Updating the NBA Entry List and Honoring a Maryland Legend

BASELINE TO BASELINE

Go coast to coast with a roundup of news from across the nation.

Here’s a quick recap of all the major NBA decisions from the past week. The NCAA’s deadline for early entrants to remain eligible required players to decide by May 8 if they wanted to remain in the NBA Draft or return to school.

Remaining in the draft:

• Boston College’s Reggie Jackson
• Butler’s Shelvin Mack
• Georgia Tech’s Iman Shumpert
• Kentucky’s Brandon Knight
• Kentucky’s DeAndre Liggins
• Louisville’s Terrence Jennings
• Maryland’s Jordan Williams
• Michigan’s Darius Morris
• Stanford’s Jeremy Green
• Tennessee’s Tobias Harris
• Tennessee’s Scotty Hopson
• Texas’ Cory Joseph
• Texas’ Tristan Thompson

Returning to school:

• Kentucky’s Terrence Jones
• Miami’s Reggie Johnson
• Missouri’s Laurence Bowers
• Missouri’s Kim English
• Northwestern’s John Shurna
• Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs
• West Virginia’s Kevin Jones
• Xavier’s Tu Holloway

1. The biggest news of the past few days is Gary Williams’ retirement at Maryland. The Terrapins’ coach unexpectedly decided to call it a career at age 66 after working at his alma mater since 1989. Maryland moved quickly to court Arizona’s Sean Miller, who passed on the the offer by signing an extension with the Wildcats, according to John Marshall of the Associated Press. That makes Notre Dame’s Mike Brey one of the top choices right now, according to the Washington Post.
2. In other Washington, D.C., area coaching news, George Washington picked Mike Lonergan to be the Colonials’ next coach, according to the Associated Press. Lonergan comes back to D.C. after working at Vermont for five seasons, compiling a 126-68 record. Lonergan coached Catholic University to a Division III title in 2001 and worked with Gary Williams as an assistant at Maryland for a few years.
3. Gonzaga needs to find a new starting point guard after Demetri Goodson announced that he’s leaving the team to play football, according to the Associated Press. Goodson averaged 5.2 points and 2.6 assists per game for the Bulldogs this past season.
4. Michigan State Tom Izzo returned the favor for Spartan fans last week. To help boost student morale during final exams week, Izzo joined other Spartan coaches in serving food at the university’s dining hall, according to Diamond Leung of ESPN.com’s ìCollege Basketball Nation.î That’s a nice way to thank the Izzone fans who help give Michigan State one of the toughest home court advantages in the nation.
5. Speaking of Izzo, the Spartans’ coach might be getting some much-needed backcourt help in Valparaiso transfer Brandon Wood, according to the Associated Press.. The Horizon League’s No. 3 scorer is transferring to Michigan State after completing his undergraduate degree. Because of NCAA rules for graduate transfers, Wood might be eligible to play immediately for a team losing Kalin Lucas to graduation.
6. Jeff Capel has returned to a familiar sideline. The former Oklahoma coach, who was fired after this past season, accepted an offer to become an assistant coach on coach Mike Krzyzewski’s staff at Duke, according to the Associated Press. Capel played four years in Durham and put up more than 1,600 points.
7. The Pac-10 can’t complain about an East Coast bias for much longer. The conference soon to be known as the Pac-12 signed an agreement with ESPN and Fox Sports worth $250 million per season, tops in men’s basketball, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.
8. Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt has recruited his first big name as the Cowboys’ new coach. Larry Nance Jr., son of longtime NBA player Larry Nance, will arrive in Laramie this fall after averaging about a double double as a senior in Ohio this past season.
9. Looking ahead to 2012, Louisville might not have the services of Rodney Purvis, a top-rated shooting guard in the class of rising high school seniors who reopened his recruitment, according to Eamonn Brennan of ESPN.com’s ìCollege Basketball Nation.î Louisville had received a verbal commitment from Purvis, partially thanks to the hard work of assistant Tom Fuller, who left Pitino’s staff recently to work for Frank Haith at Missouri.
10. Former Cyclone John Lamb, a walk-on who left Iowa State mid-season, was arrested last week and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell and a violation of Drug Tax Stamp Act, according to the Associated Press.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

This section is aptly titled for a Washington, D.C., area writer looking to write a column honoring the importance of recently retired Maryland coach Gary Williams.

In his 22 years at Maryland, Williams helped craft the Terrapins into a perennial ACC contender. His continued success eased the path to the construction of the Comcast Center, which is one of the largest arenas in the conference and has one of the best home court advantages. The 20,000-plus fans who fill the Comcast Center haven’t always approved of the quality of the home team, but they consistently fill the arena with rowdy fans, giving Maryland one of the best home court advantages in the country.

After the turmoil of the late 1980s, it’s amazing that Williams was able to get this program back to the top of the ACC so quickly. Trouble started in 1986 with the death of Terrapin hero Len Bias, who seemed destined to become a national hero as a possible heir apparent to Larry Bird in Boston. However, his cocaine-induced death and the subsequent brouhaha in College Park derailed the program, leading to the ouster of coach Lefty Driesell.

Without Driesell, the team fell into mediocrity — and NCAA violations — during the tenure of Bob Wade. With the program on probation and lackluster performance on the court, Williams returned to his alma mater with a tough task at hand.

It took Williams five seasons, but once he got the Terrapins into the NCAA Tournament, they remained fixtures of March Madness until 2005. That includes a Final Four run in 2001 that ended mercilessly with the team’s fourth loss of the season to eventual national champion Duke. But Williams and Maryland vanquished those demons the next season when the Terrapins won the 2002 title.

The championship title was a turning point for Williams’ tenure at Maryland. Until then, the critics liked to talk about Williams as one of the greatest coaches to have never won a title — a fraternity no coach enjoys being part of. With that monkey off his back, Williams then had to deal with detractors who bemoaned that Williams failed to use the program’s success to attract the top recruits to College Park.

