Shamelessly cribbing from the very clever NBA catch phrase, we here at RTC will present to you the Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball as we gear up toward the start of the season a little over a month from now.  We’ll be bringing you players to watch for this season and moments to remember from last season, courtesy of the series of dump trucks, wires and effluvia known as YouTube.

#21- Where Dunking On Zoubek Happens

Ed. Note – for the entire BGTD liveblog, click here.  And for the Midnight Madness wrapup, click here.

What: Boom Goes the Dynamite – Midnight Madness Edition

When:  Friday, October 16 @ 8:45 pm ET

Where:  Your couch and ours

Why:  Because you’re just as nutty as we are to spend an entire Friday night watching glorified practice sessions

If you’re a frequent visitor here at RTC you’ve probably seen what we do on weekends during the season, meaning our live-blogging during TV game broadcasts that we call Boom Goes The Dynamite (and if you’re the one person who still doesn’t understand that reference, get yourself over to here).  We do this because not only do we love watching college basketball until our faces are numb, but we dig the comments of people who are sitting there on their couches watching right along with us and the in-game discussion it generates.  In my view, it’s one of the best things we do here.  As you probably know, even though it starts at 6pm in some places and most places don’t have the midnight start time any more, Midnight Madness is this Friday night; our beloved countdown clock up in the right hand corner of the screen will hit all-zeroes, and many schools will be having some sort of event to celebrate the first official practice of the new college basketball season.  ESPN and ESPN-U are sending analysts to nine different schools (specifically Connecticut, Georgetown, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Washington, Michigan State and North Dakota State) and will be showing some of the festivities at those venues from 9pm to 1am ET on ESPN-U.  ESPN will be simulcasting right along with them from 11:30pm to midnight.  By the way, Bill Raftery’s going to be one of the guys at Georgetown, which means we get an early dose of “Onions!!” and “A little lingerie!!”  And I say thank God for it.

Our first Boom Goes The Dynamite of the year will take place this Friday night during the Midnight Madness coverage.  I’m John Stevens, one of the editors here at RTC, and with some behind-the-scenes help from one or two of my RTC compatriots, I’ll be live-blogging during the ESPN-U broadcast, starting around 8:45pm ET and going all the way through 1am.  We’ll be putting up our own thoughts on what we’re seeing and of course your comments as well, but we’ll also be putting up video footage as available, tweets from people who are at the Madnesses watching live, takes from discussion forums, and so on.  So if you’re at home watching the broadcast, tune us in as well and get ready to hit the refresh button like a meth-addicted rat in a science experiment.  We’ll be waiting.

Glenn Junkert of GrizzlyJournal.com is the RTC correspondent for the Big Sky Conference. Click here for all of our 2009-10 Season Preview materials.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Weber State (22-9, 12-4)
2. Montana (20-8, 11-5)
3. Montana State (16-12, 11-5)
4. Idaho State (13-16, 10-6)
5. Portland State (14-15, 9-7)
6. Northern Arizona (11-17, 8-8)
7. Northern Colorado (12-18, 5-11)
8. Eastern Washington (8-21, 3-13)
9. Sacramento State (7-22, 3-13)

All-Conference First Team:

• Anthony Johnson, Montana
• Damian Lilliard, Weber State
• Steve Panos, Weber State
• Phil Nelson, Portland State
• Bobby Howard, Montana State

All-Conference Second Team:

• Amorrow Morgan, Idaho State
• Will Bynum, Montana State
• Dominic Waters, Portland State
• Brandon Moore, Eastern Washington
• Shane Johannssen, Northern Arizona

MVP: Anthony Johnson, Montana

Impact Newcomers:

• Franklin Session, Weber State
• Eric Platt, Northern Arizona
• Raason Young, Montana

What You Need to Know.  Last year Weber State senior point guard Kellen McCoy earned his Big Sky MVP medal by shaping his young teammates into a cohesive unit early. The Wildcats shrugged off a home court loss to Montana State and promptly forged a commanding conference lead with a league-wide road sweep, a rare feat in the Big Sky, though three other stellar guards — Montana’s Anthony Johnson, Montana State’s Will Bynum, and McCoy’s teammate, frosh Damian Lilliard — had second-half performances equal to McCoy’s, the Wildcat senior was a shoo-in for directing his cats to a rare 15-1 record in league play.

