The NCAA has decided to make some changes that will have a real effect on the college basketball game. They have made the decision to move the date to withdraw from the NBA Draft and return to college to mid-April. This ends the whole testing the waters period. One the one hand, it does affect how a coach recruits. A coach will know who is returning to school and what their needs are. I see that as a plus for the game.

Currently speaking, the deadline for early entrants into the NBA draft is 60 days before the draft. However, the NBA deadline to withdraw and the NCAA deadline to withdraw are different dates. The NCAA deadline for this year is May 8, 2011. The NBA deadline is in early June.

Trevor Lacey is currently undecided and he's a 5 star player according to Rivals.com. In addition to Kentucky, he's looking at Kansas, Auburn, and other colleges. The whole Brandon Knight decision is weighing in on his decision. Brandon has until May 8th to withdraw from the draft. Vaught's Views actually has an update on Brandon Knight and whether he stays in or returns to school.

The students chanted “one more year” as Knight was introduced and took part in a question and answer session with Conkwright principal Travis Earlywine.

Knight smiled at the chant and indicated that he’s still undecided on whether or not he will return next season for his sophomore campaign.

“I’m still 50-50,” he said. “I haven’t really made a decision yet.”

As for coming back to Kentucky, Knight said he “wouldn’t mind it” and would embrace another opportunity to play for the Wildcats for one more season.

“Kentucky is a great place and I’ve enjoyed being here,” he said. “That wouldn’t be a bad decision at all.”

Knight has 11 days to make up his mind.

“I will know by (May 8th),” he said. “By then, I will know what I will be doing.”

If you want my decision, if Brandon decides to come back, the 2011-12 Kentucky Wildcats will absolutely be stacked.

At 10 AM this morning, the Ohio River was at 27.24 feet on the upper gauge at the McAlpine Locks in Louisville. At 27 feet, River Road at Zorn Avenue is closed. This means my alternative route downtown is flooded and floods like these are exactly why 8664 is a horrible idea.

The Horseshoe Hotel and Casino is officially closed until waters recede (and of course, the massive cleanup). I feel sorry for them but they should have chosen a location that is not in a floodplain! This is the third time that the hotel has been forced to close due to the Ohio River being out of its banks.

The following roads are closed in Louisville according to WAVE 3:
•Katherine Station Road
•Mockingbird Valley Road between River Rd and Zorn Ave
•Frankfort Avenue between Story Ave and River Rd
•Cabel Street @ Adams Street
•Witherspoon between Adams St and River Rd
•Adams Street between Witherspoon and Cabel
•Alta Vista Rd @ Beargrass Creek Rd
•Campbell St @ Adams
•River Road between N. 3rd Street and N. 8th Street
•KY 329 is closed at the Oldham/Jefferson County
•Covered Bridge Road @ Covered Cove
•River Road @ Jacob School Road
•River Road @ Indian Hills Trace
•River Road between Zorn and Edith
•River Road east of Zorn Avenue
•Algonquin Parkway between 41st Street and Gibson

At this point, can we really be surprised by the attacks at Jewish tombs?

Palestinians set fire to Joseph's Tomb over the weekend in Israel.

Unrest rattled the West Bank city of Nablus Sunday following the shooting of Breslov Hassidim visiting the Palestinian-controlled Joseph's Tomb in the city.

Twenty-four year old Ben-Yosef Livnat, a father of four from Jerusalem – and Minister Limor Livnat's nephew – was killed, and five others were wounded.

Palestinian sources reported local Palestinian youths gathered around the Tomb's compound shortly after the incident and set it on fire.[...]

A Palestinian source said black smoke towered over the gravesite, adding the sight was "reminiscent of the days of the Second Indifada."

To say this is the least of it, it is not. There was another attack as 15 Chasidic Jews were walking outside of Joseph's Tomb, which resulted in the death of one and the injuries of others.

JTA:

The men were part of a group of 15 Breslov Hasidim who arrived early Sunday morning in three cars to worship at the site, which is holy to Jews and is located in West Bank territory under full Palestinian control. The worshippers did not coordinate their visit with the Israel Defense Forces.

