The 00’s were a decade of down for the St. John’s basketball program. After capturing the Big East tournament title in March of 2000, the team began a slow slide downhill that went off a cliff in 2003, the season following an NIT Championship. A story circulated that then-head coach Mike Jarvis, or more accurately, a member of his staff, paid a player, and as a result, Jarvis resigned and that NIT Championship and 43 wins were forfeited, and the program hit rock bottom with a dreadful 6-21 season. Norm Roberts was hired to restore the program to its former glories, but despite squeaking out a couple of winning records (both times one game over .500), the Red Storm failed to post a winning conference record under Roberts who was fired after last season’s 17-16 campaign ended with a first-round NIT loss. Into the breach steps Steve Lavin, formerly the head coach of UCLA, and most recently a color commentator with ESPN. Lavin was fired from UCLA after his seventh season, his first losing season in Westwood which came on the heels of six previous NCAA tournament appearances, five Sweet Sixteen appearances (including one trip to the Elite Eight) and one conference championship, a successful string in most college basketball towns. But UCLA fans have higher expectations than most, and many of them will tell you that despite Lavin’s mostly successful tenure there, his teams underachieved. After seven seasons away from the bench, he’ll have his chance to prove himself all over again in New York, another town with plenty of expectations.

Lavin, for his part, has embraced the expectations. He has brought excitement to the program and has already begun flashing his recruiting prowess, snagging a commitment from Dwayne Polee out of Westchester High in the Los Angeles area for this year’s class and adding a relatively unknown Tucson guard Michael Perez as well this week. Lavin still has some feelers out there for other recruits for this year’s class, namely Remi Barry, but the bulk of this year’s roster will be made up of returning players, including nine seniors; Anthony Mason Jr. is the only serious contributor who has moved on, although would-be sophomore swing Omari Lawrence has decided to transfer to Kansas State.

Of the nine seniors, D.J. Kennedy is the team’s leading returning scorer and rebounder (15ppg, 6rpg), a versatile and exciting athlete who will likely once again be the team’s main scoring threat. He can score off penetration or from range, he can handle the ball in the open floor and is a terrific defender, among other talents. Malik Boothe started all but one game last season at the point for the Johnnies, and he’ll be the man there again. He is not a good shooter by any means and not much of a scoring threat, but can facilitate the offense and defend like a mad man. His backcourt mate will likely be Paris Horne, who also started 32 of the Red Storm’s 33 games last season. He is an athletic guard with a good three-point stroke, who for some reason is a terrible free throw shooter. Pushing Horne for a starting spot will be Dwight Hardy, a scoring guard who came to St. John’s last season as a JuCo transfer, and between the two of them, the off-guard spot is covered.

Up front, continuing with the senior theme, Justin Burrell and Sean Evans are both experienced big bodies, each checking in a 6’8. Evans is a terrific rebounder, especially on the offensive glass, and is a good finisher inside. Burrell has a more skilled offensive game, with the ability to put the ball on the floor a bit, and is more of an above-the-rim player than Evans. A starting lineup of the guards with Kennedy, Burrell and Evans would be an athletic and exciting quintet. Another senior option up front is 6’10 center Dele Coker, a defensive post player with a severely limited offensive game who nonetheless will give Lavin a big body to throw out there against more physical opponents. Then there's 6'7 Justin Brownlee, a big body who rebounds well, can defend the post, and has a bit of a face-up game. He shot too many threes (or at the very least, made too few of the ones he did try) as a junior, the JuCo transfer's first at St. John's, but he’s got some upside on the offensive end. Rounding out the group of seniors is Rob Thomas, a good story who has failed to make much of an impact on the court, and of whom little is expected in his senior season.

Despite the senior-laden roster, there are a couple returning underclassmen with a shot at playing time, foremost among them sophomore point guard Malik Stith, who will again back up the point position. He is very similar to Boothe in that he is a bad shooter whose main contributions are facilitating the offense and defending. And there is also Quincy Roberts, an off-guard who red-shirted last season due to ongoing issues following a concussion. Roberts did get some minutes, even a few starts, in his freshman year at the point, mainly due to injuries, but it remains to be seen what role he will play going forward.

Then there are the new freshmen. Polee is a long and athletic wing who is an amazing player above the rim. Unfortunately, his basketball skills have yet to catch up to his runaway athleticism, and with plenty of similar players ahead of him in the frontcourt rotation, his minutes figure to be limited. Perez is a scoring guard who can play both guard positions, but given that he was previously looking at limited scholarship opportunities, he may be a reach for the Big East level. However, if he can consistently knock down open jumpers, he could play a role for a Red Storm team that lacks a pure shooter.

This St. John’s team has plenty of talent and athleticism, but thus far they have been unable to put it all together. If there was ever a team that needed some coaching up, this is that team, which presents an interesting dilemma given Lavin’s history with his teams arguably underachieving. But given that Lavin, despite being away from the coaching profession, has still spent plenty of time around the game, there is a possibility that his coaching style and effectiveness will have matured. Throw in the fact that he has put together a staff with well-respected teachers like Mike Dunlap and Tony Chiles (along with Rico Hines, a former assistant with the Golden State Warriors and also Lavin’s first UCLA recruit), and the Lavin of old may not be the same Lavin we see these days. There is enough talent on this Red Storm roster to compete for an NCAA tournament bid (especially in a year when the Big East may not be as strong as it has been the last couple of years), but they’ll need to show improvement and maturity to get there. Given a roster with eight seniors, there’s plenty of reason to believe maturity won’t be an issue.

 
The University of South Florida is a fairly young school, founded in 1956. Younger still is its sports programs: they didn’t begin playing football until 1997, while the basketball program got its start in 1971. With the joining of the Big East conference in 2005, the athletic department embarked on a whole new era for their school, and with Stan Heath signing up as the basketball coach in 2007, the new beginnings were complete. Along with new programs come new records and new heroes, and while the Bulls failed to make the NCAA Tournament last season, they had inarguably their best season ever, posting a .500 record in the Big East and a 20-13 overall record, huge steps forward from the days when they were regularly in the bottom bunch of the conference standings. Aside from saying goodbye to the best team in the program’s history, the also say goodbye to likely the best player in its history: Dominique Jones. Jones left after a junior season during which he averaged 21.4 point per game to pursue a career in the NBA (he was selected with the 25th pick), but still leaves the program as its fifth all-time leading scorer, tenth on the all-time assist list and seventh in steals, as well as having posted the highest single game point total, when he dropped 46 on Providence in January.

