The college basketball season has been "over" for more than a month, and yet it seems like the news never ends.

• Billy Gillispie has had a busy recruiting week.  Not only did he get a verbal last night from Madisonville's Jon Hood, he also got a pair of commitments from a California 8th-grader and an Ohio 9th-grader.  I'm still not sure how I feel about this.  On one hand, he's officially getting his claws into these kids early.  They know he's serious about them coming to Lexington...if serious means "I can't wait to coach you after the 2012(!!) presidential election."  On the other hand, a commitment this far out is really ridiculous.  A verbal commitment is not the least bit binding.  So not only can these kids change their mind 100 times or so, Billy can pull the offer off the table at any point...especially when that six-foot tall 8th grader ends up never growing another inch.  And do we really need colleges going after these kids who aren't even out of junior high?  Really?!?  What do you guys think?
• North Carolina's Tyer Hansbrough has had quite a couple of weeks.  After deciding he will stay in school for his senior year and avoid the NBA temptations one last time, he's apparently showing he's REALLY having fun in college.  Pictures have surfaced showing Hansbrough and a teammate jumping off the balcony of a frat house into an above-ground swimming pool.  This is another one of those polarizing stories.  Either Hansbrough is just a college kid having fun or a future-millionaire making a remarkably dopey decision.  I'm a time and place guy, myself.  There is a time and a place for everything.  But at this point in his life...Tyler needs to find another hobby.
• I'm, frankly, a little surprised Murray State gave coach Billy Kennedy a contract extension to keep him in Murray through the end of the 2012 season.  Kennedy is 34-27 in his two years with the Racers and has failed to take them to the OVC tournament finals in either of his two seasons.  1986 was the last time a Murray State men's team missed the tournament finals in back-to-back years.  In fairness, the Racer cupboard was all but empty when Kennedy arrived back in the spring of 2006.  He essentially had to go out and grab anybody with a pulse just to put a team on the floor.  But the third year always seems to be the "make or break" season for a coach.  If he wins a championship, nobody will remember the early struggles.  But what happens if the struggles continue?  Will the Racer Nation accept another year of not winning an OVC title?  Regardless of how he does, it appears Kennedy is here to stay.  If things go bad this year, I can't imagine Murray State getting rid of him and buying him out of those last three years of his deal...especially with the budgetary issues at the university.  Allen Ward obviously has confidence in Kennedy and where the program is headed.  "Year 2" WAS better than "Year 1."  But how good does "Year 3" need to be before the natives get restless?

Celtics-Hawks Game 2 is tonight.  Rajon Rondo was huge in the first half of Game 1.  Here's a sweet Rondo play from earlier in the year.  He's really emerged as a great addition to Boston's "Big 3."

I'm out.  The floor is yours.