Salaries for MWC coaches

From this Chris Murray article, comes Mountain West Conference head coach salary information:

1. Steve Fisher (SDSU), $951,000

2. Craig Neal (New Mexico), $950,000

3. Larry Eustachy (Colorado State), $928,000

4. Leon Rice (Boise State), $738,573

5. Stew Morrill (Utah State), $715,138*

6. Dave Rice (UNLV), $700,000

7. Larry Shyatt (Wyoming), $650,008

8. Dave Wojik (SJSU), $403,848

9. Eric Musselman (Nevada), $400,000**

10. Rodney Terry (Fresno State), $350,000

11. Dave Pilipovich (Air Force), $250,000

Average, $639,688

More on Nai Carlisle

Nathan Baird quotes Nai Carlisle's father extensively regarding his son's de-commit from San Jose State University. The best news in it is the junior will still trip to Washington Square.

Trying to be neither naive nor cynical, it just seems West Lafayette will be his landing spot but time will tell. The guess here is he will commit in November which is the first month a prospect can sign.

The latest on Juwan Anderson

You never know (always an important preface when writing about recruiting) but it seemingly doesn't look good for SJSU landing guard Juwan Anderson. He did an unofficial at St. Mary's followed by an official at Washington Square and now he's taking an official with the Gaels.

From Jeff Depelteau (his coach at Suffield Academy in CT): "Juwan Anderson '15 will visit St. Mary's (CA) on Monday!"

Then from Depelteau: "LIU-Brooklyn is the latest school to begin recruiting Juwan Anderson '15"

St. Mary's has already signed a 6-foot-1 heralded guard out of Idaho and has a Boston College transfer who sat out this season and plays the point. So who knows?

Carlisle decommits

Via Kristof Kendrick: "Nai Carlisle, Indiana Elite 2016 point guard & Jr. All-Star has decommitted from San Jose State. Will be 1 of Top PG's on Adidas Gauntlet."

Maybe connected to this from Jeff Rabojohns: "2016 Arsenal Tech (IN) PG CJ Walker has re-opened his recruitment from Purdue."

Another Kendrick tweet: "4 those wondering the Walker+Carlisle decommits ARE A COINCIDENCE. Carlisle is open to ALL schools, PU staff will reevaluate its options."

Carlisle and his family used to live in Santa Clara County but are now in Indiana, West Lafayette specifically. Duane Carlisle, Nai's father, is the Director of Sports Performance at Purdue. He previously worked for the 49ers.

SJSU's interest in a freshman point as part of the current recruiting class may have played a factor too.

Utah State goes with Aggie assistant

Jeff Goodman is reporting: "Utah State will hire assistant Tim Duryea to replace Stew Morrill, sources told ESPN."

If it ever emerges, the process USU AD Scott Barnes utilized will be fascinating (a la who was interviewed, who turned it down, if anyone, why so long for ultimately an insider).

The Big Dance payoff

Geoff Grammer reports on the financial largesse the Mountain West Conference teams, SJSU included, will receive from financial shares in the 2015 Big Dance.

Patty to Murray State

As expected, Vincennes College forward A.J. Patty has committed to Murray State.

Some might question the why of going to an Ohio Valley Conference school, thinking the Racers are a nothing-burger of a program compared to playing in the Mountain West Conference. Well, MS finished this season at 29-6 overall, 16-0 in league. It was 23-11 the previous season, 21-10 before that. The young man has two years of eligibility and joining a rebuilding project isn't all that attractive in such a situation.

How the MWC coaching positions rank

Seeing as Nevada has a new coach and Utah State will soon be introducing Stew Morrill's replacement, Chris Murray ranks the attractiveness of the head coach positions in the Mountain West Conference.

The Wolf Pack braintrust happily surprised

Chris Murray writes that the Nevada AD was surprised at being able to land Eric Musselman.

The Utah State coaching search

Steve Luhm reports that Utah State AD Scott Barnes has yet to announce his choice to succeed Coach Stew Morrill and time is of the essence with recruiting season in full-fledged fury.

Is this because Tommy Connor is an assistant coach at Utah which is still active in the Big Dance? This theory makes sense -- all may be revealed on Friday after Duke and Utah battle if the game oddsmakers are correct on the favorite in that pairing.