But it is not just Jones that the Bulls will have to replace, as two other backcourt starters have graduated: point guard Chris Howard and off-guard Mike Mercer, another nearly 20 points of offense between them. Junior Anthony Crater, a transfer from Ohio State who spent last year as Howard’s understudy, will take over the lead guard role, but his running mate remains to be seen, although there are plenty of candidates. The two returnees with a chance to grab the off-guard spot are sophomore Shaun Noriega and Mike Burwell, neither of whom got a whole lot of run last season, but both of whom have reputations as deadly shooter. Noriega in particular has great range and the trust of the coach, but will need to get stronger and better defensively in order to get consistent minutes. More likely, one of three incoming junior college transfers will have the inside track on replacing Jones: 6-0 Shedrick Haynes, 6-4 Jawanza Poland or 6-5 Hugh Robertson. All three are excellent athletes who can penetrate and cause problems in the lane, but none have the reputation as great shooters. Likely some combination of the newcomers and the dead-eye returnees will fill Jones’ large shoes by committee. Backing up Crater at the point will be incoming freshman Lavonte Dority, a strong and physical pure point guard. Between Crater and Dority, neither is anything approaching a good jumpshooter, but both have the ability to be strong floor generals and pesky defenders.

The strength for the Bulls will be their frontcourt, and Heath claims that he’ll match this frontcourt against anyone’s in the country. Well, the fact is, he’ll have to, so at least that much makes sense, but the four-man rotation here is pretty solid. Gus Gilchrist is a 6-8 junior power forward with a somewhat checkered past, at least in terms of his commitment to schools. He originally signed with Virginia Tech, but was then released from that scholarship, after which he signed with Maryland, only to decide to transfer out of there before playing even a minute, eventually winding up at USF. Last season he missed 15 games due to a severe ankle sprain, and after returning late in the season, was just never the same player again. However, he still averaged 13 points and six rebounds for the season, numbers which should improve this year as he will likely be the go-to player offensively. He needs to get more aggressive on the glass, but is a versatile four-man, with a good stroke from three and an excellent midrange jumper. Center Jarrid Famous started 30 games for the Bulls in his junior season, and averaged 10 points and seven rebounds in just under 30 minutes. He is not a particularly effective defender, but is capable of getting on the glass on both ends, and creating points out of hard work. Toarlyn Fitzpatrick fell into the starting lineup when Gilchrist got hurt last season and was decent, notching over four rebounds a game, but he’ll need to improve his offensive game. And the fourth member of the Bulls bigs is junior Ron Anderson, a transfer from Kansas State who has slimmed down from over 300 pounds to a svelte 250. He is a surprisingly skilled player with solid post moves and is a very good passer for a big man, but his biggest contributions will come in defending the post and hitting the glass.

After those four, there is just nothing for the Bulls up front, as 6-10 center Waverly Austin, who had committed to USF, failed to qualify academically and is going the JuCo route, but Heath will have to find a balance between getting those four players on the floor as often as possible (since they are likely the Bulls best four players) and finding a way to get them some rest and keep them out of foul trouble. It is possible the Bulls could start a front line of Famous in the middle, Anderson at power forward and Gilchrist at the three, with Robertson getting some minutes at the three off the bench.

For this Bulls team to match the success of their predecessor, Heath will need to get Gilchrist to take the next step in his development, with Famous and Anderson as secondary options. Having one of the young guards step up and take over the scoring guard role would be a huge bonus too, since it is unlikely that Crater will provide much scoring punch. While the Bull frontcourt could keep it in quite a few games, the lack of a proven backcourt looks like a critical missing element on this squad and it is not unlikely that we’ll see the USF basketball program sink back down towards the bottom of the standings in the Big East again this season.

 
As divorces go, the Seton Hall/Bobby Gonzalez split was a particularly nasty one. There is a lawsuit and a countersuit, fights over the common assets, each side taking turns dragging the other through the mud, irrational behavior following the breakup, all the classic symptoms. At some point, we expect there to be an argument over who gets to keep the dog – or at least the Pirate. Basically, since March, the Seton Hall basketball program has turned into a bad soap opera, what with the divorce and arrests and frightening health problems and god knows what else. And into this mess steps Kevin Willard, a 35-year old (my god, this guy is younger than me) former Rick Pitino assistant (and son of Louisville associate head coach Ralph Willard) who just finished compiling a 45-49 record over three years at Iona. Willard has established a tough defensive style in his three years as a head coach, a strength which will play nicely in the Big East.

The 09-10 Pirates were an up-tempo, highly efficient offensive team, and were it not for a couple of deadly losing streaks (a four-game dive at the beginning of conference play featuring a couple of home losses and a three-game road slide in the middle), may have been dancing. Those losses were highlighted by an inability to stop their opponents from scoring, a weakness that Willard will work on shoring up immediately. The biggest loss for the Pirates will be point guard Eugene Harvey, but with junior Jordan Theodore waiting in the wings as an able replacement, the biggest concern for the Pirates (both on the court and off) is the health of junior forward Herb Pope, who collapsed during a workout in late April and had to be taken to a hospital where he spent almost a month. While further details are sketchy, Pope does hope to play for the Pirates next season, and his presence will definitely be needed. Pope is one of the nation’s best returning rebounders, an often spectacular shot blocker, a more than capable offensive player with inside-out versatility, and a guy just starting to come into his own who is capable of reaching all-Big East heights.

And Pope isn’t the only Pirate with all-Big East talent; in fact, Jeremy Hazell has already reached that level, taking down second team honors last season after averaging over 20 points a night. While Hazell can be maddeningly inconsistent (witness his two points on 0-10 shooting in the season opening squeaker over St. Peter’s or his two-point 1-7 disappearance in a blowout loss at Pitt, in the middle of that key three-game road slide, as just two instances), he is also capable of spectacular outbursts (such as 79 points over two games against West Virginia and Syracuse at the end of December, oddly in the middle of the other Pirate losing streak). He is a volume shooter (it took him 64 shots to get those 79 points) and prone to taking bad shots on a fairly regular basis, but on the good side he is an athletic leaper and acrobatic finisher who has a bucketful of moves and can score from just about anywhere on the court. If he can tighten up his shot selection a bit and become a more efficient offensive player, the Pirates will be immensely better as a result.

