Josh Selby update

Josh Selby has been cleared by the NCAA to be on scholarship, to attend class, and to participate in practice, but he has not yet been cleared to play in games.

According to Jeff Goodman, the NCAA is looking into both academic and amateurism issues with Selby. With the growing speculation that Kansas will never be able allow Selby to suit up, Bill Self released a statement yesterday:

We have had numerous inquiries about the status of Josh Selby. The NCAA has cleared Josh to be on scholarship, attend class and practice, but he has not yet been cleared for participation. That process is ongoing. It is not uncommon for these cases to take time, as we have seen in many other cases. Of course we would prefer that this be behind us, but we respect the process and will not comment further until it is complete.

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Eric Bledsoe investigation is over

Eric Bledsoe's ordeal, if you can call it that, is over.

But that doesn't mean it has to make sense.

Friday evening, a Birmingham, AL, law firm published a report from a three month investigation into Eric Bledsoe's grades during his time in high school. The outcome? The law firm found that the teacher's reasoning for changing Bledsoe's Algebra III grade was "not credible" (read the entire report here), but the firm couldn't find enough evidence of wrong doing. The Birmingham school board decided that the findings were not sufficient, and thus Bledsoe's grade will remain an A and his eligibility will remain intact.

In other words, the law firm believed the teacher was lying, but no one could prove it. Kentucky's Elite 8 in 2010 will live on. Kentucky fans celebrate!!!

For the rest of the college basketball world, it looks like the Wildcats -- and John Calipari -- once again got off on a technicality. And while that may be true, the issue isn't the technicality. As anyone that has seen an episode of Law And Order knows, its not about what you know, its about what you can prove. Did Bledsoe get his grades changed? Yes. Is there reason to suspect that the change was less than kosher? Yes.

But grades get changed all the time in high school. I once talked a teacher out of giving me a C in a class by agreeing to write a paper late in the year. Who is to say that Bledsoe didn't do something similar?

The bottom line is this: Eric Bledsoe was originally cleared by the NCAA. He played in the games last season. And, personally, I would rather have Bledsoe's questionable grades hold up than see Kentucky punished by having a season vacated, which has to be the dumbest punishment in the history of sports.

Now that this saga is over with, we are one step closer to being able to talk about actual basketball. REJOICE!


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The latest on Enes Kanter

Through out the entire process with Enes Kanter, John Calipari has been adamant that he believes Kanter is an amateur.

Yesterday, when talking to reporters, Calipari made it clear that he believed that Kanter's team from Turkey simply wanted him back, which is what that team's GM made the comments he did to Pete Thamel.

"Obviously, one side wants him back," Calipari said. "There's four million reasons they want him back."

The "four million reasons" Calipari is referring to is the transfer fee that the Turkish team would receive if Kanter played in Europe. This isn't a new theory, either, as the motives behind Fenerbahce Ulker's push to get Kanter ineligible have been fairly transparent.

If Kanter does end up getting cleared by the NCAA, it isn't going to be based on the word of Coach Cal, who, I'm sure, many would tell you is not trustworthy, versus the word of a Turkish GM that clearly has an agenda. The decision is going to depend on the records. Fenerbahce gave the NCAA their records for paying Kanter, proof, so they say, that Kanter received a salary while playing in Turkey. But according to Calipari, the family kept "meticulous" notes in order to preserve Kanter's eligibility.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Calipari's press conference is that he did not even get the information correct. As Draft Express pointed out this morning, precedent says that Fenerbahce would likely receive about a $300,000 transfer fee for Kanter. In addition, Calipari said that players cannot sign a contract in Europe until they are 18, which is not true either.

Regardless of what decision ends up getting made, I think the NCAA's track record of a slow speed when making decisions like this guarantees that Kanter, who has been cleared to take classes and practice with the team, will miss some game time.

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The Austin Rivers Diary should be fun to follow, unless he doesn't pick your school

Austin Rivers committed to the Florida Gators back when he was a freshman in high school, but that didn't stop him from paying mind to the interest he was getting from schools like Duke.

Think of it as an open relationship. Rivers, who grew up about two hours from Gainesville, cared about Florida like you care about your high school sweetheart, and while s/he will always hold be special, sometimes you just need to see what else is out there.

That is exactly what Rivers, who is the consensus No. 1 player in the country, decided to do back in April when he decommitted from the Gators. Now, Rivers is the most highly sought after recruit in the country, handpicking Duke, North Carolina, and Kansas as the three schools he'll allow to be his suitors.

Not a bad group to be chased by.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this process is that Rivers will be posting a diary of his recruitment over at High School Hoop. In the first installment, Rivers talks about getting to know the coaching staffs at Kansas and North Carolina, his relationship with the Duke coaches, and the in-home visits he had will all three programs. He will also be posting about his official visits when they happen.

Interesting stuff, as Rivers provides us with a look into how an athlete handles the recruiting process.


I clearly haven't watched Rivers as much a lot of people, but based on the AAU games ESPN U broadcast and mixtapes like this, I see a lot of Jay Williams in his game.



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Friday Morning Dump

- Andy Katz notches his first must-read of the day, as he talks with Chris Mack and Herb Sendek about how the two coaches use twitter.

- The other must-read of the day? Jason King details how Jacob Pullen trimmed his beard. Well, the article is about much more than Pullen trimming his beard. Just click the link already.

- The Dagger previews the Colonial Athletic Conference. Once just a mid-major afterthought, the CAA is now a top-tier mid-major with legitimate chances of sending more than one team to the NCAA tournament. George Mason, Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth have all won a NCAA Tournament game in the past five years. VCU defeated Duke in 2007, Old Dominion defeated Notre Dame in 2010, and George Mason defeated four teams (Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and UConn) en route to a Final Four birth in 2006. Throw in rising programs like Northeastern and William & Mary, and the CAA is looking as competitive as it's ever been.

- BCS schools aren't the only programs that commit NCAA violations. Earlier in the summer it was reported that Morehead had committed NCAA infractions. Now word is out that Chattanooga was found guilty of comitting major violations, including 200 impermissible phone calls and texts to recruits. While we are on the topic of excessive phone calls, we had not yet seen this article by Ray Holloman of Fanhouse (it was written the 15th, but for some reason made its way through our reader last night). I think the term to use here is evisceration...

- Gary Parrish had a go on the topic of coaches recruiting players who probably won't end up attending their school. Sometimes, players don't want to say "no" because they like feeling wanted, and sometimes it's because coaches don't want to admit defeat. Some coaches will take their losses and bow out, others, covered by a veil of stubborness, will continue to press on, not willing to realize that their ship has sailed. To be fair, one could argue that is exactly what Sean Miller did with LeBryan Nash's recruitment.

