Once again, ESPN is kicking off its college basketball coverage with a 24-hour hoops marathon on the various networks. For a sport that has long lacked a definitive opening day/night, ESPN deserves of a ton of credit (that was painful to say) for getting creative and implementing this marathon for us hoops nerds. Our own John Stevens is expected to be back for another coma-inducing live blog for the event (last year’s transcript), and in today’s daily Katz blog entry, the schedule was officially announced. Here are the games (all times EST on November 17):

Midnight- Cal State Fullerton @ UCLA (ESPN)– First chance to see if Malcolm Lee seems ready to take over the point guard role for the unproven Bruins.

2 AM- San Diego State @ Saint Mary’s (ESPN)– A possible MWC title contender heading to a raucous environment. Look out for the Aztecs star freshman Kawhi Leonard.

4 AM- Northern Colorado @ Hawaii (ESPN)- A reasonable 10 PM start for the Fightin’ Rainbows.

6 AM- Monmouth @ Saint Peter’s (ESPN)– Think the first half might be a little sluggish?

8 AM- Drexel @ Niagara (ESPN)– Don’t sleep on the Purple Eagles. This team has the talent to challenge Siena this season in the MAAC.

10 AM- Clemson @ Liberty (ESPN)– In exchange for filling a spot on their schedule last season, Clemson must travel to Lynchburg to take on the Curry-less Flames. This is our first look at the inside-outside combo of Trevor Booker and Noel Johnson for Clemson, whose fans should begin to worry if they get off to a good start.

12 PM- Northeastern @ Siena (ESPN)- Two teams that could be dancing this season. The Huskies spent much of last year near the top in the Colonial and returns four starters. We’re all very familiar with Siena at this point and coach Fran McCaffery has plenty of talent back in the fold.

2 PM- Arkansas-Little Rock @ Tulsa (ESPN)- This could be the year Memphis is dethroned from the top of Conference USA. The team most likely to do the unseating is the Golden Hurricane, led by seven footer Jerome Jordan.

4 PM- Temple @ Georgetown (ESPN)- This will be our first opportunity to see if the Hoyas can turn their negative campaign a season ago into a positive motivator in 2009-10.

5:30 PM- Binghamton @ Pittsburgh (ESPN2)– The Panthers lost DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields, Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs. Jermaine Dixon is unlikely to play due to a broken foot. This should be Jamie Dixon’s toughest coaching job yet. Ashton Gibbs is a player to watch this season.

6 PM- Charlotte/Elon @ Duke (ESPN)– Our first look at a Duke team that is much bigger than in previous seasons with the additions of Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. Kyle Singler takes his first step towards a possible All-America honor in this Preseason NIT contest.

7:30 PM- Arkansas vs. Louisville in St. Louis (ESPN2)– Two teams that could go either direction this season. Louisville needs Samardo Samuels to make the leap and freshman Peyton Siva to contribute immediately. Arkansas fell apart a season ago and their last ten months have certainly been tumultous, but still boast talent in guard Courtney Fortson (so long as he’s not tweeting) and rookie forward Marshawn Powell.

8 PM- Gonzaga at Michigan State (ESPN)– The Zags will be a guard-oriented squad this year with Matt Bouldin, Demetri Goodson and Steven Gray. Michigan State has balance with Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers outside and Delvon Roe and Raymar Morgan inside. The Spartans could make another Final Four run.

9 PM- Duquesne at Iowa (ESPNU)– The Hawkeyes should be bottom-feeder in the Big Ten yet again, meaning Damian Saunders and the Dukes could keep this competitive.

10 PM- Memphis vs. Kansas in St. Louis (ESPN)– Our first look at the best team in the nation- Kansas. We know they’ll be great. The team to watch here is Memphis. Kansas poses an incredible test in November for a team dealing with a horde of losses from a season ago. Roburt Sallie, Willie Kemp and Elliot Williams must lead the way if the Tigers wish to win another conference title.

11:30 PM- TBA at Arizona State (ESPN2)– Could be a rebuilding year in Tempe with James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph no longer involved.

