Bill Self is not surprised Ricardo Patton – the dean of Big 12 coaches – has decided to step down after this season, his 11th at the University of Colorado.
“It’s been common knowledge the past several months about the uncertain status of Ricardo’s position past this year,” Self, Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach and a good friend of Patton, said Wednesday.
“I think it’s very disappointing in our profession decisions are made about a coach before the season even began. In this particular case I think Colorado certainly deserves to give Ricardo all the things you need to be successful at the highest level.
“The year before last Colorado went 10-6 in the league. He’s finished second one year (1996-97) and tied for fifth last year and another year (2002-03) if I’m not mistaken.
“It’s disappointing to see any coach in our league be under the scrutiny he’s been under in the last several months.”
Patton, who has been frustrated at athletic director Mike Bohn’s refusal to extend his contract that runs out after this season, did say Wednesday he hoped to coach in 2007-08 at another school.
“I’m sure somebody will love to give Ricardo an opportunity,” Self said. “Ricardo is a solid person, hard worker, a good coach. He’s done an admirable job there, a good job there.”
Self said Colorado could someday be a consistent winner in men’s hoops.
“In large part because of the altitude, it should be a great home-court (advantage),” Self said.
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Rush, Wright on list: Kansas University sophomores Brandon Rush and Julian Wright are two of 50 candidates for the John Wooden Award, which annually is presented to the country’s top basketball player.
KU last had two players on the preseason top 50 list in 2004-05 when Keith Langford and Wayne Simien were recognized.
There will be a midseason top-30 list, with the winner to be announced April 7.
Other Big 12 players on the top-50 list: Acie Law and Joseph Jones of Texas A&M; JamesOn Curry of Oklahoma State; Jarrius Jackson of Texas Tech and Richard Roby of Colorado.
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KSU lands two: Bill Walker, a 6-6 blue-chipper from Cincinnati, has been admitted to Kansas State, rivals.com reports. Walker is the No. 6-rated player in the Class of 2007.
Last summer, it was ruled that Walker’s high school eligibility had expired in the state of Ohio, prompting the player to try to graduate early and start his college career a year early.
It’s believed Walker, who averaged 21.7 points and 10.7 rebounds a game last year for North College Hill High, will be eligible to play during the spring semester at KSU.
Also, Dominique Sutton, a 6-6 guard from Durham, N.C., orally committed to Kansas State on Wednesday. He’d talked about making recruiting visits to KU and Illinois. Recruiting analysts had indicated he wanted to attend Wake Forest but could not qualify academically at the ACC school.
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Crater to visit KU: Anthony Crater, a 6-1 junior from Southwestern Academy in Flint, Mich., will visit KU the weekend of Feb. 16-17. Crater told rivals.com he had a list of KU, Michigan, Michigan State, Arizona, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, Marquette and Pittsburgh.
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Singler ponders choice: Kyle Singler, a 6-9 senior from South Medford, Ore., may not announce his college choice until next week. Singler, the No. 4 player in the Class of 2007, is considering KU, Duke and Arizona.
“Coach Bill Self and Joe Dooley are great guys. They’ve made this a very tough decision for Kyle, but he can’t go wrong with the decision he makes. The toughest part of this process is telling two coaches that he will be going elsewhere,” South Medford coach Dennis Murphy told rivals.com. “It could change, but I would say that a decision will be made next week.”