Both Pope and Hazell declared for the NBA Draft before withdrawing their names to return to school, as did small forward Jeff Robinson, a one-time New Jersey High School Player of the Year who found his way to Seton Hall via a small detour to Memphis. Robinson is a big body who may be the most efficient offensive player the Pirates have. He is a very good rebounder for his position, has a strong midrange-and-in game, almost never turns the ball over and doesn’t need a whole lot of offense run for him to make his contributions. While he is a limited perimeter shooter, he knows what he is capable of and takes care of business there.

Then there’s Theodore, who started half of the Seton Hall games last year and will likely slide in as the full-time starter at the point under Willard. Theodore is a quick penetrating guard who is very capable at using his ability to get inside to create opportunities for his teammates, and unlike the departed Harvey, is a solid three-point threat as well. Alongside Theodore in the backcourt will likely be Eniel Polynice, a transfer from Ole Miss who will be eligible to play immediately since he has already received his degree. Polynice is a big guard who handles well, can help out on the glass and is an excellent defender. While he can be a little wild offensively and is generously regarded as a “streaky shooter” (which is little more than a euphemism for a guy who shoots too much and makes too little), if Willard can contain him, he is an excellent pickup for the program who can also move over and run the point in order to give Theodore some rest.

Behind Polynice at the two are a couple of seniors: Keon Lawrence and Jamel Jackson. Lawrence is more of a defensive guard, while Jackson is a pure shooter. Jackson would fit in well with Theodore’s drive-and-dish capabilities, but Lawrence may mesh more with Willard’s commitment to defense. Either way, both figure to get plenty of time for the Pirates.

Frontcourt depth will come from sophomore forward Ferrakohn Hall and a group of freshman frontcourt additions including power forward Patrik Auda, small forwards Fuquan Edwin and Anali Okoloji and their newest signee, center Aaron Geramipoor. Hall got a handful of minutes as a freshman and showed pretty well for himself, converting at a high rate from the field and holding his own on the glass. He’ll need to improve his footwork and add strength, but he has a chance to be a player in the Big East, and will likely get the first look off the bench in the frontcourt. The freshmen, however, are a mixed bag. Edwin is an undersized three who makes up for his stature with his athleticism and non-stop motor. While his jumper isn’t much to look at, he’s got a good handle, can finish well and is a good perimeter defender. Okoloji is more of a combo forward, with the body of a big man but a set of skills that will allow him to play the three. He’s got a versatile offensive game with a combination of some good post moves and a face-up game that is highlighted by a strong midrange jumper. Auda is a Czech big man with a prototypical European big-man’s game: 3pt range, the ability to put the ball on the deck and some good passing skills. His physicality inside on the defensive end is pure bonus. Geramipoor was just signed by Seton Hall this week, and at 6'11, he'll bring plenty of size. However, he is seen as more of work-in-progress and may only get spot minutes as a freshman. Given the relative dearth of returning big guys on this roster, this group will need to see a couple of players step up and eat up some minutes effectively. Luckily, however, the Pirates are blessed with enough offensive talent that scoring from this group of young bigs will not be a necessity.

All things considered, Willard is in a pretty good position. While other new Big East head coaches have rebuilding projects on their hands (Rutgers, DePaul), he inherits a team that can, and should, compete for an NCAA Tournament bid. A lot will depend on the health of Pope (and here’s hoping his doctors make damn sure he is good to go without significant risks), but even if Pope is unable to play for one reason or another this season, the Pirates look like they are capable of big things. If Pope is able to return at anything approaching his previous abilities, Seton Hall should be dancing in March.

 
When Mike Rosario committed to Rutgers and its then head coach Fred Hill in 2008, it was supposed to be the rebirth (or I suppose, more accurately, birth) of the Scarlet Knight basketball program. Rosario, a McDonald’s All-American and standout at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City for legendary head coach Bob Hurley, chose Rutgers over several other Division I suitors because he wanted to put Rutgers basketball on the map, and because he wanted to be the “prince of New Jersey.” With that four-man recruiting class joining freshman Corey Chandler in Piscataway, the future looked bright for Rutgers. Two years later, all four of those players from the 2008 class have transferred elsewhere, including Rosario who announced in April his decision to transfer to Florida, and Chandler is gone as well. Of course, not surprisingly, the coach who did such a great job putting together that recruiting class, but then failed to get any of them to live up to their potential, is gone. Hill resigned after the season (albeit after a long drawn out affair during which athletic director Tim Pernetti seemingly could not pull the trigger). In his stead, Pernetti hired Mike Rice, a hot name after Rice’s Robert Morris squad gave Villanova everything it could handle in the NCAA Tournament. That’s the good news for Rice. The bad news? Just six scholarship players remain. However, Rice was able to keep Hill-committed recruits Gilvydas Biruta and Austin Carroll, and has garnered commitments from Mike Poole and JuCo transfer Tyree Graham. The talent on the roster is still underwhelming, but at least they’ll be able to scrimmage once practice rolls around, provided there are no injuries or further defections, of course.

So, what does remain for the Scarlet Knights? Not a lot, but they do have one returning full-time starter and three other guys that got their share of starts over the season as well. Jonathan Mitchell, who once transferred from Florida to Rutgers, is the guy who started all 32 games last season. He is a big wing with three-point range and can be deadly when he gets an open look. Beyond that, he is a good fundamental player, doesn’t turn the ball over, doesn’t commit dumb fouls, rebounds pretty well for his position, but is not a game-changer by any means. The three others that got some starts in last season are senior point guard James Beatty, senior combo guard Mike Coburn and sophomore forward Dane Miller. Miller, a great athlete and a major finisher, has quite a bit of potential. He averaged almost ten points a game last season, even more impressive considering very little offense was ever run for him, and he rebounds particularly well for his size, especially on the offensive glass. He is not a good shooter, whether from the field or from the line, but has the mechanics to improve with work. Coburn and Beatty are both decent at the point, nothing special, but between them they can hold down the one spot. Beatty is the better shooter and better defender, but Coburn is capable of the drive-and-dish for open shooters. Then there’s sophomore Austin Johnson, a power forward with the skills to score inside or step out and knock down an 18-foot jumper. While he has yet to make much out of those skills, he’s still got plenty of upside and he will get playing time this season. Frankly, he’ll have to.

