1. As expected, more details have emerged in the Jim Boeheim-Andy Katz “feud”, which came to a head last night when Boeheim called Katz an idiot and refused to answer his questions at the presser that followed Syracuse’s loss at Connecticut.  What was originally assumed by many to be an issue with Katz sharing some information about James Southerland’s academic issues now seems to be more about last year’s Bernie Fine fiasco.  Let’s hear from Boeheim: “It’s really simple. I went to New York last year to play in the (NIT Pre-Season Tip-Off) Tournament in November and he (Katz) asked if he could interview me about the tournament. And I said, ‘Yeah, but I can’t talk about the (Bernie Fine) investigation.’ We got in the room and he put me on camera — there were several witnesses there — and he asked me what I’d told him I couldn’t answer. I kept telling him, ‘I can’t answer that.’ And he asked me, like, 10 times on camera. He never took the camera off me. Two or three people in the room were so disgusted they walked out of the room. The producer came over and apologized afterward. And I told Katz right then and there, ‘Don’t talk to me. Do not try to talk to me again.'” Katz issued a response following the Syracuse.com article: “There was no deal. I don’t cut deals. He might have thought there was a deal, but I have never, ever made a deal… The reason I did that is because with guys like Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Jim Calhoun they’ll, say there’s a certain subject they don’t want to talk about and then they’ll talk about it. If I asked it one too many times, fine, criticize me. I was just trying to see if he’d answer the question.”
2. On the brighter side for Syracuse fans… err, maybe not so much after Wednesday night in Hartford… Michael Carter-Williams continues to grab headlines for his play.  Mike DeCourcy of  Sporting News went into depth with MCW about his high-risk, high-reward play this season, and how his scant playing time last season has helped in his maturation process.  Carter-Williams, like Dion Waiters before him, is a fiery competitor, and is has gotten the best of him in games before, including one instance last season when he snapped at Jim Boeheim after being taken out of a game: “Definitely, there were a couple of times when it got the better of me and I lashed out at Coach. Those were mistakes I made. Coach told me if I wasn’t yelling at him, he wouldn’t know what to expect from me. I was a McDonald’s All-American and I wasn’t playing … he knew I wanted to be out there.”  Carter-Williams’ play has been up and down this Big East season, but few deny his talent, and the fact that if Syracuse has a chance at making a final four run this season, it will be in large part due to MCW’s play.
3.  College basketball is wide open this season, and the Big East is no different. It seems like half of the league is still in contention for the conference crown, and no one knows what will happen once the Big East tournament kicks off at Madison Square Garden. UConn was never supposed to be in the discussion this season.  After being handed a full post-season ban due to APR issues, and losing a number of talented players from their NCAA tournament team last season, UConn was largely an afterthought in the league.  However, with the win over Syracuse, the Huskies sit just a game out of first place in the conference, and the team may be especially dangerous, as a regular season Big East title is all that they can play for this year.
4. Cincinnati’s offensive woes have been well-documented, especially since Cashmere Wright’s injury in January.  Sean Kilpatrick has been a one man show for the Bearcats, and that hasn’t been a winning formula.  In their recent win over Villanova, Cincinnati was able to find offense from another source: JaQuon Parker.  Parker averages 10.9 points per game for Cincy, but had been in a bit of a scoring drought before breaking out with 19 points against the Wildcats.  The significance of his contribution was not lost on Mick Cronin: “He’s got to stay aggressive and I’ve got to help him with that. Put him in situations to where he can be aggressive and he’s thinking offense.  He’s thinking attack. For us to win, he’s got to play that way. For us to be a high-level team, he’s got to be a double-figure guy.”
5. The ballad of Todd Mayo at Marquette has hit frequent rough notes, but he is a rare talent that could become a major asset for Buzz Williams’ squad if kept in check.  Mayo spent the early part of this season on academic suspension, and he has had his playing time cut at points since his return for what many expect is disciplinary reasons.  When Mayo does suit up, he is a dangerous offensive weapon, averaging over 17.5 points per 40 minutes played.  The trouble is, for every double digit game he tallies, he only plays five minutes in another.  There are rumblings that Mayo may not be long for Marquette, but while he is still on the team, they can certainly use him in their race for the top of the Big East.

