Brian Goodman is an RTC editor and contributor.

While Kansas fans get amped for what the immediate future brings when Josh Selby makes his long-awaited debut Saturday, the basketball purists who follow the Jayhawks received some pleasant news regarding the past of its program, and more importantly, the sport as a whole. Last Friday, longtime KU donors David and Suzanne Booth purchased the documents containing James Naismith’s original 13 rules of basketball at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for a cool $4.3 million. The final pricetag shattered the sports memorabilia mark of $3 million for Mark McGwire’s 70th (and now tainted) home run ball from 1998.

Unfortunately, Dr. Naismith's original rules don't address palming the ball or the need for a charge circle.

According to KU officials, the Booths, who donated funds in support of renovations to Allen Fieldhouse over the last five years, are working with the university to develop a plan to display the 119-year-old edition of the game’s rules at Allen Fieldhouse. The main entrance to the facility already houses several artifacts from Jayhawk lore.  Despite inventing the game, Naismith had a losing record as KU’s first head coach, with a 55-60 mark over the program’s first nine seasons. His grandson, Ian, was on hand for the auction as the former owner. He came to the conclusion to part ways with the historic yellowed pages to support the Naismith International Basketball Foundation, which serves to benefit underprivileged children, after the foundation fell on hard times due to the dwindling economy.  The plans for the big-ticket item, once cemented, will steepen Lawrence’s legacy as the birthplace of college basketball.

The relationship between players and fans has always been a delicate one. Fans by definition are fanatical and have mood swings that outsiders might view as worthy of institutionalization. They swing from highs after big wins to lows after closer-than-expected wins or, even worse, a loss. Historically, these relationships and the emotions that accompany sports have been arbitrated by sports media professionals who determine what interactions fans and athletes have. With the increase of social networking, and Twitter in particular, the wall created to separate fans from athletes has grown even thinner and may have disappeared in many cases. Typically, athletes stay above the fray with assistance from their coaches or athletic department. In some cases, however, those mechanisms of protection are not enough to prevent incidents from happening online.

One such example of that happened last night when Kansas State preseason All-American Jacob Pullen decided to vent on Twitter after he caught wind of the criticism being leveled against the team on various message boards following the Wildcats’ eight point victory over Loyola (IL) in a game that was not expected to be that close.

Fear the Beard: Pullen Calls out Wildcat Fans

While we can understand Pullen’s point of view, particularly after what was an emotional week culminating in what amounted to a homecoming game for Pullen, who had not played in his hometown of Chicago since he joined the Wildcats, we do not imagine that this series of Tweets will go over too well with Frank Martin when he hears about them. We suspect that when word gets back to Manhattan, Pullen will either have to issue an apology, limit who can see his account, or take down his account, a ban which would likely be extended to the entire team.

The media and fans have criticized the NCAA for years for the sheer ridiculousness of some of its rules and how it applies those rules. While everyone is aware of the NCAA’s decisions on players reportedly receiving payments before school like Enes Kanter or Josh Selby, and while in school like O.J. Mayo or Reggie Bush, there are also grey areas such as when recruits come as part of a package deal like that in which Michael Beasley was reportedly involved. Much has been made of the NCAA’s perceived uneven application of those rules and the glacial pace at which they have enforced them. The latest application of those rules that led Duquesne‘s men’s basketball program to report itself to the NCAA, however, should make even the NCAA’s staunchest defender cringe. 

So what exactly did Duquesne do that led it to turn itself into the NCAA? Donate shoes to American soldiers, according to Duquesne. Ok, maybe it is a little more complex than that. Technically, they donated shoes to a foundation run by Bob Starkman, the coach at Broward Community College, who then sent them to US troops in Afghanistan. So even though the shoes were sent to the US troops because they were sent to Starkman, a junior college coach, they were interpreted as a gift to Starkman, which would be a secondary NCAA violation. Here is the official statement from Duquesne via athletic director Greg Amodio: 

In an attempt to support our troops in Afghanistan through a program conducted by Bob Starkmann [sic], head basketball coach at Broward CC, the Duquesne University men’s basketball staff inadvertently violated an NCAA bylaw that prevents Division I institutions from sending athletic apparel/equipment directly to a junior-college coaching staff. Therefore, the Duquesne University athletic department has submitted a letter to the NCAA outlining the circumstances associated with this secondary violation. 