Gonzaga-Michigan State is the highlight of the slate, but there’s plenty of other reasons to tune in. I’m curious to see who will emerge for UCLA, if Memphis can hang with Kansas for even a half, if Arkansas can play more like their non-conference season a year ago than their SEC record, if Ashton Gibbs can be a star for Pitt and whether a Monmouth or St. Peter’s player falls asleep on the court. Should be another 24 hours of fun, and RTC will be back with John Stevens the whole way again.

In the last week or so, we’ve noticed that the days are distinctly shorter than they were, which means only one thing…  darkness.

• What, no Matt Doherty?  Carolina celebrated its 100 years of basketball with a blowout extravaganza two Fridays ago featuring such UNC luminaries as Dean Smith, Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Phil Ford, Larry Brown, Antawn Jamison, George Karl, Julius Peppers and a bunch of other dignitaries, both past and present.  The tribute video they presented at the beginning of the evening should be mandatory viewing for every recruit that steps into Chapel Hill (sidenote: 2010 #1 Harrison Barnes and several others were there), but the featured event was the scrimmage, nicknamed the “Professional Alumni Game,” where the White team (starters: Raymond Felton, Brendan Haywood, Marvin Williams, Antawn Jamison and Jerry Stackhouse) defeated the Blue team (Vince Carter, Jawad Williams, Dante Calabria, Sean May and Ed Cota) 113-92.  It sounds great and all, but it was the trotting out of that old Carolina/Dean Smith warhorse, the Four Corners offense, that just about made this writer puke.  Let’s sully one of the greatest collections of collegiate talent ever put together in a single place at a single time by reminiscing and celebrating one of the biggest abominations the game has ever witnessed.  For you youngsters, the 4C was largely responsible for the implementation of the 45-second shot clock in the mid-80s, and is widely ridiculed as one of the worst inventions of the modern game.  Bad, bad idea, Heels.  As another sidenote to this Carolina joyfest, did anyone else feel that MJ’s acceptance speech at the HOF induction last weekend was completely petty and mean-spirited?  From our cheap seats, it appears that more than one Jordan Myth was defused this weekend (h/t TBL).
• Memphis Appeals.  Last week Memphis sent its timely notice of appeal to the NCAA based on the Derrick Rose Scandal, arguing that the Tigers’ 38 wins and NCAA Tournament runner-up appearance from 2007-08 should not be removed from the history books.  Among the findings that led to the penalties, the only one that Memphis is appealing is the violation involving Derrick Rose’s SAT score.  This is presumably because it is also the most difficult one to prove (cf. with Memphis getting cold-busted for providing illicit airfare and hotels to Reggie Rose).  The school, now represented by “NCAA defender to the stars” Mike Glazier, has thirty days to present its arguments to the NCAA Infractions Committee, and their argument is going to undoubtedly hinge on the seeming inconsistency of Derrick Rose being cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse prior to his freshman season only to be later deemed ineligible after the fact.  Sadly for Memphis, in this case and in the real world, what is an apparent inconsistency is incongruent with the fact that the justice system (and the NCAA) doesn’t work like that.  The bottom line is this: so long as the Clearinghouse made a good faith effort to determine the basis for Rose’s initial eligibility (and we presume it did), the revelation of later evidence indicting Rose’s SAT provenance has no bearing on the initial assessment.  The NCAA had no basis to believe that Rose had cheated on his SATs until the allegations surfaced after his freshman year.  The real-world analogy would be if the police did a cursory investigation of someone related to a crime and found no evidence to initially support their involvement, only to receive credible information a year later that the person investigated might have indeed committed the crime.  Rose was no more “cleared” than any of us are – there is no “get-out-of-jail-free” card that we can present in perpetuity; if additional information comes to light, it is entirely reasonable for conditions to change in response.  Furthermore, the fact that Rose then ignored three letters from ETS (who administers the SAT) questioning his score, and two other letters from the NCAA requesting an interview, does not help his case.  Unless he plans on showing up to the NCAA hearing on Memphis’ behalf with evidence to the contrary (LOLable), we’re afraid that Memphis is going to be forced to eat those 38 wins and the $600K they stand to lose here.  Maybe Josh Pastner could simply request that Rose write him a check?
• Back To Renardo Sidney.  The NCAA stated last Friday that Mississippi St.’s Renardo Sidney is not certified to play this season because his family did not turn over the financial documentation that they requested as part of the investigation into how the Sidneys afforded to live in high-end homes in the LA area.  Or as they put it, Sidney is “not certified due to non response.”  The NCAA went on to say that if or when the Sidneys send the information requested (and not a stack of random papers they found in someone’s locker), then his certification will be re-evaluated.  What does all this mean?  Basically, the NCAA doesn’t want to get caught with its pants down again, as in the cases of OJ Mayo and Derrick Rose where they certified players as initially eligible only to watch as those same players danced on the NCAA Clearinghouse’s grave en route to the NBA.  Sidney’s attorney is threatening lawsuit, and we suspect that his argument “that the Sidney family has to establish the existence of non-violations” probably has some merit, but none of this may matter given we’re only two months from the first games and the justice system moves slower than molasses.  It’s unlikely that MSU will risk playing Sidney while the wheels of justice are turning simply because they don’t want a Rose giveback of all the Ws they’re anticipating this season.
• Vegas Watch: Big Ten.  VW got his third installment of the major conference previews up today, and once again we were invited along for the peep show.  What’s interesting about the Big Ten ratings is that we all pretty much agreed that Purdue is the best team in the conference in 09-10, but (at least for our money) Michigan St. is the team more likely to do damage in the NCAA Tournament.  Another good exercise, and the league is looking at being way up – up to seven solid NCAA bids this season.  For the ACC and Big 12 ratings and discussion, see these posts.
• Quick Hits.  Slam Magazine: finished its Top 25.  Arizona St.: more than just Harden and Pendergraph?  Parrish: why Butler is no Boise.   Goodman: 25 players you should know for 09-10, and his all-americans (John Wall for POY = bold).  Incredible Shrinking Center: Memphis’ Pierre Henderson-Niles.  Jim Griffin: RIP.  John Pelphrey at Arkansas: agreed.  Seton Hall: extends Bobby Gonzalez to 2015.  Florida St.: haven’t we heard this song before?  Travis Ford: wow, how do you get a 10-year extension after one year on the job?  Larry Eustachy: Gillispie has a disease.  Freshmen: here’s the top 20 for 09-10.  Memphis: down to 8 scholarship players.  Blue Ribbon: go ahead and order it.

