Full Court Sprints

Game On!

by Michael Protos

FULL COURT SPRINTS

BASELINE TO BASELINE

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

  1. The top big man in this year’s freshman class, Kentucky’s Enes Kanter, is ineligible because he received extra benefits while tagging along with a club basketball team in Turkey, according to the Associated Press.
  2. ESPN.com’s Andy Katz observes that Kanter’s decision to (try to) go to college bucked a trend among top international players.
  3. There’s plenty of angst at Rocky Top as Tennessee opens the season against Chattanooga because the Vols dropped an exhibition game to Division II Indianapolis earlier in the week, writes Rob Lewis of VolQuest.com.
  4. Syracuse’s Scoop Jardine gives you a player’s perspective on the best guards in the Big East on ESPN.com.
  5. Minnesota’s second-leading returning scorer, Devoe Joseph, is out indefinitely after violating team rules, writes the Associated Press’ Jon Krawczynski. That means Joseph won’t get to go to Puerto Rico, where the Gophers could face North Carolina and West Virginia.
  6. Villanova McDonald’s All-American JayVaughn Pinkston will have to wait to make his debut after an assault and harassment charge, according to the Associated Press.
  7. Pressure? What pressure? Sidney Lowe’s job is on the line this season at North Carolina State, but the coach is only focusing on turning the Wolfpack into an elite ACC team, writes the Associated Press’ Aaron Beard.
  8. Doug Gottlieb of ESPN.com gives you a cheat sheet of other coaches that face must-win situations on a daily basis this season.
  9. Ho-hum, just another No. 1 recruiting class for Kentucky’s John Calipari, writes Steve Jones of CatsPause.com.
  10. It’s never too early for some Bracketology from ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi.
 Although the regular season doesn’t really get under way until today, the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic kicked off action this past week. Pittsburgh, Maryland, Illinois and Texas won their two games this week, though Maryland barely squeaked past College of Charleston at home. The Cougars led nearly the entire game, until Cliff Tucker hit a jumper with 4 seconds to go, giving the Terrapins a 75-74 win and denying Charleston a second win against ACC teams in two years. Bobby Cremins’ squad took down North Carolina last season, which was an omen of impending doom for the Tar Heels.

The other three 2K participants mostly breezed past their opponents, winning by an average of 28 points, though Rhode Island gave Pitt a scare in the opener Nov. 8.

Meanwhile in Manhattan (Kansas), the Wildcats are hype for this season as a favorite to contend for the national championship.

STUDY SESSION

OPENING TIP
This week, Hoopville introduced its Total Impact Quotient for players from the six power conferences. This metric tallies the total impact a player has on the game per 40 minutes. Check out the ratings from the 2009-10 season for your favorite team and players.

In addition to breaking into the player ratings business, Hoopville gets back into its regular-season mode with a preview of Rhode Island by Phil Kasiecki, who got an inside look at the Rams’ upcoming season from coach Jim Baron.

 Welcome to the official start of the regular season! We’ve got 134 games with Division I teams on the slate for Nov. 12, including 16 of the top 25 teams in action. Here are the games you’ll want to pay attention to.

Georgetown at Old Dominion: Monarchs took out the Hoyas in DC last season.

Seton Hall at Temple: Owls won a thriller, 71-65, in Jersey last season.

East Tennessee State at Kentucky: Rematch of the first-round NCAA Tournament game in which the Wildcats embarrassed the Bucs. East Tennessee State returns almost every major contributor. Kentucky doesn’t and occasionally starts the season slow. If you’re looking for a top 10 upset on Day One, this is your pick.

Other potentially surprising results could come from these match ups:

  • William & Mary at Virginia
  • Charleston Southern at Georgia Tech
  • Western Kentucky at Saint Joseph’s
  • Austin Peay at Saint Louis

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
If you’re deep into college basketball, you probably need a prescription for Ritalin.

We’re hours away from tipping off the first games for a couple hundred Division I teams, and we’re already a day into the early signing period for 2011-12. Fans are getting amped up for this season — and the next one. It’s enough to give you a case of attention deficit disorder.

Duke is the No. 1 team in the country and begins its defense of the national title, which the Blue Devils won just seven months ago. But Duke fans are almost equally giddy about the upcoming arrival of No. 1 recruit Austin Rivers in another 10 months.

In Lexington, Kentucky coach John Calipari has the top-rated recruiting class entering this season — though that ranking probably drops with Enes Kantes ineligible. Calipari also likely has the top-rated recruiting class for next season with three top 10 players heading to Kentucky. Let’s just go ahead and assume Calipari will deliver the top class to whatever school he’s coaching and start the rankings after that class.

The recruiting rankings are undoubtedly a big deal. Athletic directors and university boosters love to hear that their highly paid coach delivers highly regarded kids to campus. But let’s not forget to celebrate the moment, too.

There’s plenty to love about college basketball, from celebrating recent successes and basking in preseason hype to anticipating future success and lamenting the impending loss of top-tier talent to the NBA. But we should make sure that we don’t diminish the value of the thrilling action on the court.

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