- If you thought John Calipari-coached teams have a high rate of turnover, you clearly know nothing about Hutchinson Junior College. The team, coached by Steve Eck, won 27 games last year and reached the postseason semifinals. Jeff Goodman explains how the expectations have been raised despite having just three returning players from last year's squad.

- A 7'2" tuba player at LSU will be walking on the basketball team.

- It's no secret that the NCAA makes decisions at a glacial pace. Some feel that the due process is due for an update overhaul. Using the case of Brad Kelleher's eligibility as an example, the people at CAAhoops.com prove their point.

- LeBryan Nash is not the only Arizona recruit to be cancelled on. Detroit Coutry Day star Amir Williams was scheduled to have an in-home visit from the Wildcats on Thursday, but it has been postponed, thus solidifying the fact that Sean Miller and company have over-recruited.

- Sidney Lowe isn't on the hot seat right this minute, but if he can't win with the group he has in Raleigh this year, it might be about that time, right?

- What is up with your hair?

- Last season Gonzaga recieved an immediate impact from freshman Elias Harris. Now, while the Zags don't exactly have another Harris in their freshman class, if you are looking for a player (or two) to provide an immediate spark, The Slipper Still Fits says look no further than JuCo transfer Marquise Carter and Freshman Keegan Hylan.

- Coach K believes that youth basketball in America should start using a shot clock. Mike DeCourcy details why coach K thinks it would be beneficial for budding hoopsters.

- With the season roughly five weeks away, season-preview montages are starting to pop up. I've always been a huge fan of pump-up videos. Yes the music is a bit recyled, but even after hearing it for the 100th time, it still gets me fired up. (NOTE: If you have seen any other videos for the upcoming season hit up @BIAHtheTrizzle on twitter or email contactbiah AT gmail DOT com)


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The NCAA will never allow schools to determine athlete eligibility

Jay Bilas, in typical Bilasian fashion, set the college hoops world abuzz today with the article he wrote about eligibility and the NCAA.

Bilas believes, and has argued before, that the NCAA should not have a hand in setting a baseline for determining whether or not a player is eligible to play in college.

The school you support may not choose to admit and educate Bledsoe or any student with his qualifications, but no school or association of schools should tell another autonomous institution who to admit, educate or provide a uniform. ... The NCAA should get out of the eligibility business. Its member institutions are perfectly capable of making admission and eligibility decisions on their own.

Essentially, the argument goes like this: each NCAA member institution is capable of policing themselves. If they want to accept a player with a GPA of 1.5 that scored a 500 on their SAT's because the kid is 6'7" with a jump shot and a 38" vertical, they should be allowed to. Many institutions won't stoop that low, and those that do will suffer the embarrassment. If winning basketball games is worth having an illiterate basketball team, than so be it. Its the school that looks bad, not the NCAA.

The reason we end up seeing these academic scandals is because of the baseline the NCAA sets. How many kids shared an test-taker with Derrick Rose? How many students have had their grades changed like Eric Bledsoe allegedly did? How many players spend their senior year in high school -- or a season at prep school -- fluffing up their transcript with A's and B's (eligibility rejuvenation, as one writer called it)? As Bilas says, is Bledsoe's 2.3 GPA without the changed grade really that much worse than the 2.5 GPA he had after the grade was changed?

And if the NCAA stops investigating these academic and eligibility issues, wouldn't it allow for more effort to be put into chasing down agents and coaches that pay players?

It is an interesting theory, but that's all it is and all it ever will be. Schools determining the eligibility of their own athletes will never become a reality for the same reason that the NCAA will never pay their players.

As ridiculous as it seems at times, the NCAA will continue to believe in an ideal, to believe that student-athletes at their member institutions are still students first. That the athletes are there to educate themselves while playing the sport they love. Its the same reason that the NCAA will not allow a high school prospect out of a Letter Of Intent if the previous coach leaves. As far as the NCAA is concerned, players should be choosing where they attend school based on academics, not on athletics.

If the NCAA were to give up the right to have a national standard for eligibility and allow each school at admit by their own standards, there would be institutions that would hold their own standards. But some wouldn't, and the schools that were willing to allow anyone admission would force the rest of the country to either start reducing their qualifications for admittance, or potentially be at a disadvantage athletically.

And, yes, most schools around the country would eventually drop their standards for athletes. Think about how much money a trip to a BCS Bowl is, or the revenue sharing a school gets for making the Elite 8.

More importantly, however, that eventual and unavoidable decline in academic standards would result in an outcome that goes completely against the NCAA's core mission -- to get kids educated through sport.

So while Bilas absolutely made the discussions in my twitter feed a joy to read through, his argument is, unfortunately, a moot point.


Here's what other people were saying:

• John Gasaway, Basketball Prospectus: "The incorrigible necessities of 340 member institutions playing the same sport mandate that all those teams will have to arrive at prior agreement on some procedural covenants, otherwise known as rules. The group that sets and monitors those rules will never be loved. Bilas sees what we all see: a student-athlete conceptual hybrid that at the most elite levels of college basketball is contested, unsteady, and even combustible. At the risk of oversimplification his solution might be said to be to remove the “student” element of that compound entirely. I cannot co-sign there. The exertion of bothersome academic effort to satisfy what in the abstract can be seen as arbitrary standards is doubtless inconvenient for more than one highly-sought high school recruit. That kind of exertion, however, is pretty much the quotidian alpha and omega of life off the court." (Ed. Note: This article was written in response to a previous Bilas article.)
• Gary Parrish, CBSSports: "I don't think anybody is operating under the assumption that Memphis and Stanford have the same academic guidelines. What's OK at one school isn't OK at the other, nor should it be. So why doesn't the NCAA remove itself from the equation and let Memphis and Stanford decide what's good for Memphis and Stanford in terms of academic requirements? It would put eligibility back into the hands of schools, eliminate a lot of the NCAA's biggest headaches, and make much more sense than the current system that has programs getting penalized for playing players they were initially told it was OK to play."
• Eamonn Brennan, ESPN.com: "Anyway, perhaps unfortunately -- but at least realistically -- none of this theoretical noodling matters. The NCAA isn't going to turn eligibility over to schools anytime soon. (Probably never, actually.) Which means we'll have to keep on living with the system we've got. The point is this: Even with its warts, even with its confusion, even with its ongoing "this player is eligible; oops, now he's not" frustrations ... well, things could be a lot worse. Until we can think of a plausible system that's demonstrably better -- and sorry, but allowing schools to admit whomever they please to play sports is not that -- nothing much is going to change. More importantly, it shouldn't."

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Maryland's Gary Williams wants players to be paid

Gary Williams is a well-respected man in the collegiate coaching ranks.

He's been in the business for 32 years at this level, the last 22 with Maryland. He's been to Final Fours and won a national title. He's had many all-americans and sent numerous players to the NBA. He knows what he is talking about.