As for the recruiting class, Biruta is the prize. He is an athletic aggressive finisher who can shoot from the perimeter and also bowl people over down low. He has a good chance to step in and start immediately for the Knights, and he has plenty of upside. The rest of the class is a mixed bag, but given Rice’s need for bodies, they’ll do fine. Carroll is a good secondary player, not a creator by any means, but a good passer and capable of stretching defenses with his range. Poole, a 6-6 small forward and Graham, a 6-1 shooting guard and junior college transfer, round out the recruiting class; both were added late in the recruiting process after Rice had already taken the reigns. Poole is an athletic defender with the capability of knocking down some shots, but like Carroll, he is more of a role player than a primary guy. Graham started his career at Texas Tech before heading the JuCo route, and he is an undersized scoring guard with the ability to run some point. All of these guys will have plenty of chances to earn playing time, if only by default.

Things are not good in the Rutgers basketball program right now, but Rice has at least gotten off to a good start with keeping the already committed recruits and adding some bodies to round out the roster, but 2010-11 figures to be a particularly tough season, with the Knights likely ready to battle it out for the basement slot. The good news is there’s absolutely no pressure on Rice or this team this season; expectations are low, the situation is bad, and resources are limited. The good news is, there’s nowhere to go but up from here.

 
 It’s now been just about four months since the Friars played their final game of a disastrous 12-19 campaign that ended with 11 straight losses, but as bad as last season’s results were, these four months have been far worse for head coach Keno Davis and his program. First, it was announced that point guard Johnnie Lacy and center Russ Permenter would be transferring out of the program. Then, a couple days later, Lacy and freshman center James Still were charged with felony assault, with Still having since been suspended pending an investigation of the incident, with expulsion still possible, even likely. A month later, the bright spot in the Friar program was extinguished, when leading scorer and rebounder Jamine “Greedy” Peterson was kicked off the team. About a week later, assistant coach Pat Skerry left to head to Big East rival Pitt, and in the process, severely hurt Providence’s recruiting, with incoming ’10 recruit Joseph Young announcing via his father, that due to an aunt with medical concerns, Young would be looking to stay closer to his Houston home for school. Since then, Davis and Providence have chosen to deny Young’s request to be released from his Letter of Intent, all while taking a (well-deserved) PR hit in the process. To add salt to the wounds, PC’s biggest recruit and the only verbal commit for the class of ’11, Naadir Tharpe, decommitted from Providence and opened his recruitment back up, citing the loss of Skerry as the main reason in his decision. And, all of this came after junior guard Kyle Wright left the team abruptly at the tail end of last season to focus on his academics. Really, the highlight of the offseason so far has been the confirmation that center Ray Hall will be able to return for a fifth season of eligibility. While Hall is a good kid who has overcome injury issues in his career, he is a severely limited big man who is little more than a warm body, averaging a point and a rebound in his 71 minutes of action last season. When that is your good news for the offseason, you know it has been a disaster.

The remains for the Friars do include two returning starters. Power forward Bilal Dixon started 30 of PC’s 31 games during his freshman season (after taking a redshirt the previous year), and was effective, averaging about nine points and eight rebounds a night, numbers which should improve in his second season. Dixon is also a strong interior presence on defense, as he blocked about two shots a game for the Friars. Guard Marshon Brooks also returns after having started 25 games last season. He is a wispy left-hander, capable of scoring from the perimeter or slipping into the lane and scoring in a variety of ways. He’ll likely be the go-to scorer for the Friars. Sophomore Vincent Council got a handful of starts in his first season and is now the only experienced point guard on the Providence roster, so he’ll clearly be counted on for a ton of minutes. Already expected to be the main man replacing departed point Sharaud Curry, the departure of Lacy merely cements Council’s stranglehold on the position. He is a penetrating point with acrobatic finishing ability and a penchant for finding open teammates for easy looks and the Friar offense is in very competent hands with him in charge.

While Dixon, Brooks and Council form a nice nucleus for the Friars, the problem is going to be rounding out the rest of the roster. Probably the most intriguing talent on the rest of the team is incoming off-guard Gerard Coleman, a smooth and lanky lefty that is perhaps a newer version of Brooks with more upside, impossibly skinny, terrific in the open court, improving perimeter game and a very strong and disruptive defender. He’ll be called on for plenty of minutes, and may need to start as a third guard, just to get the best five on the court for the Friars.

The fifth starting spot is wide open, and will likely go to one of a number of bigs. Hall could possibly snatch up the starting center spot (bumping Dixon to his more natural four spot), but if there is any hopes of a successful season for the Friars, coach Davis has got to hope that someone else wins the spot. Candidates include 6-7 redshirt freshman Kadeem Batts and three incoming freshmen: 6-8 Brice Kofane, 6-5 Ron Giplaye and 6-9 Alex Gavrilovic. Batts, Kofane and Giplaye are all strong rebounders and defenders who are varying degrees of raw offensively, but Gavrilovic is an intriguing prospect. A native of France, he possesses the skilled offensive game of the stereotypical European big man, but has a mean streak to pair with it. While he may be a year or so away from really being able to play in the Big East, it would be a nice surprise to see him step up and earn significant minutes.

Depth in the backcourt will be provided by two players: 6-4 sophomore shooting guard Duke Mondy and 5-10 freshman point guard Dre Evans. Evans was the last signee of this year’s six-man recruiting class and is a tiny scoring point who is at his best in transition. Mondy, one of Davis’ seven-man recruiting class from last year (of which it is likely that just three players will suit up for the Friars in 2010-11) is an active and energetic defender with good three-point range.

