Throughout the preseason, the Big Ten microsite will be rolling out these featured breakdowns of each of the 12 league schools. Today’s release is the Illinois Fighting Illini. 

Where we left off: The last two months of the 2011-12 season were just an absolute mess for the Illini. After beating Ohio State at home on January 10, Bruce Weber’s team ended the season in a major slump (2-12) to finish with a record of 17-15. Weber clearly had lost complete control of his team and was fired after the Big Ten Tournament. The Illini did not even get invited to play in the NIT amidst the chaos and the coaching search created even more negative press coverage for the program. VCU’s Shaka Smart reportedly rejected the job offer and rumors about Brad Stevens’ interest in the opportunity were squashed immediately. Nonetheless, the Illini hired an excellent young candidate, former Thad Matta assistant John Groce from Ohio University. Groce brings a much-needed positive attitude to the program and hopes to instill some new energy, and more importantly, toughness into the program.

Will the Illini buy into John Groce’s direction in Champaign?

Positives: Bruce Weber recruited quality talent to Champaign over the past three seasons. Guards Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Tracy Abrams were all top 100 recruits in their class coming out of high school. Weber did not fully utilize Paul’s athleticism but the junior exhibited his offensive versatility as he averaged a team-leading 14.7 PPG last season. John Groce’s success at Ohio has been driven by an up-tempo, guard-oriented offense and requires a backcourt who can not only shoot the ball but also consistently attack the basket. Paul and Richardson’s experience will be helpful if they can buy into Groce’s system which is not as stringent as Weber’s motion offense that revolved around several set plays. Abrams only averaged 4.3 PPG last season but showed his maturity during the season of turmoil. Illini fans have been waiting for an offense that will let the guards facilitate drives to the hoop and make plays rather than adherence to drawn plays that revolve around the perimeter.

Read the rest of this entry »

Freshman Devonta Pollard will be counted upon to be a major contributor for Alabama this season. The 6’8″ forward is replacing not one all-SEC performer, but two in departed forwards JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell. Green and Mitchell combined to contribute over 41 percent of Alabama’s scoring by themselves in helping lead the Tide to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006 last season. Despite these high expectations, Pollard is proving he can be an effective leader in his own right.

Devonta Pollard Will Be A Major Force In The Middle For Anthony Grant. (Photo: Barking Carnival)

Thus far in practice, Pollard has drawn high praise from the coaching staff. Head coach Anthony Grant is happy with what he has seen so far. “He’s doing well,” Grant said. “Obviously as a freshman, there’s a lot to learn in what the expectations are, the system and what-not, but … the veteran guys have done a good job of helping that learning curve for him. He has a very high basketball IQ as well, so he’s been able to pick things up.” Pollard has made an impression on his teammates as well. When asked how Pollard will impress fans this season, sophomore guard Levi Randolph said, “Just his energy. His skill. He can fly, he can jump, he can shoot, he can dribble. He’s going to be a great asset to the team.”

Read the rest of this entry »

1. What’s sometimes lost in all the conference realignment shuffling is the travel. West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins is preparing for his first season in the Big 12 with the Mountaineers and he still isn’t sure how to handle the long plane rides he’ll encounter for every road game. The closest conference game away from Morgantown is Iowa State, a cool 850-plus miles from home. Huggins is still trying to figure out what to do with his travel itinerary, and he’s gone back and forth with the option of staying the night after road games, which isn’t common. “But they don’t sleep anyway after a game,” Huggins said at Big 12 Media Day. “They sleep better on a plane I think. Do you ever notice those guys sleep better sitting down than they do laying down?”
2. Bill Self brought up the ever popular “pay-for-play” topic recently in a phone interview with Gary Bedore of the Lawrence Journal-World. Self, who admitted he’s now in favor of paying athletes in some way, will be featured on a panel discussion on November 1 in Lawrence with a handful of college basketball writers including ESPN’s Jay Bilas. The topic of athlete compensation will be on the docket that night and Self gave a quick preview during his interview. “I can’t imagine why there aren’t different angles and avenues in which we could compensate the people that are exactly the ones bringing the money to the schools — the student-athletes,” Self said.
3. ESPN NBA Insider Chad Ford released his latest top 100 NBA Draft prospects list with 12 Big 12 players making the cut. Kansas led the group with four players on this list, but Baylor freshman Isaiah Austin received the most praise from Ford, who ranked the 7’0″ power forward No. 6 and projected him to be a top 10 pick in next June’s NBA draft. Other freshmen on the list included Kansas’ Ben McLemore (#20) Texas’ Cameron Ridley (#47) and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart (#62). I don’t see Ridley or Smart declaring for the NBA after this season, but Austin should stay in the top 10 and McLemore could inch his way closer to the lottery if he’s as good as advertised.
4. Hall-of-Famer and former Texas guard Slater Martin passed away last week. Slater played in the 1947 Final Four with the Longhorns and had his No. 15 uniform number retired by the school in 2009. He was elected to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1964 and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. Martin left Texas and went on to win five NBA championships with the Minneapolis Lakers and St. Louis Hawks.
5. Is this the year Scott Drew finally guides Baylor to the Final Four? The Bears haven’t been there since 1950, but Drew has been close recently with Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and again last season. He has all-conference players in Pierre Jackson and Isaiah Austin and great role players like Deuce Bello, A.J. Walton and Brady Heslip. But Drew has had plenty of talent before and failed to make it to the final weekend of the season. With all that talent every season, he has to make it eventually, right? Until he does, his reputation as a recruiter who can’t coach will overshadow anything else he does on the court. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi thinks the Bears have a shot, giving them a No. 2 seed in the West region in his latest ridiculously early bracket.

