1. Yahoo Sports’ Jason King has a long, emotionally charged feature about the life-and-death bonds among Florida coach Billy Donovan, Arkansas coach John Pelphrey and Alabama coach Anthony Grant.
2. In a blog post on CBSSports.com, Eric Angevine shares word from Seth Davis that Syracuse’s Kris Joseph, who leads the team with 14.6 points per game, will miss the Orange’s showdown with Pittsburgh today because of a concussion sustained against Cincinnati Saturday.
3. Kansas State big man Freddy Asprilla will leave the Wildcats to return to his native Colombia, where he hopes to cash in with a professional squad, according to the Associated Press.
4. Washington State won’t have the services of point guard Reggie Moore, averaging 8.8 points and 4.1 assists per game, after coach Ken Bone suspended him indefinitely, according to the Associated Press.
5. If you thought the Blue Devils were going to get chewed out at halftime when they trailed Virginia 31-25 at the half, you’d be right. But you probably wouldn’t guess that normally stoic senior Kyle Singler would be the one doing the woofing, writes the Durham Herald-Sun’s Steve Wiseman.
6. Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus returned to the sidelines after missing three games because of an infection that resulted from a cut on his leg when he and two players collided during the Billikens’ Jan. 1 game against Bowling Green, the Associated Press reports.

1/14
• Valparaiso 71, Wright State 60

1/15

• Texas A&M 91, Missouri 89 OT
• Wisconsin 76, Illinois 66
• Syracuse 67, Cincinnati 52
• Louisville 71, Marquette 70
• Villanova 74, Maryland 66
• Tennessee 67, Vanderbilt 64
• South Carolina 72, Florida 69
• Old Dominion 75, Hofstra 64
• Southern Miss 69, Central Florida 66
• Duquesne 78, Temple 66

1/16

• West Virginia 68, Purdue 64
• St. John’s 72, Notre Dame 54
• Valparaiso 78, Detroit 68

Phil also gives Vermont coach Mike Lonergan and the Catamounts lots of credit for remaining competitive despite losing several major contributors after last season.

1/17:
• Syracuse at Pittsburgh
• Villanova at Connecticut
• Kansas State at Missouri
• Charleston at Chattanooga

1/18:

• Michigan State at Illinois
• Tennessee at Georgia

1/19:

• Texas A&M at Texas
• St. John’s at Louisville
• James Madison at Old Dominion
• Memphis at Southern Miss
• Missouri State at Indiana State

1/20:

• Arizona at Washington
• Chattanooga at Wofford
• Virginia Tech at Maryland

During possibly the most captivating part of his speech, King deviated from his notes to share an intensely personal dream for equality. At one point, to paraphrase, he said, “I have a dream that [people] will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

In the world of college basketball, we have not yet fulfilled that dream, but we have made progress.

The dream cannot be complete until we see greater equality in all ranks of Division I basketball. The racial balance and cooperation among players on the court is a tribute to the progress in college basketball. However, the lack of diversity among athletic directors, university presidents and other executive positions reveals that we have plenty of room for improvement.

The dream cannot be complete until we see greater equality in media coverage of athletes. The expansion of college basketball coverage has necessitated an increase in the number of analysts and commentators, many of whom are black. However, as Dexter Rogers notes in a recent column on the Bleacher Report, the coverage of negativity among black athletes is far less forgiving — think Kobe, LeBron — than it is for white athletes behaving badly — Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre.

College basketball is an opportunity. Players from all walks of life have an opportunity to become student-athletes on scholarship. Few will play professionally anywhere, but all have a chance to receive a free education. For some, that opportunity might not be available if not for their basketball talents. As important as scholarships can be to supporting racial equality, they help remedy an even more deeply rooted American problem: the disparity of socio-economic status, often described, defined and limited by racial identities.

As we reflect on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., we have plenty of successes to celebrate and plenty of work left to embrace.