1. Top recruit Aaron Gordon has cut his list down to Washington, Arizona, and Kentucky, but Washington continues to make an appealing case. Gordon’s mother, Shelley-Davis Gordon, is from Seattle and has gotten to know Lorenzo Romar very well, and Gordon’s father, Ed Gordon, grew up in the same area as Romar. Although Gordon would be the focal point of the Washington program if he were to commit there, that’s not something he is unwilling to do. Gordon isn’t going to pick a school anytime soon, and no one puts players in the NBA better than Kentucky coach John Calipari, which is Aaron Gordon’s ultimate goal; still, don’t count out the Huskies just yet.
2. Although Shabazz Muhammad is now finally playing, don’t expect him to have the impact he was supposed to have right away. Muhammad has admitted that it’s been difficult dealing with the eligibility investigation as well as overcoming injuries and some added weight. Muhammad was the leading scorer in UCLA’s victory over Georgia with 21 points, but he said he’s added 10 to 15 pounds and an injured shoulder and an ankle are certainly not easy to deal with for an explosive athlete. However, Muhammad isn’t making excuses and understands the pressure that comes with being a top recruit and going to arguably the most prestigious college basketball school in the country. Whatever happens as the season continues, you can count on Muhammad working to improve and doing the most he can.
3. In this short season, Cal’s Allen Crabbe has certainly stood out. Averaging a fifth best in the nation 26.7 PPG, Crabbe has helped Cal overcome some sluggish starts to games and has put it upon himself this year to be more consistent. He knows he has to be more aggressive and score at will. Crabbe admitted he disappeared in games last year, but with the loss of Pac-12 player of the year Jorge Gutierrez, and the possibility of the NBA looming either this year or the next, Crabbe can no longer afford to be inconsistent. Credit to the Bear junior for understanding that he needs to pick up the slack and he has certainly done so this year by posting a career high 33 points against Pepperdine and also games of 27 and 20 points. Obviously, Crabbe won’t be able to keep up this scoring barrage all season, but if he continues to stay aggressive, he should be able to keep Cal in the Pac-12 hunt all year long.
4. The Arizona Wildcats are in the middle of an eight-day break until its next game, but Sean Miller’s team won’t be doing any resting. Arizona was lucky to have this past Tuesday and yesterday off after their latest victory over Long Beach State, but it’ll be right back to work on Thanksgiving as the Cats will practice in the morning and again on Friday and Saturday, Monday and Tuesday (they’ll take a day off on Sunday). Sean Miller believes this time of the year is crucial and he has the resume to back it up. It was only two years ago that Arizona came one win short of the Final Four and he believes the team’s increased practice early in the year was a big reason for that.
5. USC hasn’t got off to the greatest start as the Trojans finished in sixth in the Maui Invitational, but they’re doing well off the court. USC recently landed the best player in Nevada according to ESPNU in point guard Julian Jacobs. Jacobs is a 6’2″ player who is explosive and can drive to the hoop or hurt you with his great passing. He is now the third guard in the 2013 USC class, adding to Kendal Harris and Kahlil Price. Originally, Jacobs was a Utah commitment, but he changed his mind in August and now has a chance to form a very strong and athletic backcourt at USC in the future.

Doug Perry is an RTC correspondent and SEC microsite writer. He filed this report from Wednesday night’s Kentucky-Morehead State game in Lexington.

After Kentucky’s closer than expected 81-70 win over Morehead State, members of the press wasted no time in addressing the elephant in the room: Ryan Harrow. The transfer point guard hasn’t seen the court this season, and after this week’s encouraging news that he was working out again, it was announced that the Georgia native would miss the next two games while tending to family issues. John Calipari indicated that Harrow’s mother is concerned about her son, and wants to make sure that he’s OK. “If I knew more,” Calipari told reporters, “I would keep it from you.”

