ESPN Andy Katz Blog

A few quick hitters prior to the weekend:

Catching up with Louisville coach Rick Pitino:

"Pitino said Clarence Holloway would have had aneurism and likely died had the Louisville staff not detected an abnormality with the 7-foot-1 freshman. Holloway had open heart surgery last weekend to repair the wall of his aorta and his aortic valve.

"The wall was very thin, and he was going to have an aneurysm if it had gone undetected," Pitino said.

Holloway won't be able to play basketball for at least six months. His activity will be limited during that time. It's way too premature to speculate on whether or not he'll play basketball again. He's going to redshirt this season.

"Pitino said Derrick Caracter, who was saying all the right things about being in shape, more mature and listening to Pitino earlier in the week, said the sophomore has gone from an undisciplined, overweight non-passionate disinterested student to someone who goes to every class, lost his weight and is more passionate about basketball.

"He's come light years," Pitino said. "I'm real proud of him."

"This is the healthiest a Pitino-coached Louisville team has been in years, and that includes David Padgett, who has been oft-injured since he transferred from Kansas. "He's pain free," Pitino said of Padgett's recurring knee problems.

"The Cards locked up Samardo Samuels (Newark, N.J.) in the class of 2008 and are trying to nail down Tyreke Evans (Aston, Penn.). What this continues to show is how strong Louisville is in the Northeast.

"It took a while to get the brand we wanted to build," Pitino said. "We've really concentrated on certain areas. We dabbled in California a lot, but we weren't as strong so we went back to our successful areas and it's paying dividends. We had spread ourselves too thin in recruiting the whole country and unless there is someone with great interest or for a particular reason, we'll concentrate east of the Mississippi."

• No school is as passionate about Midnight Madness as Kentucky. Sure, Kansas and North Carolina put on a good show (been to both) and the fans are certainly just as passionate. But the real drive to be in attendance at the first practice in Lexington rivals what Alabama produced for Nick Saban's debut in the spring football game (92,000) last April. Remember, the numbers aren't going to be comparable based on the facility size. Still, Midnight Madness tickets were scheduled to be passed out Saturday morning in Lexington at 7 a.m. Fans could begin to line up Wednesday morning at the front of Memorial Coliseum. Every ticket is free. (A year ago, all 23,000 tickets at Rupp Arena went in 35 minutes.) Tents are all up around Memorial, according to Kentucky media relations director Scott Stricklin. This used to be held in Memorial Coliseum (which at one point held 12,000 but now is at 8,700). But for the past three years, the event has been at Rupp. Of course there is great anticipation for Billy Gillispie's first season at Kentucky. Midnight Madness can now start as early as 7 p.m. local time on the Friday closest to Oct. 15, which this year is Oct. 12.

"Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said Thursday that second-round pick Taurean Green will make the squad. He said he was very high on the Florida lead guard, especially with his maturity at the position. That's good to hear since Green had a chance of being a casualty by leaving school too early, getting drafted in the second round (no guaranteed contract) and not sticking with the NBA team.

TUALATIN, Ore. -- Players know who can play, score, drive, dish and make an impact.

Sure, coaches do too. But when a seasoned pro like Brandon Roy (he was the NBA Rookie of the Year last season and a four-year player at Washington) speaks up about his former squad after getting in a good run with the team in Seattle on Wednesday, then we'll listen.

So Roy, who was back at the Portland Trail Blazers training camp Thursday to get ready for practice next week, had a solid analysis on his former squad.

Washington is going to be an interesting team this season. The Huskies lost leading scorer Spencer Hawes to the NBA after his first season. Washington, which finished 19-13 (8-10 in the Pac-10) got surprisingly shut out of the postseason (the Huskies weren't even invited to the NIT, which they found out as they were lacing up the sneakers to go on the practice floor while watching the NIT selection show).

The problem is that the Pac-10 is going to be a monster league with as many as eight teams getting into the field of 65.

"I think they'll make the NIT for sure, but the NCAA is going to be tough," Roy said. "The Pac-10 is one of the only conferences where you would play a USC and UCLA on the same road trip. It's going to be tough. Definitely, they'll make the NIT, but they should use [that they didn't make it last season] as a motivation."

Roy's optimism rests largely on his quick view of point guard Venoy Overton, a freshman from Seattle.

"I think he gives them something they didn't have last year, a creative guard from the perimeter," Roy said. "He was breaking down the defense, dropping down and dishing in practice. After watching the team last year, that's what they were missing."

Roy's also said lead guard Justin Dentmon is not a penetrating point guard, or at least not as savvy as Overton.

Roy said Stanford transfer Tim Morris gives the Huskies a perimeter defender that they lacked last season when Ryan Appleby had to cover someone quicker.

The Huskies also return Quincy Pondexter, an athletic scoring wing, as well as the most productive and hardest working big man, maybe out west, in Jon Brockman. Roy calls Brockman a tremendous teammate. Roy likes forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning, too.

Roy said he also gave Washington coach Lorenzo Romar his opinion of the team after the run. He said Romar responded by saying that Overton reminds him of Nate Robinson, but maybe not as explosive as the former Huskie guard.

Roy spent many days playing with the Huskies throughout the summer (Washington took a trip to Greece in August) and he's high on his alma mater. Still, the depth of the Pac-10 has him wondering just how much better this squad can be in the conference.

Washington will likely be projected no higher than seventh behind some sort of combination of UCLA, Washington State, Oregon, Arizona, Stanford and USC, with Cal a legit chance to pass the Huskies in preseason polls.

A few quick hitters for Wednesday:

• The CBE Classic brackets were announced and as expected, there doesn't seem to be much of a chance the four hosts won't get to Kansas City. The only realistic shot a team has to knock off one of the hosts and spoil the planned foursome is in College Park, Md., where Tulsa is in the bracket with Maryland. That's it. And even that might be a reach. Tulsa is playing Hampton, and North Florida is playing the Terps on Nov. 11. Missouri got its (presumably) free pass with Central Michigan first, with the other bracket featuring Central Missouri and Fordham. UCLA was tossed Youngstown State, with the other side featuring Cal State-San Bernardino against Weber State. Michigan State has Chicago State and then the winner of Northern Michigan versus Louisiana Monroe.

As expected, the brackets are set up for UCLA to play Maryland and Missouri against Michigan State in the semifinals, with the Gazelle Group organizers hoping for a UCLA-Michigan State final on Nov. 20 at the new Spirit Center in Kansas City.

The Gazelle Group also organizes the 2K Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer and the Legends Classic.

Once again, the Legends tournaments are set up for four hosts to get to the championship site in Newark at the new Prudential Center (new home for Seton Hall). Let's just say if Texas, New Mexico State, Tennessee and West Virginia don't make it to Newark on Nov. 23-24, then something is askew.

NMSU will host UC Davis and then LeMoyne-Owens on Nov. 14 and 18. Tennessee hosts Arkansas-Monticello and Prairie View A&M on Nov. 14 and 16. Texas is hosting UC Davis and Arkansas-Monticello on Nov. 16 and 18. West Virginia gets Arkansas-Monticello and Prairie-View A&M Nov. 16 and 18. To throw a bone at Davis and PVAM, those schools will also host. LaVerne and UC Santa Cruz will go to Davis on Nov. 11 and 18; PVAM hosts Jarvis Christian on Nov. 20.

But none of those teams has a shot to go to Newark. This is not a traditional tournament. Instead, the championship is set with Texas playing NMSU and Tennessee playing West Virginia on Nov. 23, and then the winners and losers play on Nov. 24.

The Coaches Vs. Cancer brackets have a few teams with a shot for an upset. Oklahoma hosts San Francisco, and Denver plays East Central Oklahoma on Nov. 8, with the winners and losers playing on Nov. 9. Memphis plays Tennessee-Martin, and Richmond and Maine play on Nov. 5 (Nov. 6 for the next round) in Memphis. Kentucky plays host to Central Arkansas and Gardner Webb plays Alabama A&M Nov. 6 (Nov. 7 for the next round). Connecticut hosts Morgan State, and Buffalo takes on Ohio Valley (the school, not the conference) on Nov. 7 (and on Nov. 8 for next round). The four winners-- likely Oklahoma vs. Memphis and then Kentucky vs. Connecticut -- would meet in the semifinals on Nov. 15 and then the finals and consolation are Nov. 16 in New York City.

Creating these mock tournaments, classics or whatever you want to call them is a way to get high- to mid-major teams at a neutral court by first giving them a few guarantee games at home. These kind of events are the offspring of the abolishment of the 2-in-4 rule that had limited schools to playing in just two exempt tournaments in a four-year period.