Seems like a straightforward case of the NCAA being ridiculously anal, right? It turns out the case might not be that simple. 

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The sports world gave up another one of its landmark venues to the way of progress today as The Philadelphia Spectrum felt the crash of the wrecking ball while several of the men who filled it with memories, including Julius Erving and Bernie Parent, watched the destruction from a safe distance. This 47-year old warhorse ends a distinguished career as one of the most versatile sports and music arenas ever built.

Living up to its name, The Spectrum was home to numerous Philadelphia sports franchises including the 76ers and Flyers. The Flyers won their first Stanley Cup in 1974 on the Spectrum’s ice, playing in the Stanley Cup Finals a total of six time while tenants of the place. The 76ers brought the NBA Finals there four times and won it in 1983.

Not Even Rocky Balboa Could Save The Spectrum Today

The Spectrum’s contributions to college basketball were enormous. The Spectrum served as the site for countless games between Philly’s Big Five teams, hosted several conference tournaments (usually the Atlantic 10), NCAA regionals, and even a couple of Final Fours. Indiana backers should feel especially mournful today, since the two F4’s that were held there were won by Hoosier squads coached by Bobby Knight. Kent Benson led the 1976 IU squad to a defeat of conference rivals Michigan in the national title game in the arena, cementing that Hoosier team’s place as the last college hoops team to finish a season unbeaten. Isiah Thomas was the MOP of the 1981 Indiana side that locked up the school’s fourth championship by beating North Carolina.

But if you’re talking about college basketball at the Spectrum, the conversation begins and ends with the game that requires no introduction. Kentucky fans, look away. Duke supporters, start caressing that 1992 championship trophy…

While we have no documentation of it, we would not be surprised to hear later that a small group of Kentucky fans who didn’t go to Maui this week were seen partying in a nearby cordoned area, toasting with champagne and bourbon and even bidding for the right to hit the switch that dropped the wrecking ball.

There’s one final note about the building that our fellow album rock fans will find interesting. On June 29th, 1977, Pink Floyd played a show there in which lead singer and bassist Roger Waters was suffering from terrible stomach cramps and had to have a injection of medicine — “just a little pin prick,” if you will — to keep him going through the show (it didn’t work, by the way). Waters eventually told Rolling Stone it was “the longest two hours of my life.” Later, he would use the memory of performing while sick and with the injected medicine on board to inspire a popular little tune called “Comfortably Numb.”

In that spirit, we hope the demolishers looked inside and asked “Is there anybody in there? Is there anyone home?” before they fired up the wrecking ball today. To The Spectrum, thank you for all you did for us — we’ll never forget you.

While this week’s CBE Classic will showcase some of the best players and top coaches in college basketball right now, the game paid tribute to a group of dignitaries whose contributions to the game over the last 70 years Sunday night.

Christian Laettner, David Thompson and Jerry West were among those inducted to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City. Laettner, who is still asked about his famous jump shot to beat Kentucky in 1992, left his mark as the NCAA Tournament’s all-time leading scorer and the only player to start on four Final Four teams. During his induction speech, Laettner recalled his connection to the game and to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.  “I knew he was passionate about it and I wanted to be a part of it,” he said.  Another of Laettner’s March records is a 21-2 record in the Big Dance, a mark that he says may not fall due to the trend of players leaving early and the overall competition that the NCAA Tournament brings.  “There’s a good chance that it won’t happen because the kids want to get to the big money so fast. You never say never, though. After we repeated (in 1991-1992) everyone said ‘no one will ever repeat again,’ and Florida did it.”

