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!

#22 – Where An Unsung Hero 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.

The Big 12 debuted its new basketball identity on Wednesday in Kansas City at its annual Media Day, and there was plenty of personality to go around. That was no more obvious than when West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins stepped up to the mic for his question and answer session. Huggins, who coached at Kansas State during the 2006-07 season, was asked if his one-year stint in the Big 12 would help West Virginia’s transition this season. “I don’t know,” Huggins said. “I do know where to eat now, though.” On a more serious note, Huggins said he felt that West Virginia is a lot like the other schools in the Big 12. “We’re the state university,” He said. “We’re a land grant institution, we’re in a college town. We have a great venue to play in. We’re very much similar.”

Huggins added that road wins will be tougher to come by in the Big 12, whose more intimate venues are a far cry from the sometimes stale and large off campus arenas often found in the Big East. He was quick to add though, “I’ve always told my players, I’ve never seen a fan block a shot or score a goal. Some of them probably have committed fouls but they didn’t call them.”

One of those venues is Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, where Bruce Weber is also entering his first season in the Big 12 after accepting the head coaching job at Kansas State in the offseason. Weber was fired from Illinois after last season, where he incidentally had taken over for Kansas coach Bill Self in 2003. Self has dominated the Big 12 since his arrival at Kansas, so much that Kansas State Athletic Director John Currie asked Weber during his interview if he was up to the task of dealing with Self’s Jayhawks. “As a coach, you want that challenge, that’s the exciting part of it,” Weber said. “I hope we make it a rivalry. It’s obviously a rivalry, but we hope we can compete and have a chance to really get them worried about us also. So it should be fun. He’s done a great job, and hopefully we can compete with them.”

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1. The USA Today Preseason Poll came out yesterday, sign #217 that actual games are quickly approaching. As expected, both Arizona and UCLA were ranked in the Top 15, but the Wildcats ranked two spots ahead of the Bruins came as a surprise to most. It appears that more and more of the voters/national media are under the impression that Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson will miss significant time in 2012-13 due to the current NCAA investigation. Following Arizona and UCLA at #11 and #13, respectively, is Stanford, who comes in at #37 in the “Also Receiving Votes” category. The Cardinal certainly have the talent to be there, but seeing no California or Colorado along with those two was interesting. Be sure to check back later today as Kevin will break down the Pac-12’s involvement in the poll.
2. One of the top Class of 2013 power forwards will take an official visit Arizona this weekend. Aaron Gordon, out of Archbishop Mitty High School (CA), will attend the Washington-Arizona football game on Saturday before taking in the Red-Blue game Sunday afternoon. The younger brother of former UCLA and New Mexico star Drew Gordon, Aaron’s athleticism makes him the most sought after player on the west coast. He is most comfortable at the four, but can also score from the wing if needed. Gordon won’t announce his college decision until spring, but it looks as if he has narrowed down his choices to Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Kansas, and Kentucky. He will take an official visit to Lexington sometime later in the year.
3. Shabazz Muhammad. Kyle Anderson. Adria Gasol? The latter might not be as well-known as the rest of the Bruin freshmen class, but being the brother of Pau and Marc, he certainly draws interest. Gasol will walk on with UCLA this season, but it is unlikely that he sees any meaningful minutes in his first year with the program. The Dagger’s Jeff Eisenberg describes him as appearing “lost on the court” and “shows a serious lack of basketball fundamentals.” So, not exactly words that ooze Pac-12 basketball player, but he will be a fun story to follow throughout the winter.
4. Yesterday we told you power forward Marcus Lee would be choosing between California and Kentucky in the morning, and unfortunately for Pac-12 fans, the Deer Valley High School (CA) prospect is headed to the Bluegrass State. We knew things didn’t look good when Lee decided to forgo his visit to California this weekend after attending Big Blue Madness last Friday. Lee is the fifth member of John Calipari’s 2013 recruiting class, joining the likes of the number one point guard in the nation along with the top two shooting guards.
5. We’re back to the gridiron tonight with a sure to be entertaining Thursday night affair between Oregon and Arizona State, and that means it is time for Drew and I to renew our prognosticating battle. Drew has come all the way back to tie our competition up through seven weeks of play, so every game is even more important from here on out. Last week’s results leave both of us at 39-15. Below are this week’s picks, with our predicted scores for our game of the week in bold.
   

