Projected Finish: 10th

2010-11 Record: 13-19, 5-11 (11th, Big 12)

Head Coach: Billy Gillispie, first season

Key Losses: John Roberson (14.1 PPG), Mike Singletary (12.7 PPG), Brad Reese (11.5 PPG), David Tairu (10.0 PPG)

It’s a fresh start at Texas Tech this season in every sense of the phrase. The school fired Pat Knight after a run of mediocrity, and the roster now consists of one returning starter from the 2010-11 team. The top four scorers are gone, and the program hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since Bob Knight led it there in 2006-07. So why the sense of optimism right now in Lubbock? It’s all for one reason: the hiring of new coach Billy Gillispie. After successful tenures at both UTEP and Texas A&M (and a decent two years at Kentucky that most other schools would accept), Gillispie is tailor-made for this job. At this point, his roster is bare: nine freshmen and only a few recognizable faces. The 2011-12 campaign may be difficult, but it won’t stay that way for long.

Gillispie Will Attempt to Rehabiltate His Image in Lubbock

The Stars: This team revolves around forward Robert Lewandowski, the only player on the team who averaged more than 13 minutes per game last season after starting 26 games. As the only senior on the roster, he’s also never been a primary scoring option. However, he’s a big, strong center with a decent defensive presence, and he’s a smart player who makes high-percentage shots. Plus, Lewandowski also lost 25 pounds this offseason, which means he’ll be significantly more mobile. The lighter frame should also help with his stamina, as he seemed to wear down toward the end of last year. He doesn’t fit the mold of the traditional “star,” but he’s got to emerge as the go-to option this season. If not, Tech’s going to have a heck of a time scoring on the offensive end.

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1. The New York Times reported on Monday that West Virginia is suing the Big East so that they may join the Big 12 for the 2012-13 athletic calendar. The schools cites that the Big East “breached its fiduciary duty by failing to maintain a balance between football-playing and nonfootball members.” Conference realignment has shown the dark side of college athletics, whether it be through lawsuits, political interventions, or questionable financial moves. It is funny to me, however, that somebody would sue somebody else just to join a conference that nearly everyone has written off as a “sinking ship.”
2. The San Jose Mercury News has an article determining the winners and losers of conference realignment thus far. They list Big 12 under the “winners” category, a decision that would have been highly criticized a month ago. The article goes on to explain that other than Cornhusker football, Nebraska and Colorado did not bring much to the Big 12, especially in terms of basketball. This is what is known as “addition by subtraction.”
3. In more Mountaineer news, the West Virginia Metro News discusses what does and what should excite West Virginia fans the most about joining the Big 12. It does not focus strictly on basketball, but it does bring up some great benefits of being a member of the Big 12, such as well-renowned opposing coaches, on-campus basketball arenas, and my personal favorite, road trips to Austin, Texas.
4. I’ll admit it, I’m a sports economics nerd. That’s why I’m including this Yahoo! Sports article. It reveals the rankings of average game attendance per conference, and leading the list is the Big Ten with 12,836 fans per game last season. The Big 12 ranks fourth, behind the Big Ten, Big East, and the SEC, with 10,716 fans per game. These numbers might surprise you, but remember that the Big 12’s attendance leader is Kansas with 16,436 fans per game at Allen Fieldhouse which represents 100% capacity. The SEC has arenas like Rupp Arena and Thompson-Boling Arena, both of which hold over 20,000 fans, while the Big East has the Carrier Dome, which has a 34,000+ capacity.
5. Lubbockonline.com has an article up discussing Billy Gillispie lauding of his coaching staff. Gillispie goes on to say, “I believe we’ve got as good a staff as you could ever have,” and brags on the diversity of his coaching staff’s talents. I’ve always felt like this was one of the most underrated aspects of a coaching staff, the diversity of it. It’s fine and dandy if you have four phenomenal recruiters, but when you have one guy who’s good at recruiting, one who’s great at scouting, one who cares about his players’ academic success, and one who knows how to teach the players… by meshing together under one system, that’s a recipe for a dynamic coaching staff.