After starting the year at #14 in Big East preseason coaches poll, the USF Bulls went an astounding 12-6 in conference last year and earned a berth in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, the school’s first in 20 years. The Bulls went on to defeat Cal in one of the First Four games and Temple in the Round of 64 before losing to the upstart Ohio Bobcats in the next round, but overall, last season was a year of almost unprecedented success for Bulls basketball. The school loses a few key players this year, but they’re getting much more respect this preseason with a #8 spot in the 2012-13 preseason coaches poll.

2011-12 Record: 22-14, 12-6

2011-12 Postseason: NCAA Tournament (Third Round)

How will Stan Heath’s young Bulls squad respond to increased expectations in 2012-13?

Schedule

The Bulls should be able to compile a number of wins before entering Big East play as their non-conference schedule is not the most daunting. USF opens with rival and future Big East foe UCF at home on November 10, before returning the favor with a road game in Orlando right before conference play opens in a rare non-conference home-and-home series. USF also takes on Georgia and George Mason at home and Oklahoma State on the road. In conference play, USF has home-and-home series with Villanova, Louisville, Marquette, and Connecticut.

Who’s In

USF brings in a lot of new yet experienced faces to plug in some holes this season. Senior forward Kore White should see immediate playing time in the frontcourt. The 6’8″, 241 lb. White transfers in from Florida Atlantic where he averaged 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds in just over 23 minutes per game last season. Guard Martino Brock is also eligible to play after sitting out a year following his transfer from South Alabama, where he scored 14.2 points per game two seasons ago. Sophomore Musa Abdul-Aleem comes in from Georgia Perimeter College as a junior college transfer. Both Brock and Abdul-Aleem are big (6’5″) and physical guards, which should allow them to fit in well in the rugged Big East conference. Both are expected to see a lot of playing time due to their defensive contributions.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Tubby Smith’s Minnesota Gophers can’t avoid trouble nowadays. After Trevor Mbakwe avoided jail time over assault charges on Friday, assistant coach Saul Smith was the next in line to make headlines. Tubby Smith’s son was pulled over on Saturday for driving under the influence in Minneapolis. His court hearing is scheduled for December 3 and he will be on unpaid leave until further notification by the university. Minnesota received a few votes in the USA Today Coaches poll last week but did not make the Top 25. Nevertheless, there are high expectations for the Gophers to contend in the Big Ten but all of this extra noise off the court could cause some distractions.
2. Indiana hosted Hoosier Hysteria over the weekend and the event was a huge success in Assembly Hall. Fans lined up as early as Friday morning and head coach Tom Crean said that the event “exceeded expectations.” ESPN anchor Sage Steel emceed the event which featured a scrimmage between the red and white teams where Cody Zeller scored 11 points. Two players, Will Sheehey and Hanner Mosquera-Perea, did not participate due to injuries. Zeller surprised the fans with his three-point stroke as he won the long-range shooting competition. Zeller’s shooting form is smooth and even though he may not be taking many shots this season from beyond the arc, his improved shooting form could help him in pick-and-pop situations.
3. After several decades in the business, Tom Izzo still works on implementing new techniques into his practice regiment. After a recent trip to the football facility at Oregon, Izzo has been trying to hold his practices similar to the no-huddle, high tempo practice that Chip Kelly runs at Eugene. The Spartans have been practicing at a “frantic pace” as Izzo is hoping to implement a faster offense this season. The Spartans averaged 62.5 possessions per game in 2011-12, which ranked in the middle of the Big Ten, but they might be a somewhat quicker team this season as a result of improved conditioning. Derrick Nix and Adreian Payne have been working on improving their wind and they will be key if the Spartans look to push the ball more often rather than settling for halfcourt sets.
4. Speaking of up-tempo offensive schemes, Illinois head coach John Groce is also trying to push the tempo in Champaign. The Illini averaged 63.6 possessions per game last season and plan to increase the tempo, especially because they lack depth in the frontcourt after the NBA departure of Meyers Leonard. Other than senior Sam McLaurin (7.5 RPG last season), who transferred from Coastal Carolina, the Illini don’t have an experienced forward on the roster. Thus, Groce may have to be creative with the “power forward” position and potentially use Joseph Bertrand or even Myke Henry to fill in at that slot during certain portions of the game. Illini columnist Loren Tate writes about the Illini’s potential lineups this season that may involve multiple guards.
5. Ohio State‘s ranking at #4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll last week raised some eyebrows among many college basketball fans. How could a team that lost Jared Sullinger and William Buford be ranked as a top five team in the nation? Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis is buying Ohio State and explains his reasons for being so high on them. Even though the offense might not rely on a bona fide superstar like Sullinger, Thad Matta has great depth at the wing position with Lenzelle Smith, Jr. (6.8 PPG) in addition to rising sophomores Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson. Scott and LaQuinton Ross were highly recruited high school players but were not a key part of the Buckeyes’ Final Four run last season. Nonetheless, they have enough talent to contribute immediately off the bench as Matta’s team will be more diverse offensively when compared to last season.

