Earlier this month I wrote about the one-and-done rule that has come under such scrutiny because college coaches are forced to try to get basketball players who have no business going to college past admissions boards. I felt that perhaps colleges should offer a stipend to players because of the income generated by big time college athletics. One person took me to task for saying that colleges should do more than provide a free education and room-and-board, and he may be right. The cost of tuition for the regular student is already a handsome sum. If a university is to give that to an athlete, perhaps their part is done. Nevertheless, there may be other options to entice top athletes to play for colleges without needing me to take the SAT fifty times a year. I should also not that that if a person couldn’t get into a university on their own, there should be some apprenticeship basketball program (maybe an expanded NBDL) so that college coaches wouldn’t be “forced” to cheat. (Some – without naming names – would probably cheat anyway. That’s just their way. My cell phone just rang – oh, just another text from Kelvin Sampson)

What I’d like to examine today is why college athletes have to have amateur status. According to Wikipedia, “Amateurism was a zealously guarded ideal in the 19th century, especially among the upper classes, but faced steady erosion throughout the 20th century, and is now strictly held as an ideal by fewer and fewer organizations governing sports, even as they maintain the word ‘amateur’ in their titles.” It doesn’t take make reading between the lines to see that this system is an anachronism. Even though the upper crust of the 1800’s thought sports shouldn’t be besmirched by money, it’s the all mighty dollar that pretty much runs things today.

The article has some other interesting tidbits about the abandonment of amateur status in the Olympics in almost all sports except boxing and golf. I always thought that this was caused by the results of the 1988 men’s basketball tournament in which the US lost to countries that employed various types of professional players, leading to the 1992 Dream Team. To be honest, I never really minded that the rest of the world had caught up to the US in basketball, even if they weren’t using “amateurs.” If the Olympics can ditch amateurism, why not college sports as well?

One final quote from the august Wikipedia, “Even the most commercialized college sports, such as NCAA football and basketball, do not financially compensate competitors, although coaches and trainers generally are paid. College football coaches in Texas and other states are often the highest paid state employees, drawing salaries of over one million US dollars annually. Athletic scholarship programs, unlike academic scholarship programs, cannot cover more than the cost of food, housing, tuition, and other university-related expenses. A school can pay an athlete to attend classes. However, a school cannot pay an athlete to play.” So, we know coaches are doing quite well for themselves and the student-athletes aren’t without a certain amount of compensation.

While it may not be right for the colleges and universities themselves to pay athletes, I am not sure why the regal status of amateurism needs to be upheld. While it may not be an apples-to-apples comparison, if an English major writes a book during college, does he lose his amateur status if he sells copies? If a musician records a bunch of songs, do the proceeds of any sales go directly to the university? Why should college athletes have to perform and make gobs of money for universities and coaches? Probably because unlike the student novelist or musician, there is gobs of money to be made.

My proposal is to dump amateur status. Let college athletes sign with agents and endorse products. If a player isn’t good enough to make money on their celebrity, agents aren’t going to want to sign them. Yes, this introduces the dirty concept of money into college athletics, but wouldn’t it be better to have things out in the open than Eddie Sutton mailing packages of dirty lucre to Chris Mills’ door? I don’t think players should have to attend university, but if they do, why should they have to lose money?

And so we come to the end of this rainbow: the end of the realignment/relegation project. Frankly, I am ready for it to be over because the Big East region required the most work to get the conferences down to 12 and get teams aligned correctly. I should have used a spreadsheet from the get go, but I held on to my old notebook ways. Silly, old ways.

I guess this is a good time to ask what you think of this project. Wouldn’t it make college basketball more exciting? Can you imagine if some of the big programs – like Georgetown, perhaps – were relegated out of the cushy Tier 1 conferences? If you think it is something that should be implemented, write to your state’s representative. Apparently, they have little better to do than to fix college sports. Perhaps I’ll add some more thoughts to that debate next time. This time, it’s on to the slimmer, more reasonable Big East.

Tier 1 – Big East
Holdovers: Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Villanova, Marquette, Syracuse, West Virginia, Providence, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Georgetown
Promotions: Xavier
Comments: The aforementioned Hoyas should have been relegated, but I chose to demote Seton Hall and that f-bomb dropping Bobby Gonzalez instead (not that John Thompson III hasn’t been know to curse a blue streak). Xavier joins the fray and may have some revenge on their minds. They were ousted from the 2009 tournament by Pitt in the Sweet 16. They had no answer for DeJuan Blair, who will take his apparently unusable knees to the pros next season. The Musketeers beat West Virginia in the 2008 tournament (thereby ending the college and perhaps basketball career of one Joe Alexander) in the Sweet 16. Xavier also beat Villanova in 2006-07 and was 2-1 over the past three years against Cincinnati. They belong, even though their coach has escaped to the sun of Arizona. Something tells me they won’t lose too much with Chris Mack.

Tier 2 – Atlantic 10
Holdovers: Dayton, Rhode Island, Temple, Duquesne, La Salle
Promotions: Vermont (from the America East), Siena (from the MAAC)
Relegations: Seton Hall, St. John’s, South Florida, Rutgers, DePaul
Comments: Welcome to the Small East. There are as many teams here from the former Big East as from the Atlantic 10. Really, I should have given DePaul a double relegation after their winless season, but I couldn’t do that to both major Chicago schools. Plus, I have fond memories of Ray Meyer, Terry Cummings, and Mark Aguirre. Now that I think of it, I should have moved DePaul (along with Dayton) into the Big 10 region and perhaps I’ll make some slight adjustments in my next iteration (assuming there is such a thing). South Florida also should have been moved to the SEC region, but I’ll keep them here for now. None of these teams played any from outside their previous conference last year, but I imagine URI, Temple, Seton Hall, St. John’s and possibly Rutgers could combine for some entertaining basketball.