Readers of this site will probably assume that we’ve turned to coverage exclusively about the University of Kentucky basketball program, what with all the news that’s come out of the Bluegrass State this summer/off-season — the firing of Billy Gillispie, the hiring of John Calipari, the recruitment and signing of John Wall and the accumulation of other big-time prepsters, the Rick Pitino/Karen Sypher fiasco, the eventual further misadventures of Gillispie, and so on.  And now, there’s this:

From the Sporting News…

In early July, [Assistant Director of Basketball Operations/Manager] Bilal Batley visited the UK practice gym to speak with a player regarding an academic matter…While there, [Batley] was seen gathering rebounds for one of the players.  The university determined it should be turned into the NCAA as a secondary violation.

Batley held the same post at Calipari’s Memphis program last year before accompanying him to Kentucky.  Before that he was a graduate manager at Indiana for a season.  The Kentucky job didn’t last long, though.  A few days ago, it was announced that Batley was no longer on the UK staff, evidently choosing to leave to go back to Houston because of an illness in his family.

Though no connection has so far been discovered or reported, a person cannot be faulted for asking the question regarding the possibility of a connection between Batley’s departure and what really does look like a minor violation.  It would be normal to ask that question if such an occurrence happened at ANY program.  When John Calipari is your head coach, though, it’s going to draw even more of a critical eye.  We know, nothing’s ever been actually pinned on him, but when you’re the only coach ever to have Final Fours vacated at the two schools you coached and when you associate with people named World Wide Wes, you can’t be surprised when you’re looked at a tad more closely. 

