Here are a few thing that I’ve heard while hoping that Big Papi makes a quick recovery…

• I can confirm that Brian Merritt has joined Kevin Broadus’ new staff at Morgan State. Merritt has most recently served as the Coordinator of Basketball Operations at LSU, and has also been an assistant at Arizona State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and Hampton. He also worked as the DBO at Louisville from 2003-05.

• Word on the street is that Winthrop’s Pat Kelsey will replace Jayson Gee (Cincinnati), with a current DII head coach. I should have more on this one today…

• I’ve got some stuff coming down the line at Eastern Kentucky and Coastal Carolina. Stay tuned….

• I can confirm that Mike Murray has left the Hoop Group, and will become the full-time assistant at DII St. Rose (NY). Murray has served as the director of the Hoop Group Skills Camp in the Pocono’s for the past two years. The NY native also spent one season as an assistant at Queens College (NY).

• Jesse Dixon has been hired as an assistant at the University of Southern Maine. He is a former assistant at Maine Presque Isle and Central Maine CC. Dixon had most recently been teaching in Florida.