Former Duke center, Brian Zoubek to open a cream puff shop

The last memory of former Duke center, Brian Zoubek, was of him celebrating a national championship victory over Butler. After that he kind of vanished. Not that it’s a bad thing some people excel outside of the sports world and Zoubek is putting his Duke education to good use.

Zoubek will be opening a cream puff pastry shop in his hometown of Haddonfield, New Jersey. Cream puffs have been a lifelong favorite of Zoubek’s and now he aims to turn his love of them into a successful business.


“I love to make cream puffs,” he said. I’m just a fat kid, at heart. I’ve loved cream puffs my whole life. When I was growing up, I used to get therm from another place in town.”  


Zoubek’s store will be called Cream Puff Creations, amended from “Heavenly Cream Puff Creations,” after that name didn’t align with city code that requires signs to have no more than three words. Zoubek won’t be making the pastries himself.

This isn’t the big man’s first time around in the entrepreneurial arena as he and a few of his college buddies started a technology store in New York City so he does have some knowledge in running a business.

VCU joining Atlantic 10 in 2013

VCU will be leaving the Colonial Athletic Association and joining the Atlantic 10 in 2013. The move will be announced Tuesday.

On Friday, George Mason, which along with VCU and Butler had discussions with the Atlantic 10, announced it was staying in the CAA. However, sources told CBSSports.com at the present time the Atlantic 10 was looking to add only one more school and VCU got the nod over Mason.

In the latest basketball related realignment move this makes sense for the Rams as they move from a one bid league to a multiple bid league in the A-10. And don’t try to sell me on how it’s more competitive in the Atlantic 10 and the Rams won’t be able to rule the roost in a lesser conference.

With the recent additions of Butler and VCU it makes the loss of Temple (Big East) and Charlotte (Conference USA) easier to deal with. The move also gives the Rams a natural rivalry with Richmond and George Washington.

When it comes to basketball related realignment the Atlantic 10 is a winner.      

Nolan Richardson III, son of former Arkansas coach found dead

Nolan Richardson III, the son of former national championship winning coach Nolan Richardson was found dead in his Tulsa home on Sunday.

Officer Jason Willingham said Monday that Richardson III’s wife found her husband dead in a chair in their Tulsa home about 3 p.m. Sunday. A cause of death was not immediately released but Willingham said the 47-year-old’s death appears to be due to natural causes.


Richardson III served as an assistant under his father at Arkansas and also was the head coach at Tennessee State. He was best known at Tennessee State for being suspended after a well publicized incident in which he allegedly brought a gun into the Gentry Center (university arena) in a dispute with an assistant.

It’s official: Butler moving to Atlantic 10

For the last month it has been speculated that Butler would be leaving the Horizon League for the Atlantic 10. Speculation has now turned into reality as Butler held a news conference to announce their intention to join the Atlantic 10 to enhance their basketball program.

Butler will be joining the Atlantic 10 a year after Temple leaves for the Big East. The Bulldogs won’t begin competing in the Atlantic 10 until the 2013-2014 season. The move will give Butler more exposure and it’ll help that the program that it won’t be in a one bid league any longer. It also gives the league more of a midwest presence along with Dayton, Saint Louis, and Xavier.

There have been rumblings about VCU and George Mason joining the Atlantic 10 but there has been no significant movement on that front.

North Carolina wanted to cut down the nets at Duke

The Duke-North Carolina rivalry is the best rivalry in college basketball. No doubt about it. I’m not crazy about either one but you can’t deny that fact.

In the 2011-2012 season Duke beat the Tar Heels in a thriller in Chapel Hill. Carolina went down to Durham and returned the favor. After the game in Durham the rivalry nearly went into another stratosphere. Tar Heel players wanted to cut down the nets at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And coach Roy Williams nearly allowed it.

During the Tar Heel Tour, which is a Carolina media blitz, Williams answered questions and brought up the issue of cutting down the nets.

Williams called this past season “hard”. Despite the 32-6 record, Williams said the team never “had the chance to celebrate” aside from the victory over Duke to end the season.


However, the team thought about cutting down the nets in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but Williams thought it “might cause a scene.”

Cause a scene? It would’ve caused a riot. Although I probably would’ve taken great joy in seeing that happen. That would’ve been worse than the Ohio State football players tearing down the “Go Blue” banner before the Michigan game in 1973.

Michigan State’s Adreian Payne fine after deer causes accident

Michigan State center Adreian Payne is doing fine after being involved in a car accident. He wasn’t doing any reckless driving or driving drunk. The reason for the accident was a deer that ran into the road.

A driver with the last name of Payne was involved in a car crash about 5:45 p.m. Friday while heading eastbound on Interstate 70 in Montgomery County, Ohio, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol online crash log. Three drivers were listed, and one was reported to be injured.


“A deer ran out to the road,” a Montgomery County dispatcher said. “That is what caused the crash.”


