Today, Hoopville begins its 14th year of covering college basketball and everything connected to it. As we celebrate 13 years and get ready for more, times are decidedly different than when we began, both on and off the court.
Back in 2001, there was no opening night for college basketball like there is now. There were games here and there in early season tournaments, and because it was only a handful of teams there was no feeling of a season beginning like there is in other sports. Now, there is anticipation and a feeling of beginning – plus some consistency to the start of the season.
Speaking of the early season tournaments, those have changed since the beginning of Hoopville as well. There are many more of them, and one of the last survivors from those days as a true tournament – the NIT Season Tip-Off – appears to be ready to move away from that in part from having difficulty getting teams. The NCAA also now owns the NIT, and the 2-in-4 rule went away, though it was essentially modified to state that a team cannot be in the same tournament twice in four years.
The look of conferences is very different as well. Back in 2001, few probably imagined that Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Louisville would be in the ACC. For that matter, who would have figured that Louisville would have gone through two other conferences in between now and then? The Big 12 having ten teams? The Big Ten now with 14? Maryland not in the ACC? Who saw the American Athletic Conference in the future 13 years ago?
Off the court, the landscape is quite different. The world of recruiting has changed greatly, especially with regard to when Division I coaches can evaluate or talk to prospects. Players can no longer bypass college to go straight to the NBA Draft unless they have done a post-graduate year and reach the NBA’s new age minimum that was instituted after the 2005 NBA Draft. Social media has impacted sports media significantly, but 13 years ago LinkedIn, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter didn’t even exist.
Change is a constant in this game, and not all of it is bad or good. It is what it is. We deal with it and the games go on regardless of what we think.
We will be part of the change this season, as we are pleased to announce that Hoopville will bring you the Morning Dish as a round-up of the day’s news to start your day. We are bringing the Morning Dish back after we had it during our early years, then opted for a different format with news that we shared with our readers. We also had Full Court Sprints for a time with a similar mission. You will see this every day during the season for a quick look at the day’s big news to start your day, so stay tuned and continue to check in here for our coverage of college basketball, the NBA Draft and recruiting.
With that, we continue looking at some news around the world of college basketball.
Side Dishes
Southern Miss issued a statement confirming that the school is working with the NCAA to review potential issues related to their men’s basketball program. A report from Bleacher Report said the potential rules violations are from the two seasons Donnie Tyndall, now the head coach at Tennessee, was at the helm of the program.
Brigham Young forward Kyle Collinsworth was cleared for game action by team doctors. Collinsworth suffered a torn ACL in the West Coast Conference championship game last season, and the team expects him to play in their exhibition game against Seattle Pacific.
It was a busy night of exhibition games in the SEC, as four teams hosted games. Florida beat Barry, Georgia edged Georgia Southwestern, Mississippi State beat Delta State and Vanderbilt beat Illinois-Springfield.
Indiana, which has been beset by off-court issues recently, got to play some basketball, and the Hoosiers beat Northwood in an exhibition game 94-70.
The Pac-12 had a busy night as Stanford eked out a 79-76 win over Cal Poly Pomona, while California, Utah and Washington also won.
Boston College cruised in its exhibition game against American International College.
Tonight’s Menu
More exhibition games are on tap this evening. A few of note:
- In the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington State both host exhibition games.
- The SEC has an active slate as Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss and Auburn all host exhibition games.
- Holy Cross hosts cross-town rival Assumption College.
