The preseason accolades keep rolling in for Kansas men's basketball guard Andrew Wiggins as he was named to the 2013-14 Oscar Robertson Trophy Preseason Watch List selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) board of directors Tuesday afternoon. The award is to be presented to the national player of the year by its namesake.
A freshman of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, Wiggins was one of 15 named to the Oscar Robertson preseason list.
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There was a moment in the first half, just under four minutes left, when the Kansas Jayhawks hit the 50-point mark on Fort Hays State. That, of course, wasn’t all that surprising.
The Jayhawks shot better than 50 percent from the floor on Tuesday night as they rolled to a 92-75 victory over Fort Hays State in their second and final exhibition game.
But in the moments after freshman Brannen Greene drained his second three-pointer to push the score to 50-28 with 3:45 left in the half, it was worth taking a second and looking toward the Kansas bench. The Jayhawks had gone on a 29-8 run in just more than six minutes. And freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins sat on the bench, still scoreless as the Jayhawk freight train chugged on.
“I think we got a lot of depth,” said sophomore forward Jamari Traylor, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
So what does Kansas look like without its No. 1 overall recruit? Well, against a Fort Hays State squad from the MIAA, it looked pretty good.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can stretch the floor,” Traylor said. “We’ve got bigs that can score. Joel (Embiid) did a pretty good job this game, scoring in the paint.
“But as far as Wiggins, I think he’s gonna get a lot more comfortable. Everything is gonna flow a lot more easy. I wouldn’t worry about today.”
KC Star/WE
Andrew Wiggins-watchers had to wonder what the heck was going on late in the first half as Kansas University’s basketball team built a 22-point lead over Fort Hays State on Tuesday night with the freshman phenom scoring nary a point.
“If you watch the game, early on he didn’t seem as engaged as he should be and when he came back in he had an opportunity to dunk and he didn’t run. He just didn’t run so I subbed him back out. He played about 30 seconds. He sat out there quite a while,” KU coach Bill Self said after Wiggins woke up to the tune of 10 points in the Jayhawks’ 92-75 exhibition victory over the Tigers in Allen Fieldhouse.
“I love the kid, but he’s got to take everyone’s best shot every night and I didn’t think he really brought it until he got back in the game after that and he was much more aggressive.”
The 6-foot-8 Canadian, who played just nine minutes the first half and 20 for the game, hit the baseline for a hard slam with 3:04 left in the half, cashed a floater in the lane and added two free throws in scoring the final six points as the Jayhawks took a 56-36 lead into intermission.
He had a steal and breakaway dunk to open the second half and also flushed a lob from Frank Mason that would classify as the highlight-reel play of the game.
Wiggins joined a party of four in double figures. Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden scored 13 points, while Jamari Traylor had 11 points to go with Wiggins 10 off 4-of-10 shooting — 0-for-2 from three. Joel Embiid and Conner Frankamp had eight apiece in KU’s second tune-up before Friday’s 7 p.m., season-opener against Louisiana-Monroe.
LJW
It happens nearly every year. A freshman plays a terrific game against a Div. II team in an exhibition and I raise my expectations to the moon, conveniently forgetting that the overmatched opponent might have had something to do with it.
The best way to look at the performance of a young Kansas University player in a game vs. one of the four in-state D-II teams is to treat it as if the KU freshmen are juniors or seniors playing against a bunch of freshmen.
Thomas Robinson dominated Pittsburg State as a freshman, totaling 17 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. I was convinced Kansas had its next star. I was wrong, as Robinson too often played out of control that year and at times as a sophomore. Then I was right, when as a junior Robinson finished as runner-up to national player of the year Anthony Davis.
So consider yourself warned when reading what I write about freshmen in exhibition games. Be more patient than I am. Remember that in a week’s time the challenge grows from arithmetic to advanced calculus, from D-II to D-U-K-E.
OK, now that all the qualifiers are out of the way, freshman point guard Frank Mason sure did look like a player Tuesday night in leading KU to a 92-75 victory against Fort Hays State.
LJW Keegan
Things could change in the next couple days, but as of 10:30 p.m., Tuesday, there were no plans to red-shirt any of Kansas University’s basketball players during the 2013-14 season.