1. Despite rumors that Missouri would withdraw from the Big 12 on Monday, the league’s Board of Directors meeting passed without an official decision last night. Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas told the AP that MU has not yet joined the SEC, but we’ll still keep an eye on this developing story over the next few days. For now, we’ll just have to deal with those top-secret sources and the rumor mill to keep us occupied.
2. Speaking of that rumor mill, the Kansas City Star suggests that the Notre Dame/Big 12 talk may be heating up. That would be an interesting scenario, though more so from the Fighting Irish’s standpoint. Apparently, a move to the Big 12 would require ND to also bring its national football program into the league. The Star published this article just weeks after a document mentioned the Irish as a possible candidate for the Big 12. Again, this is all speculation, but it’s pretty juicy stuff.
3. And finally, in your last realignment news of the day: West Virginia also appears to be a top target of the Big 12, and one league official is more than thrilled at that possibility. He’s so happy, in fact, that he issued the following quote, which deserves an entire block of text: “West Virginia has better football than Missouri, better basketball than Missouri, a better budget than Missouri and more passion among its fans than Missouri. They’re better, anyway you turn ‘em. The travel’s not good (to Morgantown, W. Va) but that’s it.” Tell us how you really feel, right?
4. If you’re interested in hearing some expert opinion on the upcoming Big 12 hoops season, check out this interview with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla. Even without Ron Franklin by his side, Fraschilla’s one of the best commentators in the business, and he’s covered the league extensively as a color man. He admits that Kansas and Texas are the two premier programs at this point in time, but he says the major graduations and NBA defections will open the door for the rest of the league this season. That’s hardly rocket science, of course, but Fraschilla’s got an interesting perspective on things. The interview is worth a look.
5. Billy Gillispie has probably had enough of the public eye after his tenure at Kentucky, but he gave a candid interview to the Associated Press about his troubles. Regarding his much-publicized alcohol issue, Gillispie said he “made some stupid decisions,” but he said getting back into coaching at Texas Tech has helped him cope. One of the most interesting things about this hire for Tech is Gillispie’s roots in the state of Texas as a successful former coach at UTEP and Texas A&M, and the article touches on this aspect of his hiring as well.

1. Here’s a story we’ll be sure to update throughout the day: sources have told the Rivals.com site for Missouri that the school will withdraw from the Big 12 sometime today. Wait, what? Unless these sources have bad information, it looks like MU will become the 14th member of the SEC. It’d be unfair to state the impact of that move in only a few sentences, so for now, we’ll leave you to deal with this shocking and breaking news. The second this information becomes official, you can bet we’ll have full coverage of everything.
2. At Big 12 media day last week, the league’s basketball coaches got a chance to answer these realignment questions. Texas coach Rick Barnes said he doesn’t “care in terms if [the Tigers] stay or go… If they think they can go elsewhere because it’s better for them, let them go, and we’re going to be fine because there are people out there that want to be here.” That quote from Barnes seems a bit intense, but other league coaches didn’t seem too worried. Scott Drew and Frank Martin both had nothing but terrific words for the state of the Big 12, and it appears neither cares too much about the impact of a possible Missouri departure.
3. Barnes also made a few interesting comments at media day regarding J’Covan Brown, saying he’s “emerged as the leader of this team.” It’s sometimes easy to forget that Brown did not even start for Texas last season, but that hardly matters. He’s a pre-season All-Big 12 player for a reason, and it’s his job to lead the young Longhorns to the promised land. With six freshmen to mold into men, his job isn’t easy, but Brown is more than capable. Although we often mention Thomas Robinson from Kansas as the obvious breakout candidate this year, Brown’s totals from 2010-11 off the bench were nearly as impressive.
4. One of the toughest teams in the league to peg is Kansas State. Without Jacob Pullen, what do we make of this team? The Kansas City Star has the answer. Coach Frank Martin and his players admit the dynamics of the team will be radically different without Pullen taking the majority of the shots. Perhaps that will even benefit Martin, who has proven in his time at Manhattan that he can mesh a collection of individual talent into a successful basketball team. Even without his star, pick against KSU at your own risk.
5. ESPN is in the midst of its league previews, and it just published a series of Big 12 articles with thoughtful analysis and breakdowns of each team. Most of the storylines have been covered extensively already, but it’s nice to read about every aspect of the league all in one place. The preview touches on every topic, from Billy Gillispie to Iowa State’s transfers to Kansas‘s chances of earning an eighth-straight Big 12 title.

