Lauren Jackson to sit out; Laurel Richie downplays; interesting college news

Australian superstar Lauren Jackson will sit out the first half of the 2012 WNBA season to prepare for the Olympics.

More on new WNBA president Laurel Richie:

Apparently I wasn’t the only one incredulous at finding out Richie has never been to a WNBA game. In an interview, both she and NBA president David Stern downplayed that fact, and pointed to her marketing expertise as the most important factor in her hiring.

ESPN also doesn’t seem to think it matters, and puts the blame for Richie’s “not being approached” to buy tickets on the league itself.

A chance encouter with Storm CEO Karen Bryant two months ago lead to Richie’s interest in the position, which she now calls her “dream job.”

Hmmmm.

College news:

Texas A&M are not only national champions, they are also national winners for breast cancer. The Aggies raised $61,000 from their “Pink Zone” game this season – more than any other college. Awesome.

WNIT winners Toledo made money off their participation in the event.

Jalie Mitchell is jumping ship, from being an assistant to Cynthia Cooper-Dyke at UNCW to working for Karen Aston at North Texas. Wow!

High school/recruits:

ESPN has more evaluations from viewing weekend, including the Boo Williams tourney, the Blue Chip Preseason Challenge, and the Deep South – tip sheet one and tip sheet two.