1. After some initial uncertainty regarding the status of Cameron Biedscheid, Notre Dame granted Biedschied permission to transfer. As we noted earlier this week, it has been a rough week for the Irish who lost Jerian Grant to an academic issue over the weekend. Biedscheid, who took a redshirt just before the season started, was a top-30 recruit coming into school, but did not have a particularly impressive freshman season. News of Biedscheid’s intention to transfer leaked over the weekend, but then questions arose as to when and whether Notre Dame would grant the transfer request.
2. Some might consider it a little early to start debating the best conference in the country, but in some ways it might be the second best time to judge conferences since the remainder of the regular season will essentially be conference match-ups (the best time being after the season). As such, Matt Norlander’s analysis of the top conferences in the country using the RPI and KenPom rankings is somewhat instructive. Most of the findings are not too surprising for those of us that follow the sport regularly, but it is interesting to see just how bad some conferences have been (like the Mountain West and SEC) and how disappointing some other ones have been (ACC).
3. With Saturday’s massive intrastate match-up between Louisville and Kentucky looming, Sporting News took a look at the top 10 players from Rick Pitino and John Calipari (fair warning: they are both slideshows). Given their well-traveled coaching paths neither list is composed exclusively of Louisville and Kentucky players, but it is interesting although not surprising to see how heavily weighted Pitino’s list is towards Kentucky. Having said that it will be interesting to see how Pitino’s legacy in particular is defined in terms of his team association when he hangs it up. Given the arc of his career we suspect he will be someone like Larry Brown without a firm affiliation to one school.
4. When we saw the headline that Reggie Johnson was transferring from Miami we were initially very confused. It turns out that it was not about the rather large former center for the Hurricanes. Instead it was referring to the 6’1″ sophomore guard from Miami (Ohio). This Reggie Johnson is the second-leading scorer for his team at 11.8 points per game and states that he is looking for “great chemistry, a winning program, a place where I can excel and reach my full potential and of course a great education.” Although the other Reggie Johnson was probably a more desirable target this one should have a fair number of suitors with nearly two and a half years of eligibility remaining.
5. We have spent a fair amount of time on Twitter criticizing the breaks that teams (particularly professional ones) get from the government. It should not come as a surprise that other organizations get these benefits too, but the size of the benefits–particularly for a company like ESPN–may surprise you. According to The New York Times, ESPN has received almost $260 million in state tax breaks and credits over the past 12 years. We won’t get into the economic or political discussions regarding the reasoning behind this decision or the implications it has on the state government and economy, but we suspect that it might become a big debate whenever the next economic crisis hits Connecticut.