The massive amount of alumni, donors and fans of basketball science who support Kentucky care very much about mathematics. In particular, the accumulation of positive numbers.

Two years ago they celebrated being the first school to reach the number 2000 in basketball wins. A few days ago they cheered loudly as they unfurled the fourteenth colored banner allowed to decorate the huge research lab of Rupp Arena. The program also celebrated the three days worth of intense computation that resulted in an increment of Southeastern Conference Tournament titles.  While elated with the progress, none of these are the specific answer desired by Kentucky Math fans. They want the ultimate answer: An eighth NCAA National Championship.

Kentucky’s researchers were making incredible breakthroughs in the 1990s. Dr. Rick Pitino used several years of research in Full Court Pressology to finally solve for six. Before he could apply the same formula to solve for seven he left for a professional position for a storied firm in Boston. Dr. Tubby Smith immediately used many of Dr. Pitino’s components but mixed them with Intense Defense Limits stretching from one to suffocating. The result: Seven. As time passed Kentucky supporter’s error tolerance level was reduced to near-zero and Dr. Smith took his research to Minnesota. Dr. Billy Gillispie‘s early theories were promising but his science unsound.

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1. The men’s basketball media day for the Big 12 begins this morning, but the women’s side produced some interesting comments yesterday. Baylor coach Kim Mulkey told reporters she would not schedule Texas A&M once it bolts for the SEC next year. She even likened the situation to a nasty divorce, saying “if it’s over, it’s over.” On the men’s side, Kansas coach Bill Self said a few weeks ago he would consider cutting Missouri from the schedule if it left the league, but he didn’t make any definitive comments like Mulkey. Although her decision to discontinue a series with A&M has no impact on Big 12 men’s hoops, it’s still an interesting thought to consider. Will Texas A&M’s Big 12 rivalries cease to exist? And if so, how soon will they become extinct?
2. Speaking of Big 12 basketball in Texas, new Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie called his program a “goldmine” today, an optimistic view on a team that consists almost exclusively of new faces this year. On one hand, he’s right — Tech has the ability to recruit the entire state of Texas, and it’s a school with a lot of resources and recent tradition under Bob Knight. However, it’s more of a challenge than Gillispie makes it sound. Tech has struggled to fill its arena at times, and it’s had a tough time competing with the top Texas programs for players on the recruiting trail. If there’s a man to get things done in Lubbock, though, it’s probably Gillispie. After all, nobody would have ever called Texas A&M a “goldmine” either, but he created a consistently solid program there — and we shouldn’t forget that he also did very good things at UTEP prior to that.
3. We introduced you to freshman Quincy Miller in our New Faces series earlier this week, and he’s certainly one of several stars for the Baylor Bears this season. However, it’s sometimes easy to overlook the impact of incoming point guard Pierre Jackson, who garnered his own column over at Big12Hoops.com. It’s essential for Scott Drew to get consistent point guard play, and Jackson’s one of the top junior college recruits for the Class of 2011 at that position. At 5’10” in stature, he’s not going to wow anybody physically, but he’s a game-changing point guard who dishes, dunks and scores. Look out for Jackson as one of the key pieces on this year’s squad.
4. Keeping with the blog theme, a Missouri blog broke down the program’s eight “awful” months of turmoil, dating all the way back to a collapse during Big 12 play at the end of last season. When you take the time to reflect on the Tigers’ struggles, it’s astonishing what they’ve been through. They tumbled to an 8-8 finish in the league after a promising Top 10 ranking during non-conference play, and then lost head coach Mike Anderson to Arkansas. After that, of course, Missouri made the unpopular Frank Haith hire, who in turn found himself at the center of a controversy dating back from his days at Miami. Did we forget anything? How about the Matt Painter miss? Or the Laurence Bowers injury? Boy, oh boy, it’s been a rough eight months in Columbia.
5. Haith can at least take solace in a new recruit, though. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported yesterday afternoon that center Ryan Rosburg committed to Missouri, giving the Tigers some much-needed bulk in the paint. He’s 6’10” and nearly 250 pounds, and he chose MU over Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Missouri State. His older brother, Andy, has already walked on to the team, so that’s also an interesting storyline to keep an eye on. Rosburg isn’t considered an elite recruit, but he should provide the Tigers with a back-to-the-basket option in the paint in coming years. A true center in Columbia? Believe it. These aren’t Mike Anderson’s Tigers anymore.

