1.  SI.com’s Seth Davis says John Calipari is worth every penny of his new $36.5 million deal.

2.  The 22nd best SEC game of the year will be Georgia versus Georgia Tech.

3.  Here’s a preview of this year’s Florida-Georgia game.

4.  Suspended basketball players Cody Larson and Erik Murphy are enrolled in summer school at UF.

5.  For you SEC baseball fans out there, South Carolina beat Florida 2-1 last night to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three national championship series.

The autopsy results for former Tennessee than Alabama offensive lineman Aaron Douglas show that he died from having multiple drugs in his system.  According to WVLT-TV in Knoxville, a medical examiner told the station that Douglas had Methadone and Diazepam in his system.  The actual autopsy report has not been released as of this morning.

The former freshman All-American died in May after attending a party in Fernandina Beach, Florida.  Police say additional drugs were used at the party.

According to the National Library of Medicine, Methadone “is used to relieve moderate to severe pain that has not been relieved by non-narcotic pain relievers.  It also is used to prevent withdrawal symptoms in patients who were addicted to opiate drugs and are enrolled in treatment programs in order to stop taking or continue not taking the drugs.”

Methadone is sometimes used as means of weening people off of Oxycontin, a highly addictive pain killer often prescribed to college athletes.

The site also says Diazepam — you might know it better as Valium — “is used to relieve anxiety, muscle spasms, and seizures and to control agitation caused by alcohol withdrawal.”

As far back as his Tennessee days, there have been strong rumors that Douglas had become hooked on pain killers initially prescribed to him by UT doctors.  (Coincidentally, former Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge recently admitted that he had become addicted to pain killers at UT.)

Whether or not Douglas’ issues directly tie back to pain killers initially given to him by UT physicians or not, it’s time for the NCAA to at least start examining how pain killers are prescribed to athletes across the country.  Talk to a former football player from your favorite SEC school and you’ll likely hear that pain killers were readily available during his playing day.  It’s no secret that players want to play and trainers want to get them ready to play.  If it takes pain killers to get them ready to play, so be it.

Douglas’ death is a tragedy.  But perhaps some good can come from his passing if more people begin to ask questions about easy it is for college athletes to gain access to pain killers.


UPDATE – The Nassau County, Florida medical examiner has now released the autopsy report on Douglas.  Multiple drugs — including Methadone and Diazepam mentioned above — as well as Oxycodone and Carisoprodol were found in the player’s system.  According to the report, he had consumed no alcohol in the hours before his death.

If you read this site with any regularity you know that we believe college athletes should be banned from using Twitter and Facebook.  Many are too young, too dumb, or too young and dumb to realize how many people are reading their words.  (Hey, we were once young and dumb, too.)

Ole Miss is the latest school to learn this lesson the hard way.  UM has banned linebacker CJ Johnson has from tweeting after some of his comments drew the attention of the website SportsByBrooks.com.

“We regularly conduct social media education for our student-athletes and recently began working with incoming freshmen,” said an Ole Miss spokesperson.  “CJ had posted some inappropriate material in the past, and after speaking with our staff, felt it was best to close his account for the time being.  We will continue to work with the young men and women in our programs to stress the importance of representing themselves and Ole Miss in a respectful and positive light.”

Johnson made news in January when he ripped fans on Facebook during his recruitment.  Eventually he chose the Rebels over Mississippi State in what was a heated battle.

Over the weekend he took to Twitter and — as Brandon Marcello of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger so delicately puts it — “posted messages that included descriptions of sexual acts sprinkled with curse words, and photos of a new truck.” 

A Range Rover was also involved, by the way.  Apparently Johnson felt that truck had “to Many miles on it,” so he returned it.  Yeah, I know the Range Rover I drove as a freshman in college had a lot of miles, too.

For the record, here’s the SportsByBrooks story we linked you to yesterday.  In it you can read Johnson’s nastier tweets for yourself.

We wonder what female Rebel fans think about Johnson’s comments.  For that matter, we wonder what male Rebel fans with daughters think about Johnson’s comments.

The Lesson: Ban cocial media now, coaches.

Channing Crowder likes to talk.  Google his name and you’ll find where he’s gotten himself plenty of attention via his mouth… which seems to operate freely from his brain at times.  And that makes him a school’s worst nightmare.

On Sunday, the ex-Florida/current Dolphins linebacker suggested on his new radio show that he might have sold his game jerseys while at Gainesville.  As Ohio State players or AJ Green can attest, that’s a no-no.

“I’ll say hypothetically I don’t have any of my Florida jerseys,” Crowder said.  “There were some Jacksonville businessmen who liked my play.”

He then took on the situation at Ohio State:  “I know why (Jim Tressel) got in trouble.  He was lying.  But (Terrelle) Pryor can’t sell his own stuff?  It’s his!”