“I wouldn’t write anything thinking we will because right now we’re leaning towards not (red-shirting anybody),” KU coach Bill Self said after a 92-75 victory over Fort Hays State.
“I don’t know if we’ll red-shirt anybody. I think everybody could help us win a game that we would consider red-shirting or help us win multiple games,” he noted after watching freshmen Conner Frankamp and Brannen Greene account for four of the Jayhawks’ five threes versus the Tigers.
“With freshmen, it’s hard to say for sure with the guys I’d consider because (soph) Andrew White is ahead (of them) but you don’t know where potential is when they ‘get it’ and that kind of stuff.
“Conner and Brannen can both make shots. We can’t red-shirt Landen (Lucas) because he red-shirted last year.”
Self did note that there would be some “serious talks” in the next couple days heading into Friday’s 7 p.m. opener against Louisiana-Monroe.
Self didn’t envision sitting a player a few games out of the gate just in case he’d decide to go the red-shirt route down the line with a player. Once a player enters a game, he cannot red-shirt.
“Conner will probably be our backup point guard the first game,” he said of Frankamp, who will likely back Frank Mason. Naadir Tharpe is suspended for the opener for playing in a pro-am summer league game in Chicago.
“If we’re going to do it, we’ll do it regardless of what the situation is. If I think I’m going to play them, then we’re going to play ‘em.”
LJW
LJW: FHSU coach pleased with team’s fight
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ESPN.com asked former Kansas players what advice they’d have for Jayhawks freshman Andrew Wiggins. Keith Langford and Nick Bahe wrote letters of advice based on their experiences in Lawrence and playing for KU coach Bill Self
From Langford:
...Let fans be fans -- passionate fans always toe the line between loving and hating their favorite player. Hopefully, you won't make the mistakes of me and my family paying attention to message boards, opinionated columns (with negative undertones), and lastly, but maybe most importantly, the positive press -- it can be a monster as well.
Coach Self -- LOL Coach Self -- in all honesty, you will appreciate him so much more after you've left the University than when you arrived -- I certainly have. Just listen and take everything with a grain of salt, because lord knows him and the coaching staff will be laughing about all the guys that give them material during practices. (LOL I've given plenty!).
One thing I will say about him is he'll push you so much that when you're finished, you'll be able to go to a place mentally and be so tough that nothing will phase you. Lastly, make sure the relationship is good because the team you get drafted to may be so bad, hell, they'll probably hire him!
Lastly, be you on the court. You'd much rather have someone tell you to turn it down a notch than to turn it up. The expectations and pressure should only come from the young dude looking at himself everyday in the mirror -- the hell with what anyone else has to say. Keep healthy, be the best cheerleader on the bench at the end of games and, finally, thanks for leaving after this year because I like having my position as the 7th all-time leading scorer!
From Bahe:
...First of all, you owe me $15 bucks for the glass I broke in excitement of hearing you committed last spring, but we can deal with that later. One thing is for sure, you made a great decision in choosing to play for Bill Self. And although I can’t offer much with regard to improving high-flying dunks (I never did much above the rim), I can offer some advice on playing for one of the greatest men I have ever known. To start, there will be certain practices that Coach Self will be all over you and he won’t let you off the hook. Always remember he is testing you, not picking on you. There is nothing Coach Self hates more than soft players and pouters. He believes that if you can’t handle him yelling at you, you won’t be able to handle the pressure on the court. And he is right. So if you focus every day on being the toughest player on the court, both mentally and physically, I promise Coach Self will love you. Toughness is his most prized characteristic. Ask him someday about Russell Robinson.
...And remember this, team success breeds individual success. If Kansas wins, everything will fall into place for you. You want to be the Big 12 player of the year? Win the Big 12. You want to be the national player of the year? Win the national championship.
You are about to embark on the most fun year of basketball you’ve ever had. Allen Fieldhouse is basketball heaven. Soak up every moment you dribble a basketball in that building with Kansas across your chest.
ESPN (complete letters at the link) and
More advice from from former KU players
For starters, let's get this out of the way: Bill Self's success at Kansas is remarkable -- period, that's it, sentence over, the end. Self's Jayhawks have now won or shared nine consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles, a streak that would be crazy in a top-heavy mid-major league but is utterly jaw-dropping in a league like the Big 12. He has won more back-to-back regular-season Big 12 titles than he has lost home games at Allen Fieldhouse. And no, I have no problem doubling down on that stat. It's completely insane.
