1. Indiana legend and college hoops icon, Bobby Knight, is getting rid of some of his jewelery. Knight is auctioning off his three national championship rings and the Olympic gold medal he received from the LA Olympic Committee for coaching the 1984 men’s national team. Knight won titles at Indiana in 1976, 1981 and 1987. One of the best coaches in the history of the game will have his memorabilia auctioned off by Steiner Sports Memorabilia, with the proceeds of the auction going to support his grandchildren’s education and charities.
2. How will the Illinois’ senior class be remembered by Illini fans? Per Paul Klee, that question will be answered in March. Brandon Paul, D.J. Richardson and Tyler Griffey came to Champaign in 2009 as one of the top 30 recruiting classes in the nation. They were supposed to help Bruce Weber take the Fighting Illini back to the Sweet Sixteen or beyond. But the Illini missed the NCAA Tournament twice since then and got only one win in the other year. Paul averaged 14.7 PPG and 4.7 RPG last season but has the potential to become one of the best players in the conference this season. Even though the trio have the talent, they’ve never been able to put a consistent season together. Most Illini fans would agree with Klee that an NCAA Tournament appearance this season would help cement the senior class’ legacy as a solid foundation for the future.
3. Mackey Arena hosted a Midnight Madness event for the first time since 2008 this past weekend. Head coach Matt Painter talked about his team’s summer trip to Italy and its benefits before the scrimmage began. Forward Jacob Lawson wowed the crowd by winning the dunk competition, and even though Lawson only averaged 2.9 PPG last season, he will play a pivotal role in Purdue’s frontcourt this year. The Boilers sported a 27.3% offensive rebounding rate and will need Lawson to hold his own in the paint in an offense that will feature guards Terone Johnson (9.2 PPG) and D.J. Byrd (8.9 PPG).
4. How will Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan fill Mike Bruesewitz’s slot in the rotation during the first few games? According to ESPN‘s Eamonn Brennan, Ryan may try to use a combination of sophomore forward Frank Kaminsky, sophomore guard Traevon Jackson, and freshman wing Sam Dekker. Bruesewitz hurt his leg while diving for a loose ball during a scrimmage last week. Kaminsky is a 6’11” forward who came off the bench last season and could use some game action before the Big Ten season begins. The son of former Big Ten great Jim Jackson, Traevon Jackson is a 6’2″ combo guard who should earn some playing time after the departure of Jordan Taylor. Ryan has also praised guard Josh Gasser (7.6 PPG) for his improvement during the offseason and will most likely start at the point to begin the non-conference slate.
5. During this time of the year, the “other” basketball league in the country (i.e. the NBA) is going through preseason practices as well. Former Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger was drafted in the first round by the Boston Celtics and has been prominent so far in preseason action. Even though he dropped to the 21st pick of the draft due to his history of back problems, he is happy to be learning from one of the all-time greats, Kevin Garnett. Garnett will not log heavy minutes until the end of the season due to his knee injuries and so younger players such as Sullinger will be expected to keep the momentum going during the gruelling 82-game season. The 6’8″ power forward averaged 16 points and eight rebounds during the preseason opener in Turkey and will certainly be a focal point of the Celtics’ bench during the upcoming NBA season.