A Palestinian security guard fired on one of the cars as it was leaving the site, saying the men's activities looked "suspicious." Worshippers in the other cars told Ynet that the Palestinian police officers shouted "Allahu Akbar" or God is great, as they shot at the vehicles leaving the site.

A joint IDF-Palestinian investigation is looking in to the incident.[...]

Rioting occurred in Nablus following the incident, according to reports, and the tomb also reportedly was set on fire by Palestinian youths. The tomb was recently renovated after being badly damaged and desecrated during the second Palestinian Intifada.

Minister Livnat said in a statement that her nephew had wanted to pray at the tomb in honor of the Passover holiday and said that he "was killed in cold blood in an abominable way."

The Israeli army coordinates monthly prayer visits to the tomb, believed to be the burial site of the Biblical patriarch Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Members of the Breslov sect frequently sneak in to the tomb to pray, without coordinating their visits, according to reports.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak strongly condemned the shooting.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak strongly condemned the murder of Ben Yosef Livnat and the injury of four others in the Nablus shooting attack early Sunday morning and said that no lack of security coordination can justify the opening of fire at innocent people.

Barak ordered the IDF to investigate the incident and demanded that the Palestinian Authority investigate the shooting swiftly and take all the necessary steps against the shooter.

One Israeli worshiper was killed and four were wounded in Nablus early Sunday morning after their vehicle was shot at by a Palestinian Authority policeman as the group was exiting the city from prayer services held at Joseph's Tomb. Magen David Adom said one person was in serious condition, one in moderate condition and two others in light condition.

Minister of Culture and Sports Limor Livnat (Likud) was "shocked at the murderous attack of her nephew Ben Yosef Livnat" who was killed in the attack.

The Ohio River is looking at a crest of 33 feet around 2 AM on Tuesday morning. To give you an idea of where that reaches in historic levels, the flood of March 1997 crested at 38-39 feet.

At 9 PM, the river was sitting slightly over 25 feet at McAlpine Upper. We've got some ways to go but for those of you along the waterfront, stay safe. Get to upper ground.

Here's some photos from 1997:

This cannot be said enough. Anthony Davis is a beast.

Last night, Davis scored 29 points in last night's Jordan Brand Classic. It's the second most points scored during the game. LeBron James scored 34 points in 2003.

Talk about a lack of communication between the state and local government. River Road was closed late last night between 3rd and 8th Streets because of high water from the river.

The third street ramp from 64 had both lanes open during the morning rush hour. The lane closest to the river is a right-turn exit only. The road that lane turns on to was closed. Unfortunately, no one bothered closing the lane on or before the ramp...thus backing up traffic for miles and miles.

It was reported in this morning's Courier Journal, no less, that River Road was closed at the ramp. All of that said, EVERYONE knows that the far right lane is not just an exit only lane but a lane that MUST TURN RIGHT.

Furthermore, there is a sign that alerts drivers on I-71 prior to the Zorn Avenue exit about congestion, etc. All it said this morning, when I passed it, was that there was heavy congestion. Nothing about the road closure.

This shows you the lack of people that either read this morning's newspaper or don't subscribe to the paper.

I emailed a complaint to Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's office and got the following statement from Susan Bagshaw in the Public Works & Assets Department:

Good afternoon. I was forwarded a copy of your email for a response from Public Works and Assets regarding the emergency road closure. The road was closed due to high water but the ramp was still open. I am sorry for the inconvenience and delay that it caused but our priority is the safety of the motoring public.

Emergency Road Closures are sent out to the media along with numerous contacts including the Kentucky Transportation Department as notification.

The Kentucky Department of Transportation would be the agency to put any signage or barricades on an interstate or ramp if a closure is necessary.

We are always looking at how we do business to do it more efficiently and how to keep the citizen's more informed so delays like this can be avoided as much as possible in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to write.

I did send a complaint to the Kentucky Department as well. I'll post a response if and when I get one.

If they knew ahead of time that the road would be closed, why was there no barricade placed to alert drivers? Why cause further backup as a result?

While the media is focused on the 2011 Kentucky Governor's race, we are excited for the 2037 race, which recently kicked off this week.

Jonathan Miller recently announced plans to run in 2037 with John Y. Brown IV as his running mate. Meanwhile, John Y. Brown III announced today that he would run with Emily Miller leading the ticket.