Recruiting is a touchy subject for Maryland fans. On the plus side, no one has even sniffed an NCAA violation during Williams’ years. But on the other hand, Williams drew the ire of many fans because he couldn’t keep a lot of the talented kids in Prince George’s County, Md., and Baltimore in-state. Highly touted recruits like Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, Ty Lawson, Rudy Gay, Nolan Smith and seemingly half of Georgetown’s starting lineup each season are all locals. That would be acceptable if Williams had a slew of talented recruits on a conveyor belt to College Park from across the country.

But after three NIT appearances in four seasons, the natives became restless. Williams had the misfortune of dealing with a few disastrous recruits, including the much-maligned post-championship class of Chris McCray, John Gilchrist, Travis Garrison and Nik Caner-Medley. That core failed to meet lofty expectations, and the fans nearly revolted at the perceived inability of Williams to coach a great class. But the players just didn’t work out. It happens.

Williams got Maryland back on track with Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes. He helped Vasquez mature from a sloppy point guard and nearly out of control hothead to a dominant ACC player who was a threat to post a triple double nearly any night. The Terrapins returned to the NCAA Tournament three out of four seasons but never advanced further than the second round.

Heading into this off-seaosn, Maryland was at a cross-roads as another disappointing recruiting class — Adrian Bowie, Cliff Tucker and Dino Gregory — finished their collegiate careers. Jordan Williams, one of the top recruits in recent years to come to Maryland, figured to be the linchpin of next season’s team, but he is heading to the NBA instead.

At age 66, Williams was staring at a complete rebuilding project in an era that makes it increasingly difficult to run a clean and successful program. Williams refused to sacrifice one for the other. That makes now a great time for Williams to step down. To rebuild the Terrapins, Williams would need at least a couple of years to get the right guys around solid building blocks like Pe’Shon Howard and Terrell Stoglin. Williams might be pushing 70 before the Terrapins have another legitimate shot at a deep run.

When I’m pushing 70, I hope have the energy to work more than 60 hours a week recruiting, strategizing and representing a major college program. After such a remarkable, program-defining coaching career, Williams has earned this respite.

Larranaga Jumps Into Shark-Infested Waters

BASELINE TO BASELINE

Go coast to coast with a roundup of news from across the nation.

1. Miami finally got its man in hiring George Mason coach Jim Larranaga to become the Hurricanes’ next coach, according to the Associated Press. In Larranaga, the Hurricanes get a coach with a Final Four pedigree, and that’s coming out of the Colonial Athletic Conference. The Colonials’ coach has family roots in Florida, and the opportunity was particularly alluring, even though George Mason is a perennial NCAA Tournament contender in the CAA.
2. IUPUI hired its new coach from within in the program, elevating associate coach Todd Howard to the top spot, according to the Associated Press. Former head coach Ron Hunter left the program to coach Georgia State.
3. It’s a little hard to figure what Hollis Thompson is thinking, but the sophomore Hoya announced he will enter the NBA Draft without an agent, according to the Associated Press. Thompson averaged 8.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game this past season — not exactly attention-grabbing stats.
4. As much as Texas faithful don’t want to hear it, the decisions of Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph and Jordan Hamilton make a little more sense. All three players will go through the NBA Draft process, according to ESPN’s Dana O’Neil. However, only Hamilton has immediate plans to sign with an agent, though Thompson figures to be a possible lottery pick.
5. Former Wake Forest sophomore guard Ari Stewart is heading to the West Coast to play for USC and coach Kevin O’Neill, according to Pedro Moura for ESPN Los Angeles.com.
6. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, you just won the 2011 national championship. Where are you going next? The weed man? Not a great idea. Police arrested the sophomore swingman April 21 and charged him with marijuana possession, according to the Associated Press.
7. Redemption remains a possibility for Coombs-McDaniel, much like it is for BYU’s Brandon Davies, according to a CBS Sports.com wire report. Davies had possibly the most noteworthy sex of any college athlete this year when the news broke in early March that the Cougars would suspend their best big man for violating the university’s honor code, which prohibits premarital sex. However, Davies is confident that he’ll complete the necessary penance to return to campus as a BYU student-athlete, then return to the court as a solid post player for the Cougars.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

The Miami coaching gig is a death trap.

It’s not that the Hurricanes will never succeed, and it’s not that a talented coach can’t attract some talented players to Coral Gables. The problem is that it will be almost always impossible to get fans in the stands, which is one of the primary concerns of athletic departments.

And without a naturally enthusiastic fan base, Miami’s coach must produce fantastic seasons on a regular basis. For new coach Jim Larranaga, that’s a tall order.

The Hurricanes have some talent heading into next season, especially if Reggie Johnson returns to school instead of remaining in the NBA Draft. He would join Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott in south Florida. Unfortunately for Larranaga and the ‘Canes, most people in south Florida are more interested in other teams and activities. The city’s mercurial fan base has the Miami Heat as their primary object of affection on the hardwood. Among the Coral Gables community and student body, ‘Canes football will always be the No. 1 sport on campus.

That leaves Larranaga’s crew fighting for the No. 3 spot in town with other sports teams, including the Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers and Miami Dolphins — NFL lockout permitting. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the allure of the beach and notorious night life. Unless Miami can knock off North Carolina and Duke on an annual basis, getting fans to show up at the BankUnited Center will be a very tough task.

The Hurricanes’ 7,200-seat arena would need about 50 percent of all Miami undergrads present and accounted for just to fill three-quarters of the seats. Larranaga would need to attract some serious talent to generate enough buzz to fill the rest of the arena. And that wasn’t his M.O. at George Mason, nor will ACC rivals like Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Gary Williams and Leonard Hamilton make it easy for him to get the best kids to play at Miami. Within the state of Florida, the Gators have the best shot at recruiting local kids, with Florida State’s Hamilton not far behind.

Despite that shark-infested climate, Miami remains an ACC team with ACC expectations. That means the Hurricanes need to sell out the big games, finish in the top third every now and then, and make a run to at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament when talented recruiting classes come through town. Ask Paul Hewitt and Al Skinner how that goes.

Good luck to Larranaga. This won’t be a vacation.

