Curry was interviewed on Sirius satellite radio on Tuesday and said that he would accept sign a deal worth less than $30 million, which is what last year's top pick, Jake Long, got. That amount is also what Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford is expected to demand if he is chosen by the Lions. "I'd be more than happy to accept that deal," Curry said.

I've actually been able to exchange text messages with Mr. Mayhew himself, just discussing the whole situation," Curry said. "He gave me some birthday wishes on my birthday and we talked about just how things would be if me, (and Lions linebackers) Ernie Sims and Julian Peterson were together in one room, just to be able to go out there and wreak havoc. "I told him I look forward to talking to him very soon."

But Stafford did not sit idly by while Curry was sweetening the pot. Stafford said on Tuesday that if the Lions picked him, he would throw in his Chevy Tahoe as a trade-in.

Lions: 'Very Good Chance' Top Pick Signs Before Draft [Detroit Free Press]
Aaron Curry Willing To Accept Below-Market Deal To Be Lions' No. 1 Pick [USA Today]
Matthew Stafford Ready To Trade In Chevy Tahoe [Detroit News]

Bryson Merriweather of Madison, Ala., was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2007, and after several rounds of chemothearpy at St. Jude Childrens Hospital, he is now in remission. Curry met Bryson during a tour of St. Jude recently.

"We were acting like he was just taking me on a regular tour around the hospital," Curry said. "Toward the end we ended up outside tossing each other a football and I just started talking about the draft.

"He said he had seen it and I was telling him that I had been invited and if he would join me in this experience. So I said, 'So come to New York with me and get drafted into the NFL."'

Since he got sick, Bryson has been active in his own community leading bone marrow drives and fundraisers for St. Jude.

Statistics show that Bryson has a 30 to 40 percent chance of relapse and a cell mutation he has puts him in an even higher risk group. But the lanky Bryson is strong enough now to play sports again. He's running track this spring and hopes to resume football this fall.

"It's just been a blessing to go through this whole experience. It renewed our faith," said Bryson's father, Ace Merriweather. "It also shows Bryson's courage and will to fight through this. He didn't ask for it, but he's taken on the challenge. I know he's going to have a long life ahead of him.

"Maybe one day we'll be at the draft inviting somebody."

Of course Curry could get drafted by the Lions, making Bryson wish he had opted for Disney World.

Top Prospect Curry Invites Leukemia Survivor To NFL Draft [SI]

(stumbles in)

Hey, Deadspin people. Sussman was kind enough to whore for my site already so I'll refrain from linking to my side project for the rest of the evening. Actually that's a total lie, expect many more references to my other projects on the interwebs because I need the page views to feel important. I'm with you throughout the first half and I promise that this will only be slightly less awkward than Cramer on The Daily Show.

I am a "licensed" commenter at this fine corner of the Internet, although I don't weigh in too often. I probably should start doing that, though, if for no other reason to alleviate a serious amount of stress on the servers of porn websites across the United States. So since you may not see me around these parts as often as some people, what is there to know about me? Well, I'm in college, I run a baseball blog as well as a contributor to another fine site that has been represented in these live blogs already yesterday and today. By my count, the whoring total is up to three and the game hasn't even started!

I'm going to take a page out of friend Shakey's book and answer any and all questions you might have for me during the course of this game. Ask away, folks, and believe me when I say that there are no limits because this night can only be a success if my lawyer is totally exasperated with me by tomorrow morning.

As Sussman also mentioned, I'm only with you for the first half of tonight's action so that Chilltown could get in on the fiasco as well. You'll be made well aware when the switch is made, most likely by my incoherent sobbing. We've got limited time, but I'll try to be fun. As a wise man once said, "Let's let these ponies roam." I'll be updating from the top down. All times are Eastern. Get some!

*************************
9:38 - Tip time is at 9:51, so get those brack, oh wait.

9:51 - Just the tip, Vikings win it.

9:52 - Vikes open with a 3 right off the bat, Wake turnover and then a TRAVELING CALL on the Vikes? Can that be right? They do that? Oh right, it's not Duke...zing!

9:55 - Cleveland buries 2 threes, and it's already 9-0. Upset alert!

9:56 - Jeff Teague gets rejected hard by some dude from the "Horizon Conference." If you can name 4 other teams in the Horizon Conference without cheating, you have no life.

10:00 - First TV timeout, it's 14-4 in favor of the team that shouldn't be winning. In other news, Howie Long still makes me want to buy fewer cars.

