Morning Rumble: John Calipari contract extension; SJU recruiting; and the latest college basketball updates

Today, John Calipari is close to a contract extension with Kentucky, Noah Dickerson asks for his release from Florida, two St. John's recruiting updates, Roy Williams' act of kindness and the Las Vegas Dealers want to add McDonald's All-Americans.

And yes, there is more news out there than just Deflategate.

This piece by NBC Sports College Basketball Talk is why we love sports; they are able to bring out so many different emotions and gives us a chance to build on life lessons.

Jimmy Gavin, who was 5'4" and 90 pounds in his sophomore year of high school, is an inspiration for many as he committed to Division I Winthrop University to play basketball, something he has always dreamed of. He will play under scholarship, but it hasn't always been easy for Gavin. The basketball player has had a very difficult childhood as he lived with Crohn's disease and lost his brother in a one-car accident.

Just a great story and read.

Is John Calipari going to dash to the NBA if the right job opens up? Like maybe the Cavs? Well Kentucky is doing everything possible to keep him at "home" in Lexington.

Even though he has missed out on multiple top recruits this offseason, the two sides are close to hashing out a one year contract extension that will pay him $8M (yes, $8M) in 2021-2022. The only coach who has been reported to make more money in college sports: Mike Krzyzewski.

Onto some recruiting news, where ESPN top 100 power forward Noah Dickerson asked for his release from Florida on Tuesday after they lost Billy Donovan to the NBA and hired former Louisiana Tech head coach Mike White.

With most of the top recruits off the board, the former Georgetown commit could be a nice late addition for a school in need of strong, physical presence on the block. LSU could be a major factor as Dickerson is from Atlanta, Georgia.

Devin Davis, who has already had some troubles at Indiana, was cited for marijuana possession and is now indefinitely suspended from Tom Crean's squad.

Crean came under fire at the end of last season after the Hoosiers lost five of six including a second round exit in the NCAA Tournament at the hands of the Wichita State Shockers. This incident certainly doesn't help his case.

I'm sure Roy Williams is a busy guy, but it says something about him as a person that he took the time to send a note and an autographed photo to a kid from New York that was being bullied.

Tiger Woods, who encouraged a young boy that has a stutter, had the same idea and it has completely changed the young man's mindset. The North Carolina head coach hopes the idea does the same.

This is really interesting to say the least. According to SNY, a new semipro team, the Las Vegas Dealers, is offering $700,000 to $1M to McDonald's All-Americans to play a season of exhibition games against European teams instead of heading the college route. This would be similar to what Emmanuel Mudiay did except that it's a United States team and there is very little recognition for the "league."

It would be a very risky decision but hey, it's $1M more than a young man would get paid in college.

Bleacher Report's Brian Pederson put together a list of the top 20 graduate transfers this offseason and St. John's Durand Johnson comes in at number 12. Some other Big East names: Sterling Gibbs, Tyler Harris, and Dylan Ennis.

Eli Carter, who the Johnnies remain interested in, is also apart of the list.

In other Johnnies basketball news, Baltimore, Maryland 2017 power forward Andre Rafus tweeted Tuesday night that he plans to visit St. John's on June 6th. Rafus has multiple offers including USC, UCLA, UConn, Dayton, Tennessee, among others.

Finally, Federico Mussini is still out on the recruiting market and is set to decide in the coming days, according to Adam Zagoria. Who's it going to be? Gonzaga, St. John's or Europe?