Richmond's Anderson opts out of draft

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Richmond point guard Kevin Anderson has withdrawn his name from the 2010 NBA Draft and will return to the school for his senior season.

The deadline for players who have entered the draft to remove their name from consideration is May 8.

Anderson had originally declared for the draft on April 19 but kept his options open for a return by not signing with an agent.

The 2009-10 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year led the Spiders with an average of 17.8 points per game and 93 assists in 35 contests. He ranks eighth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,549 points and ranks sixth in Richmond history with 164 steals.

Richmond finished the 2009-10 campaign with a 26-9 record to tie the school record for most wins in a season. The Spiders were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament in an 80-71 loss to Saint Mary's.

"What I have learned going through this process will only benefit myself and my teammates as we try to bring the Atlantic 10 Championship and another NCAA Tournament berth to Richmond next year," Anderson said.

Wwwsportsrocket NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Conveyance won't take track in Preakness
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Conveyance will not run in the Preakness Stakes on May 15, trainer Bob Baffert announced Friday. Conveyance finished 15th at the Kentucky Derby this past Saturday. Baffert was still non-committal on

<< Toronto hopes to stay on Fire at home
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC coach Preki admitted he made a poor decision leaving Dwayne De Rosario and Julian de Guzman on the bench last week at Real Salt Lake. "The experiment I had tried with the group didn't work," Preki t

<< Germany tops USA in overtime at Worlds
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Felix Schutz scored only 21 seconds into overtime to lift Germany to a 2-1 win over the United States in the opening game of the 2010 hockey World Championship. Michael Wolf scored in the seco

<< D.C., Dallas take mid-week confidence boost into weekend
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United and FC Dallas, the two last place teams in their respective conferences, square off in a Major League Soccer clash on Saturday night. While both teams have gotten off to slow starts this s

<< D.C., Dallas take mid-week confidence boost in weekend
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United and FC Dallas, the two last place teams in their respective conferences, square off in a Major League Soccer clash on Saturday night. While both teams have gotten off to slow starts this s

Hamlin edges Busch for Darlington Nationwide pole >>
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin will start on the pole for Friday's Royal Purple 200 Nationwide Series race after posting a faster lap than his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in qualifying at Darlington Raceway

Titans owner donates to flood relief >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams and the NFL/NFLPA announced Friday that they are donating $400,000 to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the Red Cross to aid the recovery process from th

Colts rookie DB Thomas injures knee, may miss season >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Thomas, the Indianapolis Colts' third-round pick in last month's draft, suffered a knee injury at rookie camp and may miss the entire 2010 campaign, the team announced Friday. The injury occu

Union need to eliminate mistakes Real soon >>
Sandy, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union have had a player ejected in the first half of three of their five games, so its not surprising the MLS expansion club has just one win this season entering Saturday's match at Real Salt La

Giants sign two, release one >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants made several roster moves on Friday, among them signing undrafted free agent quarterback Riley Skinner. Big Blue also signed linebacker Micah Johnson and waived quarterba

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.