1. In yesterday’s M5 we mentioned that a poll of media facilitated by the Syracuse Post-Standard found that Syracuse and Connecticut were essentially viewed as equals at the top of the Big East this year.  Wednesday’s survey of Big East coaches at Media Day came to the same ultimate conclusion.  The Huskies had more first-place votes (seven) than the Orange (five), but more coaches chose SU second or third than UConn, which accounts for the difference.  Louisville received three first-place votes (Rick Pitino took shots at the votes too), while Pittsburgh received one.  The Panthers’ Ashton Gibbs was chosen as the preseason Big East POY, with UConn’s Jeremy Lamb, Syracuse’s Kris Joseph, Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom, WVU’s Kevin Jones, and Notre Dame’s Tim Abromaitis rounding out the first team.
2. Down on Tobacco Road, the ACC was simultaneously holding its Media Day Operation Basketball, and the proceedings generally read like a Carolina love-fest.  UNC received 57 of the 59 first-place votes from the media, and the Heels’ Harrison Barnes was a unanimous selection on the preseason all-ACC first team along with teammates Tyler Zeller and John Henson (incidentally, Luke Winn breaks down Barnes’ 2010-11 progression here).  The last time that a single school had three selections on the preseason all-ACC team was a decade ago, when defending national champion Duke brought back Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer.  In no surprise whatsoever, Duke was picked to finish second, with Florida State third.  The remaining all-ACC choices were Duke’s Seth Curry, Miami’s Malcolm Grant, and Virginia’s Mike Scott, with Duke’s Austin Rivers selected as the preseason ROY.  More on Operation Basketball later this morning on our ACC microsite.
3. We never contemplated a Wake Forest to USC pipeline developing, but if Jeff Bzdelik’s few talented players continue to get into trouble in Winston-Salem so that they ultimately transfer to Southern Cal, we’re sure that Kevin O’Neill will be happy to take them.  After Wake forward Ari Stewart transferred across the country in May to spend his final two years at USC, guard JT Terrell (whom Stewart hosted on his official visit to Troy) has also decided to re-surface as a Trojan.  Terrell is spending this season at a junior college in Washington, but the talented sophomore who averaged 11.1 PPG as a Demon Deacon frosh has announced that he will sign with O’Neill’s club during the early signing period in November.  Between Alex Stepheson (UNC to USC), Larry Drew II (UNC to UCLA), Travis and David Wear (UNC to UCLA), Stewart, and now Terrell, there’s something weird going on here.
4. Is Billy Gillispie ready to turn around the basketball fortunes at his third Texas destination in his somewhat short collegiate coaching career?  After very successful stints at UTEP and Texas A&M, followed by a disastrous one at Kentucky, Gillispie says that he’s sober and back on track at his new school, Texas Tech.  What was lost amidst all the chaos that surrounded Gillispie in his two years in Lexington is that he had completely rebuilt moribund programs in both El Paso and College Station very quickly, his teams employing a hard-nosed, defensive style that mimicked the coach’s somewhat infamous and notorious work ethic.  Texas Tech seems like a great fit for him not only because he’s back in his home state surrounded by his people, but the expectations and pressures at a school like TTU are incredibly tame in comparison with one of the nation’s flagship basketball schools.  Even during the Bob Knight experiment, getting to the Sweet Sixteen was cause for celebration.  It says here that Gillispie will do well in Lubbock.
5. We’ve already mentioned the heartbreaking story of Arizona’s Kevin Parrom in this space earlier this week.  Jeff Goodman caught up with him recently and the drive and fortitude that the Wildcat junior continues to show in the face of such adversity — losing his grandmother, his mother, and getting shot in the hand and leg in the span of several months — is nothing short of remarkable.  Rather than feeling sorry for himself, it’s clear in reading his quotes that he considers himself lucky to not only be alive, but also to have the opportunity to get an education on a basketball scholarship, something his mother made sure he put above all else.  And that, my friends, is what good parenting is all about.  Continued best of luck to Parrom as he works through these emotional and physical issues — we’re rooting for ya, kid.