So did Crowder sell his jerseys while a member of the Gators?  Or did he sell the jerseys after he turned pro?  Or did his mouth just spit out a wholly fictitious story?  With Crowder, you never know.

But for now, there’s no reason for Gator fans to lose any sleep over this one.

Don’t expect Drae Bowles to announce his college decision anytime soon.

The wide receiver from Jackson (Tenn.) Christian High School was mentioned with five other Tennessee prospects considering making an announcement on Friday.

“We came up with the idea of all doing it together,” Nashville defensive end Caleb Azubike told ESPN.com. “First it was just talk and then it became serious.”

Not serious enough for Bowles to follow along.

“I do not plan on committing Friday at all,” Bowles told GVX247.com. “That’s not the case. I probably will end up making my decision sometime in the fall.”

That decision could be anywhere right now. Bowles, who has offers from such schools as Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame, told GVX247 he doesn’t have any favorites.

“I’m just kind of trying to stay in touch with everybody right now,” Bowles said. “I haven’t made any decision or anything about any particular school. I’m trying to keep my options open.”

The options for Blake Bars narrowed on Sunday when he committed to Michigan. The Nashville offensive lineman was also on the list of players Azubike said might announce a decision on Friday. The other players – wide receiver Cory Batey, offensive lineman Andrew Jelks and athlete Brian Kimbrow – remain uncommitted.

With Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie taking their talents from Athens to the LA Clippers, Georgia’s Mark Fox knows that folks will be wondering where the Dawgs’ scoring will come from in 2011-12:


“That’s the question.  We did lose a lot of scoring and I think any coach would tell you you’re always looking for who’s going to score field goals for you.  We’re all trying to build a defensive team that’s good enough to win, but you also have to score and that’s what we’re looking for right now.

Obviously (you look at) the two senior guards back in Gerald Robinson and Dustin Ware.  I think both those guys had games of over 20 last year.  They understand where to get their shots.  But I also think as seniors those guys understand how to control a team and get the other guys the ball.  Hopefully they’ll be able to make the transition easier for the other guys and help them find baskets.  But it is an area of concern for us.  When we start working out in the fall we’ll have to get an understanding of where we can get our shots and how we can best score.”


Fox quickly won over Georgia fans upon his arrival and led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament this past season.  But that was with a pair of NBA-level players inherited from Dennis Felton.  It will be interesting to see how Fox does over the next couple of seasons with his own players.

1.  There’s a slogan war brewing in the Bluegrass State: “The Kentucky Effect” vs. “Louisville First.”

2.  This person thinks the University of Kentucky should sue the NCAA.  Uh, yeah.

3.  Whoever takes the Tennessee athletic director job will inherit a program that’s seen much better days.

4.  The Orlando Sentinel ranks UT’s football team  #49 in the nation.

5.  Georgia’s Mark Fox thinks Vanderbilt “could legitimately contend for a Final Four” this season.

Well, maybe he likes cold weather.

The University of Wisconsin has announced that former NC State quarterback and minor league baseball prospect Russell Wilson will play at Camp Randall Stadium this fall, choosing the Badgers over Auburn.

“Russell will come in and compete for the starting quarterback position,” coach Bret Beilema said on UW’s website today.  “This is an unusual situation, especially for a program that prides itself on developing players throughout their careers, as we do here at Wisconsin.  However, this is a special situation and Russell is the type of player and person that fits very well with our team.”

Wilson’s choice of Wisconsin means that Auburn’s quarterback battle will remain a three-man event between Barrett Trotter, Clint Moseley, and incoming freshman Kiehl Frazier.  There will be no last minute entry from a Cam Newton-type this fall.

In the run-up to last week’s NBA draft, there wasn’t a lot of talk about ex-Kentucky big man Josh Harrellson.  When he was drafted 45th overall by the New York Knicks, the eyebrows of more than a few SEC fans were raised.

But while hoops fans might have been surprised to see Harrellson drafted, the former Wildcat is talking like a man who feels he belongs:


“I’m going to protect my stars.  Amar’e, Carmelo, if someone getting rough with them, I’m going to protect them.  I’m going to make my presence felt.  They’ll know I’m there.”


A hat tip to KentuckySportsRadio.com for finding that quote.

So basically Harrellson sees his role as that of an enforcer, a cementhead, a goon.  Sounds like the New York Rangers should’ve drafted him rather than the Knicks.

1.  Is “the next Percy Harvin” Andre Debose finally ready for a breakout season at Florida?

2.  Here’s a look ahead to the Gators’ game with Auburn on October 15th.

3.  Mark Richt doesn’t cry over football games… but he did break down while on a mission trip in Honduras.

4.  Click here for the details on John Calipari’s new $36.5 million contract (which really won’t mean much if he takes a shine to the NBA).