   Game	Connor’s Pick	Drew’s Pick
   Oregon at Arizona State	Oregon 49-21	Oregon 47-31
   Stanford at California	California	Stanford
   Colorado at USC	USC	USC
   Washington at Arizona	Arizona	Arizona
   Utah at Oregon State	Oregon State	Oregon State

“For the next four years I’ll be attending the University of Kentucky,” is a common phrase spoken by the top high school seniors these days. In fact, four top 25 recruits from the class of 2013 have committed to Kentucky in the past three weeks (two of whom used the same phrase). Most recently it was four-star center, Marcus Lee who chose to pledge his allegiance to the Wildcats on Wednesday. But in a revolving door of one-and-done commiments, what if someone actually did finish their eligibility at Kentucky? The recent pledges to play at Kentucky caused us to think about how dominant UK could be in that instance. Did Lee mean it? Not likely. But for John Calipari and the Cats, it is actually the young men who stayed past their freshmen year that have been the most influential.

Scout.com’s Evan Daniels views Lee as a prospect on the rise. “He grew a couple of inches, he got more fluid, he became a better athlete, he developed some on the offensive end,” Daniels said. “He’s a guy that I think can really impact a game with his ability to run the floor, his ability to contest shots, his ability to rebound. […] He has a lot of tools and there’s a lot to like about him.” Lee joins James Young and Andrew and Aaron Harrison in what could turn out to be the best recruiting class ever. With a fourth commitment in a span of several weeks, it is no surprise that many are already considering the Wildcats as the favorite to win it all in 2013-14.

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1. Oklahoma State head coach Travis Ford took media day to reveal that starting guard/forward Brian Williams has a wrist injury and is out “indefinitely.” Williams started 20 games for the Cowboys last season, averaging 9.6 points and 3.3 boards per contest. It’s not welcome news to a team that finished last year without Le’Bryan Nash (now ready to go), Phillip Jurick (progressing but not all the way back) and JP Olukemi, who practices but still experiences some swelling. I think they’re a top five Big 12 team overall but with the departure of Cezar Guerrero and the injury bug continuing to bite, this Cowboys team may not get off to the fast start it desires.
2. Staying with the Cowboys, an interesting subplot has developed with JP Olukemi and his eligibility for the season. As of this moment, Olukemi would be eligible to play for the fall semester ONLY. The story started five years ago when his high school, Stoneridge Preparatory in California, shut down halfway through the school year. According to The Oklahoman, the school’s basketball coaches suggested Olukemi go to a junior college in Indiana but little did he know that his athletic eligibility began and is therefore scheduled to run out at the end of this calendar year. Encouraged by the NCAA awarding Marshall University’s Marcus Tinnon an extra year in a similar situation, OSU is lobbying for the same for Olukemi. I almost feel for Travis Ford. This is his first chance in Stillwater to build a team of his own and it all could come crashing down around him.
3. The Oklahoma Sooners basketball team voted for its team captains recently and Lon Kruger announced the results of the voting at Big 12 Media Day. The captains are: seniors Andrew Fitzgerald, Romero Osby and junior Amath M’Baye. I’m surprised to hear the Wyoming transfer M’Baye was named a captain but maybe I’ve been understating his importance to the team. Between these three, Steven Pledger and Sam Grooms, I see the Sooners as this year’s edition of Iowa State. Lon Kruger’s proven to be a master of moving programs in the right direction .
4. Big 12 Media Day gave a chance for Rick Barnes to face questions about Myck Kabongo’s amateur status. Barnes claims he knows nothing about Kabongo’s trip to Cleveland but is cooperating fully with the NCAA investigation into the matter. The potential of losing Kabongo for any part of their season (because their non-conference slate is no cakewalk) would severely hurt their chances for a possible top three finish in the league or a high seed in the NCAAs. With all of the news coming from the Texas and Oklahoma State camps lately, this could be as unpredictable a year as any in the league’s history.
5. William Hill Race & Sports Books released their odds for teams who could win the 2013 national championship from 1 to 300-1. Some school with Dwight Schrute as their coach and two in-state rivals were pinned as the most likely to win it all in April but no one cares about them ’round here. According to the list, Kansas, Baylor, Texas, Kansas State, West Virginia and Iowa State all hold a 100-1 chance or better of winning a title. Since these aren’t pieces of scientific data (like KenPom), it’s easy to question any type of validity in these. I mean, come on, they have Baylor AND Notre Dame with the same probability of cutting down the nets in Atlanta. Doesn’t that just scream ridiculous?

Throughout the ACC preseason, the ACC microsite will release a preview for each of the 12 ACC teams.  Today’s victim:  Georgia Tech.