10:03 - Our nameless commentators are bringing a lot of enthusiasm. "Drives to the bucket. Doesn't get it." Read that as if you were giving a eulogy and you've got it down.

10:07 - Fun fact about Wake Forest big man Chas McFarland, yes his parents are huge tools for spelling his name that way. According to his biography, he is from Illinois. Leitch-gasm! He also said he chose Wake Forest because he liked the Winston-Salem area. You tell me when that doesn't sound like utter horseshit.

10:12 - Question from the irascible Pini3llasPinata: We've all heard Posada pisses on his hands. When you're giving him his daily rimjob, does he also piss on you, a la R. Kelly? .

He sadly won't return my phone calls, I've never had the privilege. Wake still losing as we go into a commercial break on a goaltending call. This might not be the best game of the night, but goddamnit, we will have the sloppiest.

10:16 - Our announcers are showing their genius, Wake Forest's Ishmael Smith's nickname is "Ish." Oh you slay me, as some guy with a name I can't spell buries ANOTHER three. It's now 27-12. Wake can get nothing going on offense. They also said the Vikings are "sailing" as we go to a commercial. Let The Lonely Island jokes commence!

10:20 - COMMERCIAL GAITY: Showing erectile dysfunction medication commercials during a college game... Logical disconnect much?

10:22- Question from Samer Ocho Cinco: Samer Ocho Cinco: great blogger or the greatest blogger?

If you want an ego boost, go hire a hooker.

10:23 - "Cleveland State is making a STATEment!" CBS announcers got puns, yo. How was this not on the Bingo? By the way, you could easily have Bingo right now.

10:28 - Wake Forest senior Harvey Hale has checked in. This may be a white flag. 37-23, Vikes, as Johnson on Wake buries a three.

10:31 - COMMERCIAL UPDATE: Buy Resident Evil 5. Slogan:" Release your inner KKK and kill some black guys... but they're zombies so it's not racist!"

10:35 - Pun total: 3. Add a "Cleveland Rocks!" and a "Cedric the Entertainer" reference. Be still my beating heart. Wake cuts it to 11 as Cleveland State calls a timeout to remind themselves that they really are beating a 4 seed handily.

10:40 - We're under a minute. Announcers are commenting about the pursuit of loose balls by seniors. Eh, you can fill the joke out yourself. Big three from Johnson to cut it to 39-30 to end the half. It ends with a wild heave.

10:45 - Alright folks, I'm out for the evening. Time to go support my team. I go to the losing school, in case you didn't realize. Thanks for having me and check me out at my other site if you feel like being particularly masochistic one day. Let's do this again sometime. Don't call me, I'll call you. This ship is now in the hands of Chilltown. Do try to contain your celebrations, I have such delicate sensibilities.

10:48- What's up, fellow Spinners? This is Co-pilot Chilltown stepping to the controls. Hopefully this flight ends better than those piloted by Frank Lapidus. The story of the first half? Wake's awful defense. J'Nathan Bullock has been living up to his last name, backing down his smaller guard defenders and scoring at will for Cleveland State. Apparently word has not yet reached Dino Gaudio of the new innovation of double teams.

10:51- Interestingly, two of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country (252nd and 276th, respectively) have combined to shoot very well from behind the arc. In fact, Wake's three-point shooting helped them cut the Viking lead to single digits.

10:57- The other story of the first half? The awful announcing (no pun intended). The internet tells me (since they sure didn't) that its Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel. Boy have they sucked.

11:00- COMMERCIAL UPDATE: What I really want out of my deoderant is a smell that will send me in a shopping cart onto the freeway. Congratulations, Degree, you win my business!

11:07- The second half begins the same way as the first, Wake Turnover (number 11), J'Nathan Bullock beating a Deacon defender down low.

11:10- For a Wake team that relies on transition buckets, the 17-0 points off of turnovers stat tells the story behind the 47-39 deficit. And to answer Sex Fabregas, its a combination of terrible defending, poor managing, a rotating door of forwards, and transitioning into a new team. Its very frustrating, but unsurprising. Hey, maybe we win the UEFA Cup.

11:15- James Johnson single-handedly keeping Wake in this game, but Wake turns it over yet again. 49-42 Vikes.

11:19- A block on the 3-point line gets a "that just happened!" from the announcers. The only thing more hackneyed? Boom goes the dynamite. Expect that soon. 53-44 Cleveland St. Spanarkel's new nickname for Cedric Jackson? "Action Jackson". I know its the 4th game of the day guys, but come on.

