College
Basketball: Preseason Refresher
The 2005-06 college
basketball season is almost here. Thank God.
For many of us, it has
been a long, long wait. For those of you who stopped paying attention after
the Final Four (and who can blame you) here are some of the highlights, and
lowlights, you may have missed over the last several months as you get ready
for another great season.
Notable Coaching Changes:
The biggest change by far
is that Bob Huggins will no longer be on the bench for
Cincinnati after 16
seasons, 399 victories and 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Low
graduation rates, and years of off-court brushes with the law – including by
Huggins himself – had taken their toll. Even after his contract was not
extended in May, Huggins saw an incoming player charged with statutory rape,
less than a month after forward Roy Bright was arrested for bringing a
concealed weapon on campus. University President Nancy Zimpher finally had
enough and demanded his resignation in August. Andy Kennedy will take over
a depleted and demoralized Bearcat squad, in their first season in the
biggest, toughest conference in the country.
Former
UNC Coach, and
coach of the year at Notre Dame, Matt Doherty will make his comeback at
Florida Atlantic. He has already amassed arguably the best freshman class in
Owl history.
In other news: Tim Floyd
will return at USC for his first full season. Former Kentucky star Travis
Ford will take over at UMass after a successful coaching tenure with Eastern
Kentucky, which nearly scored a monster upset of his alma mater in last
year’s tournament. Dave Leito leaves the Big East for the ACC (Depaul for
Virginia), and is replaced by former Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright.
Former Denver Nuggets head coach Jeff Bzdelik will take the helm at the Air
Force Academy, less than 60 miles from Denver. Rob Jeter will take the
reigns of one of the most dangerous mid-majors in America at
Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
From the “don’t unpack”
files, Horace Broadnax will walk into the train wreck known as Savannah
State, assuming the school doesn’t file for bankruptcy, and Duggar Baucom
will take over at VMI.
Coach K will be doing
more than leading his #1 Blue Devils through the ACC in 2006, he will be
representing his country as Coach of USA Basketball for the 2006 World
Championships in Japan and then, if the U.S. qualifies, the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing. To say the former West Point grad is thrilled and proud to
represent his country, and the game of basketball, in front of the world,
would be a gross understatement.
Finally, college
basketball fans everywhere will miss the ever-quotable Tom Brennan
(Vermont), as well as sure-bet Hall of Famers Gene Keady (Purdue) and Lou
Henson (New Mexico State). Thanks for the memories.
Thank God it’s Not a
Monopoly Anymore:
Over the summer,
the NCAA
agreed to a settlement with the NIT, who ironically had filed a lawsuit
claiming that the NCAA was a monopoly trying to destroy them, and had made
it impossible for the NIT to “compete.” In all, the NCAA paid out $56.5
million to be split among the five schools that run the NIT - Fordham
University, Manhattan College, St. John's University, Wagner College and New
York University (which doesn’t even have a basketball team). They also
politely informed the NIT that they haven’t been a relevant postseason
tournament since Ike was President. OK, maybe not, but you get the
idea.
Welcome to Campus! Now
Win Us a Title:
As has been the growing
trend in recent years, more and more will be expected of freshmen who have
never played a game of college basketball. Summer leagues, camps and shoe
companies scouting kids before they finish junior high school, have
basketball prodigies growing up faster, and developing quicker, then ever
before. Fans of Kansas, Memphis, Oklahoma State, and even Duke, are all
counting on kids who just went to their senior proms six months ago to lead
their teams to glory. With the NBA age limit rule now in effect, this will
also be the last year in which freshmen are on campus by choice, meaning
next year’s incoming freshmen will be even better, and have greater
expectations – particularly in Columbus, OH.
From St. Louis to Indy?
Will any of last season’s
Final Four participants be back? Gone are four NBA lottery picks from
defending champ UNC, along with three other top scorers, who will be looking
to rebuild. Also gone to the NBA are Luther Head and Deron Williams from
national runner-up Illinois, who are still grateful Dee Brown broke his foot
and pulled out of the NBA Draft. Without them, the Illini clearly are not
the same team.
However, although
Louisville lost Francisco Garcia, they gained KU transfer David Padgett, who
could be one of the top players in the Big East once he’s healthy. The
Cardinals will be tested and possibly ready for another run after they get
through their brutal schedule. Michigan State, returns four starters, and
is even better than last year’s team. They are a legit threat to return to
the Final Four for the 5th time in 8 seasons, and take home the title.
