Wednesday News and Notes

Football

Dion LeCorn to Be Back for Season Opener. This is obviously good news, as LeCorn projects to be a prominent contributor in the receiving core as well as an option under center in some of the new wildcat packages. Get well soon, Dion!

Former Pro Pitcher Mike Rozier Looking to Walk On at USC as a QB. Here's Rozier's profile on Scout.com; he was a two-star QB coming out of high school in 2004.

Basketball

UPDATE: Dominique Archie Declares for NBA Draft without Hiring Agent. Archie, apparently, has every plan to return for his senior season but wants to get feedback from scouts on what he needs to improve on. That sounds reasonable to me (and is undoubtedly part of the reason Devan Downey declared, although it appears Devan is more serious about it).

Chris Mack Takes Xavier Job. Mack was an assistant of the departed Sean Miller. We can officially rest easy about Darrin Horn now. H / T to our Bluegrass State friend btcoop71 on this story; btcoop71 always keeps us up to date on the news coming out of Kentucky and Ohio.

Darrin Horn on Devan Downey's Draft Chances. As Horn points out, the sad truth for Devan is that his NBA prospects aren't very good right now, although that may of course change if he impresses in workouts. I'd say that chances are 50/50 that Devan will return, as there's still a good chance that he might choose an overseas career so he can make money while he prepares for the day when he's ready for the NBA. (And I do believe he can make it one day. What he needs to do is convert to more of a true point guard.) Horn says something in this interview that I think we should all take to heart:

Our stance from the beginning has been we want what's best for Devan Downey.

I like that outlook. I would really love for Downey to come back for next year, but I think we have to realize that a lot if riding on this decision for him. He may need the money and there's always the risk of injury if he stays. People that can't understand why a guy would want to leave college early should keep that in mind.

Baseball

Carolina Pounds Charleston 20-6. Charleston, who had a promising start, is now struggling with their pitching. They certainly didn't solve any of those problems last night.

Also, check out my colleague cocknfire's take on SEC baseball over at Team Speed Kills. As cocknfire points out, this weekend's series with Auburn is big for Carolina's postseason hopes.