1. Providence got 26 solid minutes from junior forward Lee Goldsborough and 25 points from Kadeem Batts as they pulled the probable upset of the week, beating Cincinnati 54-50 to wreck the Bearcats’ momentum. Goldsborough is seeing increased minutes because Sidiki Johnson left the team and the little-used junior made the most of them by making all three of his baskets, grabbing four offensive rebounds, coming through with a number of excellent defensive plays as well. We just talked yesterday about the importance of Cooley finding players who actually want to be at Providence and hearing Goldsborough describe the way he was feeling as “over the moon” it sounds like the Friars have at least a few players who believe in the program and want to help it succeed.
2. From the opposite perspective, this was a bad loss for a Cincinnati team that seemed to be finding its footing in the conference. The Bearcats’ offense was stagnant and listless all evening and coach Mick Cronin ripped into his team a little bit calling the loss “ugly” while also accepting blame for not getting the team ready to play. The Bearcats would have loved to head into their three-game home stand with a lot of momentum, but instead they let a vastly undermanned and disorganized Providence team jump out to an early lead and hold onto it in the second half. The team’s over-reliance on Sean Kilpatrick and Cashmere Wright for its offense is troubling and could be an issue when they play better teams. But for now they just need to make sure they don’t let this bad loss snowball and turn into a losing a streak that could knock them out of the conference race.
3. St. John’s held off a furious second half rally from Connecticut last night to secure a much-needed seventh conference win. With nothing to play for, the loss stings the Huskies less and the win helps the Johnnies remain in striking distance of the teams at the top of the conference. Moreover, the Red Storm did it all without their starting point guard, Jamal Branch, and responded well when they were punched in the mouth at the start of the second half proving that this season’s team may have what it takes to keep from folding and make the NCAA Tournament. Branch’s replacement, Marc-Antoine Bourgalt, may not have the same playmaking ability, but he did provide a surprising scoring bunch (11 points) and helped lead an all-around impressive defensive effort. Now the Johnnies will begin preparing for road games at Syracuse and Louisville this week with a little bit of a buffer in the standings.
4. After watching studs Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom leave for the NBA, everyone seemed to think that Marquette had an excellent team, they just weren’t sure who would step out from the pack and become to the go-to-guy. As conference play has got under way, junior guard Vander Blue has assuaged some of these concerns nicely. He had just 13 points in last night’s blowout win over South Florida but he has been a driving force offensively for the Golden Eagles. The once highly-touted guard has taken a few years to blossom, but his steady offensive presence and ability to defend multiple positions is one of the main reasons the Golden Eagles are surprising folks and sit close to the top of the Big East standings. It is indeed rather uncanny the way Buzz Williams develops one of these elite players every year .
5. The last game of the night featured Louisville overcoming yet another sluggish first half to cruise to a 20-point win over Rutgers. The Cardinals were lethargic in the first half and then, as they have seemingly done all year, they turned up the defensive intensity in the second half and quickly sank the Scarlet Knights’ potential upset bid. The Cardinals will be able to get away with this type of Jekyl and Hyde style of play against lesser teams like Rutgers, but that inconsistency is exactly the type of thing that could derail Louisville’s national title hopes. They showed in the second half that when they are focused, they are a runaway steamroller. But they aren’t always focused and running smoothly, so figuring out how to become more consistent should be top priority for Rick Pitino the rest of the way.

The season is entering the home stretch and the games are getting more important by the day. To reflect that, we are putting together a Monday Primer which will basically recap important things from the weekend and then look ahead at important games during the week. Hope you enjoy!

