107563482The 950 residents of Osceola, Mo., don't want it to be forgotten that the origins of the University of Kansas' famous Jayhawk mascot are more sinister than the image of a lovable cartoon bird would suggest.

According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, Osceola passed a resolution Tuesday asking Kansas to drop the nickname because it celebrates "a group of domestic terrorists" known as the Jayhawkers, who ransacked the town, executed 12 of its residents and burned it to the ground in 1861. The passage of the resolution came on the eve of the 150th anniversary of the seldom-remembered Civil War raid.

The sacking of Osceola was part of a series of guerrilla skirmishes between abolitionists and pro-slavery residents in Kansas and Missouri. Lingering anger over the Osceola massacre fueled tension between Kansas and Missouri citizens and provided inspiration for William Quantrill's more well-known raid on Lawrence, Kan., in 1863.

In addition to condemning Kansas for its choice of mascot,

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Delvon Roe arrived at Michigan State with dreams of one day starring in the NBA. He'll leave four years later with a better chance of starring on the silver screen.

Although numerous knee injuries have robbed Roe of his former quickness and athleticism, the 6-foot-8, 230-pound former top recruit has stumbled onto a potentially lucrative backup career path. He received such glowing reviews after he began dabbling in acting that he became a theater major before his junior year, performed in several on-campus plays and much to his surprise began fielding offers from movie producers less than a year later.

The biggest opportunity for Roe came this summer when he

uspw_5023816In an effort to fill 11 vacant roster spots and generate momentum for a program that had been largely irrelevant the previous decade, St. John's coach Steve Lavin clearly took some calculated risks on the recruiting trail last year.

Those gambles resulted in the nation's second-ranked recruiting class, but they'll also leave the Johnnies shorthanded to start next season.

Wings Jakarr Sampson and Amir Garrett and big man Norvel Pelle, three of the Johnnies' six incoming top-100 recruits, were ruled academically ineligible Thursday by the NCAA's eligibility center.

Lavin said he's "hopeful" all three will be able to rejoin the team at the end of fall semester in late December, but that appears to be uncertain at best at this point. Although Garrett proclaimed Thursday on Twitter "I'll be there January believe that," Sampson reportedly is considering returning to Brewster Academy for the year.

There's little doubt that the loss of Sampson, Pelle and Garrett will be a crippling

80422336If Mario Chalmers' game-tying 3-pointer against Memphis is the most special moment of Kansas' 2008 national title run, then the second-fondest memory for the Jayhawks may be a seemingly innocuous 72-57 victory over Villanova in the Sweet 16.

For Chalmers and fellow Kansas guard Sherron Collins, that matchup was an opportunity for payback against Villanova coach Jay Wright for cutting both of them from the U.S team that played in the Pan-Am Games the previous summer. Chalmers explained how he and Collins let Wright know they hadn't forgotten the slight in an excerpt of "Beyond the Phog," a soon-to-be-released book about the past decade of Kansas basketball compiled by Jason King of Yahoo! Sports and Jesse Newell of the Lawrence Journal-World.

Coach Self called Sherron and me into his office and said, "How do you feel about this Villanova game?" I said, "Coach, this is personal to me. I don't like Jay Wright." He was like, "I understand that, but keep it out of the media." So when the

Adam WoodburyWhen Adam Woodbury announced Wednesday night that he plans to attend Iowa next fall, the promising 7-foot-1 center's decision was significant on two fronts.

Not only is the Sioux City native's commitment a boost to second-year Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery's bid to rejuvenate the program, it also ends North Carolina coach Roy Williams' lengthy streak of plucking top recruits from the state of Iowa.

Woodbury, a Sioux City native, spurned an offer from North Carolina in spite of the success Iowa-born prospects have long enjoyed under Williams. Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison and Raef LaFrentz each became All-Americans at Kansas under Williams and current North Carolina star Harrison Barnes and Class of 2012 commit Marcus Paige hope to someday achieve that same honor.

The appeal of Iowa for Woodbury was having the chance to help rebuild a program he grew up supporting as a kid. The Hawkeyes missed the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight season last year with an 11-20 record, but the

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The Dagger's week-long Big Ten preview continues with a look at the conference's 15 most intriguing non-conference matchups next season.

1. Michigan State vs. North Carolina, Nov. 11

Comment: As if a basketball game held on the same aircraft carrier that buried Osama Bin Laden at sea wasn't reason enough to watch, the matchup itself is also compelling. Michigan State will attempt to put last year's disappointing season in the past by taking down the No. 1 ranked team in almost every preseason poll.

2. Duke at Ohio State, Nov. 29

Comment: The premier matchup in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge features a pair of elite programs who haven't met since 2002. Ohio

Cal State Bakersfield floor

In five weeks, Boise State's signature football field no longer will be the only blue playing surface in college athletics.

CSUB IICal State Bakersfield announced Wednesday that it will debut an all-blue court with an enormous Roadrunners logo in the middle at the 3,800-seat Icardo Center at a women's volleyball match against Fresno State on Oct. 19. The men's basketball team will christen the floor in a season-opening exhibition game against Whittier College on Nov. 9.

That Cal State Bakersfield is going all-blue is the latest sign that universities generating buzz for their programs with outlandish court designs is a trend with some staying power. Boise State football began the fad with its ubiquitous blue field, but the movement has infiltrated basketball the past 12 months.

Oregon received headlines nationwide last year when it unveiled a controversial orange and tan fir tree-lined floor with a barely visible mid-court line at newly built Matthew Knight Arena. Next came Towson

kyle AndersonSeton Hall's quest to land elite Class of 2012 prospect Kyle Anderson is so important to the future of the program that Pirates fans will over-analyze any scrap of information to gain insight on what school the New Jersey native will choose.

As a result, expect a pair of cryptic Seton Hall-related tweets from Anderson to garner plenty of attention the next few days.

On the same night as Georgetown coach John Thompson III was at Anderson's house for an in-home visit, the 6-foot-8 point guard had this to say about Seton Hall:

"I want to know if i dont choose SHU will i still be able to come to all the games i been going to them every year since i was 9 lol," he wrote. "I love everything about SHU tho being a pirate will be great tho!! I hate wen ppl tell me not to go there."

Landing Anderson would be a game changer for a Seton Hall program that is attempting to climb back into the upper echelon of the Big East under second-year coach Kevin Willard.

Anderson, who attends New