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Yesterday the NCAA held a teleconference featuring Gene Smith, the current Chair of the Men’s Basketball Committee, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, and Butler head coach Brad Stevens.  The media was afforded the opportunity to ask questions of the three in a structured format, and while we didn’t have a question ourselves, there were quite a few interesting nuggets that came out of the event.  Rather than simply posting the complete transcript, we pulled out the parts that we found most compelling for the sake of simplicity.  (note: entire transcript can be found here)

Three Big Names in the Sport Fielded Questions Yesterday

The line of questioning that perked our ears the most revolved around the longstanding RTC complaint that the regular season trickles out in fits and twitches rather than exploding onto the sports scene as it should.  All three interviewees in this teleconference agreed that such a thing is worth exploring. 

• Gene Smith:  [This was discussed as] a casual conversation we had in our meetings in New Orleans last week.  We were sitting around and realized that the games started, we were watching games.  We really thought it would be nice if we had, at the beginning of the basketball season, an event of some nature that brought attention and awareness right off the bat on the first games right away.  We’re blessed right now with the 24 Hours of Hoops Marathon just concluding.  While that was going on, there was a great deal of excitement.  In the first week, it didn’t seem to have the energy and excitement that we felt the start of the season should have.  So it’s really a discussion we thought we needed to keep on our radars as we move forward.
• Coach K:  I’d be in favor of that.  I think what happened yesterday was great for the game.  It actually felt like the start of the basketball season.  People watched those games, and they were great games.   We should have an official start to the season and not let it start from November 4th or 8th.  Nobody really knows when it starts.  To kick it off like that was tremendous.  That was a tremendous thing ESPN did. 
• Brad Stevens:  Yeah, I think it’s really good.  I say I’d like to see us play a little bit better when we open a place like yesterday.  But I think it’s a great thing for college basketball.  It brings awareness to college basketball.  I think people get excited about it.  Like Coach Krzyzewski said, people now know that the season has kicked off.  I think sometimes towards the waning parts of the football season, or at least the regular season, all of a sudden pops up a college basketball game.  It’s like, I didn’t realize that was going on. 

Let’s hope that the NCAA continues its recent trend of listening to its constituents — the schools, coaches, and the fans — and figures out a way to make something like a true season tipoff event happen.  Another area of inquirey that all three gentlemen addressed was how expanding the NCAA Tournament to 68 teams next year may impact the decision-making process of the Committee. 

• GS:   It’s really hard to speculate what that moment will bring for us.  Our policies and procedures on selecting and seeding and bracketing will pretty much stay the same.  We’ll move through our process.  Now, as opposed to stopping, we’ll go to 37 at‑large.  I just don’t see us changing anything.  I still believe there’s going to be that 38th and 39th team that feel they should have been the 36th or 37th team.  To my view, it will be a continued level of excitement from that perspective.
• BS:  It helps four teams.  I don’t know which four teams it helps.  I don’t know they’re in any given league.  I found it to be the case, I think they look at it really objectively and [Smith] addressed that.  What we try to do is we try to go out and schedule the best schedule that we possibly can, which in the coaching fraternity they call me crazy for doing that, so that we at least have a shot to qualify for the tournament in two ways.  At the end of the day it’s going to be the next four best teams, and certainly there’s going to be some arguments, there’s always going to be No. 69 and 70.  But four more teams have a chance to get in.  I don’t think it necessarily helps one program or another. 

The proposal that the NCAA recently deliberated involving a banishment of the summer recruiting period was also discussed, and perhaps expectedly, neither coach was in favor of this measure.

