Basketball Junkie

As we head towards summer, we’re starting to get a good feel for some of the non-conference games we’ll see next season. Last week, we had a couple more tournament and special events announce their fields, or at least part of their fields.

The Las Vegas Invitational announced a field of Kansas, Arizona, Santa Clara and Ohio U. The headliner matchup is obviously the Kansas/Arizona matchup, which will be played on the evening of November 27 at the Orleans Arena.

And, speaking of Kansas, rough news for the Jayhawks the last couple of days. Aside from being an absolute afterthought in conference expansion/realignment talk, they reported last week that incoming freshman Josh Selby had broken an arm and would be out 4-6 weeks, then at the alumni basketball game, Marcus Morris bruised his back and had to be carried off the court, while minutes later Markieff Morris and Thomas Robinson collided with each other and came up bleeding, Robinson with a broken nose and Morris with a cut in his mouth that required three stitches.

Elsewhere, the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic announced the schools that will host the regional round of their “tournament”: Illinois, Maryland, Pittsburgh, and Texas. Each school will host two games against lesser schools before advancing to the semifinals (regardless of the outcomes of the regional round games) in Madison Square Garden on November 18 and 19. The matchups for the semifinals have not yet been announced, but it would seem that Pitt/Maryland and Illinois/Texas would make the most sense in the semis, as Pitt should be the highest ranked of those four teams and Maryland the lowest. A good set of games though, however.

The SEC-Big East Invitational announced its matchups as well, a couple of double-headers in December. The first set of doubleheaders will take place on December 8th in Louisville, with Arkansas and Seton Hall serving as the warm-up for Notre Dame and Kentucky. Pittsburgh will host the other doubleheader at its place, with Auburn and Rutgers squaring off in the preliminary bout and Tennessee taking on the Panthers for the nightcap on December 11th. Of the four games, the Pitt/Tennessee game looks to be by far the highlight.

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchups have already been announced. On Monday, November 29th, Virginia will travel to Minnesota for the opening game. On November 30th, North Carolina at Illinois will highlight a slate of five games, with Ohio State at Florida State, Michigan at Clemson, Georgia Tech at Northwestern and Iowa at Wake Forest filling out the night. The games for December 1st are highlighted by what figures to be the best non-conference game of the season, Michigan State (with or without Tom Izzo) traveling to Durham to face the reigning champion Duke Blue Devils. However, there are a couple of other really intriguing games that night, with Purdue traveling to Virginia Tech and Wisconsin hosting a young and hopeful N.C. State team. Indiana at Boston College and Maryland at Penn State round out the schedule. Miami will be the ACC team sitting out the challenge this year, but maybe they can schedule a matchup with Nebraska, just for fun.

The Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series matchups have also already been announced, and in the wake of the Pac-16 rumors, this series should have added significance this year. The UCLA/Kansas matchup on Thursday, December 2nd stands out as a matchup between two perennial powers, but UCLA will have to show some severe improvement to stand up to the Jayhawks this season. Other very interesting matchups include Arizona State at Baylor (on the 2nd as well) and Washington at Texas A&M on December 11th. The rest of the schedule includes USC/Nebraska (Nov. 27), Missouri/Oregon (Dec. 2), Kansas State/Washington State (Dec. 3), Oregon State/Colorado, Cal/Iowa State, Texas Tech/ Washington (all on Dec. 4), Texas/USC, Oklahoma/Arizona (both on Dec. 5) and Stanford/Oklahoma State on Dec. 21.

Other tournaments in the style of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (run by the Gazelle Group, which has an apparent aversion to running fair win-and-advance tournaments, after the Kentucky/Gardner-Webb upset of a couple years back), in which four teams host regional round games at their places before advancing to a semifinal round (regardless of the outcomes of the early rounds) at a neutral site include the CBE Classic and the Legend’s Classic. While the format of the tournament is not ideal, they certainly get good fields (and why not, guaranteed gimme-games at home and guaranteed schedule-booster neutral site games). The CBE features Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas State and Marquette, while the Legend’s features Georgia Tech, Michigan, Syracuse and UTEP. Clearly the CBE is the better of those two fields, with a potential Duke/Kansas State final, although all four of those matchups figure to be intriguing. The Legend’s field lacks a really top-tier team (although, I’ve counted out Boeheim’s teams far too early in the past, and I wouldn’t doubt that I’m doing it again now), however the names on the unis will certainly look impressive.