Health Comes Before Hoops

BASELINE TO BASELINE

Go coast to coast with a roundup of news from across the nation.

When forward Emmanuel Negedu transferred to New Mexico, he figured he had a fresh start ahead after heart problems at Tennessee. While with the Volunteers, he entered a sudden cardiac arrest in 2009. He had the all-clear to play, barring any more bad news. But more bad news struck in December 2010 when he a bad reading on a defibrillator, according to Diamond Leung of ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog. And that means Negedu’s playing career is through, though he’ll remain on scholarship to complete his degree as a Lobo.

Washington State fans are holding their breath that Klay Thompson won’t follow junior DeAngelo Casto to the NBA after the Cougar forward announced that he’ll enter the draft and hire an agent, according to the Associated Press. Casto was Wazzu’s top big man last season, with 12 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

In addition to losing Josh Selby and the Morris brothers to the NBA and Tyrel Reed, Brady Morningstar and Mario Little to graduation, Kansas will be without guard Royce Woolridge, who announced he is transferring, according to the Associated Press. Woolridge said he wants more playing time, which he apparently isn’t convinced he’d get in Lawrence despite the roster turnover.

In other transfer news, Loyola Chicago is getting some Big Ten talent in Iowa guard Cully Payne, who will have three years of remaining eligibility, according to ESPN Chicago’s Scott Powers. And sparingly used forward J.J. Richardson is leaving Pittsburgh in search of a better fit, according to the Associated Press.

On the flip side, the Jayhawks could be on the receiving end of a transfer if La Salle’s Aaric Murray picks Kansas over West Virginia. According to Jon Rothstein, the sophomore big man is leaving the Explorers for one of those destinations after averaging 15.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this past season.

Miami’s coaching search continues, writes the Miami Herald’s Michelle Kaufman, as new athletic director Shawn Eichorst talked to Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter about the position. Eichorst has connections to the state after coming to Miami from Wisconsin, where he was an associate athletic director at the school.

Whoever ends up in south Florida as the Hurricanes’ coach might not bring highly regarded recruit Bishop Daniels to Coral Gables. According to Barry Jackson’s “Sports Buzz” blog at Miami Herald.com, Daniels wants a release from his letter of intent so that he can choose Tennessee or Rutgers. Given that the Scarlet Knights are the only team of the three with a returning coaching staff, that could bode well for Mike Rice’s squad.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

You’ve got to feel for New Mexico’s Emmanuel Negedu.

The Lobos sophomore overcame the scare of a cardiac arrest at Tennessee and found a fresh start in Albuquerque. New Mexico is one of the top programs of the Mountain West Conference, especially with BYU bolting for the West Coast Conference.

But it just wasn’t in the cards for Negedu to make an impact on the court. A bad reading on a defibrillator means team doctors won’t clear him to play ever again. It’s just too risky.

Although Negedu must manage his condition carefully, his life is still full of opportunity. The Lobos intend to keep Negedu on scholarship, which will give him the opportunity to earn his degree as a Lobo. And if Negedu has interest in contributing to team activities, the squad should be able to find an off-court role for him.

For players gifted enough to earn a Division I scholarship, the concept of imminent mortality might not be an everyday realization. But Negedu now has a perspective that gives him the opportunity to keep his teammates grounded in the face of adversity and focused on greater goals.

And that’s a perspective that could allow Negedu to make an on-court impact vicariously through the rest of the Lobos.

Globetrotters’ Basketball Soul Outshines Rash of Rough News

BASELINE TO BASELINE

Go coast to coast with a round up of the nation’s top stories.

1. Although Phil Jackson seems pretty convinced that there won’t be a next season for the NBA next season, several college players are gambling that they’ll still be making NBA money within a few months. Here are a few of the players who announced during the past few days that they’ll be entering the NBA Draft.

• Arizona’s Derrick Williams, with agent
• Butler’s Shelvin Mack, no agent
• Connecticut’s Kemba Walker, with agent
• Florida State’s Chris Singleton, with agent
• Kansas’ Josh Selby, with agent
• San Diego State’s Kawhi Leonard, with agent
• UCLA’s Malcolm Lee, with agent

2. ESPN.com’s Andy Katz breaks down the NCAA Legislative Committee’s proposal to move up the deadline for declaring for the draft. If the Board of Directors approves the measure, players will need to decide by April 10 whether they intend to declare for the draft — and they can’t turn back. It essentially ends the test-the-waters approach, which isn’t good for the kids, Katz writes.

3. One player who won’t be testing the waters this season is Baylor’s Perry Jones, ESPN.com’s Andy Katz writes. Somewhat surprisingly, Jones will return to the Bears, who had a disappointing season but will return a start-studded team, anchored by Jones.

4. Despite the uproar about the early entry deadline, that’s small change compared to the fiasco in San Diego. The Associated Press reported this week that the FBI is investigating former members of the Toreros program for running a sports betting business, and 10 people have been charged in the case, including the team’s all-time leading scorer, Brandon Johnson. In addition to Johnson, former player Brandon Dowdy is accused of fixing games.

5. Jorts-mania could be coming to a town near you. Kentucky’s Josh Harrellson will be launching a Jorts Tour — after his now-famous nickname — to sign autographs and hawk his clothing line, according to Diamond Leung of ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog.

6. As Nebraska prepares to move to the Big 10 next season, the Huskers have reworked coach Doc Sadler’s deal to pay him an extra $100,000 per year, making his salary $900,000 per year through 2015-16, according to a CBS Sports.com wire report.

7. One of Nebraska’s former Big 12 rivals, Iowa State, is dealing with some drama after police arrested freshman center Jordan Railey for punching a man late Wednesday night along a hot spot for Ames restaurants and bars, according to the Associated Press. Coach Fred Hoiberg has suspended Railey while gathering more information about the incident.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

Man, what a rough week for news in the world of college basketball.

