10 straight free throws down the stretch to secure Texas A&M-Corpus

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tennessee Tech is picked to finish second in its division of the Ohio Valley Conference, and coach Steve Payne is hopeful that a fifth-year transfer from Tulane will help put the Golden Eagles over the top.He still hates the fifth-year transfer rule.As a coach, it puts you in a tough situation, he said. We want to promote academic progress or promote guys to be successful in school and when you do that, sometimes people are recruiting them behind your back.There are roughly 800 players in Division I basketball who will have transferred when the season begins next week. Many of them took advantage of NCAA rules that allow them to play immediately at another school if they have graduated from their previous institution, rather than redshirting under normal transfer rules.The rule is designed to reward athletes who have earned their degree and desire to pursue a graduate degree elsewhere. But it has instead become a loophole that allows athletes to go somewhere else for a number of different reasons, from playing time to the chance to play for a more prestigious school.That has become a source of consternation for coaches at all levels, but particularly those at low- and mid-majors, who rely on developing players over time -- only to see them leave as seniors.Its somewhere worse than a bad thing, Belmont coach Rick Byrd said. Its creating a situation where youve got schools recruiting from other schools. Youve got majors recruiting from mid-majors, literally. Youve got kids thinking about whether theyre going to stay with your program or go somewhere else when their senior year is over. Its like theyre a senior in high school again.The results can be crippling. Schools with NCAA Tournament aspirations can be reduced to league bottom-dwellers and their coaches from being hot commodities to being on the hot seat.Its a double-edged sword, Tennessee State coach Dana Ford said. We almost lost our best player (Tahjere McCall) this year to the rule, but fortunately he decided to stay. But then again, last years best player (Keron DeShields) was a fifth-year senior. Pick and choose, right?No one ever reached out for an official communication or contact (with McCall), but Im sure someone was calling somebody, Ford said. If not, they were not doing their job at their level, right?In interviews with numerous coaches and administrators, that appeared to be the biggest flaw in the rule: Schools are reduced to surreptitiously recruiting players off other campuses.There is too much money at stake. Wins are too valuable.If plucking away someone who can put a team over the top, then it makes sense to do it.One hundred percent of all coaches would say thats a very, very bad rule, said Kansas coach Bill Self, who has benefited from it in the past. Recruiting off somebody elses campus, that per se is not legal, but through third parties or whatnot, obviously there can be contact.Its hard to fault the player, either. Why would they want to play for a nondescript school in front of a thousand fans without any chance of success when they could be playing for a powerhouse on national TV, perhaps even win a national title and gain the exposure necessary to play in the NBA?The easy solution would be to repeal the rule, forcing fifth-year transfers to sit out like any other transfer. But the NCAA has so far refused to act, leaving coaches and administrators in a difficult situation.I dont really blame those guys if the rule is in effect, Austin Peay coach Dave Loos said. Even the people who are against the rule in the Power Five conferences will tell you, `Hey, if its a rule, Im going to take advantage of it. Shoes UK From China . Meanwhile, there were huge victories for Sunderland and West Ham over fellow relegation rivals, leaving the battle to avoid the drop up for grabs with the bottom 11 teams separated by just six points. Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres scored second-half goals to seal a fourth straight victory for Chelsea, which climbed above Arsenal and Manchester City in the standings ahead of their games on Monday and Sunday respectively. Shoes UK Online Store . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. https://www.shoesukonline.com/ . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Fake Shoes UK . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Wholesale Shoes UK Free Shipping . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. NBA players are pushing for more money in the next collective bargaining agreement -- for the players who came before them.Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James, vice president of the NBPAs executive committee, told The Associated Press on Thursday the union has made getting aid for retired players a priority in their talks with NBA owners on a new deal.The NBA and its players have agreed that the next CBA will include new league-funded programs to help retired players with education and medical expenses, four people with knowledge of the situation told the AP. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because talks are ongoing.In exchange for those programs, and pending full approval from both sides, the split of basketball-related income would remain the same 50-50 deal as it is in the current agreement.Deciding on how to divvy up the revenue pie was the biggest obstacle that led to the ugly lockout five years ago. But with that issue essentially taken care of this time around, negotiations have gone much smoother as both sides look to reach an agreement on a new deal before the Dec. 15 deadline to opt out.For James, NBPA President Chris Paul and the rest of the union, taking care of those who are no longer playing is a worthy compromise for trying to recoup any of the financial ground lost during the 2011 labor dispute.We got a group of guys that are in there that know the negotiations, so any way to give back and try to help our former teammates and help former players and things of that nature, James said. Because weve all built this league together. No matter how big of a guy you were or if you were the 15th guy on the bench, we all built this league into what it is today. But its not just my idea. Im not taking any credit for that. But its all part of the process.Mike Glenn, a 10-year NBA veteran and a member of the National Basketball Retired Players Associations board of directors, said the CBA has dominated conversations among retirees for more than a year.Were very thankful to Chris Paul, LeBron and others who have provided the leadership to include us in the negotiations, and have the foresight to see that theyll be us in a couple of years, said Glenn, currently an Atlanta Hawks analyst for Fox Sports Southeast. There are so many guys with medical issues, who have had hip and knee replacements. With the cost of health care going up, it would be the biggest thing thats happened for retirees in 10 years.That process will resume next week when the league and the union meet ahead of the NBA Board of Governors meeting in New York, which begins on Oct. 20. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and union head Michele Roberts met in Spain earlier this month when the league had a preseason game there and they -- along with other members of the negotiating committee -- are preparing to return to the baargaining table with both sides in deal-making mode.ddddddddddddDuring the bitter negotiations of 2011 that resulted in the loss of 16 games for each team off of the schedule, the players ultimately accepted a decrease from 57 percent of basketball-related income to a band between 49 and 51 percent depending on a variety of economic factors for each particular season. After the league secured a new $24 billion television contract, franchise values skyrocketed. There was talk of the players opting out of the 10-year deal and seeking givebacks from the owners.But the talks between the owners and players this time around have been much more cordial. And there is a trust level that was absent from previous talks, a factor that was only strengthened when the owners agreed to the new programs that will help players after their careers come to an end.James stressed that the medical and education programs benefiting retirees were not his idea alone, but a collective decision from the union to seek help for the players that helped make the league what it is today. Now, with so much revenue flooding the system to the benefit of both sides, the dialogue appears to be centered on the greater good over dollars and cents.I just want to see the league continue to grow, thats all that matters to me, James said. The players are a huge, huge piece but we also know the owners have great minds as well, our commissioner is great, but our league, our logo, the Jerry West logo is probably the most well sought-out, admired logo in the world and weve got to figure out a way to keep it going, keep raising the bar. Thats my only concern.The new agreement is expected to include several other new elements as well, said the people with knowledge of the discussions.They said owners are pushing to give their teams more options to keep homegrown players in their organizations, a topic that came to the forefront after Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder to form a new super team in Golden State. One of the proposals, the people said, includes the possibility of adding a second five-year maximum contract. Currently, teams can only offer one five-year max contract, which can make it more difficult for teams to keep multiple stars happy.The people told AP new elements also include an increase in the rookie salary scale to fall more in line with the surging salary cap, which was first reported by Yahoo Sports. The people also say two-way contracts that would pay players less when they are in the NBDL and more when they are with their NBA teams -- a structure that has worked well in hockey for some time -- will be a part of the deal.---AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Independence, Ohio, contributed to this report. ' ' '