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Frank Dascenzo of the Durham Herald-Sun writes that Duke will not miss NBA Draft early entrant Josh McRoberts. He discusses how they lost eleven games with McRoberts in the lineup, including defeats in the first round of both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. “The truth is McRoberts could have had most anyone hold the door for him,” Dascenzo writes. He also discusses how coach Mike Krzyzewski recruited high school star Patrick Patterson heavily because of the anticipated departure of McRoberts, and that “rumor has it Duke's basketball loyalists are more depressed about [Patterson’s decision to attend Kentucky] than McRoberts'.”

According to the Indianapolis Star, Indiana junior forward D.J. White has decided to return for his senior season with the Hoosiers and not enter the NBA Draft. "We talked about it and he told me that he really wanted to be a part of this program again next season,'' Coach Kelvin Sampson said. "He had fun this year, and he really enjoyed being on this team. And I think he looked ahead to next year and realized we have a chance to be pretty good and I just think he wanted to be part of that.'' White averaged 13.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game this past season. Sampson was looking forward to coaching White for another season. He said, “I think D.J. has the potential to be a really strong player for us next season and I'm really excited that he's going to return for another season.”

According to Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com, Purdue sophomore guard Chris Lutz has announced that he will transfer to Marshall. "I was thinking about leaving Purdue after my freshman year," Lutz said. "I just wasn't getting acquainted and initially I wanted to be closer to home. But through the process, I realized that I still wanted to play somewhere I could make the NCAA tournament." The Big Ten’s leading three-point shooter chose the Boilermakers over Xavier and Rhode Island. "Coach Jones and the rest of the staff made me feel comfortable and I just felt like I couldn't get a better person to play for," Lutz said. "His whole vision about the program is tremendous and his style of play is something I've always wanted to play." Lutz averaged 6.1 points per game this past season

In an effort to curb the most overused and played out term come March, here at HCC, we have devised a new nickname for "Cinderella". As many of you may know, Rip Van Winkle is most famous for falling asleep for 20 years in the Catskills. Rip awakens to a different world, prior to dosing off for two decades Van Winkle doesn't appreciate his life, but later realizes how good he had it and regrets his previous actions. A "Cinderella" team normally is an unexpected squad that goes on a fairy tale like run during March Madness.

However, I can't stand the glass slipper and pumpkin analogies anymore. Just stop it, please!? A "Van Winkle" team is slightly different then a "Cinderella" squad (one last time I swear). The RVW team is a slightly underappreciated group that has shown flashes at some point this season. These teams actually have a legitimate shot at making some noise in the tournament, if they wake up.

As I carefully study this year’s bracket, there are a few teams that stand out as Van Winkles or RVW, as the urban youths have been referring to it. The Demon Deacons of Wake Forest have as much athletic ability as any team in the country. They were ranked in the top 5 for most of the year but fell to #11 and grabbed a 3 seed in the Midwest bracket. If they can make it by a senior heavy Cleveland St team, Wake could see themselves in the Sweet 16 potentially matching up with Lousville.

Tom Izzo and his Spartans have endured quite a bit this year. Even with injuries, sickness and lack of a set rotation, Mich St still was able to finish 26-6. But, I don't believe they have reached their maximum potential as of yet. They could be an extremely dangerous team starting this weekend. Ironically enough, they are also in the Midwest bracket.

Other teams that fit under the RVW mold are UCLA and Purdue...Who are your Rip Van Winkles?

NOTE: The Heat Check quikcast coming soon....

This week I am doing the posts about where the players from North Carolina might be going a bit different. I looked into a lot more mock drafts and so to just put it all in one post would be way too big. Here is Lawson’s standing with these drafts (15 of them altogether). As you will see the dates of the mocks do chance, but none are older than eight days...