Several players landed in trouble with the law (Nebraska, Florida). An NBA-minded freshman skipped his team’s season-closing banquet to work out in Vegas (Kansas). And speaking of Sin City, the gambling bug apparently migrated south to San Diego, where the very integrity of the game is in question after the FBI unearthed a supposed sports business ring that included former Torero players who are accused of fixing games.

And just to pile on, the NCAA looks pretty selfish and uninterested in the welfare of student-athletes after moving forward with a proposal to give players until about a week after the championship game to decide whether they want to return to school or enter the NBA Draft. Needing only an affirmative vote by the NCAA’s Board of Directors to become official, the proposal applies tortured logic that benefits schools and coaches but not players. And the players already are limited because the NCAA won’t let them profit from their name or likeness in commercial products, such as video games. However, the NCAA is happy to take its cut from those sales.

That’s enough to get you pretty down about the game.

Thankfully, I watched the Harlem Globetrotters play tonight on ESPN. And that evaporated my creeping cynicism. The figure-eight weaves, between-the-legs passes and crowd-pleasing interludes don’t look like traditional basketball. All those fancy moves make for great entertainment, and everyone in the arena is having fun — even the tough-luck Generals.

Basketball is supposed to be fun. Yes, the game can be a means to a career — and a small fortune — for the most talented players. But for the 99 percent of players who don’t come within sniffing distance of an NBA pay check, the game needs to be fun. If it’s not, why play? The Globetrotters take fun to an extreme, but they embody the soul of the game.

Despite the spate of bad news, the game goes on. By November, optimism will be the mood du jour as nearly 350 Division I teams embark on the journey toward a 2012 championship. And with any luck, most of them will have plenty of fun along the way.

Back in Action, With Championship-Level Appreciation

Editor’s Note: We’ve trimmed down the Full Court Sprints because Hoopville’s new design has made some elements redundant. In particular, our new design highlights some of Hoopville’s great coverage in the middle column. In addition, we’ve got recent tweets from Phil Kasiecki and Michael Protos in the right column. There’s no games on tap anytime soon — sadly — so the upcoming games and recent results are irrelevant until November. We do have plenty of news to round up and some quick commentary on recent trends and news.

BASELINE TO BASELINE

Go coast to coast with a round up of the nation’s top stories.

If it’s April, three of the top stories in basketball relate to which coaches are changing jobs, which players are going pro, and which players are transferring. Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman has a list for the latter category. In case you’ve missed some of the player movement of the past few weeks, Goodman lists all the players who have announced that they will play elsewhere.

At ESPN.com, you can track all the coaching movement in Division I in a chart that lists schools, former coach and new coach. As of today, 13 teams are still in the hunt for a new coach.

And if you want to find out whether your team’s best underclassmen will be playing in the NBA or NCAA next season, check out CBS Sports.com’s set of charts.

The most recent team to fill its open coaching position is UNLV, according to the Associated Press. BYU associate coach Dave Rice is moving on from the Mormons’ home base of Utah to Sin City. Rice’s now former boss, BYU coach Dave Rose, said Rice is an excellent teacher and has a history of success, which he’ll be taking to the desert and a Rebels team that has emerged as a perennial Mountain West contender.

St. John’s coach Steve Lavin will begin treatment for prostate cancer after announcing that he was diagnosed with the disease in fall 2010, according to SI.com’s “Fan Nation” blog.

BYU is extending coach Dave Rose’s contract, a rare reward for excellence at the university, according to Fan Nation. Just don’t ask about the financial details.

We already have some drama heading into next season’s North Carolina State vs. Maryland rivalry in the ACC. Granted, in recent years, there’s not much of a rivalry to speak of between those teams. However, Wolfpack Athletic Director Debbie Yow, former boss of Maryland coach Gary Williams, accused Williams of trying to sabotage her search for a new coach. She eventually hired former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried to replace Sidney Lowe, drawing the ire of State fans who wanted Shaka Smart or another hot name. There’s plenty of bad blood between Yow and Williams, according to the “Lost Lettermen” blog.

UCLA finally knows where the Bruins will be playing home games next season while Pauley Pavilion gets a facelift. Eamonn Brennan, of ESPN.com’s “College Basketball Nation” blog, reports that the Los Angeles Sports Arena will host 14 Bruins home games, with the team playing four others at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Fresh off his third national championship, Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun said he will take some to decide whether he wants to retire, according to a CBS Sports.com wire report. But don’t think that means he’s taking any time off from the recruiting trail.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

I watched every second of Connecticut’s championship game victory against Butler. And that might officially make me a basketball geek — as if there were any doubt about that.

I’ll be the first to admit that the Huskies’ 53-41 win wasn’t the prettiest game I’ve ever watched. But there’s been far too much talk about how terrible the game was, and some commentators have even hinted that the NCAA Tournament has a flawed format in which the best team doesn’t win the title.

To that, I say: horse manure.

The NCAA Tournament has one of the most difficult post-season formats of any sport at any level because a champion must win six — at least — games in a row against opponents that play a variety of styles. A championship run is a testament of a coach’s ability to strategize a game plan and adjust it during the heat of the action. It’s a testament of great players performing at a consistently high level for three weeks.

Even the most talented teams in the country will likely face at least one opponent that plays a style that makes the favorite somewhat uncomfortable. For underdogs, the ability to get a team outside its comfort zone, force mistakes and capitalize on opportunities forms the recipe for an upset. VCU took that recipe and repeated it from the First Four to the Final Four.

The Rams got past USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas with a pressure defense that preyed on inconsistent backcourt play. On offense, VCU rode hot three-point shooting to cover up for a size disadvantage in the post. If the Rams met the Jayhawks in an NBA-style seven-game series, there’s no way I could see VCU winning the series. I’d pick VCU to win one, maybe two games in seven against Kansas. But the more talented team — as NBA analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley frequently pointed out during their stint as NCAA Tournament analysts — would likely advance, barring injuries or a major internal meltdown.

And that’s what makes the NCAA Tournament wonderful. To be champion, you must come to play every game for three weeks. Anything short of your best effort could send you home. And even your effort might not be enough if you’re running the wrong game plan.