What Happened This Weekend

1. Villanova undid all of the hard work they did in back-to-back wins over Louisville and Syracuse by losing at home to lowly Providence. The Friars had only nine players available and the Wildcats still couldn’t capitalize, shooting 27 percent from the field and making just 2-of-15 three-pointers. They had a chance down the stretch when they tied the game up with less than a minute to play but Bryce Cotton hit a big three to seal the win for the Friars. The Wildcats are young, so inconsistency isn’t unexpected, but it seems pretty clear this is not an NCAA Tournament team.

After last week, this week it was back to a lot of this for Jay Wright (Photo credit: H. Rumph Jr/AP Photo).

2. Pittsburgh scored the big upset of the weekend and added a good win to its resume by pulling away from No. 6 Syracuse in the second half. This really doesn’t even count as much of an upset considering Pitt has no business being unranked given their efficiency on both ends of the floor, but it is still an important win for the Panthers. Pitt is basically 10-deep, talented, and coach Jamie Dixon has the team rolling as they are winners of five of their last six. If they take care of business tonight against Seton Hall, they should be in great position for the home stretch.

3. It was the same old story this weekend for DePaul, which nearly staged a tough second-half comeback against Notre Dame only to lose by eight points in overtime. The Blue Demons have lost six straight and have just one conference win. Its still just his third season but given the lack of overall improvement in the league standings, the seat under coach Oliver Purnell might be getting a little warm. His team may need to show some signs of life if the program is going to give him another year to right the ship.

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Is everyone still interested in Big East realignment? Good, because believe it or not, everybody’s favorite conference to leave is in the headlines again as it looks to add a 12th team to the roster, keep their name despite significant re-branding efforts, and negotiate the all-important TV package with multiple networks.

Commissioner Mike Aresco dished on a number of topics following a breakfast at a chamber of commerce, and he believes that conference realignment may soon be coming to an end, which is a relief to everyone who enjoys college basketball but doesn’t enjoy watching school administrators work the back channels to wrangle more money for their programs. When Navy joins the Big East in 2015, that will give the league just 11 teams, so adding a 12th team makes plenty of sense if they can actually find a suitable program. Boise State and San Diego State have both backed out on the conference to return to the Mountain West, and it is possible that the Big East will have to compete with the Catholic Seven – which should be gone after next season assuming they work out a favorable deal – if they are looking to add some of the better programs from the Atlantic 10.

Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco has his hands full with never-ending realignment manuevering. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Aresco says that he intends to keep the Big East name and stressed the importance of the conference “remaining geographically cohesive,” which is kind of hilarious because he followed that by saying the conference would not expand past Texas. Not sure exactly what Aresco’s definition of cohesive it is, but from our end, there is nothing cohesive about having Connecticut travel to play Houston or Southern Methodist University, but then again, we aren’t conference presidents, so what do we know?

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Seven Sweet Scoops  is the newest and hottest column by Chad Lykins, the RTC recruiting analyst. Every Friday he will discuss the seven top stories from the week in the wide world of recruiting, involving offers, which  prospect visited where, recent updates regarding school lists, and more chatter from the recruiting scene. You can also check out more of his work at RTC with his weekly column  “Who’s Got Next?”, as well as his work dedicated solely to Duke Basketball at  Duke Hoop Blog. You can also follow Chad at his Twitter account  @CLykinsBlog  for up-to-date breaking news from the high school and college hoops scene.

 Note:  ESPN Recruiting  used for all player rankings.

1. Tyus Jones Takes Unofficial To Kentucky. Last weekend the nation’s top junior, point guard Tyus Jones, took an unofficial visit to Kentucky for the Wildcats’ game against the Texas A&M Aggies. Despite watching Kentucky drop its fifth loss of the season, Jones still considers the Wildcats a top contender in his recruitment. Back in December, head coach John Calipari visited Jones twice in one week and has since developed a strong bond with the Apple Valley (Minnesota) product, who became the all-time leading scorer in school history on Tuesday. Including Kentucky, the 6’1″ point guard lists Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio State among his possibilities. While Duke looms as the perceived leader, Kentucky is going to make this a race to the finish.