And what he was talking about yesterday, on a sports radio show in Baltimore, was the prospect of paying players in the revenue sports a stipend of about $200 a month.

Gary Williams thinks college basketball players should get a small monthly stipend.
(photo credit: Shell Games)

"These guys don't receive anything except room, board, books, tuition and fees, which doesn't put any cash in their pockets," Williams said. "And some of these guys are pretty poor coming here, and a lot of college students have some money -- you feel out of place, you don't feel competitive academically sometimes, and I think it could do a lot of good.

"Plus, hopefully, it would keep away some of the unscrupulous people that do hang around the great athletes, where an athlete wouldn't befriend a guy just because a guy gave him 100 bucks or something like that."

He does have a point. Last week, Charles Barkley said on the Dan Patrick Show that he took money from agents while he was in college. Not a lot, just a couple bucks here and there to be able to have something to spend. That's all Williams is suggesting here. While it won't completely cut out the agents and the runners from hanging about college campus's -- I doubt anyone will ever stop all 18-21 year olds from turning down a handout of a couple hundred bucks -- it should reduce the number of players that fall into that trap. There are a lot of kids out there that can be kept happy with enough spending money to get a new pair of Jordan's, or to get Madden 11, or to be able to afford a new one if their laptop or cell phone charger breaks.

That doesn't mean this is a fool proof plan.

Williams suggests that only the revenue-generating sports should be allowed to receive this stipend. That essentially assumes, however, that the Columbia men's basketball team generates more revenue than, say, the UConn women's basketball team or the Texas baseball team. Along those same lines, should a kid like John Wall really be getting the same stipend as the last player on American's bench when Wall himself probably generates as much revenue as the entire Patriot League?

I agree with Williams -- something needs to be done to let these kids see some of the money that they help generate. But with the NCAA holding tight to the notion of amateurism, it is going to need to be the perfect plan to get them paid.

This idea isn't perfect.

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Thursday Morning Dump

- Today's must-read comes courtesy of Paul Daugherty, a columnist for SI that writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer as well, who put together this terrific read on Mick Cronin, who is balancing the rebuilding of Cincinnati's basketball program with the rebuilding of their image.

- Duke's Kyle Singler, who is currently coming off of surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee, should be ready to go by the start of October, and could be back by the start of next week.

- ESPN's Outside The Lines did a great piece on the lives of college referees away from the court. Referees are amongst the most scrutinized of all sports-related professionals, and unlike players and coaches, who have no other "day job", some referees have to do double duty. Great stuff.

- Rutgers has been waiting for a coach like Mike Rice for years. He hasn't coach a single game, yet he seems to be doing everything right so far. And while we're on the topic of recruiting:

• Definitely give this Q-and-A with two of Rivals' recruiting analysts a read.
• Austin Rivers says he won't choose a school until after all of his visits, but Duke is in the lead. I could have told you that.
• Andre Drummond, the No. 1 player in the class of 2012, talks to Jeff Goodman.
  

- As if things weren't already bad enough for Oregon, it seems a given that, with three players transferring out, one leaving for pro contract, and one being ruled academically ineligible, the Duck's APR will take a serious hit. Oregon not only could face sanctions over using ineligible players, but from the APR as well if the hit drops their four year average below 925. That said, the Ducks did add a transfer yesterday in Jay-R Strowbridge.

- Its Adam Zagoria's turn to talk about the return of Sonny Vaccaro to the world of summer basketball.

- Andy Katz talked to Virgina Tech head Hokie Seth Greenberg to discuss how he will handle the change in his team's frontcourt

- Matt Norlander of The Dagger had a good Q&A session with Old Dominion big man Frank Hassell

- As we mentioned yesterday, Colorado is going to join the Pac-10 next year, as opposred to the original date of 2012. Tad Boyle, the new head coach of the Buffalo, is happy with that decision.

- Oklahoma guard Cade Davis suffered a facial fracture during a team workout last week. He is not expected to miss any games for the Sooners.

- There are quite a few players that are currently nearing the end of their high school careers with the name 'Shaquille'. Shaquille O'Neal entered the NBA in 1992, 18 years ago.

- Kentucky's "Free Enes" movement has grown way past just t-shirts. (I bet members of BBN that can't point out Kanter in a yearbook would tattoo still "Free Enes" on their chest if it meant helping out the program)

- A great study-guide to determine whether or not you are a "booster" (I'm a season ticket holder/member of an official booster club, so I've already gotten this in the mail and read over it).

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Sean Miller, LeBryan Nash, and over signing

Part of the job description of being a sports columnist is having the ability, and the cajones, to rip a sports figure -- no matter how famous and powerful they are -- when they mess up. Break the law, and Jay Mariotti will be calling for your job. (That is, if he still has one himself.) Make a mistake that costs your team wins, whether you are a coach, a front office member, or a player, and you should expect some relentless mocking at the hands of Gregg Doyel.

One of the things that really gets Doyel fired up is the practice of over signing in college sports. Twice, back in 2005 after USC hired Tim Floyd and just last month when he went after Les Miles, has Doyel spoken out against coaches that over sign recruits.

What do I mean when I say over signing?

What does an uncommitted kid like LeBryan Nash have to do with over signing?
(photo credit: Nation of Blue)

In both basketball and football, there are limits on scholarships. The rule for college basketball is that each team is only allowed to give out 13 scholarships. What many coaches do is to promise too many scholarships by signing too many incoming recruits. The assumption is that someone is going to fail to qualify, decide to go pro, or -- whether by choice or by force -- make the decision to head to another school to play basketball.

A perfect example of this is what happened to DJ Newbill at Marquette. Newbill had signed on with the school, but when former top 100 recruit and Wisconsin native Jamil Wilson decided he wanted to finish his collegiate career with Marquette, the Golden Eagles had one too many scholarship players. Newbill was the odd man out.

While we can argue all day about ethics and morals involved with over signing, I think we can all agree that this practice rests smack in the middle of the gray area between acceptable and unacceptable behavior by college coaches that are supposed to be role models for these athletes.

Do I have as big of a problem with it as Doyel does? No.

Do I recognize that it contributes to the image of college coaches as people that care more about winning and their bank account than they do about the young men and women they coach? Absolutely.

The thing to remember here is that this is big time college basketball, and the higher you climb up the athletics chain, the more cutthroat it gets. If you're not good enough, you are going to get cut. And if you are the odd man out when a coach over recruits, than odds are pretty good you aren't good enough to play at that school. I think this summer has made it pretty clear that coaches go well out of their way -- and well beyond the NCAA rule book -- in order to get talent on their roster.

Is it fair? Not really. Does it suck for that kid? Absolutely. I've been there before. It hurts. But I will say this -- if you are good enough to be offered a scholarship to a major conference program, than you are good enough to get a free education at a school that plays in a lesser conference. Take Newbill -- he's currently on scholarship at Southern Miss. Its not the Big East, but he's still playing in a good conference and getting a free education. Things could be worse.