Instead waiting until 2037 for the debates to happen, why not start now. So here it is, the first question of the 2037 Kentucky Democratic Gubernatorial Debate.

Daniel Solzman: First debate question for the 2037 race: Your thoughts on kittens and woodchippers?

John Y. Brown III: Ha!! We support puppies and kittens and have it on good authority Jonathan has accepted a campaign contribution from the corporate parent of a woodchipper company.

Jonathan Miller: I find it offensive that I am asked the same question that Yarmuth was accused of. Obviously, Daniel, you are an anti-Semite.

I'm coming to you live from the Windy City. I don't have details as to dates and whatnot but the current word is that Louisville loved Second City so much that they are looking into returning for a future show.

You can only put so much into a show so it is no surprise if there is extra material just waiting to be seen.

The NBA and the NBA Players Association have their CBA up in June. I believe it will be expiring after the draft. Here's this tidbit from Yahoo:

Several high-ranking NBA team executives told Yahoo! Sports they wouldn’t be surprised if the age limit in the new CBA is pushed to two years in college and 20 years old by the end of that calendar year. One NBA general manager says about two-thirds of teams are in favor of that change. The current CBA states that an American must be out of high school for at least one year and be 19 years old by the end of that calendar year before entering the draft.

Just mail us the trophy...

The Miami Herald reports on the latest names being mentioned in the search to replace basketball coach Frank Haith, who is now the coach at Missouri.

Names that have emerged are University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Mike Davis, Murray State’s Billy Kennedy, Harvard’s Tommy Amaker, Richmond’s Chris Mooney, and Jeff Capel and John Pelphrey, both of whom were recently fired: Capel by Oklahoma and Pelphrey by Arkansas.

It's interesting that Pelphrey's name has come up.

Here's this quote from New York Senator Chuck Schumer, which I believe sums up this whole mess in DC.

"We have moved and moved and moved. We have moved to more than half way in the spending cuts...There are things in our proposal that I don't like but I am willing to accept them but the Tea Party has said '100 percent our way' or we'll shut it down. You have seen them, they want to shut it down."

If you have not filed your taxes, make sure you e-file with the option for direct deposit. Or you will be waiting a long time for a tax refund since the GOP is unlikely to budge in their demands.

Big Blue Nation never forgets a player, no matter whether they are one and done or a four year player.

The WaPo comments on Kentucky fans at last night's Wizards-Pacers game at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

For the second time this season, Wall played against the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse and nearly half of the crowd was either wearing Kentucky paraphernalia, Wall No. 2 Wizards jerseys or a T-shirt bearing his image.[...]

“It’s amazing,” Wall said of the response he gets from Kentucky fans wherever he travels. “I didn’t think it would happen in that short amount of time. It’s crazy that I got a lot of fans and people respect me from Kentucky.”

You still wish you could’ve stayed in college longer, but I’m enjoying it,” Wall said.

ESPN has updated their rankings for the 2011 class that will be starting in college at the fall.

Here are how the incoming Wildcats look:
1. Anthony Davis, PF
3. Michael Gilchrist, SF
7. Marquis Teague, PG
18. Kyle Wiltjer, PF

Louisville signees Chane Behanan (#27, PF) and center Zach Price (#55) are the only players from the Commonwealth in the ESPNU 100.

Jerry Crasnick reports at ESPN of several milestones to look forward to during the 2011 season. Not included on that list are the 0-6 start for the Boston Red Sox or two appendectomies.

The list:
1. Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit
2. Jim Thome's 600th home run
3. Ichiro Suzuki's annual 200-hit odyssey
4. Mariano Rivera's 600th save
5. The Albert Pujols grab bag

Pujols, who turned 31 in January, needs 41 homers and 96 hits to become the 32nd player in history to reach 450 and 2,000 for his career. A-Rod was six days short of his 31st birthday when he surpassed both barriers with a single swing five years ago.

The problem in getting too worked up over Pujols' short-term milestones is that they're just pit stops on the way to more glorious achievements. Bill James gives him a 51 percent chance to collect 3,000 hits, so it's tough to get too amped over Pujols joining Lee May, Jack Glasscock, Mark Grudzielanek and 257 others in the 2,000-hit club.