1. LSU went immediately to work this week with new coach Johnny Jones, but without the aid of a cadre of experienced big men. 6’9″ forward Johnny O’Bryant, who averaged 8.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season, will be counted on to lead the way on the low blocks this season. Other than O’Bryant, the Tigers are fairly thin in the frontcourt. A pair of junior college transfers, Shavon Coleman and Calvin Godfrey, could be counted upon to provide quality minutes. And so far in practice reports, Coleman, who has drawn the task of defending O’Bryant, has “held up well.” Coleman stands at just 6’6″, but will likely spend a majority of minutes guarding larger opponents at the power forward slot.
2. Tony Barbee is feeling confident with his new-look Tigers, but if he is going to get Auburn over the .500 hump he will have to do so with six new faces this season. One of the less heralded freshmen, 6’3″ guard Brian Greene, Jr., could end up being the most productive. The freshman is considered a strong candidate for the open point guard position, and he has drawn praise from returning guard Frankie Sullivan. “It is just not that he stands out, but you always see the guy,” Sullivan said. “Even in the drills, he is the one who is catching on the quickest.” Sullivan will likely start at the two guard spot. He led the Tigers in scoring last year with 12.6 points per game, but still wasn’t 100 percent because of a knee injury that sidelined him during the 2010-11 season.
3. Want to know why Kentucky has been so good in the Calipari era? They score more points than the other team. And that is not purely because of offense, but because the Wildcats have been a lockdown defensive squad under Coach Cal. For three years running, the Cats have ranked in the top 10 in the nation in three defensive categories: effective field goal percentage, two point percentage, and blocks. According to Glenn Logan at ASoB, “Kentucky has been #1 in the nation in blocks three years running – an impressive statistic that very few people mention when analyzing the Wildcats.” But likely because of that strong protection around the rim, Kentucky has given up a higher percentage of three-point attempts and subsequently a higher percentage of three-point field goals. As Logan points out, “If you’re taking 3’s, you’re not taking 2’s closer to the basket.” With top defender and shot blocker Nerlens Noel guarding the basket, that might just be the plan.
4. The Arkansas faithful hasn’t exactly witnessed the football success it had hoped for, but there is a certain optimism towards year two of the Mike Anderson era in Fayetteville. And according to Doc Harper of ArkansasExpats.com, the Hogs should be in the NCAA Tournament. “Bottom line, if BJ Young is deserving of all the hype he’s getting, Arkansas will be in the tournament in March,” Harper says. “Any NBA lottery pick should be able to lead a team to the NCAA Tournament on his own.” The Razorbacks should be much improved from a 6-10 SEC mark last season, but it won’t be Young alone that gets them there. Arkansas’ depth should be enough to unleash a full 40 minutes of Anderson’s fast paced system.
5. Uni watch 2012 is in full effect. With a number of departures from a solid team last season, we are not certain what the Crimson Tide will look like on the court. But we do know that they will be doing it in style. Alabama joined the Nike Hyper Elite team with basketball stalwarts Duke, Kentucky, Syracuse, and North Carolina. The current Tide players showcased the new slimmer look with the Alabama specific print on the back. Alabama lost leading scorers JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell , but return enough talent to make a splash in the SEC standings.

Brian Joyce is a writer for the SEC microsite and regular contributor for Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about SEC basketball at bjoyce_hoops.