Technically, Young and Still are still on the squad and will be available for the Friars, but the odds of either one of them seeing any action, even in practice, in 2010-11 are exceedingly slim. If Young does somehow wind up with the team, however, he would be a definite asset. He is primarily a three-point bomber with in-the-gym range, but is skilled enough to get in the paint and score, a useful tool for any team, but even more so for a team like this that is a little undertalented. If Still is exonerated from his felony assault charge and avoids expulsion, he will be in the mix with the bigs for either a starting spot or a role off the bench.

As Davis enters his third season in Providence, the natives are getting restless. After leading his team to a winning record and an NIT berth in his first season, last season and the offseason has been an unmitigated disaster. Hopefully Friar fans are patient, however, because Davis is a very capable coach and an excellent recruiter, and frankly the PC job is not an easy one. There is probably not enough talent on this current Friar squad to compete for an NCAA tournament berth, but if Davis and his staff can settle Tharpe concerns over the make-up of the program, a backcourt of Council, Coleman and Tharpe in 2011 is a pretty exciting prospect. Better days are coming for the Providence program, even if those days are hard to foresee from this current trough.

 
Last year was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Panthers, having lost DeJuan Blair, Sam Young and LaVance Fields from their Elite Eight (and oh so close to Final Four) squad. But Ashton Gibbs had a breakout season as a sophomore, Brad Wannamaker stepped up as a team leader and Pitt got solid contributions from veterans Gilbert Brown (after his academic suspension in the first semester) and the since-graduated Jermaine Dixon. Along the way, Jamie Dixon’s club made a habit out of winning tight Big East games and wound up posting a 25-9 record. With four returning starters and with Dixon the only major loss from last season’s squad, there is plenty of hope around the program that the best this group has to offer is still to be seen.

Gibbs and Wannamker join senior center Gary McGhee and junior forward Nasir Robinson as the four returning starters, but Brown also returns for his senior year, and while he did not start a single game last season, he is a veteran who has already played in 95 games as a Panther and even started a few games as a sophomore before falling back into the role of a key spark off the bench. Brown is an athletic wing that is good on both ends of the court, and would fit right in as the fifth starter for the Panthers. However, regardless of whether he starts or continues in his role as a sixth man, he figures to finish most close games for Dixon.

While McGhee and Robinson are the incumbents along the frontline, each will have to work to keep their jobs, with former McDonald’s All-American Dante Taylor perhaps poised for a breakout sophomore season of his own. Taylor was already the best offensive rebounder on the team as a freshman, and with a year of experience under his belt and his athleticism around the rim, he could take over for the undersized Robinson at the four spot. Robinson, however, won’t let that happen without a fight, given that his scrappy style is emblematic of the Pitt program since the Ben Howland-sparked resurgence began. McGee, for that matter, is also a big man who makes his presence felt mainly through hard work and hustle. A less-than-amazing athletic threat, McGhee is not a huge factor on the offensive end, but can get on the glass and body up against physical Big East post players. Sophomore J.J. Richardson and redshirt freshman Talib Zanna will be counted on to provide depth up front, and both have a lot to prove, but given the history of Pitt post players developing over their career into consistent contributors, an eye should be kept on both undersized players for improvement. Both players have been double-double threats in Pitt’s summer league games thus far.

In the backcourt, things are more or less settled. Gibbs and Wannamaker will be the starters with sophomore point guard Travon Woodall the first guard off the pine and something close to a third starter back there. While Gibbs is the flashiest of the bunch, and will likely be the team’s leading scorer again this season, Woodall is a rising star whose lead –guard abilities mesh well with Gibbs’ ability to play off the ball and make use of his pure shooting skills. Wannamaker, on the other hand, is quiet and solid. While not a great shooter nor a true point, he has developed into an excellent offensive player, scoring, setting up teammates and generally running the offense smoothly, all while being a particularly annoying defender on the other end of the court. With this trio, the Pitt backcourt is in solid hands. As a bonus, reinforcements arrive in the form of two members of the three members of this year’s recruiting class: 6-4 shooting guard Cameron Wright and 6-2 point Isaiah Epps. Epps is a quick little lefty who is a terrific ballhandler and passer with great court vision and the ability to either penetrate or pull-up for the jumper. Wright is a slashing guard whose shooting ability can be favorably described as streaky. Neither guy needs to be counted on this season, but it is likely Dixon will find some minutes for these guys somewhere in order to get a feel for their potential.

Redshirt freshman Lamar Patterson and incoming freshman J.J. Moore give the Panthers additional depth at the three, and both should fight it out for minutes in relief of Brown. Patterson played a handful of games for Pitt last season before severely spraining his ankle and receiving a medical redshirt. He is a versatile athlete whose gifts could help him force his way into Dixon’s rotation. Moore, meanwhile, is the most highly regarded of this year’s three-man recruiting class, another versatile athlete who is comfortable both stroking it from three and slashing to the lane. Given the depth of this Panther squad, it is not out of the question that Moore will also don a redshirt for his first year.

With such a loaded roster, the fact that the squad will be making use of an NCAA rule that allows programs to take one foreign trip every four years with a 12-day six-game visit to Ireland this summer should just provide the team to continue to form into a cohesive unit, before fall practice is even on the horizon. The freshmen will be eligible to participate in the trip provided that the complete at least one three-unit course in the summer session, and at this point it looks like Moore and Wright will be able to take advantage of the opportunity, while Epps will not. Ideally Coach Dixon will be able to get a glimpse at how to work all these talented players into a cohesive rotation, while exploiting the extra practice time that he’ll get to spend with his team. Already the favorite in the Big East, this little bit of team-building could make the difference between a very good team and a great team.