Did Calipari hear about the possibility of some kind of (even miniscule) violation perpetrated by this man, and order him out in the spirit of running a totally clean and pristine program at UK?  Or, if a bigger investigation is forthcoming, did the coaches convene and decide to oust Batley preemptively because some other things might be discovered?  Is there more news to follow from Lexington?  Nobody can say right now, and the possibilities mentioned above are total speculation and conjecture on the part of this blogger, as of right now.  There’s always the chance that — and you might want to hold onto something, here — the violation really is just a tiny thing that UK is playing it very safe (and understandably so) by reporting, and Batley really is going back to Houston for the aforementioned family illness.  If that is indeed the case, of course we hope everything turns out well for the Batley family.

I have one question, though.  Given what’s happened, the “minor-ness” of the violation becomes more compelling.  I mean, the guy grabbed a few rebounds for somebody while on his way to take care of something else; the NCAA is one bizarre organization when it comes to evaluating crimes and doling out punishment, but it would have to be utterly insane to attach any penalty to that.  People take leaves-of-absence from jobs all the time when family members get sick, and they’re often allowed to come back.  In fact, as most of you know, depending on who the family member is, your job is protected by law if you choose to take leave.  Jobs at programs like Kentucky don’t just grow on trees.  Maybe I’m misinformed on the whole thing, but a job like “Assistant Director of Basketball Operations/Manager” sounds like one that another person in the department could handle for a short time while Batley tends to the family issues, so that he could return when those matters are resolved (happily, we hope).  No matter whose decision it was, why is Batley now totally unassociated with the program?  Why would he seemingly remove himself or let himself be removed from such a plum position at a Leviathan program like Kentucky so quickly and so soon after taking the job in the first place, and over so minor an incident?

Who knows — right now, it looks like there’s no fire associated with this smoke.  But we’re going to stay tuned.

At least as far as recruiting prowess is concerned, new Memphis coach Josh Pastner is following in the footsteps of his predecessor.

A program that may have been temporarily crippled by John Calipari’s departure, Latavious Williams bolting for Europe, the Derrick Rose/ACT scandal and the loss of prized recruit Xavier Henry is quickly turning around. Jeff Goodman first reported today that Joe Jackson, the fourth ranked point guard in the nation according to Scout.com, will commit to his hometown Tigers in a press conference later tonight. Tennessee and Kansas were also involved, but most inside recruiting circles felt Jackson vowing to stay home was inevitable.

Joe Jackson/Memphis Commercial-Appeal

Pastner has been able to quickly rejuvinate a Memphis program suffering from major personnel losses- namely Tyreke Evans, Antonio Anderson, Robert Dozier and Shawn Taggart- by having Duke point guard Elliot Williams fall into his lap this summer and also securing the commitment of Will Barton, a 6’6 shooting guard ranked by Scout.com as the #1 overall player at his position. Williams, Barton and Jackson in the fray means three McDonalds All-American guards in the backcourt for Pastner in 2010-11.

As a college basketball fan, color me pleased that Memphis seems to be on the upswing yet again. Rather than be left in the dust by Calipari, a young, vibrant coach like Pastner should be able to re-invent the image of a scarred program. While his coaching skills have yet to be evaluated, Pastner appears to be heading on the right track towards another dominant decade-long run in Conference USA by landing such elite recruits against more established coaching mainstays. Their loyal and passionate fan base deserves it.