I'm bringing this up because of news that came out of Arizona today.

LeBryan Nash is one of the top ten players in the class of 2011. At 6'7", 230 lb, Nash is arguably the most physically gifted player in the class. He's strong, he's athletic, and he's fearless attacking the rim, which makes him a load to handle inside. But Nash has also developed enough of a perimeter game that most recruiting services consider him a small forward.

That's just a long-winded way of saying that Nash is the kind of player that every coach in the country wants on their roster.

Except, apparently, Arizona.

Sean Miller asked a top ten recruit not to come on an official visit.
(photo credit: AZStarNet)

Why?

Because Sean Miller has already promised too many scholarships for the 2011-2012 season -- 11 scholarship players will return while Miller and his staff have already accepted commitments from Josiah Turner, Nick Johnson, and Sidiki Johnson. Keep in mind, the Wildcats only have 12 scholarships to give out as they lost one due to violations from when Lute Olson was the head coach.

Adam Zagoria reported today that Arizona coaches called Nash's AAU coach and asked Nash not to come on his official recruiting visit. What makes this all the more surprising is that Nash was actually interested in the Wildcats. Oklahoma State is his favorite, but Nash told Zagoria that if everything went well with his visit to Arizona, they "might be matched up with Oklahoma State."

Miller deserves some praise here. He declined the official visit from Nash because he has already over signed for the 2011-2012 season. The Wildcats are operating under the assumption that star sophomore Derrick Williams will be turning pro after the season, and its reasonable to expect at least one player to transfer out of the program after the season. Its the right thing to do, especially from a public relations perspective.

That said, most believe that Arizona is not currently in Nash's top three. Its not worth the hurt feelings and the potential for burned bridges by recruiting over players -- players that could be essentially forced out of the program -- for a kid that doesn't appear likely to come and could very well be a one-and-done guy if he does.

Its a smart move by Miller.

I don't know if I would necessarily do the same thing if I was in his shoes.

Miller's already over signed. One player currently on a scholarship at the school is either going to get the hint, or be shown the hint, that he won't be getting playing time at Arizona if he stays. The kids at the end of the bench already know that they could potentially be on the chopping block.

How much more damage would Miller really do by pursuing another top recruit, one that could potentially be the best in the class?

Does the risk of continuing to recruit Nash outweigh the gains of landing Nash?

(For what its worth, Arizona hasn't exactly said they are done recruiting Nash, either. They simply asked him to postpone his visit until the spring semester.)

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Colorado to leave the Big XII after this year; the Big XII's schedule will be the toughest in the country

On Tuesday, the Big XII announced that Colorado will, in fact, be leaving the conference after the 2010-2011 season, joining the Pac-10 as of July 1st, 2011. To do so, Colorado must pay the Big XII $6.863 million. Nebraska, who will also be leaving the Big XII at the same time to join the Big Ten, will be paying the conference $9.255 million, a number that will drop to $8.755 million should they make a BCS bowl.

As far as Big XII basketball is concerned, the conference is jettisoning two of the worst programs. Nebraska finished last in the league in 2009-2010, while Colorado has traditionally been near the bottom, although they should actually be able to compete for a tournament spot this season.

That means that next year the Big XII will be able to play a true round-robin conference schedule.

Think about that. For the remaining Big XII members, every season they get Kansas twice. They get Kansas State twice. They get Baylor and Texas and Missouri twice. Hell, even Iowa State, the leagues only remaining pushover traditionally, will be adding Chris Allen and Royce White in 2011.

As far as I'm concerned, the Big XII will be the toughest conference to play in come 2011.

I'm not saying it will be the best conference, mind you. It was away too early to make a prediction like that. All signs indicate that the Big Ten, the Big East, and the ACC will be very good that year as well, we don't know who leaves for the NBA after this season, and a number of big-time recruits are still deciding on where they will attend college.

But the Big XII's league schedule will be brutal. Let's say that six teams make the NCAA Tournament from the Big XII in 2011-2012, and two more are in tournament contention. That means that even if you are one of those teams that made the tournament, 14 of your 18 league games will be against quality opponents. Its worse for the teams out of tournament contention, as they will play 16 of their 18 leagues games against very good competition.

Now I will admit that it is a bit optimistic to think that six teams from a Big XII as tough as this can make the dance, but look at the programs that are left. Who from that group can you write off?

Iowa State, sure. Texas Tech? Well, they were in tournament contention for much of last season and have been to two dances in the last six years. Oklahoma? They made an Elite 8 in 2009 before last year's collapse. Texas A&M? Oklahoma State? Those teams have routinely made the tournament the last few years.

The Big East is loaded, but they are also top heavy. There are usually at least four or five teams at the bottom of the league with no chance of going to the tournament. And, with 16 teams in the league, you only play home-and-home's with three teams. For the most part, you only get the Syracuse's and Villanova's and Georgetown's once a year.

The same can be said for the ACC, or the Big Ten.

I'm not here to argue that the Big XII is going to be the best conference, but its schedule will be the toughest to play.

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Wednesday Morning Dump

- Offseason Dana O'Neil is always a must-read. Her article yesterday was on James Dickey, the new head coach at the University of Houston.

- Despite having a coaching staff with mostly just East Coast connections, Boston College is doing a rather good job recruiting players from across the country. This isn't the first time the Eagles have struck it big on the West Coast, either. Sean Marshall, Craig Smith, and Jared Dudley were all Cali natives.

- Mike Rice keeps adding to his recruiting haul at Rutgers. With talents like Kadeem Jack, Myles Mack, and Derrick Randall already committed to the Scarlett Knights, Rice added Jerome Seagears to the mix last night.

- Jeff Goodman caught up with Kim English yesterday.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=ad6d016a-55a9-45a2-9094-52c0e7e18d4d" target="_new" title="">Chatting with English</a>

- We did as well. We compared Kimmie to a cyborg, because the kid never sleeps. Apparently, even cyborgs take impromptu naps.


- Really interesting stuff here on what Pitino was going through during the end of the 2009 season, a season which saw Louisville become the Big East champs and make a run to the Elite 8 all while he was dealing with threats from Karen Sypher.

- Turner Broadcasting got the digital rights to all 88 NCAA championships, March Madness On Demand.

- With Virginia Tech's front court depth being shredded by injuries and illnesses, Seth Greenberg says his team is going to depend more on their back court, and he is not worried about missing the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season. Good thing his back court -- Malcolm Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson -- is stacked.

- Bobby Gonzalez will be speaking at the five-star camps. Eamonn Brennan's take on it is pretty funny.

- A solid list of ten players who could potentially have breakout years in the Big Ten. We agree on Jordan Taylor.