 
 It’s a fact of life in college athletics, that no matter how much one player is associated with a particular university, and vice versa, you’re only going to get, at most, four good years out of him, after which point you’ll have to move on. Nevermind the fact that you’ll look at the Notre Dame squad this season and swear that Luke Harangody is still on the team, the face of the program, the man unimaginatively-nicknamed “Gody” has moved on. But, as every college team must realize sooner or later, life goes on, and luckily for the Irish, they got an early taste at the end of last season as to what life without their team leader would be like, and the glimpse they got wasn’t so bad. After Harangody went down with a bone bruise in February, head coach Mike Brey had the Irish switch from a fairly umtempo offense to a “Burn offense,” a slow-paced offense designed to limit possessions and conserve energy for the defensive end. The change in strategy brought the Irish back from the brink of elimination to garner a six-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

However, Harangody isn’t the only piece of the puzzle that is missing, and he may not even be the most important, as point guard Tory Jackson has moved on as well. While Jackson was not a great shooter, he was a serious gamer, a team leader and a hard worker whose absence leaves the Irish without a true point guard with experience. Senior Ben Hansbrough, however, is a capable ball handler and a good distributor of the ball; he finished with over four assists a game last season – a strong figure for a guy whose main strength is knocking down shots from the perimeter. While not a true point, it is possible that Hansbrough will handle lead guard responsibilities next year, particularly alongside a starting lineup that will feature several players with the ability to be secondary ballhandlers. If the Irish need a more traditional point guard on the court, freshman Eric Atkins will be the guy to call on – a skinny dribble-drive guard who excels in transition and is capable of getting penetration and finding shooters on the wing, a good skill to have when paired with the type of shooters the Irish have. While Atkins needs to add more strength to live up to his potential, he will definitely be called on for some serious minutes in his first year on campus. Another option in the backcourt is sophomore guard Joey Brooks, who is more of a shooting guard, but capable of taking over some ballhandling duties. Brooks is an athletically gifted big guard (6-5) who has the ability to be an excellent defender, a strength that could earn him serious minutes against skilled twos.

The rest of the starting lineup could be made up of similarly sized players, all in the 6-7 or 6-8 range, with versatile skill sets and the ability to play two or three different positions. Among those will be senior forward Tim Abromaitis, who came out of the woodwork to turn into a great asset for the Irish last season, when he ranked in the top 20 in the nation in true shooting percentage and in the top 40 in effective field goal percentage. A deadly shooter, he can also handle a bit and put the ball on the floor some. Fellow senior Tyrone Nash started every game last season for Notre Dame and will likely be called on to do so again. He is more of a post-up threat and tough rebounder (although not a traditional post-man by any means) than the others in this discussion, and he is not a shooter from range at all. Junior Carleton Scott is also in this group, a long and bouncy athletic wing with a bit of an outside shot and a penchant for spectacular rebounds. Finally, there is junior Scott Martin, a transfer from Purdue whose Notre Dame career got off to a terrible start when he tore up his ACL before playing a minute in an Irish uniform last season, after spending the previous season watching as his penance for transferring. Martin is an inside/outside threat with ballhandling skills and range out beyond the arc. A starting lineup pairing these four players with Hansbrough wouldn’t make the most traditional lineup, but each of the “bigs” (comparatively speaking) in this lineup is a good rebounder and can help out with the ballhandling duties. Trouble may come for this lineup against teams with big, physical interior players or even quick, harassing defensive guards. More likely, three of these guys form a front-line, paired with Atkins and Hansbrough in the backcourt.

If the Irish are looking for more beef up front to bang with opposing post players, the Harangody look-alike Jack Cooley is among those waiting to be called upon. After the injury to Harangody last season, Cooley, a grinding scrapper of a rebounder, was one of those who stepped up to fill the void, with fellow sophomore Mike Broghammer chipping in too. Neither player showed a ton of offensive polish, but any improvement combined with their hustle and energy will be welcomed.  There is also redshirt freshman Tom Knight, the Maine Mr. Basketball from 2009.

Additionally, Brey has two other incoming freshmen, both of whom will have to impress to earn minutes early in their careers.  Off-guard Jerian Grant is a athletic slashing scorer and a tough defender, while wing Alex Dragivech is a point-forward type with three-point range. It is possible both will redshirt, given all the experienced depth around them, but Brey has shown an ability to bring players off a red-shirt year and have them make a big splash, with guys like Abromaitis and Scott as excellent examples.

While some four-year stars are gone from South Bend, what remains on the roster is a versatile group who will give Brey plenty of options, perhaps combining some of the Burn offense with up-tempo style of seasons past. Given the way the Irish played at the end of last season, and given that the Big East, while still a tough league, doesn’t seem to have as many elite teams as in recent years, the Irish should be right in the mix for a second straight NCAA Tournament bid.

 
All the main cogs in the most recent run of success for the Marquette basketball program are now officially gone, with Lazar Hayward graduating and heading to the NBA as a first round pick. With Wes Matthews already in the NBA and Dominic James and Jerel McNeal playing professionally elsewhere (although McNeal’s first professional season ended badly), and even scrappy little guards Maurice Acker and David Cubillan now ex-Warriors (errrrrrr… Golden Eagles? – nah, screw that, they’re still the Warriors to me), Marquette has had plenty of familiar faces in their short time in the Big East (they began play in the conference in 2005) and have had plenty of success (five years in the Big East, five NCAA tournament berths). However, as Buzz Williams enters his third season as the head coach, there is little doubt that this is his team and his program now, no longer just the remnants of what Tom Crean left behind. Sure, the style of play will be similar, and many of the players will seem to be guys that have played at Marquette forever, but then again, aren’t all Marquette basketball players just scrappy members of a pack of pit bulls?

While there is definitely a feeling of change in the air, the pantry isn’t empty and there is exciting fresh new blood coming in. Seniors Jimmy Butler and Darius Johnson-Odom return and will be asked to take on leadership roles on a roster with six new faces. Butler is the team’s leading returning scorer and rebounder and their most skilled and efficient offensive player. He knocked down 16 of his 32 three-point attempts last season, and will likely be asked to shoot more from range, although his strength is really his mid-range game and his ability to attack the hoop. Johnson-Odom was a bomber for the Warriors in the JuCo transfer’s first season, with just under half of his field goal attempts (and he was second on the team in FGAs with 334) coming from three-point range, and just under half of those 3PAs going in (he shot 47% from three). Both players will be in the starting lineup for the Warriors, but it remains to be seen exactly where they will play, although it is probable that Williams will not have the luxury of going with a traditional lineup. Johnson-Odom will get plenty of play at the two-guard, but he may not be the only two-guard in the lineup. And Butler has a chance to be the four-man in the starting lineup, despite the fact that he is in no way a power forward.