Ryan Harrow prolonged absence has exposed some of Kentucky’s weaknesses. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

The situation surrounding Harrow is mysterious, but the impact isn’t difficult to identify. Against the Eagles Wednesday night, the Wildcats’ offense once again looked out of sorts, appearing stagnant in its sets and committing 13 turnovers to only 11 assists. Though makeshift point guard Archie Goodwin was Kentucky’s best player against Morehead State, vision and playmaking aren’t strengths for the natural shooting guard. Eagles coach Sean Woods recognized the Wildcats weakness at the one. “(Calipari) gave Goodwin opportunities where he doesn’t have to think, and he did well,” Woods said, referring to the frosh’s opportunities to drive the lane. “But when he’s forced to make a play, he struggled.”

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Ray Floriani is the RTC correspondent for the MAAC.

Top Storylines

• Canisius Surprises. Not a big surprise given the pool of talent here, a good bit better than a lot of people anticipated, and the coaching of Jim Baron. A win over ‘Little Three’ rival St. Bonaventure was particularly sweet for Baron, a former Bonnie player and coach.
• St. Peter’s also merits a note. A preseason pick at the bottom of the league, the Peacocks have wins at Rutgers, Cornell and a home conquest of Central Connecticiut. A loss to Binghamton doesn’t damper the early enthusiasm in Jersey City.
• Manhattan Winless. At Louisville and at Harvard. Not an easy way for anyone to open up its season. In the long run these tests should be a benefit for Steve Masiello’s Jaspers.

Reader’s Take

Player of the Week: Lamont Jones– The Iona senior guard averaged 30.5 points over the first two games in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. He set a tournament record 40 points in the Gaels’ overtime loss to Quinnipiac.

Momo Jones Is Off To A Running Start. (Iona Athletics)

Rookie of the Week: Tyler Hubbard– The Loyola redshirt freshman guard came off the bench to spark the Greyhounds’ Hall of Fame Classic championship in Springfield. He scored a career-high 17 points in a win over UMBC.

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1. Life is not fair. At all. Need evidence? After missing most of 2011-12 with an ACL injury, Oklahoma State’s JP Olukemi will now miss the rest of his senior season with another knee injury. This was supposed to be a year of celebration for Olukemi, who earned an NCAA waiver to play his final semester this winter after months of controversy. Instead, his future is now uncertain after this nightmarish scenario. We all remember when Robbie Hummel injured his knee a second time, but Olukemi might not get another chance to lace up the sneakers. That’s tragic for a guy who’s been through hell and back so far already.
2. Get comfortable, Bob Huggins (as if he weren’t already). West Virginia announced yesterday that it has signed the head coach to an extension through 2022-23, six years past the term of his original deal. This is a no-brainer for the school, no matter how bad Huggins’ team looked against Gonzaga in its season opener. And we’d be willing to bet almost anything Huggins will stick around through the duration of this deal, considering he’s a hometown kid and alumnus of the school. More importantly, he once left behind Michael Beasley and Bill Walker at Kansas State to coach in Morgantown. Need any more proof? Huggins For Life in Morgantown.
3. If you’re tuning into Oklahoma’s showdown with UTEP in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic this afternoon, listen for a ruckus in the stands. That’s probably freshman Buddy Hield‘s family, which is making the trip to Orlando to celebrate Thanksgiving and watch some hoops. He apparently hasn’t seen a few of his siblings in almost two years, so, in that case, the louder the better! Hield’s not a bad player, either. The Bahamas native and coveted high school prospect went off for 17 points against UT-Arlington last week.
4. Finding an amicable split between coach and school in college basketball is about as rare as finding two divorced people who still get along. It just doesn’t happen. Usually, when a coach gets fired or leaves on bad terms, there’s a bloodbath. Ask a Kentucky fan how he/she feels about Billy Gillispie, and you’re likely to get a slew of curse words thrown your way. That’s why it’s so refreshing to read about how Iowa State and former coach Greg McDermott found a way to cut ties with each other and then find success with alternate paths. The Cyclones didn’t fire McDermott, but after a fairly unsuccessful tenure in Ames, he bolted for Creighton before things got really ugly. His old school hired a Cyclone legend in Fred Hoiberg and made the NCAA Tournament within two years, and McDermott found a cozy gig with a basketball-crazy program and now coaches his son (who happens to be an All-American) with good talent surrounding him. It could not have worked out better for either party.
5. Meanwhile, things are not working out well for Richard Hurd, the former Baylor basketball player sentenced to 18 months in prison. Hurd pleaded guilty in September for attempting to extort former Bears’ quarterback and current Washington Redskin Robert Griffin III. He told Griffin he’d release negative information unless the star NFL prospect gave him a million dollars. You’re not really allowed to do that under our legal system, of course, so he’ll spend some hard time in prison somewhere in Texas.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the SEC Microsite.