Just as impressive is how Self has gone about this unparalleled run of conference success: By building a program even the most old-school, anti-one-and-done hard-liners could love.
To dig into the past decade of Kansas rosters is to gaze upon the glories of personnel development. Every season, Self's teams have been a combination of talented youngsters, promising stars and reliable, program-sculpted veterans; every season, players from one group slowly move into the other.
…This is the single defining characteristic of Self's tenure: He has built lineups in the classical style -- developing players from clueless freshmen into All-American-level veterans while adding a dash of raw talent along the way. Every season, his teams are extremely good because every season there's another guy finally ready to make the most of his shot.
Every season, that is, except this one.
…It's a good thing Wiggins and Selden and everyone else are so talented. They better be quick studies. Self Basketball 101 is usually a multiyear course. The advanced seminar is a matter of weeks.
ESPN: Instant Jayhawks
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In The Matrix, Neo might have been The One, but he needed Morpheus, Trinity and Tank to show him the way and watch his back while he learned Kung Fu.
Andrew Wiggins will have that same luxury at Kansas this year. Bill Self will make sure his star takes the crimson and blue pill so he can walk the fine line between artistry and hard work. Wiggins’ teammates will help carry the load. It’s the only way the Jayhawks can lock down yet another Big 12 title, and possibly another trip to the Final Four.
The team concept is vital. It’s a lesson other Big 12 teams have learned the hard way in recent seasons. Remember Michael Beasley at K-State? His single season was a marvel of individual effort, but Kansas won the 2008 league (and national) title in spite of Beasley’s 28 double-doubles. One year prior, Kevin Durant was transcendent at Texas, winning national player of the year honors, but even the Durantula couldn’t wrest the Big 12 trophy from Bill Self’s hands all by his lonesome.
So what’s to keep the same fate from befalling Andrew Wiggins? The Canadian wunderkind has the inside track on the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick and the Naismith Award, and most pundits favor him to be one of the game’s all-time greats over the next two decades. That’s a lot of expectation on one guy.
Here’s the thing – Kansas doesn’t do the one man show. Take a look at the talent arrayed around Wiggins, and you’ll see the makings of a national title contender,
…Kansas will certainly never turn up its nose at the uber-talented. But a decade’s worth of league titles won over an opponent’s superstar or two ought to prove that Bill Self’s Jayhawks will always win with more than one man, even when that man is the amazing Andrew Wiggins.
NBC
SI cover story on Wiggins now available online here
For months now, though, the soft-spoken Canadian has made news in Kansas just for walking to class, taking delivery of a pizza and being tall enough to reach a wall clock.
By selecting the 6-foot-8 Wiggins to handle the clock assignment, personal-finance lecturer Bill Lewis gained a bit of local fame, as if he'd provided the player with a crucial assist on an alley-oop. "Since this is business school, you find the best person for the job," Lewis said.
Wiggins stands out on a campus accustomed to basketball demigods. Before playing a single college minute, Wiggins has made the Associated Press's preseason All-America team and has appeared on multiple national magazine covers, plus a shirtless appearance in the November issue of GQ. Ranked as the No. 1 player in his recruiting class, Wiggins is projected to be a top pick in next year's NBA draft, and most agree that he would've been last year's No. 1 choice had he been eligible.
..There is no precedent for Wiggins, even at the school that once housed Wilt Chamberlain and Danny Manning. "If you're where Andrew Wiggins is, it's the coolest thing possible right now," said Mike Vernon, sports editor of the University Daily Kansan, the school's newspaper.
What separates Wiggins from his predecessors is his place in the social-media spotlight. A search of Wiggins's name on Twitter reveals breathless dispatches from a pizza deliverer who brought him a pie, from a shopper who spied him at Wal-Mart and from young women discussing how to catch his eye.
…His name was the subject of 62,000 tweets in October, according to the Twitter analytics service Topsy, more than every college-football player except Johnny Manziel (138,000). Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, the Heisman Trophy favorite, was mentioned in only 33,000 tweets last month, and Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron had 31,000 tweets despite his two national titles in a sport that far exceeds college basketball in television ratings.
