FIU officially announced the signings of forward Jerome Frink, guard Malik Smith and center Ivan Jurkovic Wednesday.
Frink and Smith were covered in a previous post on this blog. Jurkovic is a 7-0, 265-pound hoops nomad from Croatia. He did a season at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri ("SAL-LOOT!"), then one season at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. During the latter season, he averaged 4.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.
BASEBALL
Outfielder Pablo Bermudez got named National Hitter of the Week by CollegeBaseballInsider.com after hitting .588 last week with two homers and 7 RBI.
A few things from the perusal of Isiah Thomas' file and Richard Pitino's contract for the above story:
1. Under "Termination by University for Just Cause" there are nine ways this can happen that are spelled out in Thomas' contract. There are 19 in Pitino's. The phrase "win-loss record is not considered "just cause"" appears in subsection (a) of Thomas' deal. It doesn't appear at all in Pitino's, although his (a) is otherwise identical to Thomas': "failure to perform Head Basketball Coach's duties as set forth in this Agreement or refusal or unwillingness to perform such duties as set forth in this Agreement."
2. The performance bonuses show Thomas' people knew they were negotiating from strength. Pitino gets only $10,000 for winning the conference tournament or getting an at-large NCAA bid while Thomas would've gotten $20,000. Conference Coach of the Year and each NCAA round bonuses each had the same 10-20 disparity. Thomas also would've gotten $10,000 for each postseeason NIT win. Pitino gets a handshake and another road trip. But Pitino does get $100,000 should FIU make the Final Four and $250,000 for winning the national title. Thomas got nothing for the Final Four and $100,000 for winning the title. Pitino gets roster bonuses. Thomas didn't.
3. In an amazing coincidence, FIU's individual game ticket sales were identical in 2009-10 and 2010-11. According to sales reports in Thomas' file (he got half the ticket revenue over $1,000), in each season, FIU sold 16 of the $60 Floor Seats; 846 of the $10 reserved seats; 353 of the Upper Bowl Adult tickets; and 187 of the $5 Upper Bowl Junior or Senior tickets. They also sold 36 season tickets for the Floor Seats each season and 65 Family Plan season tickets.
Most remarkable numeric coincidence since Rams NFL title game appearances after the 1951, 1979 and 1999 seasons all ended with the NFL's No. 1 offense getting the winning touchdown on a 73-yard pass. Or Henry Aaron, No. 44, hitting his 715th career home run in the fourth inning of the fourth game of the 1974 season, in the fourth month of the year, in a game that had seen four runs scored already.
VOLLEYBALL
The volleyball team announced four signees Tuesday.
Lucia Castro, 6-1, is a member of Puerto Rico's National Team
Maryna Samoday, a 6-1 outside hitter from the Ukraine by way of Seminole State College, will play both regular and sand volleyball.
Kimberly Smith, a 6-3 middle blocker from Zionsville, Indiana (a now-bustling suburb just on the other side of the northern county line from Indianapolis), spent two seasons at Robert Morris University-Illinois. Last season, she was in the NAIA's top 35 in hitting percentage, blocks and blocks per game.
Brittany Spencer, a 6-2 middle blocker, did one year at Miami-Dade and comes from Chesterfield, Virginia.
FOOTBALL
A Hallandale High coach announced that FIU offered linebacker Jeremy Derrick Tuesday. An FIU coach also was at Tallahassee Godby High visiting defensive back Lester Thomas and wide receiver Earl Calloway.
