Thursday Morning Dump

I'm back from vacation and eager to make up for the last six days of disgraceful morning dumpages compiled by @ballinisahabit. I have a hard time understanding how this site was popular before I came aboard

Oh that's right.

It wasn't.

So once again I'm here to save the day

We lead of today's dump with a non-hoops-related link: The 2011 Culture Tournament presented by The Big Lead. (Everything is better in bracket-form)

- Memphis coach Josh Pastner is still looking for a third assistant coach. but if he can't find one that meets the requirements, the young head coach is fine pulling double duty, or so he says. But Gary Parrish provides the best answer yet, and what he suggests would kill two birds with one stone

- Is your school a "football school" or a "basketball school"? We linked to this post last week, but Boston College Interruption and Bruins Nation are still trying to figure out where they stand

- Frank Haith has not been at Missouri very long. But in his short time there, he's caused plenty of controversy. First, he committed a minor NCAA violation by discussing a potential recruit, and now he's in the middle of this disgusting Miami scandal. The people in Missouri are concerned, as they should be.

- More on Haith: Will Haith get canned before the season even begins? there were a couple of clauses placed in his contract regarding potential violations

- Well, it doesn't look like I'll be using the alias "Teddy Dupay" anytime soon (Well, to be honest, I don't think I'd ever use that name. I'm more of a "Maurice Clarett" type of guy")

- Dana O'Neil on why this may or may not be the best time to doubt Kansas

- Jeff Goodman provides an off-season report on the Colonial Athletic Association

- Jio Fontan, the star point guard for Southern Cal, injured his knee during an exhibition game with the Trojans in Brazil. The status of his injury isn't known yet, but it doesn't look good for USC

- Central Florida received a letter of inquiry from the NCAA yesterday regarding their shenanigans with expert shenanigan-artist Ken Caldwell (I bet you didn't think i could use the word "shenanigans" twice in once sentence?)

- Only the NCAA would have bylaws and amendments about fruits and nuts

- So Northwestern's new purple court might not be as purple as we once thought

- A pretty interesting take on what is in store for amateur athletics in the wake of the Class-7 hurricane brewing in Coral gables

- Chris Smith, Kyle Kuric and Peyton Siva have been named captains of the 2011-2012 Louisville Cardinals squad

- West Virginia freshman Tommy McCune was busted for shoplifting back in June and is having his pre-trial hearing today. But since he is currently in Italy with the team, he will not be able to attend

- What's this? Bikini Basketball. is there a difference between this and lingerie basketball?

- Get your commemorative Miami scandal t-shirts now!

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What is to come of Frank Haith?

From a hoops perspective, the biggest issue that comes out of the explosive Yahoo! report on former Miami booster Nevan Shapiro -- beyond how Jim Larranaga probably feels about leaving George Mason -- is the job status of new Missouri head coach and former Miami head coach Frank Haith.

The accusations he is facing are bad. Really bad. Simply put, he was aware -- if not the facilitator -- of a $10,000 payment to the family of top 25 recruit DeQuan Jones back in the summer of 2008. Its a bit more complicated than that, yes, but you really don't need to know much more.


Now, the NCAA still needs to do their due diligence. They must investigate and corroborate the accusations laid out by Charles Robinson. But if those accusations turn out to be true, there is a good chance that Haith can be hit with a show-cause penalty, which essentially means that the NCAA must give the OK for a program to hire him.

The problem is, as Gary Parrish points out, the NCAA is going to have their work cut out for them proving what Shapiro said. The deal was made in cash -- you can't trace cash -- that went from a booster to an assistant to a player's family. That money never touched Haith's hands and unless there is a smoking gun or Haith finds his conscience and admits it, how will the NCAA prove Haith's knowledge?

That doesn't mean that it will save Haith's job at Missouri, just like Tim Floyd wasn't able to save his job at USC after being accused of paying OJ Mayo's handler. But what it likely will mean is that Haith isn't hit with an NCAA violation, like Floyd, who is now coaching at UTEP.

"I am more than happy to cooperate with the national office on this issue and look forward to a quick resolution," Haith said in a statement released on Tuesday evening. "The NCAA has instructed me not to comment further at this time in order to protect the integrity of their review, so I appreciate your understanding in this matter. The reports questioning my personal interactions with Mr. Shapiro are not an accurate portrayal of my character."

Its interesting that Haith offers more than a "no comment" and avoids categorically denying the report.

Its unlikely that Missouri will fire Haith before the season starts. Hiring a second head coach in the span of five months would be a nightmare, especially when that coach would probably want to pick his own coaching staff. Would it be worth it to promote a staff member to the interim position? Probably not.

The other thing to think about is recruiting. Haith already has commitments from three players in the Class of 2012 and one player from the Class of 2013. Do those commitments hold if Haith's job is uncertain? What kind of recruiting class is he going to be able to pull out of 2012? Do they still have a shot at Rodney Purvis?

Its tough to see this getting better for Missouri before it gets worse.
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Wednesday Morning Dump

There were so many terrific reaction pieces to the Yahoo! story about the Miami football program, and while many of them are more football related, they touch on a lot of things that happen in college hoops as well:

- Matt Norlander of CBS Sports

- Jeff Eisenberg of The Dagger

- Matt Hayes from the Sporting News

- Clay Travis of Outkick the Coverage

- Adam Jacobi of CBS Sports

And now back to our regularly scheduled hoops programming:

- I doubt this story will get much play in Miami tomorrow

- Interesting column from Jeff Goodman on late commitments.

- Umm, yeah, this is awesome. Good work, Fasulo.

- Jeff Eisenberg caught up with the father of St. John's hoops commit Amir Garrett, who just signed a deal to play for the Reds farm system

- Jio Fontan of USC injured his knee in Brazil and will undergo an MRI. Its being called a sprain right now, but this is potentially very bad news for the Trojans.

- Good stuff from Heard This Blog on how Xavier has been able to successfully recruit

- Eamonn Brennan takes a look at how Utah is going to rebuild after losing eight players

- This story will make you sad

- Arzalan Kazemi is a name you should be familiar with if you are a hoops fan. Unfortunately, he will not be able to play with Iran's national team

- Its a bit depressing to think about the fact that this is actually news.

- Not sure I've ever seen this before -- Josh Pastner says he may just run with two full-time assistants this season.

- Raheem Buckles hopes to be cleared by the time the season starts

- Northwestern has picked the design for their new basketball court

- The schedule for the SEC's Tuesday night games has been released

- Duquesne lands a seven-footer

- St. Bonaventure loses a guard to a Butch pro team


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How Yahoo's story will affect hoops

Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports dropped a nuclear bomb on the University of Miami football program on Tuesday afternoon.

Its thoroughly and exhaustively reported, all stemming from the confessions of Nevan Shapiro, a former Miami booster currently incarcerated for his part in a Ponzi Scheme. (Those seem to be popping up everywhere these days, don't they?) With the exception of the Baylor basketball scandal involving Dave Bliss from 2003 and the SMU scandals that resulted in the football program receiving the death penalty in the late 1980's, this could very well be the biggest scandal in NCAA history.

The majority of Yahoo!'s report has to do with Miami's football program, but the basketball side is involved and could affect more than just the Hurricanes.

(The best part about Yahoo!'s story is that they broke down the violations committed by each person on their own separate page. Here are the four you want to pay attention to for hoops -- DeQuan Jones, Frank Haith, Jake Morton, and Jorge Fernandez.)