Happy Thanksgiving

1. Sporting News: Reading this convinced me that Brian Gregory may be exactly what Georgia Tech needs. He’s a very good salesman, which is crucial both for future recruiting and getting alumni and fans involved. The two go hand in hand as good recruiting leads to better teams which leads to more alumni support; likewise good alumni support leads to better facilities and more hype around the program and better recruiting. Give Gregory a couple more years and he’ll have Georgia Tech back in the conversation.
2. Washington Times: As more and more opinion pieces start to turn up regarding Maryland‘s move to the Big Ten, there are a couple of distinct themes: that the Terrapins made the no-brainer choice given the realignment climate, the athletic department spit in the face of tradition, or it was a necessary evil because of the department’s financial woes. This piece clearly falls on the side of the latter. More interesting are the demographics of groups on both sides: In general, current students and the athletic department seem to come down in the first camp, older alumni and fans of other ACC schools in the second camp, and a mixture of the two falling in the third camp. None of the other realignment moves have seemed nearly as polarizing amongst the fan base.
3. Indy Week: NC State has received a lot of hype this season — even after the ugly loss to Oklahoma State — but a lot of people don’t remember how the program faded to obscurity in the first place (at least as far as national titles are concerned). Through the 1970s and 1980s the Wolfpack were a top program in the ACC and the country, but the school forced Jim Valvano out in 1990 and the program never really recovered to that level under any of Les Robinson, Herb Sendek or Sidney Lowe.
4. Raleigh News & Observer: It should only be good news that Reggie Johnson is more motivated than ever, has lost weight, and is disciplined. But why are Miami and Johnson struggling to start the season? Johnson and frontcourt partner Kenny Kadji are off to very poor offensive starts. Kadji is turning the ball over far too much, and Johnson just can’t shoot with any accuracy. But in the long run both are proven commodities, and the Hurricanes should be much better than they’ve played so far.
5. Baltimore Sun: Kevin Coherd’s column about the Terrapins is cautiously optimistic, echoing Mark Turgeon‘s sentiments about his young team. It’s true this team is not a national contender just yet, but it could really rock the boat in the ACC if it can find some consistent offense. Alex Len already deserves any ACC Most Improved Awards we can find for him. Coaches like to spin things down a little at the beginning of the season to keep their teams as clean as possible, but Turgeon has a lot to look forward to this season.

EXTRA: DAILY RUMOR

Could the Big Ten be poaching another ACC (Carolina) blue blood as its 15th or 16th member?