• MK:  First of all, I’d like to see legislation not put forward without input from coaches.  This summer the conference commissioners voted to get rid of summer recruiting, and there wasn’t anybody from basketball representing the game at that meeting, which sometimes is the reason that poor legislation is passed concerning our game.  We should always have a representative of basketball at committee meetings where they’re deciding things about our game.  Summer recruiting is essential for schools of all levels.  I think the amount of money that you would have to put into it if you didn’t have summer recruiting would be immense because you get to see so many kids during a short period of time in one area.  So it’s essential.  What we do with it, I mean, it should be a consensus with the coaches and our administrators as to what is best for our game.  You’re going to have to do something in the summer, there’s no question about it. […] If people would cut out summer recruiting, it would be a huge mistake.  Now, what we do with it, how we go forward, let’s figure out what’s in the best interest of our game, what’s in the best interest of all the schools involved.  You’re going to need to go out in the summer.  Kids are going to play in the summer.  You’re going to need to go out or else you’re going to have to deal with more people who have no restrictions.  They’re not answerable to any authorities as far as academic authorities.  Less access that we put in the early ’90s proved to be poor for the game.  To have further less access, you know, would be utterly ridiculous to do.  We should have learned our lesson from that.
• BS:   I’ve been in plenty of discussions with different coaches and people around.  I think the key, like Coach K said, is more access, not less access.  I think we all agree on that.  We certainly can’t eliminate the July period.  But if we can come up with a way to make it whether it means you have more access to juniors, you get more calls, whatever the case may be, then if you want to limit July or cut July back by a couple of days, add a weekend or two in April, have all kinds of scenarios that work.  But you have to make it so we can watch these games, watch these kids all in one place or at least in a few different places.  It’s very cost‑effective.  I think it’s the right thing for us to do.  I think it’s the right way to go.  I don’t think you can, again, I don’t know that 20 days is the right thing.  I think that’s a bit much personally because I think kids are tired, coaches are tired.  It’s well documented how unhealthy the whole month is from that regard.  If you could knock it back a couple days and add a couple days in April, I’d be all for it.

“The U.S.S. Izzo.” That’s not bad.

It might take a few more national titles, however, before the MSU head coach has an aircraft carrier commissioned in his name. But he might be showing up on your nearest Nimitz-class carrier (it wouldn’t be Gerald R. Ford-class, since President Ford went to Michigan) sooner than you think.

Please Pardon Us While We Do Missile Drills During Media Time Outs

It appears that the idea of playing a game on an aircraft carrier has been tossed around by the Michigan State athletic department for a while, and Joe Rexrode from the Lansing State Journal reports that there may soon be an announcement confirming that it will happen. The game would be against a major opponent (the article mentions North Carolina) and presumably take place on Veterans Day next year. It would be part of a doubleheader, with two of the service academies comprising the other game.

The article from the LSJ (which you should check out, linked above) also notes that the aircraft carrier involved would be, in fact, docked. As good an idea as this already is, we say go all the way and get that puppy moving, and put it through its paces during the game. We think there’s little that could better prepare your team for distractions or late-season pressure situations like shooting free throws while an F/A-18 Super Hornet takes off nearby, having your shot blocked by a Sea Sparrow missile, or the anxiety that comes with the knowledge that the floor you’re playing on has a couple of nuclear reactors under it.

Ray Floriani of College Chalk Talk is the MAAC correspondent for RTC.  He also travels all around the Northeast and occasionally files a game report when he can extricate himself from the clutches of the cheerleaders. 

Entering Sunday’s game at Seton Hall, new Big Red coach Bill Courtney, stressed two main priorities: avoid turnovers and keep The Hall away from the offensive glass. By halftime, the visiting Big Red trailed 50-35 and a big reason was the inability to execute what Courtney stressed. The Pirates went on to post a convincing 92-68 win at the Prudential Center.  Cornell committed nine turnovers in 41 possessions, a 22% turnover rate (20% or more is generally unacceptable). On the offensive glass, the Hall owned a 17-12 edge. More telling was the offensive rebounding percentage where Seton Hall enjoyed a monstrous 52%-19% gap.

Floriani Keeps Aging... But the Cheer Team Stays the Same Age...

“Outside of those two factors, the thing that bothered me was that we were passive,” Courtney said. “We opened at Albany on Friday (a 65-61 Cornell win) and as a young team we were very excited. Today we came into a Big East arena and were passive. We prepared but did not attack.”

On the flip side, another face in a new place, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, had concerns of his own. Seton Hall dropped a tough 62-56 decision at Temple on Friday. A day later. they watched about 90 minutes of film as a team. “We looked at what we didn’t do on the offensive end on Friday,” Willard said. “Justin Theodore especially paid a great deal of attention studying that tape. Today he came out and gave us what we are looking for.” Theodore did commit five turnovers but had a strong game overall: ten points, seven rebounds and seven assists in 22 minutes.  Another significant performer for the Hall was Jeremy Hazell. The senior guard led all scorers with a ‘quiet’ 28 points. Quiet from the standpoint that Hazell took shots (8 of 11 from the field) in the framework of the offense, didn’t force the issue and passed up opportunities to feed teammates with a better look.