The strongest field of the traditional tournaments looks to be the Maui Invitational. Headlined by Kentucky and Michigan State, the field also includes the host Chaminade as well as Connecticut, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington and Wichita State. While no bracket has been released a UConn/Kentucky, Michigan State/Washington set of semifinals looks pretty inviting.

Of the other ESPN-sponsored preseason tournaments, the best belongs to the second iteration of the Diamond Head Classic, to be held around Christmas. The event features two of last year’s Elite Eight in Butler and Baylor, with Florida State, Hawaii, Mississippi State, San Diego, Utah and Washington State rounding out the field.

The rest of the ESPN tourneys are good, not great. The Old Spice Classic features Boston College, California, Georgia, Manhattan, Notre Dame, Temple, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. We’ll get a first good look at Steve Donahue’s BC club, with likely two of Temple, Texas A&M or Wisconsin matching up in the final.

The 76 Classic field is Cal State Northridge, DePaul, Murray State, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Tulsa, UNLV and Virginia Tech make up the field, with Murray State having replaced Penn State, which withdrew due to scheduling concerns. UNLV, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State look to be the strongest teams in the field, and it would make sense that those three and Murray State would be matched up to potentially play in the second round, with perhaps UNLV and Virginia Tech on opposite sides of the bracket for a potential final matchup.

The Puerto Rico Tip-Off has North Carolina as the highlight, but West Virginia, Vanderbilt and Minnesota will also bring some interest. Davidson, Hofstra, Nebraska and Western Kentucky round out that field.

The Charleston Classic is still in the process of building its field, but so far Charlotte, East Carolina, George Mason, Georgetown, N.C. State and Wofford make up the rest of the field with two teams still to be determined. The field is off to a good start however, with a Georgetown/NC State final being an intriguing possibility.

And finally for the ESPN-sponsored events, there will also be a new tournament this year, the Cancun Governor’s Cup,held between December 22-24 and featuring a field of Appalachian State, Colorado State, East Tennessee State, Ole Miss, Northeastern, Saint Louis, Southern Miss and Texas State.

In other tournaments, the NIT Season Tip-Off has not been officially announced, but it has been reported that Tennessee, UCLA and Villanova will be the headliners of the field. While the semifinals of this tournament will be played at Madison Square Garden, this is a traditional tournament in which the teams have to, you know, actually win their early round games to advance, so it remains to be seen if UCLA will even get to New York.

The Paradise Jam is made up of Alabama, Clemson, Iowa, Long Beach State, Old Dominion, Seton Hall, Saint Peters and Xavier, a decent field with the potential for a mid-major delight in the finals, with Xavier and Old Dominion perhaps the favorites there.

The Chicago Invitational will include Purdue, Richmond, Southern Illinois and Wright State, and could feature an interesting Purdue/Richmond final.

The Great Alaska Shooutout is a shadow of its former self, but at least was able to get eight teams for this season’s edition after a field of just six teams last year. Arizona State and St. John’s are the biggest names here, with host Alaska-Anchorage joining Ball State, Drake, Houston Baptist, Southern Utah and Weber State.

The Cancun Challenge has not completed their field yet, but have announced La Salle, Northern Iowa, North Florida, Providence and Wyoming so far with three more schools to come.

There will also be the South Padre Island Invitational, but all I can find on that so far is that Texas Tech will be in the field.

Me, I’ll be at the 76 Classic, but one of these year’s I’ve gotta do the Maui Invitational. Although, as much as I love college basketball, knowing I could be snorkeling in the Pacific after a quick trip through the gymnasium doors would be a distracting proposition. Maybe it would be best to save Maui for the offseason.

 

Obviously, things have been going crazy on the conference expansion front the last couple of days. I've got a couple of posts up in the last couple days at RTC on the issue, just never had a chance to post them over here. Consider that done now.

The newest one is about today's official announcement of Colorado joining the Pac-10, and assorted other news.