11:26- Wake switches to 1-3-1 zone, announcers switch to yelling. Both are ineffective. 60-51 Vikings.

11:30- Not a good time for Wake to go cold from three (or, as it should be called, revert to expected average).

11:33- Another Wake turnover. 15 point lead for Cleveland State. This is reminiscent of Siena Vandy last year.

11:37- Wake finally gets its first points off of turnovers with 6 minutes left in the game. Too little too late? Looks that way.

11:40- Go watch the end of Ohio St-Siena. I'll still be here. J'Nathan Bullock gets the and-1 to go up 14 under 5 minutes left.

11:45- Cleveland St. hits the under-4 timeout up 15. Chilltown writes game over in notebook, then slaps himself for using TMQ gimmick

11:49- Cleveland St is not folding, and is in fact extending their lead out to 17. Cedric Jackson and J'Nathan Bullock have simply outworked a sloppy and disinterested Wake Forest team tonight. Looks like at least 1 double-digit seed (Arizona or Cleveland St) will make the Sweet 16.

11:53- NOW Teague decides to drive at will. This makes no sense at all.

11:57- Wake has decided to draw this game out by fouling from 3 minutes left. Hint: its not working. Vikings up 16. Screw you Dino Gaudio, I want to watch other games! Aw, screw it, I'm doing it anyways.

12:01- And Cleveland St. takes it, 84-69! It wasn't even that close. Wake was that flat, and the Vikes played that well. Thanks a lot for having me and Joba tonight. Enjoy the other overtime games. Chilltown, out.

2) I'm coming home again Jeff Teague played in the shadow of Indiana prep star Eric Gordon in high school and has had a chip on his shoulder ever since. He chose the number zero at Wake Forest for the same reason Gilbert Arenas did—he felt he didn't get any respect coming out of high school. In a heartbeat though, Teague entered the national conversation during the Deacs' meteoric rise to number one. But in their Icarus-like fall, Teague faded just as fast. Teague shot 52 percent from the floor and an absurd 56.5 percent from beyond the arc in Wake's first six January games, including wins at BYU, at BC, at Clemson and at home against UNC and Duke, but has shot just 42 percent since and just 35 percent on three-pointers. If the Deacs want to make it to Teague's Sweet Sixteen homecoming date in Indianapolis—possibly against one-seeded Louisville, coached by Rick Pitino (who coached Teague's dad at Boston University)—Teague is going to need to get back to what he was doing best, taking over games and throwing it down.

3.) A new king in town During every Wake Forest broadcast an announcer will mention that freshman Al-Farouq Aminu's name translates to "The Chief Has Arrived" and that he is a descendant of Nigerian Kings. What is less well known is just how competitive Aminu's family really is. Aminu played an endless amount of games in high school against his brother Alade, a senior at Georgia Tech. Every game though, Alade would never let up and Farouq would always lose. He eventually came out from under his brother's shadow and made a name for himself as one of the best prospects in the country. He stayed committed to Wake Forest after the death of Coach Skip Prosser (as did blue chip prospects Ty Walker and Tony Woods) and had a sparkling freshman season, averaging 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. The Chief is a big part of the reason why the Deacs went from NIT snub to a four seed in a year. — Martin Rickman

CLEVELAND STATE VIKINGS

1) The team with the odd name is back to the dance for the first time in quite a while This is the first appearance in the NCAA Tourney since 1986 for Cleveland State, when they made one of the first memorable Cinderella
runs in the newly-expanded field of 64. The great Mouse McFadden led the first ever #14 seed to make the Sweet 16, knocking off Indiana and St. Joseph's before falling to David Robinson's Navy squad.

2) This is sweet redemption for their coach, Gary Waters Waters built the foundation of a great men's program at Kent State in the late 1990s/early 2000s (two tourney appearances, and recruiting the core of the team that would make the Elite 8 for Coach Stan Heath in 2002). After the 2001 tourney, Waters took a higher profile job at Rutgers. Five disappointing seasons with no NCAA appearances led to his resignation in 2006. Luckily for Cleveland State, Waters returned home to the Midwest, where his recruiting knowledge has been put to good use. He has turned around a team that went 10-21 just two seasons ago, making them a 25-10 powerhouse that rivals Butler as the best in the Horizon League.