- Ever wonder what it's like to recruit players to a mid-major? Rush The Court picked the brains of eight "mid-major" coaches. If you have the time, this is a fantastic-read.

- Jeff Goodman explains why the expectations at Oregon State are a bit more normal this year.

- Austin Rivers sets his date to visit Kansas.

- Tubby Smith and Minnesota got some good news. The money they owe to former Oklahoma State assistant coach Jimmy Williams for Smith falsely representing that he had the power to hire Williams has been reduced to $1 million from $1.25 million.

- Andy Katz caught up with cancer survivor Dave Rose, the BYU head coach.

- Dion Sims, a forward for Michigan State that also played on the football team, was arrested for allegedly taking part in the theft of $158,000 worth of lap tops.

- Texas State and UT-San Antonio will meet with WAC officials next week to consider the two schools for conference membership.

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Oregon basketball loses another player

Oregon's offseason just got worse, which is saying something considering their summer was about as bad as it gets.

First, Ernie Kent was fired after struggling through another disappointing season. After seeing what seemed like every single coach in the country turn down the position -- despite having gobs of money thrown at them -- Dana Altman decided to finally take the job 41 days later. The uncertainty resulted in the transfer of Drew Wiley, Josh Crittle, and Matt Humphrey, and they nearly lost Malcolm Armstead as well. Throw in some injuries, and Altman was forced to cancel a team trip to Europe.

That wasn't the end of the defections. Michael Dunigan left and headed to Israel, which happened to correspond to Oregon acknowledging that they are investigating the eligibility of several former players, including Dunigan.

And now?

Senior LeKendric Longmire, who may be best known for being on the receiving end of this aerial assault by Russell Westbrook, looks like he will be ineligible this season due to academics. Oregon is now down to just eight players.

The ironic part in all of this?

In 2007, Altman accepted the Arkansas job, reneging 24 hours later after finding out how much of a mess the program was.

I wonder how many times that thought has crossed his mind over the last five months.

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Demetrius Walker illustrates the problems with scouting at a young age

In 2005, the next LeBron James was supposed to be Demetrius Walker.

Remember him? Ever heard of him?

No?

Well, I don't blame you. Because unless you remember an article from Sports Illustrated back in 2005 or you follow the Pac-10 pretty closely, the name Demetrius Walker probably means nothing to you.

As a 14 year old, Walker was widely considered the best eighth-grader in the country. He was bigger than everyone else, he was stronger than most high school seniors, and he was athletic enough that 360 dunks were easy. He was taken under the wing of Joe Keller, an AAU coach out in Southern California that was looking to ride the gravy train of the next Kobe Bryant.

Demetrius Walker will finish his collegiate career at New Mexico.
(photo credit: ASU.edu)

But Walker never hit the growth spurt. the 6'3", 175 lb eighth grader headed to Arizona State as a 6'3", 195 lb freshman. Now, a scholarship to play in the Pac-10 is nothing to shake a stick at. If your ability to play a sport means that you can get a free education, than you are pretty darn good at that sport.

Walker wasn't just supposed to play the sport, however. He was supposed to be a star. He was supposed to be one of the kids that uses college as a layover to the NBA. He wasn't supposed to see time in just 23 games, to only start a single game, and to average just four points for a team that was in the middle of the pack in a bad Pac-10. He wasn't supposed to be the kid that was forced to transfer because he couldn't crack the rotation and was being recruited over.

Why do I bring this up now?

George Dohrmann, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, has spent eight years getting to know Walker and Keller. And on October 5th, his book -- Play Their Hearts Out -- chronicling those eight years will be released. This week's SI will feature an excerpt from the book.

Five years after the nation's preeminent sports magazine crowned him the heir to the basketball throne, Walker will be returning to SI in an excerpt from a book that chronicled his fall from superstardom. The book's release and the publication of this week's SI also happen to correspond to the year that Walker is sitting out at New Mexico as a redshirt.

Ironic, ain't it?

This is why I have always been against the recruitment and analysis of kids before they reach high school. Why? Because they are still kids. They are children. Very few 14 year old males have hit puberty, or hit their growth spurt. The ones that have -- the kids that develop early and get their strength, their athleticism, their size, and their five o'clock shadow while still in middle school -- tend to be the ones that dominate at the level.

Demetrius Walker in just one example.

How about Taylor King? The one time UCLA commit and former Duke Blue Devil and Villanova Wildcat is now playing at an NAIA school now. Or maybe Derrick Caracter? Once considered the best prospect in the country, Caracter loafed his way out of Louisville, needing to resurrect his career at UTEP for the right to fight for a roster spot at the end of the Laker's bench.

Walker is a tremendous athlete that will become a college graduate for free while competing at one of the highest levels of the sport. He is far from a failure.

But I wonder how many people few him that way?

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Kim English eats, sleeps, and breathes basketball

We all remember those t-shirts that said "Eat, Sleep, Play basketball." All the cool kids at basketball summer camp wore them (me), even the ones that weren't all that good (me again). And while I've always been a basketball junkie, be it my ten year old self that proclaimed it with a t-shirt or the 25 year old version that promotes an addiction through the intrawebs, my love for the game pales in comparison to the devotion of Missouri's Kim English.

The Tiger's leading scorer last season, English is renowned for his work ethic. Nothing keeps him out of the gym. Not the need to sleep in a bed -- he's made a habit of dragging a leather recliner into the Mizzou Arena locker to sleep on. Not even the flu could keep English at home.

"I'm actually watching them play pickup now," English told us this afternoon over the phone. "I'm on the [stationary] bike. I'm sick right now, I got the flu. But I couldn't actually not come to the gym, so I'm watching them play on the bicycle."

He's not kidding either.


There were more than a handful of times during our chat when English stopped a train of thought to yell instructions or words of encouragement to his teammates.

That's impressive, considering English sounded more clogged up on the phone than Billie Joe Armstrong.

For English, dedication and hard work have never been a problem.

"When I started playing when I was 13 I wasn’t good at all," English said. "I just could shoot, I could always shoot. But my father told me if I wanted to be good, I would have to work. Whether it was the playground or the gym, I just always outworked people. I knew that, honestly, when I started playing I wasn’t the most talented but I knew I would outwork guys. I’m confident, but my confidence comes from my preparation."

"I just know that if websites, or anybody, or the numbers say a guy is better than me, I’m going to put in the work to prove that I’m better than him."

Saying you want to work hard and want to reach your full potential is one thing. Actually putting in the work is a different story. It takes countless hours of busting your ass in the weight room and the pain threshold to bang out those last two squats when you're an hour into a plyometrics workout. It requires the patience to do the 10 or 20 or 100 reps it takes to perfect a new move, and the commitment to spend untold hours alone, in a gym, putting up jumpers and dribbling a basketball.