Tier 3A – MAAC
Holdovers: Niagara, Rider, Manhattan, Fairfield, St. Peter’s, Iona, Loyola (MD), Canisius
Promotions: Robert Morris (from the NEC)
Relegations: Richmond, Massachusetts, Fordham
Comments: The fallout from the A-10 being co-opted by the bottom half of the Big East starts to appear in Tier 3. Richmond probably belongs in the ACC region, but the rest of the squads fit. Massachusetts and their new coach Derek Kellogg would be the team to beat, although Niagara and Rider have been good in recent seasons. Manhattan beat Fordham last year, so the Rams would probably be in their proper conference. Robert Morris moves up from the NEC. I had them a couple of years ago when they three decent fantasy players (Tony Lee, Jeremy Chappell, and A.J. Jackson – I am surprised I remember all three without looking them up). They beat Iona last year.

Tier 3B – America East
Holdovers: Binghamton, Boston University, Stony Brook, New Hampshire, UMBC, Albany, Maine
Promotions: Cornell (from the Ivy)
Relegations: St. Bonaventure, Charlotte, George Washington, St. Joe’s
Comments: Charlotte and possible GW should be in the ACC region as well. That’s what the Big East gets for going last (even though I chose the order: longer travel times.  The Big Red of Cornell move up in weight class and already beat BU last year (I wanted to go to Boston University for the sole reason that I could tell people, “I am going to be you.”) George Washington made a run through the America East last year and beat BU, Binghamton, and UMBC – the first two of which opened their season in fine style. After that, things went downhill and they will end up facing those three teams and more this year.

Tier 4A – NEC
Holdovers: Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, Long Island, Quinnipiac, Wagner, Central Connecticut State, St. Francis (NY), Monmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Francis (PA)
Relegations: Marist
Transfers: New Jersey Institute of Technology (from Independents)
Comments: NJIT was a late add. They have not beaten any of their new leaguemates. Mainly, because they haven’t beaten anyone. Last year, they lost to Wagner. Marist has fallen a long way since Rick Smits was there (even Jared Jordan). I thought for hours and hours of how to split up the two St. Francises, but in the end I figured they deserved each other.

Tier 4B – Ivy
Holdovers: Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Brown
Relegations: Hartford
Comments: Yes, Hartford is now the leaguemate of Harvard. That is almost as bad as the two St. Francises. Unfortunately, the Hawks belong in the Ivy because they were whipped by the America East and lost to Brown and Yale last year. They did knock Maine out of the America East conference tournament. I wonder if joining the Ivy will make Hartford’s students smarter.

Before I get to the SEC region relegation changes, I have an announcement I’d like to make: I took the SAT for Derrick Rose and was able to get an NCAA-qualifying score in my second attempt. I am somewhat ashamed of my 930 score, but it has been awhile since I had to do any maths. I’d like to apologize for my part in this fiasco, but I do hope that Rose and his “handlers” got their $500 worth.

In all honesty, I am not sure why Derrick Rose has to pass the SAT to play college basketball. If he were an excellent musician or debater or glee club member, wouldn’t the academic admissions office overlook a low test score? Oh, glee club isn’t as important as college basketball? Who knew? OK, OK, off my soap box and into the SEC, which should be quite exciting.

Tier 1 – SEC
Holdovers: LSU, Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia
Promotions: Memphis
Comments: That’s right Kentucky would play Memphis twice a year. Can you imagine? People in Louisiana still have fits about Nick Saban. John Calipari left Memphis with the Derrick Rose mess, stole their entire excellent recruiting class (which he, of course, recruited in the first place), and Memphis hired some guy who is young enough to be my son (well, not biologically, but perhaps I could still adopt him). Those two games would be must see TV for the foreseeable future (or until Calipari’s shenanigans catch up with him and he is forced to become an assistant coach with the Bucks). We shouldn’t overlook the Memphis-Tennessee rivalry as well. The Vols ended Memphis’ run an unbeaten regular season two years ago and beat Memphis in the 2006-07 season as well. Meanwhile, the Tigers beat the other three SEC teams they met over the last three seasons (Mississippi State in the second round of the 2008 tournament and Kentucky and Ole Miss in the
2006-07 season). Memphis has belonged in a Tier 1 conference for a few years now, it’s just a shame that they didn’t move up a season or two ago.

Tier 2 – Conference USA
Holdovers: Tulsa, UAB, Houston, UTEP, UCF, Marshall, Tulane, East Carolina, Southern Mississippi
Promotions: Western Kentucky (from the Sun Belt), Tennessee-Martin (OVC)
Relegations: Arkansas
Comments: The Arkansas free fall in the conference schedule ends in them being relegated to Conference USA. This was a team that beat both Oklahoma and Texas last season. Perhaps because of youth (their main sources of production were a seldom used junior post player – Michael Washington – and two freshmen guards – Courtney Fortson and Rotnei Clarke), they just fell apart when the calendar flipped to 2009 and only won two games in conference. With all of that talent returning, they could well dominate the Conference USA. Without Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin would likely be back in the OVC after a year. This will be junior guard Marquis Weddle’s time to shine. Western Kentucky has had a nice run of success in the Sun Belt and they have won three NCAA tournament games in the last two years. They beat Tulane last year and would be a fine addition to the conference.

Tier 3A – Sun Belt
Holdovers: Arkansas-Little Rock, Troy, North Texas, South Alabama, Middle Tennessee State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Florida International, New Orleans, Louisiana-Monroe
Promotions: Jacksonville (from the Atlantic Sun)
Relegations: SMU
Transfers: Louisiana Tech (from the WAC)
Comments: The Bulldogs never made any sense in the WAC. While they are moving down a Tier, they are clearly comfortable playing teams from the Sun Belt. Last year, they defeated the Ragin’ Cajuns in the opener by two points and beat Louisiana-Monroe. They took a loss against Arkansas Little Rock. Matt Doherty has been unable to push SMU up the ranks of Conference USA, so he and his team sink to the Sun Belt. I do like the names Papa Dia and Bamba Fall and would be happy to see them at the Cajundome (if, in fact, I ever go). Jacksonville hasn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 1986, but they get to move up. Historical note: the Dolphins did make it to the Final Four back in 1970 riding the wide back of Artis Gilmore. They defeated Troy last year in their tune up to the Atlantic Sun conference schedule.

