This year’s Cinderella waited until midnight to get the party started.
In a month noted for pumpkins, fairy tale seasons start with the NCAA’s Midnight Madness. Fans across the country reveled in massive basketball-themed parties last night in which coaches, players and special guests hyped the potential of a magical run to the Final Four.
It’s a time for optimism, and sometimes, that energy carries through all the way to April, regardless of preseason expectations or conference affiliation. Just ask VCU and Butler.
Hoopville also is looking forward to the rapidly approaching 2011-12 season. We’ve celebrating our 10th season of excellent Division I coverage — from the recruiting trail to the final whistle in the championship game — and we’ve got several new or improved features for you.
- This will be our first full season with our redesigned site.
- We’ve recruited a bunch of great new bloggers to expand and diversify our content. You can find their work in the second column of the home page and story pages in the Conference Coverage box.
- Michael Protos is revamping the Total Impact Quotient player rating system, making it far more accurate and easier to understand. Look for the final results from 2010-11 to come soon.
- Phil Kasiecki is working tirelessly to expand Hoopville’s events for high school players on the East Coast.
As always, you can expect superior reporting from Phil — dare we say the hardest-working observer of the New England recruiting trail and most comprehensive reporter of a half-dozen Mid-Atlantic and Northeast conferences. And as the season progresses, Michael will continue to maintain the Full Court Sprints news coverage, and later in the season, he’ll break out the Bracket Breakdown NCAA Tournament projections.
You can join the conversation with Hoopville at our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Game on!