Brian Gregory’s first season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets was a struggle in more ways than one, although not all of this was due to things Gregory could control. Because of Georgia Tech’s renovation of the Alexander Memorial Coliseum to the new McCamish Pavilion during the season, Georgia Tech was forced to split its home games between the Atlanta Hawks’ Philips Arena (all ACC games and premier non-conference games) and the Gwinnett Arena in the suburbs (five non-conference games).  Being homeless, however, surely does not account for all of Georgia Tech’s struggles during the 2011-12 season. Paul Hewitt didn’t exactly leave the cupboard full of stars when he was let go after the 2010-11 season, and Georgia Tech’s best returning player, Glen Rice, Jr., battled disciplinary issues all season and was suspended for three games at the beginning of the season and six at the end before being kicked off the team in March.  Tech managed only a 4-12 finish in league play (with its only win of note a victory at NC State), and finished 11-20 overall (beating VCU, but losing to the unholy trinity of Kennesaw State, Mercer, and Fordham), polishing off their season by scoring only 36 points in the ACC Tournament’s first round against Miami.  Fortunately for the Yellow Jackets, things cannot really get much worse, and the team returns all five of its starters.

Newcomers

Georgia Tech adds five new players to its roster this season, and has Scout.com’s 19th-ranked recruiting class coming to Atlanta. Four of these players are freshmen, led by five-star 6’9” center Robert Carter, in addition to four-star 6’6” small forward Marcus Georges-Hunt, three-star 6’3” shooting guard Chris Bolden, and unrated guard Corey Heyward. They are all Georgia natives. Georgia Tech also adds Kentucky transfer Stacey Poole, Jr., who will become eligible after December 17. Carter, a top 25 recruit, should immediately compete for starter’s minutes with returning center Daniel Miller. The other players are likely to add depth and compete with the incumbent starters (none of whom were particularly efficient offensively) for minutes this season. Read the rest of this entry »

1. The first official preseason polls are out and there are three total B1G teams in the top five positions of the USA Today Coaches Poll – Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan. It should come as no surprise that Indiana has been voted #1 after all of the hype surrounding the Hoosiers during the offseason. It might be a little surprising, however, to see the Buckeyes ranked one spot higher than Michigan at #4. Both OSU and the Wolverines return three key starters, so the overall ranking is well deserved to begin the season.
2. Another update on the Jabari Parker sweepstakes – he will not be committing during the early signing period and probably will wait until December to announce his decision. Parker is scheduled to visit Michigan State this weekend and will visit his other top choices – Duke, Florida, Stanford and BYU – over the next few weeks through mid-November. Tom Izzo has been recruiting Parker for a couple of years now and will get a chance to convince him further in East Lansing in a few days. It will be very surprising if Parker stays more than one season in the college game but that might just be enough for him to make a difference at one of the five programs.
3. College hoops icon Dick Vitale is just getting warmed up around this time of the year. He announced his preseason “All-Solid Gold Team,” which is essentially his list of best players for the season and it includes several players from the Big Ten. Indiana’s Cody Zeller and Michigan’s Trey Burke are on the first team followed by Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas on the second team. Seniors Trevor Mbakwe and Brandon Paul made it onto the fourth team which may be considered a bit of a surprise but is not a complete shocker considering their scoring averages from their last season – 14.0 PPG and 14.7 PPG, respectively. Mbakwe didn’t play a full season last year due to an injury, though. Junior guard Aaron Craft was also on his list despite averaging only 8.6 PPG last season but he is arguably the best on-ball defender in the country.
4. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan has played a prominent role in Madison, both on and off the court. His record as a coach speaks for itself as he led the Badgers to several consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances over the years. Off the court, he is actively involved in the community and his most recent event is a “charity stripe” challenge to encourage the students to participate in raising money for cancer research as part of the “Coaches vs. Cancer” challenge. The event will be held at the Kohl Center on October 25 and $1 will be donated for every student in attendance. Ryan’s Badgers are ranked #21 in the USA Today preseason poll that was released yesterday. Despite losing Jordan Taylor who was an All-American guard last season, other Badgers are expected to step up, specifically freshman phenom Sam Dekker and point guard George Marshall.
5. After three official practices, Purdue head coach Matt Painter is very impressed with his newcomers on the squad. Returning wing DJ Byrd has been very satisfied with freshman A.J. Hammons during practice and praised his work ethic to improve his conditioning during the offseason. Painter thinks that the team is meshing well together and credited the four exhibition games on the European tour in August as one of the main reasons. The non-conference schedule is extremely important for the Boilers because they need several new faces to understand their roles on the team. Hammons is expected to be one of the primary options in the frontcourt along with sophomore forward Jacob Lawson who averaged 11 MPG last season. Redshirt wing Donnie Hale is also expected to contribute on the offensive end in addition to returning guard Terone Johnson (9.2 PPG) who will certainly be the primary scorer for Painter.

