DeMercy quits Noles midseason

Peace out Jordan DeMercy.

Being a baby about playing time, DeMercy, a junior forward at Florida State, has elected to pursue his final year of eligibility elsewhere.

I don't know, a low-level D1 or D2 school perhaps.

DeMercy's playing time dropped to 6 minutes per game over the last five contests. Not good.

He committed three years to Florida State. Did he not think he could cut it for one more? If he hasn't excelled at Florida State in three seasons does he think he's going to be more seasoned for the NBA somewhere else?

Look at yourself in the mirror, kid. Reality is reality.

If I was FSU coach Leonard Hamilton, this is how our conversation would go down:

DeMercy: Hey coach, can I talk to you about something?

Hamilton: Sure Jordan.

DeMercy: Coach, I know I'm better than 6 minutes a game. Just let me prove...

Hamilton: Get out.

--Jason Butt

The Ballad of Ol' Roy

Ol' Roy's had enough.

Here's a quote North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams had following the Tar Heels' 75-60 loss to Virginia this past weekend.

"Ol' Roy's been awfully lucky in his entire life and things have been very smooth, but right now they're not. I've got to do a better job with my team than what I'm doing right now."

Here are a few other things Ol' Roy is thinking:

• Ol' Roy's hands used to be smooth but now their chapped. I ran out of lotion.
• Ol' Roy's golf game has taken a beating because I don't have as much free time to giggle on a golf course. Why does this team suck so bad?
• Ol' Roy still believes he's right for kicking out a Presbyterian fan earlier this season. How dare he talk trash on Ol' Roy's court.
• Ol' Roy needs a Vicodin.

You get the picture.

--Jason Butt

The Most Exciting Player You've Never Heard Of

His name is Travis Leslie. He's a forward at Georgia.

And he's a beast.

Leslie already has four ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 plays (to my knowledge) this season.

He'll likely have more. Above and below, check out the dunks. And check out Leslie if a Georgia game is on in your area of the country. You won't be disappointed with his offensive effort and output.



And...



Last but not least...



--Jason Butt

No Rebounders During Free Throws = Problem

Anyone check out my beloved Georgia Bulldogs against South Carolina this past Saturday?

Probably not.

But if you did, you probably remember the last five seconds. Down by 1 point, Dustin Ware missed the front end of a 1 and 1. The only problem is Georgia had nobody on the blocks to rebound. Everyone was off the free throw line. South Carolina rebounds the ball. Game over.

A couple of things:

1) Was Mark Fox drunk?

2) Was Ware that unaware he had no rebounding? It's not like he couldn't have turned around and said, "Hey, guys. I'm shooting a free throw. If I miss I need a rebound. Don't *&^% this up for me, OK?"

3) Did Ebuka Onyaorah get a game of hacky sack going on the court in an attempt to bond with the guys with five seconds left in the game?

We'll never know. Seriously. Since journalism is dead, no reporters made the trip to Columbia. So there are virtually no quotes from Fox on Free Throw Gate.

I doubt Fox was drunk. I'm sure something like this was said in the locker room following the loss:

Mark Fox: Hey guys. Why didn't anyone line up on the free throw line for Dustin's front end of a 1 and 1?

Team: Blank stares.

Mark Fox: Sigh.

Wall Crushed

John Wall ain't happy.

He says he is now, but I don't believe it.

After Kentucky's 85-72 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday, Wall had this to say:

"I don't know. (Coach John Calipari) said I played awful. I didn't think I played that bad. I don't know what to expect. He's probably going to say I played bad today too so I don't know. I just try not to listen to him and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win."

I find the "try not to listen to him" excuse amusing. It's like when you're in a comeback war with someone and you get burned bad. You can't think of anything to respond with so you play it off with a few, "Whatever mans" and "I don't care, bro." But in reality you do care and it's eating you alive inside.

Wall can't handle criticism from his boy Coach Cal. Simply, Wall can't take the heat.

Imagine an argument between Coach Cal and Wall:

Coach Cal: Hey John. You really sucked out there today.

John Wall: Lick my $#@!*^% *&%! you Jersey Shore *%^$@. You ain't no situation, #@&!

Coach Cal: OK. Have fun on the Nets next year.

John Wall: $#@!

--Jason Butt

South Florida QB sidelined 4-6 weeks

Have a good summer, B.J. Daniels.

Or at least make the most of it.

Unfortunately for Daniels, he won't participate in contact drills as he had surgery on his left shoulder that will cause him to miss the next four to six weeks.

Fortunately for Daniels, it's his non-throwing shoulder.

As a redshirt freshman, Daniels threw for 1,983 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for 772 yards and nine touchdowns after quarterback Matt Grothe went down with a torn ACL.

--Jason Butt

Jayhawks Back On Top

Kansas climbed back to No. 1, where it will probably lose this week to either Colorado or Nebraska.

No one wants to be No. 1 this year in what's become a wide open race for the national title.

Refreshing, indeed. Last year was boring knowing North Carolina would bring home the crown.

