Thursday Morning Dump

- Luke Winn explains why Ohio State doesn't commit fouls. Coach Thad Motta preaches a defense based on mental focus. When you can dial-it-in defensively, you end up fouling less. Interesting stuff

- Dana O'Neil with another gem (Seriously, she's the best profile-writer in the biz). This time, she details how UAB's Aaron Johnson, the NCAA-leader in assists, became a selfless-provider despite living in a family with 12 siblings and two parents who had to work like crazy to provide.

- Jeff Goodman provides an interesting look at the work schedule of some of the hardest-working men in the business. Goodman also provides a solid recap of the Humpday hardwood action

- The first RPI was released yesterday and there were a couple of head-scratchers, at least according to Jeff Goodman

- Fran Fraschilla tries to explain why the Big East is such a beast. That shouldn't be hard, right?

- Eric Angevine reminds us that Nolan Smith shouldn't be flying under the radar. Angevine also briefly discusses why Missouri, despite not having a true star-player, is ready for the Big-12 conference season to begin

- Mike Miller ponders a very interesting question: should Bruce Pearl still be coaching at Tennessee? His team has lost four out of their last six and he is about to start serving an eight game suspension for recruiting violations. Winning games always silences critics. But losing games, especially to teams like Oakland and Charleston, will amplify their thoughts

- I sincerely doubt Josh Harrellson ever thought he would be getting features written about him

- Andy Katz provides a conference primer on the better-than-expected Conference-USA

- Jeff Eisenberg details the five surprises that he saw in KenPom's Conference projections.

- Interesting stuff here from DX on Quincy Miller.

- St. John's is one of the hottest teams in college hoops right now, and it has a lot of people thinking that the NYC hoops scene is back.

- Eamonn Brennan tackles the weekly hoopsbag. He touches on Oregon State's big week, Cincinnati's unbeaten record, and the RPI

- Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus is out three games with an infected leg. If you remember, Majerus cut his leg when he tried to stop a sideline collision during the Bowling Green game

- After much speculation, the word on the street is that DeAndre Daniels will make his highly-anticipated college decision on Thursday

- It's no surprise that Rick Stansbury doesn't want to talk about the Renardo Sidney/Elgin Bailey donnybrook

- Unbeknownst to many, the Cincinnati Bearcats are still undefeated. But the players wish people gave them the respect an undefeated team should get. Well, beat some respectable opponents and I'll give you your respect

- Over the off-season the NCAA is going to assess the state of their recruiting rules and governance and make changes they see fit

- Ray Mernagh of the NBE details the improvement of Marquette's Jae Crowder

- Other than Duke, there aren't many (if any) ACC teams that garner "Must-see-TV" promotion

- An interesting look at the pre-conference-play All-Conference teams for the Big-12, courtesy of Evan Pfaff at Big XII Hoops

- Speaking of the Big-12, Jerry Trickie believes the time is now for some middle-of-the-road Big-12 teams

- A handful of arenas have gotten some much-needed facelifts in the past year or so. Purdue's Mackey Arena will be the next to see some rennovations

- Speaking of Purdue, Hammer and Rails constructed a list for Ja'Juan Johnson similar to OchoCinco's "Dulce Venganza" from a couple years back

- John Shurna, Northwestern's star player, hasn't been the same since he sprained his ankle two weeks ago. If Shurna has to sit on the bench and let it heal, who will fill in for him?

- A great scouting report on Washington State scoring-machine Klay Thompson. The son of Michael "Skywalker" Thompson is arguably the best pure-scorer in the Pac-10, but does he have pro potential?

- Fresno State's top scorer, Tim Steed may have to sit out of the Bulldogs upcoming road trip because of a severe ankle sprain

Bradley Beal, a five-star shooting guard who is headed to Florida threw down a monster-dunk on Tuesday night