1. ESPN: The ACC coaches have submitted their preseason poll and the results are unsurprising: North Carolina State is the favorite to win the conference, with Tobacco Road rivals Duke and North Carolina rounding out the top three. While North Carolina State hasn’t won the regular season ACC title since 1989, it’s not a big surprise that the coaches like their chances this year. The coaches’ picks of C.J Leslie and Rodney Purvis, both Wolfpack players, for Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year respectively, is an easy explanation of the reason that so many of the conference’s coaches are big on NC State.
2. Raleigh News and Observer: Duke started practice in an unusual venue yesterday. Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina played host to the Blue Devils as they practiced in front of a group of soldiers at the U.S. Army base. Mike Krzyzewski, of course, is a graduate of West Point and former Army captain. In addition to standard practice, the Duke team slept in the barracks Sunday night, got up for an early morning workout and run, and braved an obstacle course on the base.  It seems like it was a memorable experience for both the soldiers who got to watch and participate in the Duke practice as well as the players who got an inside look at the machinations of Fort Bragg.
3. CBS Sports: On a more disappointing note, Marshall Plumlee, the youngest of the Plumlee brothers, has suffered a stress fracture in his foot. He’ll miss 6-8 weeks for Duke, and although he was not expected to be a major contributor to this year’s team, the obvious loss of depth and size inside is always something that gives coaches a cause for concern. Older brother Mason and Ryan Kelly will have to stay healthy themselves lest Duke become painfully thin on the interior over the first month of the season.
4. Syracuse Online: The Orange have a verbal commitment from Chinonso Obokoh, a springy center from Rochester. Of course, while Syracuse continues to play in the Big East this season, their incoming move to the ACC means that Obokoh will become part of the first class of Syracuse basketball players that play their conference games solely in the Atlantic Coast Conference — still a strange thought. Obokoh joins highly-ranked gurd Tyler Ennis as the first two building blocks for Syracuse’s incoming class.
5. NCAA: The governing organization of college basketball has issued a few new interesting guidelines for the upcoming season. These rules include an extra set of standards for correctly determining block/charge calls that seem to be aimed at making the offensive foul a bit harder to draw. The NCAA is also emphasizing coach and bench decorum with a set of explicit standards about what warrants a sportsmanship technical. In news sure to disappoint Roy Williams, “emphatically removing one’s coat” is specifically singled out as an inappropriate action. Perhaps, the implementation of  the new policy banning slippery floor decals will placate him?

1. Rick Pitino’s highly touted Louisville squad took the court for the first time in the annual Red/White Scrimmage on Saturday. It’s obviously hard to derive any significant conclusions from this sort of event, but the scrimmage provided Cardinal fans with their first glimpse of newcomer Montrezl Harrell. The former Virginia Tech commitment –– who’s earned the title “Baby Chane”  — did not disappoint, posing 17 points and 12 rebounds in his first public performance as a Cardinal. His performance substantiated the notion that that 6’8″, 235-pound Harrell can replace the departed Jared Swopshire and Rakeem Buckles as a serviceable backup to both Chane Behanan and Gorgui Dieng. Louisville’s frontcourt rotation suddenly appears more talented than even the 2009 team, which featured future NBA players Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels in the post.
2. It’s already been covered at length by both the sports and general news media, but the stabbing incident that cut short Syracuse’s Orange Madness event last Friday bears mentioning in light of new developments. The victim was identified as 25-year-old Shoquinn Benton, someone who was unaffiliated with the university, uncooperative with police, and subsequently seems to have discharged himself from the hospital with little fanfare. Athletic Director Daryl Gross indicated that while this was an isolated incident at an otherwise positive event, the school will take steps to avoid the environment that fostered multiple fights at last weekend’s Orange Madness: “What we’re going to do is make sure that we ensure that you can’t even get that storm together again… Obviously, we’re going to be meeting a lot about this.” Sean Keeley at Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician speculates that those meetings may result in measures like charging admission to the event for non-students and non-ticket holders.
3. Speaking of Syracuse, last Friday we noted that not only does this season mark the 37^th year of Jim Boeheim’s head coaching tenure there, but also the 50^th anniversary of the coach’s matriculation to Syracuse as a college freshman. For his part, Boeheim isn’t eager to celebrate the occasion: “Nobody knew about it. I shouldn’t have told anybody.” He’s 67 years old and non-committal about retirement (saying “it’s getting close”), but he doesn’t hesitate to gush over his squad’s preparation heading into the season. Given Jim Calhoun’s recent retirement, Boeheim’s equivocation about hanging up the towel, and recent comments from Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, it’s entirely possible that Rick Pitino could enter the 2013-14 season as the only Big East coach with a national title.
4. This week is a big one for Georgetown recruiting. Notable Big East recruit Roddy Peters will make his college decision this morning at 9 AM ET. The Suitland, Maryland, point guard will reportedly decide between Georgetown, Rutgers, Maryland and Xavier. Another Georgetown target and consensus top-50 recruit, Johnathan Williams III, will also decide later this week between the Hoyas, Michigan State, Tennessee and Missouri.
5. According to Friar Blog, Providence is appealing the NCAA to have Ricky Ledo eligible to play in the second semester. Ledo had been declared a partial qualifier in September, making him eligible to practice but not to play in the upcoming season. Even getting the precocious freshman eligible for a handful of Big East games would be a huge lift for Ed Cooley and Providence fans eager to see what he can do. Complemented by heralded freshman point guard Kris Dunn, PC would immediately have one of the most talented backcourts in the conference. This is certainly a storyline worth watching as we head into the winter months.