Everyday.

And based on what English's schedule was like this summer, he must be part cyborg. The young man apparently does not need to sleep. His day started before the newspaper is thrown on your stoop, with an alarm clock that says "National Champions, 2011" rousing him at 4:50 am. Then after some breakfast, and maybe even a nap, it was time to break down film -- classic games, old Missouri game tapes, even youtube highlight videos of guys like Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, and Steph Curry, the pros that English tries to model his game after -- before heading back to the gym for his second workout of the day. After another break in the afternoon, English was back in the gym, either playing pick-up or getting in a late-night workout.

It would start over again the next morning.

At 4:50 am.

I'm exhausted just typing that.

And this was his summer "vacation".


English's father may have planted the seed of the benefits of hard work, but it was the words of an assistant coach that helped English's work ethic bloom, allowing him to blossom into the player he is today.

"He said your talent gets you to the level you play at," English said. "Your hard work gets you on the court. Your commitment and consistency will take you to the elite. I know I'm good enough, I know I work hard enough, I know I'm going to play."

"The next step is to work and try to perfect my craft. To be the best player I can be."

English took a big step towards that goal last season, taking advantage of an expanded role in Missouri's offense and seeing his scoring average jump from 6.5 ppg as a freshman to 14.0 ppg as a sophomore. His game centers around his jump shot, a stroke that is about as pretty as you will see at this level. As Draft Express puts it, his jumper is the most NBA-ready skill in his arsenal.

Being the leading scorer for a Big XII team that won 23 games and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament is impressive, but English has not yet come close to his ceiling. As his ball-handling improves and he becomes more comfortable as a slasher, English will only see his draft profile get stronger.

On the court, there is still plenty of room for English to grow.

I'm not so sure the same can be said for English off the court.

Rudyard Kipling was one of the most popular writers of the 19th and 20 centuries. In 1907, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first English language writer to win the award. To date, he is still the youngest person to ever receive a Nobel Prize in Literature. Among Kipling's most famous works is the poem "If". "If" is particularly popular among the British, and one of the poem's lines is written above the player's entrance of Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Now, I wouldn't blame you if you've never heard of this poem, or Rudyard Kipling, before.

I have.

The last time we wrote about English, it was because of a series of tweets he posted, taking lines from "If" and relating them to basketball. It was impressive, to say the least. English, who was introduced to poerty by former teammate Zaire Taylor and learned about "If" from Missouri football player Wes Kemp, reads the poem every day when he wakes up.

Its not often that you come across a college student, let alone a star athlete, that dabbles in 19th century British poetry.

Kim English may never make it in the NBA. Professional sports are a fickle business, and unfortunately there are quite a few talented athletes in every sport that never get a chance to showcase what they can do.

Few things in the world of sports are a certainty.

But does anyone want to bet against English working his way to the league?

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Tennessee's self-reported violations revealed

Late last night, Dana O'Neil broke the news that ESPN.com had obtained documents that show the violations that Tennessee self-reported to the NCAA. (To read them, click this link for a PDF file.)

In those documents, almost 100 impermissible phone calls were made by Pearl and his staff over a two year period, including 44 (39 by Tony Jones and five by Pearl) to a recruit currently on the Tennessee roster. In addition, a previously unreported violation was revealed:

The university admitted that assistant coach Jason Shay approved lodging expenses for the parents of three recruits, who were en route to Knoxville for official visits, and that those three recruits each were allowed visits that extended beyond the NCAA mandate of 48 hours.

Four player's currently on the Tennessee roster had their names redacted in the document, but there was quite a talented group of players -- Elliot Williams, Chris Singleton, Josh Selby, Rico Pickett, Aaron Craft, Griffin McKenzie, and Justin Martin -- whose names were kept in the documents.

The thing to keep in mind here is that none of this information is new. Tennessee knew about these violations, handing down some initial sanctions earlier this year -- including reductions in recruiting hours and the like -- and last month, once it was revealed that Pearl lied to NCAA investigators, bringing the hammer down on the coaching staff's wallets.

Hell, the public knew about most of this information already. These documents, simply put, give us specifics.

And the specifics aren't terrible. Pearl and his staff were found to have made less than 100 impermissible calls, which is about the same number that cost Kelvin Sampson his job at Indiana. The difference is that Sampson was a repeat offender, losing the gig at Oklahoma for some 577 impermissible calls he made while with the Sooners.

But, as has been reported over the last two weeks, the issue for Pearl is not that he committed violations, but that he lied about them when the NCAA had him caught red-handed.

Seeing these documents really must irk Vol fans. These violations are relatively minor.

But an epically failed attempt at a cover up could cost them their beloved head coach.

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Tuesday Morning Dump

A lot of great stuff for you today:

- Today's first must-read comes from Luke Winn, who was able to catch up with Bruce Pearl at a coaching clinic in New York over the weekend. Winn was able to get Pearl to admit that he hopes his violations don't cost him his job. The best part of the article? Winn says Pearl's phone calls were at a "sub-Sampsonian" level. Priceless.

- Today's must-read part two comes courtesy of Gary Parrish, who apparently spent the weekend in Chapel Hill. For a long time, I was under the impression that Tyler Zeller was always injured because he didn't drink enough milk. But according to Parrish, he just has horrible luck.

-Today's third must-read comes from David Steele over at Fanhouse. We all know about the tragedy that Andre Dawkins suffered last season, as his sister was tragically killed in a car crash on the way to see him play a game. Steele caught up with Dawkins, who decided not to transfer out of Duke and closer to his Virginia home. Terrible story, terrific read.

- Its interesting the way things work out sometimes. Tu Holloway wasn't even supposed to be at Xavier. The Musketeers took no interest in recruiting the kid that went to high school in Cincinnati, as they already had two point guards on their roster. But when it became clear that Mark Lyons could end up ineligible as a freshman, Xavier coach Chris Mack reached out to Holloway. Now? Holloway is arguably the Muskies most important player.

- According to Andy Katz, the University of Denver is looking to impress the powers-that-be at the WAC. Denver, a reasonably-small University with a prolific hockey program and a handful of recognizable alumni (Ex. Condeleeza Rice) has no business being in the Sun Belt Conference. With BYU jumping ship to the WCC, the WAC remains the only suitable conference for the Pioneers to enter. While it is still a long-shot to happen, one thing is for certain: they don't belong in the Sun Belt.

- How many coaches would allow their players to throw them into a pool? Maybe this is why Josh Pastner is giving John Calipari and Thad Matta a run for the title best recruiter in college basketball?

- Jeff Goodman details the tough questions facing Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury. One thing is certain in Starkville right now: there is a lot of uncertainty.

- Eamonn Brennan on Arizona's ability to recruit despite self-imposed sanctions. Speaking of Arizona, Jeff Goodman details the relationship between head coach Sean Miller and his younger brother/assistant coach Archie Miller.