Smartphone cameras now turn college students into paparazzi, too. One afternoon in October, a Kansas freshman named Meghan Lewis was eating lunch in a university cafeteria when she noticed Wiggins at an adjacent table. She pulled out her phone for a picture of Wiggins, "and he happened to look at me right when I was taking it," she said. "So he caught me."
Upon spotting Wiggins on campus in September, a fellow freshman named Kylie Gravatt snapped a "selfie" with Wiggins walking away from her in the background. It was her first sighting of a basketball player, she said, and her natural reaction was to take a picture "really creepily." Gravatt's tweet received 30 favorites—including one from Wiggins himself.
"I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm famous!'" she said.
A Wiggins sighting isn't necessary to share a Wiggins experience. Jackson Kruse heard that a friend in his fraternity's pledge class had a freshman English seminar with Wiggins—so he tweeted about trying to transfer in. The class filled up before he could.
Evan Riggs announced "Operation Find Andrew Wiggins" in an Aug. 21 tweet. But in the six weeks that it took Riggs to succeed, he experienced a change of mind about asking Wiggins for a photograph or autograph. "He has to deal with a lot of attention," he said. "I figured I'd let him be a student."
…Even so, Kansas officials note that students in Lawrence aren't unaccustomed to sharing campus with future NBA players. "Students here are used to seeing pretty famous student-athletes walk in their midst," Kansas assistant athletic director Jim Marchiony said.
The athletic department publicizes Wiggins, too, reposting on its Instagram account Jacquinot's photo of Wiggins and the classroom clock. Not long afterward, Lewis, the finance professor, included the photograph in a lecture slide, and Jacquinot hung around after class to claim credit for the shot.
That backfired when Lewis joked: "'That's awesome—and that'll be 20 points off your grade for having your phone out in class,'" Jacquinot recalled.
WSJ: Newest Major at Kansas - Spotting Wiggins
What do you think about this young crop of Kansas basketball players and, in particular, Andrew Wiggins?
Paul Rudd: I’m so, so psyched he’s on our team for one year. I can’t wait. I love Bill Self, I love Jayhawk basketball, and I’m totally jazzed to watch the season. I think some NBA teams are already trying to tank to get (Wiggins)… Looking at you, Philadelphia 76ers.
UDK
USA Today ranks AFH #7 on best arenas to watch college basketball (behind Syracuse? The Pit? Rupp “the mall” Arena? What?)
USA Today writers make Final Four picks
Happy Birthday to the inventor of our game James Naismith!
@CoachDManning
Imagine auctioning off the Constitution. That's what it felt like in 2010 when when James Naismith's "Rules of Basket Ball" went under the gavel and were sold for $4.3 million. The papers, which lay out the original rules of one of the country's most popular sports, also have handwritten annotations from the sport's founder. The rules went to billionaire David Booth, who sent them to the University of Kansas to inspire the college team. The university is constructing a building where the document will be displayed.
SCP Auctions didn't handle the sale, but it enjoyed the outcome. "Any time a piece of historical sports memorabilia hits a level like that, it's obviously, it shows strength in the marketplace," Imler says. "There was just no precedent for a price at that level."
Mens Journal: The Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia
One of the bright spots so far this season has been the play of Xavier Henry, who joined the team for training camp with no guarantees.
Now Henry is the Lakers' starting small forward and a link so far to the team's success.
In the Lakers' two wins, Henry shot 61.5% and 45.5% from the field. In the three losses, he shot 36.4%, 25% and -- while taking a knee to the forehead that required nine stitches -- 0-6 from the field against the San Antonio Spurs.
All told, Henry is shooting 54.2% shooting in victories and 24% in losses.
The 6-foot-6 guard/forward has also averaged 6.6 free-throw attempts a game, although he's converted just 57.6% from the line.
While he scored just five against the Mavericks, he's averaging 12.4 points a game while shooting 38.8% from the field overall.
The sample size is small but Henry has suddenly become one of the most important Lakers this season -- at least until Kobe Bryant returns fully from his Achilles' injury.
LA Times
''Dunk City.''
Remember those guys? They're back.
Florida Gulf Coast - the darling of college basketball this past March after knocking off Georgetown and San Diego State in the NCAA tournament, plus capturing the nation's attention and earning a nickname that still sticks - is looking to do something even more impressive this season. The Eagles are heading into 2013-14 hoping to show that they were more than a two-game wonder.
