1. Part of the reason for Oklahoma’s modest improvement under Lon Kruger this season has been the play of point guard Sam Grooms, who ranks near the top of the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio. In a loss to Cincinnati last week, however, the junior college transfer faced his first major adversity of the season. Grooms and the rest of the Sooners blew a double-digit lead in the second half, mostly because they could not take care of the basketball. That’s the learning curve for Grooms right now, who can correct his mistakes by helping upset Missouri tonight in Columbia. It’s a tall task, but for OU to have any chance it must protect the basketball. The Tigers’ defenders are relentless, and hopefully Cincy was a tune-up for Grooms and his teammates.
2. Surprise, surprise: Thomas Robinson is your Player of the Week in the Big 12. With 30 points and 21 rebounds against North Dakota, it’s hard to deny him the award. Robinson has now won the award three times, and there’s no doubt who the new leader on this re-made Kansas team is. Robinson made 14-of-20 field goals last week in games against Howard and North Dakota, averaging 14 rebounds in those contests. All season long, the 6’10” forward has terrorized opponents, and don’t expect that to stop just because the competition is improving. He’s as good as it gets in this league… and around the nation.
3. John Lucas III is “famous” for a few things. First of all, he plays for the Chicago Bulls. And second of all, you surely remember him leading Oklahoma State to the Final Four in 2004. Still, it’s easy to forget that Lucas is part of Big 12 history in another way. He was originally at Baylor during the Patrick Dennehy murder scandal, though he said he had already decided to transfer before the incident due to playing time issues. That case is well-documented so it’d be silly to rehash it here, but it’s nice to see that Lucas’ basketball career turned out just fine.
4. Yep, you guessed it– here’s another Big 12 Conference preview article, this time from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Situated in the state of Missouri, this paper has a bit of a different outlook considering Missouri is leaving for the SEC after the season. From that perspective, it’s interesting to consider what could happen if the Tigers win the league in their final year. The article is also worth reading because that endlessly quotable Kim Mulkey comment was included — you know, the one with an analogy about divorce and relationships as it pertains to the Big 12/SEC realignment. If you haven’t heard what she said about Texas A&M leaving the Big 12, then click the link and get ready for a laugh.
5. And finally, we bring you a little bit of information out of Iowa State, where the Cyclones are gearing up for Big 12 play. Fred Hoiberg‘s team is still unproven at this point, and it just recently survived a two-point win over Mississippi Valley State. In that game, Royce White played just three minutes and he said he felt “dead” after the game. That’s how important the forward is to this basketball team. Melvin Ejim is another important part of this team, but after a stellar freshman season, he has found a new role on the bench. But he’s not having any trouble adjusting, especially after a double-double against MVSU. “I don’t mind. I think I’ve been playing well,” Ejim said. That’s got to be nice for Hoiberg to hear.

No matter how established the program, every college basketball coach eventually takes a chance on a transfer. Jim Boeheim, for example, plucked Wesley Johnson from Iowa State and turned him into the Big East Player of the Year in 2009-10. Tom Izzo and Mike Krzyzewski’s current rosters both include transfers with Brandon Wood (Valparaiso) and Seth Curry (Liberty), and in 1979, a former Indiana Hoosier named Larry Bird nearly won a title with Indiana State just a few years after quitting basketball (and Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers) altogether.

Hoiberg and Haith Are Recruiting Transfers Heavily to Their Programs

Normally, coaches take one or two transfers at a time to fill immediate holes, but that’s not everybody’s philosophy. Meet Missouri’s Frank Haith and Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg, a pair of coaches who have abandoned traditional recruiting methods at their new schools in favor of Division I transfers. Haith, hired in April to replace Mike Anderson, is using three open scholarships in 2011-12 on players who will not appear in a single basketball game this season by signing Keion Bell (Pepperdine), Earnest Ross (Auburn) and Jabari Brown (Oregon). Hoiberg, on the other hand, has four transfers on his roster in his second year with the Cyclones: Chris Allen (Michigan State), Chris Babb (Penn State), Royce White (Minnesota), and Anthony Booker (Southern Illinois). The two coaches have energized their fan bases by signing big names from major schools, but Haith and Hoiberg’s recruiting tactics cannot be accurately judged at this point. Iowa State’s Fab Four will begin Big 12 play next month, and Missouri’s three transfers will not all be eligible until December 2012.

