ESPN Men's Basketball

Conference USA remains defined by Memphis.

When the league's marquee team can be just as good, if not better, after losing three players to the NBA draft (and only one was a senior), then you know you've got something good going. Add in the news this week that senior Jeremy Hunt is back on the squad and the Tigers are ready to make another deep run.

How deep? Well, head coach John Calipari isn't ready to say Final Four, No. 1 seed, or even Elite Eight, but he isn't shy about promoting this squad, either. His quick comment upon learning that Hunt was eligible was, "it's on, now."

What's on? The Tigers are as a national player. Every returning coach ESPN.com talked to mentioned that you could take a pick of players among Memphis' marquee returnees for a potential league player of the year, and Calipari agrees.

"Chris Douglas-Roberts, Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier all have a chance to be player of the year," Calipari said. "I know Morris Almond (of Rice) does, too. No one is going to pick us to be as good as we [were last season], but we will be.

"We're going to be better than people think," Calipari said. "We can just come out and play with anybody. There were other years when we were picked high and we knew that we were that good. We want to make a statement and we can make one."

The reason this season is that Calipari has a rotation that can go deep. Douglas-Roberts, Anderson, Dozier, Andre Allen, Joey Dorsey, Willie Kemp, former Florida signee Doneal Mack and more give the Tigers up to 10 players who could go in and contribute without hesitation.

The Tigers will play a big-time schedule as always, with teams like Arizona and Gonzaga dotting the slate. That's after the Maui Invitational, where the Tigers are in a field with UCLA, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, DePaul, Purdue and Oklahoma.

If everything breaks the way Calipari thinks it can, losing Darius Washington, Rodney Carney and Shawne Williams actually might have little effect. That's saying something for a program that seemed to have lost its way prior to Calipari's hiring.

– Andy Katz

Hot player
Every coach that ESPN.com quizzed said Rice's Morris Almond is the real deal. He certainly was one of the best players at the Orlando predraft camp before electing to return for his senior season in Houston. Almond should make Rice an instant contender in C-USA. He can score from anywhere on the court. He's also becoming a leader that the Owls have lacked. Expect Almond to be a national player this season.

Hot hidden gem Memphis' Robert Dozier should blossom now that Rodney Carney and Shawne Williams are gone. The coaches love his size, length and overall game. Dozier will be a featured player, and if he lives up to the hype, then Memphis will have another first-round pick starring for it.

Hot scene
Everyone knows Memphis has a tough home court at FedEx Forum, but the coaches in Conference USA had no idea how tough UTEP was until they had to go there last season. Regardless of the coaching changes, UTEP immediately has become one of the toughest road spots in C-USA.

Hot teams
Neither Tulsa nor Tulane might even make the NIT, let alone the NCAA Tournament, but coaches in the league expect both programs to be much improved and compete for a top-five league finish.

Just plain hot
Until someone knocks Memphis off its perch, the Tigers are the standard for the league. Memphis dominates the TV schedule, the national scene and every discussion about Conference USA. This is Memphis' league until John Calipari leaves and the Tigers somehow sink a few notches -- and that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Hot idea
Finally, SMU and UTEP are going big-time in hoops -- facility-wise. They're building practice buildings specifically for basketball. That was unheard of in the state a few years ago before Texas started the trend. Now, look for everyone else to keep up with the Longhorns as best they can. Getting practice gyms at SMU and UTEP certainly will help these programs compete as destinations for high-profile players.

– Andy Katz

Matt Doherty is on his seventh house as a coach, his fourth in four years.

"I don't want to do that to my family again," Doherty said. "My son and daughter are in third and second grade and it's the third school in three years. But this is a good job in a good city. I'm not looking. I've been to the top of the mountain and the view isn't always great. I've got one of the potential best coaching jobs because of the quality of life."

Doherty was an assistant at Kansas, went to Notre Dame for one year, North Carolina for three, was out of coaching for two, at Florida Atlantic last season and now is at SMU.

"People that haven't coached at North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke or UCLA don't know what it's like," Doherty said. "It sounds glamorous, but it's a unique animal. I don't have to have that. I understand that and my wife and I really like Dallas. It's a great city."

Doherty is adamant that SMU is a different job than when Mike Dement was here in the mid to late 1990s before former coach Jimmy Tubbs. Athletic director Jim Copeland is gone and former Central Florida AD Steve Orsini is on board and looking to pump up the program.

"We've raised seven million for a new basketball center and we'll start digging in November," said Doherty. "Everyone said the same thing about Notre Dame (that it can't win) and yet the crowd stormed the court after we beat Connecticut. There is a market here for us. There is history and we can wake it up."

* * *

Turnaround Tom Penders figured out a way to beat the system: Go JC.

In an era where coaches are tripping over themselves to get the top high school players, Penders is placing players at junior colleges to get them on the rebound.

