LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Quick hitters from Wednesday around the nation and here at the NBA pre-draft camp:
• Florida was hoping to make an announcement Monday concerning Billy Donovan's new contract with the Gators, according to a source close to the situation. But that was before the Orlando Magic's $6 million annual offer, as reported by ESPN.com's Pat Forde Thursday afternoon. As of 4 p.m. ET Thursday afternoon, multiple sources close to Billy Donovan confirmed to ESPN.com that Donovan has not accepted the job yet. Sources said that Donovan was waffling with the decision and that the Magic had made the offer very hard to turn down.
• Eastern Washington coach Mike Burns woke up at 6:45 a.m. Wednesday and by 8 a.m. he was in the office. He had meetings scheduled in the morning and a 12:42 p.m. tee time when he was called into a meeting with the interim athletic director Michael Westfall. Burns walked into Westfall's office and was told bluntly that he was being terminated.
"I was stunned," Burns said.
Burns had two years remaining on his contract after coaching the Eagles the past three seasons and serving as an assistant from 2000-03. He wasn't able to reach the NCAA Tournament with Rodney Stuckey, the sophomore guard who could go as high as No. 11 in the NBA draft in June. But remember, the Big Sky is a one-bid league and that, more than anything, means the Eagles couldn't win the conference tournament. Eastern Washington had only been to the NCAAs once, the year previous to Burns' hire when Ray Giacoletti took the Eagles to the Big Dance before he jettisoned to Utah.
Despite Burns having two years left on his contract that paid him $95,000, Burns was given only three months pay for a total of $25,000. His lawyer, Brad Williams, is handling the case of his payment with the hope that he is paid for the final two years, not the next three months.
Burns has 8-month-old twins. Late Wednesday night, a shocked Burns lamented about what he was going to do next as he sat in his Cheney, Wash., home with Giacoletti, now a Gonzaga assistant.
"I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to be the head coach here," Burns said. "But I'm stunned they exercised a contractual clause (to terminate him)."
Burns contends he did nothing wrong and the decision was made to simply move in another direction. He said he had no idea if the school already had a new coach in mind.
• Boston College coach Al Skinner said Wednesday that the reason his former center, Sean Williams, withdrew from the draft camp is that he had received enough interest from first-round teams to warrant private workouts instead of competing in the five-on-five competition. Skinner said that John Lucas, who has been working with Williams in his native Houston, will conduct some workouts in Houston in the next few weeks for teams that are selecting in the middle to the early 20s in the first round.
• Memphis president Jerry West said he is entertaining offers for the No. 4 pick in the draft. He said the Grizzlies need to get a starter and he's not sure if they can with the No. 4 selection. But there is also concern whether they can get a starter in a trade for the No. 4 pick. West said the immediate need is for a point guard and a big man. Tony Barone Sr., the team's director of player personnel who was the interim coach after the Grizzlies fired Mike Fratello in December, said the point guard situation is in flux with Kyle Lowry coming off a broken left wrist, the expiration of Chucky Atkins' contract and Damon Stoudamire's aging. The Grizzlies also need a big man, according to Barone, to help Pau Gasol. Barone is high on Alexander Johnson, but the former Florida State forward is still not ready to be a major factor. So can the Grizzlies pick Ohio State freshman Mike Conley Jr., at No. 4 if he's available to be the starting point guard? If not, then is Florida junior Al Horford the help for Gasol (behind Stromile Swift)? But the Grizz still are pondering whether Horford is big enough to be a dominating player in the post. Atlanta may determine what the Grizz do since the Hawks pick at No. 3. But when approached Wednesday, Hawks general manager Billy Knight said he had nothing to say on the Hawks' draft. Atlanta picks Nos. 3 and 11 in the lottery.
• Clemson junior James Mays had a solid first game Wednesday, scoring 13 points, grabbing nine boards and making 6-of-9 shots. It's that kind of effort that might make Mays stay in the draft, even though he's not projected to be a first-round pick.
