Odds and Ends

Notes from a surprisingly busy week in college hoops:

• Former Hoya Vernon Mackin will land with the Florida Gators. As a transfer, he'll need to sit out the 2008-09 season before suiting up for Billy Donovan and company.
• In another high-profile transfer, Ben Hansbrough (Tyler's brother) is headed to Notre Dame.
• We're still waiting to see where Connecticut's Curtis Kelly and Doug Wiggins will end up, though the latter is reportedly considering several Atlantic 10 schools, including UMass and Fordham.
• The Tennessee Volunteers dismissed two players, including sometime starting point guard Ramar Smith. According to reports, Smith and forward Duke Crews failed drug tests.
• That's not the only "roster change" in Tennessee, where coach Bruce Pearl is splitting with is wife of 25 years. And just days ago, Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt finalized her divorce. Apparently it's tough to keep a marriage going on ol' Rocky Top.
• After an excellent season and NCAA Tournament run that included a victory over second-seeded Duke, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins got an eleven-year contract extension and fat raise. Huggins' salary will reportedly jump from $700k to $1.5 million per year. It's not terribly surprising that the Mountaineers would be eager to lock up a coach long-term -- not after losing their basketball (John Beilein) and football (Rich Rodriguez) coaches to big-money offers from the Michigan Wolverines in back-to-back years.

Speaking of coaches, ex-St. John's and George Washington coach Mike Jarvis is a finalist for the job at Florida Atlantic. Note to the administration at FAU: you do remember that Jarvis essentially ran the once-proud Red Storm program into the ground, no?

Who is the other candidate? Isiah Thomas?