Kevin Ollie addresses speculation he could leave for NBA gig

Hoping to douse the speculation over whether he'll leave for an NBA job this spring, UConn coach Kevin Ollie released a carefully worded statement Wednesday reaffirming his commitment to the Huskies.

"As I have said many times, I am proud and honored to be the head basketball coach at the University of Connecticut and I have no plans to pursue other opportunities," Ollie said. "We are already excited about next season and I am looking forward to preparing our team to be the best we can be on the court, in the classroom, and in our community."

Ollie's statement comes amid speculation that he could become Oklahoma City's next coach if the franchise opts to part ways with Scott Brooks. My Yahoo Sports colleague Adrian Wojnarowski wrote last week that the Thunder are still evaluating Brooks and that Ollie and Florida coach Billy Donovan were both potential candidates should the job open.

Ollie is potentially a good fit for Oklahoma City because of the respect he earned during his brief stint there as a player at the end of his career. Thunder general manager Sam Presti acquired Ollie in 2009 in hopes that the hard-working 36-year-old journeyman guard would serve as a mentor for young stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Presti told Yahoo Sports in 2012 that he was so impressed by Ollie's approach to the game at the end of the 2009-10 season that he took the veteran to lunch to discuss his post-basketball goals. What Presti learned was Ollie had interest in a coaching or front office position with the Thunder but his first choice was to return to his alma mater and coach under Jim Calhoun.

Ollie could have to make a similar decision again this spring if the Thunder job opens and Presti decides to make him an offer — and his statement Wednesday leaves him plenty of wiggle room to go in whichever direction he chooses. Ollie insisted he will not pursue another job this spring but stopped well short of guaranteeing he'd be at UConn next season.

In reality, Wednesday's statement was likely aimed at opposing coaches who will use the interest Ollie has received from NBA teams as a way to negatively recruit against the Huskies. This statement is Ollie's way of speaking directly to recruits and telling them he intends to remain at UConn even if he still leaves himself an out should the job of his dreams come along.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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Jimbo Fisher thinks Winston Publix 'hook up' was 'isolated incident'

In an episode of ESPN’s “Draft Academy,” former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston said he had a “hook up” for free food with a Publix employee that led to his infamous citation for shoplifting crab legs.

A day after the episode aired, FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher said he believes Winston’s belief that he could walk out of the store with free food was an “isolated incident,” according to Warchant.com.

In past interviews, Fisher said that Winston made a mistake when he walked out without paying. Fisher said Wednesday that Winston’s explanation on “Draft Academy,” which took place in a classroom segment with Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, was the first time he heard of the “hook up” arrangement.

“If he says it is (true), I guess it is,” Fisher said on an ACC coaches’ teleconference. “I had no knowledge of it until I came in this morning.”

Fisher said FSU’s compliance department reached out to Publix after the incident.

“We did make contact with Publix back then to make sure there was nothing going on … talking to our compliance this morning. They had communications about that before, and they’ve had communications today,” Fisher said. “They think it’s a totally isolated incident that happened. They’re in the process of working with it right now. They don’t think it’s anything else more than that.”

Winston never made a public comment about the incident, but did say he made a “terrible mistake” in a statement released through FSU.

“In a moment of youthful ignorance, I walked out of the store without paying for one of my items,” the statement said in part.

Winston was suspended from the Seminoles’ baseball team for three games and performed community service after being cited.

For more Florida State news, visit Warchant.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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BLS Roundtable: Which team's surprising hot start is for real?

Sample size can be a dangerous thing. After two weeks, some surprising clubs have gotten off to hot starts, and have found themselves near the top of their respective divisions. While winning a ton of games in April doesn't guarantee success, it's certainly helpful.

It's usually unwise to dramatically alter our opinions after just two weeks of play, but that's exactly what we're doing here. If you had to pick one surprising team you think is for real, which team would you pick? 

NEW YORK METS
While the first two weeks have brought forth concerns about their health, the key takeaway about the New York Mets is such: They know how to win ballgames. The Mets, 11-3, have the best record in the NL, and are winners of nine straight. Their strength has been pitching — with Matt Harvey returning in ace form and Bartolo Colton impressing as an elder statesman. Their ERA is good, their strikeouts are nice and they've given up the second fewest walks in MLB. Pitching wins, all year long, so that's the best reason for optimism about the Mets. They'll probably need another bat, and they can't sustain too many more injuries, but these Mets have every opportunity to make a run. Especially with the Marlins underwhelming and the Nats only playing so-so. (Mike Oz)

COLORADO ROCKIES
For the past four seasons, the Rockies have been two players away from being relevant. Those two players have been on the roster the entire time, but not on the field nearly enough. Of course, I'm talking Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. As long as they're healthy, Colorado will be a difficult team to contend with. The starting pitcher is what it's always been, inconsistent and unattractive. But with emerging stars like Nolan Arenado and Corey Dickerson joining the big two, in addition to a highly underrated bullpen, they could easily continue rolling out West. (Mark Townsend)