• No team may be more nomadic this season than Rice. The Owls' archaic Autry Court, where in the past you could play badminton behind a blue curtain during the Rice games, is being overhauled with new weight room, locker rooms and academic area. But that means Rice will play seven games at Reliant Arena (next to Reliant Stadium) and five games at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, some 25 miles from Houston. The Merrell Center is slated to be the home of the Southland Conference tournament. Four of the five games at the Merrell Center, save one against East Carolina on Wed., March 5, are on a Saturday so the Rice fans have plenty of time to get to the arena. One game will be played at the Toyota Center in Houston (home of the Rockets) against Texas, but that was a condition of the Longhorns even playing the game.

"It's going to be a tough year logistically," Rice coach Willis Wilson said of games and practices that will be off campus on a number of occasions. "But this will make us a good team, and we'll appreciate it when we move back. Our guys will be making a sacrifice and it will make us better."

Rice is rebuilding a bit on the court after losing Morris Almond to the first round of the NBA draft. Wilson is holding out hope that sophomore guard Bryan Beasley can win an appeal after transferring from Texas A&M to be eligible right away. That might be a reach since his reason for the appeal is A&M's coaching change from Billy Gillispie to Mark Turgeon. Beasley redshirted with the Aggies last season. The Owls also have a transfer in Trey Stanton out of the Naval Academy. But Stanton isn't leaving after a coaching change and is expected to sit out this season and play in 2008-09 with three seasons of eligibility left.

Granted, it was one phone call, just a snapshot of a conversation, but Derrick Caracter actually sounded like he finally understands what he needs to do to be a productive member of the Louisville Cardinals men's basketball program.

Maturity can do that to a person.

Credit Louisville coach Rick Pitino for disciplining the highly touted Caracter during his freshman season at Louisville, for actually sending him home to New Jersey once in December. Pitino deserves the praise for not just disciplining Caracter, but also sticking with him.

Caracter's talent was too good to waste.

But he has changed, or at least he's saying the right things in the preseason.

"I've just grown up," said Caracter, who had knee surgery in June and played in just 18 games last season, averaging 8.1 points in 13.3 minutes a game. He did have a propensity for fouling, committing 52 personal fouls and fouling out of three games, two of them in less than 10 minutes.

"Just going home the whole month of May and understanding what's important in my life and get out the high school habits I had, that's why I was up and down," Caracter said.

What were these habits?

"Being on time, effort and body language," Caracter said. "Coach P saw my body language not always being positive and upbeat."

The 6-foot-8 Caracter has had weight issues the past year but doesn't seem to believe that will be an issue this season. He said he lost 10 pounds after his knee surgery. But more than the weight, he needs to be more intelligent on the court.

"That's part of maturity and understanding how to really play defense," Caracter said. "When I got in last year, I wanted to play hard for Coach Pitino [but] that I didn't get the fundamentals down. So I was aggressive on defense and fouled and make silly mistakes like reaching in. I need to play with composure and play smart and hard."

Caracter said he has been working on his quickness and foot agility drills while also guarding David Padgett during individual workouts.

If Caracter can stay on the court defensively, then the Cardinals should have quite a frontline with Padgett and possibly Earl Clark at small forward. Caracter said his dream lineup has Clark at small forward, Terrence Williams at shooting guard and Edgar Sosa at the point for the Big East title contending Cards. That would mean Juan Palacios would come off the bench to spell Padgett or Caracter.

The Cards desperately need Caracter to be productive, let alone stay on the roster, with the latest news that freshman center Clarence Holloway is out for the season with open-heart surgery to repair a wall of his aorta and valve.

The Cards should be a quicker bunch than if Caracter is lighter on his feet, too.

So, he's saying the right things and acting the appropriate way. And as practice approaches, if he can stay out of Pitino's doghouse, he has a chance to have a breakthrough season.

"I'm definitely playing a full season," Caracter said. "I've got a great relationship with Coach P."

Final nugget
• Caracter is from New Jersey and, even though it's a moot point for him, there is even more chatter that Caracter's state U -- Rutgers -- is pursuing a new arena in downtown New Brunswick. There have been ongoing meetings on the subject for the Scarlet Knights. The ideal size would be in the 12,500-14,000-seat range with the intimacy of the RAC. The hope is that the arena would be like a mini-MSG with the arena adjoining a train station at the corner of the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick. The RAC, which when packed can hold 8,000 fans, doesn't have the amenities (practice facilities) of the majority of its Big East rivals. The discussion of the arena is still in its infancy stages.

NC State's backcourt took another hit last weekend when likely point guard backup Javier Gonzalez had surgery to repair his right thumb (his shooting hand) that he injured in workouts last week. The injury will require surgery and will keep the freshman out for the next three months.

Earlier in the preseason, the Wolfpack lost 6-foot-5 forward/guard Johnny Thomas for the season to knee surgery.

The easy thing after hearing about Gonzalez's injury would be to start panicking.

But losing two perimeter players, even at a position that is considered the least proven on the team, does not necessarily mean high anxiety for the Wolfpack.

"We can be good, we just need to stop getting hurt," said assistant coach Monte Towe, a former playmaker for the school.

If the Wolfpack had lost Iowa State transfer guard Farnold Degand, then there would be some cause for alarm. Degand is going to be the starting point guard. He will be the most scrutinized player on a team that is supposed to be an ACC contender and a legit NCAA Tournament team.

"Farnold is fast with the ball, he can really push it," said Towe, who added that Farnold, who sat out last season, still needs to figure out when to pull it back and when to surge. Still, Farnold will be the reason the Wolfpack can run this season, much more than a year ago when they were led by steady guard Engin Atsur.

Towe said the plan is to use Tennessee transfer Marques Johnson at the point, too, once he's eligible in mid-December. Gavin Grant and Courtney Fells, according to Towe, may also take a turn handling the ball.

But clearly, this staff isn't fretting the frontcourt. The Wolfpack have some of the more unheralded returnees in the ACC. Still, Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, let alone the aforementioned Fells and Grant, have the finesse game to score plenty facing the basket.

The addition of 6-9 freshman J.J. Hickson gives the Wolfpack a power player to complement Costner and McCauley.

"He has an impressive work ethic," Towe said of the heralded Hickson. "It's going to be hard to keep him off the glass. He's a great rebounder."

So far, in individual workouts and the limited team practices this past week (two hours a week beginning Sept. 15), the Wolfpack are showing much more competitive fire than a year ago. The reason is that they have the bodies to do so in Sidney Lowe's second season.

And the fact that there is depth means the Wolfpack aren't decimated by a few injuries, at least as long as its not to a few key players.

Final nuggets
• Memphis coach John Calipari landed back from China Sunday and hit the road recruiting. He was off to visit with Tyreke Evans, No. 2 on the ESPN 150 list. The 6-5 Evans out of Aston, Pa., is considering Lousiville, Villanova, Memphis, Texas and Connecticut, according to Scouts Inc. Calipari is then jettisoning around the Northeast and Southeast to look at more recruits. Calipari said he'll be gone a total of nearly two weeks with his China trip and then recruiting. Calipari is still ecstatic about his trip to China and the benefits for Memphis going forward. He's hoping to put together a documentary on the experience of the one Chinese coach chosen (among 15 coming in October) to be with the Tigers throughout the season.

• Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said coaches in the league are "nervous as heck about (the new 18-game league schedule)." He said the schedule will be "harder" but more "fair" now that every school will play each other at least once (15 single games and three teams twice for 18) in the 16-team league. In the previous 16-game schedule, teams did not play two fellow conference members at all in the regular season.

"It's two more tough games," Tranghese said of the new 18-game schedule. "We don't have the perfect scheduling format unless you play a pure double-double round robin. But I think the only one [of the major conferences] left that is totally equitable is the Pac-10."

Sean Sutton isn't going to sugarcoat the current state of affairs at Oklahoma State.

He needs to have a good season. He said he's not feeling any heat. He just knows things have been askew since he abruptly took over for his father, Eddie Sutton, who resigned after battling alcoholism near the end of the 2005-06 season.

"It's important that we bounce back, have a good season," Sutton said. "Our program is going in a positive direction. But I don't think anybody liked the way the last two seasons ended."

The past two seasons have been clear rebuilding years for OSU. But it's not a patient populous. OSU went 17-16 (6-10 in the Big 12) in 2005-06. Last season, the Cowboys improved their overall record to 22-13 but stayed the same in the league at 6-10.

Part of the problems stemmed from injuries and a lack of commitment, according to Sutton.

