it was smart for him—and possibly his cronies on the team—to stick it to the school by declaring professional eligibility, he has to be wary that he may not be selected.

Ferguson isn’t in the Top 60 of most major mock drafts and not exactly what you would consider a hot prospect.

While he should never have returned to FIU, perhaps a lawsuit against the program would have been wiser.

Regardless, Ferguson should be applauded for sticking up for his rights and sticking it to a school that would not listen to him. 

It's no secret that college-aged kids love to express themselves and voice their opinions in different ways over major current events. 

The men's basketball team at Florida International University decided that protesting the end of the year banquet would be the best way to show how they felt about a recent event that happened on campus. 

These players were upset the school fired the head coach, former NBA player and coach Isiah Thomas. 

Freshman guard Tanner Wozniak told Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo! Sports that the idea to protest came from the seniors. 

"We didn't want to disrespect the program at all or anything," Wozniak said by phone. "We just wanted to show our support for Isiah Thomas. He was a great coach, a mentor and a father figure to us. He didn't have a winning record, but you can't build a program in three years." 

Apparently, the administration at FIU felt differently. Thomas was 26-65 during his career as head coach of the Golden Panthers. As his season-by-season record indicates, Thomas never really helped the team grow and get better. 

It was time to move on and start fresh, but the players weren't OK with it. This probably had something to do with the timing of Thomas getting fired. 

One would think after going 8-21, three fewer wins that the season before, the Golden Panthers would have dumped Thomas right away. That didn't happen, but instead the school hung onto Thomas for a month before deciding to part ways. 

It was unexpected, and the players thought protesting the banquet would be a good way to make a statement. It certainly sends a loud message, walking out on the event as the administration speaks highly of their (few) achievements this past year. 

The underclassmen on the team are unsure if they'll stick around, which only hurts the future of the FIU basketball program. The Golden Panthers have to find a new coach fast if they want to keep the players happy. 

After Washington and UMass advanced on Tuesday, there are two more matchups to decide who will battle in the semifinals of the NIT tournament.

Middle Tennessee and Minnesota kick off the action on Wednesday night, while Stanford and Nevada follow.

Here's a look at how I see the games shaking out.

Middle Tennessee (No. 4 Seed, Region 2) vs. Minnesota (No. 6 Seed)

Middle Tennessee has been very efficient shooting the basketball this season. The Blue Raiders shot 49.6 percent in the regular season, fourth in the nation.

Led by LaRon Dendy, Marcos Knight and JT Sulton, the Blue Raiders have the firepower to create havoc, as they did against No. 1 seed Tennessee in the second round.

Minnesota has a big body in Rodney Williams to slow the Middle Tennessee offense down, as well as a good supporting cast on offense. The Golden Gophers have 10 players averaging 14 minutes per game or more.

In the end, I see Middle Tennessee coming away with the victory. The Blue Raiders have a good player in Dendy and I think the offense will be too efficient for the Golden Gophers down the stretch.

Stanford (No. 3 Seed, Region 4) vs. Nevada (No. 5 Seed)

Every time I look at the Stanford Cardinal, I wonder how they keep winning games. Their biggest strength is their rebounding (50th in the nation during the regular season), but they were outrebounded by Cleveland State and Illinois State in the NIT tournament and still came away with victories.

The reason for Stanford's recent success has been its shooting. The Cardinal shot 49 percent against Cleveland State and 52 percent against Illinois State. That impressive shooting percentage is a marked contrast from the regular season when Stanford shot only 44 percent from the field, good for 147th in the nation.

I tend to have more faith in Nevada. The Wolf Pack can outrebound the Cardinal (45th in the nation during the regular season), and they are a better shooting team overall. Nevada shot 50 percent against Bucknell in the second round and attacked the rim, getting to the free-throw line 32 times.

Multiple players have also been stepping up for the Wolf Pack. Dario Hunt has been a rebounding and blocking machine all season long, Olek Czyz and Malik Story just dropped 24 points and 18 points, respectively, on Bucknell, and leading scorer Deonte Burton has been known to hit some timely shots.

The only concern for the Wolf Pack is that they aren't very deep beyond these players, so if they get into foul trouble, momentum could shift to Stanford.

But if the Wolf Pack stay out of foul trouble, I see them upsetting Stanford.