Payne felt lucky to be alive and tweeted “I should not be here. God blessed me. I was in a car accident someone hit me on the highway…”


Payne also tweeted a picture of his car after the accident. Payne is thanking his lucky stars that he wasn’t seriously injured and was able to walk away from the accident.

Kentucky’s Eloy Vargas takes a fan to her prom

Seldom used Kentucky center Eloy Vargas made one fan queen for a night. During an autograph signing session Saturday Vargas was approached by Natascha Richardson, a 17-year-old student at Gatton Academy. She then asked Vargas to accompany her to her prom.


“It was my turn to get an autograph and I was just like, what are you doing tonight, and he was like ‘what are you doing tonight’ and I was like, you should go to prom with me and it just kind of happened and I was like ahh, cool.” 


Vargas accepted and hurried to get ready for his date. He was happy to be doing something tho make someone else happy.

“She didn’t have a date so I thought, I should do something for her,” Vargas said.


“It’s a lot of blessings to be a part of this thing right now and be over here, part of this girl’s life and making her dream come true,” says Vargas.


Vargas did a nice thing for someone on their special night.

No word on who was voted prom queen.

Richard Pitino to be named coach at Florida International

Like father, like son is the old saying.

Richard Pitino will be leaving his father’s staff at Louisville to build his own program at Florida International. He’ll be replacing Isiah Thomas, who went 26-65 in three seasons. Pitino served as associate head coach at Louisville under his father Rick for a total of three seasons during two different stints. Richard was also an assistant at Florida, Duquense, Northeastern, and Charleston.

It’s going to be a tough job trying to build that program up, but if Richard can put his dad’s system in place and the current players buy in Florida International could be competitive in the Sun Belt conference.

Rose not happy with Mary Sue Coleman

The Fab Five era was the most storied period of time for the University of Michigan basketball program. You either loved them or hated them. but they were must see tv. Even though the era was sullied by the Ed Martin scandal, no one will ever forget them.

Due to the aforementioned scandal, the school forfeited wins from the that time period. They also removed the team’s Final Four banners from 1992 and 1993. Technically, Michigan can return the two Fab Five’s 1992 and 1993 Final Four banners to its rafters in 2013, when the school’s disassociation period with Chris Webber ends.   

Jalen Rose has been doing a lot of politicking, trying to get the school to put the banners back up when 2013 rolls around. There hasn’t been any talk about it until today when school president Mary Sue Coleman said the banners won’t be going up anytime soon.

During a fireside chat with students Wednesday, Coleman said “I don’t think they’ll ever go back up.”  


When that statement made it’s way back to Rose, he wasn’t too happy with it.

“I saw that U of Michigan has no plans to put back up our hoops banners,” Rose tweeted. “Should I do like most of its former BBallers & never return?”


“Or should I ask for the $250k I donated for my Endowed Scholarship back & move it to another school? Stay tuned.”


I can understand that it is the moral and ethical thing to do, but what those players did off the court had nothing to do what they did on the court. I still have memories of them going to the Final Four as freshman and sophomores. I remember the dazzling dunks and underrated team play. Love it or hate it, those memories will always be with me. Just like when Reggie Bush had to surrender his Heisman, I don’t agree with it. The house he was hooked up with had nothing to do with that memorable touchdown run against Fresno State. Even though there was no wrongdoing uncovered, do you think UNLV is giving back that championship from 1990? No.

I speak from both sides of the fence on this topic because I believe that in some way shape or form, everyone cheats. While Coleman is doing the honorable thing, the banners should go back up in the future.

Izzo thinks it would be different if Kentucky’s players were white

John Calipari doesn’t have too many fans in the college basketball world. Bob Knight is the most famous Calipari critic, citing his recruitment of one and done players that many say are ruining the sport of college basketball.

Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has a different take on the national championship winning program. In an article with William C. Rhoden of the New York Times, Izzo doesn’t hold back when he was asked if the Kentucky players were white and athletic, would they be thought of differently.

 “I want to answer that as honestly as I can,” Izzo said. “I think it would be different. I hate to say that.”


The perception is that these five black players are not serious students and don’t belong at the university. If they were white, there would be more acceptance that they belong at the university.


“It’s sad for me to say, but it’s probably the truth,” Izzo said. Perception or not, the reality is that the sports industry has done its part preparing young men and women for their careers as professional athletes. Only a small percentage will succeed, but only a fraction succeed at the highest level in any profession.


It’s the age old question. The double edged sword. No one says anything when a bonus baby is drafted out of high school into Major League Baseball. Or when golf, tennis, or hockey players go pro. But when underclassmen declare for the NBA draft, most of them young and black it’s a big deal. It’s like when the Fab Five were at Michigan, when they lost they were undisciplined and thuggish. But when they won they were “playing the right way”.

Can someone please define that one for me. If you can play and are good enough to go pro right away, then go.