3) J-Nation! Cleveland State's player to watch is J'Nathan Bullock. The Senior forward has led the team in scoring for all 4 years and is effective both down on the block or shooting from the outside. — John "Juancho" Skvasik

Join the Deadspin Pants Party Group Pool [ESPN]
Download the Deadspin Bracket [PDF or JPG]

Wake Forest nearly blew a 13-point lead at home to the No. 1 Blue Devils, but somehow managed to get an inbound play under the basket after missing two layups in the closing seconds. (Gerald Henderson—who had tied it seconds earlier—was called for traveling on the rebound.) Then the entire Duke squad got caught watching the paint dry, as James Johnson rolled to the basket and laid it in with 0.8 seconds left. Henderson had 20 and Kyle Singler scored 22, but the rest of the Devils combined to shoot 6-30, which last time I checked, was sub par. So much for that. [Charlotte Observer]

Connecticut 71, DePaul 49: The next team to lose the No. 1 ranking will likely be UConn, who crushed the totally different Blue Demons, who unlike their Devil brethren, are terrible. Husky Jeff Adrien (is that a reference to his team or his size?) had 12 points and 13 rebounds, as if anyone cared. [Hartford Courant]

Villanova 67, Pittsburgh 57: The Panthers failed to keep pace with UConn and Villanova managed to muster up some Philly pride in what I'm told was the last college hoops game ever at the Spectrum, although that seems impossible. Reggie Redding—who grew up in Philadelphia, but had never seen a game there—had a career high 18 points. Up yours, Western PA. [Philly Inquirer + Daily News]

Cincinnati 65, Georgtown 57: Surprise! Georgetown stinks. The end. [WaPo]

Providence 100, Syracuse 94: Again, the Big East makes no sense. The Friars made a mockery of the Syracuse zone, firing willy-nilly from all over the court and obviously making some. Six Providence players finished in double figures. [Friar Blog]

North Carolina 80, Florida St. 77: Remember when the Tar Heels were an unstoppable juggernaut of basketball awesomeness? Well, they apparently needed voodoo magic—and a flying Ty Lawson buzzer beater—to dispatch mighty Florida State. [Tar Heel In Texas]

All kinds of accounts of what happened in that scrum, but exactly who started what is unclear. What is known: Wake Forest claimed its third huge victory in a row, 78-68 at the Tigers' Littlejohn Coliseum. The No. 3 Demon Deacons had beaten North Carolina six days earlier, and Boston College three days after that. Could this be the year that I pick Wake for the Final Four and they don't end up burning down my NCAA tourney bracket as per usual?

Probably not.

Clemson Fan 1, Wake Forest's Chas McFarland 0 [Newsday]

Yes, the Demon Deacons are undefeated and on the rise after dispatching the ACC doormat Tar Heels last night on a network that I apparently don't get. The Tar Heels are now 0-2 in the conference (i.e., terrible) and Wake is now everyone's favorite darling until they lose their first game. But lose or not, the school has a new hero in Jeff Teague (not pictured), who lit up the heels for 34 points, 6 boards and 4 assists, making everyone forget about Chris Paul for at least one night.

There was one small problem however, as Storming The Floor had to take issue with Wake fans, um ... storming the floor. Isn't it a bit unseemly for the supporters of an undefeated, No. 4 ranked team to rush the court after a victory? And also rude to the janitors who have to sweep up after them? You beat a team that lost to Boston College, for pete's sake. Have some self-respect.

Wake Forest's Rapid Rise Continues [The Sports Lounge]
The Curious Case of Wake Forest Storming the Floor Against North Carolina [Storming The Floor]

That love of big trucks led to his present job as a heavy equipment operator for the city of Durham's Public Works Department. Rogers "is financially set," Williams said, but he wanted demanding daily work.

"Rodney isn't the type to sit around twiddling his thumbs. There aren't any jobs he considers too small for him," Williams said. "He started his own trucking company and was usually the lead driver. He'd be out there driving to the quarry at 3:30 in the morning."

A retired millionaire who gets up at 3:30 a.m. to drive heavy trucks down to the quarry? I hope he gets better, because I have got to see that. (Seriously, get better, Rodney.)

Rodney Rogers is severely injured [Raleigh-Durham News-Observer]
The sad case of Rodney Rogers... [Denver Stiffs]

• The head of DeaconSports.com reflected on the man's unusual kindness and openness, particularly for a head basketball coach.

• ESPN's Andy Katz recalls an interview with Prosser just a day and a half before his death.

• A Wake Forest alum reflects on what Prosser mean to his school.

Fifty-six ain't particularly old, people. (Rick Majerus is older than that.) Good thoughts go in the direction of the Prosser family, and all who knew and worked with him at Wake Forest. We enjoyed that ESPN Classic played Wake Forest games last night; a classy touch, we thought.