So don’t tell me Butler’s 18 percent shooting in the championship ruined the tournament or somehow devalues Connecticut’s achievement. In the game I watched, I saw an outstanding defensive effort in which the Huskies limited the Bulldogs to a tiny number of clean looks at the hoop. However, Butler also failed to make in-game adjustments. The team took 51.6 percent of its shots from three-point range, making only 9-of-33 attempts. After Chase Stigall hit a three to open the second half and give Butler a six-point lead, the team didn’t make another shot from the field for seven minutes and only one shot in 13 minutes. During that stretch, the Bulldogs missed 11 three-pointers.

Brad Stevens realized his teams was overmatched in the post, but the Bulldogs just weren’t getting it done from the perimeter. The team’s stubborn insistence on jacking up bombs — and bricks — led to the dismal shooting percentage and put Connecticut on track to the championship.

More simply put, the Huskies executed their game plan more efficiently and effectively than Butler could, and the Bulldogs couldn’t adjust to do anything about that. In a championship game performance, that’s all you can ask from the winning team, regardless of the score.

Bracket Breakdown: Critical Questions for the Elite Eight

Let’s dive right into today’s Elite Eight match ups between Florida and Butler, followed by Connecticut and Arizona.

(8) Butler 74 (2) Florida 71 OT

In each of the past two NCAA Tournaments that Florida played Butler, the Gators reached the national title game, winning it in 2007 and losing to Michigan State in 2000. These two teams are different from their recent counterparts, and the winner will be one step away from the championship game. … Continue Reading

Pac-10 Player Rankings 2.0

In recent weeks, the Pac-10 has fallen on some tough times. The conference’s 10 teams have dropped 18 games this month, including an 0-2 record against Montana.

One cause for the recent struggles has been poor guard play. Of the six power conferences, the Pac-10′s guards already had the lowest average Total Impact Quotient of 6.2. In the past three weeks, that rating has fallen to 5.8. The Pac-10′s best guard, Trent Lockett, wouldn’t rank in the Big East’s top six.

So with conference play quickly approaching, look for the teams with the steadiest guards to have an advantage. That means Washington State could be poised to surprise some people, with Marcus Capers and Klay Thompson leading the way. The two Cougars are right behind Lockett in TIQ rankings among Pac-10 guards. … Continue Reading

Breaking the Studious Silence

Pac-10 Player Ratings

The Pac-10 took a lot of heat last season for its underwhelming play for much of the season. But in the NCAA Tournament, No. 11-seed Washington turned on the jets and sprinted past Marquette and New Mexico before losing a tight game to West Virginia in the Sweet 16.

This season, the Huskies appear poised to make another run in the NCAA Tournament, albeit as a better seed. Washington has three players ranked among the best at their position in the Pac-10, and two of them aren’t even primary contributors. Justin Holiday is the biggest factor, ranking No. 5 among Pac-10 forwards with a 15.3 Total Impact Quotient. He logs 26.4 minutes per game for Washington.

Meanwhile, a couple of newcomers provide excellent relief off the bench. Freshman guard C.J. Wilcox is playing exceptionally well, with a 19.3 TIQ. If he were to maintain that level, he’d have the highest TIQ of any guard of the past two seasons, even ahead of Connecticut’s Kemba Walker. The secret to Wilcox’s success is efficiency. The young gun is averaging nearly nine points in only 13 minutes per game. Plus he’s good in every phase of the game, with 11 three-pointers, 14 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks and two steals in only five games.

If Wilcox continues to play so well, coach Lorenzo Romar will have to give him more playing time. It’s unlikely Wilcox could maintain such an insane TIQ, but even a slight dip would likely deliver excellent results for the Huskies, who also get plenty of help from sophomore Aziz N’Diaye. The big man ranks as the top Pac-10 center with a 22.6 TIQ.

N’Diaye’s rating is the product of his proficiency on the boards. He has collected 35 rebounds, including 15 at the offensive end. That’s a big deal because the Huskies have been on fire to start this season, so extending the possession is hugely beneficial. At the other end, N’Diaye leads the team with 11 blocks despite playing only 17.6 minutes per game.

Here are the top players by position in the Pac-10, followed by the team-by-team breakdown. If you’d like an explanation for how we calculate the Total Impact Quotient, check out our thorough introduction to the rating system.

All numbers are through Sunday, Nov. 28.

TIQ position averages:
Centers: 11.3
Forwards: 10.4
Guards: 6.2

TIQ = Total Impact Quotient
PD% = Position differential in % difference from average

Player Rankings

Player Rankings for 2009-10

Giving Thanks to Hoops!

Hoopville’s Player Rating System: The TIQ

Conference Shakeup: Back to the Drawing Board

Conference realignment promises to once again wreak havoc across the country, spawning monster conferences that continue to undermine regional allegiances — and logic.

A few years ago, the Big East ravaged Conference USA by adding Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette, Louisville and South Florida. The resulting basketball powerhouse regularly puts eight or nine teams in the NCAA Tournament. But Big East opponents often must travel hundreds of miles to play opponents, and teams rarely play one another more than once during the regular season.

Now, the Pac-10 is looking to take apart the Big 12 in a form of conference cannibalism. Colorado is packing its bags and on its way. The Big Ten has Nebraska on board. Yes, that means the Big Ten has 12 members while the Big 12 is left with 10. Oh, but the ridiculousness is just beginning.

Colorado jumped at the chance to move to the Pac-10 before the Big 12′s meat and potatoes bolts and leaves the Buffaloes roaming a conference ghost town with Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa State. The Pac-10′s primary expansion target is Texas, which likely would be accompanied by Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Baylor. The Bears aren’t a guarantee, but Texas state officials probably would insist that all their schools go to the same loving home.

That super-conference, the Pac-16, would reach from Spokane, Wash., to College Station, Texas — a distance of more than 2,000 miles. Granted, Washington and Texas A&M would probably only travel to the other one’s home once every two or three years. But that’s a ridiculous amount of territory for 16 teams to cover. Travel costs would rise, and coaches would need to recruit a much broader segment of the country.