Musselman the new Nevada coach

From Nevada athletics:

"Two-time NBA head coach Eric Musselman has been selected to coach the Nevada men's basketball team and a five-year contract will be presented to the Board of Regents for their approval at a meeting on Thursday, athletics director Doug Knuth announced today.

Musselman, 50, returns to Reno after spending the last three years as an assistant coach at a pair power five schools, first at Arizona State and most recently helping the LSU Tigers to the NCAA Tournament this season. He spent the 2010-11 season in Reno, coaching the NBA D-League's Bighorns and leading them to the only Western Conference title in franchise history.

He has been a head coach with seven professional teams, including two seasons with the Golden State Warriors (2002-04) and one with the Sacramento Kings (2006-07), and has won more than 500 games as a head coach with an overall winning percentage of .625 (566-340).

Musselman is one of just five former NBA head coaches working in NCAA basketball. His father, Bill, was also an NBA head coach and they were the first father-son combination to become head coaches in the NBA. His first head coaching job came at the age of 23 when he was hired by the Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA in 1989. He was the youngest coach in CBA history and the fastest to win 100 games..."

Chris Murray: "Musselman said one of the reasons he likes Nevada is because of his ties to Sacramento & the Bay Area and how that will help in recruiting."

The latest out of Nevada

The latest from Chris Murray: "Reported names who have interviewed at Nevada: Eric Musselman, Tony Barbee, Joe Pasternack, Justin Hutson. Musselman appears front-runner."

Patty tripping to Murray State

From Brad Winton: "...AJ Patty visiting Murray St..."

That's a very successful program. Patty is going to be a very difficult get for SJSU for multiple reasons. Anyone know if he has scheduled a Washington Square visit?

The coaching carousel is spinning

From Hoop Dirt: "Multiple sources have told me that LSU associate head coach Eric Musselman is emerging as the leader at Nevada. He has been rumored to be involved at his alma mater San Diego, but seems to now be the target at Nevada. In addition to Musselman's NBA experience (head coach of the Warriors and Kings), he spent 2010-2011 as the coach of the Reno Bighorns (NBADL)."

Chris Murray has more.

Nevada's new coach?

Gary Parrish is reporting that Nevada has zeroed in on a Kentucky assistant as its next coach. This individual succeeded at UTEP but fell down at Auburn. Sure seems the coach hiring process isn't much more than a crapshoot ';cause who really knows what the succeeding years will bring?

Chris Murray

Clarke selected First Team All State

Brandon Clarke has been named First Team Division One All Arizona by The Arizona Republic. That's quite the remarkable feat for someone who wasn't really on the radar for statewide honors entering his senior season.

At 6-foot-7 and 210, he possesses the body most ready to help SJSU right away, with defending and rebounding being his strongest suits.

Cody Schwartz and team fall in state semi final game

Spartan signee Cody Schwartz and his squad lost in the Division II state semi final matchup 65-53 on Friday. The 6-foot-8 frontcourter tallied 24 points (4-7 from beyond the arc) and grabbed nine rebounds. LINK

New Nevada coach by Thursday?

Chris Murray reports that the Nevada Board of Regents is holding a special meeting next week at which it is expected to approve the contract for the new Wolf Pack basketball coach.

Murray also looks back at the last hiring of a new hoops head coach in Reno.

More competition for SJSU

From Brad Winton: "Indiana State and Murray State have offered AJ Patty from Vincennes. Minnesota now showing interest as well."

Vincennes lost 80-68 to South Plains on Tuesday to exit the national JC tournament as Patty enjoyed 13 points and eight rebounds. He shot 6-19 overall with no foul shots in 29 minutes. His previous game: 27 points and and eight boards in a 90-60 victory over Cochise College in which Patty played 23 minutes and shot 11-15.

Anderson here on Saturday

From Jeff Depelteau: "Juwan Anderson will be visit St. Mary's on Weds unofficially and taking an official to San Jose St on Saturday!"

Is fan-dom curable?

The disease of fan-dom -- from Chris Murray: "Been getting emails about why I haven't mentioned Ben Howland for Nevada job. Answer: He made $2.3M at UCLA. Nevada offers around ~$400K."

Anderson down to five

Former Bishop O'Dowd guard Juwan Anderson has listed the five colleges he will visit and consider:

The next address for Rodney Tention?