Tier 3B – Ohio Valley
Holdovers: Murray State, Austin Peay, Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee State, East Illinois State, Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State
Promotions: Alabama State (from the SWAC)
Relegations: Rice
Comments: Hudson’s presence had thrown some fantasy light on the Ohio Valley, but he and his team are gone. In his stead is Alabama State who also loses one of college basketball’s great names Chief Kickingstallionsims Jr. He moves on to whatever 7-1 people do. The Hornets also lose their fine backcourt of Brandon Brooks and Andrew Hayles, so they may be back in the SWAC before too long. Rice hasn’t been competitive in Conference USA in a number of years and hasn’t played in the NCAA tournament since 1970. Perhaps they’ll fare better when they have travel south and east consistently.

Tier 4A – Atlantic Sun
Holdovers: East Tennessee State, Belmont, Lipscomb, Mercer, Campbell, Stetson, South Carolina Up State, Florida Gulf Coast, North Florida, Kennesaw State
Transfers: UNC-Greensboro (from the Southern Conference)
Relegations: Arkansas State (from the Sun Belt)
Comments: The Buccaneers of East Tennessee State won the conference tournament and the right to lose to Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA tournament, but they do not get to move up. They also lose their high scoring duo of Kevin Tiggs and Courtney Pigrim. Mike Smith (15.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg) is back and maybe he’ll help ETSU up to the Sun Belt next year. John Brady has moved from the Final Four to the Atlantic Sun in three years. Quite a fall.

Tier 4B – SWAC
Holdovers: Jackson State, Prairie View A&M, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Southern, Texas Southern, Mississippi Valley State, Alabama A&M, Grambling State, Alcorn State
Relegations: Southeast Missouri State (from the OVC), Florida Atlantic (from the Sun Belt)
Comments: Ag – an 11-team conference, but I’ll hide it in the SWAC. I kind of wish it was Florida International and Isiah Thomas getting relegated. Florida Atlantic did me no favors last year. I thought I was drafting a stud in Carlos Monroe, but injuries and academics kept him off the court. Were he able to come back, he’d be in the SWAC. Meanwhile, Southeast Missouri State also moves down and loses its top two scorers (Kenard Moore and Jaycen Herring who combined for 35 ppg). Junior-to-be Calvin Williams – 16.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg) might be worth watching.

I am afraid I am going to have to another short break from the relegation series to examine what is going on in college basketball right now. I was going to wait to write about the one-and-done rule and the mess John Calipari left in Memphis, but today’s Andy Katz blog entry pushed me to say my peace and get some things off my chest. (His thoughts were presaged on the Basketball Prospectus blog by Kevin Pelton)

To summarize Katz’s point of view: he thinks college coaches need to lobby the NBA and NBA players’ association to get rid of the one-and-done rule because it and resulting wrong doings (he points to O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, Nate Miles, and Renardo Sidney) which have besmirched the good name of college basketball. In essence, he says that college basketball would be fine without all of the cheaters and would be a-okay with all of the one-and-doners.

The main problem I have with his argument is that he seems to be saying that the college coaches and administrations were forced to cheat because of the NBA’s rule. I don’t think that makes much sense. Did the NBA force Memphis and John Calipari to allegedly falsify Derrick Rose’s SAT scores so that he could play basketball for the Tigers for a year? Did the NCAA force Tim Floyd to give money to O.J. Mayo and his “handlers?” I agree with Katz that college basketball would go on without the one-and-doners, but he should admit that a lot of the excitement within the sport of the last three years has been generated by the Kevin Durants, Michael Beasleys, and, yes, Derrick Roses of the world. I know that I have enjoyed watching them play against their peers (in age if not ability).

As a side note, the common perception of the one-and-done rule is that it was instituted because the NBA believed it was a lack of fundamentals, supposedly learned in college, that were hurting its game. This is poppycock. While college is a fine place and I encourage anyone with the means to go, if you want to learn how to play basketball, then the seething cauldron of the NBA is the best place. You either learn quickly or get out. The one-and-done rule has brought most of the best players back to college (for a year) and helped promote the sport. The players also received free promotion while not riding NBA pines. Although Rose was mighty close, it might be worth noting that an NBA level one-and-done player has not won a NCAA championship since the rule was instituted prior to the 2005-06 season.

I wrote a couple of months ago that I thought the school’s sports teams were the focus of too much attention (much of which is taken away from the actual academics of the university). And according to the New York Times, students at some schools have decided enough is enough and have voted against rise fees associated with sports . Of course, athletic directors like Vic Cegles of Long Beach State were quoted as the fees were needed to support competitive sports teams. But isn’t that a case of the few benefiting from the many?

Perhaps college basketball (and college football too) need to admit that in the worst cases, they are nothing more than minor league feeding systems to the professional sports leagues. (Of course, in the cases of Brandon Jennings and Jeremy Tyler, college doesn’t even seem to be the most effective training ground). As such, they need to be like the Olympics and forget about all of this student-athlete amateur status nonsense. They should embrace their training ground/minor league status and start using some of the immense funds from ticket sales, TV revenue, and jersey sales to give the players a stipend (especially if they are not going to pour those funds back into the academic programs). If the players want to take advantage of the education being offered to them, more power to them. If not, they represent the university in other ways. An education is a terrible thing to force.

I don’t have very many good things to say about soccer. I enjoyed playing it when I was in middle school because I liked playing dirty and getting away with things. Plus, I was somewhat bigger than the other kids. I lost interest in high school when the other people actually had skills (and were as big, if not bigger than me). I find soccer very dull to watch and it always annoyed me that it got so much attention on World Sport when I lived in Asia. However, there is one thing I really like about the European soccer leagues: relegation. If you stink in the top conference (the Premier League), you get sent down to the Championship League. If you play well in the lower leagues, you get promoted. I’ve always wanted to have a fantasy system like that, but have never been able to put it together. So, I decided to try it with college basketball.

