Cort Dennison looks to be solidly entrenched at MLB with Victor Burnett backing him up. Tim Tucker has slid a bit in the depth chart. The coaches talked about him competing for a starting job this spring but it seems he fell behind other players during off season workouts.
Washington looks very solid at CB this spring with five potential starters competing for two starting spots. Desmond Trufant has been out with a groin injury early this spring but his backups have been playing at a high level. Anthony Boyles continues to play well and is getting reps with the first team.
Cameron Elisara has been getting a lot of reps at DE this spring and Coach Sark says that it is a look that could certainly be used this fall. The move might be a good one for Elisara who always looked more like a big DE to me rather than a DT. The move also might help him stay healthier. He has been plauged by stingers in his shoulders over his career.
Down in Oregon the President of the school is saying that Mike Bellotti was basically forced out of his job as AD and the timing happened to coincide perfectly with an opportunity from ESPN for him to move into the broadcast booth. Bellotti's version is a little different. He says he wasn't forced out of either the AD job or head coaching position.
Oregon President Robert Lariviere says there is a cleanup underway in the Oregon Athletic Department. That just happens to be the type of statement which opens a school up to an NCAA inquiry. It seems like the athletic department has been under complete booster control the last couple of years.
"This institution did not follow acceptable business practices in the past," Lariviere said. "That will not be repeated under my administration."
"Athletics needs increasingly strong finance and business management," Lariviere said. "I saw this early in my tenure here. I decided that at some point, a change of AD would be necessary."
"As a result of our discoveries in this, we are going to change a lot of the university's practices," Lariviere said. "At this point, I can't tell you what the response will be to any individual request, but I can tell you we will be as responsive, open and transparent as we possibly can be."
Butler Head Basketball Coach Brad Stevens has reportedly rejected an offer from Oregon. Even wth a new basketball arena the Ducks are going to find it hard to steal a marquee coach from the college ranks. The Ducks may now be headed in the direction of PJ Carlesimo.
Ted Miller of ESPN was in town this week to watch a practice. Ted tries to visit every school in the conference during the spring and during the fall. Ted has a really sharp football eye and it will be interesting to see what his comments are once he has had a chance to visit every school and watch a practice.
Kiper says it is etched in stone
Mel Kiper loves Jake Locker and that type of love has the ability of mutating into some serious cash a year from now. Mel is predicting that Jake will be the number one overall pic in the 2011 draft. He also say that if Jake had come out early he would have been the number one QB taken in 2010.
"If you had to ask me right now who is going to be the number one pick in the 2011 draft, I would say it's etched in stone it's going to be Jake Locker,'' Kiper said. "You can mark that down. Jake Locker, if he's not the number one pick, it's an upset.''
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