- RTC's Andrew Murawa with some interesting stuff of mid-major recruiting.

- Adam Zagoria reports that Jay Wright is going to be using a much bigger lineup this year.

- Jimmer Fredette's dad camped outside the ticket office in order to get extra tickets for his son's homecoming game at Vermont. BYU scheduled the game last year to take place in Glen Falls, NY the hometown of Fredette.

- Last month Bob Huggins took to the dais for a charity roast in his name, and this past week was Bob Knight's turn to be roasted. The Dagger provides us with the top-10 lines from the event. My favorite: "We used to go have a beer after Big Ten meetings. After a while, the bartender would ask Bob to leave so they could start happy hour." Oh, and if Indiana fans ever thought Knight would forgive the school, think about this -- he still holds a grudge against a rival from high school 50 years ago.

- A good-read from bluegrass country on why Eric Bledsoe/Kentucky may not have to vacate last season's victories.

- Lorenzo Romar and the Washington Huskies have set the recruiting trails on-fire this off-season, and now we have word that 2012 point guard Andrew Andrews has committed to UW. (You can guarantee to see Andrews on the 2012 B.I.A.H All-Name-Team)

- Some news and notes regarding personnel issues at various schools.

- Jeremy Hollowell, a top-50 recruit in the class of 2011 who was being targeted by Ohio State and Indiana, will wait a year before deciding on his college career.

- Rajon Rondo held a 1-on-1 Tournament on Alcatraz. (Insert your "Longest Yard", "Victory" and "Undisputed" jokes here)
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Austin Rivers eliminates Florida

On Thursday, Scout.com's Evan Daniels reported that Austin Rivers, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the class of 2011, was down to just three schools -- Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina.

"Those are the three schools I'm going with right now," Rivers told Daniels. "I'm planning to visit all three."

Missing from that list? Florida, the school just two hours away from his Winter Park, FL, home that Rivers committed to as a freshman in high school. While Rivers is one of the bet pure scorers to come out of high school in recent years, the Gators likely will be fine in the back court come 2011. Bradley Beal, a top ten recruit nationally, is still headed to Gainesville, Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario will become eligible, and Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker still have plenty of eligibility left.

And, uh, yeah ... Rivers is good:




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Hikeem Stewart commtment to Washington has a backstory

About two weeks ago, Hikeem Stewart committed to play his college basketball at Washington.

This alone shouldn't come as a surprise. Stewart is a borderline top 100 recruit that plays his high school basketball at Rainier Beach in Seattle, one of the best high school programs in the country that has produced talents like Doug Christie, Jamal Crawford, Terrence Williams, and U-Dub's own Nate Robinson.

An athletic combo-guard in the class of 2011, Stewart should fit in nicely with this Lorenzo Romar's Washington team.

Hikeem Stewart is headed to Washington.
(photo credit: Seattle Times)

That said, his commitment was still a surprise to many, but not because of anything Hikeem did.

Hikeem is the younger brother of twins Lodrick and Rodrick Stewart. Both initially enrolled at USC in 2003, but Rodrick eventually transferred to Kansas, where he won the 2008 national title. Their path to USC wasn't the simplest, however. The Stewarts, who were members of a loaded Rainier Beach team during their high school days (it also included Terrence Williams, Nate Robinson, and former Kansas Jayhawk and Oregon State Beaver CJ Giles), were both being recruited fairly heavily by Romar. But, as detailed in this 2002 article from the Seattle Times, Romar pulled his scholarship offers off the table once he received a commitment from Tre Simmons.

The main reason for Romar pulling the offer is that the Stewarts were a package deal, and he only wanted to use two of the four scholarships he had available for that class on perimeter players. But another reason was that part of the Stewart package was Bull Stewart, their father.

This is where the story gets a bit strange. A reporter for the Seattle Times went to a game that the twins were playing back in 2002 and got the scoop on their commitment to USC. But Bull Stewart had already promised a Seattle TV station an exclusive on the twins' college announcement. So he called the reporter, lied to her, and got the twins to lie as well, telling her that the two were actually committing to Washington, who wasn't recruiting them anymore.

That didn't stop Hikeem from choosing his hometown school. In fact, the twins supported Hikeem's decision to pick UW.

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Monday Morning Dump

- Today's must-read comes from Seth Davis, who profiled the Hurley brothers at Wagner.

- Must-read part-two: Dana O'Neil on Gene Keady joining Steve Lavin's team.

- Gary Parrish has an interesting take on the Bruce Pearl situation. Parrish says that Pearl's biggest mistake wasn't necessarily lying, it was lying about something that wouldn't have cost him his job. We tend to agree. If the punishment for lying about the violation isn't as bad as the punishment for the violation itself, then covering it up makes sense. In this case, Pearl's punishment for lying will be much worse. Its not worth it. His Five for Friday column addresses some of the questions stemming from that column.

- An update on Ed O'Bannon's case against the NCAA. It seems like things are going fairly well.

- If Sean Miller continues to recruit like he has been, Arizona will not be down for long. Over the weekend, Miller snagged a commitment from Josiah Turner, the No. 2 point guard in the class of 2011. He joins Findlay Prep teammate Nick Johnson and 6'9" Sidiki Johnson in Miller's 2011 class. Turner wasn't the only player to commit this weekend. Sam Thompson popped for Ohio State. Adam Zagoria has an extensive list of the kids that announced their college intentions.

- Tyshawn Taylor, who was asked to get off facebook by Kansas head coach Bill Self as a result of some of the messages he posted when the Jayhawk football and basketball teams got into fights last year, has been allowed to return to facebook.

- Things are looking good for Coach K, who is back from Turkey after winning the gold in the World Basketball Championships.

- Clarifying the waiver process for transfers.

- Sticking with Sean Miller, the AZ Star had this column on Miller's rebuilding role with the Wildcats. And this was before Turner's commitment.

- The Pitt Panthers are predicting a Final Four run. They won't be the only ones to make that prediction this year.

- BYU is traveling to upstate New York to play Vermont, and it looks like the arena is going to be packed.

- Tom Izzo said that the choice to pass on the Cleveland Cavs was the toughest decision of his life.

- Kentucky and Louisville are both involved with the late Melvin Turpin's son.

- The locations for ESPN U's coverage of Midnight Madness have been announced.

Bob Knight was roasted last night:









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Rankings the Big Mondays

I'll be honest.

I love Big Monday. Maybe its because I grew up in Big East country. Maybe its because I have an awkward love for color commentary of Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery. Maybe its because I am the only person in the country that thinks Brent Musberger and Bobby Knight are entertaining as announcers. Maybe its because something needs to fill the void of Monday Night Football.