Quite simply there have been some bad eggs that have permeated the program.

Last season started out with plenty of issues with Jamaal Brown and Torre Johnson essentially being insubordinate. Johnson and Brown didn't make it to the start of the season. Gary Flowers had a brush with marijuana that got him jettisoned as well.

And then, just when it seemed like the Cowboys had righted themselves with an 11-0 start, Obi Muonelo suffered a broken ankle. The Cowboys didn't have the 6-5 Muonelo (10.1 ppg,) for the next 18 games and went 9-9 in his absence. They finished 2-4 when he returned in a limited fashion.

"When he got hurt, we were down to seven players," Sutton said. "We just stopped improving. Most teams improve, but we didn't. We probably regressed and didn't have competitive practices. That team didn't have good leadership."

The news got worse over the summer after junior guard JamesOn Curry surprised the coaching staff and stayed in the NBA draft despite no guarantee he would be a first- or second-round pick. Curry didn't work out for anyone and had just a brief meeting with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls took the Cowboys' second-leading scorer (17.3 ppg) at No. 51 in the second round.

This summer, there have been more issues. They may seem minor -- like Terrel Harris being charged with a fake I.D. or Muonelo getting cited with being underage in a bar -- but they were still negative hits. And then Marcus Dove was arrested for a DUI. Dove is still suspended but is expected to return to the team in time for the season, "as long as he keeps doing what he's supposed to," Sutton said.

"It hasn't been our best summer," Sutton said. "But our guys are working hard and this team has a chance to be good. There's just been some poor judgments. But all of those guys are embarrassed by it. There is a pretty big responsibility to play at a high level and do the right things."

Still, there's more.

Kenny Cooper, who was expected to be the starting center, decided last month that he didn't want to be in Stillwater anymore. He played in 35 games last season and averaged only 4.7 points, but he was expected to replace leading scorer, senior Mario Boggan (19 ppg).

Cooper and the Cowboys had discussed possibly leaving earlier in the year, but Sutton was under the impression the senior was staying. Cooper came back to campus in mid-August, only to have his mother come to Stillwater to inform the coaching staff that she and the family wanted him closer to home in Louisiana.

The staff didn't see it the same way and Sutton wouldn't release Cooper to Louisiana Tech where he transferred. Sutton said Cooper's appeal to be released was turned down by Oklahoma State last week. Louisiana Tech officials wouldn't confirm or deny that but did say that Cooper is enrolled at the Ruston, La., school. If he's not released, then he would have to pay his own scholarship for this season (although as an in-state player it wouldn't be as bad as it could be if he were out-of-state).

So, why is there so much optimism from the Sutton camp after all of this? Well, assuming Dove returns, then Sutton sees four of the five spots as solid, led by a slimmed down Byron Eaton. Eaton was a highly touted lead guard when he arrived in Stillwater, but the 5-11 guard checked in at over 220 pounds recently. Sutton said he expects Eaton will be down to 205 pounds by the time the season starts. But more importantly, Eaton will have to get his turnovers down, with a 3.6-to-2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio last season.

Still, Sutton sees the perimeter of Eaton, Terrel Harris, James Anderson and Brad Garrett as enough to give the Cowboys enough depth on the perimeter and plenty of scoring. The post will be manned by a collection of Anthony Brown and Ibrahima Thomas, both newcomers.

"Our biggest hole is the situation that Kenny put us in," Sutton said. "We don't have an experienced post player with freshmen and a junior college transfer there."

Sutton is convinced this team will play hard, value the Sutton mantra of tight defense and, of course, be a tough out in Stillwater. Still, they need to stop with the off-court mishaps and get back to having a quiet season outside of Gallagher-Iba. The only noise should be coming from inside the famed arena.

If Sutton is right that this team will be much improved, a possible NCAA Tournament team, and the recruiting is on the verge of a breakthrough with the 2008 and '09 classes, then everything should be fine.

Memphis coach John Calipari began his season-long plan for exposure in China this week in Beijing. Next May, the Tigers will play multiple exhibition games in China against the national team and possibly other professional teams.

That's his plan. And even if a few of the Tigers players -- like freshman Derrick Rose, junior Chris Douglas-Roberts or senior Joey Dorsey -- are involved in NBA draft workouts, he's sure they'll accompany the team to China and play in the games.

How certain is he?

"Trust me, they'll want to play; their agents will make them play," Calipari said Thursday morning by phone from Beijing. "LeBron James and Tracy McGrady have almost as much merchandise sold in China as the United States. There are $1.3 billion people here, 300 million watch the NBA."

Calipari called Thursday because he couldn't contain his excitement for this new venture to increase exposure about the Memphis Tigers and college basketball, as evident by Thursday morning's New York Times article on the same subject.

Calipari went to Beijing this week with Memphis provost Dr. Ralph Faudree and Kevin Kane, the CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The plan is to bring in a delegation of Chinese coaches, as many as 15 of them, to watch Memphis practice in October and then one of the coaches will stay with the Tigers throughout their attempt to win the national title this season. Calipari will also conduct coaching clinics in China over the next five years.

Ultimately, Calipari wants Memphis games this season, at least a few of them, to be shown on Chinese television. He's also hoping that all of the trade in information can lead him to a player or two to return to Memphis. He said this venture had nothing to do with the Memphis Grizzlies or the NBA.

And then, after the season, he is hoping to take the Tigers to China for a May trip.

"They've never seen an NCAA game here," said Calipari.

Is he surprised that no other coach has thought to do something like this?

"It would have to be someone as crazy as me that would get on a plane for 14 hours in the middle of recruiting and then figure out who to contact in a communist government. Good luck," Calipari said. "A couple of Chinese kids have gone out the back door to prep schools, but they're not the best players."

Given the current climate of the NCAA's stance toward foreign students and the rigorous standards that the athletes have to pass through (they can't be on a team back home that has a pro on it for them to be eligible for college, let alone the paperwork piles that have to be sifted through to get a player eligible). But that's another matter and Calipari will deal with it if it becomes applicable.

"If we can get a Chinese player & oh my gosh," Calipari said. "This will be a great thing for our players in our program to be recognized in China."

So if that's the case, then Calipari has something to hold over Rose, Douglas-Roberts and Dorsey and Co., when he returns, considering he flew halfway around the globe to eventually help their jersey sales.

"Whoever comes here, maybe that coach will someday be the [Chinese] Olympic coach and help teach their young kids," Calipari said. "Our system of play is a European fit with what we're trying to do."

That style is essentially, according to Calipari, a European style with Princeton additions.

"It's a dribble, drive motion instead of five passes before you shoot," said Calipari, who adapted the system from Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg. "We'd like to get three or four dives before we shoot against a good team; one against a bad team."

Calipari and Walberg conducted a clinic in Mississippi a few weeks ago with more than an estimated 400 high school coaches. Calipari also had Larry Brown and Del Harris, who was the Chinese Olympic coach in 2004, at the clinic as well.

Meanwhile, Calipari said Rose still needs to catch up learning the system. The team had its first team practice (under NCAA rules that was allowed for two hours a week beginning last Saturday) and Rose still isn't on the same page as everyone else. But Calipari said, "He's going to be good. He's really, really fast." Calipari also said Willie Kemp's perimeter shooting and Douglas-Roberts' overall play have been the most impressive things of note so far for the possible preseason No. 1 team.

The players should be getting more sleep, too, since Calipari instituted a curfew following the arrests of Shawn Taggart and Jeff Robinson last month for a disorderly conduct and inciting a riot charge at a Memphis nightclub. The players are due in court Sept. 25.

The curfew is set for 11 p.m. weeknights and midnight on the weekend. He said one of the coaches is checking every player's room each night to ensure they're adhering to the rules, which also include no clubbing.

"They know, they don't want to be the first guy to violate that or go into a club," Calipari said.

Calipari will return from China over the weekend. He said once he's back, he has to do one more recruiting task and then it's "all basketball."

Granted, it was just one team practice on Saturday for two hours, but it was enough for Lute Olson to feel like this Arizona team will be better than last year's disappointment.

"There should be more expected out of this group than last year's," said Olson as he made his way to watch Brandon Jennings at Oak Hill Academy (Va.). Jennings has made a verbal commitment to Arizona.

Saturday was the first day teams were allowed to hold a full team practice for two hours a week. This rule was put into place to help out quarter-system schools that were already behind semester schools in individual workout times.

"The biggest problem last year was with Kirk Walters out [concussion] and Jawann McClellan limited [various ailments] to what he could do, we started two freshmen and a sophomore," Olson said. "This year will be more veteran."