Then there is yesterday's behemoth about the Nebraska news and the pending Big 12 six headed to the Pac-10.

And a couple days earlier, a run-down of all the rumors, most of which are either outdated or confirmed or both by this point.

And, aside from conference expansion, there was a quick little draft profile on Gani Lawal.

I'm hoping to have some time in the next couple of days to pick back up with my Big East previews (Georgetown is on deck), and some other stuff, including more draft profiles and some early looks at next season's pre-season schedules.

I've got another article up over at Rush the Court dealing with the rumors this week about the Pac-10 potentially inviting six Big 12 members to join up and create the first in a potential string of new NCAA superconferences.

This is the most recent article in a series, detailing the rumors and conjecture surrounding Big Ten expansion and effect it could have on other conferences. Others in the series include a wrap-up of the Big East spring meetings, analysis of the ACC's new television deal with ESPN, a look at the potential for a Pac-10/Big 12 alliance, and the original piece in the series, an overview of several of the different scenarios that could result from Big Ten expansion.

And, while you're over there, maybe check out their series of draft profiles of last year's college stars. I've got a couple in there so far (Derrick Favors and Ekpe Udoh so far, Gani Lawal, Elliot Williams and others coming up soon), but all of the articles so far are really excellent.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Michigan State
2. Purdue
3. Ohio State
4. Wisconsin
5. Illinois
6. Minnesota
7. Northwestern
8. Indiana
9. Penn State
10. Michigan
11. Iowa

The Big Ten looks loaded this year. A quick look at the all-conference teams below shows that this is a very experienced conference (eight seniors and a junior on my all-conference squads), and with a 09-10 Final Four team (Michigan State) and a team that was a key injury away from being a Final Four contender (Purdue) returns almost all of their key contributors, clearly the top of the heap here is very talented. Given those two squad’s past success and key returnees, they are the co-favorites in the league with the Spartans getting a bit of a nod due to slightly fewer question marks.

However, the next tier of teams, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Illinois, will likely be right on the heels of the leaders all season long. Ohio State and Illinois both feature intriguing mixes of returning experience and incoming talent, while Wisconsin is Wisconsin and you can pencil them in for about 12 conference wins and 25 wins on the season today.

Those top two tiers in the league are the teams that should be fairly comfortable on Selection Sunday with their lot; the next tier (Minnesota and Northwestern) is made up of teams who could be a little nervous that day. An early guess? Both teams get in.

And then there’s the bottom tier, teams that are either rebuilding or should be rebuilding. Penn State and Indiana both have some players that could carry their teams at times, but lack the overall roster to compete for an upper-division finish in such a talented league. Michigan could finish higher just on the strength of John Bielein and his system, but Iowa, poor Iowa and new head coach Fran McCaffrey, could have a rough season with a remade roster and a program starting all over from scratch.

All-Big Ten First Team
G Kalin Lucas, Sr, Michigan State
G Talor Battle, Sr, Penn State
F Mike Davis, Sr, Illinois
F Jon Leuer, Sr, Wisconsin
C Jared Sullinger, Fr, Ohio State

All-Big Ten Second Team
G E’Twaun Moore, Sr, Purdue
G William Buford, Jr, Ohio State
F Robbie Hummel, Sr, Purdue
F Kevin Coble, Sr, Northwestern
C JaJuan Johnson, Sr, Purdue

All-Freshman Team
G Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan
G Roy Marble Jr., Iowa
F Jereme Richmond, Illinois
F DeShaun Thomas, Ohio State
C Jared Sullinger, Ohio State

Last we saw the Badgers they were losing in decidedly un-Wisconsin-like fashion to an upstart Cornell squad, allowing the Big Red to torch them to the tune of 60-some percent from the field and 50-some percent from three, all while getting outrebounded and turning the ball over more than their opponent. Definitely not the kind of thing you expect from a Bo Ryan squad, but once again in 2010-11, you should expect the Badgers to be an extraordinarily efficient club on both ends of the court, to take care of the ball, to clean up the defensive glass and defend the perimeter while pouring in their share of threes.

