Romeo Langford eliminates Louisville from consideration, Anfernee Simons, Courtney Ramey decommit
By SEAN BOCK & ADAM ZAGORIA The Louisville
By SEAN BOCK & ADAM ZAGORIA The Louisville
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Knicks forward Michael Beasley isn’t holding back on the state of college basketball.
In the wake of the FBI investigation into corruption in college basketball that led to the firing of Louisville coach Rick Pitino on Wednesday, Beasley was asked how corrupt the whole process is.
“Man, you guys are just catching on,” Beasley said with a smile at Knicks practice.
After finishing up at Notre Dame Prep (Mass.), the 6-foot-9 Beasley spent one season under Frank Martin at Kansas State — alongside Billy Walker, who briefly played for the Knicks — before becoming the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Asked if college players should be compensated, Beasley highlighted his own college experience.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and associate head coach Jeff Capel met Wednesday at Montverde (FL) Academy with R.J. Barrett, the 6-foot-7 wing who is expected to be in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, and his father Rowan Barrett, the head of Canada Basketball, sources told ZAGSBLOG.
Barrett also cut Arizona from his list and will not visit Michigan for his final official visit, sources told ZAGSBLOG. The Michigan news was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello.
Barrett confirmed in a Tweet on Saturday that he was down three schools.
— Rj Barrett (@RjBarrett6) September 30, 2017
Multiple sources said Duke remains the frontrunner for Barrett, who took the second of his official visits to Duke earlier this month. He has also visited Kentucky, Arizona and Oregon.
“Obviously, they want me to come in and be a part of the team, be one of the main guys and let me play and just do what I do,” Barrett told ZAGSBLOG after his Duke visit.
Louisville has placed athletic director Tom Jurich on paid administrative leave and head coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave in the wake of the bribery scandal.
Steve Pence, Pitino’s attorney, told the Courier-Journal that Pitino has been “effectively fired.”
Pitino met with interim President Greg Postel Wednesday morning and reportedly left misty eyed.
College basketball practice begins Friday, and Louisville will do so with an interim head coach.
“We will work quickly to name an interim head men’s basketball coach and an interim athletic director,” Postel said. “We hope to have those announcements within 48 hours.”
Meantime, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Pitino, 65, has gauged NBA teams about a possible return to the league where he coached the Knicks and Boston Celtics, but has gotten no positive feedback.
Rick Pitino has probed NBA teams on return as a head coach in recent years, but there’s been no interest in him. That’s unlikely to change.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 27, 2017
This was Pitino’s third major strike, following two previous scandals, including the sex scandal at Louisville for which the University was put on probation in June. The school is appealing to keep its 2013 NCAA championship intact. The NCAA suspended Pitino for five Atlantic Coast Conference games in the 2017-18 season for the sex scandal.
Romeo Langford, the 6-foot-5 shooting guard from New