But the fun continues. The Big 12 refugee camp would include Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. Iowa State and Missouri could be natural targets for the Big Ten. If not, the Mountain West might come calling. Perhaps the craziest rumor out there is that Kansas and Kansas State could join forces with the Big East, especially if the Big Ten grabs Notre Dame and Rutgers. Who wouldn’t love to see the Jayhawks and Connecticut Huskies go toe to toe every season? But the teams would be traveling nearly 1,500 to make that happen.

Oh, the insanity. Why don’t we just start over? Imagine if we took the top 112 programs — with a focus on college basketball and a nod to college football — and realigned them into eight 14-team conferences. But let’s set a ground rule based on common sense: All teams must reside within roughly 500 miles of the conference’s headquarters — or within two states of that headquarters. That two-state rule facilitates the Pacific Coast Conference.

After we move around teams, we need to revise the schedule, too.

• All eight conferences feature two seven-team divisions. Divisional opponents play one another twice each year (12 games).
• Every conference team plays the seven teams from the other division once each year (seven games), alternating home games each season.
• In addition to the 19 conference games, each team may schedule 10 non-conference games. Five of those games must be against teams outside the Power 112, and two of those five must be on the road. Teams that fail to comply lose a scholarship for the next season. Hit ‘em where it hurts.

Without any further ado, here’s my realignment plan.

Bracket Breakdown: How the Pac-10 Will Fare

The good ol’ days are gone for the Pacific 10 Conference as the league has suffered a plummet in skill level this season that’s gotten them from having six participants in the NCAA Tournament last year to only two in this one: Cal, the regular-season champion, and Washington, the conference tournament champion.

California Golden Bears (23-10, 13-5)

No. 8 seed, South Region

It took 50 years for the Pac-10 to be weak enough for Cal to win a regular-season championship, but it finally happened. Behind the conference Player of the Year, guard Jerome Randle, who averages 18.7 points per game, the Bears are undoubtedly the Pac-10’s cream of the crop. Their reward for being the best of definitely-not-the-best is a game against the South Region’s No. 9 seed, Louisville (20-12, 11-7 Big East).

California knows how to party, and that’s what the eighth-seeded Bears were doing up until running into Washington in the conference tournament final. Winners of nine of its last 10 games coming into the match up against the Huskies, Cal missed on its chance at a first-ever tournament championship in great part due to Randle being in foul trouble. Washington, using surges while Randle was on the bench, won 79-75.

Even with the disappointment of being unable to complete the championship combo, Cal is playing decent enough to give itself a chance against the Cardinals. But this season, in a battle between the Pac-10’s best and the Big East’s sixth-best, one must go with the guys in the proven conference. The Bears will roar loudly at Louisville, but it’s the Cardinals who’ll fly away with the win in crunch time.

Washington Huskies (24-9, 11-7)

There’s two sides to every story, and the Huskies’ side says they would have beaten Cal even if Randle had played all 40 minutes of the tournament final. That may very well be, seeing how Washington had won six games in a row before facing the Bears.

The duo of forward Quincy Pondexter and guard Isaiah Thomas was the Pac-10’s best this season. Thanks to their combined 37 points per game, Washington, seeded No. 11 in the East Region, reached a national-No. 10 ranking at a point. That was before drinking some reality tea and hitting a five-losses-in-seven-games’ stretch. Since, however, the Huskies have been much more respectable, winning 12 of 14 and going from bubble team to the Pac-10’s rightful NCAA Tournament delegate.

On a roll or not, though, Washington will have the same fate as that of its conference comrade, Cal: a first-round loss to a Big Easter, a much-more-tested No. 6 Marquette (22-11, 11-7 Big East). The Pac-10 was just too frail this season, and the NCAA Tournament’s second round is for the big boys.

Better luck next year, Pac-10.

Bracket Breakdown: Cal’s Bid Sets a Dangerous Precedent

During the next few days, you’ll likely hear plenty of complaints about the inclusion of California in the NCAA Tournament. There’s good reason to be unhappy with the Golden Bears’ at-large bid because it means that teams don’t actually need to beat their toughest opponents. They just need to schedule enough of them to inflate the RPI and strength of schedule.

California deserves credit for taking on Syracuse, Ohio State, New Mexico, Kansas, Murray State and Santa Barbara, all of which are NCAA Tournament teams. However, the Bears went 2-4 against those teams, with the two wins coming against Murray State and Santa Barbara at home.

NCAA Tournament at-large teams should have to prove that they can beat other tournament teams, especially ones ranked among the top four seeds. Teams need to earn an invitation by winning, not just playing great teams. That’s especially true for teams that hail from conferences that don’t have at least one or two high-quality teams.

The Pac-10 was undoubtedly down this season, with traditional powerhouses like UCLA and Arizona rebuilding. Arizona State and Washington were the toughest teams not named California, and if Washington had not won the conference’s automatic bid, it’s possible that neither of those teams would have joined the Bears in the Big Dance. Based on RPI rankings, the Pac-10 was the No. 8 conference, ranked lower than the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West and just ahead of the Missouri Valley and WAC.

The WAC champion, Utah State, also earned an at-large bid. However, the Aggies were seeded No. 11 compared to the Bears’ No. 8 seed. And Utah State has a marquee win against BYU and 10 wins against the RPI top 100. In contrast, California has no wins against the RPI top 25 and only six wins against the top 100. Why is there such a big difference in the teams’ seeding? Does strength of schedule really matter that much? If so, teams could realistically conclude that they should schedule as many power conference favorites as possible without worrying about winning or losing the games.

If that’s the message that power conference teams interpret from Cal’s inclusion, they likely will seek to schedule more games against one another, which hurts mid-major teams. Despite perennial success, Missouri Valley and CAA teams continue to find it difficult to schedule high-quality opponents from major conferences. They would struggle even more to line up top-notch opponents if the major conference squads want to play only one another.

Let’s hope Cal’s strong strength of schedule doesn’t lead to a caste system in which the top teams don’t want to mingle with mid-major opponents for fear of hurting their computer ratings.