There were a few other geographic inconsistencies that I wanted to work out, so I did some rearranging as well. I worked on the conferences using a few rules:

1. No conferences will have more than 12 members (that means you, Big East)
2. No conference will end up with an odd number of teams (this worked, for the most part)
3. There are four tiers of conference as you will see when I go over the western region in a minute. While I realize this is somewhat demeaning to the Missouri Valleys and Atlantic 10’s of the world, is it any less demeaning to be lumped in with the low-majors like the SWAC and MEAC as the all-encompassing mid-major label. [A side note – a few years ago, I tried to redefine the conferences into three sets: power, binary (generally one- or two-bid conferences), and minor. It did not take off. I am at it again by putting the conferences into four tiers. No longer will there be power conference, but they will all be Tier 1.]
4. In Tier 2, 3, and 4 conference, if a team won the regular season title, they moved up. In Tiers 1, 2, and 3, if the team came in last place, they moved down.
5. I tried to sort out some of the geographical nomads, such as TCU from the Mountain West or Denver from the Sun Belt.

I know that something like this could never happen because of a number of factors. No college would want to be relegated and it probably would not be accepted at any level. Traditional rivalries would be broken up. There is also the fact that conferences with football have to be aligned somehow. I think these downsides are minor compared to what would be gained.

Teams would be under real pressure to perform. And teams that made it through the battle of the regular season would be rewarded even if they were upset in the conference tournament (which could also be used as a tie-breaker). Consistent big fish in little ponds (such as Gonzaga, Memphis, and Xavier) would have to move up and play the big boys, while consistent losers and easy wins for the big boys (like a certain school in suburban Chicago) would be sent to their proper level of competition.

So, without further ado, here are the newly aligned conferences of the West Coast:

Tier 1 – the Pac 12
Holdovers: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State
Promotions: Gonzaga (WCC), BYU (Mountain West), Utah State (WAC)
Comments: Gonzaga was the only team in college basketball that I promoted up two tiers. I think they deserve it for consistently squashing the WCC. Let them face the big boys of the Pacific coast. Over the past three years, they haven’t faced many PAC 10 teams. Last year they lost to Arizona (helping the Wildcats into the tournament) and in 2007-08, they lost to Washington State (who was rated number six at the time). The Zags also lost to the Cougars in 2006-07, but managed to beat their new conference rival, Washington Huskies. That’s 1-3 over the last three years. If they can’t handle the heat, which I think they can, they’d be relegated. The other two promoted teams – BYU and Utah State – faced off last year and BYU came away with a 68-63 win. BYU did lose to Arizona State.

Tier 2 – the new WAC
Holdovers: Nevada, Boise State, New Mexico State, Hawaii, Idaho
Move overs from the now dismantled Mountain West: New Mexico, Utah, UNLV, Wyoming, San Diego State
Promotions: St. Mary’s
Relegations: Oregon
Comments: Even though one of my fantasy leagues had the WAC and MWC in it, I could never tell them apart. One had Utah and New Mexico, while the other had Utah State and New Mexico State. It always confused me. So, when I heard that the WAC split had caused the play-in game, I decided to do something about it. I would have liked to lump all of the Utahs and New Mexicos together, but the Utah State Aggies got promoted. Oregon would not be out of its element in this league (even though they have NCAA success in the recent past) because they lost to Utah and St. Mary’s last year. St. Mary’s went 2-1 against their new conference mates, including a win over San Diego State. The Aztecs got their revenge in the NIT by beating Gaels 77-60. New Mexico swept New Mexico State in a pair of meetings. UNLV beat Nevada and Boise State beat Wyoming.

Tier 3 – WCC
Holdovers: Pepperdine, San Diego, Santa Clara, Portland, San Francisco
Promoted: CSU-Northridge
Relegated from the Mountain West; Air Force, Colorado State
Relegated from the WAC: San Jose State, Fresno State
Comments: Because the original WCC had just eight members, it became a dumping ground for the former MWC/WAC. For no good reason, I gave Hawaii the nod over San Jose State, so the Spartans were relegated. They lost to Santa Clara last year but were able to beat San Francisco. Colorado State proved they were a good match for the WCC by losing to the Dons. CSU Northridge dominated the Big West and also beat up on Pepperdine (99-64). I think they’d hold their own against some of these bigger schools.

Tier 4 – Big West
Holdovers: Pacific, Long Beach State, UC-Riverside, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Irvine, CSU Fullerton, UC-Davis, Cal Poly
Move over from the Summit: Southern Utah
Relegated: Loyola Marymount
Comments: This former nine-team conference had the least movement. Southern Utah moves from one Tier 4 conference to another. They faced UC-Riverside last year and lost. Similarly, the other new member of the Big West, Loyola Marymount lost to the Highlanders and also lost to UCSB and UC-Davis. They were ripe for relegation. All they have to do to get back to the WCC is win.

Last year, I had the good fortune to get to know Greg Kinzer, then the senior fantasy golf writer for ProFantasySports (for which I was and still am an Associate Editor). On the few weeks that I took care of publishing the reports on the site, I’d get to read Greg’s works. Unfortunately, PFS/Sports Buff made some cuts (including coverage of college basketball) and Greg was let go. He landed on his feet at RotoExperts and I had occasion to interview him for a Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) article on fantasy golf. At that point, he mentioned that he was a one time highly recruited college basketball player who landed at SMU from 1989-1993. I asked him if I could interview him about the recruiting process for this blog and he agreed.

Perry Missner: When did the recruiting process start?

Greg Kinzer: I went to a BCI (Basketball Congress International) Summer Camp in Houston (I am from Dallas) in the summer between my sophomore and junior year.  We played three games — I was ok in two and had 20 rebounds in the last … and made the All-Star game.   When I got back home I had letters in my mailbox.  Very surreal experience for a kid that hardly played varsity as a sophomore.