1. From the we’ll-believe-it-when-we-see-it department, ACC coaches on Monday squarely put NC State’s Mark Gottfried right into the conference crosshairs with their decision to pick his Wolfpack as the front-runner for the 2012-13 league championship. Whew. NC State received eight of the 12 first-place votes, with second-place Duke receiving three, and North Carolina receiving the other top vote. Nobody will deny that Gottfried returns the most talent in the ACC from a Sweet Sixteen team — and adds quite possibly the best freshman in the league to boot — but still, the Wolfpack were a 9-7 conference team last season and Gottfried has never been a coach who has consistently gotten it done in the regular season. His best two teams at Alabama went 12-4 in the SEC (2001-02 and 2004-05) and he wasn’t facing the likes of Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams when he was cementing those records. From our perspective, the league belongs to Duke and North Carolina until it’s taken from them (the last team to win the ACC outright other than Duke/UNC occurred a decade ago).
2. While on the subject of Duke, the Blue Devil program made quite a bit of news on Monday. While spending the day 90 miles south of Durham at Fort Bragg, going through physical training drills and holding an inspired open practice in front of a number of US Army troops — apparently Duke players applauded the soldiers as they entered the gym — the school also announced some less inspiring news. Redshirt freshman forward Marshall Plumlee has developed a stress fracture in his left foot and will miss the next 6-8 weeks of practice, putting significantly more pressure on older brother Mason and senior Ryan Kelly to man the boards and shore up the low blocks defensively. This is especially true given that the Blue Devils will face an early-season murderer’s row of Kentucky in the Champions Classic on November 13, the Battle 4 Atlantis (including a loaded field of Minnesota, VCU, Memphis, Louisville, Missouri, and Stanford) soon thereafter, and Ohio State at in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at the end of November.
3. Coach K’s respect for the military of course comes from his time at West Point, where he played under a fiery disciplinarian named Bob Knight. The three-time national championship head coach, who has never struck us as much of a sentimentalist, is planning on auctioning his three Indiana championship rings, his Olympic gold medal (given to him by the LA Olympic Committee) as well as a sports coat and warmup jacket he received as the head coach for the 1984 US Men’s National Team (a squad that included Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing). With his regular speaking engagements plus his lucrative ESPN commentator gig, it’s unlikely that Knight is hurting for money — but, sensing that he could pay for his grandchildren’s college educations with one fell swoop through this auction — this was probably an easy decision for the 71-year old. The “Bob Knight Collection” will be auctioned off through Steiner Sports, ending on December 5 — if you have some money burning a hole in your pocket, that 1976 championship ring from the last undefeated team in college basketball would make for a great conversation starter.
4. Harvard appeared to be on the verge of an Ivy League dynasty prior to a recent academic cheating scandal that has enveloped over 100 undergraduates including two of the basketball team’s best players, Kyle Casey and Brandyn Curry. Still, there are hopes among Crimson faithful that Tommy Amaker’s team can bridge the gap this season while awaiting the return of its two stars in 2013-14 (both players withdrew from school this year, but plan on returning next season). Meanwhile, in coming off the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 65 years, the university is now backing a plan to build a brand-new basketball arena to replace its antiquated 1920s-era Lavietes Pavilion. The new arena will hold 2,700 people and be ready for the bouncing of balls some time between 2017-22. Whether Harvard will grow to become a regular NCAA Tournament participant by that date remains to be seen, but this next step in the progression of the program would not have been possible without the drive and vision for excellence that head coach Tommy Amaker had for Harvard basketball upon his arrival several years ago.
5. Don’t expect any NCAA Tournament games in the great state of New Jersey anytime soon. The Meadowlands/Izod Center in East Rutherford has held multiple East Regionals (most recently in 2007), and the Prudential Center in Newark has taken that mantle more recently (hosting in 2011), but with the Monday’s publication of regulations licensing and outlining operating rules for Atlantic City casinos and racetracks so as to offer sports gambling, the NCAA’s long-running mandate of not offering its championships in states with such laws has gone into effect. Although there are currently no planned NCAA Tournament events scheduled in the Garden State, five other championships — including the Women’s NCAA Tournament East Regional in 2013 — have been pulled effective immediately. The natural outcome from this mandate is that the most prominent New York and Philadelphia arenas, including the Wells Fargo Center, the Barclays Arena, and Madison Square Garden, potentially stand to gain considerably in future bidding for NCAA Tournament sites. But hey, at least you can bet on the games in Jersey!

