Wednesday, October 21, 2009
From an Associated Press story.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets safety James Ihedigbo says he ‘lost control’ when he threw a punch at Buffalo’s Derek Fine, and expects to hear from the league about the incident.
Ihedigbo, who was an All-American at UMass and a standout at Amherst Regional was blocking on the opening kickoff of overtime in the Jets’ 16-13 loss Sunday when teammate Marques Murrell knocked Fine’s helmet off and appeared to strike him in an eye. Ihedigbo then took a swing at Fine,was assessed a personal foul penalty and ejected. Murrell wasn’t penalized.
Ihedigbo said Wednesday he didn’t realize he had thrown a punch until he watched it on replay after the game.
On Monday, coach Rex Ryan cryptically said “you’ll see” when asked if he would take disciplinary action against Ihedigbo.
UPDATE: Ihedigbo was fined $5,000 by the NFL and the Jets are suspending him and Murrell from Sunday's game.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Lakers released Thomas Kelati, one of their other players whithout a guaranteed contract.
This may not actually help Gaffney at all, but few people thought they'd keep Gaffney and Kelati so this can't hurt his chances of making the Lakers.
My question is: What happens if the Lakers offer to sign him with the intention of allocating Gaffney to their D-League team, which is also in Los Angeles. Does he take that deal or go to Israel, where he has a fallback contract?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Former Minuteman reserve candidate Spencer Whipple enjoying being a backup in Miami where his father former UMass coach Mark Whipple is the offensive coordinator - http://ow.ly/t93t
Thursday, September 24, 2009
In my time covering UMass, I've always been a sucker for stories about guys that arrived at UMass as academic question marks and left with degrees. In many cases they overcame poor backgrounds, difficult family lives and lousy high school educations. Tyrone Weeks, Monty Mack, Steve Baylark, Rashaun Freeman, Kit Rhymer and Anthony Anderson all stick out in my mind.
I'm encouraged that Victor Cruz is on track to be the next one of those guys.
I remember thinking Tiki Mayben had a chance to join that group as well. For a while at UMass, Mayben, who'd had a troubled past himself, seemed like maybe he'd figured it out.
So it's more than a little sad to see just how far things went astray for the talented guard, who now could face prison time after his Wednesday drug-related arrest. That's a long fall for Mayben, who was once considered the top point guard in the nation in his age group.
I don't know where Mayben went off track. Maybe he was never on track. I like to think that I'm a decent judge of sincerity in an interview, but it's possible in the column below that Mayben was fooling me into believing what he wanted me to believe. I'll never know.
Below is a column I wrote about Mayben during his NCAA-mandated sit-out year as a freshman:
AMHERST _ Since he was in the ninth grade, anonymity has been hard to come by for Emmanuel “Tiki” Mayben.
That year, one recruiting publication named him the best freshman basketball player in the nation. Since then Mayben’s life has been under a microscope, and not just on the court.
His schoolwork, which was a struggle at times, was front page news. His commitment to Syracuse followed by his inability to qualify academically landed him on ESPN.
But this year, he’s not basketball star Tiki Mayben who shined in the Jordan Classic. There’s no games, no practices and most of the time no spotlight. He’s just a UMass student.
For now.
“There’s a lot of people in my classes that don’t know I play basketball,” he said. “It’s a whole new life. I can start at the beginning, clear my image. I don’t got an image here. I’m just me. I’m under the radar just trying to stay in shape and do my schoolwork.
“If I put the work in, they’re going to help me. I’m just trying to do what I have to do, going to every lecture and every class,” Mayben continued. “Try to be there when teachers have open hours and have them see my face and let them know I’m here to work.”
Mayben was supposed to be the next standout guard for the Orange in the tradition of Sherman Douglas, Pearl Washington, Jason Hart and Gerry McNamara. But when his combination of high school core-course grade point average and standardized test scores fell short of the NCAA’s eligibility minimums, Syracuse denied him enrollment.
Mayben said he was leaning toward junior college before UMass coach Travis Ford showed interest.
