1. There’s nothing necessarily new on the Myck Kabongo front, but Texas coach Rick Barnes gave a solid  and obligatory “no comment” to the media on Thursday. The NCAA is still investigating the possibility of improper conduct with an agent and his loss would obviously cripple the Longhorns. Barnes may have essentially said nothing about Kabongo’s situation and eligibility — “we won’t even discuss it,” he said — but we all know he’s feeling the pressure here. If Kabongo can’t play, freshman Javan Felix is next in line, but that’s a nightmare scenario. This team already must remake itself without last year’s star, J’Covan Brown, and remember, Barnes also has a roster filled with exactly zero scholarship upperclassmen. This team is built around Kabongo, and it is critical he suits up this season.
2. We’re not always huge fans of slideshows, but this list of the top 10 players in the Big 12 is good for a little preseason discussion. It differs slightly from our rankings, which we released more or less as a joke in October. Our lists share eight of 10 players, though, disagreeing only on Ben McLemore and Steven Pledger, who both still finished in the top-15 of our rankings. It’s interesting that their list considers Pledger the top player on Oklahoma, though. Sure, he’s the leading scorer and a fine shooting guard, but Sam Grooms averaged 6.0 assists per game, for pete’s sake — he’s the leading returning assists man in the conference. What’s a guy gotta do to get some love around here?
3. Goodness gracious. It’s another Marcus Smart article. This time, however, it’s absolutely worth your time. Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford praised Smart’s maturity for the 800th time this preseason, but this piece goes a little more in-depth into Smart’s life story. It discusses his family life, his personal tragedy, and his relationship with best friend and current OSU teammate Phil Forte. As solid a job as YahooSports‘ Jeff Eisenberg did with this story, it hasn’t blown up on a national stage quite yet — there are only five comments at the bottom of the page, and most of them disparage Travis Ford and threaten to fire him if he doesn’t win this season. Typical.
4. Travis Ford has other problems to worry about than the fans, though. How about the fact that he’s dealing with even more injuries? Brian Williams is out for the year, and now Michael Cobbins recently left an exhibition game with a toe injury. Plus, J.P. Olukemi and Philip Jurick aren’t playing right now. It’s not time for a widespread panic yet, of course; as Ford puts it, “Eventually, they’re all going to get out there and play, except for Brian.” Still, at the very least, it’s an annoyance for a team that cannot afford any more injuries.
5. Uh oh, Longhorn Network: You’ve got a competitor. TexasTech.TV is coming for you, according to an announcement by the school on Thursday. Seriously, though, this is actually a sweet deal for Red Raiders fans, especially those living out-of-state. The only problem is that it costs $9.95 a month, but that’s the way the world works these days.

In the latest edition of News That Probably Won’t Matter In the Long Run, Iowa State guard Chris Babb will miss the final exhibition game and the Cyclones’ first two regular season contests after coach Fred Hoiberg suspended him on Thursday. Big news, right? We’re just not sure how Iowa State will manage to fend off powerhouses Southern University and Alabama A&M without its shooting guard (although we should mention Southern is in fact a preseason SWAC favorite). At this point, we know very little about the situation other than the official tweet from Iowa State’s men’s basketball program. We’ll never know what the mysterious “violation of team rules” was, nor will we know how exactly Hoiberg will treat Babb during practice for the next few weeks. We do know he won’t suit up until the third game of the regular season against Campbell. Most importantly, he’ll be back in time to provide his top-notch defensive ability during Iowa State’s showdown with Cincinnati on November 23, as well as his team’s match-up with BYU the following week.

Chris Babb Won’t Miss Much Time For This Suspension (photo credit: Associated Press)

In the meantime, though, Hoiberg will have to find a way to replace Babb’s minutes. Remember, this team already lost backup point guard Bubu Palo earlier this fall after a sexual abuse charge, so Babb’s absence means more pressure on sharpshooting senior Tyrus McGee and Hoiberg’s wealth of freshmen guards. Korie Lucious may be all set to start at point guard, but other than him, there are question marks.

No harm, no foul for Babb, though. Babb will miss a few games, learn his lesson and make his grand return just in time for the meat of the Cyclones’ non-conference schedule. It’s probably not the best sign that a senior leader and important figure for this team got suspended before the regular season even began, but this sort of thing happens all across the country. Babb, who started all 34 games a year ago after transferring from Penn State, certainly isn’t the first guy to get in a little minor trouble.