Aside from Johnson-Odom and Butler, the rest of the starting lineup is probably up for grabs. There are a couple of true point guards on the team (6-1 sophomore Junior Cadougan, coming off a torn Achilles’, and 6-1 freshman Reggie Smith), but neither of them has a lock on the starting spot there. Freshman Vander Blue, the most highly regarded of the six-player recruiting class, is more of an off-guard, but could possibly win the job by default. Blue is a high-flying, slashing athlete, who will likely eventually play the two, but he could handle the one-spot while Cadougan recovers from his injury and Smith, a strong and physical penetrating guard, learns how to run the point and initiate offense. If Cadougan is healthy and returns to form, he could just come out and win the job and save everyone a lot of worry, in which case maybe Blue winds up as the third guard alongside Cadougan and Johnson-Odom. Another option in the backcourt is senior guard Dwight Buycks, a JuCo transfer like DJO, a quick, slashing, undersized off-guard. Buycks may not earn a starting spot, but he will get plenty of run. Freshman off-guard D.J. Newbill is also in the mix for some minutes; he is a strong and physical combo guard who is more of a below-the-rim scorer than any great shakes as an athlete or a shooter.

As there is no point guard with a lock on a starting job, there is no true center with a lead on that starting spot. Sophomore Chris Otule and incoming freshman Davante Gardner are both plenty big enough to play the post, but Gardner will need to work on getting in shape (at last check, he had worked hard to get down to 295 pounds) and Otule is unproven. But, Marquette has had great success with players playing out of position, so the “big” guys for Marquette could consist of Butler along with either senior forward Joseph Fulce or sophomore forward Erik Williams winning a spot. Other options up front include a couple intriguing newcomers: 6-6 JuCo transfer Jae Crowder and 6-6 freshman wing Jamail Jones. Crowder has been compared favorably to the departed Hayward: a good-sized forward with the toughness to scrap inside and the skill to step outside. Jones is more of a pure three-man: silky smooth, nice midrange game, range out to the arc. Both will likely see their share of playing time.

While there remain questions as to exactly which roles which players will play, there is plenty of talent up and down the roster. They will, however, need somebody to step up as a leader and corral the disparate newcomers. Between Johnson-Odom and Butler, that should get done, and with guys like Cadougan, Blue, Crowder, Jones and Buycks playing key roles, the Warriors cum Golden Eagles could compete for a tournament berth. But there is enough youth and just enough uncertainty on this squad to leave them with little room for error.
 
Things have not been particularly good for Rick Pitino in the past year or so. Sure, there were the, um, “personal issues” from last summer that made it into the news and caused him, his family and his employer great embarrassment. But perhaps more important for the college basketball fan, and Louisville fans specifically, he has had some high profile recruiting failures of late as well. Pitino has made little secret of the fact that he has been aiming for a big recruiting class for 2011, but got bad news earlier this offseason when Marquis Teague, the number four ranked recruit in the ’11 class, announced his commitment to John Calipari and Kentucky. On the heels of that came Samardo Samuels’ announcement that he would remain in the NBA draft despite signs pointing towards him going undrafted, or at the very least getting picked in the second round and not receiving a guaranteed contract. While Samuels never fully lived up to his billing at Louisville, he’ll still be a major loss for this Cardinal team. He averaged a team high 15.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg last season and will leave a hole in the interior for the Cards.

Junior power forward Terrence Jennings should be first in line to take Samuels spot in the middle. Jennings is a great athlete and an excellent defender, especially sending opposition shots back, but is still very raw offensively. Junior small forward Jared Swopshire can be expected to start alongside Jennings in the frontcourt. Swopshire is along and skinny who is constantly in need of more strength, but he is a versatile player with good athleticism, a nose for the ball and range out to the three-point line. When the game calls for more toughness up front, sophomore Rakeem Buckles may get the first call. Buckles didn’t get a ton of minutes as a freshman, but he is probably the best rebounder on the team, and may even be more polished offensively than Jennings (faint praise, I know), with a nice little jump hook and a monster finisher around the rim. Additional returning frontcourt help will be offered by junior George Goode and sophomore Stephan Van Treese.

In the backcourt, Cardinal mainstays like Edgar Sosa and Jerry Smith have moved on, so sophomore point guard Peyton Siva, a highly touted recruit who didn’t get a ton of run as a freshman, will need to be ready to contribute. Siva made his name as a high-schooler in Seattle for being a true point, with plenty of defensive quickness and three-point range, but turned the ball over far too much in his first season to ever earn Pitino’s trust. If Siva is able to earn a starting spot, he’ll likely join senior guard Preston Knowles in the backcourt. Knowles is an excellent perimeter defender, and combined with Siva could present opposing ballhandlers with serious problems. Knowles is also capable of initiating offense, and while not a spectacular offensive player, is solid. Sophomore guard Mike Marra, a dead-eye shooter, can challenge for a starting spot, especially if the Cards again run a three-guard offense, but more likely will be asked to provide a spark off the bench. Junior Kyle Kuric, a good mix of surprising athleticism and a nice jumper, will also be in the mix in the back court. Both Marra and Kuric came up with big games at big times for the Cards last season, with Marra providing four threes in the first of Louisville’s upsets of Syracuse and Kuric adding 22 points on four threes and four dunks in a stretch of just under 14 minutes in their second upset of the Orange in the final game ever played at Freedom Hall.

Pitino does have some reinforcements coming in as well to add to the existing talent. The most ready to play immediately is small forward Justin Coleman, a superior athlete with a ton of ways to score in the lane. It is likely that he’ll see minutes right away (and speaking of right away, the Cardinals open their season and their new arena by hosting the Butler Bulldogs at the KFC Yum! Center on November 16), and could even wind up with a starting spot provided he makes a commitment on the defensive end. Center Gorgui Dieng is a 6-10 recruit from Senegal and a prep school teammate of Coleman’s. Dieng, like many recruits out of Africa, is somewhat raw offensively, but a terrific shotblocker. The final two recruits in this year’s class are 5’11 point guards: Russell Smith and Elisha Justice. Justice is a true point with great court awareness and vision, a potentially underrated recruit that could make a splash in college. Smith, however, is more of a scoring point (and a confident one at that), a guy who needs the ball in his hands to be effective and is able to create for himself off the dribble. He’ll likely need to get stronger before he gets a lot of playing time and is a good candidate for a redshirt, especially after undergoing relatively minor knee surgery this offseason.