''I say it's a continuation of last year,'' Eagles guard Brett Comer said. ''We want to come out with the same style of play, build off of what we did last year in that aspect. But it is a new year. We've got a new coach, we've put in some new stuff, we all love playing for him and we've got to get focused on playing this year and not living in the past.''
That new coach is former Kansas assistant Joe Dooley, who was working on a plan to shut down the Dunk City phenomenon a few months ago.
If FGCU and Kansas had both pulled off one more win last March, the schools would have met in the South Regional championship game with a spot in the Final Four on the line. Alas, the Eagles lost to Florida 62-50, and the Jayhawks fell to national runner-up Michigan in overtime, 87-85.
Not long afterward, Andy Enfield left Florida Gulf Coast for Southern California and the Eagles pulled off what many considered to be a coup in landing Dooley. If he remained at Kansas, Dooley would almost certainly have had a chance at helping Bill Self and the Jayhawks win another national title this season, plus get a chance to coach Andrew Wiggins - widely expected to be the top pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
Instead, he packed his bags for Dunk City.
''When you look from the outside, we've got some things that allow you to be in the top half of your league on a pretty consistent basis,'' Dooley said, standing in the lobby of FGCU's arena, one that's very nice for the Atlantic Sun Conference but isn't exactly a match for the storied Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. ''And I wanted to be a head coach. Leaving Kansas was very hard for our family, but this was a chance to go somewhere and win.''
Dooley still has the scouting report Kansas would have used if it played Florida Gulf Coast on his desk.
Only now, it's a blueprint of things to fix, not things to exploit.
''These guys want to get better,'' Dooley said. ''It's always neat to see those stories. Now, behind that story, it's about how can we continue to have success and make sure that we keep progressing.''
SI
Big 12/College News
Athlon Duke Preview
The Kansas State women’s basketball team opens its regular season on Friday against Tennessee State and has an interesting promotion to entice fans.
According to the school’s official Twitter page, free bacon will be given to everyone in attendance, beginning an hour before tipoff. The school told ESPN’s Darren Rovell it has ordered 75 pounds of thick-cut bacon and each student will receive “a boat of bacon.”
Admission to the game is free for students.
No word on how many doctors will be on hand in case of clogged arteries.
SI
A felon linked to rental cars driven by Tar Heels basketball player P.J. Hairston has pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges.
Haydn Patrick "Fats" Thomas is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon; drug possession with intent to distribute; maintaining a dwelling to distribute; and possession of drug paraphernalia from a December arrest. His plea Tuesday came after attorney John R. Griffin III and assistant district attorney Tom Crosby discussed a plea deal for more than an hour.
Griffin told Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin the sides "are very close ... to resolving this matter." Thomas's next hearing is scheduled for the week of Nov. 18.
Thomas' name or address appeared on rental records for vehicles driven by Hairston during traffic stops in May and June.
AP
Oregon arrived Wednesday afternoon without two key players for its season opener against Georgetown after both were suspended for selling shoes provided to them by the university, according to the school.
Sophomores Dominic Artis and Ben Carter could miss anywhere from nine to 12 games for the NCAA violation.
The No. 19 Ducks play Georgetown on Saturday morning at Camp Humphreys (Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) in the Armed Forces Classic.
Oregon's staff told ESPN upon arrival that the violation had been under investigation since early October.
Artis and Carter will have to donate to charity the money they received for selling the shoes, per NCAA rules. The money will be paid on a payment plan.
ESPN
Nathan Harries was a basketball player and honor student at Centennial High School. He was recruited by several prestigious schools, including Princeton and Bucknell, but made it clear to all that he wanted to serve a two-year mission for the Mormon church before enrolling in college.
Colgate University offered him a scholarship, beginning this fall. But the NCAA has stripped him of one year of eligibility because Harries played three games as a fill-in in a church basketball league that it deemed competitive and organized. That's forbidden by the NCAA outside of the allowed one-year window following high school graduation, but the spirit of that rule is not meant for cases like Nathan Harries. This is a "C" level league he played in. Players are mostly 30-somethings and some are in their 50s. Some are frustrated jocks, others played in high school and are just trying to relive glory days. Bottom line: The league is just for fun.