Predicted Champion.  Weber State (NCAA Seed: #14). Weber State basketball IS coach Randy Rahe, and what Rahe has done best in four years at WSU is: 1) Recruit a balanced combo of quality junior college and freshman talent; and, 2) Demand the utmost in ensemble discipline and teamwork from his players on the court. The result? Deuces wild: two league titles and two “coach of the year” awards in his four years at WSU. The Wildcats graduated seniors Kellen McCoy and Daivin Davis, but Rahe will rely on the leadership of sophomore guard Lilliard, who’s expected to get support from highly regarded JC transfer Franklin Session. Otherwise, Rahe’s stellar coaching should be enough to earn the Cats a second straight league title.

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It appears that college basketball’s most well-known pugilist, Tyshawn Taylor, may be returning to the court a little sooner than expected as Bill Self announced on Tuesday that Taylor might participate in “Late Night in the Phog”. Since the local Lawrence paper decided to omit it and Self apparently has forgotten about it we will refresh your memory on how Taylor injured his thumb:

• Taylor and several of his teammates including Sherron Collins were involved in a huge fight with the KU football team
• After the fights, news spread that Taylor had been posting Facebook status updates essentially giving prosecutors evidence that this was not a spontaneous fight. Given the experience of Markieff Morris (one of Taylor’s teammates) with the legal system you would have expected that Taylor would have at least had the foresight not to post his motive online. Instead, Taylor decided to introduce the world to the term “point plankn”.
• News broke that this was actually the second fight between the two sides and that Taylor would be out 3-4 weeks with his injury.

Not Necessarily TT's Thumb

If Taylor were to comeback on Friday night it would not exactly be a medical miracle as it would be nearly 3 weeks since the fights. However, it would raise issues as to Self’s ability to discipline his team. Given the negative attention the incident drew to the program and the other stuff that has been going on at Kansas and around college basketball in general it might be prudent for Self to hold Taylor out of this event that Self refers to as “a fun night, a big night”. While I’m sure the Jayhawk fans would love to see the sophomore guard wow the crowd, it might be more important for Self to send a message to his team and its fans by having Taylor sit this one (and a few early season games) out.

Mark Bryant, the Coordinator of New Media for the Big South Conference and writer of Big South SHOUT, is an RTC correspondent.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Radford (14-4)
2. UNC Asheville (12-6)
3. Winthrop (12-6)
4. Gardner-Webb (10-8)
5. VMI (9-9)
6. High Point (9-9)
7. Liberty (8-10)
8. Coastal Carolina (7-11)
9. Charleston Southern (6-12)
10. Presbyterian College (3-15)

 All-Conference Team:

• Jamarco Warren (G), Jr., Charleston Southern
• Grayson Flittner (G), Sr., Gardner-Webb
• Joseph Harris (F), R-Sr., Coastal Carolina
• Joey Lynch-Flohr (F), Sr., Radford
• Art Parakhouski (C), Sr., Radford

6th Man. Nick Barbour (G), Soph, High Point 

Impact Newcomer.  Lazar Trifunovic (F), Jr., Radford (transfer from Binghamton)

What You Need to Know.  Ask any of the Big South coaches right now who’s on top and the answer you’ll get is Radford.  The Highlanders are the preseason favorite for the first time in a decade with good reason: the defending conference champs (regular season and tournament winners) still have their skilled twin towers combination of 6-8 Joey Lynch-Flohr and 6-11 Art Parakhouski.  RU center and dominant force Parakhouski in particular has the size, strength, and game needed to dominate the opposition (for perspective, last year he averaged a double-double against Big East and ACC competition), playing his way into Player of the Year honors last season and the Preseason POY award for this year.  Beyond Radford, the race should be very tight among a few schools with questions to answer: Asheville — can the Bulldogs win away from the Justice Center this year (11-3 home, 4-13 on the road a year ago); Winthrop — can the Eagles return to their once-familiar position of dominance in the Big South with 2009 Defensive Player of the Year Mantoris Robinson now as the unquestioned team leader; and Gardner-Webb — can the Runnin’ Bulldogs and playmaker Grayson Flittner iron out some consistency so that they turn their big wins into streaks?  Meanwhile, two recent contenders will definitely be rebuilding:  VMI — where Coach Duggar Baucom no longer has the Holmes twins to rely on in his rapid-fire scheme; and Liberty –where star player Seth Curry and Coach Ritchie McKay both departed Lynchburg, leaving new Coach Dale Layer to get the Flames burning again.  High Point should fit in around where VMI and Liberty fall in the standings, with Coastal Carolina in that mix as well, while Charleston Southern is likely to trail that group despite the sharpshooting of Jamarco Warren.  Presbyterian College remains ineligible for a championship as the transition to D1 continues, but PC doesn’t have the tools to contend yet in any case,  so look for the Blue Hose at the bottom of the standings.