Changing of the Guard:
UConn was considered the
surefire preseason #1 for 2005-06 almost as soon as Roy Williams and company
cut down the nets in St. Louis. Then point guards A.J. Price and Marcus
Williams came up with a great way to supplement the free tuition and board
they receive as student-athletes: steal computers from their tuition-paying
classmates. Price told police he knew nothing about the thefts, until they
found incriminating text messages on his cell phone and two stolen laptops
under his bed. At least we know he’s not a criminal justice major.
Two freshmen, Craig
Austrie and Rob Garrison, will now take turns at the point, with Austrie
most likely to start. Garrison was on his way to prep school to improve his
recruiting stock when Coach Calhoun came calling this summer. Austrie
committed to unheralded UMass but reneged once Coach Lappas was fired. Now,
they will find themselves matched up with some of the best teams in the
nation at the EA Sports Maui Invitational in a few weeks.
But UConn fans have no
need to fret. While the university has suspended Price for the entire
season, it did allow their star Williams to return to the team December 17th,
and will be available to play for UConn’s Big East opener with Marquette on
January 3rd. In the meantime, once the Huskies return to the
mainland, their toughest opponents will be Pepperdine on the road and UMass
at home. So when Williams returns, even assuming the Huskies lose out in
Maui, they will be no worse than 8-2. In other words, they will be just
fine. Their star point guard will be on the court in time for conference
play, and UConn’s championship hopes will be back on track.
Welcome back Morris?
In one of the stranger
stories this off-season, Randolph Morris of Kentucky, who only played 19
minutes a game his freshman season, declared for the NBA Draft, was passed
over completely on draft night, and now will most likely be reinstated on
the Wildcat roster after a short suspension. For reasons known only to him,
Morris refused to consult with Coach Tubby Smith – who happens to have some
of the best NBA contacts in college basketball – on his decision, and then
added insult to injury by sending out his intent to declare via fax, which
Smith received along with most everyone else. It was only after being
passed over by the NBA, and finding himself in the NBDL or overseas, that
Morris wanted to make amends with his former teammates and coach.
Even once he is
reinstated, the chances of his staying in school beyond this season are
remote at best, leading UK fans to wonder whether Morris will be more
concerned about the 2006 NBA Draft in New York, than the Final Four in
Indianapolis. Will he be the team player he has promised his teammates he
will be and see increased playing time? Or will his desire to impress NBA
Scouts in the stands lead to selfish play and lack of team chemistry? Only
time will tell.
Police Scanner:
Price and Williams
weren’t the only ones who found themselves in a court rather than on it this
off-season. Kansas junior J.R. Giddens was
recently sentenced to one year probation for his role in a knife fight
outside a Kansas City bar that left six people, including himself, seriously
wounded. He has since been suspended from the Jayhawks and transferred to
New Mexico.
Tarrance Crump, a
6-foot-1 guard who transferred to Purdue from Shelton State (Ala.) Community
College, was arrested for allegedly hitting a student on campus with his SUV
and running, and is now gone for the season. Rhode Island point guard Dawan
Robinson was suspended from the team following his arrest stemming from a
bar fight. Memphis coach John Calipari dismissed guard Jeremy Hunt from the
Tigers for an undisclosed incident that fractured his hand. Tennessee
senior forward Jemere Hendrix has been dismissed from the team after being
charged with marijuana possession and driving without a license.
Former
Baylor Coach Dave Bliss, who was inexplicably fired just two years ago for
trying to frame a murdered kid to cover up his own illegalities, will be
coaching again, this time in the CBA. May the Dakota Wizards lose every
game they ever play.
Finally,
Xavier point guard Dedrick Finn was arrested for stealing his
ex-girlfriend's dog and was suspended for the team's first exhibition game.
Apparently the maximum punishment for “pug-theft” is 180 days in jail and a
$1,000 fine.
TV Guide:
In case you needed more
convincing that college basketball is fast becoming one of the biggest
sports in America, the ESPN and ABC family of networks announced that they
will be covering 475 games this season, up from a previous high of 340 last
year. ESPN even launched a new network devoted entirely to the NCAA – ESPNU.
Some of the many highlights include Texas at Oklahoma (1/28/06), Stanford at
Gonzaga (2/11/06), and, of course, North Carolina at Duke (3/4/06).
CBS will show no less
than 42 regular-season matchups on Saturdays, in addition to five conference
championships, including now the Missouri Valley Conference. Wildcat fans
will be happy - Kentucky will be featured a whopping eight times, nine if
they reach the SEC finals. In contrast, preseason #1 Duke will be televised
three times, and #2 UConn will be shown five times. The highlights are too
numerous to list, but some especially worth noting are Duke at Texas
(12/10/05), Louisville at Kentucky (12/17/05) and Villanova at UConn
(2/26/06).