Colgate has appealed the NCAA's decision. There's a chance it could be overturned.
If this story sounds familiar, here's why: In August the NCAA ruled a Middle Tennessee State football player, Steven Rhodes, ineligible because he played in an intramural league during his five years of service in the Marines. The NCAA eventually buckled to the widespread criticism and reversed its decision. The hope is that they do the same here.
AJC
The 2014 NCAA men’s basketball finals are expected to turn the weekend-long tailgate party into the newest signature hoops celebration. Official tailgates were scheduled for two previous Final Fours but neither made a huge splash.
“In Houston, the intent was to get people to the game early,” said Jeanne Boyd, managing director of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. “The one in New Orleans was canceled because of rain.”
This year’s Tip-Off Tailgate is a three-day party and music festival for ticket holders in one of the AT&T Stadium parking lots. If it succeeds, it could be a Final Four staple alongside the concert series and Bracket Town interactive park.
NCAA officials were in town this week to tour event sites and to release more details on some of the 2014 Final Four events.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings praised the choice of the former Reunion Arena site to host the Final Four’s free concert series. That was the site of the 1986 Final Four, the only other time the tournament’s championship was played in the Dallas area.
“There’s not a better spot for location but also for history,” said Rawlings, who remembered watching the 1986 championship game in the Reunion “rafters.”
The free March Madness Music Festival will be from 4 to 10:30 p.m. April 4, noon to 9 p.m. April 5 and 3 to 10 p.m. April 6.
No musicians have been announced for the show. But NCAA officials pointed to past performers as the level of talent they attract, ranging from the Dave Matthews Band to Flo Rida to Muse to Kiss.
Rawlings also promoted D-Link, the new free bus circulator service covering parts of downtown, Uptown and north Oak Cliff. Rawlings said that will help move tourists around downtown — from the concerts to Bracket Town — where most of the nongame activities will happen.
Charlotte Jones Anderson, chairwoman of the North Texas Local Organizing Committee, emphasized the importance of the tournament to those who won’t be inside AT&T Stadium.
“The tickets are limited, even though we have 80,000 seats in the house,” Anderson said. “Not everybody gets to go to the game, but everybody gets to be part of the Final Four.”
NCAA officials said they were unsure whether any seating would be set up in the end zone areas or whether there would be standing-room-only tickets. They said broadcasters could use some of those areas for sets.
The games and tailgate will require tickets. But much of the activity will be lower-cost and easier to access.
The Final Four Friday event at AT&T Stadium has no cost and will feature practices by each of the teams and a college all-star game.
Bracket Town tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children. Youth and adult basketball tournaments there will cost $75 per team during early registration.
Dallas Morning News
On Tuesday, Boeheim wanted to address the way the NCAA computes its graduation rates:
"I think if you have 12 players over a four-year period and they play for four years and only five graduate, I think that's an institutional problem. You haven't done a good job with those guys. However, in our case, that's not what happened. We had six guys stay out of the 12; five graduated. The other six, a couple for the NBA, a couple weren't playing enough and wanted to transfer. One guy was hurt and just didn't want to play any more (McBride). So if someone can explain to me how if six guys choose to leave, for whatever reason — and I think some of them were good reasons in that 12-person group — if someone can tell me how we're supposed to graduate a guy who leaves, I would love for them to come and tell me that. Explain how we can do that.
"The six guys that stayed the four years, we'd like to get all six of them to graduate. Five did. And one is still close and we hope that he will come back to finish. We have two seniors now who are ahead of schedule to graduate and should graduate with one or two courses the second semester.
"So we want every player that stays here four years to graduate. But some guys want to go to the NBA, they end up playing in Europe. That's their choice. And there's a whole heckuva lot of students that decide to leave here. It's not the school's fault. It's not the coach's fault. Some kids just make that decision — some kids transfer because they want to play more and some of it is they want to go play (professionally). And those are decisions that guys make.
"We've had guys leave early to play and we've had several of them come back and graduate. If someone could explain to me how we could have done something to graduate somebody who wasn't here, then I'd like to hear that. That would be good information."
Syracuse.com
Big XII composite schedule
ESPN College GameDay Schedule
2013-14 TV Schedule
2013-14 Early-season events schedule
The Kansas State women’s basketball team opens its regular season on Friday against Tennessee State and has an interesting promotion to entice fans.