With Bill Grier being let go at San Diego, where does Assistant Coach Rodney Tention head next? He certainly has strong Bay Area ties as well as a rep in SoCal. Will SJSU consider?

To retain or try someone new? That is the question in Vegas hoops

Will the newish UNLV AD stay the course and bring in a new head coach?

Here's Ed Graney's column.

Matt Youmans reports that UNLV Coach Dave Rice says he's the right man.

Rice isn't going anywhere, at least for another year.

The head coach position at Fresno St.

Marek Warszawski takes a look at the Fresno State men's basketball head coach position vis-a-vis what's real and what isn't.

Chris Murray with two columns on the Nevada opening

Near the end of Chris Murray's column is listed who he perceives as the frontrunner for the Nevada opening.

The most interesting section of this Murray column is his four-tier detailing of the head coaching positions in the MWC.

Welage with 37

Greensburg High lost last night 64-57 in overtime but Spartan commit Ryan Welage scored 37 points.

Here's an article from Friday in which Welage is prominently featured.

Eustachy better hope he's right

Matt Stephens: "Eustachy: JJ Avila could have played for us tonight. He was healthy, but we didn't want to risk it. We're in the tournament."

Colorado State lost to San Diego State 56-43 last night.

Wonderful Chris Murray tribute to David Carter

Chris Murray has a column up about the legacy of David Carter and the opening is a must read:

"Wolf Pack basketball coach David Carter was fired this week after 16 seasons with the program, including the last six as the team's head coach. To some, his legacy will be that of ending the unprecedented success Nevada started in the early 2000s and extended nearly a decade. To me, his legacy is this: Carter is one of the finest human beings I've ever met, which is rare in an occupation rife with egomaniacs. Carter treated everybody the same. He never changed who he was when he became a head coach. He never treated people poorly. Who Carter was as a person will stick with me far longer than his win-loss record, which, for the record, was 98-97 overall with one WAC championship, two NIT appearances and four losing seasons in six seasons as Nevada's coach..."

That's the most important measure of any human being.

Learn more about Ryan Welage

Eric Wohlford serves up a feature on SJSU commit Ryan Welage.

Spartans taking another look

From Coach Ricardo Hill:

"SanJoseState will be in Thursday to watch Walnut Hills senior combo guard MaCio Teague work out."

and

"Marist, Toledo, and Fairfield also expressed interest in watching MaCio Teague in next couple of weeks..."

Should Keith Brown be considered for the SJSU assistant coach opening?

With the letting go of David Carter, his assistant coaches will also be looking for work. Should Keith Brown at least be under consideration for the SJSU opening? He certainly seems to have southern California familiarity and might be someone who can help the Spartans regain credibility in the Southland. On the other hand, how has the Wolf Pack done in lower California lately? Two guards from the area are on the Nevada roster, both with good reps coming out of high school. One is a junior and hasn't developed his full potential, the other a freshman who started 14 games but looks like a wait-and-see talent.

Brown's bio:

As a Coach 
2009-present: Assistant Coach, Nevada 
2006-09: Assistant Coach, Seattle University 
2002-06: Assistant Coach, Portland 
1999-02: Assistant Coach, El Camino College

As a Player
1991-92: Hampton University
1988-90: El Camino College

Keith Brown is in his sixth year as an assistant coach with the Nevada basketball program. He came to the University of Nevada after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Seattle University.

Brown helped coach the Wolf Pack to the 2012 Western Athletic Conference title and was instrumental in helping the Pack earn bids to the 2010 and 2012 National Invitation Tournaments. In two of his five seasons the Pack won more than 20 games including a 28-7 record in 2012. The 28 wins is tied for the second best win total in school history.

Under his coaching all five Pack starters earned postseason honors during the 2011-12 season with sophomore Deonte Burton being named the WAC Player of the Year. It is the second time that a Pack player grabbed the Player of the Year honor during his tenure as Luke Babbitt won the award in 2010.

Babbitt and guard Armon Johnson are two Nevada players that Brown coached and both were drafted by the NBA in 2010. Babbitt was a first round selection and Johnson was taken in the second round with both players going to the Portland Trail Blazers. 

Burton signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings and ended his Nevada career second in scoring with 2,102 points and assists with 515. He was named the All-MW, NABC District 17 and USBWA District VIII first teams.