Yep, we’re officially moving into shark-jumping territory on Twitter now, as this is our second post of the day relating to the micro-blogging site (#rushthecourt, btw).  You’ve undoubtedly heard by now that a few days ago several Arkansas players were accused of sexual assault by a freshman woman who at the time belied her story by reportedly telling a bystander who happened upon the lascivious incident that she and her new friends “didn’t do anything wrong.”  Prosecutors declined to pursue the case citing a lack of evidence, but it appears that John Pelphrey will not rest until somebody pays for all this negative publicity.  Well, guess what – even though he was not one of the accused, Arkansas PG Courtney Fortson made reference to the rape allegations on Monday in a tweet (later deleted but available through Tweleted) and he is now facing discipline from the school for his “crass” comment (see tweet below).  We’re not even quite sure what Fortson is trying to say here, actually.  Is he getting blown during a workout?  Or is he making some cryptic reference to one of the accused who has a reputation for working out hard?  It’s pretty much indecipherable to our eyes.  Or maybe he was simply trying to be creative.  If that’s the case, Fortson clearly needs to work on his metaphors, so maybe Pelphrey should force him to take a creative writing class.  If he’s lucky, maybe the “do no wrong” gal will be sitting there next to him.

Update: the N&O took the link down.  Not sure what that’s all about.  Maybe they got another jorts ensemble submission?

A number of years ago, NBA superstar Charles Barkley responded to a question as to how well he liked the Philadelphia 76ers new uniforms with the barb: “They look like my daughter got ahold of some crayons and designed them.”  We were reminded of that story when two weeks ago the NC State brass unveiled their new basketball uniforms amid much fanfare on a Twitter update from PackMensBBall (since deleted).  The twitterati were all over the new design (see what I did there?), which appears to have been a product of some NCSU marketing guru moron self-consciously coming to the realization that ‘nobody will know who we are if it just says State on it!’  Nevermind that the 1974 and 1983 NC State teams were plenty recognizable with just the “State” moniker attached.  Sooo…  the very next day after the online jersey rioting subsided, NC State scrapped the jersey and AD Lee Fowler said that their plan is to use a similar jersey to the ones the school wore last year.

But it wouldn’t be the modern media to leave well enough alone.  So in today’s Raleigh News & Observer, the local rag is offering a contest for fans to upload their own homemade designs of what the new NC State jerseys should look like.  Given the hoops-centric focus of Tobacco Road (yeah, NC State is still a member), this could get pretty good.  There are currently two pages of uploaded designs, and here are a few of our current favorites.

Oh yes.  The spandex/jorts ensemble.  Sidney Lowe should really look into this.

This really is an exciting time of year, as the incomprehensible puzzle that becomes the broadcast schedule for the 09-10 season comes together.  The Big East announced its half of the Big Monday slate for the upcoming season today to go along with the previously released Big 12 schedule.  Let’s take a look:

• Jan. 11: Villanova @ Louisville; Oklahoma St. @ Oklahoma
• Jan. 18: Syracuse @ Notre Dame; Texas @ Kansas St.
• Jan. 25: Georgetown @ Syracuse; Missouri @ Kansas
• Feb. 1: Connecticut @ Louisville; Texas @ Oklahoma St.
• Feb. 8: Villanova @ West Virginia; Kansas @ Texas
• Feb. 15: Connecticut @ Villanova; Kansas @ Texas A&M
• Feb. 22: West Virginia @ Connecticut; Oklahoma @ Kansas
• March 1: Georgetown @ West Virginia; Oklahoma @ Texas

Just looking at it briefly, there’s no question that the best night BY FAR is on Feb. 8 when the top two teams in the Big East meet up in Morgantown, followed next by two top five squads clashing in Austin.  Must-see tv that night.  Our second favorite night includes the rivalry games on Jan. 25, even though Syracuse and Missouri are facing a bit of a dropoff this year.  The only dog of the schedule could be Jan. 18, where Syracuse visits Notre Dame and Texas goes to Kansas St.  Nothing there really excites us.

What do you guys see with this schedule?