1. After the 2009-10 season, high-scoring Rutgers guard Mike Rosario was one of the top prizes of the transfer market. He committed to play for Billy Donovan at Florida, but largely disappointed in his debut campaign with the Gators. How can he ensure a bounce-back year? Consistency. Says Donovan, “His biggest issue – and No. 1 issue – is inconsistency. And not only on the court; everywhere he’s inconsistent”. With the departures of Bradley Beal and Erving Walker leaving the backcourt thin, Florida can’t afford another season of Rosario providing few minutes and low shooting percentages. Motivating a player through public comments isn’t ideal, but if Rosario takes the message to heart, he has the potential to be a dangerous scoring threat off the Florida bench.
2. Donovan isn’t the only coach counting on a senior guard to come up big. Skylar McBee was a pleasant surprise in coach Cuonzo Martin’s first season, nearly doubling his minutes and scoring totals, and the Tennessee coach expects his role to expand even more. The Volunteers enter the season with high expectations based primarily on a potentially dominant frontcourt, but Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon will need quality shooting from deep to carve out the kind of space they need. Several candidates will be competing for playing time in the backcourt beside point guard Trae Golden, and McBee’s stroke should earn him a plenty of minutes.
3. After leading Missouri to a 30-5 record and scooping up multiple national coach of the year awards, you might think Frank Haith would be a little cocky heading into the new season. Think again. In front of a crowd of alumni and boosters last week, Haith did his best to temper expectations, pointing out that the Tigers only return two key contributors from last year’s team. Missouri could struggle early as Haith works to assemble all his new parts, but with All-America candidate Phil Pressey manning the point, don’t be surprised if the adjustment period is brief.
4. Texas A&M kicked off its season Friday with the annual Maroon & White scrimmage. The Aggie faithful saw freshman point guard J’Mychal Reese put up 15 points in the game, while Elston Turner and Ray Turner chipped in with 14 apiece. Coach Billy Kennedy’s team enters the SEC without a lot of hype, but A&M should be significantly improved from last year. The Turners (no relation) should serve as the two main offensive threats, and if the talented Reese can provide some scoring punch from the point, a finish in the top half of the league is an attainable goal.
5. Willie Cauley-Stein was the least-hyped member of coach John Calipari’s uber-recruiting class, but after posterizing Nerlens Noel at Midnight Madness, the 7-footer has developed quite a buzz. According to reports, that momentum is carrying over into practice. The former high school wide receiver is showing soft hands and an ability to run the floor. Noel, a more polished defender, will see more playing time, but Cauley-Stein should get his fair share, forming an especially imposing frontline when they’re on the court together.