The nation’s No. 1 junior, Tyus Jones, took an unofficial visit to Kentucky last weekend

2. North Carolina Conducts In-Home Visit With Justin Jackson. One week after performing in front of the North Carolina coaching staff, small forward Justin Jackson received an in-home visit with head coach Roy Williams on Wednesday evening. Jackson, who includes the Tar Heels along with Arizona, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Virginia and Washington, has held an offer from North Carolina since the completion of the AAU season. Ever since then, Williams has been on a relentless pursuit in landing the 6’7″ small forward out of the Homeschool Christian Youth Association (Texas). While the Tar Heels aren’t pushing for a commitment yet, they are however looking to get Jackson back down to Chapel Hill for a visit during the regular season. “We talked a little about a visit, like coming down for a game,” Jackson said. “We’ll probably try to figure that out sometime, but right now I’m trying to focus on the season.” For now, this is North Carolina’s recruitment to lose. Read the rest of this entry »

Brendon Mulvihill is an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

Conference season has leveled the playing field as the remaining unbeaten teams have all lost. The Big Ten schedule is proving to be an absolute gauntlet and the Mountain West is nothing to sneeze at. Both leagues have stellar games this week along side a few other notable match-ups from around the nation. Let’s get to the breakdowns:

#1 Louisville at Connecticut – 7:00 PM EST, Monday on ESPN (****)

• The Louisville Cardinals are moved into the top spot in the nation after losses this weekend by Duke and Michigan and a loss by Arizona earlier last week. Their first game as #1 will be no easy contest as they head to Connecticut in a tough Big East road match-up. The Huskies are coming off a significant win at Notre Dame, which rarely loses at home, but it looks like UConn has their number, as they account for ND’s only two losses at home in the last two and a half years. UConn guards Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier will be the focus of this game, as they face intense pressure from the Louisville defense. Up to this point in the season, both players have protected the ball quite well, particularly Napier who is only giving it up on 11% of his possessions. They must be able to handle the press however in order to give the team a chance to win this game. Also, keep an eye on UConn’s Tyler Olander. He went 8-9 from the field against Notre Dame going for 16 points and 7 rebounds. He will be surrounded by very athletic big men on Louisville. UConn needs him to produce against Gorgui Dieng and company to take some pressure off the guards. The difference in this game may actually be Louisville on the offensive boards. The Huskies rank 298th in defensive rebounding percentage. With the Cardinals throwing Dieng, Chane Behanan, and Wayne Blackshear at the glass on the offensive end, it’s going to be tough for UConn to prevent second chance points. However, if they can limit turnovers, they have a shot to win at home.

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Walker Carey is an RTC correspondent. He filed this report after Saturday afternoon’s game between Connecticut and Notre Dame. You can follow him at @walkerRcarey.

The beginning of this season marked the commencing of a new era for the Connecticut basketball program as for the first time in 26 years, someone other than Jim Calhoun is patrolling the sideline for the Huskies. Calhoun, who guided the program to national titles in 1999, 2004 and 2011, retired in September. Tasked with filling in the legendary coach’s shoes was former standout guard Kevin Ollie. Ollie, who served as an assistant under Calhoun for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, was initially given just a one-year contract. Aside from coaching with a one-year contract, Ollie also faced the fact that the Huskies are ineligible for the 2013 NCAA Tournament due to a poor academic progress rating. With a rookie coach in Ollie and uncertainty plaguing most of the roster, not much was expected from the team in the preseason.

Kevin Ollie Has UConn Focused and Ready (credit: CT Post)

Following last season’s loss to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, standout guard Jeremy Lamb left school early for the NBA Draft, thus leaving a scoring void in the Huskies backcourt. Junior energy guy Shabazz Napier and the ultra-athletic sophomore Ryan Boatright were tasked with replacing Lamb’s production. Other than Napier and Boatright, much of the Connecticut roster was filled with relative unknowns, so it was required for lengthy sophomore DeAndre Daniels and heralded freshman Omar Calhoun to grow up quickly and become a large part of the squad’s rotation.