According to the school’s official Twitter page, free bacon will be given to everyone in attendance, beginning an hour before tipoff. The school told ESPN’s Darren Rovell it has ordered 75 pounds of thick-cut bacon and each student will receive “a boat of bacon.”
Admission to the game is free for students.
No word on how many doctors will be on hand in case of clogged arteries.
SI
A felon linked to rental cars driven by Tar Heels basketball player P.J. Hairston has pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges.
Haydn Patrick "Fats" Thomas is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon; drug possession with intent to distribute; maintaining a dwelling to distribute; and possession of drug paraphernalia from a December arrest. His plea Tuesday came after attorney John R. Griffin III and assistant district attorney Tom Crosby discussed a plea deal for more than an hour.
Griffin told Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin the sides "are very close ... to resolving this matter." Thomas's next hearing is scheduled for the week of Nov. 18.
Thomas' name or address appeared on rental records for vehicles driven by Hairston during traffic stops in May and June.
AP
Oregon arrived Wednesday afternoon without two key players for its season opener against Georgetown after both were suspended for selling shoes provided to them by the university, according to the school.
Sophomores Dominic Artis and Ben Carter could miss anywhere from nine to 12 games for the NCAA violation.
The No. 19 Ducks play Georgetown on Saturday morning at Camp Humphreys (Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) in the Armed Forces Classic.
Oregon's staff told ESPN upon arrival that the violation had been under investigation since early October.
Artis and Carter will have to donate to charity the money they received for selling the shoes, per NCAA rules. The money will be paid on a payment plan.
ESPN
Nathan Harries was a basketball player and honor student at Centennial High School. He was recruited by several prestigious schools, including Princeton and Bucknell, but made it clear to all that he wanted to serve a two-year mission for the Mormon church before enrolling in college.
Colgate University offered him a scholarship, beginning this fall. But the NCAA has stripped him of one year of eligibility because Harries played three games as a fill-in in a church basketball league that it deemed competitive and organized. That's forbidden by the NCAA outside of the allowed one-year window following high school graduation, but the spirit of that rule is not meant for cases like Nathan Harries. This is a "C" level league he played in. Players are mostly 30-somethings and some are in their 50s. Some are frustrated jocks, others played in high school and are just trying to relive glory days. Bottom line: The league is just for fun.
Colgate has appealed the NCAA's decision. There's a chance it could be overturned.
If this story sounds familiar, here's why: In August the NCAA ruled a Middle Tennessee State football player, Steven Rhodes, ineligible because he played in an intramural league during his five years of service in the Marines. The NCAA eventually buckled to the widespread criticism and reversed its decision. The hope is that they do the same here.
AJC
The 2014 NCAA men’s basketball finals are expected to turn the weekend-long tailgate party into the newest signature hoops celebration. Official tailgates were scheduled for two previous Final Fours but neither made a huge splash.
“In Houston, the intent was to get people to the game early,” said Jeanne Boyd, managing director of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. “The one in New Orleans was canceled because of rain.”
This year’s Tip-Off Tailgate is a three-day party and music festival for ticket holders in one of the AT&T Stadium parking lots. If it succeeds, it could be a Final Four staple alongside the concert series and Bracket Town interactive park.
NCAA officials were in town this week to tour event sites and to release more details on some of the 2014 Final Four events.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings praised the choice of the former Reunion Arena site to host the Final Four’s free concert series. That was the site of the 1986 Final Four, the only other time the tournament’s championship was played in the Dallas area.
“There’s not a better spot for location but also for history,” said Rawlings, who remembered watching the 1986 championship game in the Reunion “rafters.”
The free March Madness Music Festival will be from 4 to 10:30 p.m. April 4, noon to 9 p.m. April 5 and 3 to 10 p.m. April 6.
No musicians have been announced for the show. But NCAA officials pointed to past performers as the level of talent they attract, ranging from the Dave Matthews Band to Flo Rida to Muse to Kiss.
Rawlings also promoted D-Link, the new free bus circulator service covering parts of downtown, Uptown and north Oak Cliff. Rawlings said that will help move tourists around downtown — from the concerts to Bracket Town — where most of the nongame activities will happen.