It starts with DeQuan Jones, who was a top 25 recruit nationally in 2008. Shapiro alleges that in the early summer of 2008, Jake Morton -- then a Miami assistant and now a member of the Western Kentucky coaching staff -- came to him saying that a member of Jones' family was demanding a $10,000 payment in order to ensure Jones would remained committed to the Hurricanes. Morton got the money from Shapiro and delivered it to the family without the knowledge of the player, according to Shapiro.

Frank Haith, then the head coach of the Hurricanes and now the first-year head coach at Missouri, was aware of the payment and later thanked Shapiro for putting up the money. That wasn't their only interaction, either. Shapiro took out Haith, Morton, and Jorge Fernandez -- then an assistant with Miami and now on the staff at Marshall -- on many occassions, sometimes to the same place as members of the Miami football team.

Fernandez was also involved in another potential violation. One of the nights that Fernandez was out with Shapiro he brought along Moe Hicks, the head coach of famed Rice High School in NYC and the program director for the NYC Gauchos, arguably the best AAU program out of NYC. Durand Scott, who is a rising junior on the Hurricanes, played for Hicks at Rice and was a member of the Gauchos program.

Hicks is now the Director of Basketball Operations at St. John's.

The Miami football program is in quite a bit of trouble, but the tentacles of the NCAA's investigation will also affect hoops in a major way. And not just at Miami. One player -- Jones -- is alleged to have been bought with the coaching staff's knowledge. Another player -- Scott -- played for an AAU and high school coach that was photographed being taken out, with Miami's coaching staff, and put on the tab of a Miami booster.

Miami and Missouri fans should be worried. There's a very good chance that Haith loses his job over this, and Jim Larranaga could not have been dealt a worse hand to try and rebuild Miami. Western Kentucky, Marshall and St. John's fans should track this investigation.

Who knows what else is going to turn up.
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Mitch McGary will be eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft, but why isn't he getting to message board treatment that Andre Drummond is?

Before Texas A&M and the SEC decided to hold the world of collegiate athletics hostage with the second installment of expansionocalyspe's "now-we're-leaving, no-you're-not, yes-we-are" melodrama, my twitter feed was dominated by talk about Andre Drummond.

Don't know who he is?

Well, that was exactly my point. Drummond, who will in all likelihood be the No. 2 player in the country when we can update our Consensus Recruiting Rankings, opted to head to a second year of prep school in 2011-2012 instead of enrolling in college. Either way, he will be eligible for -- and almost assuredly enter -- the 2012 NBA Draft (assuming the new CBA doesn't change early-entry rules), but by heading to college Drummond would be able to build a following and a profile that would be more appealing to sponsors.

So, yes, I disagreed with his decision. If it were me, I would have gone the college route. But its his life, I don't judge him for the decision he made.

But that doesn't mean that other folks felt the same way. Take a look at what some moron name Ron Howell had to say about Drummond's decision:


(I pulled that image from Drummond's twitter feed, for what its worth.)

Safe to say, that comment wasn't unique on the internet slums known as message boards.

Which brings me to Mitch McGary. McGary is the No. 3 recruit in the country according to CBSSports, ESPN, and Scout, the only three rankings to have been released post-July. But, like Drummond, for NBA Draft purposes, McGary's high school class is 2011. That means that, like Drummond, McGary will be eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft.

"At this time, we're not going to close the door on any opportunity," his AAU coach, Wayne Brum, told Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com. "That is such a moving target. If you go in the draft and you're wrong, then you lose your NCAA eligibility. It's a very, very tricky and delicate situation. We can't rule it out, but I know it's a very delicate situation."

So where is the backlash for his to attend prep school?

Why isn't McGary suffering from the same kind of internet criticism that Drummond did?

The easy answer is the skin color of the two players. Drummond is black and McGary is white. (And if we're going to open that door, are we allowed to wonder why everyone is comparing McGary to Tyler Hansbrough?)

Maybe I'm just being naive on the state of race relations in this country, but I think there is more to it than that.

For starters, Drummond is a much better long term prospect that McGary. One recruiting analyst told me that Drummond would have been the No. 1 overall player in the Class of 2011 had he gone to school this year, which should tell you not only how good Shabazz Muhammad is as a prospect, but also should make you wonder just how good Kentucky's 2011 recruiting class can be. The biggest reason for that difference is age. McGary is a year and two months older than Drummond. He's a month older than Tobias Harris, who went in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. 14 months is a very, very long time when a prospect is that age.

The other issue is that Drummond has long been considered one of the best players in his class. For those that follow recruiting closely, Andre Drummond has been a known quantity for years. McGary has been considered a high-major prospect for a long time, but prior to this spring, the teams chasing him were of the Purdue, Marquette, and Indiana ilk. Right now, he has ever school in the country on him. In fact, it wasn't until Monday of this week that I had even heard that entering college this season -- and being eligible for the 2012 Draft out of prep school -- was even an option.

As Jay-Z says, "along with celebrity comes bout seventy shots to your frame".



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How will Texas A&M's move to the SEC affect hoops?

This post can also be found at Beyond The Arc.

Its not a secret what the end game is in conference realignment.

At this point, it appears as if four 16 or 18 team super-conferences are unavoidable. With the billion-dollar -- and, yes, I do mean billion -- TV contracts that those conferences are going to generate, its difficult to imagine a scenario where, at best, the power conference schools gain an even larger advantage over the mid-majors or, at worst, the four super-conferences secede from the NCAA.

As both Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com and Eamonn Brennan of ESPN.com wrote yesterday, that is a very bad thing for college basketball and will, in all likelihood, permanently change the NCAA Tournament for the worse. What makes the situation even more frustrating is that, despite providing a massive portion of the NCAA's budget with its 14-year, $10.8 billion contract with CBS, the NCAA Tournament is a complete afterthought. These college commissioners and school presidents are going to ruin the sport we love and the world's greatest sporting event and they simply don't care.


But, hopefully, that inevitability won't happen for a number of years.

Until then, what we should be concerned about is how Texas A&M, the SEC, and the Big 12/10/9/whatever will be affected if the Aggies do happen to jump ship. There's no doubt in my mind that A&M will immediately become the best basketball program in the SEC West. While they haven't had a ton of postseason success over the last six years, in the words of the esteemable DJ Khaled, all the Aggies do is win. Every year, they seem end up with around 24 wins overall, 10 or 11 wins in league play, and a five in the NCAA Tournament regardless of who they lost the year before.

Now imagine what will happen when the Aggies get to play LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn twice every year.

This past spring, Mark Turgeon left College Station to take over for Gary Williams at Maryland. He was replaced by Billy Kennedy, whose hiring was considered a homerun when it happened and now looks even better. Kennedy is a southerner through and through. He was born and raised in New Orleans, he coached at just about every school there is in Louisiana and he spent the past five years coaching at Murray State in Kentucky.

"It's premature to talk about it, but I'm more familiar with the SEC since most of my players have been from Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama," Kennedy told Andy Katz of ESPN.com.

Kennedy should still be able to recruit Texas as well, particularly if the Big 12 disintegrates. College Station is about two hours from Houston and a little more than three hours from Dallas. Its the second best hoops program in the state, and depending on where Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU and even Houston end up when all the pieces stop spinning, the Aggies may end up being the only other high-major program in the state, behind the Longhorns.