Expectations run high at Minnesota under sixth-year head coach Tubby Smith. For the first time in Smith’s tenure, the Gophers have a team capable of competing at the upper reaches of Big Ten competition. Point guard Julian Welch returns to pilot a balanced offensive attack. Austin Hollins provides an energetic presence on both ends of the floor. Unrelated Andre Hollins, fresh off a breakout performance in the Big Ten Tournament, is ready for bigger and better things in 2012-13. Future NBA forward Rodney Williams offers an explosive brand of athleticism mostly unseen throughout the Big Ten. This is a very good team. Believe it. But if there’s one development that demonstrably thrusted Minnesota onto the national radar this offseason, one personnel boost that gives the Gophers just enough to get over the hump, it’s Trevor Mbakwe, whom the NCAA announced over the summer has earned a sixth year of eligibility and will play out his final season in Minneapolis this winter. For Gophers fans, what matters is how the senior forward will perform this season, and how his return will help their chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament. But Mbawke’s history is long and complex, a quarrelsome tale of transfer and injury and violations.

After another criminal misstep, Mbawke skated the outer boundaries of Smith’s disciplinary tolerance (Photo credit: Chris Chambers/Getty Images).

I raise this issue because it relates to Mbakwe’s status for the upcoming season. More importantly, his troubled past is a huge reason why, after pleading guilty in September to a DWI committed in July, Mbakwe almost saw a promising sixth season – and an even more promising one for the Gopher program more broadly – end before it began. Smith very nearly booted Mbakwe from the team after learning of his summer transgression, which was just the latest in a repeated history of brushes with the law. Following his 2009 transfer to Minnesota from Miami Dade (FL) Community College, his second such switch after leaving Marquette in 2008, Mbakwe sat out the 2009-10 season due to legal complications surrounding an assault case while simultaneously fending off an allegation that he violated a restraining order by contacting an ex-girlfriend on Facebook. Court officials settled on a no-contest plea in the assault case, but Mbakwe pled guilty to the harassment charge and was sentenced to one year of probation in February. The DWI settlement violated that probation, which means Mbakwe faces another hearing in Miami on Wednesday. Whatever the outcome of his next legal stopping point, Mbakwe’s actions have tested the limits of Smith’s tolerance for his behaviors.

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We are going to do everything we can this season to keep you up to date on the latest news and information regarding the Atlantic Coast Conference here at the ACC Microsite. However, with 12 teams of 13 scholarship players, over 360 total games and 228 conference games, some things are bound to fall through the cracks. To help you stay on top of things, we have collected a comprehensive list of twitter accounts for all 12 ACC teams, their coaches, players, beat writers and bloggers. Please let us know if we missed anyone, as I’m certain there are some worthy follows out there. Hit us up at @rtcAcc.