PM: Were there any other name players at the BCI camp?

GK: Shaquille O’Neal was an unknown big guy back then, and I never played against him, but he was there.  Elmer Bennett (Notre Dame) also played in that camp.

PM: Did you play a great deal as a junior and senior?

GK: Yep, I started as a junior and senior in High School.

PM: Do you remember the first school that contacted you?

GK: My first letters were from really big schools — Norte Dame, Oklahoma, Wake Forest.  The first coach that called me was Willis Wilson from Rice University.  We talked for nearly two hours!

PM:  Did anyone have a particularly interesting pitch? Other than closeness to home, what were you looking for in a school?

GK: To be honest, all the pitches began to sound the same.  The only difference was how coaches would react when I was letting them know I was no longer considering them.  Most were appreciative that I was being honest, but a few (that will remain nameless) showed a lack of character when faced with rejection.

PM: Did any coaches come to your house?

GK: Yes.  There was a two week window when coaches could come, and I had 16 visits in 14 days — two nights I had two coaches (early and late evening appointments).  Very tiring — It was exciting to me as I was a basketball junkie and knew all these names, but the novelity wore off pretty quick.

PM: What were some of the more memorable experiences of the recruiting drive?

GK: Billy Tubbs sitting in my living room a year removed from losing to Danny Manning and KU in the championship game.  Another funny moment was when Herb Sendek (former NC State coach — then an assistant with Providence) came and watched me play pickup ball at my neighborhood rec center.  He couldn’t make contact with me, but he just observed, nodded and left.  Good thing I was on fire that day!

PM: What were the recruiting visits like?

GK: I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to SMU prior to the visits, and I was pretty burned out with the process (of coaches coming into my house). I went to SMU on my official visit and let them know I was cancelling my other trips (I had New Mexico, Rice, Washington and U. of Texas lined up– you are only allowed 5)

PM: Were you at all tempted to take some of the other visits?

GK: Everyone thought I was crazy to not take all my visits, but SMU was my first visit and my first choice. I really didn’t have the desire to string other schools along just for a free trip and a pass to some parties.  A lot of my friends that were recruited all took a visit to the
University of Hawaii.  I wonder why?

PM: In the end, how did you pick SMU?

GK: It seems weird that I would pick SMU. They were coming off of a Southwest Conference Championship in 1988 and had made it to the round of 32 in the NCAA tourney.  They were my hometown team and my grandmother and grandfather were in failing health. I just couldn’t imagine leaving the state as we were very close.  I also would have missed my mom too much — I was a bit of a momma’s boy!

PM: A few more questions: who was the best college player you played against?

GK: Probably Oliver Miller.  He was a bust in the pros, but in college he was so big and quick — tough combo for me.  I was happy to see them leave the SWC after my sophomore year.  I played against a ton of pro players at the Pete Newell Big Man Camp after college.  Shaq, Danny Manning, Vlade Divac, Rodney Rogers, etc.  That was a great experience.

PM: If you could compare your game to any current or past basketball player, who would it be?

GK: My game compared to a basketball great — That is a great question.  I always had range up to 17 feet on my jump shot, couldn’t really jump a ton but grabbed enough rebounds to be effective.  Maybe Bill Laimbeer or a Jack Sikma.  It pains me to say Laimbeer as I am a Laker guy (Abdul Jabbar is my favorite player of all time) but I “was what I was”!  Actually let’s say Rick Smits now that I think about it.

PM: What do you think the biggest misconception about student-athletes is?

GK: That all student athletes are thugs.  We had a few thugs at SMU, but even they went to class and earned degrees.  Players will try to get away with exactly what the coach allows them to get away with.

PM: Have you seen He Got Game?

GK: Sure - I have seen pretty much every basketball movie ever made.  Its good stuff, but it doesn’t compare to the subtle genius of Hoosiers!

PM: [tongue in cheek] How did your recruiting trip compare to that of Jesus Shuttlesworth?

GK: In no way did I get any illegal inducements!  I was one of those “potential” guys.  You can’t teach height, but I could have used a redshirt year if our team would have been better!  We were pretty bad my freshman year so halfway through the year my coach started to look to the future and I started.

PM: Thanks Greg and good luck with the golf writing.

GK: You’re welcome.

For the first time in ages, I did not go crazy with watching TV on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. I hardly watched any of the action on Thursday when all of the higher seeds were winning and by the middle of Friday, I was pretty much done in the pool that I entered (that will happen when you have West Virginia facing Wake Forest in the Elite 8 and Wake making it to the final – ho hum. I also only have three of 14 players left in the FantasyPostSeason Big Chief Challenge – hooo huuuum). Nevertheless, Friday night’s action was truly excellent and a great reason why the tournament is so special. Two overtime games happening concurrently with CBS frantically switching back and forth (and no commercial breaks!) I didn’t even have a rooting interest in either game, but it was just fun to get excited. I only watched bits and pieces of the games over the weekend in which the higher seeds generally held serve. I know there has been some complaining about the lack of Cinderella, but the upshot is that all of the Sweet 16 games are compelling and there isn’t a single Elite Eight possibility that won’t yield something interesting. (Double negative, yes!). Let’s take a quick spin around the bracket and look at these match ups:

South Regional

1. North Carolina vs. 4. Gonzaga
One of my workmates is upset with me because I pooh-poohed the Tar Heels with a less than 100% Ty Lawson. Lawson had a nice game against LSU, but I still think his banged up toe is going to be a factor. Perhaps not against Gonzaga, but eventually (like when they play Oklahoma…). While I expect this game to be played at a nice pace, I don’t think the Zags are a good match for UNC. Maybe Jeremy Pargo can take advantage of his fellow NBA wannabe’s injury, but North Carolina just has too many weapons and Gonzaga not enough defense to stop them.