"I researched this," Penders said. "At a school like Houston, until we're established, we're not going to get McDonald's All-Americans.

"Get a good JC player who doesn't have baggage," Penders said. "A lot of them get a bad rap. I've had great success with JC kids."

This season, Penders gets DePaul transfer Marcus Malone through a JC (Lee College, placed by Penders). He also has traditional transfers like Dion Dowell (Texas) and Marcus Cousin (Seton Hall) sitting out. Robert McKiver was heading elsewhere before receiving a nudge toward San Jacinto JC (Texas) before landing at Houston. In all, the Cougars have six JC transfers and two four-year transfers on the roster.

"When kids want to transfer, you don't always have a scholarship open for them," Penders said. "Once you get these kids (after the JC), there usually isn't an adjustment."

Penders, not shy about promoting the Cougars, expects Houston to be "dramatically better." That very well could occur, as long as returning guard Lanny Smith is healthy.

– Andy Katz

Whereas last year, Memphis was the clear favorite due to overwhelming talent, this season the C-USA playing field has leveled a bit.

In my mind, the team that should win this league is the Houston Cougars. Houston returns Oliver Lafayette and Lanny Smith, who without question comprise the best backcourt combo in this conference. Houston also added Robert McKiver and Marcus Malone, two of the best juco wings in the state. Add to that Jahmar Thorpe and that they don't only play at El Paso with no return home game this season, and the Cougars appear primed for success.

Overall, Tom Penders' group seems to be cohesive enough to return to the 20-win form it displayed last year and it should be seen as the best team going into the season.

Believe it or not, the best player in the league also plays in the city of Houston -- but he doesn't play for the Cougs. Instead, it's Rice's Morris Almond, who averaged 21.9 points a game last season and should get even more shots this season. If he gets any help, Rice should at least make a strong push toward the NIT.

Memphis returns some good players, although all their NBA-type talent left. What remains is Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey and, now, Jeremy Hunt, back after a year away from the program due to personal issues. If newcomers Willie Kemp and Pierre Niles are as good as advertised, the Tigers should be dancing again, but let's not forget they were a No. 1 seed last season.

Coach Cal's club will be competitive, but there's a dramatic dropoff with the loss of Shawne Williams, Rodney Carney and even Darius Washington Jr. With all due respect to coach Cal, he might have lost some headaches but he also lost three NBA-type talents. There are some Memphis fans who think this team will be better off without Washington, but despite his flaws, I would greatly disagree.

The other team to get to the NCAAs last year was UAB, and while the Blazers do return Wen Mukubu, who seemed to come into his own late in the year, Mike Davis has his work cut out for him in his first year "back home." The most difficult transition for a group of players at the college level is to go back to a traditional style of basketball after playing a "40 minutes of hell" style.

SMU with Matt Doherty should be interesting. The Mustangs return most of their talent, but suffer a huge loss with the graduation of Bryan Hopkins. Tulsa returns four of their top five scorers and should continue to improve. UTEP lost almost everyone, and while Tony Barbee eventually will get it done, consider this season two-steps back before moving forward.

A league that was feared to be a one-team wonder last year ended up having a pretty solid top four. Unfortunately, this year, there is no team at the level Memphis was at last year, and the conference will be very hardpressed to get more than two teams into the NCAAs.

– Doug Gottlieb

The top C-USA story lines

Central Florida: Love to know how many people really knew that Central Florida finished 7-7 in CUSA last season, ahead of Rice, Tulane and Tulsa (no peeking at the standings page) ... Central Florida has won 84 games since 2002-03, another reputable number for an under-publicized program ... Another factoid that gets lost: Central Florida was the top 3-point shooting team in Conference USA and that should continue with Josh Peppers and Mike O'Donnell returning ... Central Florida has a 6-11 junior center Stanley Billings, who spent eight years in the military as a chef before playing organized ball ... Expect UCF to be another top defensive team, which should keep them in every game. UCF gave up just 63.4 points a game last season and held fifteen teams below 60.

East Carolina: This is one of those tough teams to read. ECU returns three starters. But that's three starters off a team that won only two games in league play ... ECU lost a total of 11 players (that's everyone on the roster) and brought in 10 newcomers, although freshman Hillary Haley won't be on the squad, so the number goes down to nine ... Ricky Stokes is breaking this program down to its bare bones and hoping he can reconstruct it with high school players. Stokes brought in seven preps and two junior transfers.