Bracket Breakdown: Mock Tournament 9.0

Less than 36 hours remain until the selection committee unveils the 2010 brackets, and most of the field looks fairly solid. However, upsets in the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big Ten and SEC could lead to trouble for the teams on the precipice of falling out of the field.

A couple of teams out west, namely Washington and San Diego State, have benefited from the failure of Atlantic 10 and Big East bubble teams to solidify their résumés. In the Mountain West semifinals, the Aztecs scored an important second win against New Mexico. They can avoid the need for at-large bid at all if they beat UNLV in the championship game today. Meanwhile, the Huskies simply continue to win, dispatching Stanford in the Pac-10 semifinals. Win or lose against California in the championship game, Washington should be in.

With the late addition of Washington and San Diego State to the field, teams like Rhode Island, South Florida and Dayton are on the outside looking in. And only the Rams can do anything about it because the Bulls and Flyers have already lost in their conference tournaments. Rhode Island can make a stronger case for the NCAA Tournament with a win against Temple in the Atlantic 10 semifinals. The Rams have only one win against the RPI top 50, so even an upset against the Owls might not be enough to make the field.

A slew of automatic bids are on the line today. Check out the bracket as the stand Saturday morning, and let us know if they look right to you or totally out of whack.

Here are the latest brackets and links to previous projections.

• Mock Tournament 8.0
• Mock Tournament 7.0
• Mock Tournament 6.0
• Mock Tournament 5.0
• Mock Tournament 4.0
• Mock Tournament 3.0
• Mock Tournament 2.0
• Mock Tournament 1.0

Teams in bold have won an automatic bid.

Why You Need to Watch the Pac-10 Tournament

The Pacific 10 Conference is so feeble this season that even defending-tournament champion USC doesn’t want to be a part of this year’s tournament.

In reality, the Trojans can’t defend their championship because of a self-imposed sanction, but the idea of skipping the historically great league’s competition isn’t as absurd as you might think when considering the fall the Pac-10 has had this year. Regardless, the show must go on. Minus USC, nine hopefuls begin a journey at Staples Center today.

Hoping to lock up a dance ticket for a second consecutive season, regular-season champion and top-seeded Cal (21-9, 13-5 Pac-10) is the odds-on favorite to take the tournament due to its experienced squad and balance. Four of the Golden Bears’ starters are seniors, and they all average double-digit points (in order: guards Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher and forwards Theo Robertson and Jamal Boykin). The Bears, winners of seven of their last eight games, will face the winner of tonight’s play-in game between No. 8 Oregon (15-15, 7-11) and No. 9 Washington State (16-14, 6-12)  (11 p.m. EST, FSN National).

Winner of six of its last seven games, No. 2 Arizona State (22-9, 12-6) might be the only Pac-10 team not named Cal that has secured itself an NCAA Tournament at-large bid even if it gets bounced out of the tourney early, which is unlikely. After dropping their first two Pac-10 games, the Sun Devils demolished then-No. 22 Washington to start a hot streak that saw them win 12 of their last 16 games, dominating every team but Cal, which won both regular-season meetings against ASU comfortably. The Sun Devils will take on the Landry Fields’ show, No. 7 Stanford (13-17, 7-11), on Thursday (9:18 EST, FSN).

The third-seeded Huskies repaid Arizona State when the Sun Devils came to Washington Feb. 6, knocking them around in a 79-56 win that was a shred of brilliance from the last Pac-10 team that still has a shot at an at-large bid. Led by senior forward Quincy Pondexter, who had a career-high 34 points against Oregon Thursday, Washington was ranked as high as tenth in the nation before entering a Pac-10 stretch in which it lost five of seven games. Pondexter didn’t let his Huskies lose many more games thereafter, though. Along with sidekick, sophomore guard Isaiah Thomas, Pondexter’s 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game helped Washington go 9-2 in its last 11 regular-season games.

The bubble Huskies get No. 6 Oregon State on Thursday (11:40 EST, FSN). Washington is fresh off a Beaver-pounding session as its last game was an 82-70 win at Oregon State Saturday.

No. 4 Arizona is a mystery, a streaky team that can take down the best, as evidenced by its Jan. 31 win over Cal, or choke against the worst, shown in a Jan. 8 last-second loss to Washington State. The Wildcats (16-14, 10-8) had two different three-game losing streaks as well as a winning streak of four games. They’re streaking in the right direction as they enter the tournament, however, as they’ve come up victorious in their last three games, including a win against its Thursday tournament rival: No. 5 UCLA (13-17, 8-10).

The only thing the Bruins will have going in their favor Thursday (3 p.m. EST, FSN) is that they’ll be playing at home. Young talents Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday are in the NBA now — like every other young UCLA star, seemingly — and unable to help them, and Arizona swept the regular-season series from them. UCLA’s attack is balanced, but it won’t be enough. Home court is the wild card for the Bruins. At least they know the NBA won’t be taking any of their players this year.

The Staples Center crowd will be disappointed to see UCLA fall early as all the higher seeds will advance to the Friday semifinals, where Cal will down Arizona and the Huskies will mildly upset Arizona State. Then, in the Saturday final, Cal will prevail over Washington, securing itself a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Both Washington and Arizona State will receive at-large bids.

Lastly, all three conference representatives will lose in the NCAA Tournament’s first round, finally putting an end to a disappointing Pac-10 season.

Cal: Bears’ At-Large Prospects Remain Endangered

As the major conferences tip off the tournaments this week, most RPI top 20 teams are vying for top seeds. But one of those teams, California, is simply trying to play its way into the NCAA Tournament.

If the Golden Bears fail to win the Pac-10 tournament and the conference’s automatic bid, they will become one of the biggest storylines of Selection Sunday — regardless whether the committee extends them an invitation or relegates them to the NIT. Regular-season champs that don’t win their conference’s automatic bid are guaranteed an invite to the NIT, so the Bears know they’ll be playing in some sort of post-season tournament. But they have their sights set on the Big Dance.