“He (Hazell) has taken better quality shots,” Willard said. “He’s played terrific for us both games and really has been terrific all pre-season as well.” Jeff Robinson (16 points 10 boards) and Herb Pope (13 points 6 rebounds) also turned in solid games for Seton Hall.

Aaron Osgood led Cornell with 19 points. The 6’9 senior had 17 at the half and really used his size and positioning well to get to the line. But in one of the stranger stat lines, he was much more proficient from the floor than the charity stripe. Osgood shot 5 of 7 from the field while going 8 of 16 from the line.  With no one able to consistently help Osgood, the Big Red relied on a perimeter game. Not good news with a 5 of 24 (21%) showing beyond the arc. Both teams are now 1-1. The final tempo-free ratings – Cornell had 79 possessions and finished with an offensive efficiency rating of 86 while Seton Hall posted 78 possessions, finishing with an offensive efficiency rating of 118.

Former Seton Hall star center and 1994 NBA Draft pick Luther Wright signs copies of his book, A Perfect Fit

A quick off-court note – former Pirates star Luther Wright, who faced drug addiction and psychiatric disorders after his college career, was on hand to sign copies of his memoir, A Perfect Fit.

After opening with four games apiece on Monday and Wednesday night, college basketball really starts to pick up this evening with 16 of the top 25 teams in action including Georgetown traveling to play a tough Old Dominion team. By Sunday night, 24 of the top 25 teams will have played with Missouri being the lone exception, as they do not play their first game until November 18th. Even though there are only a few games that I would deem particularly compelling in isolation it will be interesting to see how the new pieces on these teams work with the returning parts.

We will have more about each day’s game with our Set Your Tivo feature, but in addition to those games you can watch on TV, we will also be coming to you courtside from nine games on RTC Live this weekend. Check back throughout the weekend for more (somewhat) instant analysis and join us on RTC Live for action from across the nation.

Friday

• Boston University at Northeastern, 7 PM – One of the early battles of Boston will occur in Matthews Arena as the Terriers come to play the Huskies, who will be significantly weaker this year after losing four of their top five scorers. Chaisson Allen and the Huskies will be tested against a promising Terrier team led by John Holland, the leading scorer in America East, who has support from a team that includes four transfers.
• East Tennessee State at #10 Kentucky, 7 PM on Big Blue Sports and ESPN Full Court – This game will be interesting if only for the reaction of the Wildcats and their fans a day after learning that Enes Kanter, whom many said would be the key to their season, would never play in a Wildcat uniform. On the other sideline, the Buccaneers will be without Tommy Hubbard, their leading scorer and rebounder. Ok, technically Hubbard will be on the sideline, but you get my point…
• Cornell at Albany, 7:30 PM – While the Great Danes should be improved with Tim Ambrose returning for his senior season, most of the college basketball world will be focused on the Big Red, who lost eight seniors, including Ryan Whitman, Louis Dale, and Jeff Foote along with their coach Steve Donahue, who headed to Boston College. New coach Bill Courtney will be relying on Chris Wroblewski as one of the few known elements of his team to help guide the Big Red in the early season while they try to establish a new identity.