Last week we took a look at the five impact players in the Northeast Region, so now we’re ready for the second installment of our ten-week RTC 2009-10 Impact Players series.   Each week we’ll pick a geographic area of the country and break down the five players who we feel will have the most impact on their teams (and by the transitive property, college basketball) this season.  Our criteria is once again subjective – there are so many good players in every region of the country that it’s difficult to narrow them down to only five  in each – but we feel at the end of this exercise that we’ll have discussed nearly every player of major impact in the nation.  Just to be fair and to make this not too high-major-centric, we’re also going to pick a mid-major impact player in each region as our sixth man.  We welcome you guys, our faithful and very knowledgeable readers, to critique us in the comments where we left players off.  The only request is that you provide an argument – why will your choice be more influential this season than those we chose?

Mid-Atlantic Region  (NYC, NJ, PA, WV, MD, DE)

• Scottie Reynolds – Sr, G – Villanova. There might be players in this region who can score more points or dish out more assists or shoot a higher percentage from the floor than Reynolds.  There might be more physically imposing and athletically gifted players than the 6’2 guard from Northern Virginia.   There could even be a few ‘upside’ guys you’d pick before him if you were starting an NBA franchise.  But is there any player as capable of putting his team on his back and doing this (ok, maybe Vasquez, but he hasn’t done it yet)?  Is there another player on this list who you’d prefer to have the ball in his hands as the clock is ticking down, knowing that he’ll give your team a superb chance to win?  Reynolds is the player that every coach loves to have on his team – he plays heavy minutes, never misses a start, shows great leadership and clearly has a calming effect on his team whenever he’s on the floor.  This is a long way removed from the early days of his career, where the ‘Nova legend has stated that he had trouble seeing the ‘big picture’ due to trust issues with coaches and other players.    There are no such issues now, as everyone in the Big Five (and the Big East, for that matter) understands who the top dog in the Philadelphia area is.  If things come together right for Reynolds and VU in 2009-10, he could look back on a collegiate career that includes three all-Big East nods, an all-american selection, the second-most number of steals (he needs 58), and the most points (Kerry Kittles) in the long history of the Villanova program (he needs 624).  Considering all that, Reynolds will captain the best team in the Big East and may also have another Final Four appearance in his sights.
• Da’Sean Butler – Sr, F – West Virginia. If there’s a team that should challenge Villanova (on paper) as the class of the Big East in 2009-10, it should be West Virginia.  The biggest reason for that is Butler, the 6’7 wing set to replace Pitt’s Sam Young as the most multi-dimensional player in the conference.  Butler scores (17.1 ppg), rebounds (5.9 per game) and even finds time to play the passing lanes (1.7 spg).  Last season he seemed to really find his groove in the conference slate, as his numbers all rose, culminating in his 43-pt explosion during a blowout win against Villanova on Friday the (Feb.) 13th.  But it was his performance over the summer at the World University Games that really caught our eye – on a team with shooters such as Robbie Hummel and James Anderson, it was Butler who led the squad in three-point percentage (55%) by nailing nearly two per game.  His perimeter shooting has always been solid (~35%), but if his shot improves next season to the 38-40% range to replace Alex Ruoff’s deadly range, Butler’s ability to get to the rim and finish becomes even more of a threat.  With sophomore Honorable Mentions Devin Ebanks’ size and rebounding, Truck Bryant’s scoring and playmaking, plus the addition of two five-star recruits to the roster, it’s clear why WVU looks to improve on last year’s 23-12 record and first round NCAA exit.  Mountaineer fans have an expectation of a top ten team in Morgantown and it’s understandable why they think so – it’ll be up to their star Butler to deliver on those expectations.
• Jeremy Hazell – Jr, F – Seton Hall. Jeremy Hazell’s inclusion on our Mid-Atlantic all-region team was the toughest decision we had to make.  There’s absolutely no question that the 6’5 guard/forward who blew up on the Big East last season has talent.  You don’t score 20+ against sixteen Big East defenses without the ability to score the ball from every which way (22.8 ppg).  The primary issue was that it’s difficult to claim to be an impact player if your team isn’t very good, and last year, the Hall finished 7-11 in the conference with all seven of those wins against fellow bottom-feeders.  Nevertheless, we recognize that past results do not necessarily predict future outcomes, and with three impact transfers arriving (Herb Pope, Jeff Robinson and Keon Lawrence) amidst a much leaner Big East landscape, it wouldn’t surprise us if Seton Hall, led by Hazell, made a run at the NCAAs this year.  Getting back to Bobby Gonzalez’s star player, his scoring numbers might actually decrease this season depending on how well the new players orient to North Jersey, but with fewer shots (he took 32% of SH’s shots last year) he could become a more complete player by improving his shooting percentages (43%/36%) and offensive efficiency (28th in the Big East).  Regardless of how this season goes, Hazell is undoubtedly one of the most talented players the nation has yet to hear about.