"We're very excited to have Keith Brown on our staff," Nevada head coach David Carter said. "He is a great asset to our program because of his knowledge of the game and gives us another good recruiter in the Los Angeles area."

While at Seattle, Brown helped the Redhawks to a 21-8 record his last year, the team's most victories since 1984-85. Prior to that, Brown also spent four seasons from 2002-06 as an assistant coach at the University of Portland. While at Portland, he helped guard Eugene Jeter become the second-leading scorer in school history and earn first-team All-West Coast Conference honors in 2004 and 2006, while Jeter and fellow guard Donald Wilson became the second-highest scoring tandem in Pilot history.

A Los Angeles native, Brown was an assistant coach at El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., from 1998-2002 and spent three years as an assistant varsity coach at Inglewood (Calif.) High School. He also worked with AAU programs in Portland and Washington, D.C. 

Brown played at El Camino College from 1988-90 where he helped his team to a pair of California Community College Final Four appearances. He also played for one season at Hampton University in Hampton, Va., from 1991-92. He played varsity basketball at St. Bernard High School in Playa Del Rey, Calif.

He earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Hampton University in 1993 and his master's of education with an emphasis in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2000.

Coach Carter let go at Nevada

Nevada has terminated David Carter as its basketball coach. He has two years remaining on his contract at $300,000 annually which will be a big hit on the athletic department budget unless negotiations lessen that amount.

Chris Murray has whipped up a long list of contenders for the opening.

What's fascinating is yes, recruiting went down the past few years in Reno but a case could be made that the success achieved during the Nick Fazekas, Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson tenures was actually an anomaly. Fazekas was surprisingly way, way under-recruited coming out of Colorado and hometown ties led Babbitt and Johnson to go with the Wolf Pack. Babbitt originally committed to Ohio State before changing his mind. The role players Mark Fox and Carter landed dovetailed well with these star talents but, when the latter moved on, role players by themselves aren't a recipe for success.

Daniel Trillo

This isn't a new name but it's impossible to tell if SJSU remains interested. It doesn't look like he has DI baseball offers, not sure about football.

From Andy Hamilton/Des Moines Register:

Daniel Tillo,
Sioux City North

The 6-foot-4 guard is one of the state's best athletes. He was the second-leading passer in Class 4-A last fall. He's a top pitching prospect in baseball and he has Division I basketball offers from San Jose State, Northern Colorado and South Dakota. Tillo averages 24.2 points per game, leads his team in rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots and shoots better than 44 percent from 3-point range.

"He's been putting up the video-game numbers the last two years," Rushing said. "He can shoot the heck out of it and he's got good size."

Here's a January 15 feature on Trillo.

The MWC honorees as selected by the media

From Geoff Grammer:

Here is the 2015 Media All-Mountain West men’s basketball teams with vote totals to right:

All-MWC Individual Awards
Player of the Year: Derrick Marks, Sr., guard, Boise State
Coach of the Year: Leon Rice, Boise State
Defensive Player of the Year: Skylar Spencer, Jr., forward, San Diego State
Newcomer of the Year: James Webb III, So., forward, Boise State
Freshman of the Year: David Collette, Fr., forward, Utah State
Sixth Man of the Year: John Gillon, So., guard, Colorado State

All-MWC First Team
G Derrick Marks, Sr., Boise State — 150 points
F Larry Nance Jr., Sr., Wyoming — 135
F. J.J. Avila, Sr., Colorado State — 131
F Christian Wood, So., UNLV — 110
G Marvelle Harris, Jr., Fresno State — 105

All-MWC Second Team
F James Webb III, So., Boise State — 83
F Jalen Moore, So., Utah State — 81
F AJ West, Jr., Nevada — 81
G/F Winston Shepard, Jr., San Diego State — 61
F J.J. O’Brien, Sr., San Diego State — 58

All-MWC Third Team
G Daniel Bejarano, Sr., Colorado State — 51
G Hugh Greenwood, Sr., New Mexico — 47
G Josh Adams, Jr., Wyoming — 28
G Aqeel Quinn, Sr., San Diego State — 21
G Rashad Vaughn, Fr., UNLV — 20

All-MWC Honorable Mention
F David Collette, RFr., Utah State — 11
G Patrick McCaw, Fr., UNLV — 5
G Deshawn Delaney, Sr., New Mexico — 4
F Stanton Kidd, Sr., Colorado State — 4
G Rashad Muhammad, So., San Jose State — 2
G Chris Smith, Jr., Utah State — 2
F Marek Olesinski, Sr., Air Force — 1

Muhammad honored

Via Jimmy Durkin: "San Jose State sophomore guard Rashad Muhammad was named Sunday an honorable mention selection to the All-Mountain West Media team..."