Kennedy brought in ace recruiter Glenn Cyprien as his associate head coach. He's already earned commitments from top 100 players in the Class of 2012 (J-Mychal Reese from Houston) and 2013 (Kendrick Nunn from Chicago).

As far as SEC hoops is concerned, its continuing to get stronger. Alabama is on the rise under Anthony Grant, potentially being a top 15 team nationally this season, while Arkansas should experience a resurgence under Mike Anderson. The SEC East is stacked, with Kentucky and Florida sitting atop the league and Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt sitting a notch below them. Adding another top 25 program to the weaker western division will only help the league's balance.

The Aggies football team may end up being permanently mediocre playing in the same division as the likes of LSU and Alabama, but their basketball program should be able to thrive.
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Tuesday Morning Dump

- Andy Katz put together a nice piece on Rodney Terry, who is finally getting a shot at Fresno State to run a program.

- Katz also wrote this piece on basketball on the West Coast. I have a couple of disagreements with it. Its not that there isn't a lot of good basketball being played out there -- because there is, there are a number of very good non-BCS teams. But the reason those teams are elbowing their way into the discussion for the best teams out west is that UCLA, Arizona, and Washington have been down for a while. I'm going to try to expand on this in a post tomorrow, but if I don't I wanted to make sure to get that on the record.

- Bruce Pearl put his house on the market.

- Minnesota landed a commitment from Wally Ellenson, a Minnesota native that blew up in July.

- Team USA rolled through South Korea at the World University Games.

- Scout released their top 100 in the class of 2012. Only waiting on Rivals and 247Sports to release their rankings until we can finish up our consensus recruiting rankings.

- Warrant issued in the death of Desmond Allison.

- Speaking of Kentucky, the Domincan National team beat them in the exhibition they played last night.

- Here's a post on UCLA's Summer Buzz.


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Amir Garrett gets signed

Amir Garrett is a rare commodity these days -- a two-sport star.

Not only is the 6'5" lefty a top 100 recruit on the hardwood, he was picked in the 22nd round in the MLB Draft. He was picked almost solely based on potential -- read here for some of the background -- seeing as Garrett spent the last school year playing basketball at Findlay Prep.

Well, the Reds like what they've seen out of Garrett:

The Reds have managed to woo Amir Garrett away from playing basketball at St. John's. The 22nd-rounder had impressed scouts in workouts even though he hadn't played much baseball in the past two years. The Reds gave Garrett $1 million, but it's spread over five years as a two-sport deal.

That's a lot of money.

And the best part is that it won't effect his collegiate eligibility.

But here's the question: if the Reds are going to be investing $1 million in this kid, is he still going to be able to play basketball during the winters?
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Swiperboy unretires

Well, that was quick.

Everyone's favorite college hoops rapper -- Tennessee's Renaldo Woolridge, also known as Swiperboy -- is back with a new song off of his Zazzle mixtape. This track is called Teach Me How To Dooley which, for those that haven't had the privilege of hearing the blissful melodies of the Cali Swag District, is a remix of the song Teach Me How To Dougie.



If you remember, Swiperboy "retired" last week. But according to this blog post, he was misinterpreted. Woolridge is not retiring. He's postponing his hip-hop career until after his college hoops career is over.

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Looking Back: Re-ranking the 2006 recruiting classes

Last summer, we ran a series called Looking Back where we went through past recruiting classes to see how the players from those classes developed.

Why?

Well, for starters, it was a fun and interesting thing to do. You're not interested in the fact that Josh McRoberts and Gerald Green were once considered the best high school basketball players in the country? Its also an interesting way to keep fans from getting too excited when a top 25 recruit pledges to their school. Projecting the long-term ability of 17 year old hoopers is an inexact science, and never is that more evident than when you look back at past recruiting rankings.

This summer, we are going to go back through the Team Rankings. In other words, we want to see if the team that the pundits said had the best recruiting class really did have the best recruiting class. The science here will be a bit inexact. For starters, its tough to find consistent rankings. Rivals has them dating back to 2003, Scout to 2005, and ESPN to 2007. Its also tough to determine exactly what players had what effect on a given season. Did UConn's 2007 recruiting class -- which featured Donnell Beverly and, well, Donnell Beverly -- really have much influence on the 2011 national title?

For our purposes, we will be looking at the success that each member of each program's recruiting class had individually in college as well as the success that the team at while those players were member of the program. Like I said, it will be inexact, but inexact science makes for better arguments. Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.

Re-ranking the 2003 recruiting classes

Re-ranking the 2004 recruiting classes

Re-ranking the 2005 recruiting classes

Re-ranking the 2006 recruiting classes:

1. North Carolina (Rivals 1, Scout 1): Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Brandon Wright, Deon Thompson, Will Graves, and Alex Stephenson

Its tough to argue with a recruiting class that produces two first round picks, another second round pick, three conference regular season titles, two conference tournament titles, an Elite 8, a Final Four, and finally a national title. That's a lot of hardware. Lawson, Ellington, and Wright were all immediate starters for the Heels. While Wright bolted for the lottery after one season in Chapel Hill, Lawson and Ellington hung around for the 2008 Final Four appearance. They also both decided to return to school -- instead of possibly heading to the NBA -- for their junior year, when the Heels rolled to the 2009 national title. Thompson became a starter on that 2009 title-winning team. He had his best year as a senior, but a very young UNC team struggled, missing the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Graves was a key role player for a couple of seasons before getting kicked out of the program. Alex Stephenson transferred to USC for his last two seasons, averaging 9.8 ppg and 9.2 rpg as a senior for an NCAA Tournament team.



2. Ohio State (Rivals: 2, Scout: 2): Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, David Lighty, Othello Hunter, and Mark Titus

The 2006 recruiting class for the Buckeyes is a tough one to rank. Oden, Conley and Cook all last just a single season in Columbus. But that single season was quite successful, as the Buckeyes won both Big Ten titles and made it to the 2007 national title game. Oden went on to become an all-american and the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft. Conley went fourth and Cook was picked 21st. The following year, OSU failed to make the NCAA Tournament and Hunter graduated. But Lighty, who redshirted his third season due to a foot injury, became a key figure in his last two years, playing a major role in back-to-back seasons where the Buckeyes won both Big Ten titles and made the Sweet 16. Perhaps the most memorable player from this recruiting class will end up being Mark "The Shark" Titus of Club Trillion fame.


3. Duke (Rivals: 5, Scout: 4): Gerald Henderson, Jon Scheyer, Brian Zoubek, and Lance Thomas

Oddly enough, the 2006 Duke recruiting class only produced three conference championships -- the 2009 ACC Tournament title and both of the 2010 titles. But that doesn't mean this group wasn't successful, especially considering they won the 2010 national title. Henderson was a key role player as a freshman and eventually developed into a star by his junior season. He left after three years, getting selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Scheyer was a starter from day one, becoming one of the best players in the country as a senior and the leader for a team that won the title. Lance Thomas was a career role player, while Brian Zoubek looked to be heading in that direction. But midway through his senior season, something clicked, and Zoubek became the most important piece on that national title team; a guy that could rebound, block shots, and bang in the post.