“I was about to go to community college. Getting accepted here was like the best thing that ever happened to me basically,” said Mayben, who has to pay his own way as a freshman.
Memphis and Charlotte recruited him too, but Ford had two factors working in his favor, a lack of guards and Rashaun Freeman.
Mayben played with Freeman on the Albany City Rocks AAU team, and like Mayben, Freeman sat out his freshman year as a nonqualifier. The two are roommates.
“I told him it’s real hard, but it goes by fast,” Freeman said. “I’m definitely going to make sure I show him the ropes and things like that.”
Mayben said, “He’s like my big brother. He’s been my big brother since we were back home. I was 14 and he was 16 and we were in AAU. He showed me the ropes then and he’s showing me the ropes now.”
Ford said he expected Freeman to be a good role model for Mayben.
“It’s very similar situations. Both guys had to sit out,” Ford said. “Ray has kind of adopted him a little bit. It’s a good situation because Ray is a good person to look up to.”
Mayben will have it a little easier. During Freeman’s freshman year, he was often by himself when the rest of the team left on road trips. Mayben will have some company as transfers Luke Bonner, Gary Forbes and Etienne Brower will be left behind as well.
Under new NCAA legislation, players who lost a year of eligibility as freshmen can earn it back if they complete at least 80 percent of their degree requirements after four years.
UMass has a history of success with players who weren’t eligible as freshmen. Monty Mack, Kitwana Rhymer and Tyrone Weeks all earned both their degrees and all-conference honors. Freeman is on track to join that list.
Ford said selectivity is critical when recruiting nonqualifiers.
“You want to get to know the young man. What’s he want out of it,” Ford said. “Tiki seemed like somebody who was very committed to performing off the court. He told me his No. 1 goal at UMass was to prove to people he could do it academically .. Academics is his only focus. His biggest job this year is to get himself acclimated to college academics. UMass has a great formula to keep these kids on track academically and give them the support they need while getting a great education.”
If Mayben does keep his academics in order, Ford could be getting a steal of a player.
“I’ve seen him in the summertime,” Ford said. “He’s a very gifted basketball player. He has a great feel for the game. He’s an incredible passer. He can really control the basketball and really make things happen for other people on the court.”
Freeman offered similar reviews.
“I don’t think UMass has ever seen a guard like him. He’s going to be a crowd favorite,” Freeman said. “He’s a selfless passer. He makes people around him better. He’s going to be really good.”
If Freeman is right, the spotlight will find Mayben again soon. He said he’ll be better ready to face it.
“I never really was one for all the attention. That’s why most of it was negative. I never really knew how to accept it. I never wanted it,” Mayben said. “I just wanted to have my game speak for my game.
“All the frustration led to me doing certain things and getting technical fouls. As I got older I learned how to deal with it better,” he added. “Now I go to my classes. Go home. Do my work, work out and go to sleep. I’m just trying to remain focused.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Former Minuteman receiver Brandon London who was cut by the Miami Dolphins over the weekend has gotten some calls from NFL teams already according to his father Mike London, the Richmond coach:
"I'm hoping he's going to get picked up in the next couple days. He's has a couple calls. He's weighing what's in his best interest."
- Mike London on the CAA conference call
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Will Havens be more like:
Todd Bankhead
or
Richard Lucero?
Havens becomes the third junior college quarterback to start for the Minutemen in the Whipple/Brown/Morris era.
This first, Todd Bankhead, led UMass to the 1998 I-AA Championship, and Atlantic 10 Championship and rewrote the school's career record book in just two years.
Lucero started off hot, got benched, regained the starting job and was eventually kicked out of school after an incident in the dorm.
Havens has a lot of room to fall in the middle.
...seven days til the Little Apple...
Saturday, August 22, 2009
James Ihedigbo
From Newsday Tuesday (that's an odd rhyme):
Rex Ryan is bringing a Baltimore tradition to New York - the King Ugly contest.