Houston: Houston guard Lanny Smith had surgery earlier this month after he had a displaced fracture on his left big toe. He'll be in a non-weight-bearing cast for six weeks and then will spend another six with a walking boot, putting his return for games possibly into December ... Houston coach Tom Penders said official John Hampton did call and apologize for calling a technical foul on Penders during a game at UAB last season while Penders was on the court, having collapsed from dehydration. "I can tell you that until you go through it, it feels like you're having a stroke," Penders said. "I saw lights in front of my eyes and had ears ringing." Penders said he has been checked out by his cardiologist, and the episode had nothing to do with his implanted defibrillator. "It never came close to going off," Penders said. "I just had some low blood pressure (from the dehydration)."

Marshall: The Thundering Herd still is trying to find its identity in C-USA, having finished ninth in the league last season. The backcourt should be fine with the return of Chris Ross, Mark Dorris and Tre Whitted, but the frontcourt is still very green. Still, you need to keep an eye out for Jean Francois Bro-Grebe, a 6-9 junior who played in only nine games last season because of knee injuries. He has a 7-6 wingspan and could be a troubling player for opponents if he can stay on the court …The Herd need all-C-USA freshman team member Markel Humphrey (7.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg) to make a significant jump as a sophomore.

Memphis: John Calipari will take his time replacing former assistant coach Tony Barbee, now the head coach at UTEP. Calipari usually only goes with a former player or assistant, but he might go outside the family for this hire … It's still amazing that Darius Washington decided to sign with an agent two days before the draft in June. Calipari expected him to stay in the draft, but that was until word got out that he wasn't going to be selected. Then Calipari thought the point guard would come back to Memphis. He was as befuddled as everyone else that Washington would wait until the final week to sign with an agent and nullify his amateur status.

Rice: All the talk surrounding Rice is naturally about Morris Almond. And that's understandable, since he averaged 21.9 point a game. But the two glue guys on this squad who get no love but should are senior guard Lorenzo Williams (6.1 apg) and gritty junior forward Patrick Britton …We can't say it enough, Willis Wilson needs new digs. Autry Court is as good for badminton as it is for hoops (and that's not just a joke, since they do play the racquet sport behind the blue curtain).

SMU: Bamba Fall is eligible to play. He's a 7-1, 200-pound, run-like-a-deer shot-blocker who played in 18 games last season, blocking 53 shots. There were some concerns if he was going to be ready to go …Derrick Roberts is healthy after recovering from knee surgery …The only major hit off of Jimmy Tubbs' team is the loss of point guard Bryan Hopkins … There doesn't seem to be any negative effect from the NCAA violation allegations against Tubbs. We'll see if anything develops, but Matt Doherty doesn't seem to be seeing any impact. Doherty landed 6-4 Ryan Harp from Abilene Cooper (Texas) High this month and is looking to get seven players signed in this class.

Southern Miss: Larry Eustachy still is trying to find right mix of players. According to Southern Miss, 33 players have gone through the program since he arrived three years ago. The problem for the staff was that James Green didn't leave much for them. The consensus at Southern Miss is that the program was in worse shape than they thought when they arrived. But they did get some hidden gems like Courtney Beasley, who was one of the better freshmen in the league last season when he averaged 10.7 points a game. According to the staff the attitude has changed and the feeling is that they have turned the corner. There is a belief that they can be a competitive team in Conference USA … The Golden Eagles are practicing this week for a Labor Day trip to the Bahamas.

Tulane: There was some interest among coaches in hiring Dave Dickerson as an associate head coach. His name floated out at Miami and Pitt for possible openings, but Dickerson wasn't going to move. He is committed to Tulane and that was evident with his decision to sign a new five-year contract as reported in Wednesday's Daily Word ... Expect David Gomez to be the Green Wave's stud this season.

Tulsa: Coach Doug Wojcik said he filled his team's needs by getting speed, quickness and ballhandling in the class. He got Ben Uzoh out of San Antonio, whom the Golden Hurricane are looking at as a huge catch for their recruiting in Texas … Wojcik is hoping to rekindle the success of the Bill Self era. Everyone in the league looks at Tulsa a hidden gem with their strong following and decent facilities. "We're set up very similar to Memphis," Wojcik said. "The city isn't too big, but the team is important to our fans and they are educated. We'll be pretty versatile. We can play small and play big, too."

UAB: Getting Jeremy Mayfield eligible is the most important things at UAB. He went to God's Academy (Texas), one of the school's on the NCAA's questionable list. The Blazers aren't expecting a surprise and they need Mayfield to be an anchor in the post. He signed at Oklahoma but split once Kelvin Sampson went to Indiana. The Blazers should hear next week on Mayfield.

UTEP: Tony Barbee wants to get out and run. He said he'll need his players to be in top condition. He wants to focus on strength and conditioning. The Miners were getting more athletic in this recruiting class and assuming that everyone is eligible, Barbee might not have as much of a transition. He still has to finish his staff. Getting Milt Wagner from Memphis on board should be an interesting hire. Wagner has strong Nike ties and that could help in recruiting.

– Andy Katz