Reginald Delk Headed to Louisville

I suppose this completes the trade for one Brian Johnson. This is a bit puzzling to me, but then the reason for the transfer in the first place is a mystery as the Delks and their father lied through their teeth about it. In any case one of the many, and often times contradictory, reasons given was Reginald was not happy about the playing time he was going to be getting next year. I have an idea, if you want more playing time, get off your lazy ass and learn to hit some free throws. Getting that percentage over 50% would be a good start. You want to know why your butt was on the bench in the closing minutes of every game? You shot 37.5% from the free throw line!!! Shaq is laughing at you son. You're a liability in the closing minutes of a game. Foul Reginald and laugh at his inability to throw it in the ocean.

In any case, if he is looking for more playing time it is unlikely he will find it at Louisville. If anything he will end up playing less. He should contribute though and hopefully he will. Start working on those free throws bud. Pitino won't be any more forgiving.

Rhodes Declaring for NBA Draft

Read all about it. He has not signed with an agent and apparently does not intend to. This is smart because if I understand the rules, this allows him to come back and play next year should he go undrafted. I really can't see anybody taking him but I suppose stranger things have happened. Lets say he is drafted and does not return next year. In a couple of weeks we have gone from losing one starter for next season to losing four.

2007 Football Schedule Released

You can view it over in the sidebar. As you can see the Jacksonville St. game has been replaced by Gardner-Webb. Will Croom manage to have lost to both Maine and Gardner-Webb in his first four years on the job? That will be an interesting storyline to keep an eye on. Also, the Ole Miss game has been moved to the Friday after Thanksgiving and will make its triumphant return to television courtesy of Lincoln-Financial. Another thing that caught my eye, six home games in a twelve game schedule? In four 12-game seasons, guess how many SEC teams have scheduled six home games. Go ahead, guess. I'll give you a minute..........................FIVE, and three of them are Mississippi State!! MSU 2002, MSU 2003, and MSU 2007. Way to go guys. Way to go.

That was quick

Just one day later, Mississippi State gets a commitment from one Riley Benock. I guess Rick must have known this was coming for a while. I'll have thoughts on how the team will look next year as a result of all this player movement on Friday.

Delks and Rimmer Transferring

This seriously sucks. Reginald and Richard Delk are transferring out along with Bernard Rimmer. It has been rumored Rimmer would be leaving since January, but the two Delk transfers came out of nowhere. This radically changes all the optimism there was for next year. I guess that's MSU sports for you. Every time things are really looking up, complete disaster is just around the corner.

No Jacksonville State

There has been rumors floating around about this for awhile now but I wanted to wait until things got a little more official. It looks like that wait is over. Unless there is some bizarre twist, Jacksonville State will no longer be playing Mississippi State in the 2007 football season. They'll have to pay a $150,000 penalty for backing out of the game. It will be difficult to find an opponent to take their place as pretty much everybody has their schedule locked in by now. It will likely be another I-AA team, oh excuse me, I mean it will likely be another "Playoff subdivision" team. There has been some slight mutterings of playing Hawaii, but I don't see that as being all that probable.

Postseason-Preseason Basketball Top 25

...and Mississippi State clocks in at #24. Yeah, these are pretty meaningless with how much things are going to change between now and November, but its still fun to look at. This is about where I would expect to see MSU in the first polls, more likely in that "Others receiving votes" section. Should be a fun year.

Transfers

Quarterback Ty Evans and running back turned safety Brandon Thornton intend to transfer out at the end of the semester. They could just be looking for playing time or they could be jumping off what appears to be the sinking ship that is MSU football. You can pick for yourself, either explanation fits well enough. So, what kind of impact will this have? Meh, not much. Thornton wasn't likely to see the field and he really doesn't do all that much as far as safety depth is concerned. Evans was not likely to ever see the field either as it was looking like he was going to end up the 4th string QB. To be perfectly honest, it just opens up two scholarships which hopefully will be given to two actual SEC-caliber players. Good luck to Evans and Thornton wherever they end up.