1. Before his season-ending injury, Oklahoma State had figured Brian Williams would play the power forward position as a hybrid, guard-like wing in the frontcourt (as if that phrase makes any sense — you catch our drift). His loss certainly isn’t a good thing, but it’s opening up an opportunity for a more traditional lineup. Freshman Kamari Murphy looks like Williams’ replacement among the starters, which will add a true power forward thanks to his 6’8” frame and rebounding ability. As the article points out, Murphy is hardly the most celebrated newcomer for coach Travis Ford. However, as important as Marcus Smart’s point guard abilities may be to this team’s potential, Murphy’s play in the paint could be just as critical. Ford has plenty of big, physical guards, but he needs some big, physical forwards, too. Murphy fits that description.
2. Hopefully, you’ve dedicated your life to reading the Big 12 Microsite on a daily basis here at Rush the Court, which means you would not need to waste your time with previews like this. Still, even though we go waaaay more in depth with our season preview series, this little site called Yahoo! Sports has done a good job of breaking down the Big 12 in a nutshell. It’s hard to disagree with most of their preseason picks, but it’s interesting to read about Travis Ford on the hot seat. He has a lot to be excited about, but unless injuries ravage his team again, he’ll have no excuses not to win with this group. Ah, the life of a major college basketball coach.
3. Yahoo! Sports continued with its Big 12 preview by ranking the league’s top non-conference games. All this did was make us giddy for November 9 and the beginning of college basketball. Kansas/Michigan State tops the list, but we’re not so sure the Jayhawks’ rematch with Ohio State on December 22 isn’t a more notable game. The stars from that Final Four game have mostly moved on, but nobody in Columbus has forgotten the Buckeyes’ late-game collapse. Another fun fact: Texas Tech hosts Arizona (#15 on the list) on December 1 as a part of a non-conference schedule that does not include one road game. With the mess he inherited, Chris Walker probably wouldn’t have it any other way.
4. It’s hard to project exactly how a coach will divide minutes among his rotation, but this guy tried to figure it out for Bill Self and Kansas. We know Jeff Withey, Ben McLemore, Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford will play big minutes, but it’s hard to determine how the rest of the rotation will materialize. You’ve got to think Perry Ellis will overtake Kevin Young even after the latter returns from injury, but one thing is clear: Self has a lot more capable bodies this year as opposed to last year. Just look at all those freshmen at the bottom of the list. Self has options. Must be nice for a change — not that it mattered a year ago on KU’s run to the title game.
5. We’re sort of shocked when we read really solid team previews out there on the Interwebs, especially from sites we haven’t heard a whole lot about (wonder if outsiders say the same thing about us? Probably). But here’s a good look at what to expect from Texas this season. It’s not earth-shattering, of course. The Longhorns are young, they’re hoping Myck Kabongo can play, and they’ve got a lot of talented new parts. We’ll tell you all that in our Texas preview next week, but study up here so you can prepare for us to wow you. Or something like that.

For once, Travis Ford can take a deep breath and smile. After injuries and transfers marred a difficult and humbling 2011-12 campaign, Ford learned Wednesday that the NCAA has ruled senior wing J.P. Olukemi is eligible for the entire season as opposed to simply the first semester. If you’re wondering why exactly Olukemi originally could only play the fall semester, get ready for a tricky (late Halloween pun intended) and mysterious story. Years ago, he took a few junior college classes after his prep school shut down the basketball team, which unknowingly caused him to waste a semester of eligibility per NCAA rules. That’s why it appeared he may not be eligible for the second semester until the NCAA granted Olukemi and Oklahoma State a wavier on Wednesday. We’ve never heard of a scenario in which a player could not compete during the second semester — we’re used to dealing with players who must sit out first semesters after transferring — so it certainly was a bizarre circumstance.

The NCAA Helped Oklahoma State Out By Ruling J.P. Olukemi Eligibile

So congratulations, J.P. And congratulations to Oklahoma State, which lost Brian Williams to a season-ending injury earlier this preseason. Olukemi is perhaps the best athlete on a team full of guys who can jump out of the gym, and the Cowboys could have really used his abilities a year ago. This guy can not only leap like no other, but he’s also a handful to guard when he’s slashing and attacking the rim. He helps on the defensive end too since he can guard a variety of positions. Olukemi may not be a star, but he’s an all-around solid player and athlete with a higher ceiling than most. When Big 12 play gears up, the Cowboys will now have a bunch of big, physical hybrid guards and wings: Markel Brown (6’3”), Le’Bryan Nash (6’7”), Marcus Smart (6’4”) and Olukemi (6’6”). Now, if only Olukemi were a point guard, maybe Travis Ford would be able to rest a little easier at night. After Cezar Guerrero’s transfer, that’s the troubling position for this team, and it could be up to Smart to fill that duty.