1. Happy Turkey Day. What better way to escape the more unsavory members of your extended family and digest a few grams of sodium than by parking it in front of the tube for 10 or so hours of college hoops? The Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas has you covered, and Run The Floor compiled a very thorough primer to the event. Top-seeded Louisville takes the floor in the evening against a very prolific Northern Iowa offense that averages 1.25 points per possession and shoots 51.5% from the field, ranking them at the top of the field in both categories. Although the Panthers are 3-0, they’ve played dubious defense against a very weak schedule, spotting 81 points on 45% shooting at home to a 1-3 Toledo team that averages 62 PPG. It will be an interesting opportunity to determine if Louisville can generate enough offense outside of its transition game to overcome the most highly efficient shooting team they’ve encountered. It could also give fans some idea of what to expect in a future Louisville-Missouri or Louisville-Duke match-up later in the weekend.
2. This is subject to change, with several of the national leaders playing after the M5 was filed last night, but Nick Coffey at Louisville blog The Cardinal Connect points out that Peyton Siva is quietly leading the nation in assists per game. Siva’s nine dimes per contest is likely to taper as the Cardinals’ competition steps up, although it’s plausible he could continue producing at that level after he sustained a 6.0 APG through the last postseason against elite competition. It’s interesting to note that four of the nation’s top 10 assist leaders come from the Big East, with Anthony Collins (#4, 8.2 APG), Michael Carter-Williams (#8, 7.5 APG), and Tray Woodall (#10, 7.0 APG) all joining the Cardinals’ point guard (according to StatSheet.com).
3. Despite ultimately falling to Indiana in overtime of the Legends Classic championship game on Tuesday night, Georgetown’s performance in the Barclay Center this week earned them the adoration of pundits and almost assuredly a spot in the upcoming Top 25 polls. Hoya fans who had scoffed at the Shabazz-centric national coverage of Georgetown’s upset of UCLA in Brooklyn on Monday night were no doubt assuaged by the rave reviews of Otto Porter and company that circulated among major media outlets yesterday morning. Luke Winn wrote for SI.com that Georgetown had “established itself as a top 20 team,” and called Porter a legitimate first-team All-America candidate who had, on consecutive nights, “outplayed the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft (UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad) and the preseason favorite for the Wooden and Naismith awards ([Tyler] Zeller).” Despite the media praise heaped on Porter following the two complete games he put together in Brooklyn, he was puzzlingly left absent from the All-Tournament Team. Adam Zagoria yesterday pointed out the injustice that Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, whose squad went 0-2 in New York, earned tournament recognition in his stead.
4. Villanova’s blowout home loss to Columbia on Tuesday agitated a fan base already made anxious by Big East instability and the increasingly obvious importance of football to college athletics. Yesterday, Nova blog VU Hoops posted a history of Villanova athletics, and posed the question of whether the program that Rollie Massimino built can survive within a crumbling conference, without a major football program, and in an era when the national relevance of college hoops is dwindling. Author Brian Ewart presented a bleak outlook: “If that [Big East television] revenue source comes tumbling back to earth due to realignment and the basketball program continues to struggle, will the Wildcats be able to compete at a level that can earn 19 or more nationally-televised games as they have in the past?… Another disappointing season and Jay Wright will be worried about his employment status, but the Wildcats may not have the big time basketball brand or TV-money resources to find a big-time replacement.”
5. Filed under the truly bizarre and slightly horrifying is the promotional holiday video for Providence athletics, which comes to us courtesy of Friarblog: 
   
   At first glance, it’s a totally innocuous pitch to sell season tickets. A contemplative Ed Cooley is interrupted from humming Christmas tunes at his desk by a miniaturized Cooley, decked out in Santa gear, who somehow wordlessly reminds him to peer at some hockey highlights through the lens of a paranormal tree ornament. All well and good, nothing to see here. Upon closer examination, some sinister implications bubble to the surface. For example: Is mini-Cooley housed cozily in a snow globe, or is it more of a millennia-old spiritual prison constructed to keep humanity safe from his prehistoric bloodlust, a la The Keep? Cooley is initially dressed in run-of-the-mill coach garb, but when his psychedelic hockey highlight montage subsides, he grins suggestively at us, draped in the Santa outfit of his thimble-sized doppelgänger. What happened to Big-Cooley? Has some interloper summoned his malevolent double, thereby imprisoning Big-Cooley in the snow globe in his place? Can Bryce Cotton save the day? Can Evil-Cooley do something to speed up Vincent Council’s rehab?

We’re opting against news today in favor of just wishing everyone out there a truly blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Everyone has something to be thankful for, and if you’re like us, more than that. Take the day, sit back, put on the Battle 4 Atlantis, and enjoy yourself on this most American of holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Some quick thoughts from today’s first Maui Invitational championship game between Illinois and Butler…

Three Key Takeaways.

