Big Ten links: Commissioner Delany defends football satellite camps

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany recently fired back at critics of the satellite camps that several of his schools are running. And, he has some good points.

"I don't view it as a satellite camp," Delany told reporters at the College Football Playoff spring meetings this week. "I view it as permissible practice. It's permissible. I don't think it's objectionable. I've never thought about it as objectionable. I think there are some things that are out there that are practices or that are legal that are probably far more objectionable than this."

"All of these things are interrelated. Access to players, early access to players, early signing date, over-signing, flipping — this is all part and parcel of a very difficult area to regulate. What I would object to is identifying any single practice in an isolated way and focusing on that. What I would be open to is an on-the-bus overall view of recruitment, whether it's in basketball or football, to make sure there's balance on access."

So take that, SEC and ACC.

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The NFL draft is here ? finally. And Minnesota TE Maxx Williams could hear his name called tonight.

Williams will try to follow his father, Brian Williams, a Gophers center taken No. 18 by the New York Giants in 1989.

"That would be pretty great to be a part of something like that, especially seeing what kinds of things (the Mannings and Matthewses) have done in the NFL," Williams said Wednesday. "It would be an honor to go in the first round, but really I'm just looking for an opportunity to be in the NFL."

Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff figures to add to the program?s legacy for producing blockers when he?s selected tonight.

Rick Brown of HawkCentral.com notes that if drafted as an offensive tackle, the consensus all-American and Outland Trophy winner would become Iowa's fourth first-round pick at that position since 2004. No school can match that. Scherff would follow Robert Gallery (2004), Bryan Bulaga (2010) and Reilly Reiff (2012) as Iowa linemen drafted as tackles in the first round.

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This response from Georgia?s Mark Richt to Jim Harbaugh?s invite to coaches across the nation to attend his Michigan camps was ? funny?

"I don't know how many guys wanna go up there and freeze their tail off," Richt told The Macon Telegraph's Seth Emerson this week.

Freezing? The camp is in June. Has Richt not been north of the Ohio River in June?

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Speaking of Georgia ? a Bulldogs vs. Penn State game? Yes, please.

"I think Penn State would be a great matchup," Georgia A.D. Greg McGarity said. "You're thinking like I'm thinking. Those are the type of venues that we'd love to play in. You mentioned three, and those are three that I would agree with you on. You've got the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl and Happy Valley. I think our fans, that'd be pretty neat. So that's the type of iconic things that we're talking about doing."

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Did you miss James Franklin throwing out the first pitch at a Yankees game? Here is the video.

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It was sad to see news that one-time Michigan State star Kirk Gibson has Parkinson?s disease. Here is some reaction from players, fans and managers.

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The great Dan Duggan of NJ.com takes a look at the top 10 Rutgers? NFL draft selections since 2000. This school has been more productive than you think. Thank you, Greg Schiano.

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Let?s just say Nebraska?s Randy Gregory isn?t entering the NFL draft with a lot of mojo. Ian Rapoport and Albert Breer of NFL.com reported that "according to more than a dozen coaches, scouts, personnel chiefs and GMs, there is concern about Gregory's ability to handle the mental rigors of professional football."

The duo also report that Gregory "has been taken off several team's draft boards, according to multiple sources." At least three GMs did say they had the former Husker defensive end in their top five, however.

Look, I have talked to Gregory a few times, and he always struck me as a good guy with smarts. I can?t imagine his intelligence is much different than 85 percent of the guys already in the NFL. Where do people come up with stuff like this?

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If you missed what we've been doing here BTN.com for the last month or so, USAToday has a look at some Big Ten players who showed promise in the spring.

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