UNLV 71, SJSU 58

The Running Rebels won the first 20 minutes by seven points and the second half by six in defeating host San Jose State University 71-58 tonight. Jelan Kendrick, who came in averaging 6.9 points, finished with 21 points and teammate 6-foot-11 Christian Wood posted a 19 point, 12 rebound double-double.

For the Spartans, senior Jaleel Williams in his final game produced 18 points (four treys) plus six boards and sophomore Rashad Muhammad enjoyed a 16 and eight combination. Darryl Gaynor II scored 14 points and passed out five assists. Muhammad and Gaynor are out of Las Vegas so some extra incentive probably was coursing through their respective veins.

Matt Youmans game reports as does Taylor Bern.

UNLV here closes out the season

On Saturday, UNLV comes to town to close out the 2014-15 season for the Spartans. Back on January 10 in We-Have-Thought-Of-Every-Possible-Way-To-Extract-Money-From-Your-Wallet City, it was 74-40 in favor of the Running Rebels. Coach Dave Rice's guys owns a 16-13 overall record, 7-9 overall in the Mountain West Conference and, maybe most importantly, 2-6 in league on the road. Hmmmm.

Freshman Rashad Vaughn, the top Rebel scorer, has been out for a while now after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus. UNLV is presently down to six scholarship players available at the moment due to injuries and transfers, meaning SJSU will suit up more players than its opponent.

Vegas' two best remaining talents however are frontcourters -- 6-foot-11 Christian Wood and 6-foot-10 Goodluck Okonoboh. The former is stronger offensively but his effect on games waxes and wanes, the latter is a defender and shotblocker. Cody Doolin at the point is solid.

To the credit of the players still standing, UNLV is coming off a two point home loss, 60-58, to San Diego State.

Here's our earlier game report:

"UNLV was 'on' enough tonight to handle San Jose State University handily 74-40. The Spartans were consistent though with 20 points in each 20 minute period. Senior forward Jaleel Williams led with 17 but required 19 shot attempts. Junior forward Ivo Basor grabbed 10 boards.

In their return home, Darryl Gaynor II shot 2-16 and Rashad Muhammad 0-11. Overall, the Spartans shot 14-60, 2-19 from beyond the arc and were credited with just two assists."

Our earlier preview:

"So UNLV has the top scorer, top rebounder, top shotblocker and top assist players in the Mountain West Conference. That's a shuddering thought.

But which Vegas team will show up Saturday?

After all, the Rebels are 0-2 right now with 76-71 losses at Wyoming and most recently 64-62 to Nevada at the Thomas and Mack.

Will it be the squad that earlier defeated Arizona 76-71? Or the crew that needed overtime to beat Portland by two and eeked past Morehead State by just a single point? Or the guys who have committed 19 more turnovers than their collective opponents this season?

6-foot-9 Christian Wood is going to be a load with his best-on-the-team 15.5 points and 9.9 boards a contest. Goodluck Okonoboh at 6-foot-10 has 42 shot rejections 14 games. 6-foot-3 point Cody Doolin is Mr. Steady in the backcourt. 6-foot-6 freshman Rashad Vaughn is the wildcard as he can go off (17.5 points an outing) or become a non-factor."

Boise St. 68, SJSU 51

Visiting Boise State came to Walt McPherson Court last night and grabbed a 68-51 victory. At the half, it was 38-21, then it was 50-25 with 15 minutes remaining, so the Spartans didn't quit.

Rashad Muhammad led with 17 points and Brandon Mitchell grabbed 11 boards. Overall, the team shot 4-23 from beyond the arc.

Idaho Statesman reporter Dave Southern covered the game.

Southern also had a little fun -- it made me chuckle -- on Twitter: "Currently planning my wedding...think our guest list has as many people on it as there are in attendance at this game." 

"Who should be 2015 IndyStar Mr. Basketball?"