1. Happy Halloween, college basketball fans! Want to hear a story you can use as your “trick” tonight as you’re gathering candy? How about this: According to an article in the Stillwater NewsPress, J.P. Olukemi had no idea he might be ineligible for the second semester until some kid at the student union told him about it earlier this year (you’ll need to scroll to the end of the article for this excerpt). If you’re not familiar with the situation, Olukemi has recovered from the ACL injury that stole his junior year and will suit up this month, but the NCAA has not yet ruled whether he can play an additional semester in 2013. After already losing Brian Williams to a season-ending injury, the  Cowboys cannot afford to also lose Olukemi after December. It’s too bad he had to find out the harsh news from some random dude on campus.
2. There may not be a more intriguing story in the Big 12 this year than Amath M’Baye. The Wyoming transfer could add a new element to Oklahoma this season, and he also has quite the life story. M’Baye originally hails from France, but he’s also played in California and, of course, the state of Wyoming during his early college days. His mother will fly in from France to watch Oklahoma’s exhibition game on Friday, and she’ll get to finally see the culmination of her son’s long road to Norman. If you need proof of M’Baye’s immediate impact, look no further than the fact his teammates already voted him a team captain.
3. Bruce Weber has to feel like a lucky man after inheriting such a solid and experienced Kansas State roster. After all, Illinois canned this guy, and he landed on his feet with arguably a better job. It’s interesting to observe how Wildcats’ players and fans are welcoming their new coach and reacting to his style. He’s always been considered a fiery personality, but he’s no Frank Martin, that’s for sure. As Will Spradling puts it: “Last year it was, if we made a mistake, we were on the line. We were running… This year it’s, ‘If you make a mistake, we’re going to do it right. We’re going to get it right. We’re going to do it as many times as we need to get it right.'” At least Weber won’t need to worry about toughening his guys up. Martin took care of all that — and then some.
4. Myck Kabongo‘s eligibility at Texas is the storyline of fall practice so far, but coach Rick Barnes isn’t saying much about the situation. Nobody’s saying anything at all, really, just that they hope the NCAA doesn’t punish him for improper benefits and deem him ineligible to play this season. It’s almost as though nobody wants to consider that scenario, because it’s pretty nightmarish. Actually, it’s quite Halloween-like. Just how bad would it be? Well, after already losing J’Covan Brown to the pros, freshman Javan Felix would have to start. Leading returning scorer Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis would still be around, and Barnes loves freshman DeMarcus Holland, but you’d be talking about some serious inexperience at the point guard position in a hurry.
5. Do you want to read another article about Marcus Smart‘s selflessness and maturity? Here you go. Our intention is not to dissuade you from believing Smart is the real deal. Quite the contrary, actually. We’re sure that Smart is a terrific basketball player and a terrific person, and we’re sure he has a heck of a future ahead of him. It can be funny to read article after article about his wise-beyond-his-years maturity, though. In this particular piece, Ford has more to say about Smart: “I have coached guys who have played extremely hard and have been as unselfish as Marcus is… But Marcus can go a whole practice without shooting and not care less. It’s easy to coach a guy like that.”