4. Texas (Rivals: 3, Scout: 3): Kevin Durant, DJ Augustin, Damion James, Justin Mason, Dexter Pittman, Matt Hill, and Harrison Smith

Rick Barnes is notorious for being a coach that can lure gobs of talent to Austin but cannot turn that talent into banners. His 2006 recruiting class is the perfect example of that. In a class that produced two lottery picks, another first round pick, and a second round pick, Barnes was able to make it past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament just once -- in 2008 -- and only won a share of one Big 12 title -- also in 2008. Durant was a once in a generation talent at the college level and has become arguably the best player in the NBA, but he wasn't quite good enough to lead a very young Longhorn team higher than third in the conference or past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The following season, Augustin played his way into being a lottery pick and an all-american, but Texas lost in the Elite 8 to Memphis. James was a double-double machine over his last three years (and an all-american in 2010) and Pittman become a force in the middle by the time he got into shape as a fifth-year senior, but Texas finished with just nine conference wins in both 2009 and 2010. Mason was a starter and a defensive stopper by the time he graduated, while Hill and Smith were never more than role players.



5. Kansas (Rivals: 12, Scout: 8): Sherron Collins, Darrell Arthur, and Brady Morningstar

There may not be a more consistent basketball program in america than Kansas. They haven't missed an NCAA Tournament since the 80's, they've won at least a share of the Big 12 title every year since 2004, and they have won five of the last six Big 12 titles. Collins, Arthur and Morningstar were all key cogs in keeping that string alive. Arthur was the first to really become a star, moving into the starting lineup as a sophomore and playing well enough during the Jayhawk's run to the 2008 national title that he became a first round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Collins was a role player his first two seasons in Lawrence, but when Kansas had their talent drain after the 2008 title, Collins became a star and led KU right back to the top of the league and into the Sweet 16. Morningstar started as a walk-on and redshirted the 2007-2008 season, but by the end of his career, he was a starter, a defensive stopper and a key long-range threat for Bill Self.


6. Villanova (Rivals: 14, Scout: 24): Scottie Reynolds, Antonio Pena, Reggie Redding, Casiem Drummond, and Andrew Ott

Villanova basketball may not be at the level it currently is if it wasn't for Oklahoma. You see, Reynolds was a McDonald's all-american back in 2006, but he reneged on his commitment to Oklahoma and found his way to Jay Wright and the Wildcats thanks to Kelvin Sampson's inability to control his cell-phone usage. As a result, Reynolds went from being a stud freshman to an all-american by the time he was a senior. Redding spent his career as a key role player for the Wildcats, while Pena became a consistent double-double threat by the time he graduated in 2011. The irony of Nova's inclusion on this list is that they never won a conference title while these class was in school, although a large part of that was the result of the strength of the Big East conference. They made five NCAA Tournaments, the 2008 Sweet Sixteen and the 2009 Final Four.


7. Davidson (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Stephen Curry, Bryant Barr, Will Archambault, and Dan Nelms

Stephen Curry. Enough said? In terms of production, no player in the 2006 recruiting class comes close to Curry. He averaged 20 ppg from the second he stepped on campus at Davidson, bumping that up to 28.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.6 apg, and 2.5 spg as a junior. In the middle, Curry led the Wildcats on one of the most memorable NCAA Tournament runs of all-time, taking the SoCon school to within a possession of the Final Four in 2008. In Curry's three years on campus, Davison went 57-3 in league play, winning three regular season titles. Unfortunately, they lost in the title game of the 2009 SoCon Tournament. More impressive, still, is that both Barr and Archambault became key pieces in the Wildcat lineup before their careers were over.


8. Cornell (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Ryan Wittman, Jeff Foote, Louis Dale, Geoff Reeves, Jon Jacques, and Pete Reynolds

Cornell's basketball program had been on the rise for a couple of years, but this class took it to another level and led Steve Donahue to the head coaching gig at Boston College. After finishing third in the conference as freshmen, Cornell started a string of three consecutive Ivy League titles stretching from 2008-2010. In 2008, Dale was the Ivy player of the year. In 2010, Wittman won that honor. Those two, and Foote, were staples on the all-league teams. After losing in the first round of the Big Dance in both 2008 and 2009, the hard work finally paid off with a Sweet 16 trip in 2010.


9. Louisville (Rivals: 9, Scout: 9): Earl Clark, Edgar Sosa, Jerry Smith, and Derrick Caracter

After missing the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Rick Pitino's 2006 recruiting class helped Louisville get back to the top of the Big East. Edgar Sosa immediately stepped in as a starter at the point for the Cardinals. Smith, Clark and Caracter were key role players on that team, who finished tied for second in the Big East. The following season, Clark teamed with Terrence Williams to form one of the most athletic and versatile forward combinations in the country. Smith became a starter at the two and Caracter was a productive malcontent. Sosa struggled to live up to the hype that his successful freshman season gave him. After another second place finish in the league, the Cardinals won both Big East titles in 2009, earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and making their second consecutive Elite 8. Caracter had already been kicked out of the program while Clark went in the 2009 NBA Draft lottery. Sosa and Smith returned for successful senior seasons.



10. Cal (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Ryan Anderson, Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, and Taylor Harrison

This recruiting class led to a resurgence in the Cal basketball program. The first two seasons that this group was on campus, they struggled, finishing at the bottom of the Pac-10. Anderson was a 20 and 10 forward as a sophomore and ended up declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft, where he was picked in the first round. Randle and Christopher returned and led the Bears to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and to the 2010 Pac 10 title.


11. West Virginia (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Da'Sean Butler, Joe Mazzulla, Wellington Smith, Cam Thoroughman, Johnnie West, and Devan Bawinkel

After missing the 2007 NCAA Tournament as freshmen, this group ended up going to three straight tournaments -- four if you include the fifth year that Mazzulla, Thoroughman, and West spent on campus. The star of this group was Butler, who became an all-american as a senior and led the Mountaineers to the 2010 Big East Tournament title and the Final Four the same season. They also made the Sweet 16 in 2008.


12. Stanford (Rivals: 11, Scout: 11): Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Landry Fields, Da'veed Dildy, and Will Paul

The Cardinal are an interesting case. Stanford has been down recently. Since this class enrolled in school, they've made just two NCAA Tournaments -- losing in the first round in 2007 and making the Sweet 16 in 2008. After that Sweet 16 run, both the Lopez brothers entered the NBA Draft -- Brook was picked third and Robin went 15th. The next two years were fairly ugly, as Stanford managed just 13 combined wins in the Pac-10. But Fields turned into one of the most underrated players in the country as a senior, averaging 22.0 ppg and 8.8 rpg, and was picked in the second round by the Knicks and becoming a key role player in NYC.


13. UConn (Rivals: 4, Scout: 5): Hasheem Thabeet, Stanley Robinson, Jerome Dyson, Gavin Edwards, Curtis Kelly, Doug Wiggins, Ben Eaves, and Jonathon Mandeldove

The 2006 recruiting class was a very important one for the Huskies. If you remember, after the 2006 tournament ended, UConn lost essentially their entire team to the professional ranks; five players were drafted. The rebuilding effort was slow, as UConn struggled to an 11th place finish in the Big East in their first season. Midway through their sophomore campaign, things started to click. Robinson and Dyson were making plays with their athleticism, Thabeet was becoming a factor on the defensive end, and AJ Price (who was, for all intents and purposes, a member of this class after missing his sitting out his first two seasons in Storrs) was becoming a star. They made the tournament but lost in the first round. As juniors, everything clicked. UConn finished second in a loaded Big East, earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament, and made the 2009 Final Four. Thabeet went on to become the No. 2 pick in the 2009 draft. The following season, the Huskies once again missed the tournament. Edwards became a solid starter as a senior. Kelly, Wiggins and Eaves all transferred out of UConn.