2. Oklahoma vs. 3. Syracuse
This is maybe the most interesting of the Sweet 16 games because it features the Orange’s 2-3 zone against a dominant post force. As I told one of my friends, I think the only way Syracuse stops Blake Griffin is if they concuss him. They will need to shade their zone toward him and the Sooner backcourt may get plenty of open opportunities. In the first two rounds of the tournament, Willie Warren his five of his 12 three pointers and Austin Johnson hit four of eight. Syracuse’s backcourt (Flynn over Warren and Devondorf over Johnson) will have healthy advantages and Oklahoma is not the staunchest defensive team. I just don’t see Syracuse having an answer for the Destroyer of Zones (my new nickname for Griffin).

East Regional

1. Pittsburgh vs. 4. Xavier
Much has been made out of how Pittsburgh struggled against East Tennessee State and Oklahoma State, but I am undaunted by those matters in continuing to back the team I picked to win the whole thing. I think too much is made of victory margin in general. Unlike baseball, in which each play is independent of another, basketball has a flow and it really doesn’t matter if you win by one or 20. Sure, blowout wins are more impressive and pass a look test, but in the tournament, I don’t think it matters. I see this game as fairly analogous to the Xavier-Ohio State game two years ago. Xavier has talent across the board, but the Panthers have the stars. I think Levance Fields will take advantage in a big way and none of the Musketeers will have an answer for DeJuan Blair.

2. Duke vs. 3. Villanova
All of the 2-3 games are very intriguing and I may have to set my DVR to record them for future viewing. Despite losing only six games this season, the Blue Devils don’t really have a signature win. They got swept by the Tar Heels, lost at Wake Forest and at Clemson, and got beat at Michigan. They did beat Purdue and Xavier in December when each of those teams were ranked in the top ten and they beat Wake at Cameron, but I think Villanova stacks up well against Duke and will prove the Big East’s might in the spell of one game. Scottie Reynolds play in the first two rounds left a lot to be desired. Unless he is hiding an injury, I think he’ll step up.

West Regional

1. Connecticut vs. 5. Purdue
These are two deep teams that don’t have one go-to scorer and match up intriguingly. If Hasheem Thabeet were anything but a stiff on offense, Connecticut would be an easy choice. Needless to say, I am not impressed by the big man. He’s good at blocking shots, but most 7-3 guys are. Thabeet will likely neutralize skinny JaJuan  Johnson and Connecticut might have too much girth in Jeff Adrien and Stanley Robinson for Purdue to keep up with. I picked the Huskies to win before the tournament, but I’ll be rooting for Purdue (home of the Big Dog).

2. Memphis vs. 3. Missouri
This should be the fastest paced game of the week. If Tigers PG J.T. Tiller is out (after missing the end of the game against Marquette when he fell on his wrist), Missouri could be in trouble. They do have plenty of depth and maybe Zaire Taylor could step in, but Memphis has big guards who are excellent on defense. Memphis also has enough frontcourt depth to keep the dynamic duo of DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons somewhat occupied. While Memphis doesn’t have a true point guard, I don’t think they’ll have too much problem beating the Missouri press because they have experience in Antonio Anderson and Doneal Mack. Once they do beat the press, they’ll need to get the ball in Tyreke Evans hands. I picked Missouri originally, but I think Memphis will likely win.

Midwest Regional

1. Louisville vs. 12. Arizona
Does Arizona really count as a Cinderella? Despite their unsettled coaching situation, they have really had a fortunate draw. The one thing about this year’s Wildcats is that know how to lose good. They played a tough schedule and other than their Dec. 14 win over Gonzaga and Feb. 14 win over UCLA (by the way, they didn’t play on Jan. 14), they lost all of their games against top 25 competition. While their three stars are somewhat akin to Pittsburgh’s, they will need superlative games from all three (Nic Wise, Chase Budinger, and Jordan Hill) to be competitive with Louisville. I just don’t see it happening.

2. Michigan State vs. 3. Kansas
This is one of only two Sweet 16 games that doesn’t have a representative from the ACC or Big East (the Memphis-Missouri game is the other). It is also the only game that features two legitimate centers. While the Spartans Goran Suton has played well down the stretch, he will need help against Cole Aldrich (who Chad Ford mentioned as an up and comer. Kalin Lucas vs. Sherron Collins is also an interesting match up. If Collins plays under control (unlike he did when I watched him earlier this season against Massachusetts), Kansas should win. These teams met on Jan. 10 in East Lansing and Michigan state won handily after Kansas scored just 18 points in the first half.

Over the weekend, I watched Niagara beat up on Illinois State. After watching the game, however, I found that I didn’t really have that much to say about it. The Redbirds, especially Osiris Eldridge, had a bad game and were on the road. Niagara’s backcourt was really solid and they could be a tough 13- or 14-seed. Do I leave it at that? Well, I could, but I would fall well short of my self-imposed mandate (there I go again) of 1000 words. So, I thought I’d give you some thoughts on a burgeoning Player of the Year award race.

Since November, there has only been one logical choice: Oklahoma F Blake Griffin. Just as he did in the IBL MVP race, he has stood head and shoulders on top of every one else, especially statistically. Just as a point of comparison, I looked at Griffin’s season next to the best two stat lines of the past two years: Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley. While Griffin does not have the diversified game as the last two Big 12 Players of the Year, he stacks up fairly well with the two great freshmen. Griffin does not have three-point range so the Beasley and Durant both have big advantages in threes and both former freshmen scored somewhat more (26.2 ppg for Beasley and 25.8 ppg for Durant, compared to 22.0 ppg for Griffin). The Sooner has a nice edge in rebounding with his 13.8 rpg topping both Beasley’s 12.4 and Durant’s 11.1. Other than the three-point range, the biggest advantage both freshmen had over Griffin was at the free throw stripe. Griffin suffers from the big man’s curse and only makes 59.2 percent of his freebies. Because he gets to the line 9.4 times per games, he’d add two points per game to his average if he hit 80 percent of his throws. Griffin would definitely be in the Durant-Beasley conversation

