Full Court Sprints

Opening Practice

by Michael Protos

FULL COURT SPRINTS

BASELINE TO BASELINE

LAST SHOT
Go coast to coast with our roundup of the nation’s top stories.

  1. Connecticut will try to convince NCAA officials that self-imposed sanctions are punishment enough for recruiting violations, writes the Associated Press’ Pat Eaton-Robb. The Huskies will have one fewer scholarships this season and next season, and fewer assistants will place calls to recruits.
  2. Baylor’s top returning Bear, LaceDarius Dunn, can practice but not play during an investigation into allegations that he broke his girlfriend’s jaw, writes the Associated Press’ Schuyler Dixon.
  3. Mississippi is ditching its Confederate-conjuring Colonel Reb in favor of a true rebel…a black bear, the Associated press reports.
  4. The 2011 EA Sports Maui Invitational will expand to 12 teams and feature an utterly confusing format that includes several games not actually in the tropics. But the teams that will play in Maui form a formidable group: Duke, Georgetown, Kansas, Memphis, Michigan, Tennessee and UCLA — in addition to host Chaminade.
  5. UCLA celebrates what would have been John Wooden’s 100th birthday, writes Peter Yoon for ESPN Los Angeles. The iconic Bruins coach died June 4.
  6. With two gigantic video screens, new locker rooms, club seating, more bathrooms, more vendors and wider concourses, New Mexico’s Pit will be even more welcoming for Lobo fans, but probably not for opponents, writes the Associated Press’ Tim Korte.
 We’ll use this section to recap the top results and most fascinating games during the season. So we’ve got nothing for you now

STUDY SESSION

OPENING TIP
Phil Kasiecki covers the New England recruiting trail like no one else does, and he rounds up a busy start to the fall. In addition to recounting some of the top teams and players that are attracting the interest of Division I squads, Phil shares his craziest trip, which featured some unexpected quality time with the Housatonic River. Midnight Madness arrives tonight! And we’re not talking about a Michael J. Fox Disney movie either. No, we’re amped up for the first official practice of the 2010-11 season, an annual rite of fall that surpasses the vernal equinox and Halloween for college basketball fanatics.

The defending champs, Duke, headline ESPNU’s coverage.

Northwestern somehow convinced Snoop Dogg and Kid Cudi to show up for the Wildcats’ midnight madness.

Memphis will woo Adonis Thomas with some Yo Gotti-style madness.

The Hoyas attracted local Washington hip-hop artist Wale — and will thump their chests in the general direction of College Park.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Yes, this news format is different from how we’ve handled news in the past. But we recognize that you don’t come to Hoopville because we have breaking news. You come to us because we’re cool and awesome — and we’d like to think our analysis is on par with any major sports outlet’s experts.

In short, covering the latest news isn’t the primary mission of Hoopville. However, we want to give you a quick rundown of some of the top stories and point you in the right direction if you want more about that story. Same deal with game results.

Hoopville’s sweet spot is covering the recruiting trail and digesting the trends that emerge each season. We’d like to engage our readers as much as possible by offering insights that educate you, make you think and hopefully  inspire you to comment on our work — because you agree with our analysis or think we’re totally off base.

We welcome your feedback on this new format.

Comments are closed.