Originally
started by former Ravens coach Brian Billick 10 years ago, it's a way
for players, coaches and administrators to vote on who they think is
the ugliest person in the franchise. The contest is expected to take
place Wednesday night and it costs a dollar per vote.
From Newsday Friday:
Remember the King Ugly contest I mentioned the other day? Well, the results are in and the winner is (drum roll, please) ....
DB James Ihedigbo.
Second place goes to first-year defensive coordinator Mike Pettine
and RB/KR Leon Washington gets third place, which earns him 75 percent
of the total pot. The other 25 percent goes to Pettine.
Ihedigbo gets nothing because, as Ryan said earlier this week when describing the structure of the contest: "He’s so ugly he doesn’t deserve anything."
UMass has had some ugly players since I've been covering the Minutemen, but I never thought of Ihedigbo as one of them. Jets must be a pretty franchise.
I'm just glad this contest didn't exist on any team I played on.
...two weeks til K-State...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Gaffney checked in with a text saying the Israel deal is in case Lakers doesn't work out.
This is pretty common for American players without a guaranteed NBA contract.
...10 hours til Rescue Me...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
According to an Israeli web site, former Minuteman big man Tony Gaffney has signed to play in Israel:
Gaffney Lands in Gilboa
Safsal
,08/11/2009
Tony Gaffney, who was ranked third in the NCAA last season with 3.8 blocks
per evening, signed today with Hapoel Galil/Gilboa for next season.
Tony Gaffney (24, 2.04 m), who just graduated from the University of
Massachusetts, signed today with Hapoel Galil/Gilboa for next season.
He joins Gonzaga's Jeremy Pargo who signed during the weekend and Isiah
Swann and Dion Dowell who continue from last year.
Gaffney transferred to Umass from the University of Boston, and
played for the Minutemen in the last two years. As a senior he averaged
11.5 points, 10.2 rebounds (17th in the NCAA), 1.7 assists, 2.0 steals
and 3.8 blocks, which ranked him third in the nation!
The Boston-born forward had 12 double-doubles and 30 games, and was
one block short (15 pts, 18 rebs) from setting a rare triple double
against Boston College. He was named Atlantic-10 defensive player of
the year.
After going undrafted, Gaffney played for the world champions LA
Lakers in the NBA's summer league, where he averaged 3.8 points and 2.8
boards in 16 minutes per game.
I'm not sure if this deal is in case he doesn't make the Lakers or if it knocks him out of Lakers camp. I have a few calls out. Updates here when I get them.
...11 hours til Rescue Me...
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Miami Herald has a story on former UMass coach Mark Whipple. In it there's a funny coincidence that Whipple's younger son Austin is now playing at St. Thomas Aquinas, the Ft. Lauderdale High School that he recruited quite a few players from, including Adrian Zullo.
The Salem News has a look at UMass softball player Tawny Palmieri.
...one day til football players arrive at UMass...
Monday, August 3, 2009
From today's A.P. story:
CORTLAND, N.Y. (AP) — Ding! Ding! Ding!
Punches were thrown while tempers flared at a rough and tumble practice at New York Jets training camp Monday. And coach Rex Ryan couldn’t have been more pleased.
“Hey, we had a little rock ‘em, sock ‘em robots out there,” Ryan said with a grin.
Thomas Jones took a swing at James Ihedigbo and a few Jets players quickly jumped in to break things up early in the practice session.
Round 2 came a few minutes later when Howard Green got into it with Brock Christopher, and several players stood around the skirmish and shouted at each other.
Then came Ahmad Carroll and Nevin McCaskill getting into a shoving match, and Darrelle Revis playfully jumping on the pile.
All that was missing was a ring and an announcer.
“That was interesting,” Ryan said. “It always happens in camp this time of year. You’ve been through a few days and you’re tired of getting hit and you’re tired of doing all this kind of stuff.”
From today's New York Post:
Ryan said S Eric Smith "continues to impress me. He just makes plays. Same thing with (S James) Ihedigbo [who had a couple thumping hits]."
...one day til Rescue Me...
