With Gonzaga’s 72-54 rout of Pepperdine in Malibu this past weekend, the Bulldogs reasserted themselves after falling to unranked Loyola Marymount the game before. In fact, until the Lions were able to successfully upset the ‘Zags, their dominance has been unmatched in the West Coast Conference – including nine conference titles in a row. In what many outside of Spokane believed would be a rebuilding year – after losing Jeremy Pargo, Micah Downs, Josh Heytvelt and Austin Daye the prior season – Mark Few and Co. are right on track to make it ten straight WCC titles. Read More »

ESPN.com is reporting that UConn head coach Jim Calhoun is taking a medical leave of absence, effective immediately. The school announced this decision this afternoon. Details of Calhoun’s medical condition has not been released. UConn’s Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway said assistant coach George Blaney will temporarily take over. Read More »

Back in Dime #48, I featured Harvard University standout Jeremy Lin. A couple of nights ago, the Crimson’s 6-3 senior point guard went into UConn’s gym and got 30 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks against the 13th-ranked Huskies. UConn ended up winning the game 79-73 over Harvard, but Lin once again proved he could hold his own against the nation’s best. Read More »

In a sports world where a coach can endure a couple of bad weeks and lose his job, Jerry Sloan has job security like Steve Jobs. Sometime in the next week or two, NBA.com is reporting that the Jazz will once again extend the legendary coach’s contract for at least one more season. This annual or bi-annual tradition between Sloan and the Jazz organization has been going for the past decade. Read More »

UConn junior center Hasheem Thabeet, projected to go no lower than third in most ‘09 NBA mock drafts, officially threw his name into the draft today.

Huskies coach Jim Calhoun called Thabeet, “One of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball,” and said he’s ready to make the jump to the League. Read More »

After struggling in their first-round game against Cal State-Northridge, Memphis finally played like a 2-seed should. As for 1-seed UConn, they never missed a beat from their first-round mollywhopping of Chattanooga. Read More »