Griffin actually compares quite favorably to last year’s Player of the Year – Tyler Hansbrough. Like Durant and Beasley (who Hansbrough beat out for the trophy last year), Hansbrough has a much better handle on free throws (80.6 percent on 9.7 FTA in 2007-08, 84.3 percent on 8.5 FTA this year), but his 10.2 rpg don’t really compare to Griffin’s 13.2 (10.3 of which come on the defensive end, so he isn’t cheating himself by getting multiple offensive rebounds on a single possession). I wish I had written prior to the season that Hansbrough might be in for a bit of a dip in his senior year. Psycho T really turned it on statistically last year when Ty Lawson was out, carrying the Tar Heels for a stretch. This year, Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green have all had their roles increase, while Hansbrough has ceded shot attempts (only one per game) and rebounding opportunities to his teammates. Maybe I’ll be able to write about that next year after the NCAA gives Hansbrough an unprecedented fifth year of eligibility for being such a great young man. That would be a better fate for Hansbrough than sitting on some NBA bench next to J.J. Redick.

I did mention that I thought there was a Player of the Year race. Even before DeJuan Blair beat up Connecticut last Monday, I thought he was the most valuable player in college basketball. I figured Blair did not really contest Griffin statistically, but I thought he meant at least as much to his team as the Sooner sophomore. I also thought Pittsburgh was the best team in the nation and their beating Connecticut in Storrs proved it. Blair had a signature performance against Hasheem Thabeet, bullying the Husky center for 22 points and 23 rebounds. One aspect of Blair’s performance that I found most intriguing was that he seemed to make a concerted effort not to get into foul trouble. The Panthers two losses – Jan. 17 at Louisville and Jan. 28 at Villanova – both saw Blair get in early foul trouble and only play 21.5 minutes on average. Pitt needs him. While they have more depth than Oklahoma, they don’t have anyone who can replace Blair’s low post play on both ends. In the Sooners one loss prior to Saturday, Griffin also fouled out against Arkansas on Dec. 30. He still contributed 21 points and 13 boards in a losing effort. [By the way, if you add Griffin and Blair to last year’s freshman class – Beasley, Love, Rose, Gordon, Mayo – that would have to be one of the greatest classes of all-time.]

Back to the statistics, Blair seems to be creeping up on Griffin and if the Sooner is out for any extended period of time, perhaps Blair could pass him. Griffin holds a substantial edge in scoring (22.0 to 15.8) and he takes and makes more of his shots. None of the players mentioned earlier hold a candle to Griffin’s 63.2 percent from the floor, but Blair is closest at 59.5 percent. Blair also hauls down an incredible 6.0 offensive rebounds per game. He may get more than one tip per possession, but that is a pretty incredible number (especially for Rick’s system that doubles points for offensive rebounds). The Panther forward grabs a few more steals than Griffin (1.6 to 1.3), although Griffin swats more shots (1.3 vs. 0.8).

The clearest difference in the two is from a point of competition. The Big 12 is not as strong as it was last year. Oklahoma’s non-conference schedule wasn’t filled with patsies, but there are few Big East quality teams. The Sooners beat Purdue and USC from the majors and teams like Davidson, Tulsa, and Utah from the ranks of the mid-majors. One can’t blame Griffin for Oklahoma’s schedule and he has been a consistent beast throughout (he has almost the exact same point and rebound averages in conference and non-conference play). Blair, meanwhile, has turned his game up a notch in the Big East. If you take out the Dec. 31 game against Rutgers in which he got benched after eight minutes, he has averaged 17.7 ppg and 13.7 rpg against Big East opponents. In addition to his domination of UConn, he single-handedly destroyed both Georgetown (20 points, 17 rebounds) on Jan. 3 (the game after he had been benched) and Notre Dame (23 points, 22 rebounds) on Jan. 31. In retrospect neither the Hoyas nor the Fighting Irish are the class of the Big East, but they were highly regarded before they played Pitt. The Panthers conclude the season with home games against Marquette (Mar. 4) and a return bout against Connecticut (Mar. 7), so Blair will have two more opportunities prior to the Big East tournament to put his stamp on this season. As good as Griffin has been, I think Blair is more valuable.

I thought it was about time to take a look at the SEC this past weekend. While it seems pretty clear that the SEC is sixth in the ranks of the power conferences, I am in the heart of the conference’s territory (a bit to the west of it, actually), so I figured I’d take a look. While none of its teams may be standing out this year, the SEC provided me with my first exciting viewing experience.

I ended up watching two games – the game above and Florida against Tennessee. This second game, which sort of served as the undercard, was not terribly exciting. Nick Calathes got in early foul trouble and the Gators didn’t seem to be able to function without him. Tennessee took a nice lead and never relinquished it. Calathes did get his points in the second half and he is clearly a fine player. The Vols have their own star in Tyler Smith, who did a little of everything. Tennessee, sort of like Kentucky, has a lot of tall players and like their state rival – Memphis – they use that height to their defensive advantage. None of their players are on the graduation cutting block, so I could easily see a return to prominence for Bruce Pearl’s team.

As for the main event, the battle between South Carolina and Kentucky got off to a slow start. After five minutes, each team had scored just six points. It was evident early on that these are two different types of teams. Kentucky was much more disciplined in their offense and used their height advantage to their advantage on defense. South Carolina, on the other hand, was much more dribble and isolation oriented on offense. It almost seemed like whichever guard had the ball on the perimeter would end up taking the shot. In the end, they only totaled seven assists on 32 field goals and I was surprised the total was that high.

The contest was an excellent game for fantasy players because each of the four stars had their moments. Kentucky’s burly forward Patrick Patterson controlled the early portion of the game. He makes quick, decisive moves around the basket, draws fouls, and makes hit free throws (80.4 percent this season). PP, as I like to call him, did not dominate the boards and I think his lack of explosiveness – at least in this game – may cause scouts at the next level to question his potential. He is third in the SEC in rebounding at 9.2 rpg, but he kind of reminded me of a late career Chris Webber.