However, the Badgers will have to replace their starting backcourt and two leading three-point shooters, Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon, a task that is easier said than done. Tim Jarmusz started the majority of the games in his junior year as a third-guard/swingman-type, and will likely continue in that role, although he is not a huge impact player, averaging less than three points per game last season. The players who will have the most pressure on them to replace the departed seniors are three juniors: point guard Jordan Taylor, off-guard Robert Wilson and swingman Ryan Evans. Taylor will almost certainly get the starting position in place of Hughes, and despite his mistake-prone tendencies in his early days in Madison, he has turned into a savvy and confident leader for the team. Either Wilson or Evans will take over the two-guard spot, although I suppose it is possible that all three of these guys start and Jarmusz moves to the bench). Wilson is the better shooter of the two, and may even be every bit the equal of Bohannon in that regard, but can also attack the hoop and draw fouls, and has the type of defensive instincts that Wisconsin basketball is built on. Evans is more of the aggressive slasher type, but also still an excellent defender. All three of these guys have had plenty of experience in their time on campus, so while losing a backcourt with the amount of experience that Hughes and Bohannon had is never a good thing, the Badgers won’t exactly be flying blind.

Up front, things are a little more settled for Wisconsin. Keaton Nankivil started every game for the Badgers last year, and will likely do the same in his senior season. And Jon Leuer started most of the games last year and was very effective, despite missing nine games due to a broken wrist. Leuer is just a perfect example of a Ryan big man: some guard skills, great post moves, pick-and-pop three-point range, tough fundamental rebounder, good passer – just an all-around great college big man. Nankivil’s offensive game is not as polished as Leuer’s, but he is a streaky three-point shooter from the top of the key, passes and rebounds well and does all sorts of little things that make Wisconsin big men so fun to watch. Depth up front will be provided 6-7 sophomore bruiser Mike Bruesewitz and 6-10 junior center Jared Berggren, both of whom played limited minutes last season, but given Ryan’s track record of developing frontcourt players over the course of their careers, could be due some larger roles this season.

Ryan also brings in a four-man recruiting class, the highlight of which is 6-11 center Evan Anderson, a physical fundamental center who Ryan will likely bring along as slowly as he has his other big guys. Anderson may redshirt his first year, or barring that, could play sparingly. The two guards in the class, 6-2 combo guard Ben Brust and 6-4 point guard Josh Gasser, are both high IQ guys that could step into some minutes immediately. The final new Badger will be 6-8 swingman Duje Dukan, a pure-shooting Croatian who could fit in very well in Ryan’s swing offense.

Despite the personnel changes in the backcourt, expect this iteration of the Badgers to be quite similar to previous versions: efficient, tough, and smart. And while teams like Purdue and Michigan State, and even to a lesser degree Illinois and Ohio State, get the majority of the buzz in the Big Ten, don’t be surprised to look up in late February and see Wisconsin sitting right there in striking distance near the top of the Big Ten standings. 

Boilermaker habitués have to have somewhat mixed feelings about the 2009-10 season. Yes, their very legitimate chances at a national championship likely ended with Robbie Hummel’s mid-season ACL tear, but at the same time an undermanned team came together and despite a really ugly performance or two (the Big Ten tournament loss to Minnesota comes to mind) won a couple of NCAA tournament games as underdogs before bowing out in the Sweet Sixteen round. Now, the team leader and hero in Purdue’s 2nd round win over Texas A&M, Chris Kramer, is gone, and backcourt mate Keaton Grant has graduated as well, but if the Boilers can get Hummel back at full strength, some improvement out last year’s freshman class and a contribution or two from this year’s incoming freshmen, the Boilers are on the short list of top contenders for the 2011 national title.

When guard E’Twaun Moore and center JaJuan Johnson announced that they would be returning for their senior years rather than heading to the NBA, the health of Hummel was the last big remaining question mark for head coach Matt Painter, but Hummel has begun rehabilitation following his February knee surgery, and is about ready to return to basketball-related activities. While it may take him some time to regain his comfort level on the court, he should be ready to play a full season and be ready to go at full strength by the time the Big Ten season rolls around. Both Moore and Johnson stepped up their game in the absence of Hummel and should continue their strong play in 10-11.