After 37 games it has finally arrived, the NCAA final, with top seed North Carolina (33-4) taking on Michigan State (31-6) tonight at 9:21 p.m. EST on CBS. For the Heels, they’ve finally arrived at the game that most of the so called experts had them in at the beginning of the season but then got off their bandwagon, and now are mostly back to liking Carolina. But that doesn’t matter truly, the media and experts are paid to talk about what they believe/see, but in the game of college basketball the win/loss comes on the court, and that’s that. So, the reality of all of this is pretty simple, after close to 40 games by head coach Roy Williams and his squad they now have 40 minutes to finish this journey in a way that will cap off a great four year span...

Now that the John Wall soap opera or saga or whatever else you want to call it let’s refocus on things to do with North Carolina. Head coach Roy Williams and his much different team will be starting their title defense on November 9th, when Carolina will face off against Alcorn State in the first round of the Coaches vs Cancer Classic...

Another day and another opportunity to check out some of the best talent in the country. Got a good look at Compton Magic guards Gabe York and Dominique Dunning, J.P. Tokoto, Tony Wroten Jr., Cody Zeller and many others. Full story (subscriber content) available at the link.

According to the Los Angeles Times, USC junior guard Gabe Pruitt has announced that he will sign with an agent, closing the option he had of returning to the Trojans. "I just felt that it was in my best interest to move on with my basketball career and focus fully on basketball right now," said Pruitt. "I talked it over with my family and I made the final decision. I still love the Trojan family and I still will support them as if I was still there." Pruitt, who joins fellow Trojan junior Nick Young in the official early-entry pool, averaged 12.5 points and 4.3 assists per game last season. He is projected as a late first-round pick in most mock drafts.

The NBA season has crossed the halfway point and it seems like an opportune time to evaluate the rookie class. There have been some suprises but there also has been some lackluster play. Overall, the class has performed well with a few exceptions. Being an optimist, I will begin with the positives...

The Wow Factor

Derrick Rose - Leads all rookies with 6.3 apg and has shown flashes of greatness. Rose's game is ultra smooth and will be an all-star for many years to come. Although, I would love him running D'Antoni's offense in NY, why couldnt DStern have added a few extra blue and orange balls in there?

Brook Lopez - Early season injuries and ineffective play of the other Net's bigs cleared a path for Brook. As a starter Lopez averages 12.7 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 2.1 blocks. Although, if you have ever heard Brook speak, it makes you wonder how he made it through two years at Stanford.

Russell Westbrook - Similar to the "Stanford" genius, Westbrook began the season on the bench. Once the organization realized it was going absolutely no where, RW entered my fav 5. His game is extremely similar to Dwayne Wade's game in his early NBA career. Neither of them shoot it real well fromp deep, but they both are a blur with the ball and can fill up the stat sheet.

Honorable Mention - Eric Gordon and Marc Gasol

The We Want More Squad

Michael Beasley - Beasley's numbers are not exactly where everyone had thought they would be. I had thought his game translated well and would produce from day 1. But, this has not been the case. He needs to give a more consistent effort and should start studying how D-Wade approaches the game.

OJ Mayo - I am well aware that NBA.com ranks him as the #1 rookie so far this season. But, I have watched Mayo on numerous occasions and find him to be lackadasical. The talent is there but his effort and general attitude toward the game are not. He disappears on team of all twenty somethings. He needs to be the leader of that squad and justify his high draft status.

Honorable mention - Joe Alexander and Brandon Rush

The "Hey, I like you, keep it up" Squad

This team is comprised of guys that have shown flashes this year and could develop into impact players down the line.

Kevin Love - Kevin has been a major factor in the resurgence generated by McHale and the TWovles over the last month

DJ Augustin - Moved into the starting lineup after JRich was dealt. Showed great potential while on the floor. But, staying on the floor could be a problem, similar to another small Texas PG.

Danilo Gallinari - Fighting a bad back injury for most of the first half. Recently has made an impact on games during a Knicks streak of exciting play. Can shoot the 3 and has a nice feel for the game.