Getting rid of Marcus Williams, who chose to enter the NBA draft and was eventually San Antonio's second-round pick, helps. Losing the hard-working but at times erratic Ivan Radenovic and Mustafa Shakur won't hurt that much.

The addition of highly touted guard Jerryd Bayless, a supposedly healthy McClellan, a more committed defender Chase Budinger and a potentially disruptive defensive inside presence in Jordan Hill, gives the Wildcats a lot more hope. So, too, does the return of Walters, who received a sixth-year of eligibility. There are plenty of quality role players on this roster, too, like Nic Wise, Fendi Onubun, Mohamed Tangara, Bret Brielmaier and Daniel Dillon. It certainly helps that Olson brought in assistant Kevin O'Neill to whip everyone into shape and get them to be committed to the defensive end.

"He's been working with them from a conditioning standpoint, and his presence as a disciplinarian goes a long way in conditioning," Olson said of O'Neill. "Chase is a lot stronger and better conditioned. He has worked hard in the offseason."

The Wildcats play a very tough schedule, one of the toughest in the country. But Olson is convinced this squad can handle it. The expectation is to compete for the Pac-10 title, and if you listen to the staff and noted optimist Josh Pastner, this squad should be ranked no lower than No. 15.

Final nuggets
• Brandon Rush said Tuesday that he's starting to do some cutting and coming off screens during individual workouts. The Kansas guard is still recovering from ACL surgery last June. He said he doesn't have a timetable yet for his return. KU coach Bill Self had projected Dec. 1 as the return date, but Rush said they haven't given him one as of yet.

As for the rest of the squad, both Rush and senior guard Russell Robinson said that Darrell Arthur is just "dunking on people," and Rush added that Arthur "has that mentality that no one can stop him."

Robinson said he's using this pre-preseason time to work on his leadership skills since he knows he'll have to be more assertive while Rush is rehabbing. One sleeper player that doesn't get a lot of talk on KU's roster is Roderick Stewart. What it's worth, the fifth-year senior has been a pleasant surprise to Robinson. Stewart still may have trouble getting on the court with Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins and Rush (when he returns) ahead of him. But if Stewart is playing well early, he might get a longer look.

• Duquesne coach Ron Everhart was back at work Monday after having part of his colon removed due to a recurring problem with diverticulitis. It's a similar procedure that Self endured a few years back. "I just didn't want this to occur during the season to where I would have to miss a game," Everhart said. "That's why I took care of it now."

Alabama coach Mark Gottfried wasn't going to go through the uncertainty again. Neither was senior guard Ronald Steele.

And, once it was clear that Steele wasn't healthy to play for another month because of his ongoing knee problems, the inevitable decision was made official.

Steele will be shut down for the season. Sure, there is talk that he could be back at some point, but the reality is that no one within the Alabama program wants to go through not knowing when, if and how much Steele can play the point again after last season's instability.

Steele played in 26 games, but there were blips of sporadic play and games in which he sat. He played 34 minutes against Xavier on Nov. 20 and then sat out the next two games. He took the court again Dec. 2, playing 35 minutes against Tennessee State and then followed that with 39 minutes against Notre Dame. But he sat out a game two days later. He returned against Southern Miss on Dec. 16 but played just four minutes.

"It was terrible," Gottfried said of the way Steele was used last season.

Late in the season, Steele mustered up just five minutes against Auburn on Feb. 24, was shelved again for two more games, returned to play 12 minutes against Kentucky in the SEC tournament and then couldn't go in the NIT loss at UMass.

Is that any way to rely on the team's best player, playmaker and unquestioned leader?

"It was nobody's fault, but it was terrible for him, for the coaches, for the players," Gottfried said.

Steele has had multiple surgeries on both knees since April 3.

"I had told Ron a number of times we're not going to do like we did last year," Gottfried said. "It's not fair to Ron nor to our team. And he agreed. He doesn't want to do that. He doesn't want to start off his senior year behind the eight ball where the team doesn't know if he can play or is going to play or not play."

Gottfried said he had an idea last April when Steele went into surgery that he might be done for this season. There was chatter throughout the summer that he might return, especially with noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews doing the procedure. But since Steele hasn't even started running yet, there was no way Gottfried said the Tide was going to count on him this season.

"He was a bona fide first-round draft pick a year ago and for him to get back into that position, he knows he has to get into great playing shape," Gottfried said. "We're not going to be very good this year. Period. We know that. This is what he needs to do and what's best for him."

Steele went with the team to Canada for a Labor Day trip but didn't play. That trip was ultimately a test to see how sophomore Mikhail Torrance and freshman Rico Pickett will handle the point.

Gottfried said the two point guards will need each other as they will share the position, with neither player getting a significant bump ahead of the other in playing time.

The good news for the Tide is that Steele will get to play with his brother, Andrew, a 6-3 guard from Birmingham, in the 2008-09 season. The Steeles never played together in high school because when Ronald was a senior, Andrew was an eighth grader. Andrew Steele committed to the Tide over the summer and is expected to sign in November.

A few quick hitters for Monday:

• Don't expect Stuard Baldonado to ever play for Duquesne. That's the unofficial word out coming from Duquesne sources. Baldonado isn't on campus after he had to go down to Florida to deal with a domestic violence charge. This was on the heels of two brushes with the law regarding marijuana last week, involving acting as a lookout for a man accused of selling marijuana as well as criminal conspiracy involving the manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance, according to the Associated Press. Baldonado was one of five Duquesne players shot Sept. 17, 2006. Baldonado recovered from the near-paralyzing gun shot wound that took out a piece of his vertebrae. He was expected to be a frontcourt contributor. But now, after his domestic violence charge emerged and his marijuana-related charges in Pittsburgh, he has become persona non grata at Duquesne. The irony is that he had filed a lawsuit against the school for failure to provide proper security at a school event last April. Baldonado didn't go with the team to Canada over Labor Day. Duquesne suspended Baldonado but no one around the program expects him to be back.

• Levance Fields' arrest after he was charged with aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct and public drunkennessearly Sunday in Pittsburgh is a first for Jamie Dixon. Dixon has been able to avoid the late-night/early-morning phone calls about players getting in trouble with the law during his four years as head coach. Fields is a critical member of the Panthers' backcourt this season, but he's not irreplaceable if he is suspended in some form. Pitt has depth in the perimeter with Ronald Ramon, Keith Benjamin and freshman Bradley Wanamaker. Fields is the lone pure point in the group, though, and that's why ultimately he'll need to play for the Panthers to avoid disruption this season. But this is yet another example of the frailty of teams in the preseason. All it takes is one incident to potentially derail a team. Don't expect an announced penalty from Pitt until there is more information about the legal process. Fields' court appearance is set for Sept. 24.

• Arkansas assistant coach Rob Evans said Sonny Weems, a 6-6 senior guard, should be ready to go for the first practice on Oct. 12 after sustaining a broken left (non-shooting) wrist on the first day of practice last month for the team's Labor Day trip to Cancun. Weems, who Evans said is the team's best talent, should team up nicely with returning lead guard Patrick Beverley, who has a "motor that runs all the time," according to Evans. Arkansas is a chic pick to win the SEC West under first-year coach John Pelphrey.

• Karl Hobbs' contract extension, announced Monday, until the end of the 2011-12 season is yet another sign that Hobbs is at George Washington for the long haul. He's had his chances to bolt on the Colonials after taking them to the NCAA Tournament three times during his seven seasons at GW. A huge buyout, at one point estimated at $1 million, prevented him from leaving. But Hobbs has been such a hit for GW and made the Colonials a regular contender in the Atlantic 10 that he has found a comfort zone. Staying at GW is a great sign for the Colonials as they attempt to find consistency after becoming a stepping-stone job for coaches like Mike Jarvis, and, even in the latter stages of his career, Tom Penders.

USC's highly anticipated newcomer class got another positive jolt late Friday afternoon when Angelo Johnson beat the deadline to be admitted to USC by 15 minutes.

Johnson made it through the NCAA Clearinghouse at 4:45 p.m. (PDT), just in time to beat the 5 p.m. deadline. Friday was the last day Johnson could be admitted to play in the fall semester. If Johnson's case wasn't processed by Friday then he wouldn't have been eligible to join the Trojans until mid-December at the earliest.

Johnson, a 5-10 point guard from Minneapolis, will begin classes Monday, 14 days after the fall semester began. Johnson will have to play catch up but he will be eligible to play for the Trojans this season.

The significance of Johnson's eligibility is it gives the Trojans a true point guard who won't be thinking about scoring.