Joining those three seniors in the starting lineup will likely be junior point guard Lewis Jackson and versatile sophomore forward Kelsey Barlow. Jackson returned from ankle surgery in November to forgo a potential redshirt season and help the Boilers make a push in the Big Ten. While by no means a great, or even good, shooter, Jackson is a pestering defender and a quick penetrating ballhandler who is a sparkplug at point. Barlow, meanwhile, is a point-forward type player in a big strong body, a smart passer and ballhandler who can take pressure off the point guard while also providing a strong defensive and rebounding presence.

There is plenty of talented, if somewhat inexperienced depth for Purdue. Junior guard Ryne Smith is a shooter and a scrappy defender, junior guard John Hart is a combo guard with a good three-point stroke, D.J. Byrd is an athletic sophomore wing and sophomore power forward Patrick Bade is a hard working interior player with a undeveloped offensive game. The four of those players averaged between seven to 12 minutes per game last season. Additional depth is on the way this season, with a four-man incoming freshman class, plus redshirt freshman forward Sandi Marcius. The recruiting class has no superstars in it, but it is a solid class, highlighted by versatile combo guard Terone Johnson, the freshman most likely to find an immediate role. Shooting guard Anthony Johnson, forward Donnie Hale and center Travis Carroll round out the class.

The starting lineup for the Boilermakers is mostly a known quantity. Purdue will defend, they’ll force turnovers, they’ll take care of the ball and they’ll be the type of Purdue team that Gene Keady began and Painter has continued. And if everything breaks their way for once, specifically everyone staying healthy, the Boilermakers will have a lot to say about what goes down next March.

Last season was a tremendously disappointing one for Penn State basketball and head coach Ed DeChellis. Coming off a season in which they just missed the NCAA tournament, then went on to win the NIT championship and post 27 wins on the season, they returned three starters, including all-conference-type point guard Talor Battle and hopes were high that the Nittany Lion program would take the next step. Instead, they lost their first 12 conference games, Battle got little help, and they limped home to a last place Big Ten finish and an 11-20 overall record. In hindsight, the holes caused by the losses of Stanley Pringle and Jamelle Cornley to graduation were never patched.

DeChellis will return in 2010-11, as will Battle, but unless the PSU program makes great strides, this could be his swan song in Happy Valley. The early news in the offseason was not great, however, as center Andrew Ott and guard Adam Highberger both announced that they would not be returning next season for their final seasons of eligibility, as both had graduated and decided to move on. Further, junior guard Chris Babb and sophomore guard Bill Edwards both announced their decisions to transfer. Of those four personnel losses, Babb’s hurts the most as he started the majority of the games at the two-guard last season and was expected to do the same next season.

But, all is not lost for the Lions. With Battle back for his senior year and point guard Tim Frazier back for his second year, the Lion backcourt could already be set. Battle could certainly slide over to the two and play alongside Frazier in the backcourt, although Frazier, a jitterbug point, will need to take care of the ball better. If Battle remains at the point, incoming freshman Taran Buie could take over the two-guard role. Buie is a very highly anticipated recruit for the Nittany Lions, and could provide the second scoring option for the team. Tre Bowman is another incoming freshman off-guard who could provide depth. Cameron Woodyard and Jermaine Marshall will also provide backcourt depth.

Up front, David Jackson, Jeff Brooks and Andrew Jones all return as starters. Combined, they are an active, athletic frontcourt, if a bit undersized. The fact that the 5-11 Battle led the team in rebounding makes the pretty obvious point that they need to improve drastically as a group on the glass. Outside of the starters, however, there is little depth. There is hope that Sasha Boronjvak will develop into a legitimate post player in his sophomore year, but it is more likely that he will suffer growing pains, and Billy Oliver has shown little more than the ability to be a warm body in his two years on campus, but given the lack of frontcourt depth, may still be relied on for minutes. The coaching staff still has some feelers out for a couple of other frontcourt players, and may add a player or two over the summer.