Special thanks to Patrick Stevens (@d1scourse), Matt (@hokieguru), Steven (@akulawolf), Greg Wallace (@aimclemson), Brian Favat (@BCInterruption), Michael Rogner (@RunTheFloor) and Brian (@StreakingTheLawn) for all their help cultivating this list.

ACC

• TheACC.com This is the official site for the Atlantic Coast Conference. They produce valuable video content and provide an easy interface to look up stats, conference standings and historic categories of everything you could want to know about the ACC. Follow on twitter @TheACC
• ACC Men’s Basketball Direct link to the Official ACC Men’s Basketball site. If you don’t want to sift through all that pesky football, lacrosse and soccer information, this is where to go. Follow on twitter @ACCMBB, mainly for links and breaking news.
• ACCSports.com Jim Young and a litany of veteran ACC writers keep you up to date on just about everything happening in the league. He’s a valuable twitter follower @ACCSports and has a links only twitter account @ACCSportsLinks
• SCACCHoops.com Jon Pence created this site from scratch where you can play ACC Fantasy Basketball and look at advanced stats for all the teams and players around the league. He also pulls stories from bloggers around the conference to keep you up to date on your favorite teams. Follow @SCACCHoops for links, commentary and occasional updates on his Game Sim application, which he claims knows all.
• Fox Sports South Andrew Jones covers the ACC, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Carolina Panthers for Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Carolinas. Follow him on twitter @AJonesFoxSports for links and commentary.
• ACC Insider Brett Friedlander covers all ACC Sports for the Wilmington Star News. He’s always up for a good conversation on twitter @StarNewsACC
• David Teel ‏ @DavidTeelatDP Covers the ACC for the Daily Press
• CBSSportsACC ‏ @CBSSportsACC CBS’ ACC-focused Rapid Reports blog
• Michael Kelly ‏ @MKellyACC ACC Senior Associate Commissioner
• Bret Strelow ‏ @bretstrelow Covers ACC Basketball for FayettevilleObserver.com
• Stephen Schramm ‏ @stephenschramm Covers ACC Basketball for Fayetteville Observer
• Joe Ovies ‏ @joeovies Half of the Adam and Joe show on 99.9 The Fan ESPN. Mainly covering Tobacco Road athletics.
• Adam Gold ‏ @AGoldFan The other half of the Adam and Joe show.
• @Jeffrey Fann ‏@TalkinACCSports Proprietor of AllSportsDiscussion.com, where he and @HokieGuru blog about everything ACC.

Team-Specific

Florida State

• FSU Basketball This is the official Men’s Basketball site for the reigning ACC Champions. Follow the official feed @FSU_MBasketball
• @FSUCoachHam Head Coach Leonard Hamilton
• @coachstanjones Assistant Coach Stan Jones

Players

• Aaron Thomas @aaronthomas513
• Boris Bojanovsky @Bo_FSU15 
• Joell Hopkins @JHop_FSU35
• Ian Bennett Miller @ian_fsu30
• Ojo Olalekan Michael @Lokoibadan 
• ‏Devon Bookert @db1_
• Robert Gilchrist @gilchristro
• Montay Brandon @Montay_FSU5
• Okaro White @owhite10
• Kiel Turpin @Big_Turp
• Terry Whisnant @Twhiz_31

Bloggers and Beat Writers

• Tomahawk Nation: Michael Rogner @RunTheFloor
• Seminoles.com: Brandon Mellor ‏ @BrandonMellor
• FSVIEW (student newspaper): Brendan Bures ‏ @BrenBures
• Orlando Sentinel: Coley Harvey ‏ @os_coleyharvey
• Tallahassee Dem: Corey Clark/TDO.com ‏ @Corey_Clark
• Miami Herald: Patrik Nohe ‏ @PatrikNohe_MH 