1. St. John’s was dealt a major blow yesterday when the NCAA ruled that three of its prized freshman recruits–Amir Garrett, Jakarr Sampson, and Norvel Pelle–were ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the fall semester. This will be a huge blow for Steve Lavin, who was looking to build on his success last season with one of the top freshman classes in the country. St. John’s is planning on appealing to get the trio eligible for the spring semester, but the earliest that they could join the team would be for a practice on December 19 and see their first game-time action against Texas Pan-American on December 21. Of course, rumors have already started spreading about all three players exploring their other options while they await that decision. Until then, Lavin will have to try to make it through challenging non-conference schedule that includes a game against Arizona in the 2K Sports Classic in Madison Square Garden and a game at Kentucky with a young, but talented group of players.
2. It took almost a month, but Frank Haith has finally come out to (sort of) defend himself against the reports of wrongdoing while he was at Miami. In an interview with a local reporter, Haith denies any wrongdoing on his part, but states that he cannot explain much more including his relationship with Nevin Shapiro, the Ponzi scheme artist at the center of the controversy. Haith also claims that it has not affected his recruiting, but we will believe that when we see what kind of recruits he is able to lure to Missouri. Outside of potential NCAA sanctions against him (we still can’t believe the NCAA acted so swiftly against the players, but has not made any indication that it will punish the coaches involved) there is the looming concern about Haith’s job security at Missouri and that’s before they even evaluate his on-court performance, which left a lot to be desired at Miami.
3. As usual Dana O’Neil has come up with another outstanding profile piece. This time it is on new Princeton coach Mitch Henderson, who was the iconic image from Princeton’s shocking upset of defending champion UCLA in the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Henderson took the job after his former teammate Sydney Johnson (in the background of the image with Henderson leaping) left Princeton to take the same job at Fairfield. Fortunately, Johnson left his former teammate with a program that was in good shape, but Henderson will have to find a way to replace the contributions of departed seniors Kareem Maddox and Dan Mavraides.
4. Former Arizona coach Lute Olson filed a lawsuit earlier this month claiming that he lost a little over $1 million in the David Salinas investment scam. Olson was among the approximately 100 investors who lost a combined $39 million to Salinas and his partner Brian Bjork, but to our knowledge Olson lost the second biggest amount of any investor as only Billy Gillispie‘s reported $2.3 million loss exceeds Olson’s $1 million. According to the lawsuit, this loss has taken away a significant amount of the money that Olson had planned to use in retirement. Olson, like many others, was reportedly lured in by promises of low-risk corporate bonds with 9% yields, which any investor with even minimal experience would tell you is too good to be true. It is unclear how much if any of the $39 million will every be returned to the investors.
5. This year’s ESPN Tip-Off Classic had to be altered after Hawaii had cancel its Rainbow Classic after one of the participants pulled out leading the other two schools to follow suit. As a result Hawaii had to quickly schedule a game against Cal State Northridge to be played at 11 PM local Hawaii time. For Cal State Northridge, it is a huge break as the program is ineligible for postseason play due to its low APR score, but now they get to play on national television in one of the premier events of the regular season.

If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.