14. Arizona (Rivals: 25, Scout: 19): Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Nic Wise

The Wildcats were never quite able to perform up to their talent level while this group was on campus. They finished just two games over .500 in Pac 10 play in the three years that Budinger and Hill were on campus, although they made the NCAA Tournament every year and did make the Sweet 16 in 2009, but a large part of that can be attributed to a strong Pac-10 during that period. They also had a new head coach each season they were on campus. Budinger and Hill were both eventually drafted, while Nic Wise returned for a senior season that was terrific for him individually but ended a quarter-decade stretch of making the NCAA Tournament.


15. Maryland (Rivals: 19, Scout: NR): Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes, Landon Milbourne, Bambale Osby, and Jerome Burney

Clearly, the name that you are going to recognize on this list is Vasquez, who went from a talented but out of control freshman into arguably the most productive player in the country as a senior. Teaming with Hayes and Milbourne, he led the Terps to the 2010 ACC regular season title and would eventually get picked in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft. Hayes and Milbourne were very good players for four years, but Maryland was never able to get through the first weekend in the three NCAA Tournaments they made while this group was on campus.


Take a look at some of the other recruiting classes that didn't make the top 15:

Clemson (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Trevor Booker, David Potter, AJ Tyler, and Karolis Petrukonis

Georgia Tech (Rivals: 8, Scout: 7): Thaddeus Young, Javaris Crittendon, Zach Peacock, and Brad Sheehan

Gonzaga (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Matt Bouldin, Will Foster, Theo Davis, Andrew Sorensen, and Abdullahi Kuso

Harvard (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Jeremy Lin, Pat Magnarelli, and Doug Miller

Hofstra (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Charles Jenkins, Mantas Leonavicius, Sal Patricio, and Greg Washington

Kentucky (Rivals: 16, Scout: 16): Derrick Jasper, Jodie Meeks, Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris, Michael Porter, Marckus Boswell, and LaShun Watson

Northeastern (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Matt Janning, Manny Adako, Baptiste Batille, and Eugene Spates

Northern Iowa (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Jordan Egleseder, Adam Koch, Kwadzo Ahelegbe, Kerwin Dunham, Brian Haak, and Stephen Davis

Notre Dame (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Luke Harangody, Tory Jackson, Jonathon Peoples, Tim Andree, and Joe Harden

Oakland (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Keith Benson and Johnathon Jones

Old Dominion (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Gerald Lee, Frank Hassell, Keyon Carter, and Marsharee Neely

Siena (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Edwin Ubiles, Alex Franklin, Ronald Moore, and Cory McGee

Texas A&M (Rivals: 22, Scout: NR): Donald Sloan, Bryan Davis, Derrick Roland, Chinemelu Elonu, Bryson Graham, Jerrod Johnson, and Bryan Beasley

Tulsa (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Ben Uzoh, Jerome Jordan, Jamel McLean, Mark Hill, Rod Earls, and Sean Coleman

UCLA (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Russell Westbrook, Adam Keefe

USC (Rivals: 21, Scout: 17): Taj Gibson, Dwight Lewis, DJ Hackett, Kasey Cunningham, Kevin Galloway, Kyle Austin, and Davon Jefferson

Vermont (Rivals: NR, Scout: NR): Marqus Blakely, Joe Trapani, Kyle Robbins, and Nick Vier

Washington (Rivals: 7, Scout: 6): Quincy Pondexter, Spencer Hawes, Adrian Oliver, and Phillip Nelson

Wisconsin (Rivals: NR, Scout: 23): Trevon Hughes, Jason Bohannon, and JP Gavinski
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Josh Harrellson is a hero, even without the Jorts

You have to love Josh Harrellson.

You just have to.

At this point, even if you are a Louisville or Florida or Tennessee fan, you have to at least not hate him.

The latest achievement coming from Harrellson is stopping a drunk driver. Essentially, what happened was that after he left a bar in Lexington, some dude that was hammered backed into his truck, hit another car, and then hit Harrellson's truck for a second time. So Harrellson did what any normal human being would do -- he pulled the keys out of the ignition.

It was only then that he found out there were children in the car.

"We were just worried because he could have put it in drive at any time and maybe ran somebody over, or while our arms were in the car, just kept going and we could have been drug or something," Harrellson said on WKYT. "I'm the type of guy that, I want to make sure everybody else is alright. I saw it, I moved out of the way, I'm fine. My truck got hit, that's replaceable. I was just thankful nobody got hurt and the kids were fine."

Not only was that a brave thing to do, but it was the right thing to do. Drunk drivers kill people, and if the guy can't even back out of a parking lot, its probably not smart for him to be driving his kids home.

Just one question -- where are the Jorts? Because I'm pretty sure the man with the best nickname in college hoops last year is wearing khakis.


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Monday Morning Dump

- Its easy to see why Josh Harrellson was such a popular guy for the Wildcats. He plays hard and he saves lives.

- The big news of the weekend was that Texas A&M to the SEC was a foregone conclusion. Then the SEC announced that they were staying at 12 teams, which would mean that for the second time in 14 months, A&M would have to walk back to the Big 12 with their tail between their legs. But as Andy Staples explains, its far from over yet.

As a side note, nothing in this world makes me more depressed, bored, or liable to tear my hair out than discussing conference expansion. Our coverage of the topic will be limited at best. So you should read people like Ryan Greene for that kind of stuff.

- There are three players on this list from Memphis, but no mention of Orlando Johnson or Greg Mangano?

- Corey Schmidt is doing some solid work for the folks over at Basketball Prospectus.

- Five for the Weekend, Goodman style.

- More talk about Steven Adams. This kid has gotten quite a bit of hype the last few weeks.

- It looks like Wendell McKines is finally healthy.

- Northwestern freshman guard Tre Demps needs shoulder surgery.

- Matt Derenbecker is heading to Dayton.

- DJ Newbill is transferring to Penn State.

- Allan Chaney is looking to continue his basketball career elsewhere.
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Friday Morning Dump

- STOP with the realignment stuff. I hate Texas A&M AND the SEC right now

- The Gameday sites were released yesterday. I don't really feel like writing about it, so go read what Dana O'Neil has to say.

- One of my favorite columns of the summer from Luke Winn as he tries to predict the breakout sophomores.

- Quite a few takes worthy of linkage on the APR change. Here's Mike Miller's, here's Mike DeCourcy's and here's Jason Whitlock's.

- So I guess Steven Adams is pretty good.

- The complete roster for the Boost Mobile Elite games has been announced.

- Quite an honor bestowed upon Orlando Johnson

- Terrence Ross better have a good year at Washington

- Justin Young is still counting down his top 100 players. I like this kid Deonte Burton from Nevada.

- LSU landed a recruit. So did UNLV.

- Vince Carter is giving $2.5 million to UNC. He should donate it to our budget.

- Wendell McKines looks like he's getting healthy

- The USA won their first game in the World University Games

- I'm not sure a story has bored me as much as the neverending saga of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux

- Boise State fired their AD.
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Higher APR's and postseason bans are a step in the right direction, but tweaks are needed

The news that had the college athletics world buzzing on Thursday was that the NCAA Board of Director's had unanimously voted a measure that would implement postseason bans -- for bowl games in college football and postseason tournaments in college hoops -- for teams with a four-year APR score of less than 930. The cutline was previously at 900. The timetable for implementing the new rule will be determined in October.