HOUSTON ASTROS
Sure they’re just 8-6, but these are the Houston Astros we’re talking about. Losers of 92 games last season, 111 the season before that, 107 in 2012, and 106 in 2011, a plus-.500 record even at this early juncture is sign of progress in Houston and actually has them in first place in the AL West. They’re not scoring many runs – the Astros are third to last in the AL in runs scored at 41 – but their pitching staff is giving them a chance to win. Led by unheralded starters Dallas Keuchel (2-0, 0.90 ERA) and Collin McHugh (3-0, 2.41 ERA), Houston is already proving they’re not going to get pushed around like they have been in the past. (Israel Fehr)

ATLANTA BRAVES
After the Braves spent the offseason trading Jason Heyward and Justin Upton and Evan Gattis and Melvin Upton and Craig Kimbrel, it seemed like they were going into rebuilding mode. Instead, at 8-5, they trail only the New York Mets (?) in the suddenly formidable NL East. Why can they keep it going? Pitching, mostly. The Braves acquired Shelby Miller in the Heyward trade with the Cardinals and at 24 he’s already in his third full season and has the pedigree to be a star. Miller along with Julio Teheran, an All Star in 2014, and budding star Alex Wood form a young, very good top three in the rotation. If they can continue to get offense from new outfielders Nick Markakis and Jonny Gomes, and from holdovers like slugger Freddie Freeman, the Braves will be able to keep up with anybody in the East. (Ian Denomme)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS
After a strange offseason, many expected the Athletics to be decent, but still finish behind both the Mariners and Angels in the West. Thus far, the A's have been passable, at 7-8. That's not a tremendous start, but there's still a lot to like here. The Athletics are currently getting by without Jarrod Parker or A.J. Griffin. Parker appears to be about a month away, so any wins the team can bank before getting those players back is significant. On top of that, it's starting to look like Stephen Vogt's performance last season wasn't a fluke. The A's have been willing to embrace platoons in recent years, and early returns on Ike Davis are proving that this strategy can work. This team is run by smart people, both in the front office and on the field. We were foolish to doubt them coming into the year. (Chris Cwik)

Which team do you believe in? Be sure to let us know on Twitter, Facebook or in the comments. 

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Nate Silver trashes NHL Las Vegas plan, puts over Canadian expansion

Nate Silver took time away from predicting who wins Montana’s House District 37 with frighteningly accuracy to trash the NHL’s expansion potential in Las Vegas. 

He says the idea makes “little sense” and lays out several reasons for this conclusion; and while there’s no question Silver’s protests are valid (and, frankly, well-trodden), some of them are a little specious.

Writes Silver:

Our 2013 analysis estimated that there are just 91,000 NHL fans in metro Las Vegas. That’s tiny even by comparison to the six smallest NHL markets that I mentioned before, which have between 146,000 (Nashville) and 279,000 (Tampa) hockey fans. And it’s well below Seattle’s 241,000 or Quebec City’s 530,000 fans.

Please recall the patently absurd methodology Silver used to arrive at those numbers: Taking the metro population for each city, and then using how many people searched the term “NHL” on Google to extrapolate the “NHL fan population.”

Which means that the fan population is determined by (a) how many people use a given product to locate things on the Internet and (b) how many people search for the league rather than a specific team or player, which is what an active fan would do (think of your own fan behavior) and (c) completely ignores social reach and regional traffic to NHL.com, for example.

(Also, based on the last 12 months, the NHL should expand to Wisconsin.)

Silver continues:

But here’s another reason to be skeptical about Las Vegas: The city has had several professional sports franchises (albeit none from the four or five largest North American sports leagues), and it hasn’t supported them very well.

That’s a hell of a parenthetical caveat.

The difference in fan engagement for a minor league team and a major league team in the U.S. strains the credibility of the thesis. Especially when dealing with Las Vegas, which we all know is going to rely on tourism to help fill seats: What does an ECHL’s team attendance have to do with an NHL’s potential in an arena on the Strip?

From Silver:

It’s asking a lot for Las Vegas to support a major league team when it’s struggled to support pretty much every minor league team that’s tried to play there. If the city has some positives, it also has some negatives, like irregular working hours, middling public transit and abundant competition for the entertainment dollar, which may depress sports attendance.

All super completely valid, and the things the NHL and Bill Foley are going to have to convince the Board of Governors aren’t death knells for Vegas expansion.

Silver believes the NBA would be a success with a Vegas expansion team, partially because the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels drew so many students whose attendance at games was as much a social engagement as it was a passion for basketball … I mean, “fans.”

Where would Silver like to see NHL team movement? Why, away from the U.S. and more into Canada!