1. One of the best articles you will read this week is regarding the interaction between Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel and Lane Goodwin, a 13 year-old teen from Beech Grove, Kentucky, who is battling a rare form of cancer. The last few weeks have brought the “Thumbs Up For Lane Goodwin” movement on Twitter and Facebook that quickly gained interest among Wildcat players and the Big Blue Nation. With the endorsement of these high profile basketball players, it quickly spread nationwide as celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Tim Tebow, Anderson Cooper, and many others have also given a “thumbs up” for Lane. Yesterday, Twitter and Kentucky Sports Radio reported the tragic passing of Lane. The sudden loss of a teenager fighting a terrible disease helps remind us that not only there are more things to life than college basketball but these players do care about the community and will help out as much as possible for those in need.
2.  The preseason Top 25 USA Today Coaches Poll was released on Wednesday with Kentucky coming in at #3 with five first place votes, behind their neighbors Indiana and Louisville at #1 and #2, respectively. Florida was the only other SEC team to crack the top 10 (#10) while Missouri was the last SEC squad to be ranked in the poll (#17). Both Tennessee and Georgia were among the others schools who received votes, but neither was ranked in the Top 25.
3. Mississippi State guard Jalen Steele spoke extensively to the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger on Wednesday regarding the style of play and the content of practice for the Bulldogs early in the season. Steele stated that MSU has been focusing on defense lately and that a lot of the practices are physical, comparing the hardwood practices to the gridiron. In terms of style of play, new head coach Rick Ray wants “more dribble drive and creating more shots for people”, according to Steele. He also mentioned the increased respect given to the new head coach in comparison to former leader Rick Stansbury, who abruptly retired after last season. Stansbury struggled in the latter few years with commanding respect and obedience from his players, both on and off the court.
4. New Florida transfer Damontre Harris is already sitting out this season due to NCAA transfer rules but will have to spend even more time without practice because of a dislocated shoulder. Harris transferred from conference rival South Carolina after last season where he averaged 6.8 points per game on 55% shooting in 25 minutes per game. Once healthy, Harris will provide quality practice minutes against Gator returnees Patric Young and Erik Murphy in the post.
5. Texas A&M is preparing to host its Maroon & White scrimmage on Friday, October 18 at 8:15 PM CT. Head coach Billy Kennedy will have an opportunity to showcase nine returnees and seven newcomers to the Aggie faithful. The event is sandwiched in between a full sports weekend at A&M, including an important SEC football game versus LSU. Free food and drink will be provided by local advertisers and students of course are encouraged to attend.

1. Raleigh News & Observer: The media agree with the coaches. North Carolina State will enter the season tabbed as the number one team in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The preseason poll, of course, came out in conjunction with the ACC’s Operation Basketball, a media event where coaches and players meet with the press and face some very early judgment from the fourth estate. The last time the media pegged the Wolfpack to win the conference, it was the 1974-75 season.  Also like the coaches, the media picked C.J. Leslie as the likely player of the year and Rodney Purvis as the preseason rookie of the year. Though I’m sure Mark Gottfried and the Wolfpack know they will have to earn these accolades, it still must feel good for Wolfpack fans to ease up on the “no one believes in us” mentality that has defined the team in the past few seasons.
2. Sporting News: It’s not often that people can talk about how you have slimmed down and you still weigh 290 pounds, but that’s exactly what Miami’s Reggie Johnson has accomplished. The bulky center was over 300 pounds in the past few seasons, but he’s ready to face this campaign with more muscle and less pudge. Johnson’s sheer size has made him a force in the paint, but the addition of some muscle, strength, and agility means that one of the most physically imposing players in the league may have become quite a bit more dangerous. Johnson’s increased offensive prowess comes not just from physical improvements, but from a refinement in his skill set. Coach Jim Larranaga praises the ease with which Johnson finishes with either hand and notes, terrifyingly enough, that Johnson’s prowess at shooting the three may mean that the biggest center in the ACC might soon be hoisting bombs from deep.
3. Daily Press: Of course, Operation Basketball is not just about the individual coaches, players, and teams, but about ACC basketball as a whole and the plans the member schools and the conference commissioner have for the future. As it often is, one of the hot topics was the potential location of the ACC Tournament. Though John Swofford was quick to point out that future tournament sites would probably be much in line with what the league has done in the past, there were some intriguing possibilities to the north and the south of the traditional conference stronghold of Greensboro. To the south, observers have noted that Orlando and Miami are likely candidates for a future tournament. To the north, the leading candidates seem to be Pittsburgh, Washington, DC,  and, somewhat surprisingly, Brooklyn. The newly completed Barclays Center is apparently, while not an official candidate for this round of site selection, a possibility that the league seems excited about.
4. Washington Post: Though Operation Basketball is traditionally a day of easy optimism for most of the coaches in the conference, there is always the harsh reality that not every team can have a winning record. Sadly, Virginia Tech and new head coach James Johnson are more likely to end up on the bottom of the conference than near the top. Though the Hokies return a legitimate conference star in Erick Green, the team will only have eight scholarship players for the season, which is unfortunate considering that James Johnson favors a fast-paced offense and a pressure-focused defense. While both tactics are certainly workable for the Hokies, these tactics tend to be exhausting for players and are more typically executed by teams that count depth as a strength. It will be interesting to see how the somewhat mismatched available personnel and Johnson’s coaching style mesh in this coming season.
5. Wilmington Star News: Typically, this is the time of the year when lots of stories about the increased leadership of this or that player is having a positive influence on the freshmen and underclassmen who are still learning the ropes. These stories tend to be really similar and, unfortunately, kind of run together. The clear winner of this year’s “veterans help rookies” genre is the tale of Wake Forest senior C.J. Harris and his 2002 Jeep. Apparently, only three players on this year’s WFU team have cars, meaning that the younger Demon Deacons are constantly bumming rides and borrowing teammates’ cars.  This is a silly detail, but one that’s much more interesting and humanizing than stories about seniors teaching freshmen the value of practice.