Instead of speculating as to whether the two teams will suffer from dreaded chemistry problems with so many transfers, why not crunch the numbers to see if The Transfer Effect really exists? Although finding aggregate data for Division I transfers is virtually impossible, recent anecdotal evidence shows that the recruiting strategy is an enormous risk for both coaches. Seven teams from both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons welcomed three or more transfers to their programs at the same time, and only two teams (San Diego State and UNLV) finished above .500 in league play. Seton Hall, the only power conference team in the group, missed the NCAA Tournament.

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1. Perry Jones is back and he returned in style from a suspension last night, scoring 29 points in a rout of Prairie View A&M. Jones’ suspension for improper benefits dates back to last season (it included the Baylor‘s lone game in the Big 12 Tournament), but with the suspension behind him, Jones appears ready to live up to his billing as the league’s pre-season Player of the Year. Playing a cupcake schedule, the Bears did just fine without Jones during a 5-0 start, but the competition stiffens this weekend with a road contest at Northwestern. Baylor needs a sharp performance out of Jones to win that one.
2. Jones may have returned, but Baylor’s other star forward, Quincy Miller, did not play against Prairie View A&M due to a sprained ankle although the team reports that he will be ready for the Northwestern game. Hopefully, the Bears won’t have to deal with too much rust from Miller or Jones, or else they could be in for a long night against what appears to be a solid Northwestern team.
3. Northern Iowa and Iowa State play each other every year these days, but newcomer Chris Allen has a different relationship with the Panthers. The former Michigan State guard called Northern Iowa “that purple team,” in reference to the 2010 NCAA Tournament squad that lost to the Spartans in the Sweet 16. Allen will play an important role for the Cyclones as they attempt to defend their home court. In their one previous game against Missouri Valley competition, they fell on the road to Drake. There are only a few leftovers remaining from the 2010 team that defeated Kansas in the second round, but Allen said he knows “that they can beat anyone on any given night. I saw it happen.” Coach Fred Hoiberg has to like that attitude.
4. With so many newcomers it is not surprising that Texas Tech is struggling to take care of the ball. The statistics are staggering, though as the Red Raiders are close to dead last in Division I basketball in turnovers per game. The exact average is 18.7, and that’s “good” for 320th in college basketball. It is not just one guy either. Point guard Ty Nurse averages two turnovers per game (against only one assist per game). The rest of the team varies from about 1.5 to 3.0 turnovers per game. That has to improve for Billy Gillispie, but that goes without saying.
5. Nobody will question LeBryan Nash’s talent, but people are starting to question his attitude. Coach Travis Ford says not to worry about Nash’s negative body language, however. He defended his young star, telling reporters that Nash’s natural demeanor often gives fans a misperception of his actual work ethic and attitude. According to Ford, Nash hasn’t had any sort of chemistry issues, and he is fitting in with the team just fine. By all accounts, it sounds like Nash’s game will eventually come around.

1. First, some housekeeping notes on Thanksgiving morning: in an interesting move, the Big 12 will split up the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments beginning next year. The men’s tournament will stay in Kansas City, but the women’s tournament will move to Dallas in 2013 and Oklahoma City in 2014. After that, it is anybody’s guess as to where the league holds its tournaments. It seems, however, that the departure of Missouri may have something to do with the women’s tournaments moving away from KC.
2. The Oklahoma State men’s team didn’t fare very well in a blowout loss to Stanford at Madison Square Garden last night, but basketball isn’t on anybody’s mind at OSU right now. ESPN caught up with coach Travis Ford about the tragedy in the women’s basketball program, and it is an article worth reading. As you may expect, Ford and the late Kurt Budke were good friends, sharing a bond as head coaches of Oklahoma State basketball teams. Although Ford would probably never admit it, the plane crash has to be a distraction right now for the Cowboys.
3. There are still a lot of question marks surrounding Iowa State, but freshman Royce White has responded to the critics so far with a brilliant early-season performance. As The Gazette details, White has put his legal issues at Minnesota behind him, and he has emerged as a new player and a new man in Ames. Fred Hoiberg could really use White’s production this season in the frontcourt, so it’s important that he continue to progress as a Cyclone.
4. After Missouri dismantled both Notre Dame and California in the CBE Classic, CBS’s Jeff Goodman asked the Tigers what’s so different about new coach Frank Haith. Kim English, who looks revitalized after a subpar junior year, says he’s got more freedom. He says he trusts Haith’s system and that the offense flows a little better than it did under Mike Anderson. Whatever Haith is doing is working: Missouri tallied 30 assists in those two victories in the CBE Classic. Part of it may be Haith’s more structured half-court offense, which features a lot of pick-and-roll and gets the ball in point guard Phil Pressey‘s hands. However, a lot of the credit has to simply go to the players, who are playing more unselfishly and are passing as well as anybody in college basketball right now.
5. It hasn’t been a banner week for Texas, which dropped two games to Oregon State and North Carolina State in the Legends Classic. The Longhorns are young, and they will probably look drastically different by February, but there is still clearly a lot of work to do. Luckily, the guys at Burnt Orange Nation are here to break everything down for us. If you’re interested in determining which offense Rick Barnes ran most frequently in the tournament, these are your guys. And if you want to know about every statistic known to man, these are your guys, too. Bottom line: for all things Texas basketball, check out that post.