"We haven't had that, not last year," USC assistant coach Gib Arnold said Friday. "He doesn't care if he scores a point. It will be nice to take the burden off O.J. [Mayo]. [Johnson] is a pure point guard."

Johnson's addition means the heralded Mayo, the highest profile member of the top-rated recruiting class, can play off the ball when Johnson is in the game. Daniel Hackett, who played the point as a freshman last season, is also more of a combo guard. Johnson's arrival means coach Tim Floyd may be able to experiment with a lineup of Johnson at the point and Mayo and Hackett on the wings.

The anticipated newcomer class is loaded with players who will make major contributions in Mayo, forwards Davon Jefferson and Marcus Simmons, center Mamadou Diarra, redshirt freshman Kasey Cunningham and now Johnson. Freshman James Dunleavy, the youngest of the Dunleavy clan, is expected to redshirt.

Johnson was NCAA eligible but there were issues with his paperwork to get through the clearinghouse as the NCAA's checks and balance system went through his academic record. Arnold said the university sent 110 pages of documentation to the NCAA to ensure his eligibility.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta isn't worried. Sure, torn wrist ligaments aren't the same thing as microfracture surgery on a knee, but still, he knows Greg Oden.

Last season, Oden sped up his recovery, returning in early December after missing just seven games for the Buckeyes. Originally, he was told the wrist injury would keep him out until January.

So don't think for one second that Matta sees Oden slacking off during rehab, as he attempts to comeback after undergoing major surgery to repair his knee.

Matta and Oden traded messages Thursday before finally talking late Thursday night.

"He was devastated," said Matta, who coached Oden to the national championship game with Ohio State last April.

"But I told him that Greg is 19 years old and he's probably going to play this game until he's 34, 35 or 36 years old. I watched him in his rehab at Ohio State. I watched him get his wrist better. He'll do things to get healthy.

"I don't know the specifics [of the microfracture rehab] but he will do things to be as healthy as quickly as possible," Matta said.

Matta said the athletic training staff at Ohio State had told him that they had never had someone like Oden.

Ohio State probably hasn't seen someone like Matta, either.

He's about as energetic and intense a coach as there is in the sport.

Matta bops around constantly, seemingly never standing still. The problem is that he is in a complete slow-down mode this summer.

Matta had his third and fourth back surgeries in his life since the title game in Atlanta. The first one was to remove a herniated disc. That surgery made him extremely limited on the recruiting trail earlier in the summer. He couldn't drive and was still in pain. He ended up coming off the road for the latter part of the July evaluation period.

Matta was bothered enough that he went in for a second surgery to clean out one of the nerve canals around his L-5 vertebrae.

This week, Matta was tossing high fives with trainers because he had movement in his calf.

"That was big for me," Matta said.

He's back to strengthening his core and he's driving again.

"I think I'm going to be in good shape," Matta said. "But I'm very careful where I move right now."

The challenge for Matta will be to restrain himself once practice starts next month. School starts next week and Ohio State will begin individual workouts but Matta will be much more reserved then. Once practice starts, Matta's traditional hands-on approach is shelved for the foreseeable future. Instead, he told his assistants, "Your ass is going in to demonstrate."

Meanwhile, Matta couldn't be more pleased with Kosta Koufos' MVP performance for the Greek junior national team this summer.

"He was apprehensive at first since that team had been together, but hopefully he'll get a taste of what he's going to do [in college]," Matta said.

The competition was intense as Greece made it to the gold medal game of the European U-18 championships in Madrid last month. Koufos averaged 26.5 points, 13 boards and 3.5 blocks.

Koufos is the heir apparent to take over for Oden in the middle, although he won't be feeling too much heat with the return of Othello Hunter, Kyle Madsen (who sat out last year as a transfer), Matt Terwilliger and Dallas Lauderdale.

Duke's entire staff is firmly putting its stamp on Team USA's quest for the gold.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is fresh off winning gold in Las Vegas as head coach at the FIBA Tournament of Americas. He was assisted by Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Portland Trail Blazer's Nate McMillan and Phoenix Suns' Mike D'Antoni. But the rest of the staff was filled with a Duke influence.

Associate head coach Johnny Dawkins has, for the past two summers, been in charge of player development and coordinating a workout schedule for the team. And then in Las Vegas last month, the roles of Duke assistants Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski increased from court coaches to advance scouting. Duke's director of basketball operations Mike Schrage holds a similar role with Team USA.

Well, at the conclusion of the run to the gold, the staff was informed that they will be part of the Olympic staff in Beijing in 2008.

That means the entire Duke staff will be with Team USA from mid-July when training camp convenes Aug. 8-24 for the Olympics.

Don't think for a second that this will have an adverse affect on Duke's recruiting players in the class of 2009 or 2010. First off, Duke usually is way ahead of most schools in securing early commitments. Secondly, coaching Team USA is an advantage, not a disadvantage for recruits.

"I would think the recruits understand if we're not at an AAU game," Collins said. "It's not like we're sitting at home. It's been a positive all summer. I think a lot of guys have taken note how well those [the NBA] guys played this summer, how Kobe [Bryant] and LeBron [James] defended and seen them the way they interacted, chest bumping and with the bench always up."

Collins said he has heard countless comments from high school coaches and players about the positive way Team USA (read: coach K's influence here) played in Las Vegas in running away with the gold.

• Meanwhile, Duke's DeMarcus Nelson is back playing after missing the Pan Am trials with a broken hand. David McClure is still a few weeks away after right knee surgery. Center Brian Zoubek is still a few weeks away as well from playing after breaking his foot.

• Texas coach Rick Barnes said Portland didn't listen to him in selecting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant (see: Oden suffering injuries and Durant so far being more durable) and Chicago didn't heed his advice in taking Tyrus Thomas or LaMarcus Aldridge. So, what about his next pro? Well, he said, "they better listen to me on [sophomore guard] D.J. Augustin." Barnes is convinced that Augustin is a pro at guard and that he came back to school last month in the best shape he said he has ever seen a player in at the start of school. Considering that Barnes has always put an emphasis on conditioning at all his stops in Providence, Clemson and Texas that is quite a statement.

• Nevada coach Mark Fox is ecstatic that junior guard Ramon Sessions got at least one year guaranteed by the Milwaukee Bucks after he left early and was taken in the second round. According to the Bucks, Sessions can get the second year guaranteed if he is on the roster past June of 2008. Coaches like Fox are always worried if their players leave early and don't get at least a guaranteed deal in some form.

"Leading up to the NBA draft all the information he got was right on," Fox said. "They said he would likely get a guarantee for one year."

Meanwhile, Fox isn't fretting what is still a rebuilding situation. Marcelus Kemp returned to bolster the perimeter and Demarshay Johnson is back up front after sitting out last year due to academics.

"We've got the pieces," Fox said.

But, even though it's mid-September, Fox is still looking for a home game. Nevada gets an extra game like everyone else in the WAC for playing at Hawaii.

Fox said he needs a 15th home game for the season ticket package. Nevada is playing at North Carolina (in a two-for-one deal), Cal at home in a home-and-home series that will start in Reno, a same season home-and-home against Central Florida (that opens the Knights' new building), a Bracket Buster return to Northern Iowa and on the road for Bracket Buster this season.

I need to amend an earlier statement from this summer: The Pac-10 has nine, not eight, legitimate NCAA Tournament contenders entering the season.

Sorry Oregon State. It's hard to put the Beavers in this group for a full 10 members even though the Beavers will be much improved if C.J. Giles can be a steady contributor.

The team that the majority of Pac-10 coaches are abuzz about as a sleeper in this league is Arizona State. USC coach Tim Floyd and I were sitting next to each other for a three-hour drive in Mexico from Mazatlan to Culiacan a week ago, and the one Pac-10 team he couldn't say enough positive things about was ASU.

Here's the deal with ASU: The Sun Devils were one of the toughest teams in the Pac-10 to score on last season but they couldn't score themselves.

"We became a pain in the ass to play," said second-year coach Herb Sendek. "We played hard, we became a very good defensive team. Our struggles were on the other end of the floor. We didn't make enough shots to give ourselves any room for error. We had to pitch shutouts."

Check the results: ASU lost by only four home against Cal, five to Oregon, five to Washington, one to Washington State, four at Oregon and four at Oregon State, and only three to Arizona. So, the 2-16 Pac-10 record (8-22 overall) didn't truly show how close this team was to being much more respectable in the standings.

"I don't know if we could have played much harder," Sendek said.