The Lions collapse last season was simply unacceptable. While they did lose significant contributors to their NIT run, the entire team underperformed. In order to live up to their talent level, the front line will have to become more consistent, both on the glass and in the offense. Battle will need to improve his game inside the arc and work to get his teammates involved, Frazier will have to play more under control, and it would be real nice if Buie was able to come in and be an effective offensive contributor right off the bat. This team has enough talent to be a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team, but the coaching staff will need to develop that talent better or else polish their resumes.

Thad Matta has got a little bit of a thing going on in Columbus. Sure, the Buckeyes lose the national player of the year Evan Turner to the NBA. But the way Matta is rolling right now, he just reloads with the number one recruiting class in the nation (according to ESPN – Scout.com has them as the third best recruiting class). And it’s not like the cupboard was emptied after last season’s sweet 16 run: four starters return, seniors David Lighty, Jon Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale and junior William Buford.

But, things of course will have to be shaken up a bit to replace Turner, as none of the four returnees can run the point for the Buckeyes, and the two players that gave Turner a bit of a blow running the offense, P.J. Hill and Jeremie Simmons, were both seniors. Into the fray will step one of two freshmen points: Aaron Craft or Lenzelle Smith, two very different point guards. Where Craft is a small, quick, energetic guard, Smith is more of a power guard with a big body and the ability to back down smaller defenders. Whoever wins the battle for the starting spot will be spelled by the other, as an excellent change-of-pace reserve.

Alongside the winner of the battle for the point guard position will likely be at least three of the four returning starters. It would be surprising if any of Lighty, Diebler and Buford do not start in 2010-11, but Lauderdale may be in for a battle for his position, as Jared Sullinger, one of the top five recruits in the nation (ESPN’s #2, Scout’s #4) joins the squad. Sullinger is an excellent offensive center with post moves and shooting range out to 18 feet, and he may force Lauderdale – a player whose offensive range is “a dunk or closer” according to Bill Raftery – to contribute as a reserve. Freshman forward DeShaun Thomas, a guy who is either an undersized four or a very strong three, will also make a push for a starting spot, but given that you can only start five, may have to settle for making his impact off the pine.

The recruiting class is rounded out by scoring guard Jordan Sibert and Sullinger’s high school teammate, J.D. Weatherspoon, an athletic, high-flying combo forward. Additional depth will come from senior power forward Nicola Kecman and junior center Zisis Sarikopolous, both of whom will have to improve drastically to get any type of serious minutes.

There will be as much talent in Columbus as ever next season (which is saying a whole lot), but the season could hinge on getting one of those freshman point guards to play like something other than a freshman by the time March rolls around. While neither Buford, Lighty nor Diebler are great ballhandlers, each are good enough that they can ease the demands on the point, which should allow Matta’s athletic and talented offensive players to excel. While Michigan State and Purdue may remain co-favorites in the Big Ten (depending on the decisions of Purdue’s E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson), Ohio State will again be a sleeper to take down the conference title.

Last year was the year that the Wildcats would be invited to their first ever NCAA Tournament, or so the thinking went. But then, before the first ball was even in play, senior leading scorer and rebounder and All-Big Ten candidate Kevin Coble went down with a broken foot. Bill Carmody’s team still fought and scrapped its way to a 20-14 record (an excellent record at a place like Northwestern) and an NIT bid, but more or less tabled the big expectations for a year. In 2010-11, the Wildcats will have Coble back for his delayed senior season, but they’ll also have a group of guys alongside him who got plenty of experience and playing time in his absence. The Wildcats lose sneaky-good guard Jeremy Nash and big man Kyle Rowley has decided to continue his college career elsewhere, but beyond that, everyone returns, including Coble and senior swing Jeff Ryan, another Wildcat who missed 09-10 (or at least all but 14 minutes of it) due to injury.