This year you've got Kansas, Michigan State, Texas, Kansas State, Villanova, Kentucky, Syracuse, West Virginia, Georgetown, you get the idea.

Wait: There's something missing.

Where is the ACC? Wow, since when did the ACC have down years?

ACC commissioner John Swofford must be pulling his hair out. He probably doesn't mind. He's too busy worrying that his crappy BCS might get investigated by a crappy government, led by a crappy president that figures college athletics are more important than ending unnecessary spending, bringing troops home or finding folks jobs.

You know, because the president should worry about the BCS and such.

And to think that this post started with a pseudo-congratulations to Kansas basketball for reaching No. 1 again.

--Jason Butt

Martinez Dumps Sun Bowl Losers for Sun Bowl Champs

It looks like Willie had a change of heart.

After accepting the Stanford defensive backs coaching job, former Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez has reportedly taken the same position at Oklahoma.

I can hear Beyonce in my ears: Upgrade!

I can only imagine the conversation Willie had with Stanford dictator, err, coach Jim Harbaugh.

Willie: Actually, Jim. I think I'm going to take this Oklahoma job instead.

Harbaugh: What? Why?

Willie: Funny you ask, Jim. Oklahoma's a better program than Stanford.

Harbaugh: Oh.

Willie: See ya.

--Jason Butt

Hiatus Over

Finally, we're back.

After almost a month-long hiatus, Butt-ingIn.com is proud to announce that it's back and ready to blog again.

We had to take some time off to get rested. But now we're back.

Hopefully the rest will make our posts better and funnier.

Hopefully.

We'll see. Enjoy.

Dooley named Tennessee coach

Tennessee finally found its head coach, and it's Louisiana Tech's Derek Dooley.

Dooley went 17-20 at Louisiana Tech which included a 12-12 WAC record.

To be fair, Dooley did as well as he was going to at a place like Louisiana Tech. For his sake, I hope he's prepared for what lies ahead at Tennessee -- where recruits are decommiting faster than Usain Bolt on an Olympic track.

--Jason Butt

Tennessee Meltdown

Unbelievable.

I wasn't able to embed this YouTube clip since that option has been disabled. So you need to click HERE to check out the awesomeness that ensued prior to USC snake, I mean, coach, Lane Kiffin's 30-second statement.

Just watch. You have to.

--Jason Butt

Lots of Coaching News

Since there's a lot of news coming out today, I decided to make one post devoted to a couple of items.

On Thursday, Skip Holtz left East Carolina and took the head coaching vacancy at South Florida. As you know, former South Florida coach Jim Leavitt was fired after allegedly striking a player in the face. The player, Joel Miller, said Leavitt grabbed him by the throat and slapped him int he face twice.

Then Miller said the original claim was blown out of proportion as Leavitt denied it. Now, after Leavitt's dismissal, Miller is saying his original accusation is in fact true, and wants a public apology -- and is threatening to take legal action.

What to believe, eh?

Back to Holtz: I think Holtz could have gotten a better job if he stuck around for a year or two. This seems fairly lateral, if you ask me. Like Deion Sanders, it must be the money.



UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow announced he won't take the USC offensive coordinator job, which he used to do. I think a good part of this has to do with 1) Chow isn't a fan of Lane Kiffin after run-ins they had previously, and 2) Kiffin basically said, "Sure, I really want Chow to come to USC. But I'm still calling the plays and taking the control."

Seriously, do you just want Chow not to be at UCLA, Lane? Because that's what it seems.

And also, it was officially announced that former Virginia coach Al Groh will be Georgia Tech's next defensive coordinator. Groh, who's about 945 years old, hasn't been an assistant coach since 1988.

It'll be interesting in Atlanta this season to say the least.

--Jason Butt

Murray coming back

Injury prone running back DeMarco Murray of Oklahoma announced he will return for his senior season.

In was became a disappointing season, Murray finished with 705 rushing yards and eight touchdowns this past year.

Murray is as explosive as they come, so this is good news for the Boomer Sooner nation.

--Jason Butt

Cutcliffe staying at Duke

Duke coach David Cutcliffe has given Tennessee the Heisman.

And that's not meant in a good way.

Cutcliffe announced he will remain at Duke and has no interest in coaching the Volunteers.

I never thought I'd see the day that the Duke head coaching job would seem more appealing than the Tennessee job.

I'll tell you what though: This is an indicator of how the perception around Tennessee football has changed in the last two years.

So where does Tennessee go from here?: It means the Vols are going to be going after an up-and-comer.

Sources are reporting Tennessee will now go after Louisiana Tech's Derek Dooley, the son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, and Temple's Al Golden.

D'oh! It's not good to be a Tennessee football fan right now.

--Jason Butt

Grantham Named Georgia Defensive Coordinator

After five tries, Georgia finally has a defensive coordinator.

Mark Richt and the Bulldogs hired Todd Grantham, who is the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line coach. Grantham has had great units in Dallas. But he is a position coach. It's definitely a promotion for him in that regard, but a lot remains to be seen in his philosophy.

Grantham will coach the Cowboys through their postseason run. Dallas plays Minnesota this Sunday.

--Jason Butt