So here's the case for the Sun Devils: ASU returns easily one of the more underrated players in the country in junior forward Jeff Pendergraph. A number of coaches have told me he's a lock first-round pick. We'll see. But one thing the 6-foot-9 Pendergraph is certainly worthy of is a potential preseason player of the year candidate in the league. He averaged a dozen points and nine rebounds last season.

"He gets rebounds, not just ones in his area but he goes to get the ball," Sendek said. "For someone his size, he does a great job getting up and down the floor. He's as good a frontcourt runner I personally have had a chance to work with."

The Sun Devils return solid role players in senior Antwi Atuahene (6.9 ppg), sophomore Jerren Shipp (7.6 ppg) and classmates and fellow guards Christian Polk (12 ppg) and Derek Glasser (6.3 ppg). But the reason for renewed optimism lies with a heralded newcomer class that includes guards James Harden, Jamelle McMillan, Ty Abbott and Duke transfer center Eric Boateng.

Sendek calls Harden a "really, skilled" scorer and McMillan, son of Blazers coach Nate McMillan, "the ultimate team person and a winner," Sendek added that Abbott is a legit scorer and Boateng is a committed player who "transformed his body and added strength cut down on body fat."

So, there is a nice mix of experience and new, young, energetic pieces for Sendek. But here's the real rub on this team's chances: ASU's schedule gives this team hope. First off, the Sun Devils could win the right games, as in plucking off a win here or there against UCLA, Washington State, Stanford, Arizona and let's just say USC, to get at least five wins against the proposed top tier of the league. Throw in Oregon for six and the Sun Devils' power-rating will likely be much higher than their record might indicate at 6-12. Toss in a win over Oregon State and Cal and suddenly the Sun Devils are 8-10. This is all plausible.

"We're going to have a minimum of 19 Pac-10 games with 18 in the league and one in the tournament and there's no question that the committee has restated that it is going to get the best teams in the field and will throw away conference affiliation," Sendek said.

The nonconference slate has a few opportunities too with the Maui Invitational games against potential NCAA teams Illinois (yes we have to say that now even though it seems like a reach) and Duke in the first two games, at Nebraska (don't sleep on the Huskers moving up in the Big 12) and Xavier at home. Outside of Duke, the other schools are likely bubble or on the fringe but they have a chance to be in the mix come March.

"We'll have upwards of 24 games against high RPI games on our schedule," Sendek said.

"We could have eight teams from our league somewhere in the [preseason] top 25 with ourselves and Oregon State not considered in that mix," Sendek said.

So, don't sleep on this squad in the desert. Sendek has a shot to move up in the Pac-10 and even if the Sun Devils were to finish eighth they would still be in the mix for a bid if they win the right games.

Final Nugget
Madison Square Garden released its college hoop schedule and there are plenty of quality games on the slate.

The 2K College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer will tip off Nov. 15-16 in New York with the likely four teams being Connecticut, Kentucky, Memphis and Oklahoma.

The NIT Season Tip-Off will be in the Garden the following week Nov. 21 and 23 with the likely four teams being Syracuse, Washington, Texas A&M and Ohio State (although don't dismiss Saint Joseph's chances of upsetting Syracuse on the road to get to New York).

MSG will host the Big Apple Classic on Dec. 1 with Virginia Union vs. Bowie State and Howard vs. Hampton. On Dec. 4, the Jimmy V Classic has a monster USC-Memphis matchup with Kansas State-Notre Dame a quality undercard. The Maggie Dixon Classic will be on Dec. 8 with Duke vs. Pitt and Rutgers vs. Army in a women's basketball doubleheader.

The Aeropostale Classic on Dec. 20 puts Pitt vs. Duke and that is followed up by the Holiday Festival with Hofstra vs. Virginia Tech and Marist vs. St. John's in the semifinals. The championship doubleheader will be on Dec. 29.

St. John's will play only five Big East games at MSG: vs. Pitt on Jan. 23; Georgetown on Jan. 30; Villanova on Feb. 16; Marquette on Feb. 20 and West Virginia on March 8. St. John's played six Big East games in 2006-07, seven in 2005-06, six in 2004-05 and six in 2003-04. So, as you can see, the Red Storm aren't as big a deal in MSG as they used to be and the competition for dates with the Knicks, Rangers and concerts makes it even tougher to get the Red Storm in the building.

Of course, the Big East tournament March 12-15 and the postseason NIT April 1 and 3 will be at MSG as well.

Listen up selection committee: Missouri State coach Barry Hinson isn't playing your game anymore.

He's fed up. He's not even trying to get an at-large berth. He's banking on winning the Missouri Valley Conference and nothing else.

He said he played the NCAA Tournament selection committee's game, trying to work the numbers and get a high RPI. Two seasons ago, Missouri State was at No. 21 in the RPI, with a 12-6 Valley record (two games behind champ Wichita State, and tied with teams that went to the NCAA in Southern Illinois and Creighton and one game ahead of Northern Iowa and Bradley). Missouri State was 22-9 overall after a mini run in the NIT, but its best win during the nonconference was probably at Oral Roberts. The Bears didn't have that marquee win.

A year ago, Missouri State did get the win it needed by beating Wisconsin in a tournament in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Bears finished 12-6 in the league, good for third place by themselves. But the Missouri Valley didn't have as strong a season, meaning that only two teams merited enough to get into the field in Southern Illinois and Creighton. Missouri State finished the season at 22-11. Missouri State entered championship week last March with an RPI of 36. Still the numbers meant nothing in the end.

"I'm frustrated and I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Hinson said. "Somebody has to fight for the little guy and I'm not just fighting for Missouri State. I'm fighting for every mid-major program. We need to take the human element out of it and do what the BCS does and use the computer program."

So, Hinson is playing a tougher nonconference schedule going on the road to Toledo, Winthrop, Arkansas, Utah and playing Alabama and then either Purdue or Iowa State in a tournament in Las Vegas with the only marquee home game being Saint Louis, a potential Atlantic 10 favorite.

Hinson said the goal is to get this team ready for the Missouri Valley by toughening up the squad, even if it means more losses and less of a chance to get a potential at-large berth.

"We followed the system before and played more home games and I know winning helps the RPI," Hinson said. "For whatever season, what we did didn't carry the same weight, not media wise either, when it comes time for Selection Sunday."

Hinson said he was upset over some of the teams last season that got in over the Bears like Georgia Tech, Texas Tech and Stanford.

"Explain to me Texas Tech when it was in a conference not ranked as high as ours? We're not as good as the Big 12. I'm not stupid. I know our top four vs. their top four is not as good. But last year we were as good if not better top to bottom.

"The biggest thing we did was put all our eggs in one basket," Hinson said about focusing on the Valley this season. "We're going to do the best we can to win a conference championship whether it comes to fruition or not. We may get our butts handed to us in the nonconference but it makes us have a better shot to win our conference."

Hinson said the biggest setback could be if the team is mentally beat up by the time it gets to the conference.

"We're taking a gamble," Hinson said.

The Bears lost its top player in Blake Ahearn to graduation, meaning this squad will be looking for new leadership.

Hinson's ire is broader, though. He firmly believes that Cinderella is no longer wanted as much in the field.

"Tulsa getting a few points from the Final Four, George Mason going to the Final Four, [Valparaiso's] Bryce Drew making that shot to beat Ole Miss and Wichita State, Bradley and Southern Illinois making the Sweet 16, that's the story and that's what people want even though they're in limited markets," Hinson said. "It's still the story. It's the greatest sporting event offered in the world because at any moment or any time anybody can win."

So what's the problem?

Hinson said he sees a disproportionate amount of teams making the basketball postseason vs. the football postseason.

When you add up the teams in D-I or transitioning to D-I, basketball accepts under 30 percent to the NCAA and NIT tournaments. College football has over 50 percent of its teams heading to bowl games.

"However, the NCAA [basketball] pays 80 percent of the bills," Hinson said. "Something is wrong with the picture."

So, as you can see, Hinson is a strong advocate of tournament expansion.

"We're not expanding our sport and yet we keep adding bowl games," Hinson said.

But, as we have reported quite a bit, while there is a sentiment for expansion among coaches, there isn't a drive to change the field among the selection committee. So, Hinson can focus on the Valley title, and if he were to win quite a few of those nonconference road games, he might fall into an at-large berth.