1. After the stunning plane crash at Oklahoma State last week, the school gathered on Monday to honor the four people killed in the accident, including women’s basketball coaches Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna. To give you an idea of how the event impacted the campus, OSU actually decided to cancel classes during the memorial to encourage students to attend. Given what the school had deal with a decade ago when a similar plane crash affected the men’s basketball program, last week’s tragedy hit especially close to home for many members of the OSU community. Our condolences to the victims’ families and the entire OSU program.
2. In lighter Oklahoma State news, legendary coach Eddie Sutton has made his way into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, and he was in attendance Monday night at the Missouri/Notre Dame game. Sutton has his share of black marks on his resume, including the Chris Mills scandal at Kentucky and a bout with alcoholism. However, he still finished with more than 800 wins, and he built nearly every program he coached at into a national power. You take the bad with the good and Sutton deserves every honor he gets.
3. Perry Jones can’t play yet for Baylor due to an NCAA suspension, but he is getting closer to his return. And despite his absence on the court, he apparently has been nothing but supportive from the bench. Baylor has been just fine without him during a 3-0 start, and the Bears likely won’t need him until their game at Northwestern on December 4. When Jones returns to the lineup, it will be interesting to see how he meshes with freshman Quincy Miller and the rest of the frontcourt crew.
4. Out in Manhattan, Kansas State will also welcome the return of a forward as Jamar Samuels will suit up tomorrow night against Maryland-Eastern Shore after serving a three-game suspension. With Samuels in the fold, Wildcat fans will not need to rely so much on younger, inexperienced players as they have been so far this November. The Wildcats have not faced any stiff tests yet, but games with Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Alabama are looming next month Samuels will provide the team with a major boost.
5. Iowa State newcomer Tyrus McGee is known as a shooter, and he has been living up to that reputation so far. In fact, he is shooting a blistering 90% (9 of 10) from beyond the arc this season. But according to his teammates, he may be more important on the defensive end. A lot of talking heads (like us) mention the likes of Chris Babb, Chris Allen, Royce White, and Anthony Booker when we talk about newcomers for the Cyclones, but McGee is also a key contributor for Fred Hoiberg. He is the kind of role player that could make a big difference this winter.

1.  The one word a college basketball coach never wants to utter is “suspension.” In Lon Kruger’s case, however, the suspension of junior guard Steven Pledger could be much, much worse. Pledger, who averaged 10.9 PPG last season for Oklahoma, will miss just one game after playing in a professional event this summer. If you’re wondering, OU plays Idaho State in its season opener Friday night, a team which finished 9-20 last season and lost three starters. Needless to say, when Pledger returns for the second game of the season against Coppin State on November 18, the damage should be minimal.
2. The Michael Beasley lawsuit, part of which accuses Kansas State of serious NCAA violations, hasn’t gained much steam in the national media lately. One outlet in Manhattan, Kansas, is covering the story, of course, and this article breaks down the situation pretty coherently. Basically, it all comes down to any knowledge the coaching staff had of Beasley’s allegations. It’s very difficult to prove “knowledge,” though. Just ask Frank Haith, who’s embroiled in the same sort of scandal from his days at Miami. The issue for Haith is whether he knew about a payment to a recruit at UM, and that’s the same question raised in this case.
3. The resignation of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno made national headlines Wednesday night, and it’s interesting to draw comparisons to the Baylor murder scandal from 2003. Like at PSU, the Bears’ situation also dealt with a cover-up by head coach Dave Bliss, though his role in that scandal was significantly more active. Bliss actually tried to paint the victim — former player Patrick Dennehy — as a drug dealer to hide several violations that had occurred during Dennehy’s career. The two scandals aren’t quite parallel, but they’re both landmark incidents in the continuing stain of college sports.
4. Basketball prospects signed letters of intent all across the Big 12 on Wednesday, which marked the first day of the early signing period. And although Iowa State didn’t make national headlines with its signings, it did add Mr. Popularity. Georges Niang is already a Twitter sensation, and coach Fred Hoiberg says he’ll be replaced by Niang in terms of popularity “the minute he steps on campus.” And we’re talking about The Mayor here, folks. Here’s to a healthy and productive career for the likeable Niang over in Ames.
5. Do you dare pick against Kansas in the Big 12 after seven league titles in a row? We didn’t, but Seth Davis has. He tweeted on Wednesday that he thinks Baylor would win the league — “eight is too much,” he said. After losing so much production from last season, it’s an understandable position. But with so many outspoken Jayhawks roaming the social media world nowadays, Davis had better be ready to defend his position.