Predicted Champion.  Radford Highlanders (NCAA Seed:  #15).  Last year RU passed early front-runner VMI in the regular season and then knocked the Keydets out in the Big South Championship.  The reward for the Highlanders? A #16 seed and a lethal draw against eventual National Champion North Carolina (an experience Parakhouski describes as “short, but amazing”).  This season Radford should draw a little more attention and could easily play into a #15 spot, which opens the possibility of getting a potentially favorable match-up down low given the size RU can bring to the post.  With that, it’s not out of line to think the Big South could see a first round win for the first time since Winthrop’s memorable upset of Notre Dame in 2007.

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Today is John Wooden’s 99th birthday, and RTC would like to recognize the incredible contributions to the game of college basketball with a heartfelt best wishes to the Wizard of Westwood as he creeps one year closer to the century mark. 

Leave your cynical Sam Gilbert jokes at home today – the man still had to win with those teams, and win he did.  88 in a row at one point.  Ten national titles in twelve years.  Sick numbers that we will never, ever, ever come close to seeing accomplished again in the game. 

He also did it with class and dignity, as exhibited for the umpteenth time when he was interviewed by ESPN’s Rick Reilly earlier this week.  His “three rules” harkens back to a bygone era. 

We left our wishes on his birthday guest book page; you should do the same.  Happy Birthday, Coach Wooden!!

Shamelessly cribbing from the very clever NBA catch phrase, we here at RTC will present to you the Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball as we gear up toward the start of the season a little over a month from now.  We’ll be bringing you players to watch for this season and moments to remember from last season, courtesy of the series of dump trucks, wires and effluvia known as YouTube.

#22- Where Born Ready Happens (we think)

James D. Horne is the RTC correspondent for the Ohio Valley Conference.  He covers Austin Peay for The Leaf-Chronicle and co-hosts The Afternoon Blitz from 4-6 p.m. on AM 540 in Clarksville, TN.  Click here for all of our 2009-10 Season Preview materials.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1. Morehead State (13-5)
2. Murray State (13-5)
3. Austin Peay (12-6)
4. Eastern Kentucky (10-8)
5. Eastern Illinois (9-9)
6. Jacksonville State (9-9)
7. Tennessee Tech (8-10)
8. UT Martin (6-12)
9. Tennessee State (4-14)
10. Southeast Missouri State (2-16)

All-Conference Team:

• Wes Channels (G), Austin Peay, 6’3, 210, Sr, 16.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.2 apg, 71 3-pts
• Romain Martin (G), Eastern Illinois, 6’3, 185, Sr, 15.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 74 3-pointers
• Maze Stallworth (F), Morehead State, 6’4, 215, Sr, 12.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 38.0 3-pt%
• Danero Thomas (F), Murray State, 6’4, 190, Sr, 12.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.6 spg, 41.8 FG%
• Kenneth Faried (C), Morehead State, 6’8 215 Jr, 13.5 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 56.0 FG%

6th Man. Anthony Campbell (F), Austin Peay, 6’6, 185, So, 7.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 50.0 FG%

Breakout Player.  Ivan Aska (F), Murray State, 6’7, 230, So, 10.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 51.6 FG%

Coach of the Year. Donnie Tyndall, Morehead State

Player of the Year. Kenneth Faried, Morehead State

What You Need to Know:

• The OVC loves its basketball as much as the ACC, Big 12 and Big East do; they just play on a much smaller scale.
• The OVC is the eighth-oldest NCAA Division I conference and expanded in 2008 with the addition of SIU-Edwardsville.
• This year the most dominant player in the league will be Morehead State junior center Kenneth Faried, a big man who could play in any league, and whose coach, Donnie Tyndall, is building a power on the footsteps of the Appalachian Mountains.
• Murray State and Austin Peay just may have the fiercest rivalry in all of college basketball, at least those not in a power conference, and have been at the top of the league for over a decade.  Senior guard Wes Channels will lead the Govs and senior forward Danero Thomas leads the Racers.