Follow me on Twitter. We can talk about the NIT tournament.

One of tonight's Cinderellas has heard all the names.

Unlikely under-dog, sleeper, dark horse, improbable entry, long-shot, very long-shot!

However, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers laugh away the names and dismiss all the cheap shots.

Because, beginning at 6:35pm ET tonight on TruTV, the least-likely of NCAA Cinderellas will start dancing against Mississippi Valley State in the First Four play-in game.

The winner squares-off in the Field of 64 against the tournament's overall number one seed, the University of Kentucky Wildcats.

The Hilltoppers personify the reversal of fortune fate for which the Cinderella story has popularized.

However, of all 500+ iterations of the Cinderella Euro-fable, none comes as close to mirroring the unexpected success of this 15 - 18 NCAA tournament-bound team.

WKU's frenetic finish to an otherwise awful season qualifies them as this year's crazy, incredulous entrant into the spectacular sports event cleverly coined March Madness.

Although Western Kentucky has enjoyed a rich basketball tradition highlighted by 22 NCAA invitations, seven Round of 16 successes and a 1971 Final Four appearance, its 2011 - 2012 season had been fraught with difficulties.

A mid-season coaching change, dismal home game attendance, and a bizarre 72 - 70 overtime loss in early January to a Lousiana-Lafayette team that employed six players on its inexplicable game-winning possession appeared to doom the Hilltopper hopes for an even moderately successful 2011 - 2012 campaign.

However, revived under new head coach Ray Harper, the once 5 -13 Hilltoppers slowly showed improvement.

Then, miraculously, last week they won four games in four days, all by less than five points over favored opponents FIU, Arkansas-Little Rock, Denver and North Texas to advance to tonight's game as champion of the Sun belt Conference. 

Western Kentucky's maddening march into this year's NCAA tournament exemplifies the exciting, chaotic, wonderfully unpredictable nature of this annual event.

So, call them unlikely under-dog, dark horse or whatever you want, but it's doubtful this Cinderella will listen or care as the Hilltoppers take to the hardwood this evening to begin their improbable 2012 dance.

Straight talk. No static.

MIKE - aka Mike Raffone - thee ultimate talking head on sports!

Become a Fan at http://www.facebook.com/theemikefans  

The 2011-2012 season has been a rough one for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

The team that was labeled one of the best mid-major teams just a few years ago has had a long fall from glory, and it appears now that they have hit rock bottom.

In a season that started out promising with a great recruiting class of eight freshmen, things quickly turned south once the games began.

The few high points included taking undefeated Murray State and the University of Louisville down to the wire before falling off towards the end.

The low points, which are too many to name, are highlighted (lowlighted?) by losing in overtime to Louisiana-Lafayette, who had six players on the court when they get hit the game-winner.

As you know, the referees didn't catch it so the final score stands. Afterwards Head Coach Ken McDonald was relieved of his duties..

Now that leaves the Tops with interim coach Ray Harper and a 5-14 record (1-5 in the Sun Belt).

The team is 0-3 under his authority, and though they have shown fight at times, it's clear that things aren't likely to improve much anytime this season. So what, or should I say who, can they turn to for hope?

The answer is simple: freshman guard Derrick Gordon. 

Gordon's story is reason alone to believe in him, but his numbers give you the certainty needed. With 19 games down and 10 to go in the regular season, Gordon has led his team in more ways than one.

Besides being the on-court emotional leader, he is also the leader numbers-wise.

So far the 6'2" guard is the leader in minutes, points, assists and rebounds per game. He spends most of his time at the 2 position due to junior Jamal Crook running the point, but occasionally when Crook is out, he'll take over the point. He's a natural shooter who is getting his chance to shine now at Western. 

WKU was extremely excited to have Gordon come down and play for them, and he has not disappointed. Hailing from New Jersey, he attended the historic St. Patrick's High School and played alongside the likes of Cleveland Cavalier guard Kyrie Irving, Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and North Carolina's Dexter Strickland.

With that kind of talent surrounding him, he never got his true chance to shine as their go-to guy, but now that he is on the hill, he's getting all that and more. 

He's not just standing out at Western, either.