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As our ACC brethren noticed earlier, the NCAA released its initial RPI ratings this morning and there is plenty to note. Of course the first thing to observe is that the RPI is not the most comprehensive metric for evaluating teams and should be taken with a grain of salt. But the NCAA still uses it and you will hear plenty about it as March creeps closer, so why not give some of our early impressions of the teams from the Big East and where they stand. Some teams such as Cincinnati, which checks in at No. 34, should be content with where they are, but others in the Big East might feel a little more strongly about the current RPI.

Who Should Be Happy

• Connecticut. They won’t have the NCAA Tournament to look forward to so I guess the RPI ratings are a moot point for UConn, but they should feel pretty good about landing at No. 27 especially considering they have just one marquee win (Michigan State) and a pair of solid non-conference wins (Wake Forest, Washington) while playing just one true road game. I think KenPom — who has the Huskies ranked all the way down at No. 61 — is closer to the truth when it comes to evaluating the Huskies. And after tonight’s tilt with DePaul, they play a difficult four-game stretch that could see this rating take a tumble quickly. Of course all of this speculation is worthless because the Huskies’ RPI rating matters not this season. Why did I just write that paragraph again?
• Marquette. Not far behind UConn is the team that beat them in overtime on January 1, Marquette at No. 31. The Golden Eagles should probably also be pretty pleased with their current standing since their best win is the one-point eyesore over Georgetown on Saturday and they have another eyesore that they lost to Wisconsin-Green Bay staining the resume. My guess is they probably weren’t dinged much for losing to Florida and Butler, both of whom are in the top 20 when it comes to RPI, and the Golden Eagles do have 11 wins which can’t be ignored no matter how ugly some of them have been. Marquette’s young team will have to hold up over the course of the conference slate, but if they can do that, they will be right in the thick of the NCAA Tournament discussion.

Despite Ugly Wins, Buzz Williams’s Team Is Sitting Pretty In The RPI Ratings

• Seton Hall. The NCAA’s RPI ratings work in mysterious ways sometimes and Seton Hall — a team without any impressive wins and one of the least-difficult non-conference schedules in the entire country — is an excellent example. The Pirates are inexplicably ranked No. 49, something I am sure coach Kevin Willard won’t complain about, and it’s not obvious why. I mean, they don’t have a bad loss on their resume yet, but their best win is a 71-67 squeaker over a middling Wake Forest team. The Pirates might have enough on their roster to earn bubble consideration come March, but the better bet would be that the conference schedule will help correct this issue in short order.

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Seven Sweet Scoops  is the newest and hottest column by Chad Lykins, the RTC recruiting analyst. Every Friday he will discuss the seven top stories from the week in the wide world of recruiting, involving offers, which  prospect visited where, recent updates regarding school lists, and more chatter from the recruiting scene. You can also check out more of his work at RTC with his weekly column  “Who’s Got Next?”, as well as his work dedicated solely to Duke Basketball at  Duke Hoop Blog. You can also follow Chad at his Twitter account  @CLykinsBlog  for up-to-date breaking news from the high school and college hoops scene.

 Note:  ESPN Recruiting  used for all player rankings.

1. Roy Williams Sees Andrew Wiggins For Third Time

If you’re a fan of North Carolina, you have to be extremely impressed with the amount of attention head coach Roy Williams is showing the No. 1 player in the class of 2013, Andrew Wiggins, as of late. On Thursday, Williams was in Huntington, West Virginia, to watch Wiggins for the third time this season. The recruiting efforts have essentially paid off for the Tar Heels for now, as Wiggins is expected to take a trip to Chapel Hill at the conclusion of his senior season at Huntington Prep (West Virginia). Including North Carolina, who has signed three top-100 prospects from the class of 2013 in Isaiah Hicks, Kennedy Meeks, and Nate Britt, the 6’8” small forward is also considering Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Syracuse. He has also already taken his first official visit to Florida State and has plans to also visit Kansas and Kentucky at season’s end.