General News

• Bruce Pearl Expected to Receive “Show Cause” Penalty: Reports indicate that the former Tennessee coach will receive a multi-year show cause penalty. (A Sea of Blue)
• USA 86, Germany 83: “Team USA earned it’s sixth win of the World University Games tournament and secured fifth place with a three point win over Team Germany, 86-83.” (Villanova by the Numbers and The Daily Gopher)
• Billy Gillispie already causing problems at Texas Tech: Reports of multiple staff members leaving including at least one after an altercation with Gillispie. (Kentucky Sports Radio)
• Lakers’ Luke Walton to play assistant coach at Memphis during NBA lockout: “Walton was recommended by Memphis Tigers head coach Josh Pastner to become an assistant coach on his staff, a move that will go through barring any disapproval by the Tennessee Board of Regents or the school itself.” (Arizona Desert Swarm)
• Pittsburgh’s Non-Conference Schedule: A look at a fairly benign list of opponents. (Pitt Blather)

1. Although we focus primarily (OK, solely) on men’s basketball, we would be remiss if we did not talk about Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt, who disclosed yesterday that she was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition to announcing the news, Summitt also stated she intended to continue coaching her basketball team next season and for the foreseeable future. We are sure that many members of our audience have either had loved ones or interacted with individuals who suffered from this progressively debilitating condition. Like the rest of the college basketball community, we wish Summitt the best of luck in her battle with Alzheimer’s. Also if you are going to read just one column about Summitt today, we suggest this piece by Sally Jenkins in The Washington Post.
2. The day’s other big college basketball news also came out of Tennessee, but this time it came from the men’s program where it appears that recently-fired head coach Bruce Pearl will receive a three-year show cause penalty while three of his assistants will receive one-year show cause penalties. Outside of the penalties against these four coaches and the school’s previous self-imposed ones, the school got off with relatively little damage, including the football program and former coach Lane Kiffin. For new coach Cuonzo Martin this means that he has an opportunity to rebuild the program without having to deal with a significant amount of fallout from Pearl’s prior indiscretions. As for Pearl and his assistants, this means that they will have to be away from the game of basketball for a little while. Oh wait, the NBA…
3. It seems like the athletic department at Miami just can’t seem to catch a break. First there was Reggie Johnson‘s knee injury that will sideline him until at least the start of ACC play. Then there was the small matter of the ongoing Nevin Shapiro debacle. Now there is news that senior Julian Gamble may be lost for the season after tearing the ACL in his left knee. Gamble’s junior year numbers (3.8 PPG and 4.0 RPG) might not make this seem like a big loss, but in the context of losing Johnson’s huge inside presence, the injury to Gamble will make life even more difficult for new coach Jim Larranaga. The way things are going, Frank Martin must be feeling pretty good about being passed over for the Miami job.
4. If any coach in men’s college basketball is having a worse summer than Larranaga it may be new Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie. After being caught up in not one, but two high-profile Ponzi schemes, the former Kentucky coach finds himself in the news again after Sports by Brooks reported that he was already causing havoc within the basketball program in Lubbock. In addition to having several members of the staff leave the program, Gillispie was reportedly in “multiple, heated altercations” with an assistant, who eventually left. It is possible that Gillispie might just be the unluckiest guy in college basketball, but at this rate he may develop a reputation bad enough to make him untouchable, even with his stellar resume prior to his arrival in Lexington.
5. A number of big-time recruits in the class of 2012 announced that their “lists” had shrunk yesterday, but only one — Kris Dunn — is set to make a verbal commitment. According to Adam Zagoria, Dunn, one of the top point guards in this year’s senior class, is set to commit to Providence at a conference at 1 PM today. While this would be a huge pick-up for new coach Ed Cooley it is worth pointing out that the Friars also had a verbal commitment from Ricardo Ledo earlier this year, but he later backed out of the commitment, although Ledo is still considering the Friars in his new final five. The lesson here is that while you should be happy when a recruit commits to your school, don’t get too excited until he signs a letter or, even better, sets foot on campus.