Hey folks,
I've been in this space before, but today marks my official ascent to the rank of men's basketball columnist, as Mr. Engel's post below suggested. We'll do our best to live up to their legacy, though it may be impossible.
Just a quick piece of IU news for you: Bud Mackey pleaded guilty today to first-degree possession of a controlled substance, according to LEX-18, a TV station in Lexington. Mackey, I'm sure you'll recall, was arrested last fall after school administrators at his old high school, Scott County (Ky.), found crack-cocaine inside his shoe.
Mackey's IU scholarship has long since been withdrawn, and his career has seen him bounce from Redan High School in my backyard -- I'm from Georgia, and that was just a rumor -- to Harmony Prep over in Cincinnati -- which turned out true and paired him with another former almost-Hoosier, Terrell Holloway.
The tale of Jonathan Mackey has long been forgotten in the wake of Sampson fallout, but perhaps he is the poster child for a short but indelible era in IU basketball that began with the best of intentions and promised great things but in the end went terribly awry. One way or another, I don't think the young man will be playing basketball this fall, as the recommended sentence for his crime is five years with a minimum service of six months.