North Carolina will receive an official visit in the spring from Andrew Wiggins

2. Junior Leron Black Backs Out of Baylor Commitment

For a number of underclassmen, the recruiting process can prove to be exciting for those that feel desired by a number of specific programs, thus leading to a quick and abrupt decision without carefully examining each and every option. Such was the case for Leron Black, the No. 11 overall ranked prospect in the class of 2014, who gave a verbal pledge to Baylor back in September after taking an unofficial visit to the school. On Wednesday, Black announced his intention to re-open his recruitment, citing that he made a rushed decision. John Martin of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal was the first to break the news. Shortly after backing out of his Baylor commitment, the 6’7” small forward out of White Station High School (Tennessee) had already heard from Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis, Missouri, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Baylor will still remain in the mix; however, the odds will not be in their favor to re-establish a commitment. This time around, Black will be much more patient and disciplined prior to making his final decision, as he will be one of the most highly sought-after juniors in the class due to his great athleticism and ability to finish around the rim. Read the rest of this entry »

1. After multiple attempts to pass a resolution that would allow student-athletes to get a stipend it appears that Mark Emmert is planning on proposing a “need-based” stipend at the NCAA board of directors meeting in April. When the initial attempt was made to provide stipends regardless of need the measure was easily defeated, but the inclusion of the “need-based” clause should at least provide Emmert and his supporters a more tenable position to base their argument off of as the schools will cite financial hardships in providing the additional assistance. Even though the proposal seems reasonable we have a hard time seeing the schools giving up any more.
2. Now that there conference is at the point of extinction (ok, they are beyond that point) the Big East is in damage control mode. The latest example is how they are explaining losing Boise State back to the Mountain West. According to Big East officials the decision was essentially made because they were unwilling to meet the same conditions that the Mountain West was in keeping Boise State: allowing teams to keep more money if they appear on national TV and unequal distribution of bowl appearance fees. It shouldn’t be a surprise that football is the driving force in Boise State’s move or that the Big East turned down what are ridiculous demands, but that won’t help ease the sinking feeling that Big East supporters are feeling right now.
3. With 2012 behind us Matt Norlander took a look towards the new year and has some resolutions for college basketball. While many of the suggestions are somewhat snarky (“The SEC should resolve to stop being so awful”) others are actually reasonable and worthwhile (thinning out the NCAA rulebook). Overall we think this is a pretty good list and if you combine it with some of the rule changes that John Infante suggested (linked to in yesterday’s M5) it would be a good place to start. For us our resolution for college basketball would be relatively simple–make the process more transparent so there is a less guessing about penalties. The NCAA does a great job with showing us how the Selection Committee operates, but we lack that clarity on how penalties are handed out. Obviously explaining the decision on penalties is much more complex, but giving the public more information would go a long way to reducing the distrust towards the NCAA.
4. It seems like programs and coaches often get blamed when their athletes get in trouble, but often times the problem lies with the athlete. That appears to be the case with former Seton Hall star Herb Pope, who was arrested on New Year’s Eve after allegedly pulling a gun outside of a bar near Pittsburgh after one of the people in his group had their ID rejected. Pope, who made national headlines nearly three years ago when he punched a Texas Tech player in the groin, rebounded to have an outstanding senior season and was playing for an Israeli team. We can only hope that there is something more to this story and that Pope is able to get his life together again.
5. Finally, a little hilarity to end the Morning Five courtesy of Karl Hess and company. At the start of last night’s overtime between Connecticut and Marquette, the ball was tipped to the Huskies leading to a play that resulted in a goaltend against the Golden Eagles except that the teams were going the wrong way. The basket was waived off and Marquette got the ball under their own basket with play resuming with 4:48 left in overtime in a game that the Golden Eagles eventually won 82-76. After the game the Big East released a statement stating that the officials had ruled incorrectly and the Huskies should have been awarded two points. It goes without saying that this may have altered the outcome of the game and is a poor reflection on the officials and the conference. On the bright side at least it did not hurt Connecticut’s postseason chances although it may come into play if Marquette is on the bubble on Selection Sunday.