Besides leading his team, Gordon ranks in the top 20 in the Sun Belt Conference in points, assists and rebounds The most impressive of those is that he is as high as sixth in rebounding.

The five who rank above him are all forwards or centers and have as much as seven inches on him.

As a Hilltopper fan, you have no choice but to be excited for Derrick Gordon's future. With a new coach on the way to put in place a system that can highlight his qualities, his potential is very high.

With the numbers he's producing already, it's hard to imagine what he'll be putting up when he's a senior. This could be the player the team has been missing since A.J. Slaughter or even Courtney Lee.

If he turns out that to be that good, or even slightly less, he could very well bring this program back to the top of the Sun Belt and feared by even the toughest of opponents.

One thing is for sure: the future is very bright for this young player.

All stats are from ESPN.com

I am not sure what part of this story is more disturbing. 

What we have here is an overtime victory garnered after the winning team had six men on the court and didn't use them. Stranger still is that none of the veteran officials caught the infraction. Even more bizarre is the losing head coach is now looking for a job. 

Let's break it all down from the beginning, shall we? 

Louisiana-Lafayette came out of the final timeout of the game against Western Kentucky. Only, they came out with six players rather than five. 

The game went on with Elfrid Payton taking the ball and never once taking advantage of his extra teammate—or any teammate, for that matter. Payton goes Kobe Bryant as he dribbles around and hits the game-winning layup. 

Not one of the officials called a technical as their heads were too far up some place stinky. However, there may now be repercussions. ESPN reports Sun Belt officials are none too pleased with the gaffe and may suspend the veteran crew. 

I mean, I can sort of buy football officials missing something this blatant, but this is six dudes wearing red. That kind of thing is hit-you-over-the-head easy to spot. 

That is not the end of it, though. Sadly, the Western Kentucky coach, after finding out that he had been done dirty on the court, was axed after the game. 

Director of Athletics Ross Bjork broke the news that head coach Ken McDonald had been fired. This was not because he was bamboozled on the court, but because of a slow start to the season. 

ESPN's Andy Katz tweets the question of the night, "Does Ken McDonald get fired today if Western Kentucky doesn't lose to ULL with 6 players on court? I'm sure decision made prior, still odd."

This may have been some odd coincidence. I am sure the loss didn't help, though. This goes down as the weirdest story of the week. 

Follow @gabezal

Are the University of Denver Pioneers one of this season’s biggest sleepers in NCAA men’s basketball?

After a 4-0 start to the season, which included a 70-58 victory over perennial juggernaut St. Mary’s, a lot of people would like to think so.

But, things have seemingly settled down after an 80-59 loss to Cal. Needless to say, the Pioneers' effort against big-time programs could turn out to be an indicator of how well they will do in conference play this season—Denver’s final season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.

Two huge components of the Pioneers' recent success have been senior guard Brian Stafford and sophomore forward Chris Udofia. Both are leading Denver in scoring this season, with Stafford averaging 14.8 points per game and Udofia not far behind at 14.

Udofia has been a defensive stalwart as well, with 17 blocked shots up to this point.

Helping with the defensive effort of the Pioneers is the ball-hawking Chase Hallam, who enters tonight’s game with 10 steals.

Tonight’s road game against the Utah State Aggies (7 p.m. MDT) will equally serve as an indicator of the Pioneers’ future as a program because this game will be a conference rivalry when Denver enters the WAC in 2012.

Utah State may have just one more loss than Denver at 3-2, but they will be a very tough team, having played in the arguably tougher conference.

That’s exactly what head coach Joe Scott and the Pioneers seem to be hoping for, as the program’s urge to be competitive in the long-term has not only prompted the conference change, but also one of the hardest schedules DU has put together in years.

Having already played Cal and St. Mary’s, the Pioneers men’s basketball team still has yet to face local rival Division I teams such as Wyoming, Northern Colorado and Colorado State.

Northern Colorado and CSU have already entered into NCAA Tournament discussions as recently as last year, so how Denver plays against these in-state programs will be a valuable gauge as to where the team stands competitively.

But for now, Denver is still a member of the Sun Belt Conference and shouldn’t be looking too far into the future. Conference play will begin Dec. 29 for the Pioneers when they begin a four-game stretch of Sun Belt games starting with the hosting of Troy at Magness Arena.