Final nugget
• UCLA coach Ben Howland said heralded newcomer Kevin Love has trimmed down, lost body fat and looks tremendous. He also said he can't get over how much hype is surrounding Love's arrival. It doesn't help that he literally stands out in a crowd on campus. Love was at summer school, which is just finishing up. UCLA still doesn't start school for another two weeks, so Howland said he gave the players a chance to go home for a few days before coming back. Teams can start to work out as a unit for two hours a week beginning Saturday. This rule change was made to accommodate the quarter schools that get a September start as opposed to the semester schools that start in August. But for UCLA the players will still have to wait nearly another two weeks to play as a team under the eyes of their coaches.

Houston Fancher is no fool. He capitalized as much as he could with Appalachian State's football win over Michigan.

And why wouldn't he? Fancher, the men's basketball coach, corralled his family and drove them down to Johnson City, Tenn., to meet the football team as it arrived from Ann Arbor, Mich., last Saturday night. They followed the caravan back to Boone, N.C., to revel in the euphoric victory over the Wolverines in the Big House.

But as soon as that died down, Fancher got on the phone from Sunday through Thursday to milk the football's team's great upset as much as he could, to make sure this was as advantageous as possible for the basketball team.

"If any kid was concerned about Appalachian State and exposure, well, that's where that helped," Fancher said. "To see Appalachian State on the cover of Sports Illustrated and to see what's going on here day after day, it's been like a national disaster in a good way. Everyone is asking where you were. It can't help but bleed over to the other programs."

Appalachian State had its shining moment last season when it was 25-8, 15-3 in the Southern Conference. The Mountaineers won a tournament in Puerto Rico by beating Virginia, Central Florida and Vanderbilt in successive outings. The latter ultimately was a Sweet 16 team that was one shot away from going to the Elite Eight.

Still, not too many folks noticed then. And the folks didn't take much stock in a win at Wichita State in the BracketBuster or recognize the ultimately shocking two-point loss to the College of Charleston (essentially a road game) in the conference tournament. So, when the season ended at Ole Miss in the first-round of the NIT, Appalachian State disappeared from the national radar.

Disappeared, that is, until the football team made the name part of the mainstream college sports' vernacular.

Fancher said the school's Web site crashed multiple times after the football win. He said 75 percent of the viewers on Monday were new to the site.

"Obviously they may explore the rest of the Web site," Fancher said. He said some recruits saw the game; others saw the highlights. He said recruits are now interested in going to football games when they come for a visit.

Fancher said there are now players in their recruiting sights that they may not have been able to touch had this not happened.

"It further exposes our university," Fancher said.

The basketball team could further that exposure this season.

The Mountaineers will lean heavily on Virginia transfer Donte Minter, who averaged 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 25 games once he became eligible. Appalachian State lost its leading scorer D.J. Thompson, who was a senior last season.

Appalachian State will look up at league favorite Davidson. Still, Fancher has upgraded the schedule by going to Charlotte and Arkansas (in Little Rock) and playing nine road games before Jan. 11. The home slate, for a school like Appalachian State, is pretty decent with San Jose State and Wichita State coming to Boone.

But what would be comparable for Appalachian State in basketball after the football team's win at Michigan? For Fancher, it would be winning at North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The two teams do not play this season.

"They whupped us a few times already," Fancher said.

Final nugget
• A day after Kentucky picked up assistant Tracy Webster from Illinois, Darius Miller committed to Kentucky. Webster had been part of Miller's recruitment to Illinois. Miller, from Mason County, Ky., told the Lexington Herald-Leader Friday that he chose the Wildcats. The Miller family was quoted in the local papers that hiring Webster would help.

Meanwhile, Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said Thursday night that he's still waiting to get the Wildcats healthy for a full assessment. Joe Crawford has been out with knee swelling, Derrick Jasper is coming off knee surgery and Jared Carter is still rehabbing from shoulder surgery. But Gillispie said one of the bigger surprises has been the play of highly touted newcomer Patrick Patterson in individual workouts. Patterson was known to be a rebounder but he's proving he can score.

"He's just so tough already," Gillispie said.

And for a Gillisipie-coached team, toughness is a must.

• Duquesne's Shawn James came out of an MRI arthogram with good news. The Northeastern transfer center, who led the country in blocks two years ago, has just mild inflammation and no fracture in his foot. James and the Dukes played in Canada over the weekend, but he returned with soreness in his foot. There was some fear that he may have re-injured the same foot that was shot last Sept. 17. James had a piece of lead from the bullet fragments in his foot for almost two months.

MAZATLAN, Mexico -- O.J. Mayo and Taj Gibson will get all the preseason hype. They should. They are the two most recognizable names on USC.

But allow me to let you in on a little secret: The Trojans found two hidden gems that will be household names in the Pac-10 before the season ends.

Davon Jefferson is a special talent. He runs the floor with ease, can rebound, make the 18-foot jump shot and has the familiarity with Gibson and Mayo to flood the wing on the break.

Marcus Simmons is a tough, ornery wing that will add toughness for the Trojans once they get in the Pac-10.

These two players were, by far, the two surprises on the one-game, two-day trip to Mexico over Labor Day weekend.

Jefferson's path to USC is an interesting one. He came out of Lynwood High in Los Angeles and originally signed to play at UNLV. But he wasn't eligible. So, he tried to go to Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C. He lasted a semester, averaging 20 points a game in half the season. He then decided against going to a prep school for the rest of the 2005-06 season. Instead, he returned to his home in L.A. and enrolled at Compton Adult School, where he took classes while also taking online courses. The initial plan was for him to join the Trojans last December, but he didn't make it academically until this fall.

"It humbled me and kept me hungry," said the 6-foot-8 Jefferson. "It taught me a lot about life, to not take anything for granted."

Gibson said Jefferson's ceiling is limitless, and as long as he continues to be aggressive, then his game will shine.

"His game is different than mine because he attacks the rim, can jump and shoot the 17-18 footer," said Gibson, a sophomore.

Simmons is from Alexandria, La. Like Floyd, he has Southern roots (Floyd is from Mississippi and coached at New Orleans). The 6-6 Simmons will be a major factor in the Trojans' rotation.

Another hidden gem in this class -- point guard Angelo Johnson out of Minneapolis -- will find out within the next seven days if he gets through the NCAA Clearinghouse for this season. Johnson did not travel to Mexico with the team, and USC has until next week to get him through for the fall semester. If they don't, then he'll try for mid-season. USC coach Tim Floyd is hoping that Johnson can get eligible so he can sometimes go with a lineup of Johnson (point) and returning guard Daniel Hackett and Mayo on the wings. But trust me, after watching Mayo in Mexico, he'll have the ball in his hands quite a bit during the season.

The Trojans are doing a nice job of complementing their star recruits with under-the-radar players who will make significant contributions. And it seems USC it already loading up for years to come.

In the 2008 class, the Trojans have commitments from wings and guards that are all highly rated or recognized in one form or another in Demar Derozan, Romeo Miller, Donte Smith and Malik Story. They are still hotly pursuing Greg Monroe, one of the top big men in 2008, and Renaldo Woolridge, son of former NBA player, Orlando.

USC is pursuing top prospect Renardo Sidney in the 2009 class. And of course, who can forget that the Trojans received a commitment from Ryan Boatright, a point guard out of East Aurora High in Illinois in the class of 2011.

Final nuggets
• Illinois' staff took a hit when Tracy Webster left for Kentucky, as reported by the Chicago Tribune Thursday. I've known Webster since I covered his recruitment to Wisconsin in 1989 when I worked for the Milwaukee Journal. Webster is well-connected in the Chicago-area. This is a blow to Illinois and a major coup for Kentucky to crack another recruiting hotbed. You can argue that Webster wasn't hauling in recruits from Chicago to Illinois, but a number of the high-profile players of late were locked into heading elsewhere -- i.e. Memphis and Oregon. Still, Webster will give Billy Gillispie even more credibility in Chicago with a national name like Kentucky. Gillispie already has the Texas recruiting trail covered, and assistant coach Glynn Cyprien gives him a strong tie to areas in the Southwest and West. Kentucky already has the allure in the South, regardless of who is the coach. So, adding Webster allows the Wildcats to have a much more national staff. The timing for Illinois to lose Webster is obviously not good. The Illini are coming off a Labor Day trip to Canada and are already in full fall semester mode. So, to introduce a new assistant coach and to change the recruiting contact at this late stage, without a commitment for 2008, can't be a positive.