Charlotte Jones Anderson, chairwoman of the North Texas Local Organizing Committee, emphasized the importance of the tournament to those who won’t be inside AT&T Stadium.
“The tickets are limited, even though we have 80,000 seats in the house,” Anderson said. “Not everybody gets to go to the game, but everybody gets to be part of the Final Four.”
NCAA officials said they were unsure whether any seating would be set up in the end zone areas or whether there would be standing-room-only tickets. They said broadcasters could use some of those areas for sets.
The games and tailgate will require tickets. But much of the activity will be lower-cost and easier to access.
The Final Four Friday event at AT&T Stadium has no cost and will feature practices by each of the teams and a college all-star game.
Bracket Town tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for children. Youth and adult basketball tournaments there will cost $75 per team during early registration.
Dallas Morning News
On Tuesday, Boeheim wanted to address the way the NCAA computes its graduation rates:
"I think if you have 12 players over a four-year period and they play for four years and only five graduate, I think that's an institutional problem. You haven't done a good job with those guys. However, in our case, that's not what happened. We had six guys stay out of the 12; five graduated. The other six, a couple for the NBA, a couple weren't playing enough and wanted to transfer. One guy was hurt and just didn't want to play any more (McBride). So if someone can explain to me how if six guys choose to leave, for whatever reason — and I think some of them were good reasons in that 12-person group — if someone can tell me how we're supposed to graduate a guy who leaves, I would love for them to come and tell me that. Explain how we can do that.
"The six guys that stayed the four years, we'd like to get all six of them to graduate. Five did. And one is still close and we hope that he will come back to finish. We have two seniors now who are ahead of schedule to graduate and should graduate with one or two courses the second semester.
"So we want every player that stays here four years to graduate. But some guys want to go to the NBA, they end up playing in Europe. That's their choice. And there's a whole heckuva lot of students that decide to leave here. It's not the school's fault. It's not the coach's fault. Some kids just make that decision — some kids transfer because they want to play more and some of it is they want to go play (professionally). And those are decisions that guys make.
"We've had guys leave early to play and we've had several of them come back and graduate. If someone could explain to me how we could have done something to graduate somebody who wasn't here, then I'd like to hear that. That would be good information."
Syracuse.com
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ESPN College GameDay Schedule
2013-14 TV Schedule
2013-14 Early-season events schedule
Recruiting
Nov.15 I'm soooooo ready for it to come
@Mylestone_21
No player in the country, in any class, has ascended to the top quite like Trinity (Euless, Texas) center Myles Turner. He went from being unranked, after sitting out last AAU season with a broken ankle, to No. 2 in the ESPN 100 for 2014. That kind of leap meant he's put in serious work which has turned his list of potential college destinations into a who's who of college basketball's most elite programs: Arizona, Duke, Kansas, SMU, Kentucky, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Texas. Now he's agreed to give USA TODAY HSS exclusive access into his world by chronicling everything from intimate details about his recruitment to everyday life in a blog.
…So far I've been on one official visit and that was to Ohio State. I really enjoyed my time there. The biggest thing I got out of it was from the practice I went to. That's what I wanted to see. That's why I didn't go to any of the different midnight madness events or anything. To me, that's all irrelevant for my decision. I wanted to see how they work and see how the coaches run things.
I was really impressed with Coach (Matta) and his staff.
I haven't set any other visits yet, but I am planning on taking another visit this month at some point. I'll let you guys know when I decide where I'm headed.
The only school I've cut out was Louisville, and, actually, I didn't really cut them I think they kinda removed themselves. I think when they got the commitment from Chinanu (Onuaku) they were done. I wish them the best though. He's a really good player.
I've had some really good talks with some of the coaches recruiting me recently. Like I talked to Coach Calipari a few days ago and he talked to me about how he'll likely have a whole bunch of players leaving and how he thinks that will be the best situation for me because he gets players to the league and he knows that's really what I want to do. He talked to me about the way they do things there and he really wants me to see it in person. He really wants to get me down for an official.
I'm looking to get over to SMU soon to see one of their practices since they're here. I really have so much respect for Coach (Larry) Brown. I know everyone thinks I like SMU because of E-Man (Emmanuel Mudiay), and I'd definitely love to play with him, but I think the biggest draw over there is Coach Brown.
He could definitely get me where I want to be.
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