Coble is highly skilled and versatile big man who fits perfectly into Carmody’s offense; he can hit the 3, rebound well, put the ball on the floor a little and even finish with creativity. Junior forward John Shurna stepped up his game in a big way in lieu of Coble, leading the team in scoring, rebounds and blocks (oh, and turnovers too, but we won’t mention that – oops, too late). One way or another, Coble figure to be paired in the Wildcat starting frontcourt. Certainly joining those two will be Michael “Juice” Thompson, a senior point guard who can be effective both inside and out. Replacing Nash at the two is a bit of a question mark. It is possible that sophomore Drew Crawford will pair up with Thompson in the backcourt, but he is more of an undersized three, an athletic slasher with a sweet little midrange jumper. Given that Thompson is not exactly a pure point, it is possible that Carmody will need a better ballhandler at the two in which case it is possible Crawford continues to start at the three alongside Shurna and Coble up front, in which case either sophomore Alex Marcotuillo and freshman Jershon Cobb would have to earn the starting two-guard spot. If Crawford does move into the backcourt, junior center Luka Mirkovic will likely retain his starting spot alongside Shurna and Coble in the frontcourt, creating a lineup that would likely put the most Wildcat talent on the floor at the same time.

Providing depth for the Wildcats will be the aforementioned Ryan, returned from an ACL injury that robbed him of most of his 09-10 season. He is a tough, undersized scrapper at the three that defends the perimeter well, but is not much of an offensive threat. Davide’ Curletti, Mike Capoccia, Nick Fruendt and Ivan Peljusic will also provide depth up front, but there will not be a lot of backcourt depth for the Wildcats.

The expectations for Northwestern in 10-11 will be very similar to what they were in 09-10: the first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in school history. If Coble returns to form without a hitch, the Wildcats will have a chance to live up to that goal, but finding a suitable replacement for Nash in the backcourt will be an important step along the way.

This early in the offseason, there are still a ton of unanswered questions for Tubby Smith and his Golden Gophers. Last season, two of the Gophers biggest recruits, Royce White and Trevor Mbakwe, never played a single minute due to legal issues. White went so far as to quit school and basketball altogether (at least for a melodramatic moment or two), and Mbakwe is still mired in a felony battery case. Throw in point guard Al Nolen missing the second semester due to an academic suspension and a very talent Gopher team had a pretty miserable season. All three of those players remain question marks at this point for the 2010-11 season. Mbakwe will not play until his trial is complete, Nolen will have to get back on track academically and White? Well, White needs a lot of things, not the least of which is some growing up.

However, despite those question marks and the loss of leading scorer Lawrence Westbrook and team leader Damian Johnson to graduation,  and hustle-man extraordinaire Paul Carter to a tragic transfer (he is transferring to a school closer to his Chicago home to be closer to his sister Bria who is battling cancer), the cupboards are far from empty in The Barn. If Nolen returns, he’ll likely share the three-guard backcourt with junior point Devoe Joseph and senior shooter Blake Hoffarber, the team’s leading returning scorer. Sophomore Justin Cobbs will get the spare minutes at the point. Up front, the Gopher’s could go with a twin-tower frontcourt with juniors Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson, each having shown flashes of brilliance in their first two seasons. If both continue to improve, that could be an excellent post duo. If Smith chooses to start just one of the post players and bring the other off the bench, Mbakwe and White would both be potential starters assuming that they are even on the team. Sophomore Rodney Williams could also be a contender to start up front, but he is more of a natural swingman rather than a power player.

Minnesota’s recruiting class was put together late, and doesn’t feature any major impact players, but there could be some surprises there. There are three frontcourt options in the class: Mo Walker (a massive 6-10 center with a bit of skill) Elliott Eliason (a 6-9 center from a small town in Nebraska who has drawn some comparisons to Iverson, another Gopher recruit from a small town), and 6-9 power forward Oto Osenieks (a relatively unknown Latvian player who brings a face-up game that the most effusive Gopher fans compare to Robbie Hummel). Their sole backcourt recruit to this point is Austin Hollins, the son of Memphis Grizzlies’ head coach Lionel Hollins. As is common for coaches’ kids, Hollins is regarded as a smart backcourt player who can do a little of everything.

Even if all the question marks on this team get answered in the affirmative, this won’t be as talented of a Gopher team next year as it was last year, but there is still enough talent for an upper-division Big Ten finish and a NCAA bid. While Mbakwe and White may not ever play a minute in a Gopher uniform, if Smith can bring Nolen back for his senior season and get some useful minutes out of the freshmen bigs, everything should be okay in The Barn. And if Sampson and/or Iverson turn it up this season, things might just turn out better than “okay”.