• Don't try this at home. Since it's open season now on calling out minor recruiting violations in the SEC, and since Memphis is one of the strategic battlegrounds in the burgeoning war, the Commercial-Appeal's Ron Higgins decided to lob a grenade at Nick Saban Sunday in the recruitment of Alabama's first 2010 commitment, local receiver Keiwone Malone. Going off Malone's comments to the paper two weeks ago, Higgins accused Saban of "full contact recruiting" at Malone's high school before signing day, during a "dead period" when coaches aren't allowed to have anything more than cursory contact with junior prospects. I guess it's not just the newbies that cut those corners!

Except, if Saban is skirting the rules, he's got the right people on his side: Before the end of the day, the Birmingham News, Hunstville Times and Mobile Press Register had all caught up with Malone's high school coach, who told all of them Saban "did it the right way" by specifically refusing to talk to Malone to avoid a violation. Let this be a lesson to Higgins and eager columnists across the South: On Don Nicky's team, there are no snitches.

In the meantime, the Tide also landed a 2010 commitment from a 245-pound running back over the weekend -- with an asterisk: Mammoth Jalston Fowler has already run out of high school eligibility and won't play this fall while working toward graduation.

• Jopierre, ceci était une erreur, non? I'm sure creatively coiffed Hawaii cornerback JoPierre Davis (below) has a long, impassioned story about the chain of events that allegedly led him to sexually assault a woman in her dorm room after the Warriors' home loss to San Jose State, then attack the same woman and another man on Jan. 19. But whatever its motives, JoPierre's heart (along with certain other organs) has led him into deep waters: He was arrested late last week with one count of second-degree sexual assault, two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, one count each of second- and third-degree assault, burglary and third-degree promotion of a detrimental drug. The Honolulu Advertiser has no details on the "detrimental drug" angle -- roofies? -- but alongside molesting and hitting a girl, those are the least of J.P.'s problems.

Oh, and he was suspended from the team, too. "Indefinitely," which is also how long Davis will be behind bars if those six felonies stick.

• Another 'Nole on the shelf. I wrote two weeks ago that Preston Parker's dismissal leaves Florida State with no dangerous playmakers on offense, and the weapons gap grew Friday when leading returning receiver Taiwan Easterling ruptured his Achilles tendon during conditioning drills. He'll miss spring practice for certain, and possibly more, leaving the 'Noles with four career starts among their entire lot of running backs and receivers.

Quickly ... It's getting very testy at Texas Tech as Tuesday's deadline approaches on Mike Leach's new contract. ... If Trooper Taylor's trajectory wasn't obvious enough, Gene Chizik is openly grooming his new assistant as a future head coach. ... West Virginia receiver Jock Sanders is still a Mountaineer after his second arrest in less than a year, but only if he lives right between now and the fall. ... Overwhelmed by petty arrests the last two offseasons, senior linebacker Marcus Washington says Georgia players will be policing themselves this time around. ... Ex-blue chip linebacker Chris Strong, a 2007 Ole Miss signee, is still academically adrift in his quest to get back on the field. ... Even before he'd named his head coach, Al Davis tried to hire Utah's Kyle Whittingham to coach his defense. ... And those 40 times at the combine? Don't worry about such nonsense.