1. Tallahassee Democrat: Veterans Ian Miller and Michael Snaer are really excited about the freshmen joining the team this season. Snaer specifically lauded Aaron Thomas, Devon Bookert and Montay Brandon as potential stars on this year’s team. Thomas has Snaer’s “can’t stop me” attitude which should make him an elite scorer, but Bookert may hold the key for Florida State making the next step with his ball-handling skills. The biggest issue with the last few Seminole teams has been offense, and most of the team’s offensive woes come from turning the ball over too frequently. If Bookert can run the offense and reduce the team’s turnover rate, look out.
2. Associated Press (via Winston-Salem Journal): Apparently Reggie Johnson‘s dieting has started to work. The Miami big man started the season two years ago at a whopping 330 pounds and reportedly is now down to 290. He’s still got a ways to go, but believes his diet is helping. If he can play superstar minutes and can run the floor better, Johnson will make a run at becoming the ACC’s best big man. He’s already probably the league’s most polished returning half-court post player, but his weight keeps him from being elite. That said, take Johnson’s words with a grain of salt. It’s a little weird he pointed to his weight two years ago instead of last year (albeit when he was rehabbing a knee injury).
3. Greensboro News-Record: David Morrison went to Duke’s Operation Basketball and got some interesting notes. First, Coach K is looking for major increases in offensive production from Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry this year. Krzyzewski wants this team’s offense to be less balanced, though Rasheed Sulaimon will definitely be an offensive factor if he lives up to his hype. Morrison also talked with Plumlee about Krzyzewski’s reaction to the Blue Devils’ less-that-stellar finish last season.
4. Blogger So Dear: Most schools taking international trips already finished them, but Jeff Bzdelik and his young Demon Deacon team headed to Canada and won two exhibition games against Brock University and Ryerson University, 84-79 and 88-80, respectively. CJ Harris and Tyler Cavanaugh led the way for Wake Forest against Brock, scoring 16 points apiece in the win (Harris also added five assists and Cavanaugh grabbed nine rebounds). Saturday Travis McKie starred, finishing with 26 points. Freshmen Cody Miller-McIntyre and Cavanaugh also scored in double figures.
5. CBSSports.com: Snaer isn’t the only one talking some trash this offseason. Dexter Strickland isn’t too worried about NC State being picked first in the ACC.
   

   “They talk those guys up every single year and we beat them every single year […] They are the least of our worries. Beat us one year and then they can talk smack. Until then, you can’t put them in the mix.”

   He also felt pretty strongly about the NCAA Tournament outcome if North Carolina hadn’t been hampered by injuries.

   “I’ll be honest. If nobody got hurt, you might as well have given us the trophy. Nobody had the ability to stop us.”