"I thought (Wednesday) went great," Mays said. "I felt really comfortable. I rebounded well, went for loose balls and I'm just trying to spark some interest. I just want to continue to play well and get some good feedback."
Mays said he's eligible to return to Clemson and has no problem going back to play for the Tigers. Clemson coach Oliver Purnell was rather blunt when he said if Mays isn't a first-round pick, he should go back to school. Right now, Mays has no assurances that he's in the first round.
• NBA vice president Stu Jackson said the hope in making teams wait until after the pre-draft camp to conduct individual workouts was to bring more of the middle first-round picks to the pre-draft camp. But that didn't happen as 11 players withdrew from the camp on Monday. Jackson said that group included likely picks 18 to 28 and their decision not to attend is "puzzling."
"This is a chance to showcase their skills against peer-like players and move up in the draft," Jackson said. "Of the 17 players who didn't come (that turned down invitations to Orlando last year), two weren't drafted and nine ended up going in the second round. Hopefully, over time, a player will see the advantages of playing."
Jackson said the NBA will keep trying to get the camp right and ensure that more potential first-round picks are here. He did say that there should be more second-round picks here (among the 62 players in attendance) than any other year.
Jackson also said that there was a spirited discussion on the lottery during the general manager meetings Monday, but he called the fact that the three teams with the worst records failed to get the No. 1 pick an aberration.
• Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson didn't rush to pick up the phone last Thursday when his one-year ban of calling recruits ended.
(He was banned because of phone-call violations while at Oklahoma.)
"I was in a routine of texting, so that's what I prefer," Sampson said. "I prefer texting over calling. It's so much simpler. If you text, then they can decide if they want to call you back."
Sampson said he did phone coaches he wasn't allowed to call the past year.
But the NCAA is banning text messaging beginning in August. So Sampson will have to go back to the one-call-a-week rule or e-mail. Sampson said texting in July won't be easy, either, since the NCAA prohibits text messaging while a prospect is still competing in an event. That means the prospect can't receive a text until the entire event is over, not just when his game is finished.
Indiana is off to the Bahamas for Labor Day weekend with the return of senior forward and potential preseason Big Ten player of the year candidate D.J. White and newcomer stud guard Eric Gordon. The Hoosiers will practice for 10 days prior to the trip. Sampson said that White will try out for (and likely make) the Pan Am Games team coached by Villanova's Jay Wright. Georgetown's Roy Hibbert, Tennessee's Chris Lofton and Villanova's Scottie Reynolds are some of the headline names who are trying out (and will likely make) the squad heading to Brazil.
• The SEC coaches discussed playing 18 games instead of 16 during their spring meetings in Destin, Fla., but nothing was finalized. A few coaches have concerns about the price gouging of nonconference games with some low and mid-majors wanting $80,000 to $100,000 for a guarantee game.
• LSU coach John Brady said only mid- to low-majors have called about outgoing center Magnum Rolle, who wants to transfer. Rolle averaged 2.8 points and 3 rebounds during his 60 games with the Tigers. Meanwhile, Ben Voogd is going to Washington State and attempt to walk on, according to Brady. Brady said he may go with a team of five wings on the court next season with Garrett Temple, Terry Martin, newcomers Marcus Thornton and Anthony Randolph and likely leading scorer Tasmin Mitchell.
"They're all 6-6, to 6-7, to 6-10, so it will be a different offense than we've had in the past," he said.
Brady said he raised a point at the SEC meetings about retention for the purposes of the academic rules. He said irked that a school could be penalized for players leaving like Rolle and Voogd (wanting more playing time), Glen Davis (entering the draft) and Tack Minor (dismissed for cheating).
"That's four players I lost, and I had nothing to do with it," Brady said of the potential of getting a hit on the APR for four players leaving without graduating.
The key in this process, though, is that these players left in good academic standing. Meanwhile, LSU will play another solid schedule with road games at Villanova, Texas A&M and Wichita State, the Maui Invitational, and home games against Washington and Oregon State.
Andy Katz