Kentucky forged a bit of a lead midway through the first half, but South Carolina fought their way back behind the solid shooting of Zam Fredrick. While I wasn’t crazy about the Gamecocks offensive execution (or lack thereof), their defense was impressive. They tipped many passes and were consistently active on the defensive end. Some of that may have been due to Kentucky lacking a top flight point guard, but South Carolina was aggressive. Fredrick started hitting everything and South Carolina almost went into the break with a lead. Almost because Wildcat freshman swingman DeAndre Liggins hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer to give Kentucky – queue up Clark Kellogg here – momentum going into halftime.

After the break, Jody Meeks put his stamp on the game. He had a quiet first half. When someone who broke the Kentucky single game scoring record has a quiet half, the silence can be deafening. I am sure the announcers made a point of noting Meeks’ relative lack of scoring and #23 rectified the situation in quick measure. Of all of the players in the game, I was most impressed by him. While he could have forced the action and taken bad shots – from what I’ve read has been an issue at times – he let the game come to him, knowing his chance to score would come. He hit a couple of threes and helped the Wildcats forge another lead, which I was fairly sure they would not relinquish. Meeks also knows how to draw fouls and makes a sweet 91.1 percent of his freebies.

In the end game, it was the fourth star that rose to the occasion. Diminutive Gamecock G Devan Downey was one of the main reasons I wanted to watch the game. His first season at Cincinnati, when he was Big East Freshman of the Year, was the first year I wrote about college basketball. Since one of my beats at that time was freshmen, I remembered him fondly but hadn’t had a chance to see him work at South Carolina. Downey would dribble, dribble, dribble then drive. He forced some shots but made a lot of tough ones, especially in the last few minutes of the game. Of course, his turnaround jumper in the face of the Wildcat with three seconds left was the game’s lasting image. I was shocked that a team with so limited ball movement on offense could be successful, but the Gamecocks came away with their first win at Rupp since 1997.

If there is one thing that I have learned from watching hours and hours of sports, it’s that being a broadcaster is difficult. There are only a few broadcasters (Marv Albert, for one) that I enjoy, so – as I’ve written before – I generally just mute games now. I am finding the same difficulties with college basketball podcasts. I listen to quite a few podcasts, mostly on ESPN and NPR. I am a big fan of Bill Simmons’ BS Report and think it is one of the best out there. His podcasts are very long (80 minutes sometimes), but I am generally entertained throughout. That’s a pretty good skill. On the other hand, ESPN also hosts the worst podcast I have ever listened to: Howard Schwab’s podcast. Ten minutes of the Schwab giving a general overview of sports and then saying “we’ll see what happens.” Ugh.

Last year, ESPN had college basketball covered in its podcast when it was hosted by Andy Glockner. Glockner had enthusiasm and knowledge of the sport, a mid-major bent (being a Penn graduate), and a collegial rapport with all of the other ESPN writers, including Fran Fraschilla, Doug Gottlieb, Joe Lunardi, and Andy Katz. He wasn’t afraid to challenge his fellow writers but even when the debate got intense, it was never particularly heated or unpleasant. I emailed Glockner earlier in the season to find out if he would be returning to the podcast world, but the cagey Ivy leaguer said he didn’t know what was going on and I just read on College Hoops.net that he has moved on to Sports Illustrated. That is ESPN’s loss.

For now, they have Katz in the podcast seat. Perhaps they are trying to fool us into thinking all Andy’s are equal. Well, here’s one person who is not fooled. Katz does a good job of covering the college basketball world in his blog, although I don’t think too much of his writing style. In the podcast, he lobs softball questions at players and coaches that I think I could answer. “Jody Meeks, how did it feel to score 54 points in one game to break Dan Issel’s record?” “Uh, it felt good? It was an honor?” I know these people are his contacts in the college basketball world and he wants to get quotes out of them, but I have always thought that journalism should be a lot more than getting fairly routine quotes out of sports players. (This is one reason I am not crazy about the new Sporting News format. It seems like at least half of it is filled with player like and dislikes. On the plus side, I can read the whole thing in 15 minutes. I do like the digital Sporting News Today). Katz also has a weekly chat with Adrian Branch and another guy whose name I have forgotten in which he beats the same jokes into the ground. I think I have listened to the Katz blog three or four times and I don’t see much of a reason to return.

Fortunately for Katz, he is not the worst out there. When I decided to write about podcasts, I did a Google search just to see what else was out there. I landed upon a podcast from CSTV hosted by Adam Zucker (possibly not his right last name) and Anthony Oliva. Let’s start with the positive: it’s short. They generally talk for less than ten minutes (perhaps because it is a daily podcast), but they can’t get through the 600 seconds without annoying me. I can’t tell if they watched any of the games or not because they sound like they are reading out of the boxscores. Even worse, they riddle the podcast with clichés like a team lost because “they couldn’t get the ball in the hoop.” Or, Louisville’s players – including Earl Clark and Terrence Williams – “make plays that don’t show up in the boxscore.” Clark and Williams fill up a boxscore. I wonder who they think their audience is. Perhaps they are just getting started and will improve. I won’t be around to find out.

So far, this report has been pretty negative, but there is a beacon of hope. Athlon’s Inside the Paint feature a weekly round up of college hoops that is both informative and fun to listen to. Senior Editor Mitch Light and Braden Gall are affable and have a kind of stern teacher-irascible student relationship. Light tends to scold Gall, such as when he used the s-word twice (not that s-word – sucks). Gall is a good host of podcasts because he keeps the ball rolling and, like Glockner, is enthusiastic about his subject. He also seems to bring the fun out of Light, who otherwise might be kind of stiff. They generally chat for about 20 minutes or so and go over Light’s top five, the ups and downs within college basketball, and a variety of other news. The only negative I can think of is their odd fascination – I’d almost call it a fetish – with Alabama State senior Chief Kickingstallionsims. Yet, the Chief update is the kind of goofy take on college basketball that I enjoy. This is their second season and maybe their experience gives them an edge. Hopefully, they keep up the good work and the others follow their example.