The recruiting story for 6-7 forward Dario Hunt (Charis Prep in North Carolina) now apparently involves just Long Beach State and the University of Nevada (the one in Reno; but those connected with the school wanted it to be called the University of Nevada or just "Nevada", not "Nevada-Reno" or "Reno"; their wish is my command).
He is expected to sign early this week.
After what must have been a long Saturday night and even longer Sunday morning for the Long Beach State players and coaching staff, the 49ers' volleyball team got the news it was waiting for Sunday:
It got the at-large bid to the NCAA Championship semifinals Thursday night at UC Irvine.
And the 49ers will get to play the team that beat them in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tourney semifinals last Thursday evening in the Walter Pyramid, Pepperdine, which rallied to beat BYU in the MPSF tourney final Saturday night in Long Beach.
The No. 1 seed is top-ranked Ohio State, which will face four seed Penn State in the first semifinal at 6 o'clock, with the 2 seed Waves taking on the 3 seed 49ers at 8 o'clock.
Both matches will be televised live by ESPN2 and ESPNU.
Check the Long Beach State website (www.longbeachstate.com) for ticket information.
Memphis freshman point guard Derrick Rose isn't participating in this afternoon's press conferences because he's suffering from an upset stomach of some sort.
I'll bet he's feeling a lot better right now than are some members of the UCLA team that he and his teammates knocked off Saturday night.
Apologies to anyone who tried to read my blog Saturday night in order to get my comments on the UCLA-Memphis and North Carolina-Kansas games.
The Internet situation in the Alamodome was a mess.
I might have had a better chance of getting stuff posted by tapping it out on Morse Code. I guess it had something to do with all of the Internet "traffic" that was flowing in the building.
Anyway, some of the comments I tried to post concerned the offensive pace of the UCLA-Memphis game (too fast for the Bruins, just right for the Tigers), the Bruins' inability to keep in front of Derrick Rose, defensively, and their inability to knock in jump shots.
All of those things helped add up to the end of UCLA's season.
And a post I would have made three-quarters of the way through the first half of the North Carolina-Kansas game would have been: Jayhawks 40, Tar Heels 12 . . . Wow!
Hopefully I'll get some posts up in more timely fashion Monday night!
Wireless isn't exactly grand at courtside in the Alamodome, which is why I didn't post before now.
If you're watching you know the scoop: The pace has been almost Memphis.
If UCLA can't slow things down and limit Tigers in transition, the Bruins' season will be over in an hour.
It's about five minutes to 4 o'clock, Central Time.
"Can't Buy Me love" was just blaring over the Alamodome sound system. Do you think, back in 1963 or whenever, that John Lennon and Paul McCartney ever dreamed a song they were writing would be played an hour before a Final Four semifinal?
Those lovable moptops . . . they were ahead of their time.
By the way: Most media members I've encountered think Memphis is going to beat UCLA and that North Carolina will topple Kansas in the second end of this double dip.
In case any of you are on your way to San Antonio, it's muggy . . .
For those who haven't heard yet, barring any unforeseen snafus, former UNLV head coach and current Portland Trail Blazers' assistant Billy Bayno is going to be the next coach at Loyola Marymount. He is expected to be introduced during a press conference at the school Friday.
And the University of San Diego's Billy Grier supposedly has a six-year deal, at $750K per, on the table from Oregon State. He is expected to give the school a final "Yes" or "No" at some point today.