There are a number of examples of programs that would not have been eligible for this year's tournament had the new rule been in existence this season, but the most glaring is national champion UConn, whose four-year average had fallen to 893 as of the end of the 2009-2010 season.

In theory, this is a good thing.

The NCAA is requiring schools to take responsibility for the academic performance of their students. Making a life-changing sum of money as an athlete is a difficult thing to do -- as Jeff Goodman outlined earlier this week, five of the 24 McDonald's all-americans in the Class of 2002 are still in the NBA, and that doesn't include Lenny Cooke -- which makes it all the more important for these student-athletes to be more student and not solely athlete.

The problem is that the APR is imperfect.

I'll point you in the direction of two terrific columns on the subject. The first is from Goodman earlier today, where he breaks down how the budget differences between the BCS conference schools and the low-major programs put the smaller schools are a huge disadvantage. The biggest schools have a team of tutors and an academic support staff to keep their players eligible. The smaller schools do not.

The second column is from Dan Wolken of The Daily, who perfectly breaks down the problems with the complexity of the APR. I'm not going to pull quotes from it, just go read it.

I'll had another issue that will undoubtedly arise -- the increased APR requirement will increase the amount of academic fraud in college sports. When you incentivize test scores and academic performance, you also create an added incentive to cheat. Just take a look at what happened with Atlanta's public schools. With bowl games and NCAA Tournament appearances hanging in the balance, you don't think that there are coaches out there who are willing to look the other way -- or, in many cases, order -- their academic support staff to make sure that these players get good grades, regardless of the consequences or the actions necessary to improve team GPA?

As with the proposed rule changes in recruiting, a higher APR shows that the NCAA is making an effort to take a step in the right direction.

That's good.

But its not perfect.

Yet.
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The Rise of the Crimson: How Harvard went from eight wins to recruiting top 100 players

Until recently, Harvard's basketball program was, frankly, non-existent.

The Crimson are the only Ivy program to have never won a conference title in men's basketball. Of the 34 teams that Harvard lists on their website, the men's basketball program is the only one that has never won the Ivy League. As Tommy Amaker told the New York Times back in March, "I'm not sure you can walk anywhere on this campus and find something that hasn't been done before."

Except, of course, winning a conference title in men's basketball.

You want more examples of their historic ineptitude in hoops?


Prior to the 2009-10 season, the program had never won 20 games. They had managed double figure wins in Ivy League play just twice -- in 1970-71, when they went 11-3 and finished second in league play, and in 1996-97, when they finished 10-4 and tied for second. Their only NCAA Tournament appearance came way back in 1946, a full decade before Ivy League came into existence.

That should put the job that Tommy Amaker has done building the program into perspective. In 2007-08, his first year with the program, the Crimson finished 8-22 overall and 3-11 in conference play. Two years later, the Crimson had their first 20 win season, finishing third in the Ivy League standings and sending Jeremy Lin to the NBA, the first Harvard player to play in the league since Ed Smith in 1954.

Last season, the Crimson finished tied with Princeton for first place in conference play and came within a Douglas Davis leaner of making the NCAA Tournament. And with everyone from that team -- including a healthy Kyle Casey -- being joined by a recruiting class that ranks up with Gonzaga, Memphis and Xavier as the best among the non-BCS schools, its little wonder why the Crimson are the favorite to win their first Ivy League title this year.

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There isn't a program in the country whose stock is rising as quickly as Harvard's.

In 2007-08, Harvard won eight games. Fast forward three seasons, and the Crimson are struggling to convince high-major programs to schedule them for a non-conference game.

Part of the program's rapid growth is luck. Lin was a diamond in the rough, a kid that didn't receive a single scholarship offer coming out of high school that happened to be a member of the Crimson when Amaker took over. The Ivy League isn't exactly a breeding ground for the NBA. Lin provided an invaluable foundation for Amaker to build his program around and a key marketing tool when he developed his star into a guy that can play in the NBA.

But Lin graduated in 2010, and not only did the Crimson get better the following season, that improvement will continue come November.

The credit for the continued improvement falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff. The key for an up-and-coming program is to be able to market a successful season on the recruiting trail; to convince kids that not only is the winning not a fluke, but that the program will continue to grow; to bring in kids that should be playing at a higher level by selling them on that future success.

The talent in Harvard's 2011 recruiting class is impressive.

Among the six members of the class is Wesley Saunders. A 6'5" combo-forward from Los Angeles, Saunders not only held offers from USC, Colorado, and San Diego State, he was ranked 88th in the Rivals top 150. Kenyatta Smith, a 6'8" center out of Brea, CA, held offers from Northwestern and Vanderbilt and received heavy interest from UCLA, Stanford, and Cal during his recruitment. Smith was a top 20 center nationally according to both ESPN and Scout. Steve Moundou-Missi is a physical-if-undersized power forward from Florida that found his way onto Jeff Borzello's final top 150.

How is Harvard able to bring in this kind of talent?

"It boils down to Harvard targeting the right kids," said Borzello, who is a CBSSports.com recruiting analyst. "High academics and interested in actually getting an education. And [the coaching staff] sticks with them. They're not afraid of missing on a kid and they don't bail once a bigger school comes in the mix."

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According to the US News & World Report's 2011 rankings, Harvard is the best school in the country, edging out fellow Ivy Leaguers Yale, Princeton and Columbia. As you might expect, that makes Harvard one of the most difficult schools -- and the most difficult university -- in the country to get accepted into.

Given the lack of reverence that the stereotypical blue-chip hoops recruit gives to hitting the books, you would think the stringent academic requirements would be a hindrance on Harvard's recruiting.

Actually, its quite the opposite.

"We're very comfortable with who we are," Harvard assistant coach Yanni Hufnagel told me by phone on Tuesday night. "We know that we're an Ivy. We know that we might not have the biggest arena or the best locker room. But what we think we have here is the best brand in the world and an incredible environment for the right kid."

"[The kids we recruit] come from great families who understand that Harvard's not a four year decision, it's a 40 year decision."


As Hufnagel explains it, the high academic requirement actually works in their favor. Whereas some of the bigger programs can literally recruit any kid in the country that is capable of signing his name on a letter of intent, Harvard has to narrow down their search. The pool of kids they can choose from is limited. And while that requires the coaching staff to do their due diligence identifying potential recruits, it also allows them to focus their energy on the kids that they know they can get into school.

"We've been very aggressive in trying to figure out who we want to recruit," Hufnagel said. "We want to get the best players in the country who are academically motivated and who are looking to take a little bit of a different path to greatness."

Hufnagel also stressed the value of building a strong relationship not only with the kid he is recruiting, but with the people in his life on a day-to-day basis.

"That's important," he said. "Without a strong relationship, we've got very little chance to have the kind of success we’re having and hope to have in the future."

Between the program's recent successes, their targeted recruiting efforts, the Harvard brand, and a head coach with a recognizable name, a perfect storm of recruiting is brewing.

And some of the nation's top talent has taken notice.

Zena Edosomwan is blossoming into one of the best big men on the West Coast. A product of Harvard-Westlake (CA) HS, Edosomwan is a Class of 2012 consensus top 100 recruit, topping out at 67th and 69th according to CBSSports.com and Scout.com, respectively. He's gotten interest from just about every school in the Pac-12, including UCLA, as well as programs like Texas, Maryland, Missouri and Vanderbilt.