However, their hopes rely on a flimsy résumé. The Bears’ strong RPI, No. 19 as of March 7, is the product of a brutal non-conference schedule that included games against Syracuse, Ohio State, New Mexico, Kansas and Murray State, with four of those games played away from Berkeley. Cal played only one non-conference opponent ranked lower than No. 170. Although the Bears took on a great non-conference slate, they failed to produce any big wins, losing every game against a top 50 non-conference opponent.

Entering this past weekend, Cal didn’t have a single win against an RPI top 50 team. After the weekend started, Washington crept into the top 50 — ranked No. 50 — so Cal can claim one win right now. But that’s not exactly the impressive marquee win that selection committee members supposedly treasure. On the flip side, Cal has a couple of bad losses at Oregon State and in Berkeley against UCLA. The team’s loss at USC is the third loss to teams outside the RPI top 100.

If you strip away conference affiliation and strength of schedule, Cal’s profile most closely resembles Siena’s. The 26-6 Saints, of the Metro Atlantic Conference, are ranked No. 38 in the RPI, as of March 7, and have no wins against the RPI top 50, five wins against teams ranked No. 51-100 in the RPI, and two losses to teams outside the RPI top 100. Although Siena has five more wins and one fewer bad loss than Cal, no one seriously considers Siena to be a viable candidate to receive an at-large bid if the Saints don’t capture the MAAC automatic bid.

The Bears would enter unprecedented territory if they remain in the RPI top 20 and fail to receive an at-large bid. In 2006, the Missouri State Bears, ranked No. 21, had their hearts broken when they became the first team ranked in the RPI top 25 to not receive an NCAA Tournament invitation. In the past 16 years, eligible teams in the RPI top 30 have made the tournament in all but three seasons.

Cal’s RPI is over-inflated because of the team’s tough schedule. Although the Bears undoubtedly faced some of the best teams in the country, including four teams likely to receive No. 1, 2 or 3 seeds, they failed to prove that they are capable of beating those teams. The selection committee has plenty of factors to consider when picking at-large teams. But it seems that teams should receive more credit for whom they beat rather than to whom they lose. And based on that criteria, Cal smells more like an NIT team than one of the 34 teams most worthy of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.

Bracket Breakdown: Pac-10′s Struggles Will Benefit Mountain West, Atlantic 10

With the Pac-10 experiencing more upheaval than the conference has had in 20 years, it’s increasingly likely that the Pac-10 won’t field more than one team in the NCAA Tournament if California wins the conference’s automatic bid.

Since 1989, the Pac-10 has had no fewer than three bids in the NCAA Tournament, and that only happened twice. In the past three tournaments, the Pac-10 has placed six teams in the field. With the sudden decline of traditional powerhouses such as Arizona and UCLA, a couple other conferences stand to benefit, specifically the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West.

Entering the final weekend of January, only one Pac-10 team, California, has an RPI better than 50. And Cal’s solid computer profile — an RPI of 18 — largely depends on the second toughest schedule in the country. But the Golden Bears have fared poorly against those tough teams, losing all four games against top 50 opponents. Only half the conference has any wins against teams in the RPI top 50.

Besides California, every other Pac-10 team has significant hurdles to overcome. The second-place team, Arizona, already has nine losses and is only two games better than .500. The Wildcats probably need to win eight or nine of their final 10 conference games to have a legitimate shot at the NCAA Tournament. Part of the problem is that with so many struggling teams, it’s hard for a team like Arizona to notch any résumé-building victories.

Meanwhile, the Mountain West has four teams in contention for at-large bids. BYU is 20-2 and has an RPI of 22.  The second-place team, New Mexico, is 19-3 and has a higher RPI, at 11. UNLV and San Diego State also are in the top 50 and figure to remain in the at-large discussion until Selection Sunday. In existence since 1999, the conference has never fielded four teams in the NCAA Tournament.

On the East Coast — and Midwest and Southeast — the Atlantic 10 Conference, which has 14 teams, looks ever stronger. The conference’s pre-season favorite, Dayton, sits at seventh place entering the final weekend of January. The Flyers match the Pac-10′s best, California, with a 14-6 record, but Dayton has two wins against teams in the RPI top 50. The team’s non-conference strength of schedule is excellent at No. 20, and the best win is against surging Georgia Tech. No offense to the Ohio Valley Conference’s premier program, but California’s best win is against Murray State on opening day. If you had to pick right now, whom do you want in the NCAA Tournament — California or Dayton?

Besides the Flyers, Temple, Xavier, Charlotte and Rhode Island all have compelling arguments for automatic bids. Temple has the best victory of any team in the Atlantic 10, Mountain West or Pac-10 with an upset of Villanova — the Wildcats’ only loss entering the last weekend of January.

So while the Pac-10 could flirt with one-bid conference status, several strong teams in the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West are poised to seize an opportunity to grab more automatic bids for two non-power conferences. Based on the Pac-10′s performance this season, it’s hard to consider it a power conference on par with the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and SEC.

Stanford: Cardinal QB Moves to the Hardwood

Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard has turned in his shoulder pads and helmet for a pair of sneakers and a jersey that wouldn’t make a referee feel protected on the football field.

After completing his eligibility as Stanford’s quarterback, Pritchard will continue his career as a Cardinal with the basketball team, giving coach Johnny Dawkins some much-needed depth, according to the Associated Press. Only six players average more than 14 minutes per game this season for the 10-9 Cardinal. Despite the mediocre record, Stanford is 4-3 in Pac-10 play, winning all four of their home games.

Pritchard will sit on the bench for the first time during the team’s game against Arizona. He just started practicing with the team, so don’t expect him in a game until next week.

On the gridiron, Pritchard had 2,865 yards and 15 touchdowns during his career..

California: Bears Face LA Teams With Less Depth

California sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez will miss the Golden Bears’ home games against UCLA and USC this week after he sprained his right knee against Stanford, according to an Associated Press report.
Gutierrez averages 5.7 points and 3.2 rebounds per game for California, which is looking to build an early advantage in the Pac-10 after stomping Stanford 92-66 in the teams’ conference opener last weekend.