There ought to be more NHL teams in Canada, which has only seven of the 30 NHL franchises despite having about as many hockey fans as the United States. And there perhaps ought to be fewer in midsize American markets, especially those far from the Canadian border.

If only the good people of Tampa Bay spent less time filling their building to 98-percent capacity and searched “NHL” more on Google. 

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J.J. Watt thrills fan at Rockets game, twerks after Houston win

If you saw J.J. Watt rushing at you wearing full pads, you'd probably be terrified and drop into a fetal position. But if you saw J.J. Watt rushing toward you to congratulate you on a job well done, your reaction would probably be exactly like this:

That's young Nicholas Connor, who sang the National Anthem before Tuesday night's Mavs-Rockets game. Afterward, Watt tried to locate the young lad:

Could y'all help me get in contact with Nicholas? He dominated the national anthem last night. https://t.co/bcu48d4kJA

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) April 22, 2015

The Rockets won the game 111-99, and Watt got his Gronk on with a fellow fan:

 

 

This only adds to Watt's sterling rep as the NFL's Nicest Nasty Guy.

[Thx to Fox Sports for the find]

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.

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Jameis Winston opens up on crab legs to Jim Harbaugh, and it cracks the internet

Now we know about Jameis Winston's crabs.

The Florida State quarterback has been a lightning rod for attention, some good and plenty bad, the past two seasons. There was the very serious rape allegation, which later was dismissed. There also was the very stupid incident where Winston shouted out an expletive-laced joke that went bad in the crowded school cafeteria.

But beyond ridiculous was the crab leg-stealing incident that made people ask of Winston, "What exactly is his deal?"

We hadn't really gotten the full story. Until now.

Winston joined now Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh prior to the NFL scouting combine, and ESPN was there to tape it for a segment on it's "Draft Academy" show. The topic was character, and Harbaugh and Michigan offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch (who worked for the Jacksonville Jaguars the past two years) walked Winston through a mock interview like the ones Winston was soon to face from NFL teams.

The rest is seafood history.

When asked about his past issues, Winston fails to mention the shoplifting incident (or the rape accusations, but that's another story altogether). Fisch warns Winston that this comes off as the QB trying to cover it up when all 32 NFL teams know all about it.

Harbaugh, straight-faced, says either "stone crab" or "snow crab," and I'm just laughing my face off when he does.

Winston seems to hint that the crab was given to him. This is different from what we've heard before. FSU head coach JImbo Fisher said he thought Winston was unfamiliar with the grocery store concept and that he might have walked out of the Publix accidentally. But Winston suggests the crab was given to him, which leads us to Harbaugh Confusion Face (around the :57 mark), a face the Michigan-area media will get to know well soon.

So we come to find out that Winston was receiving free crab handouts by a Publix employee, which is plausible in the sense that the school would have to cover that up. Why? Otherwise, it could be deemed impermissable benefits and could have led to a suspension.

But more than anything it's Winston's explanation (and Harbaugh's reaction to it) that are worth the entertainment. Does it change your opinion of Winston? Make you feel any better about him staying out of trouble in the NFL? Whatever you think, it's easy to see the kid is going to take us on a wild ride.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm

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Random Recap: The 1985 Wrangler Sanfor-Set 400

Welcome to Random Recaps, our new weekly feature at From The Marbles. In this space, we'll recap a race from the past at the track the where Sprint Cup Series is racing next.

This week's race is the 1985 Wrangler Sanfor-Set 400. Need to know how Random Recap works? Click here.

Darrell Waltrip led the final six laps of the Wrangler Sanfor-Set 400 to beat Terry Labonte.

Labonte led 52 laps prior to being passed by Waltrip, who was able to cut into points leader Bill Elliott's advantage with the win. Elliott finished 12th and scored 127 points. After getting 180 for the win, Waltrip is now 153 points behind Elliott with seven races to go.

It's Waltrip's third win of 1985 and the 67th of his career.

Richard Petty finished third, Dale Earnhardt was fourth and Ricky Rudd was fifth. Harry Gant was the last car on the lead lap in sixth and polesitter Geoffrey Bodine was a lap down in seventh.

Greg Sacks, who started sixth, finished 20th, eight laps down. Why are we talking about Greg Sacks? Well, because he spun in front of most of the field early in the race and NASCAR didn't throw a caution flag. After starting 22nd, Waltrip narrowly avoided Sacks' car during the incident.

Epilogue: Waltrip ended up passing Elliott in the standings to win the 1985 championship. He'd win 17 more races in his career and retire with 84 career Sprint Cup Series wins. The $1.3 million he won that season stands as the high-water mark of his career, though he made over $1.2 million in 29 starts without a top-10 in 2000.

And can you imagine NASCAR not throwing a caution flag if a similar situation happened during Saturday night's Richmond race? No, neither can we.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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