North Carolina beats Michigan State

I know this is a PAC 10 basketball blog...but I just wanted to give a little love to North Carolina. Roy Williams and crew won their second National Championship, making Williams only the fourth active coach (Calhoun, Coach K, Billy Donovan) to have multiple rings. North Carolina will graduate Tyler Hansbourgh and Danny Green, and most likely lose Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington to the NBA draft. However, Williams is bringing in the #1 recruiting class next season, and the future or UNC basketball looks very bright. Michigan State was overwhelmed from the git go...however their tournement run was a special one, beating two #1's. Is is to early to look ahead to 2010? My early money would have been on Memphis entering the 2009-10 season, but that could certianly change with 31 year old Josh Pastner taking over the Memphis Tigers attack.

Kent Given One More Year

Oregon basketball coach Ernie Kent has been given at least one more year at Oregon. This will be Kent's 13th season at the helm, as he is coming off only his second losing season ever with the Duck's. I feel that Kent will be given the same ultimatum that Bev Smith was prior to this most recent reason....That is, make the NCAA tourney or go home. However, by bringing Kent back for next season, one could argue that Oregon is committed to him for at least two more years. Would they really fire him after next season, the year before the new arena opens? In my opinion Ernie has earned the right to have another go around with this team. Last years team was young and immature ....and if you recall Ridnour and Jackson rebounded from a disappointing freshman season, only to win the PAC 10 as sophomores the following year!!

On a side note: I know this has nothing to do with Oregon bball, but while watching the 11 o'clock news last night I saw Mike Bellotti roaming the sidelines. At the time I was unaware he was helping out with the QB's this spring, so I thought I must have been dreaming. However, it was not a dream, and nothing the AD department does surprises my anymore. I just wanted to express how fortunate Oregon is to have an iconic figure willing to put his ego to the side, and do whatever he can to assist the football program. This also will allow coach Kelly to take his time while hiring potential assistant coaches.