Finally, for now, there is also talk that former Memphis guard Roburt Sallie is in the process of transferring, and that Louisville (along with Indiana) is a possibility for his final destination. Sallie has one year of eligibility remaining and will be able to play immediately wherever he winds up, since he already has his undergraduate degree. Sallie is a streaky shooter and fine athlete who could definitely help Pitino find some points from somewhere.

There is less apparent talent on this Louisville team than there has been in a long while, and 2010-11 will be a good chance to see just how good of a coach Pitino is. He’ll need to get major improvement out of Siva and Jennings, and even then, will need to patch together some lineups and hope for outbursts from guys like Kuric and Marra again. The Cards will not compete for a Big East title, and may be far closer to the bubble than anyone associated with the program is comfortable with, but I see them sneaking in the back-end of the tournament, and maybe even playing in our first go-round with the bubble team play-in games.

 
I've got an extra James Anderson draft profile, get your extra James Anderson draft profile. One for $2, three for $5!

Anyway, on top of this one, there are several other draft profiles sitting over at RTC, but I wanted to publish this one as well, since I actually think Anderson will have a pretty strong and long NBA career.

Player Name: James Anderson
School: Oklahoma State
Height: 6'6
Weight: 208
NBA Position: Shooting Guard
Projected Draft Range: Mid-first round

Overview: Last season at Oklahoma State, James Anderson was clearly “the guy”. Aside from playing over 34 minutes a night, he was used on almost a third of the Cowboy possessions, and despite the high usage, was extremely efficient, scoring 1.23 points per possession. While Anderson came to Stillwater with the reputation as just a spot-up shooter, over the last couple of seasons he has added to his repertoire. Now he can run off screens for the catch-and-shoot three, he can put the ball on the floor and hit the pull-up three, he can slash to the hoop and he has even added some post-up game, a useful tool for a guy with good size for a two-guard. Basically, if it comes to putting the ball in the hoop, Anderson is very adept at it. While he is not an athletic freak with astounding leaping ability, he is a crafty scorer, able to get to his spots on the floor, and once there, able to knock down shots with deadly accuracy.

Will Translate to the NBA: At any level of basketball, guys that can put the ball in the basket on a regular basis are highly sought after. While Anderson may not have off-the-charts athleticism, he is an off-the-charts shooter with gorgeous form on his jumper and better yet, he has turned into a very efficient scorer; he can score in a variety of crafty ways, moves well without the ball, cuts off screens effectively, even a quick dribble into a pull-up jumper over his man. As the focal point of the Oklahoma State offense, drawing plenty of attention from the opposing defense, Anderson still shot 46% from the field and 34% from three, numbers that were down from the 48% and 41% he shot as a sophomore. Even his free throw percentage was down as a junior, decreasing to a still-exceptional 81%, although the fact that Anderson got to the line an excellent 9.2 times per 40 minutes as a junior is a nice cherry on top. Away from the focus of double teams and junk defenses, however, expect Anderson’s percentages to go back up across the board.

Needs Work: The biggest knock against Anderson is his defense. While not the type of elite athlete that is a competent defender just by showing up, Anderson is capable of playing far better defense that he did last season at OSU. Too often, Anderson seemed disinterested on the defensive end, allowing lesser opponents to drive past him. Anderson also shied away from any physicality on the defensive end, a trait that perhaps can be explained away by his need to remain out of foul trouble in order to best help his team, but Anderson will need to prove himself anew as a defender in the NBA, an even tougher task given that the level of competition that Anderson will face nightly is about to skyrocket. Offensively, Anderson is pretty complete, but could certainly tighten up his ballhandling skills. While he took very good care of the ball in college (especially for a guy with a ton of offensive touches), additional competency with the ball could go a long way towards mitigating his lack of an explosive first step.

Comparison Players: The James Harden comparison has made the rounds, and we find it fairly apt. Like Harden, Anderson is more of a crafty scorer than a wow machine. However, Harden is bigger and bulkier than Anderson, and probably not as good of a pure shooter. A better comparison may be Michael Redd; both players have a similar frame and a similar game. Redd was undervalued in his draft class, picked 43rd in the 2000 draft, but has made a career out of knocking down open looks with his quick release, even sneaking into a NBA All-Star game in 2004. Given Anderson’s penchant for scoring, if he winds up in a similar situation, an All-Star game or two is not out of the question.

Best Case Scenario: Anderson winds up on a team with a penetrating point guard and a post-up threat, allowing him to be a good second – or even third – option, running the wing and spotting up for clean looks. Early in his career he commits to improving his defensive game and while he never quite gets any votes for the all-defensive team, is also not a liability on that end of the court. If Anderson can just get to passable defensively, he could be ready for some serious NBA minutes immediately, ideally supplying a burst of scoring energy as one of the first guys off the bench as a rookie. By the middle of his career, he is a starter capable of scoring 20 a night, and at least garnering All-Star consideration in the right situation. As far as wins and losses goes, he could wind up in one of two situations: scoring a ton of points for a lower-tier team or knocking down clutch jumpers as a third option for a perennial playoff team.

2013 Projection: Anderson is a good enough athlete to patch up whatever deficiencies he may have on the defensive end, and by his third season, there is no reason he can’t be a capable NBA defender. More importantly, that shooting touch isn’t going anywhere, and his ability to pour in points will get him minutes. While there will surely be some time needed for him to adjust to the speed of the new league, by his third season you should see the Anderson that will spend a decade or more scoring for a living in the NBA. A lot will depend on his situation, but Anderson could be knocking down 18-20 ppg before the ink on his contract is dry.

Best NBA Fit: Chicago at #17 looks perfect for Anderson. With Derrick Rose running the offense and frontcourt cogs like Joakim Noah and Luol Deng locked in with the Bulls for years to come, Anderson would fit in almost immediately as a scorer off the bench with a spot in the starting lineup awaiting him just as soon as his defense is up to snuff. And with the young Bulls on the rise, Anderson could be a key ingredient on Chicago teams that are playing deep into late spring for years to come.