"The actual IndyStar Mr. Basketball winner for 2015 will be named in several weeks. But until then, fans can vote as often as they like for one of the six unofficial finalists."

One player listed is: "Ryan Welage a 6-9 forward headed for San Jose State, has led Greensburg to an 18-3 record entering sectionals, with a scoring average of 30.8 along with 13.7 rebounds per game."

Boise State in here Wednesday

It's Boise State in for a visit on Wednesday and the Bronco roster contains the talent who will soon be named Mountain West Conference Player of the Year -- guard Derrick Marks. Plus a sophomore, 6-foot-9 James Webb III, who has emerged this season as the next Boise bigtime talent. He's top in rebounds and second in scoring

The earlier matchup between SJSU and Coach Leon Rice's guys resulted in an 86-36 spanking on January 21. That produced this line:

Paul Gerke/KIVI TV in Boise had some fun after the Boise State - San Jose State University game on Wednesday: "The Boise State men's basketball team beat San Jose State 86-36 Wednesday night, in a slaughter of Spartans unseen since the Battle of Thermopylae."

Our admittedly thin game report:

"This one was over early. Try 45-17 at halftime, with the Spartans shooting 4-17 and committing 13 turnovers. Lengthy pass attempts against the Bronco press were not ending up in the right team's hands.

Rashad Muhammad's 13 points and Brandon Mitchell's eight rebounds led the Spartans."

Our game preview:

"SJSU travels north and east next to face Boise State on Wednesday evening. It's a Bronco squad hurting a bit from injury but one coming off a very successful weekend. A loss at Colorado State to open up Mountain West Conference play was followed by a home defeat to Utah State and then dropping one to Wyoming in Laramie. But a recent overtime road success versus UNLV was matched by beating New Mexico by 10 points in The Pit on Saturday.

Right now, it's the Derrick Marks Show. The husky (210 pounds) senior guard tallied 31 points against New Mexico, 28 versus Vegas, 16 matching up with Wyoming's tough defense and put 31 on Utah State. For the season, he's averaging 18.6 points a game, shooting 52% overall, 51% from long distance and 84% at the foul line. His beyond the arc accuracy thus far though is just 36% in league play.

After Marks, it's anyone's guess who will provide the scoring as it's been different players providing double figures each night. Usually it's 6-foot-9 James Webb at 10.1 points (but he's primarily an outside player), plus 6-foot-4 backcourter Mikey Thompson with 9.2 points.

Boise also has 6-foot-9 Nick Duncan upfront. He is averaging 8.4 points an outing but shooting 35% and 30%. More than two thirds of his shots have been three-point attempts so he and Webb will be a new wrinkle for the Spartans. An ankle malady was slowing him down earlier.

6-foot-4 Anthony Drmic was averaging 15 points per contest but is out for the remainder of the season due to an ankle injury."

Clarke and Desert Vista fall

Brandon Clarke and Desert Vista High got whomped on last night, 57-32, as Richard Obert game reports. Corona del Sol, the victor, is a nationally ranked team with a 6-11 freshman who already is Kentucky calibre, a New Mexico signee at forward and another frontcourter who is heading to Michigan State to play football. Also, add in a sophomore point who will soon be a five-star recruit if he isn't already.

The MWC weekly team reports

The Mountain West Conference beat reporters check in with their weekly team reports.

Jimmy Durkin: "The best news for the Spartans right now is it’s…almost…over.

San Jose State has two more games to get through before it can finally hit the offseason it’s likely been coveting for a couple months.

The Spartans couldn’t repeat their 2014 feat and get a win on the road at Nevada and that about ended any and all hopes of getting a conference or Division I win this season.

The 26th loss suffered at Nevada established a school record for defeats and if they fail to win one of their final two games, the two victories will match the lowest win total in modern school history (they had a one-win season and winless season during the 1910s while playing mostly against local high school teams).

Coach Dave Wojcik has two scholarship spots left to fill after already signing three high school players during the early signing period. He’s got a tough job ahead of him and administrations understands he had to build this program completely from scratch and is willing to be patient. But it would be tough to imagine anyone surviving another season as poor as this one, no matter what the circumstances were."

A pair of Brandon Clarke article links

Spartan signee Brandon Clarke led his team to a playoff victory -- here's a feature with him in the forefront.