Saturday

• North Florida at #5 Pittsburgh, 4 PM on The Big East Network and ESPN Full Court – We aren’t expecting this to be a particularly competitive game, but it will be worth following to see the co-favorites in the Big East (along with Villanova and Syracuse). The Panthers have one of the best backcourts in America with Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, and Gilbert Brown, but the success of the team could well depend on the interior play of Gary McGhee, who has been quiet so far this season.
• Harvard at George Mason, 4 PM – Jeremy Lin is gone, but Tommy Amaker returns with a solid squad–led by Kyle Casey and Keith Wright–that is good enough to win the school’s first Ivy League title. [Ed. Note: The Crimson are the only historic Division 1 program to have never won a league championship. And the answer is no, we do not count schools that joined recently in the discussion.] They will have their hands full, however, as they travel down to Fairfax, Virginia to take on Jim Larranaga‘s squad that is led by Cam Long and Ryan Pearson and could very easily end up winning the CAA.
• #23 San Diego State at Long Beach State, 7 PM – This game should be all about the Aztecs who return all five starters from a team that challenged Tennessee in a close game in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament last March. The Aztecs, who are led by sophomore sensation Kawhi Leonard, should challenge BYU for the Mountain West title this season, but Steve Fisher has higher aspirations for what’s certainly a Sweet 16-level team. Look for Casper White to make his mark for the 49ers, but the Aztecs should win this one fairly easily.
• Weber State at Utah State, 9:05 PM – An early season Bracket Buster match-up that might be the most interesting game of the weekend. The Wildcats will have the best player on the court in Damian Lillard, projected as a potential first round pick in 2012, but they will have to travel to Logan to take on a Aggie team that returns four of five starters but will really miss Jared Quayle as they have to break in a new point guard against Lillard.

Sunday

• Cornell at Seton Hall, Noon on The Big East Network and ESPN Full Court – Their second game of the weekend should be significantly more challenging for the Big Red as they travel to play a Pirate team that has a new coach in Kevin Willard and returns two stars in Jeremy Hazell and Herb Pope. We know what to expect from Hazell (shooting, lots of shooting), but we aren’t sure what to expect from Pope who underwent cardiac surgery in the off-season to repair a congenital abnormality. Pope looked pretty good in some exhibition games, but we expect it will be a while before he gets back to the level where he was last year. A year ago, the Pirates won a tight game over the Big Red on the road. Don’t expect this year to be as close.
• Princeton at #1 Duke, 5 PM on ESPNU – That’s right. We will be courtside for the opening game of Duke’s title defense. Nothing against the Tigers, but this should be one of those 40-50 point blowouts. Still, we will be interested to see how Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry fit into an already loaded perimeter attack for the Blue Devils that features Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler.

But first, you must travel.

A long and difficult road…

You shall see things wonderful to tell.

You shall see a cow on the roof of a cotton-house.

And oh, so many startlements!

I cannot tell you how long this road shall be.

But fear not the obstacles in your path

For fate has vouchsafed your reward.

Though the road may wind, and yea, your hearts grow weary,

Still…ye shall follow them.

Even unto your salvation.

–The Blind Seer, O Brother, Where Art Thou?

In mere moments, our beloved countdown clock at the top right will again touch down at the all-zeroes, and the 2010-11 college basketball season will have begun. At RTC we use the clock to count down to six different points of a season — Midnight Madness, the opening night tip, Selection Sunday, the first NCAA Tournament game tip, the Final Four, and the championship game. Tonight we will reset the clock for the third of those, and even though we don’t believe in summer breaks around here, with the opening tip tonight, RTC will officially have begun its fourth season.

At the risk of imitating the boilerplate-speak that ends just about any flight on any airline, we have to say this right now — we know you don’t have to come here. College basketball blogs spring up and fade away at a shocking rate. Though none of us (at least according to the folks down in RTC Human Resources) ever actually wore a tin foil hat and/or lived in a parent’s basement, this venture started with one guy and a old laptop, then two guys, then a third, then 35. This particular head of the hoops blog hydra has become a far different organism than we ever thought it would, and we know whom we have to thank for that. We would still probably be doing this if you weren’t around, but in our view this all amounts to just about zilch if you don’t tell us what you’re thinking, if you don’t do us the honor of participating in the conversation. Over the past four seasons, our comments sections (and Twitter mentions column) has hosted coaches, current and former players, fellow bloggers, professional sportswriters, TV presenters, and, most of all, general fans of this wonderful game. That last category encompasses all the others, and is therefore the most important one. No matter your name, occupation, level of sanity (we’re kidding), or socioeconomic status, no matter if you have something negative or positive to say , we hope you’ll keep coming back, and keep telling us your thoughts. Welcome to our fourth shot at this…and thank you for being here.

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