On Monday, ESPN revealed its broadcasting partnerships for the season, an announcement that rarely produces a lot of fanfare. This year is an exception, though, as the network revealed that Bob Knight will be assigned to Thursday night SEC action alongside Rece Davis. The legendary former Indiana coach caused quite a stir last March when he refused to mention Kentucky by name on the air, opting instead for “that team from the SEC” as a crutch. Knight is a staunch opponent of the “one-and-done” culture in college basketball, making Kentucky and coach John Calipari a natural target for his ire. While Knight won’t be making any trips to Rupp Arena, he is scheduled to call the Wildcats’ SEC opener at Vanderbilt on January 10, as well as their trip to Georgia on March 7.

From ESPN’s perspective, the move makes sense. Kentucky should be heavily favored over the Commodores and Bulldogs, and the broadcasts probably wouldn’t have drawn many neutral viewers. Add in a little controversy, though, and the ratings will skyrocket. Fans will be entertained in noting all the backhanded compliments paid to the Wildcats and the thinly veiled jabs from The General directed at Calipari. Kentucky fans have a ton of experience brushing off criticism, and any vitriol from an impartial announcer will probably just be met with bemusement. Knight will undoubtedly be instructed to play nice, but if we know anything about the man, it’s that he won’t hesitate to speak his mind given the opportunity.

We know what we’re watching on those two nights — how about you?

From the WAC to the Big 10 and now the Big 12, Bill Self has finished in the top two of his conference every year since the 1998-99 season. For a future Hall of Fame coach, it’s a great run but nothing that will necessarily grab headlines on SportsCenter. But what Self has been doing at Kansas since 2004 — winning the Big 12 regular season title every year — is reaching historic levels the likes which haven’t been seen at a major conference since UCLA won 13 straight conference titles from 1966-1979.

Can Self work his magic and lead KU to a 9th straight Big 12 title?

Conference dynasties aren’t totally foreign to college basketball. Penn captured seven Ivy League regular season titles from 1998-2007. Gonzaga emerged as a mid-major power in the late 90s, winning the West Coast Conference 10 times since 1998-99. But this isn’t the Ivy League or the West Coast Conference. Bill Self hasn’t had the luxury of facing Dartmouth or San Francisco on a regular basis. He’s beaten Hall of Fame coaches and future NBA stars. Kevin Durant, the all-NBA talent and No. 2 pick in the 2007 NBA draft, couldn’t win the Big 12 his one season in college. That title belonged to Self and Kansas. Fellow No. 2 pick Michael Beasley fell to the Jayhawks during his one-and-done season in 2007-08 as well. Talented players come and go, coaches (and teams) move through the conference, but penciling in Kansas to hoist the trophy in early March has been the safest bet for nearly a decade.

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Late Night in the Phog served its purpose once again. Just days after witnessing Midnight Madness at Allen Fieldhouse in person, coveted small forward Wayne Selden committed to Kansas on Monday, adding another centerpiece to Self’s impressive Class of 2013 recruiting class. Selden, a 6’5” wing originally from Boston, plays high school basketball at The Tilton School, which produced the likes of Nerlens Noel and several other major prospects. Self stole Selden from just about every dominant school in the East — Connecticut, Syracuse, and the rest of the crew — and beat out John Calipari, Billy Donovan and Ben Howland to his first top-20 recruit since Josh Selby to the fold for 2013.

Bill Self Has No Trouble Recruiting Nationally

Remember, Self has already earned early commitments from in-state point guard Connor Frankamp and Georgia forward Brannen Greene in 2011, and he added point guard Frank Mason from Virginia earlier this month. Selden’s arrival takes this recruiting class to another level, though, and it sets up a 2013 Jayhawks freshman class from all over the nation. By our count, that’s four prospects from four different states in three separate regions of the country, yet another sign Self is willing to go absolutely anywhere to find his basketball players. He found Mario Chalmers in Alaska, after all, so something tells us he probably wasn’t afraid to search for Selden up in the Northeast.