6. The South Side tag team
7. Tim Wakefield's 200th win
8. The Juan Pierre double feature
9. Vladimir Guerrero, 2,007 games without a sacrifice bunt

Here is another one of note:

Johnny Damon can join Rose, Aaron and Brooks Robinson as the fourth player to appear in 140 or more games in 16 straight seasons. "He might be an idiot, but he likes to play," one scout said. As Chuck duly notes, Damon also can join Ty Cobb, Paul Molitor and Tris Speaker as one of four players with 500 doubles, 100 triples, 400 stolen bases and 1,600 runs scored.

• Chipper Jones needs two hits and six RBIs to join Eddie Murray as the second switch-hitter with 2,500 hits and 1,500 RBIs. Is there really any debate whether this guy belongs in the Hall of Fame?

Impressive. Most impressive.

Chabad will sell your chametz once again this year for Pesach.

That's what I'm hearing. It's been reported this afternoon that Northern Kentucky University President James Votruba made the announcement today at the convocation.

Here's a report from WCPO:

NKU President James Votruba in answer to a question at the Wednesday’s spring convocation said stepping up from Division II to Division I is an issue the Board of Regents will pursue with an eye toward making application in the fall, according to Chris Cole, director of media relations and communications.

“From his perspective it makes sense to do that and we can afford to do it,” Cole said. “It’s definitely a direction we’re headed in.”

The NCAA or National Collegiate Athletic Association has had a four-year moratorium on adding schools to the Division 1 rank but that moratorium expires in the fall.[...]

“We’re already Division I academically, from a program standpoint, in university size, location,” Cole said.

Upgraded athletic facilities such as the new 10,000-seat Bank of Kentucky Center, a new soccer complex, a new softball facility, tennis courts and a baseball facility that is currently being upgraded make application for Division I status much more favorable than six years ago when it was considered, Cole said.

Currently, NKU has 13 sports but talk already has begun to add women's indoor and outdoor track and field to bring the number of sports offered by the school to the NCAA-required 14 for Division I status.

Local 12:

President Jim Voltruba told the group that he has come to the conclusion that Division One athletics is a better place for NKU both athletically and academically. He says the university will proceed this fall to take steps toward becoming Division One.

Doing so would add prestige to the university. The school would like to be a part of the Division One Horizon League-home of Butler, Valparaiso, Wright State, and seven other schools- or the Ohio Valley conference.

When I was a student at NKU, I worked in Sports Information. That said, when I first started hearing the talk about moving to D1, it was always the Horizon League being mentioned. This is the first time that I've heard the OVC being brought up as a possibility.

The OVC does have schools that do have football. They participate in the Football Championship Subdivision. Of their current 11 members, only 9 of them have football. Transportation wise, OVC sounds like a good fit with three schools from Kentucky.

The Horizon League, in my opinion, is more likely to be the future home of NKU. In the past several NCAA tournaments, only the BCS conferences and the Horizon League have seen at least one win in the tournament. From an athletic perspective, I'd go with the Horizon League.

The big thing now, that I see, is what becomes of the Northern Kentucky-Bellarmine rivalry.

Here are the two conferences as they sit right now:

Horizon League
Butler University
Cleveland State University
University of Detroit
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Loyola University Chicago
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
University of Iillinois-Chicago
Valparaiso University
Wright State University
Youngstown State University

Ohio Valley Conference
Austin Peay State University
Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Kentucky University
Jacksonville State University
Morehead State University
Murray State University
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
Southeast Missouri State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee Technological University
University of Tennessee-Martin

North Carolina State has FINALLY hired a basketball coach. Former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried, most recently an analyst for the SEC Network, has been hired as the new basketball coach. Supposedly, the rest of the coaching staff will be named during the press conference.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sports notes the following about the coaching search:

N.C. State spent weeks searching for Sidney Lowe's replacement before settling on Gottfried. Sources told CBSSports.com that the school pursued many candidates -- among them Texas' Rick Barnes, Arizona's Sean Miller, UCLA's Ben Howland, Xavier's Chris Mack, Memphis' Josh Pastner, Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon, Cincinnati's Mick Cronin and Wichita State's Gregg Marshall. All decided to pass on the opportunity to work under athletic director Debbie Yow, whose reputation within the coaching community hindered her ability to make the type of home run hire she and her fan base desired.