But Harvard is up there on his list, battling with some of the biggest of the big boys.

"It's the No. 1 school in the world academically," Edosomwan said. "You can't beat a Harvard education. And also getting to know Coach Yanni, Coach Amaker and the rest of the coaching staff, I have a really good relationship with them."

Its clear in talking to Edosomwan, who was born in Houston to Nigerian parents, that academics matter to him. An extremely well-spoken young man, Edosomwan understands that basketball won't always be there. There are worse safety nets than a Harvard degree.

But he's also a very talented basketball player. The fact that Harvard is a winning program with a very good shot of playing in the NCAA Tournament and recent NBA pedigree is why the Crimson are a legitimate contender for his services.

"I really like Jeremy Lin's story," he said. "I remember watching him in college and thinking 'man, that guy's good.'"

"For him to have success [in the NBA], that's great to see. It shows the program their building, that players have continued success. I'm excited about that."

Edosomwan isn't the only high-profile recruit in the Class of 2012 that Harvard is chasing. Big man Mike Hall and point guard Siyani Chambers are among the high-major rising seniors Harvard is involved with.

The real litmus test for where this program is headed will come in the Class of 2013. Harvard is heavily involved with a number of top 50 recruits. Stephen Domingo, Brannen Greene, Austin Colbert, and Davon Reed -- all, at worst, borderline top 50 players -- are interested enough in the Crimson that they will be joining Edosomwan in an on-campus visit on September 22nd.

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Harvard's rapid ascent amongst the ranks of the Ivy League has, as you might expect, begun to ruffle some feathers.

Its not necessarily due to their on-court success. The issue that has arisen is that Harvard's on-court success can be directly attributed to their recruiting success, which is flourishing as the result of lowered admission standards.

Or so believes Harvard's Ivy League opponents.

"They definitely lowered their standards, although the Ivy League has set standards using the academic index," an Ivy League source told me. "Its not like Harvard is admitting kids below what the league set. Its not like they're cheating. They're using what is a published rule. The difference is that it used to be that Yale, Harvard, and Princeton were the three hardest schools to get into. ... [They] bring a kid to admissions who is acceptable at other schools, but they're not getting in [there]."

"It used to be that Harvard wasn't getting those kids either. I think that, probably when Tommy showed up, they said 'listen, you can get in any kid that you want that's within the academic index rule of the league.' I think that's how they lure them to campus, and I think that’s at least partially the reason why they've been able to get better players and better talent and have a little bit of a turnaround."

The Ivy League is unique. For starters, none of the schools in the conference offer scholarships for academics or athletics. While they do provide need-based scholarships and financial aid, its another hoop that players heading to Ivy League schools need to jump through that isn't required at other programs around the country.

Then there is the academic index. The academic index, which can be determined using the calculator here, is a scale that factors in a recruit's standardized test scores, GPA and class rank and turns it into a single value. In order to be eligible to be accepted into an Ivy League school, a recruit needs to reach a league-mandated minimum value on his academic index.

And all that is before you factor in the teacher recommendations, the on-campus interviews, and the applications that non-basketball playing college students have to deal with around the country as they apply to schools.

"Every school in the Ivy League has the same minimum admission standards which no school, including Harvard, can go below," Hufnagel said. "What we've done is presented cases to admissions that are unique and compelling. Our admissions department values a kid's personal qualities more than anything else."

The issue other Ivy League teams have isn't that Harvard is breaking the rules. Its that they are no longer requiring more than the minimum, that they are allowing in recruits that barely reach the necessary academic index number.

"The answer is no," Hufnagel said emphatically when I asked him if Harvard had lowered their admission requirements for basketball players. "The admissions process for us is probably the most difficult piece of the puzzle."

Its easy to write off either side. On the one hand, fellow Ivy League members are jealous of Harvard's recruiting success and their pending Ivy League dominance. On the other hand, you have a Harvard staff member defending his program. Both parties have reason to try and spin the news in their favor.

But consider this -- I'm told one fairly recent Harvard target, who was a borderline top 100 recruit, tried to commit to the Crimson. After being asked to try and get a higher test score, the recruit opted to head elsewhere, ending up at a program in a high-major conference.

"Our admissions would never admit a kid that they don't feel confident in to have an incredible amount of success in the classroom and as a part of the community at Harvard," Hufnagel said. "Our guys have done an incredible job at backing that up. We are very proud of the job our team has done in the classroom."

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As any college basketball fan can tell you, mid-major programs are as powerful as they have ever been.

Gonzaga and Xavier have established themselves as the elite, the high-major operating outside a BCS conference. Butler is well on their way to doing the same, having made back-to-back title games. George Mason and VCU both reached the Final Four in the last five years. The Steph Curry-led Davidson team came a 25 foot airball away from making the Final Four.

Perhaps the most relevant recent postseason run for Harvard is Cornell's 2010 Sweet 16 run. The Big Red play in the Ivy League as well.

That's the direction the Crimson see their program heading.


"There's no rule that Harvard can't go to a Final Four," Hufnagel said. "In fact, that's our goal and vision. ... Now we're presenting that dream, that vision, to our future recruits. I think it's a lot harder to see that when you're 8-22. But when you're 23-7, it's a lot easier to see where this thing can go."

The difference between playing in a league like the Ivy and a power conference is shrinking. Slowly, yes. But it is. With the arrival of the internet, the reach of ESPN, and a 24 hour newscycle that features constant updates from writers, bloggers and tweeters from every corner of the college basketball landscape, small conference studs are no longer a secret.

Jeremy Lin proved that its possible to make the NBA from the Ivy League. Greg Mangano of Yale, who is currently playing for Team USA at the World University Games, may do the same next year. Cornell and company have proven its possible to have great success on college basketball's biggest stage despite coming out of the small conferences.

Its a part of the reason Harvard is able to chase some of the best players in the country.

"In a way now, for us, its almost like the higher level the player, the greater the attraction," Hufnagel said. "Now, the way it is with the high school kids that have such a buzz about them, a profile with rankings, they're on people's radar before they even play a college game."

At Harvard, not only will you be able to compete with the best teams in the country and set yourself up for a potential professional career, but you'll leave school with a degree from the best university in the country.

"People might think I'm crazy for saying it," Hufnagel said, "but if you can do it at Harvard, why would you want to do it anywhere else?"
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I really like the Virginia Governor's decision to host a Holiday Hoops Classic

Despite being home to two ACC teams, I think that it is fair to say the best basketball programs in the state of Virginia reside outside the BCS conferences.

UVa and Va Tech have been on the sidelines for every NCAA Tournament since 2007. On the other hand, VCU and George Mason have not only been to multiple tournaments in the last five years, they've won games, each reaching a Final Four since 2006. Old Dominion and Richmond have made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments as well.

But the ACC schools have refused to play the in-state mid-major programs in recent years. ODU and UVa haven't played since 1996. VCU and Va Tech haven't played since 1995. Its been even longer since the Hokies have played George Mason, stretching all the way back to 1992. Even former CAA rivals George Mason and Richmond have had a drought in their series, not playing since the Spiders left the league in 2001.

That's all scheduled to change in December of 2012 as Virginia's governor Bob McDonnell has created the Governor's Holiday Hoops Classic, a recreation of the Times-Dispatch Invitation Tournament, which lasted for 15 years before ending in 1991. It will take place at the Richmond Coliseum and this year features an opener of George Mason against Richmond with a nightcap pitting UVa and ODU. The following year, Va Tech will play VCU while Hampton takes on James Madison. The event will benefit Virginia's food banks.