Predicted Champion.  Murray State (NCAA Seed: #16).  The Racers have been on the verge of returning to their perch in the OVC and this should be the year they get back. But if they don’t in Billy Kennedy’s fourth season a change could be made.

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Let this be a lesson to all eager-beaver ADs who rush to hire a hot new coach before taking the appropriate amount of time to ensure that the contract they want has all the Is dotted and the Ts crossed.

We all know the story by now.  Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart hired then-Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie to a seven-year deal at over $2.3M per year one day after he interviewed for the position in early April 2007.  To make things official, Gillispie signed a three-page ‘memorandum of understanding’ that outlined his salary and general expectations to that effect, with the caveat that the two parties would come to a final agreement on terms and conditions within sixty days.

Barnhart Blew This One

Well, that sixty days turned into nearly 700 days, as Gillispie never signed a contract with UK in the two years he coached there.  Over time, as Gillispie repeatedly refused to come to an agreement with Kentucky that would clearly define expectations, it was clear that he was relying on the vague language in the MOU to protect him as he increasingly came under fire for bizarre off-court behavior and questionable game decisionmaking.   When he sued the school for a $6M buyout soon after his firing in spring 2009, it was obvious to most observers that UK would have to make some kind of payment to Gillispie.  The only question was how much would he get?  We got our answer today, as UK announced the results of a mediation with Gillispie:

In a statement, the university said the lawsuits were settled through mediation. The agreement, signed Tuesday, said Gillispie would receive a little more than $2.98 million. About $260,000 will be paid by the university for attorney’s fees, as well as about $5,600 in mediation fees.

It’s very instructive that when Kentucky signed new coach John Calipari in March 2009 to a $32M, 8-year deal, the contract was written in standard boilerplate  legal language and was twenty pages in length.  Looks like Barnhart learned his lesson this time around, but his amateurish mistake in 2007 will end up costing the school an extra $3M, money that could have been better spent paying those high-priced UK attorneys to send over the template a little sooner.

When the news broke this weekend about the arrests of Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith, we assumed that they would face minimal charges especially when the Louisville boosters decided to make a few donations for the 2010 elections in Jeffersonville. It turns out that it may be more serious with the addition of battery and disorderly conduct charges particularly for Jennings. According to reports, Jennings was involved in an altercation outside Kye’s. When two off-duty officers (both wearing shirts with the word “POLICE” on it) tried to break up the fight Jennings resisted before being wrestled to the ground. Jennings continued to struggle and the police ended up using a Taser on him twice in order to subdue him. Meanwhile, Smith (the ever-vigilant co-captain) refused to move away from the officers after they had handcuffed Jennings and resisted attempts by the officers to get him to back away. To make matters worse for Jennings, after he was arrested the officers administered a breathalyzer, which showed a blood alcohol level of approximately 0.022. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal as Jennings wasn’t driving and the legal limit in Indiana is 0.08 anyways, but young Mr. Jennings is a little less than a month shy of his 21st birthday, which is the “drinking age” in Indiana. To read the official police report of the incident, click here.

A Not So Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Credit: StJoeChannel.com)

We’re still awaiting official word from Rick Pitino about the incident and what (if any) punishment will be administered, but we can only hope that he doesn’t invoke 9/11 (again) or applaud Smith for standing up for his teammate. In the meantime, we will leave you with the most recent Tweet from Jerry Smith, who re-Tweeted “Rev Run” of RUN-D.M.C. fame quoting Mister Rogers (my head is about to explode):

RT @RevRunWisdom: Little by Little we are confronted with situations that give us more & more clues that we arent perfect – (Mister Rogers)