• As our ESPN recruiting insider Antonio Williams wrote Thursday, Boston College nabbed two players from Colorado in Reggie Jackson and Dallas Elmore. Both Colorado players, who visited last week, were being recruited by the state schools in the Mountain region. What's interesting here is that once again BC went out of the region to nab two of the players it coveted the most. This has been and will continue to be the trend for the Eagles. They can't survive alone on Northeast talent, nor can they compete on a regular basis for talent with the comparable ACC powers in the Carolinas. Yet, BC has consistently done a good job of nabbing the hidden gems out West (Jared Dudley and Craig Smith) or taken someone that gets passed over in the ACC region like Tyrese Rice. BC doesn't beg and Al Skinner won't grovel. He'll get the players he wants to coach, regardless of where they are, and never gets hung up on rankings of any sort. Who knows if this pair will pan out, but history shows BC has done a quality job evaluating players below the radar.

• Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch wrote Thursday about something I thought was a possibility. Ohio State freshman forward Kosta Koufos turned down a $5 million, three-year deal to play in Greece. Koufos' interest abroad shouldn't be a shock considering he tore up the U-18 championships this summer in Madrid. Greece finished second behind his 26.5 points, 13 rebounds and 3.5 blocks a game. Koufos, who is from Ohio but is of Greek descent, chose wisely considering the publicity he'll get for playing at Ohio State. The best thing for Koufos is that will have options now beyond the United States. This is a great example of someone who really helped himself by playing overseas this summer for a longer career. (Another one is Hackett from USC who spent the summer with Italy's national team and will undoubtedly be a name for Italian leagues in future years.)

Stuard Baldonado is looking a lot like A.J. Price.

The difference, though, is that Price stuck out his punishment and ultimately played for Connecticut. It's still too early to see if Baldonado will ever play for Duquesne.

Price missed an entire season because of a brain hemorrhage. He was the sympathetic victim. But then, while working on his comeback, he was involved in a stolen laptop scandal at UConn, taking away the sympathy he had received. He was suspended for the academic year for his role in the scandal and then returned last season to start 23 of the team's 31 games.

Baldonado was one of five players shot last Sept. 17 on Duquesne's campus. The bullet nearly left him paralyzed. He recovered well enough to where he was going to play this season. But then, at roughly 6:30 p.m. last Friday night, he was arrested and "charged with criminal conspiracy involving the manufacture, delivery or possession of a controlled substance," according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Baldonado, who is suing the university for the lack of security the night of the shooting, is suspended and his return is in jeopardy.

Duquesne coach Ron Everhart can't get too specific about Baldonado's situation. But he did say Wednesday that Baldonado's violation was of the code of conduct and "whether or not he returns to the team is unclear. We won't know one way or the other until the legal matter is resolved."

Baldonado couldn't go on the team's Labor Day trip to Canada because he didn't have his passport/visa issue settled. Baldonado is a Columbian citizen, and the issue for Baldonado wasn't getting into Canada but returning to the United States, according to Everhart. So the decision was made, prior to his arrest, that Baldonado wouldn't be going on the trip. He was arrested while the team was on the bus headed to Canada.

Baldonado's arrest comes on the heels of the Dukes getting a commitment from Damian Saunders, a former member of Marquette's recruiting class who was arrested in late June in Waterbury, Conn., on possession of a controlled substance.

Saunders was admitted to Duquesne last week and began classes Tuesday. He didn't go on the trip to Canada.

This is all occurring while Everhart battles diverticulitis and has had a procedure to correct the digestive disorder.

The good news for the Dukes is that they did get a chance to integrate transfers Kojo Mensah (Siena) and Shawn James (Northeastern) on the trip. Mensah and James were both shot as well on Sept. 17 but far less seriously than Baldonado or Sam Ashaolu, who was shot in the head and continues to make a remarkable comeback.

Everhart said Mensah and James made a huge impact at both ends of the court, which shouldn't be a surprise since Mensah is a scorer and James a shot blocker. The surprising thing is that Everhart is still fooling around with his wild offense that involves substituting groups of five players every two minutes. The goal is to get close to 100 shot attempts in combined field goal and free throws in 40 minutes. When the Dukes got down in numbers last season, Everhart experimented with the offense and scored more than 90 points in five straight games.

Mensah's ability to pressure the ball and James' low-post scoring ability give this squad much more balance at both ends.

"The thing that struck me was how unselfish our guys were," Everhart said of the trip.

Everhart said he still hasn't decided if he will stick with his gimmick offense.

"There are some guys who can play more than 20 minutes that I might want to keep on the floor longer," he said. "But it's an effective way of wearing down opponents, and guys really like it and buy into the platoon system."

Final nuggets
• Clemson coach Oliver Purnell didn't see anything on the team's trip to the Bahamas over Labor Day that would dissuade him from believing the Tigers will be better than last season, and that means competing for the ACC title the whole season (not just go undefeated for the first 17 games of the season).

"I felt that we lost last year that we would be better, and nothing happened in the past 15 days to two weeks that has changed my opinion," Purnell said. "If anything, the trip strengthened my opinion that we'll be a better team than last year. And if that's the case, then we'll be pretty good."

Clemson loses only one key player -- Vernon Hamilton -- as four starters return. The key position will be at the point where the Tigers used freshman Demontez Stitt and senior Cliff Hammonds at the spot during the trip.

Clemson made sure that it was back Monday just in time for kickoff of the team's game against Florida State.

• When Jameer Nelson finished his stellar career with Saint Joseph's at a banquet in front of 1,500 fans at the Field House, Nelson's father, Floyd "Pete" Nelson, walked up to Hawks' coach Phil Martelli and said, "Four years ago, you said you would take care of my son and no one did it better than you Phil Martelli." Martelli shared one of his favorite Pete Nelson moments Wednesday. On Friday, he'll attend his funeral. The 57-year-old Nelson was pulled from the Delaware River Saturday in what authorities are ruling an accidental death.

Martelli said Nelson's father was one of his favorite family members of any player he has ever recruited. He said when he was going through the home visit with Jameer, it was Nelson's father who brought even more levity to a surreal evening. Martelli said he stood in front of about 60 family and friends that were coming in and out of the house during the home visit and told the family about himself and Saint Joseph's. Food was being passed around and questions were being yelled out (like what number would Jameer wear), but the best one was from the elder Nelson, who asked where the first game would be the following season. Martelli said Pete Nelson, upon learning that the game would be at Vanderbilt, said he was going and who else was coming with him. He had eight hands up and told Martelli he better reserve eight tickets. "He was the best," Martelli said. "We'll really miss him."

UAB coach Mike Davis doesn't want to hear any excuses from his five arrested players.

They were in the wrong before they even were busted by the police.

They broke his rule that no player, regardless of the situation, should enter a club. So, hearing from the players about a he said/he said situation with the police or anyone else Friday night is irrelevant, Davis said.

Five UAB players -- Edward Berrios (23), Keenan Ellis (18), Walter Sharpe (21), Channing Toney (21) and Robert Vaden(22) -- were all arrested and put in the Birmingham County Jail early Friday morning, the Birmingham News reported. The charges ranged from physical harassment of an officer (Toney) to disorderly conduct (for the rest).

"I support the police officers; they did what they're supposed to do," Davis said Tuesday. "We have a team rule and that is that you can't go to a club. They were embarrassed and they will be disciplined. The first rule I put in place was that there would be no clubs.

"It's a matter of breaking a team rule, that's the first thing they did that was wrong. The next thing the kids have to understand is that no one is above or should be above the law. The one thing we do have is a choice and that can make us or break us."

Davis, entering his second season with the Blazers after resigning at Indiana, is on the verge of a breakout season with the Blazers. UAB finished 15-16 overall (7-9 in Conference USA) in Davis' first season with the Blazers. But with a stellar group of transfers -- Vaden (Indiana), Sharpe (Mississippi State) and Toney (Georgia) -- and a sensational returning lead guard in Paul Delaney, the Blazers are expecting to be the second-best team behind Memphis in Conference USA.

The arrests of the Blazer players comes on the heels of two Memphis players -- sophomore Shawn Taggart and freshman Jeff Robinson -- being charged with disorderly conduct last week too.

"I told them [the Blazer players] that is isn't someone picking on them," Davis said. "The officers were doing their job. I know this happens everywhere, but they got what they deserved. They're very good boys but they were in the wrong place. I don't want them going to clubs. It's not about them not having fun, it's about something like this happening. They're remorseful and they've got a punishment coming."

Davis said he has instituted a curfew on the team but the details and further punishment will stay in house.

"There is nothing they can say to me since they have no excuse for going to the club," Davis said. "They never should have been there. They know it. Will they go to a club again? I hope not. I support the police. I have to stay on top of them. I have to be the leader. I'm not going to depend on an 18-, 19- or 20-year-old kid to be the leader. That's my job. They had a stumble and we'll move past and stay focused."