I love this.

On the one hand, it creates quality basketball games and puts quality mid-major programs in a position to play an ACC opponent at a neutral court (or for Richmond and VCU, at home). There is nothing wrong with quality non-conference basketball.

But it should also stoke some rivalry flames. I doubt that UVa and Va Tech are going to be happy about having their Governor force them to play mid-major competition in-state. There's a reason that the mid-majors don't have annual rivalry games with the high-majors. Where there is resentment and hard-feelings, there are quality basketball games. Hopefully, it will create a competitive environment and some exciting hoops.

And who knows, maybe it will inspire the Cavaliers and the Hokies to start a series against their in-state rivals.





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Thursday Morning Dump

- We lead off today with some sad news. Victor Page, the oft-troubled former-Georgetown guard who was the heir-apparent to Allen Iverson, was arrested on burglary charges in Maryland. The Big Lead provides a must-read piece on Page's recent downward spiral

- Jeff Goodman wrote a fantastic piece about the 2002 recruiting class and the number of cautionary tales that can be told. He also wrote on Lenny Cooke and caught up with all of the 2002 McDonald's all-americans. Only five are in the league.

- Andy Katz provides a player-by-player breakdown of the U.S World University Games squad

- A fantastic-read on how Montgomery County, MD (I'm MoCo 4Life) has prevented the University of Maryland from becoming great at basketball

- Andre Drummond made his decision yesterday, and decided to.... transfer to another prep school (You want pay-pay-for-play? well, we got players who can't even make decisions without holding press conferences. #bollocks)

- The guys at Basketball Prospectus put together an interesting-read about the average age of first-time head coaches

- The NCAA wants to trim some pages off the current rule book

- The TV schedule for the Big East/SEC Challenge was released

- The Governor's Holiday Hoops Classic will tip-of for the first time in 2011 featuring four of the best programs in the state of Virginia

- Former Fab-5 member Jimmy King was arrested on Wednesday for failing to pay more than $17,000 in child support

- Wisconsin-Milwaukee guard Kaylon Williams was arrested on suspicion of DUI charges. He was chased down by a K-9 unit. Bad move running from a police dog, Kaylon.

- USC reserve forward Curtis Washington is likely to miss the entire season because of a torn labrum

- South Carolina's Bruce Ellington wants to be a two-sports star.

- According to a former-Tennessee assistant, poor legal counseling led to the violations that were brought against the school

- The ex-wife of former-Kansas athletic official Ben Kirtland is being sued by federal prosecutors

- It should be interesting to see how Ken Bone and the Washington State Cougars handle life without Klay Thompson

- A nice preview of Vanderbilt's non-conference schedule

- The Thunderbirds of Southern Utah will embark on their final season in the Summit League before joing the Big Sky Conference in 2012-2013. TheSpectrum.com provides a look back at the T-Bird's Summit League tenure (This is arguably the first time Southern Utah has ever found it's way into The Morning Dump)

- This final link has absolutely nothing to do with basketball, but if you are a guy between the age of 18-35, you will enjoy it
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Allan Chaney's career in doubt

Allan Chaney's college career may be over.

Virginia Tech announced earlier today that the former four-star recruit was not medically cleared to play due to "continued complications from a cardiac condition", diagnosed as myocarditis. According to Wikipedia, myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle stemming from an infection that can lead to passing out -- as happened to Chaney back in April of 2010 -- or a fatal arrhythmia.

"Allan Chaney has been through a great deal in the last year and a half," head coach Seth Greenberg said in a statement. "Everyone involved in our basketball program feels for him. Unfortunately, this rare condition will prevent him from continuing his career here at Virginia Tech. We will do everything in our power to assist Allan as he goes through his next procedure and support him in every way possible."

There is no doubt that this is a sad day for Chaney, who averaged 3.0 ppg and 2.1 rpg as a freshman at Florida in 2008-2009 before transferring to Tech. And it should be. Unless he makes the decision to transfer and try and convince a different school to clear him medically -- as Emmanuel Negedu did before eventually having his career end at New Mexico -- Chaney's basketball career is over.

And while I know he doesn't see it now, this is actually a good thing.

Just ask the friends and family of Hank Gathers. Or Reggie Lewis. Or Jeron Lewis. This hits close to home for me; a high school friend of mine died as the result of sudden cardiac arrest.

Playing with this heart problem is extremely dangerous. There is so much more to life than just hoops. Basketball isn't worth dying over.
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UPDATE: Andre Drummond to make a decision today, will marketability factor in?

UPDATE: Drummond has made his decision. Adam Finkelstein (we told you!) broke the news this afternoon that Drummond will be heading to Wilbraham and Monson for another year of prep school. He also got a top five from Drummond -- UConn, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, and West Virginia -- but rest assured that Drummond will not be spending any time on a college campus.

I still believe what is written below. Let's go ahead and say that we think Drummond made a bad decision.

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The Andre Drummond saga will, in all likelihood, end today.

Andy Katz confirmed an earlier report that Drummond will be making a decision at some point today. What that decision is, however, no one seems to know. Adam Zagoria is reporting that Drummond's plan is to return to St. Thomas More. Jeff Borzello tweeted that he believes Drummond will either end up paying his own way at UConn or head to Wilbraham and Monson, another prep school in the Northeast. (Its a virtual certainty that Adam Finkelstein will be the first to know the answer, so follow him on twitter if you are into that breaking news stuff.)


As Mike DeCourcy wrote in a column on Monday, college would probably be the best decision for Drummond. On the one hand, it would give Drummond a year's experience presumably (most expect him to go to UConn if he goes to college) playing under Jim Calhoun for the reigning national champs in college basketball's premiere conference. He certainly won't get worse, and there is little doubt that he will improve more than spending another year dunking on over-matched high school kids. DeCourcy also makes the point that Drummond's biggest red flag is inconsistent effort and that he is "too casual about competition." Surprising people by choosing to go to college is a good way to start erasing those doubts.

I agree wholeheartedly with everything DeCourcy says in that article, but I doubt his arguments will be convincing if presented to Drummond.

I have one that will be -- he can make more money by going to college.

I'm not referring to the money he will get in his rookie contract. Regardless of the kind of season that he has if he goes to college, Drummond is going to be drafted on his potential, which will put him somewhere in the top ten.

No, I'm talking about endorsement money. If Drummond goes pro straight from prep school, he isn't going to have a national profile. With the exception of the people that closely follow high school hoops and recruiting -- which is a minute segment of the population -- he'll be a mystery. Hell, Drummond isn't even the most high-profile player in the Class of 2012. That honor goes to the No. 1 player in the country, a high-flying and high-scoring lefty wing out in Vegas with a memorable name, Shabazz Muhammad.

For argument's sake, lets say Drummond goes to UConn. He'll be joining a team already expected to be in or around the top ten in the country, he'll help Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb form one of the most dangerous front lines in the country, and he'll make the Huskies a favorite to reach a third Final Four in four years.

People will talk about him. Fans will go out to see him play. He has a much better chance of becoming a household name by spending a year playing on ESPN and having highlights shown on Sportscenter.

That's how he'll get bigger endorsement money, by marketing himself.

Would that be enough to get him to head to college for a year?



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