1. We hope all of you had an enjoyable Christmas holiday yesterday. Fortunately for college basketball programs across the country it was an uneventful day as the only news that happens for programs on holidays and it appears that players (and coaches) across the nation were on their best behavior yesterday. Today should be more of the same and in fact should be even quieter with no games scheduled today, but that will change later in the week (more on that later).
2. The only real college basketball action happening yesterday was in Hawaii where the Diamond Head Classic finished up. The big news out of Hawaii was Iowa State adding another quality win to its NCAA Tournament resume with a four-point win over Boise State. At this point, the Cyclones have a very solid top-10 resume and probably will end up there when the next poll comes out. On the other end of the spectrum we have St. Mary’s. Coming to Hawaii the Gaels were undefeated and a borderline top-25 team. Three games and three losses later (by a combined 11 points) they have just one game to rebound before a big showdown at Gonzaga on January 2.
3. With all of the talk about scoring and fouls one of the things that not many people have talked about is the number of players who have had big scoring nights. Matt Norlander took a look at that using a 40-point performance as the threshold and breaking it down by season, conference, and game location. The one thing that jumps out (other than the big drop-off in 40+ point games since the four-year stretch spanning 2005-2009) is how many of these games came in BCS-level conferences (ok, maybe not the Big Ten) since many people would expect these performances to come in more free-flowing, less physical mid-major games. Clearly, the BCS-level conferences tend to get more talented players, but that is not always necessarily reflected in scoring output.
4. We missed this over the weekend as we were traveling, but we remiss we did not mention the retirement of longtime official Ed Hightower, who officiated his last game on Sunday. Although Hightower’s final game was not a high-profile game (Iowa vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff) perhaps that is fitting as Hightower is one of the more well-respected high-profile officials that we can think of. Unlike some of his colleagues who are well-known for making specific calls Hightower does not have that type of reputation (ok, there are probably a few fans who harbor some resentment over random calls). As Dan Wetzel noted last week, Tom Izzo’s admiration for Hightower speaks volumes for Hightower’s work. Actually, we suggest you take a look at the comment section on Wetzel’s article, which might be the first time we have seen the comment section full of positive comments, to get an idea of the quality of Hightower’s work.
5. If you still have some more time with your family this holiday season, we suggest you use today and tomorrow to get your family time in. If today isn’t enough, you should have some time on Friday too with three ranked teams playing, but doing so against really weak competition. On Saturday, it is a completely different story with a solid slate featuring games between Villanova and Syracuse at 2 PM and Kentucky and Louisville at 4 PM. Outside of that there are several other interesting games to keep you occupied the rest of the day so you might want to invest compression socks because you might be on the couch for a very long time.

1. Since we are essentially at the end of non-conference play it seems like a reasonable time to assess some of the top freshmen in the country. We do this with the understanding that players can improve drastically in the second half of the year. It goes without saying that the most criticized member of this freshmen class–Andrew Wiggins–is also its most hyped member. As Peter Bukowski points out, some of that is due to Wiggins’ reluctance to take over games like he (presumably) can. When Wiggins has asserted himself (admittedly too infrequently for most people’s taste) he has shown the skill that still puts him at or very close to the top of every draft board out there. As for the rest of the top freshmen, they all have basically been as advertised.
2. Taking a step back from all of the NBA Draft talk, Kelli Anderson has been taking a look at the top candidates for this season’s Wooden Award. Although her list of candidates is not particularly remarkable, she does raise some interesting points about Marcus Smart‘s development. Smart’s point guard numbers (assists and turnovers) have been unremarkable as they do not show much change from last season, but Smart has shown growth in his ability to control the flow of the game more by himself rather than with the assistance of his coaches. While Travis Ford and other Smart supporters may have a point in today’s era of advanced metrics, Smart might need to show more statistical improvement before getting others to buy into him as a next level prospect along the lines of a Wiggins or Parker.
3. There is a tendency for many people to view the holidays as a time for celebration, but for others it is also a time for reflection. According to Mike DeCourcy the latter is something that new USC coach Andy Enfield has been doing recently. Enfield made national headlines as the affable coach of the Florida Gulf Coast team that captured the nation’s attention with Dunk City and leveraged those two wins into a better job at USC. Since arriving at USC things have not gone that smoothly for Enfield most notably with his comments that were published in Men’s Journal that set off a verbal then nearly physical war with Tim Floyd. Although we were more cautious on Enfield than most after his two-game stretch, we are aware of his ability to coach and hope he can use the lessons he learned over the past few months to make USC into the legitimate program that it should be.
4. By now you have probably seen quite a few variations of the “Can Wichita State go undefeated?” columns. As usual Ken Pomeroy has a slightly different take on it. Unlike other Pomeroy posts this one is based on a statistical fallacy as it looks at when the Shockers are likely to lose their first game based on how many games they have already won. The real utility of the charts are to look at how much Wichita State’s chances of going undefeated (at least for the regular season) improve when they get through specific tough stretches. At any rate, if the Shockers can build on their current undefeated record this might be useful to look at to figure out just how long they might go undefeated.
5. As you can imagine yesterday was a slow day for college basketball news, but it also allowed us to catch up on some stuff that we normally would not have gotten around to. One of those things was an excellent longform piece by Alexander Wolff exploring the world of 3-on-3 basketball. Most of us know 3-on-3 as a practice drill or more often a pick-up game, which is often devoid of rules, but the world that Wolff explores is one of FIBA-governed tournaments and individuals seeking inclusion in the Olympic Games. Now we don’t see the Olympics happening or it even becoming a NCAA sport since there would be too many issues with cannibalizing the current offering, but it is an interesting read into a different basketball culture.

Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Sean Moran, the RTC recruiting guru. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to discussing the recruitments of the top uncommitted players in the country. We also encourage you to check out his contributions at The Intentional Foul dedicated to recruiting coverage and analysis. You can also follow Sean at his Twitter account @Seanmohoops for up-to-date news from the high school and college hoops scene. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Note: Scout.com used for all player rankings.

The Next Brooklyn Star: Isaiah Whitehead

With an alumni list that includes Stephon Marbury, Sebastian Telfair, and Lance Stephenson it’s safe to say that Brooklyn’s Lincoln High has produced its fair share of talented and hyped prospects. Next up on the list is five-star senior shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead. At 6’4” and 200 pounds, Whitehead currently is rated the No. 12 player in the country and top overall shooting guard; however the Seton Hall recruit has seen his fair share of ups and downs over the past four years. Highly touted as Brooklyn’s next big thing when he entered high school, Whitehead was physically more advanced than most of his classmates at the time. While others continued to grow and get stronger, Whitehead hit a plateau. Despite leading Lincoln to a PSAL (Public Schools Athletic League) AA title as a junior, he entered the 2013 spring AAU season as a four-star recruit and the No. 8 shooting guard in the country. Playing for the Juice All-Stars, an AAU program run by his high school coach Dwayne “Tiny” Morton, Whitehead started off hot in April and never cooled off. He played on both the Under Armour and Nike AAU circuits, along with various camps and showcase tournaments. He averaged 16.3 points per game in Nike play while shooting 38 percent from the three point line and in each setting he came away with awards and accolades while steadily climbing up the recruiting rankings. In his last event of the summer, Whitehead received co-MVP honors in the Elite 24, a nationally televised all-star game played under the Brooklyn Bridge which featured numerous top players throughout the country.

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1. If you are one of those people who is vehemently opposed to the idea of tanking, Zach Lowe of Grantland may have a solution for you. According to Lowe, the NBA is exploring the possibility of what is essentially a lottery wheel. With this proposed system, teams would know where they would be drafting up to 30 years in advance of a specific NBA Draft. The numbers and the algorithms behind the wheel are beyond the scope of a Morning Five so we would refer you over to Lowe’s column for a discussion on it along with the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal. This certainly is not a perfect solution, but could serve as an interesting point to base further discussions about how to structure the NBA Draft going forward.
2. In this week’s Hoops Thoughts, SI‘s Seth Davis turns the tables and instead of looking at the freshmen as nearly every writer and fan has done this year he has decided to look at the top seniors. Reviewing his Senior Watch List it is apparent how many high-level seniors there are this season. We wouldn’t take this as an indication of a resurgence of upperclassmen, but instead as one of a short-term phenomenon as this year’s junior class is not particularly impressive. Still as Seth points out it is worth taking some time to appreciate this group of seniors.
3. If any college basketball coach could use a little holiday boost this year, it might be Ed Cooley. Having already lost Kris Dunn for the season to a shoulder injury, Cooley announced yesterday that incoming freshmen Brandon Austin and Rodney Bullock had been suspended for the remainder of the season. While unpleasant the news should come as a surprise to Friar fans as the pair had been suspended since November 6 for an unspecified violation of the school’s code of conduct. The school is not releasing any more information, but according to the local newspaper there are no state or local police complaints about either since they arrived on campus back in August. It is unclear if Austin and/or Bullock will stay or transfer, but they both will be allowed to practice with the team for the remainder of the season.
4. It has certainly been an interesting past few days in South Bend. On Saturday the men’s basketball team blew a seemingly safe lead against Ohio State. On Sunday, Jerian Grant announced that he was leaving the team this season due to an undisclosed academic matter. Finally, yesterday news leaked out that Cameron Biedscheid, who was said to be redshirting, was transferring or maybe not. Biedscheid, one of the most highly touted recruits that Mike Brey has ever signed,  had an unremarkable freshman season averaging 6.2 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1 assist per game before deciding to take a redshirt year this year with the announcement coming just before the start of the season. Early yesterday it was reported that he had asked for a release from the school, but it is unclear when the school would process such a request since it is officially closed until January 2. As Tom Noie notes, there is a chance that Brey could talk Biedscheid out of it by then, but it seems unlikely.
5. Finally with Christmas right around the corner, The Dagger has you covered with an assortment of college basketball teams butchering your favorite Christmas carols. While we can appreciate the effort and find quite a bit of humor in their attempts, we are pretty sure these will not be mentioned in the same breath as Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. Anyways, we hope you enjoy their renditions and have a happy holiday.

