O'Brien Latest Coach To Win The "Get Fired" Lottery

Only now do I realize that I've taken the wrong career path. If given a second chance, there is no doubt that I would pursue a career as a college basketball coach. Honestly, name me any other job where you can get paid millions of dollars just to stop doing what you are doing. And in Larry Brown' s case in New York, 40 million to just stay away. I messed up big time.

Former Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien is the latest coach to get a court ordered lottery win, as an Ohio Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio State owes O'Brien 2.5 million for his wrongful firing back in 2004.

O'Brien, who led the Buckeyes to the 1999 Final Four, was fired after it was learned that he paid 6 grand to Serbian recruit Alex Radojevic's, who never actually played for the Buckeyes. Must ave been realted to Darko.....O'Brien claims he gave Radojevic the money to help pay for his father's burial.

Whether or not O'Brien is telling the truth about the money, I think he O'Brien has done alright for himself.

Don't See Your Team in The Headlines? That's Fantastic

Feeling like your team is being ignored in the preseason headlines? Not enough hype about good old State U? Trust me, if your favorite college hoops team isn't in the headlines at this time of year, it's for your own benefit. The are only few reasons that a college basketball team is making any headlines this time of year, and none of them are positive. If your team is in the news right now, it's because a) someone has been arrested (Levance Fields of Pitt), or b) someone is injured and out for the season (Steele of Alabama).

For example, look at a breakdown of the top college basketball headlines on September 18th for ESPN, Yahoo and SI.
In order.....

ESPN

• Steele injured (Bad)
  
• Florida A&M hires new coach for the stalker they fired in the picture up top (Bad)
  
• Hobbs gets extension at GW (Good)
  
• Ex-OK State player heading to jail (Bad)
  
• Fields arrested (Bad)
  
• Ball State racial slurs (Bad)
  
• Duquesne player charged with domestic abuse (Bad)
  

SI

• Hobbs extension (Good)
  
• Player arrested for credit card fraud (Bad)
  
• Steele out (Bad)
  
• Pearl files for divorce (Bad)
  
• Ex-Louisville player reaches plea deal (Bad)
  
• Ex-UConn player sentenced (Bad)

More of the same from Yahoo. So you get my point? Outside of GW fans, it wasn't exactly fun to see your team in the headlines. See Memphis fans, you can be happy that your team is being ignored at this time of year. Oh wait...

Josh Heytvelt "Psyched" To Be Returning To Gonzaga

This is from a few days ago, but this blog didn't exist a few days ago, I feel like I can cover it. Remember Gonzaga center Josh Heytvelt, the guy who was busted for possession of mushrooms back in February? Well, after having as much fun as you can staring at melting walls and talking to imaginary elves, it appears that Heytvelt is close to returning to the Zags...

"Josh has done everything asked of him," said coach Mark Few. "We are optimistic he will again be a huge part of this team and of our success this coming season."

Forgotten in all of the mushroom jokes is that fact that with Heytvelt returning, the Zags are going to looking pretty nasty this season. The Zags late season's slide was largely in part to losing their leading rebounder.

Before the suspension, Heytvelt was averaging 15 ppg and close to 8 rpg. Add Heyvelt with in returning stars Jeremy Prago, Matt Bouldin, and David Pendergraft (who feels like he should be entering his 8th year of eligibility) and the Zags look like a legit Final Four contender.

Even with the losss of Derek Raivio, this Zags team should be significantly improved from last season's disappointment. Once again, this is dependent of Heytvelt staying off drugs.

Steele Out for 2007

Following a disappointing 06-07 campaign, alot of people were high on Alabama as a potential sleeper pick heading into the 2007 season because of the potential return of a healthy Ron Steele. But instead, the bad luck continues for Steele and the Crimson Tide. Steele announced that he will take a medical redshirt following offseason surgery on both knees that severely hampered in his play last season. Without Steele, expect it to be another long winter in Tuscaloosa for Tide fans.

Is Bruce Pearl In An Office Relationship?

(Credit Dougie Fresh on ESPN Radio for the tip)



Great, it's been one day and this blog is already turning into The National Inquirer. Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl has filed for divorce from his wife of 25 years. This wouldn't really be newsworthy at all, except for the fact that Tennessee's women's coach Pat Summit also filed for a divorce this summer after 27 years of marriage.

You don't say?? I'm not making any speculations here, just stating the obvious. You can connect the dots however you want. Maybe we should have seen this coming last season after Pearl painted his chest for Summit's women's team, and Summit returned the favor by dressing like a cheerleader for the men's team. Kids these days....

A World Without Anthony Ivory Is A World We Don't Want To Live In

Some news that I've been holding back for some time now......my favorite player and therefore STF's favorite player is on the move. The Round Mound of Rebound himself, Anthony Ivory, will not be suiting up the Temple Owls this season. According to Owl Scoop, Ivory is seeking a transfer from the Owls. Sad news for Temple fans as well as college basketball fans in general. Fans of JCMJ may remember Ivory, Temple's 380 pound, 1.7 rpg machine. To this day, the post I did on Ivory and his growing fanbase at Temple remains the most viewed story in JCMJ history. Some will credit Deadspin for the popularity of Ivory, but I'll credit an intelligent fanbase that can spot an underutilized talent. In our hearts forever Anthony.....

Welcome To Storming The Floor

Hey kids, welcome to Storming the Floor, the greatest college basketball blog in the universe (subject to debate)

Most of you are hear because of Just Call Me Juice. But for those of you who just stumbled across this blog by searching Erin Andrews or something, let me introduce myself and the blog. I ran a blog prior to this one called Just Call Me Juice. While I loved doing JCMJ, I really wanted to do something exclusively college basketball. I felt that my college hoops material on JCMJ was just as good anything else in the blogshepre, so I figured I would give college basketball a try.

You may asking yourself , "So what does this dude know about college basketball that makes him think he can start a blog". Nothing special in particular, I'm simply an enthusiastic young man with a 6th grade education and an abiding love for college basketball. Brian Fellows jokes aside, I 'm a huge college hoops junkie who has always had an obsession (some call it abnormal) with the game. This is my outlet for that obsession. I also happen to work in the media relations department of a major college hoops team, so I got that going for me.

For the JCMJ fans out there, expect the same style here with more links and analysis. So it's pretty much going to be like JMCJ was from January to April. My completely ambitious goal for this site is to be a one stop shop for college basketball information. As for now, I'll spend the two weeks or so just building this site up and getting the word out. So for the next few weeks, take it easy on me (you've got every other sport to worry about anyway).

Let the blogging begin!