1. Jamari Traylor has Kevin Young’s broken bones in his hand to thank for his starting spot in Kansas’ first exhibition game, but he’ll use it as an opportunity to show his coach how valuable he may be during the 2012-13 season. Traylor often gets lost in the shuffle behind other KU freshmen like Ben McLemore and the veteran core of Jeff Withey, Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford, but he could play a major role on this team after a redshirt season a year ago. The early scouting report on Traylor is that he’s a monster inside and the kind of guy who will do anything and everything to tip a ball, grab a rebound, or make a hustle play. Young won’t be out long with his injury, but we’ve got a feeling Traylor will earn himself plenty of playing time this season regardless.
2. Kansas State has a lot of returning experience, but according to head coach Bruce Weber, that doesn’t necessarily equate to great leadership. Yet. He’s still searching for that bona fide leader, the kind of guy who can rally the troops and fight his way through adversity. Luckily, Weber has a couple of promising point guards in Angel Rodriguez and Will Spradling, as well as three seniors. Rodney McGruder is the best player on the team but he’s not the most vocal guy, whereas Jordan Henriquez — one of the league’s best defensive big men — could probably talk all day if you let him. It’s silly to worry too much from an outside perspective, though. Weber’s a good coach, this is a good team, and these guys will figure something out. By the end of the year, this won’t be a discussion anymore.
3. Oklahoma held its media day on Monday, and the players seem to be approaching this season with a completely different attitude. After tumbling in Big 12 play a year ago, the Sooners return a lot of individually talented parts but must find a way to bring everything together under Lon Kruger. It all starts with point guard Sam Grooms, the Big 12’s leading returning assists man. He says he’s already noticing how the added depth has helped the team, thanks to Wyoming transfer Amath M’Baye and a very good group of freshmen. Forward Romero Osby may have said it best: “It’s a new feel.”
4. A couple more news and notes from the Sooners’ media day: freshman C.J. Cole and junior college transfer D.J. Bennett will both redshirt this season, according to Lon Kruger — maybe that’s a testament to the depth Grooms talked about. Later in that article, there’s also an interesting tidbit involving a former Sooner named Blake Griffin. Perhaps you remember him. Apparently, Griffin’s first dunk after surgery back in September was over OU freshman Buddy Hield. “You can’t stop anybody like Blake Griffin,” he says.
5. We’ll have a Texas Tech preview coming your way later today, but we may as well direct you to CBS Sports‘ preview of the Red Raiders as well. There’s no harm in providing a variety of opinions, and this write-up gives a decent overview of what to expect from this program in shambles. No matter who’s writing the preview — CBS, RTC, or any other outlet — it’s hard to argue with the fact that head coach Chris Walker has quite a task ahead of him. This particular writer predicts Texas Tech to finish winless in the Big 12. That’s a bit much, but you get the point. It’ll be a long year.

Each day for the next two weeks, we’ll bring you the obligatory team preview here at the Big 12 microsite. First up, Danny Spewak (@dspewak) breaks down the league’s newbie: TCU. The Horned Frogs were not a unanimous choice among the Big 12 microsite writers to finish last in the conference, but we’re guessing we still won’t find much argument with this selection.

The Skinny

• 2011-12 record: 18-15 overall, 7-7 Mountain West
• Key Contributors Lost: G Hank Thorns, G J.R. Cadot, F Craig Williams
• Head Coach: Trent Johnson, 1st season
• Projected Finish: 10th

Trent Johnson Takes on the Biggest Reclamation Project of His Career

Trent Johnson has problems. The team he inherits in Fort Worth finished in the lower third of Division I basketball in almost every defensive statistical category in 2011-12. He has no proven scorers, no proven shooters and only a handful of experienced upperclassmen. It will not be an easy season for the TCU Horned Frogs, but that has nothing to do with the change in conference affiliation or the mystical power of the Big 12. This squad played in a league with four NCAA Tournament teams a year ago, and it knocked off three of those teams — Colorado State, New Mexico and UNLV — on its home floor. The Horned Frogs won on a neutral floor against Virginia in November, defeated Texas Tech at home (hey, it’s a Big 12 school at least), and played a total of five power conference teams before entering Mountain West play. And remember, that league actually finished above the ACC in conference RPI rankings and sat just two slots below the Big 12. The sudden move to the Big 12 will not cause a mass panic among TCU’s players. They’ve seen good players and good teams before. They’ve played at The Pit and in front of hostile crowds. The problem is not the Big 12 — the problem is simply Trent Johnson’s lack of overall play-makers and proven leaders. He made a splash earlier this month by outbidding Bill Self, Scott Drew and Rick Barnes for Class of 2013 prep center Karviar Shepherd, but that’s the future. Before Johnson can channel the success he enjoyed at Nevada, Stanford and during the early part of his tenure at LSU, he’ll need to build this program very slowly.