1. Big East Media Day took place yesterday and produced some excellent quotes. Ed Cooley stole the show with his dry and profane take on the Big East landscape. In response to his team’s last-place ranking in the preseason coaches’ poll, the Providence coach told the media “I like when we’re overlooked, we’re going to bite some asses.” Cooley also articulated his recruiting philosophy ––“I love the ‘us against the world’ mentality. I want guys that are edgy, pissed off” –– and praised Vincent Council as “the best point guard in the country.” Buzz Williams contributed a colorful metaphor of his own when he described Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom as “a really good drug for us… we became addicts to what they gave us every day.”
2. The eccentric egos we’ve come to expect from Big East coaches were on full display when Rick Pitino and Jim Boeheim traded barbs at Media Day. Pitino, a vocal advocate of Big East basketball, downplayed the significance of losing Syracuse to the ACC, and wondered aloud “how many fans they’re going to bring to Tobacco Road.” After catching wind of Rick’s comments, Boeheim went off: “He’s full of s**t if that’s what he really said. If he was in the Big 12 like he wanted to be, he’d be saying the Big 12 is the best. That’s the bottom line…I’m really tired of him saying what Syracuse should be or should have done because they would have left in a heartbeat. Everybody knows it.” Pitino responded by reiterating his point that while they won’t replace the fan presence of the Orange, conference newcomers Temple and Memphis will bring comparable basketball quality to the table. He also quipped that “I think [Boeheim’s] full of s**t, so we’re both full of it.”
3. Speaking of Pitino, the Louisville coach heaped praise on interim UConn coach Kevin Ollie during interviews yesterday. He characterized the hiring as a “no-brainer” and said “there’s not a coach in the country Connecticut can hire that’s better than Kevin Ollie. He’s extremely bright; his players are going to love him. Technically, he’s very sound… Overachiever as a player, college and pro.” Learning of Pitino’s flattering comments, Ollie keenly observed “He still cut me [from the Celtics roster]. I wasn’t that smart.”
4. The Hartford Courant produced some thorough and nuanced coverage of Media Day, including a piece on UConn players being unfazed by low expectations, heading into the season ranked in the bottom half of the Big East. Said Tyler Olander, “[In 2010], we went from 10^th [in the Big East] to number one in the country. Preseason is preseason.” It’s a message of blue-collar work ethic that Kevin Ollie –– the consummate journeyman during his 13 seasons with 12 teams in the NBA –– is surely emphasizing heading into an otherwise bleak season with no postseason prospects. What’s becoming increasingly obvious in the aftermath of Jim Calhoun’s retirement is how much this Huskies team seems to adore Ollie. It will be interesting to see how the players respond with both their collective pride and their coach’s job on the line this year.
5. The same day Mike Aresco revealed that Madison Square Garden is extending its contract to host the Big East’s postseason tournament, the Washington Post revealed that the Verizon Center has placed a bid to host the ACC Tournament. The home floor of the Georgetown Hoyas, which had hosted the tournament in 2005, is an appropriate choice for a conference in the midst of northern expansion. But the idea of Syracuse and Pitt playing on Georgetown’s home court in the ACC Tournament also highlights the acute absurdity of conference realignment.