Or maybe its because I simply adore starting off my week with two big-time matchups, which just so happen to be the only games of significance each and every Monday. If you can't get excited for Big Monday, then we can't be friends anymore. Sorry. The door's over there.

I have a point to all of this (I swear).

On Thursday, the Big East released their Big Monday schedule. The Big XII announced their portion back in July, which means that I now know exactly how I will be spending each and every Monday in January and February.



Hit the jump to see our rankings of which Big Mondays we are looking forward to the most:

(Ed. Note: We aren't including the first three weeks in our rankings. If we were, they would be at the bottom. Two games are always better than one.)

1. January 17th: Villanova @ UConn; Kansas State @ Missouri; Syracuse @ Pitt; Kansas @ Baylor

I mean, isn't this obvious? The 17th is Martin Luther King, Jr., day, and what better way to celebrate your Monday off from work than eight solid hours of Big East and Big XII hoops? The day tips at 3:30pm (all times EST) with Villanova heading to UConn. Now, the Huskies are going to be down this season, but they still have Kemba Walker who will need to have a big game against Villanova's loaded back court. The good news for UConn is that the game will, in fact, be played at Gampel Pavilion, their on-campus arena, as opposed to the Hartford Civic Center. The other MLK Day Big East game will be one of the best of the season. Pitt and Syracuse, along with Villanova, are the favorites to finish atop the conference, and its by a pretty wide margin. There is a lot to like about this game, but the matchup that intrigues me the most will be Pitt's sophomore big man Dante Taylor going up against stud Syracuse freshman Fab Melo. I get the feeling NBA scouts will like that as well.

UConn beat Nova in Philly last year.
(photo credit: Stamford Advocate)

On the Big XII side, the games will be just as entertaining. The first game pits Kansas State and Mizzou, two of the more exciting teams to watch in this league. Kansas State has a ton of size and length along their front line, but their back court is relatively inexperienced after all-american Jacob Pullen. That's not ideal considering the Tiger's 40 minutes of hell defense. Mizzou is deep, especially in the back court, with a lot athletes that really can get after it defensively. It may not be the prettiest game to watch, but it will be exciting. The night ends with Kansas heading to Waco, TX, to take on Baylor. Both the Bears and the Jayhawks have potential all-americans on their roster in LaceDarius Dunn and Marcus Morris. But they also boast two of the most-hyped recruits in the country in Josh Selby and Perry Jones.


2. February 14th: West Virginia @ Syracuse; Kansas @ Kansas State

It may be Valentine's Day, but love is rarely in the air when Kansas and Kansas State get together. The atmosphere is always fantastic when the Jayhawks enter the Octagon of Doom, and this season should be no different. Marcus Morris will have his hands full with the Wildcat front line, but the matchup that everyone will want to see is freshman phenom Josh Selby going up against senior and all-american Jacob Pullen.

Jacob Pullen and the Wildcats have a great home court.
(photo credit: USA Today)

In the early game, Bob Huggins will bring his West Virginia Mountaineers to the Carrier Dome to take on Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orange. The Orange are definitely the more talented team, with guys like Kris Joseph and Fab Melo looking like potential first round picks, but the Mountaineers are a scrappy bunch led by senior Joe Mazzulla. With Kevin Jones and Deniz Kilicli seemingly primed for big years inside, it should surprise no one if WVU gives Syracuse a game.


3. February 7th: Pitt @ West Virginia; Missouri @ Kansas

Rivalry games are what it is all about in college hoops, and these two rivalries are about as entertaining as it gets. West Virginia fans are notoriously rowdy, and the last time the Panthers came to visit, it ended with a Pitt assistant coach being hit by a coin thrown from the stands. With both teams once again loaded with physical, tough basketball players, I wouldn't be surprised if this year's installment of the Backyard Brawl ended up in an actual brawl.

Marcus Morris and Kim English will be two of the best players in the Big XII next year.
(photo credit: Statsheet)

You know a rivalry is good when it has its own nickname. Pitt-WVU is the Backyard Brawl, while Kansas-Missouri games are known as the Border War. This year, the Tigers will be traveling to the Phog to take on a very good Jayhawk team. Kansas will be playing with a freshman point guard in Josh Selby, which is never ideal when you are facing the kind of pressure that Mizzou puts on for 40 minutes.


4. February 21st: Syracuse @ Villanova; Oklahoma State @ Kansas

A late February game between two of the favorites to win a conference? Yes please! The outcome of this Syracuse and Villanova game will, in all likelihood, have a major impact on the top of the Big East standings. Villanova may not have answers for Kris Joseph or Fab Melo, but can the Orange zone contain the Wildcat's tremendous back court?

Oklahoma State travels to Kansas in the night cap. The Cowboys lost their star James Anderson to the NBA this offseason and return a young roster. Okie State does have a couple of solid post players and some young talent in their back court, but winning in the Phog is never an easy task.


5. February 28th: Villanova @ Notre Dame; Kansas State @ Texas

Texas lost quite a bit of talent, but with freshmen Cory Joseph and Tristan Thompson coming in, and Jordan Hamilton returning, there's reason to believe this Texas team could make a run at a Big XII title. Kansas State is likely a top ten team this season, which means that if the Longhorns get a couple of breaks this year, this game could end up being a fantastic way to end the Big Monday season.

Notre Dame lost a bunch of talent as well, as Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson graduated. But with guys like Ben Hansbrough, Tim Abromaitis, and Carleton Scott returning, as well as a healthy Scott Martin being added to the rotation, this Irish team may sneak up on some people. But if Villanova is in the mix for a Big East title at this point in the year, will the Irish be able to compete with a determined Villanova team?


6. January 24th: Notre Dame @ Pitt; Baylor @ Kansas State

There's an argument to be made that Jacob Pullen and LaceDarius Dunn at the two best guards in the country. Would I make that argument? Not necessarily, but I would argue that watching those two go back and forth in a game with as much size, length, and athleticism as there is on both sides of the ball in this game will be immensely entertaining.

If Notre Dame continues to play the way they did down the stretch last season, then this matchup with Pitt might struggle to hit the 50's. If Notre Dame decides to try and take more advantage of some of the offensive talent they have on their roster, it may end up being a higher-scoring affair. But will Notre Dame then be able to compete with a very good Pitt team?


7. January 31st: Louisville @ Georgetown; Texas @ Texas A&M

Both of these games are quite similar. Georgetown loses Greg Monroe, but they return a talented and experienced back court that could end up being one of the best in the country. Its part of the reason they are considered one of the four best teams in the conference. Louisville, on the other hand, lost quite a bit of senior leadership and will head into this season with a younger group of kids.

As we mentioned, Texas lost some talent, but has a solid core of young guys that will lead them. The 'Horns, like Georgetown, should be considered one of the top four or five teams in their league, while the Aggies will have lost a lot of their senior leadership.
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