Mark Gottfried, in my opinion, is a superb hire. Whether he will restore NC State to the glory days of when Jim Valvano coached there is hard to tell. His first step is to keep Ryan Harrow from seeking a transfer but time will tell.

In other coaching news, Lamar has hired Pat Knight. It is definitely a step down from the Big 12 but that could be what he needs. We'll see.

Jeff Goodman makes an observation about the 2011 offseason coaching carousel, and why it took so long for NC State to make a hire.

By my count, there have been 40 coaching changes thus far – which is actually on the lower end of the last handful of offseasons.

Nine of the changes have involved schools from the Power Six conferences – and seven of them have been filled.[...]

Fans in Raleigh may be tired of hearing this from me, but it’s the truth: Coaches in the industry are well-aware of the largely irrational fan base, they know that Herb Sendek was basically run out of town after five consecutive NCAA tournament bids.

They are also well-aware of athletic director Debbie Yow’s reputation – and in coaching circles, her reputation hasn’t helped her land anyone.

It should be noted that NC State's hiring of Gottfried changes that number to eight being filled.

CBS Sports columnist Gregg Doyel wants you to read his article from last night's game.

There is no doubt in my mind that last night's NCAA championship game was so ugly. I'm not blaming the teams. No way. What I am doing is placing the blame on the NCAA. The NCAA wants the D1 title game to be played in a football stadium with 70,000 plus seats. The downside of that is that a place like the Alamodome, where Kentucky won it all in 1998, will never see another Final Four. You can view the box score here but the total attendance was: 40,509.

It wasn't that there was good defense during the game but also, the shot selection. So many shots were hitting the rim but they weren't going in. There's no excuse for point blank shots to be missing the rim.

It wasn't until the 2009 tournament that the NCAA decided to focus on playing in the football stadiums. They played the 2009 Final Four at Ford Field in Detroit where 72,922 were at the championship game.

However, 2012 and 2013 go back to the Georgia Dome and Louisiana Superdome, respectively. In 2007, during the last Final Four in Catlanta, 51,458 were at the final game--slightly down from it's previous Final Four in 2002. The most recent Final Four in New Orleans was in 2003, where 54,524 saw the game. The Superdome dominates the NCAA record book for attendance at a championship game.

Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, hosted the 2010 NCAA Final Four. I'm looking at the box score. The final score was Duke 61, Butler 59. They played in front of 70,930 fans in attendance. Here's the general numbers from that game:
Butler:
FG: 20-58 (34.5%)
3FG: 6-18 (33.3%)
FT: 13-18 (72.2%)

Duke:
FG: 23-52 (44.2%)
3FG: 5-17 (29.4%)
FT: 10-16 (62.5%)

John Clay even commented on last year's game:

Last year’s Final Four was played at Lucas Oil Stadium, which had a similar configuration but drew four thousand fewer fans than did Reliant. Shooting last year was 41.1 percent, compared to 34.2 this year. Three-point shooting last year was 36.5 percent, compared to 28.1 this year. Free throw shooting was actually pretty much the same, 68.3 last year to 68.5 this year.

John Clay looked at the Dome Effect. I haven't studied all the records yet but believe me, it was definitely in play. The next two tournaments, the Final Four goes back to stadiums that are good for basketball. If it's good enough for the SEC tournament, well, it's good enough for me. Cowboys Stadium in 2014? I sense a rerun of this year.

It wasn’t just Butler’s horrendous 18.8 percent shooting from the Reliant Stadium floor that raised that question after Connecticut beat the Bulldogs 53-41 in a very low-scoring national title game.

The shooting in all three games was sub-par, from the floor, from beyond the three-point line, from the free-throw line.

Of the little ESPN broadcasts that I have seen today, not that many are bringing up the dome factor. Jay Williams may have been the only one that did so.

Given the whole NC State situation and all, some of their players are considering transferring. Courtcred tweeted this during the game:

Got a tip that NC ST's Ryan Harrow might be seeking a transfer. Likes Kentucky's dribble drive.

Harrow is a five star point guard according to Rivals.

UConn defeated Butler with a final score of 53-41 in what was probably the ugliest NCAA title game ever.