1. Most schools held their Midnight Madness extravaganzas more than a week ago, but a couple prominent schools around college basketball nation didn’t get in on the act until this past weekend. At Indiana, Hoosier Hysteria on Saturday night was just that — a standing room only celebration of Indiana basketball past and present, replete with a three-point shooting Cody Zeller (he made 10 in one round of the contest) and even a Bob Knight sighting (in photo form, on the big screen). For a nice highlight reel from IU’s event, check out this video put together by CityLeagueHoopsTV from the event. Over in Durham, Duke‘s Countdown to Craziness began a festive on-campus weekend (Duke’s football team defeated UNC on Saturday night), as Coach K emphasized “togetherness” among his players and the fans while debuting his squad for the first time this season. For more Coach K hugs than you can possibly imagine, check out this video running along this theme played at the conclusion of the event. Jeff Goodman spent Friday with the Blue Devils, and reports back with 11 thoughts and observations about Coach K’s latest team (including who he thinks will take over for the all-time great upon his eventual retirement). At this point, most every school is finished with the pomp and circumstance and moving into the harsh realities of practice, but more on this in a moment.
2. Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes, but it also provides opportunities for the imperfect to rear its ugly head in the form of injuries. Two prominent players on teams with high hopes for this season were hurt recently — Oklahoma State’s Brian Williams and UCLA’s David Wear. Williams is the more serious injury of the two, as he injured his left wrist in a fall after dunking in practice last week and needed to have surgery to repair the damage done. He’ll have to wear a cast for three months and go through rehabilitation after that, essentially rendering Williams unavailable to build upon a very promising freshman campaign this season. Wear, on the other hand, suffered an ankle sprain during practice on Sunday and will have an x-ray on his foot today. Hopefully this injury isn’t as serious as Williams’ and we’ll see Wear back on the court very soon.
3. Wear might be sidelined with an injury, but his UCLA teammates Kyle Anderson and Shabazz Muhammad have now entered their second full week of practice with no timeline as to when the NCAA plans to make a decision on their eligibility. This report from the LA Times suggests that neither player may be close to becoming eligible as the governing body has not given the players any feedback on the status of its investigation nor a timetable for its resolution. According to the piece, Anderson’s issue relates to the relationship between his father and an NBA agent named Thad Foucher, while Muhammad’s problem involves money given to both himself and his AAU team from friends of the family. There’s nothing new here, obviously, but one caveat from the piece must irk UCLA fans hopeful that things are progressing at a reasonable pace — with only 35 days left for the duo to continue practicing with the team until they must sit out, the NCAA has yet to formally interview Muhammad’s parents about any of this.
4. If you consider yourself at all versed in the analysis of college basketball, you are familiar with KenPom‘s numbers. What you may be less knowledgeable about are the occasional yet insightful blog posts that he publishes from time to time. On Sunday night he presented the results of his analysis of the validity of the preseason AP poll (which has yet to release this season). His finding is that, at least with respect to NCAA Tournament seeding in March, the top half of the AP poll is highly predictive. As he writes: “The chances of being a one-seed get really slim once you get past the top 12 or 13, while the chances of missing the tournament altogether are very real for the teams in the bottom half of the poll.” There’s a better than half chance that a preseason top 10 team in the AP poll will receive a top three seed at the end of the season — that makes sense. What we’d be interested in knowing, though, is what are the common factors that allow us to predict why the other half of teams fall from those original estimations. Great analysis by Pomeroy.
5. Finally, today, let’s talk discipline. Tubby Smith’s son and Minnesota assistant coach, Saul Smith, has been placed on administrative leave by the school related to his Friday night arrest for suspicion of DWI. Meanwhile at Maryland, senior forward James Padgett pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving stemming from his arrest back in June for driving while impaired. Under the school’s code of conduct for alcohol-related driving arrests, he will not be suspended from the team since he is not guilty of a DWI — a true example of legal hair-splitting if ever there was one. Over at Louisville, Chane Behanan must sit out the Cardinals’ first exhibition game this season and has been banned from talking to the media (this is punishment?) for the rest of the semester. Head coach Rick Pitino didn’t specify what led to Behanan’s restrictions other than to say that there were “incidents” over the summer, but he did say that further slip-ups could cause the talented forward to miss more game action.

And away we go, headfirst into another season heralded by our 2012-13 edition of Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball, our annual compendium of YouTube clips from the previous season 100% guaranteed to make you wish games were starting tonight. We’ve captured here what we believe were the most compelling moments from last season, some of which will bring back the goosebumps and others of which will leave you shaking your head. Enjoy!

#19 – Where Norfolk Freakin’ State! Happens

We also encourage you to re-visit the entire archive of this feature from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 seasons.

Fred Hoiberg grew up in Ames, Iowa, and starred on his high school football and basketball teams. He turned down impressive college offers in both sports to stay home and play basketball for the Cyclones, where he still ranks in the top 10 in nearly every statistical category. He’s the most famous player in Iowa State basketball history, so much that he received a handful of write-in votes in the 1993 Ames mayoral election. He’s been called “The Mayor” ever since.

The Mayor has the Cyclones ready to compete in the Big 12.

I said that so I can say this: For a man as popular as Hoiberg is in Ames, who left a great NBA front office job with the Minnesota Timberwolves to return home to coach his alma mater in 2010, he didn’t have to do things this way. He didn’t have to collect a grab bag of cast-offs and troubled players looking for a second chance. Hoiberg had as long of a leash as any new coach in the country. He could have recruited the exact type of high school recruits he wanted and built for the future. But Hoiberg didn’t settle for that. He quickly assembled an impressive quartet of transfers in 2010, led by NBA first-round pick Royce White. The other three, though — Chris Babb, Anthony Booker, and Chris Allen — all helped guide the Cyclones to a 23-11 record last season as well. “My biggest thing when I got the job was trying to get the talent base where we could compete at the Big 12 level,” Hoiberg said on Wednesday at Big 12 Media Day. “We only had three scholarship players when I took the job. To get those transfers in there to give them a second chance was attractive to them.”

Read the rest of this entry »