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The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Things To Sample

Adou Thiero is the wildcard to watch in the Sweet 16
John Calipari said Tuesday on the Pat McAfee Show that Thiero — who has not played since Feb. 22nd due to a knee injury — should be available to play 12-15 minutes in Arkansas’ Sweet 16 matchup with Texas Tech on Thursday. Calipari then told College Hoops Today that Thiero planned to go through a full-contact practice for the first time since he was injured in order to get full clearance to play against the Red Raiders. This is a major boost for the Razorbacks, who won two NCAA Tournament games without their best player and could be adding a potential first-round pick to their lineup. The 6-8 Thiero averaged 15.6 points and 6.0 rebounds this season in 26 games prior to injury.

Jon Scheyer deserves more credit for the job that he’s done at Duke
The Blue Devils have the best roster in college basketball, but that doesn’t mean that Scheyer hasn’t done a tremendous job as the steward of this program. Following a legend is one of the hardest things to do in sports and Scheyer has made succeeding Mike Krzyzewski look like a seamless transition. In three seasons as Duke’s head coach, Scheyer has a combined record of 87-21, including a 33-3 mark this season entering Thursday night’s Sweet 16 matchup with Arizona in Newark.

Mouhamed Dioubate is taking things to a different level for Alabama
Know as a role player for most of the season, this 6-7 forward may be officially graduating from “Glue Guy” status. In his last four games, Dioubate is averaging 13.3 points and 8.8 rebounds, giving the Crimson Tide another capable front court scoring option to go along with Grant Nelson (11.7 points, 7.5 rebounds), Cliff Omoruyi (7.9 points, 6.7 rebounds), and freshman big man Aiden Sherrell (3.2 points, 2.9 rebounds). This guy is playing his best basketball at the right time of year.

On The Side

  • Nine of the 16 active head coaches in the SEC have coached in the Elite Eight or beyond.
  • There are 80 projected starters in the Sweet 16. 36 were in their respective programs a year ago, 35 are transfers, and 11 are freshmen.
  • Utah State’s Jerrod Calhoun is finalizing a new deal that will make him the second highest-paid coach in the Mountain West behind San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher a source told College Hoops Today on Tuesday. Calhoun led the Aggies to 26 wins and an NCAA Tournament appearance this season.
  • Ole Miss’ Chris Beard will be Wednesday’s guest on my new podcast with CBS Sports. The episode begins live at 4:30 PM ET and can be watched HERE.
  • Saint Francis — who won the NEC Tournament a few weeks ago and advanced to the NCAA Tournament — announced on Tuesday that it’s going from Division 1 to Division III.

Leftovers