• Talor Battle – Jr, G- Penn State. While the electric Penn State point guard Talor Battle may have been known within Big Ten circles and around Happy Valley, national attention wasn’t forwarded his way until one performance on February 1 in East Lansing, MI. The heavily favored top-ten ranked Spartans, a team that would reach the championship game just months later in Detroit, fell to the underdog Nittany Lions, who were 0-16 in their Big Ten history at the Breslin Center. During that game, Battle emerged as one of the top scorers in the conference and the nation. In a league where hard-nosed defense on every possession is the norm, Battle averaged 16.7 ppg, including seven 20+ point performances in conference play. And on that night in East Lansing, Battle scored 29 points on 11-19 shooting and 6-12 from three, leading Penn State to a 72-68 upset win. Battle certainly has some areas to improve – namely shooting 34% from deep and hitting just 70% of his free throws – but the scoring guard truly has the capability to put up 30+ points on any given night. With Jamelle Cornley and Stanley Pringle no longer at PSU, the onus lies almost completely on Battle to lead the way for Penn State and coach Ed DeChellis if they have any hope of reaching postseason play again. Considering such a lackluster supporting cast, one could argue Battle will have the most singular impact of any player in this entire region, as on many nights Penn State will completely rely on Battle’s scoring potential to win basketball games.
• Greivis Vasquez – Sr, G- Maryland. Love him or despise him with every bone in your body, there’s no denying the talent of Greivis Vasquez. There’s also no denying that Vasquez’ decision to stay at Maryland for his senior season rather than enter the NBA Draft had the greatest impact of any April decision in the country, vaulting the Terrapins from a likely-NIT team to a possible top-six seed and ACC contender. Much like Battle’s performance against Michigan State, one 2008-09 performance from Vasquez defined his season and launched the fiery Venezuelan into Maryland basketball lore – a 35-11-10 triple-double in an 88-85 overtime win against #3 North Carolina in College Park when Maryland was lingering around the bubble. Vasquez backs up his never-resting mouth with impressive play on the court, notably being named to the all-ACC second team for the second straight campaign and, in Oscar-like fashion, leading his Terps in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and minutes, becoming just the sixth player in ACC history to accomplish said feat. The main knock on Vasquez during his first two seasons in College Park was a recurring propensity to commit foolish turnovers, but that criticism is quieting after Vasquez finished third in the conference in assist/turnover ratio a season ago. There’s no argument against Vasquez making a tremendous impact for Maryland and Gary Williams once again this season.
• Ryan Thompson (MM) – Sr, G- Rider. In doing research for this feature, I have yet to find one thing that Ryan Thompson does not do well on the basketball court. The younger brother of Kings forward and fellow Bronc Jason Thompson, Ryan is surely creating his own identity as a bona fide NBA prospect.  A first team all-MAAC performer a season ago as a junior, Thompson did it all for Rider: ranking second in the conference in scoring, first in minutes played (he played 40+ minutes in nine games), second in three-point percentage, seventh in assists, eighth in field-goal percentage, eighth in free-throw percentage and eighth in rebounding. That’s right, Thompson can shoot from deep, score inside, rebound, pass and play nearly every minute. While the competition doesn’t always rank with other elite performers in college basketball, one could argue Thompson is the top all-around player in the game this season. He also plays his best when the stakes are high, totaling 57 points and 17 rebounds in two conference tournament games for his Broncs, including a bucket with 3.4 seconds left to knock off Siena last year. The sky’s the limit for Thompson in 2009-10, an already immensely talented individual playing with motivation as Rider has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament in his three seasons in Jersey, and coming off of a rare and disappointing seven points on 2-13 shooting against Liberty in his season finale.