1. The Illinois Guards Played Like a Weight Has Been Lifted From Their Shoulders. The old joke goes something like this: Former Illinois head coach Bruce Weber happened upon a Champaign bank robbery a while back, but the suspects got away because he wouldn’t let the guards shoot. Hey, we didn’t make it up — we’re just repeating it. But regardless of the joke’s origin, the fact is that John Groce has unleashed the creativity and talents of his senior guards, Brandon Paul and DJ Richardson, as well as sophomore Tracy Abrams, in a way that we haven’t seen from these players previously in their careers. As a result, they’re confident and they’re producing — Paul was the MVP of the tournament, while Richardson was on all the all-tournament team. As Brad Stevens said about Paul in particular after the game — “he’s a big-time pro” — we’re finally getting to see what he can do on a regular basis. He averaged 20/4/3 APG over the three days — nobody was able to really figure him out.
2. Butler Struggles When It’s the Rotnei Clarke Show. It probably goes without saying, but in three games here in Maui this week, the Bulldogs were at their best when Rotnei Clarke was acting as distributor while also picking his spots to shoot. When he found open teammates tonight, the shots simply weren’t falling — there were several in particular with Kellen Dunham (0-9) and Chase Stigall (0-2) where it was clear that their legs just weren’t under them after three games in three days. Clarke finished with 27 points on 10-19 shooting, but at the under-four timeout, he had accounted for exactly 50% of Butler’s points. None of the other players who had been so effective in the North Carolina game — Khyle Marshall, Andrew Smith, Dunham, Stigall — were able to do much tonight. Without their contributions, Butler won’t win many games relying solely on Clarke’s shooting prowess.
3. Long-Term Prognosis of Both Teams. It says here that Illinois and Butler are both NCAA Tournament caliber teams, but they have obvious weaknesses that will be exploited during conference play. We’re guessing that the Illini have the higher ceiling, though. They’re not going to win the Big Ten without a legitimate big man inside (where have you gone, Meyers Leonard?), but the guard play should be enough to push John Groce’s team into the top of the middle of that league behind the likes of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. Butler is on a bit more shaky ground, though. So much of the offense needs to flow through Rotnei Clarke that the ceiling for the Bulldogs will largely depend on the ongoing development of players like Khyle Marshall, Andrew Smith and Kellen Dunham. The pieces are there for Butler to make a run at the top three in the Atlantic 10, but the margin for error seems considerably large this year.

Star of the Game. Brandon Paul, Illinois. Paul’s numbers were good — 20/3/4 assts — but it was how he set the tone from the opening tip that impressed tonight. He had an assist on a three and knocked down two jumpers of his own before the first TV timeout to help give the Illini a working lead of 13-5, and Butler never got the margin under five points the rest of the way. If he plays this way all year, he’ll be an All-American to go along with his Maui Invitational MVP trophy.

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Michael James is the RTC correspondent for the Ivy League. You can also find his musings on Twitter at @mrjames2006 and @ivybball.

Reader’s Take

Looking Back

• No Experience Necessary – For a league that doesn’t routinely grab players from the scouting services’ Top 100 lists, breakout freshmen are usually just lightly sprinkled around the league with only a few really contending for the title of Rookie of the Year. This year, however, the Ivies might need an All-Rookie Team. Harvard point guard Siyani Chambers has gotten the most publicity with back-to-back 14-point, seven-assist performances against Massachusetts and Manhattan, but he’s not the only Ivy freshman to impress. Yale’s Justin Sears has managed a workhorse-like 27 percent usage rate, while mustering an offensive rating above 100, and Brown rookie Rafael Maia has been a dominant interior presence for a team so badly in need of one. Cornell and Dartmouth have a pair of talented freshmen guards in Nolan Cressler and Alex Mitola, respectively, while Penn has two of its own in Tony Hicks and Jamal Lewis, who have played well aside from struggling to shooting the ball to start the season.
• Slip-Sliding – Sure, Yale blew a 24-point lead to Sacred Heart before losing in overtime, but that was about all Ivy fans could complain about after the first weekend, which saw the league go 7-1 with three road victories. Read the rest of this entry »