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1. Looks like Fred Hoiberg’s not finished taking Division I transfers. Former USC point guard Mo Jones announced this weekend that he will transfer to Iowa State, and he’ll gain eligibility next fall after sitting out 2012-13. Jones had no choice but to leave the Trojans after the school found him academically ineligible and coach Kevin O’Neill dismissed him from the team. He could have improved his grades and then re-applied to the university, but he’ll instead make a major impact in Ames with his superb defensive skills and quickness. Jones, who led an atrocious USC team in scoring a year ago, took almost all of his team’s shots and had to do it all with little to no help. He’s still a very effective point guard, though, and he played an important role on the Trojans’ NCAA Tournament team as a freshman in 2010-11. Hoiberg and the Cyclones are lucky to add another transfer of this quality.
2. Kansas may have a chance to develop its frontcourt depth early in the season now that forward Kevin Young has broken a bone in his hand. Young had surgery and will miss a few weeks, including both exhibitions and the season opener on November 9. Coach Bill Self said that he should be available for the showdown with Michigan State the following week, though. Until then, the injury could mean big minutes for freshman Perry Ellis, as well as an extra chance for Jamari Traylor and others to prove themselves and fight for more playing time down the road.
3. Jeff Withey may be a block machine for Kansas, but it’s easy to overlook a fellow center just down the road in Manhattan. Jordan Henriquez’s defensive skills are underrated on a Big 12 and national level, but he’s quietly becoming a centerpiece for Kansas State in coach Bruce Weber’s first season. He’s also a writer’s dream, the kind of guy who will say anything to anybody. Weber even calls him the “Mayor of Manhattan,” to which Henriquez objects: “I think there is a mayor of Manhattan, correct, so I don’t want him to think I’m taking his title because I sure don’t want to have the job he does.” Well said, Mr. Henriquez.
4. Oklahoma State is not an easy team to project this season, and that’s because it’s hard to tell just how good Le’Bryan Nash will be. On a team depleted by injuries and roster losses a year ago, Nash fought through a few difficult stretches but generally improved as the season progressed. Now, as a sophomore, that learning curve won’t be an excuse anymore. With Marcus Smart now taking the pressure off in the backcourt, Nash might be the key to this team’s success in 2012-13.
5. We’re a little late on this, but it’s too priceless not to mention. When all of the league coaches gathered at Big 12 Media Day, they looked like a collection of white-collar businessmen and lawyers attempting to secure a deal with a corporation or prosecute a criminal in a jury trial. We’re talking fancy suits, hundred-dollar ties, that sort of thing. Except for one guy. See if you can spot who was a little, well, underdressed at Big 12 Media Day.

There are many terrific things about our country’s democracy. The endless amount of political attack ads during election season are highly entertaining, our election results are actually legitimate, and our president flies all around the nation in a sweet airplane named Air Force One. The very best part about American democracy, however, is perhaps our nation’s open records laws. When you screw up or have information pertinent to the public interest, we’re there to call you out via police reports, court documents, and, as Penn State knows so well, e-mails.

E-mails Show Some Interesting Information Regarding Gillispie

That brings us to Texas Tech‘s men’s basketball program. USA Today‘s open records request of the university’s emails during the Billy Gillispie scandal reveals a few tidbits of intriguing material. Unfortunately for all you sadists out there, this isn’t the Freeh Report, and there’s no evidence of wrongdoing or mass scandal on the part of the athletic department, but correspondence between university officials sheds a little light into how the situation went down. According to the article, an assistant to the chancellor of the university forwarded articles from ESPN and CBS Sports to the Board of Curators, in addition to a personal letter from the mother of a 17-year-old who alleged verbal abuse from Gillispie. The most interesting aspect of these emails, though, deals with the practice violations.

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This was supposed to be a fresh start for Oklahoma State. A year after injuries and transfers derailed Travis Ford’s program and ruined Keiton Page’s senior year, the Cowboys’ 2012-13 roster looked healthier, deeper and significantly more dangerous on paper when practice opened more than a week ago. That’s why the latest injury to Brian Williams, who will now miss the rest of the season with a fractured wrist, is so discouraging for the Cowboys. The loss of Williams will not cripple this program, but the last thing Ford needed was to deal with another personnel problem. Consider this: In 2011-12, two of his point guards transferred before conference play, his best athlete (J.P. Olukemi) tore his ACL after 13 games, and Le’Bryan Nash and Philip Jurick also missed a handful of games. Ford played Missouri in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals with six scholarship players and a walk-on, and his team’s season predictably ended with an embarrassing 18-point rout.

Brian Williams Won’t Play This Season (Photo Credit: Nate Billings, The Oklahoman)

Brian Williams scored 21 points in that loss, by the way. Nash and freshman Marcus Smart headline this roster, but Williams was a projected starter on the wing. He’s a highlight-reel dunker with terrific athleticism and the kind of guy who could have created serious matchup problems against slower forwards. Instead, he’ll now take a medical redshirt and return as a sophomore in 2013-14, leaving the Cowboys praying even harder that Olukemi can gain eligibility for the second semester. In an odd scenario, he’s technically eligible only for the first semester right now, but OSU has appealed that decision and apparently believes it has a decent shot to win. Between Olukemi’s status, Williams’ injury and the mystery surrounding Jurick (he was arrested this summer on drug charges), it looks like Ford’s roster headaches weren’t exclusive to last season.