- Yesterday was ACC and Big East Media Days, and there were no major surprises coming out of either, unless you count some buffoon giving North Carolina a #1 vote in the ACC over Duke a surprise (more like insanity, but whatev). The Devils received 61 of 62 first-place votes in the ACC, while Pittsburgh received 12 of 16 first-place votes (from the coaches) in the Big East (Syracuse with two, Villanova and St. John’s received the others). The preseason all-conference team went like so: ACC — Malcolm Delaney (Virginia Tech), Kyle Singler (Duke), Nolan Smith (Duke), Tracy Smith (NC State), Chris Singleton (Florida State); Big East — Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Kemba Walker (Connecticut), Ashton Gibbs (Pittsburgh), Jeremy Hazell (Seton Hall), Corey Fisher (Villanova), Kevin Jones (West Virginia). ACC writers will regret leaving UNC’s Harrison Barnes off that team around mid-December, guaranteed.
- At said Big East Media Day in NYC, Louisville coach Rick Pitino chose the opportunity to announce that he would no longer be doing his weekly television show on WHAS-TV. It’s no secret in the River City that Pitino was unhappy about the channel’s coverage of the Karen Sypher trial over the summer, so this may be his way of expressing his disdain. Pitino scoffed at that suggestion, pointing out that he still plans on talking to the local newspaper this season even though he was unhappy with their coverage as well. Nevermind that the Courier-Journal is the only newspaper of record in the Louisville area, while there are multiple local television channels there. We’re sure that has nothing at all to do with the decision.
- Some injury news: Virginia’s Sammy Zeglinski will miss at least eight weeks after Tuesday surgery to his knee to repair some cartilage damage. Assuming he can get back quickly, the best-case scenario might be having the junior guard back at 100% for ACC play in early January. Steve Lavin got some bad news with the word that senior forward Justin Burrell broke his hand in a practice, putting St. John’s in a precarious spot in the frontcourt for the next month or so. As for Robbie Hummel, he told the assembled media on Wednesday that he plans on coming back next year better than ever — let’s hope that’s the case.
- Luke Winn analyzes how Purdue will cope with the loss of Hummel, which at this point could be as much of a mental hurdle as a physical one. Fanhouse’s Matt Snyder gives a reasoned analysis as to why he’s dropping Purdue from preseason #2 down to #10 and thinks that the Boilermakers will still be a factor in the Big Ten race. Can’t say we disagree — after all, Purdue is used to playing without Hummel by now. He missed parts of his sophomore season and junior season due to injuries, yet the Boilers still made it to the Sweet Sixteen both years. For anyone to seriously sell this team short really isn’t paying attention to how this game tends to work. They’re not a Final Four favorite anymore, but they’re most definitely a contender.
- Jim Calhoun: “I am not a crook.” Or, that’s what it sounds like as the venerable old UConn coach said yesterday that he was not going to be held responsible for anything other than “mistakes” that were made. And over a thousand emails and text messages were made, so we’re not really feeling a lot of sympathy these days…
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The season just needs to start soon, I am getting weary of all these injuries to key players before the season can even start.
Was Harrison Barnes even eligible for preseason ACCPOY. I just assumed it was like the Wooden watch list where freshman weren't eligible. BTW, he won preseason ROY with 46 of 62 1st place votes.
Also, the guy who didn't vote for Duke was from Roanoke, VA and claims that it was a mistake.