K-State Basketball
Forward James Watson will not be with K-State's basketball team next season. The junior forward suffers from health problems, including sickle-cell anemia and a heart defect. Echoing the statements on yesterday's thread, I hope the athletic department makes sure Watson is able to complete his education. With Watson's departure, K-State is again at the correct number of scholarships, with incoming recruit Michael Orris completing the squad.
K-State Baseball
Outfielder Jason King is the Big 12 player of the week. King hit .625 over the weekend against Nebraska-Omaha.
K-State Volleyball
Coach Suzie Fritz signed a new five-year contract to coach K-State volleyball. Fritz led K-State to the 2003 Big 12 title.
Big 12 Conference
Dennis Dodd reports that the Big 12 has agreed to a new TV deal with ESPN and Fox. The deal is for $2 billion over 13 years, or $200 million per year. The deal includes a 13-year grant-of-rights, which will bind the conference together through the middle of the next decade. Not bad for a dying conference.
It is unclear whether the new TV deal includes escalator clauses for expansion and a conference championship game, but you would have to think in today's climate it would. The Big 12 is in a holding pattern for now, but expansion could be on the horizon.
Big East
Embattled Big East commissioner John Marinatto resigned yesterday. SI's Stewart Mandel writes that the reactionary and short-sighted decision making of university presidents is to blame for Marinatto's (and Dan Beebe's before him) forced resignations. He's not wrong.
On his way out the door, Marinatto said, "It's probably time for a commercialized kind of perspective. The collegiate model is dead." He's not wrong.
Mike Leach
The good pirate Leach suspects that Bill Snyder may be a sorcerer. He's not wrong.