Another week of the college basketball season is in the books and if there was a theme of this past week, it would have been the setbacks suffered by several undefeated teams. The first team to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten was Pittsburgh, which suffered its first loss to Cincinnati on Tuesday at the Jimmy V Classic. This theme continued Wednesday when previously eighth-ranked and unbeaten Connecticut suffered its first setback at home against Stanford. Then on Saturday, previously unbeaten and 19th-ranked Massachusetts tasted its first defeat of the season when the Minutemen lost to Florida State. Similarly, Missouri and Saint Mary’s — each a previously unbeaten team that received votes in the poll last week — had their perfect seasons come to an end against Illinois and South Carolina, respectively. With only nine unbeaten teams now left (#1 Arizona, #2 Syracuse, #4 Ohio State, #5 Wisconsin, #8 Villanova, #9 Oregon, #12 Wichita State, #14 Iowa State, and Toledo), it will be interesting to see which among this group will remain unbeaten the longest. The quick n’ dirty analysis of this week’s poll is after the jump.

Quick n’ dirty analysis.

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This Saturday’s schedule may not shimmer like last week’s did – the face-off between Oklahoma State and Colorado stands as the only game featuring two ranked teams – but dig a little bit and you may like what you find. Or better yet, let us do the digging: Here are four storylines to keep an eye on during this sneaky-good Saturday of college hoops.

Phog Allen Fieldhouse Has Hosted Quite A Few Visitors Over The Years, But Never The Georgetown Hoyas. That Will Change On Saturday.

Two Storied Programs Meet In Rare Clash

Kansas and Georgetown may have both inhabited the upper reaches of college basketball’s hierarchy for quite some time now, but that doesn’t mean the two programs know each other especially well. Saturday’s meeting at Phog Allen Fieldhouse (12 PM EST, ESPN) will be just the third time the two schools have faced off, although the latest Hoya-Jayhawk matchup was quite recent, coming just two seasons ago at the Maui Invitational. Needless to say, the cast of characters (on both sides) has seen a massive overhaul since that game. While this one is worth watching for the pure novelty of the Hoyas’ maiden voyage to Allen Fieldhouse, there’s more at stake here than just a new twist on history. Kansas seeks to maintain the momentum gained in last weekend’s win over New Mexico, while the Hoyas, firmly off the national radar for the past month, find themselves with a nice opportunity to quell some doubts after a shaky first month. Rock Chalk meets Hoya Saxa – quite a way to kick off the weekend.

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Happy Holidays, everyone! Before we head into the crazy weekend before Christmas, we wanted to get this week’s RTC Podblast out. A quick look back at the top storylines from this week’s games and a preview of a sneaky good holiday weekend to come. As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts, and the complete rundown is below. We’ll be back on Monday with a Christmas Week Edition. Stay safe out there, guys.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record. And feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.