Honorable Mention.  Lavoy Allen, Temple.  Sean Baptiste, FDU.  Jamal Barney, Loyola (MD).  Darryl Bryant, WVU.  Jermaine Dixon, Pittsburgh.  Devin Ebanks, WVU.  Corey Fisher, Villanova.  Darrin Govens, St. Joseph’s.  Rodney Green, Lasalle.  Charles Jenkins, Hofstra.  Anthony Mason, Jr., St. John’s.  Herb Pope, Seton Hall.  Mike Rosario, Rutgers.  Damian Saunders, Duquesne.  Corey Stokes, Villanova.  Devin Sweetney, St. Francis (PA).

Update: Gillispie’s lawyer on Wednesday stated that Gillispie was only “considering” rehab at the John Lucas Treatment Center in Houston, Texas, but tonight, Houston television station KRIV reported that Gillispie actually checked in last Thursday.  A quote attributed to Gillispie (was he drunk at the time?): “By going to spend some time with John Lucas in Houston. He’s got the John Lucas Athletes After Care Program. He’s going to deal with some alcohol issues for me.”

According to the inestimable fellows at KentuckySportsRadio.com, there is news out of Houston tonight that former Kentucky Wildcats head coach Billy Gillispie has checked himself into the John Lucas Treatment Center, a drug and alcohol rehab facility.

It is well-known that Gillispie has had a history of issues related to alcohol, including DUIs, frequenting bars with college-aged students, and alleged aggressive behavior. Given this background, it was not surprising that this situation would ultimately lead to Gillispie seeking help for his alcohol addiction. Despite his refusal to sign a contract with Kentucky which included a clause addressing his alcohol use, Gillispie is now seeking treatment at a drug and alcohol rehab facility. And the oxy detox novo los angeles has offered to help him overcome his addiction.

But, then again, is this the end?  In terms of a settlement, this can’t help Gillispie’s chances as far as his lawsuit with UK.  But assuming he completes the program, could it act as a catalyst toward future employment somewhere?  It’s true — checking into rehab, getting through it, and living up to it are all very distinct things.  But Gillispie is more likely to stay in the upper ranks of coaching if he’s got something concrete that proves he’s learned how to manage this problem, as opposed to his asking a school to take a chance on him while he’s still fighting this particular demon.

At this time, though, we’re going to give the man the benefit of the doubt and say that the lawsuit, the potential settlement, his upcoming book, and the prospects of coaching again are all of no concern to him at this time, and that his entry into rehab represents a genuine desire for help.  Gillispie has provided the blogosphere — including this site, we definitely admit it — with a lot of fodder.  This is different.  You’ll find no embarassing photos or Amy Winehouse jokes here today.  In this matter we wish him the best of luck, and hope he achieves absolute success in his battle.  Godspeed, Coach.

(h/t L4B)

We received a tip today and felt compelled to believe it because it comes from a reliable source and it makes sense.  ESPN will be kicking off* its 2009-10 season coverage with another marathon 24 Hours of Hoops session beginning at midnight EST on November 17.  You remember last year: our very own John Stevens live-blogged the entire thing from start to finish, and probably cost himself a few months of life in the process (RTC is currently in negotiations to get John back for another go-round this year).  As for the teams involved, all we know so far is that the primetime games are set – Louisville vs. Arkansas at 7:30 pm EST on ESPN2, and Kansas vs. Memphis at 10 pm EST on ESPN.  Both of these games are part of the Hall of Fame Showcase, which is a little peculiar since the Basketball HOF in Springfield, Massachusetts, is 1100 miles away.  Nevertheless, RTC will post the entire schedule as soon as it’s formally announced, and we’re certain that you’ll be right there with us slurping up the sights and sounds of every game during the marathon.

* not really true