Projected finish: 8th

2010-11 record: 16-16 (3-13), 12th

Head coach: Fred Hoiberg, second season

Key Losses: Diante Garrett (17.3 PPG), Jake Anderson (12.8 PPG), Jamie Vanderbeken, (11.1 PPG)

Coach Fred Hoiberg‘s team started quick in nonconference play during his first season, but his Cyclones eventually tumbled to a dismal last-place finish in 2010-11. After losing one of the league’s top point guards in Diante Garrett, Hoiberg’s job doesn’t get much easier this fall. However, he does have one of the more intriguing rosters in the Big 12 with four big-name transfers set to take the court. There are a lot of wild cards for Iowa State this season, but there may be enough talent for a surprise finish.

Fred Hoiberg's Team Could Surprise (AP/A. Heisenfelt)

The Stars: Scott Christopherson may be the most underrated shooter in college basketball. He shot a blistering 44.1% from three-point range last year, making 83 threes during a terrific campaign. Garrett got a lot of the credit as the star last season, but Christopherson was probably the second most important player on the squad. After playing sparingly as a freshman at Marquette due to injury, Christopherson finally emerged as a team leader when he became fully healthy and earned a starting job.

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1. The predictions for Iowa State have been all over the place this preseason. Some buy into Fred Hoiberg‘s all-transfer team, and others are understandably skeptical about the situation. Of the four Division I transfers Hoiberg brought in, former Michigan State guard Chris Allen may be the most well-known name– and to prove it, the Associated Press devoted an entire article to Allen’s story. A member of two Final Four teams at MSU, Allen has played in 14 NCAA Tournament games in his career. Amazingly, as the piece points out, that’s the same number of tourney games ISU’s entire program has appeared in during the past 20 years.
2. We’ve heard all sorts of wild realignment scenarios recently, but this one may top them all: evidently, San Diego State has expressed interest in joining the Big 12. The league didn’t make an outright denial, but it told SDSU officials that it’s looking to stay “more East than West.” That’s certainly a nice way of putting it. Imagine the travel pain if this fantasy world actually materialized. We’re going to go ahead and make the assumption that the Big 12 will not expand to California — but hey, crazier things have happened, right?
3. For those of you convinced that Texas coach Rick Barnes only gathers McDonald’s All-Americans and lets them run wild, check out this breakdown of  a UT offensive set by a Longhorn blog. The writer thoroughly investigates Barnes’ flex principles and, in particular, a 1-4 set influenced by the Utah Jazz. It’s a fascinating, no-fluff piece that offers a look into the offense of a high-level basketball program.
4. It’s no secret that life hasn’t been easy this off-season for Frank Haith. Fans at Missouri wanted him fired after the opening press conference; an imprisoned booster from his former employer has accused him of cheating; and his starting forward just tore his ACL. ESPN’s Dana O’Neil sat down with Haith to check in on his temperament. As expected, he’s a little discouraged: “It’s been an offseason that’s been kind of lengthy,” Haith said.  Perhaps few coaches in America are looking as forward to actual practice and coaching than the new Missouri head coach.
5. Since we’re in the midst of unveiling a ranking of the Big 12 uniforms, we may as well pass along the news that Oklahoma State will wear gray jerseys at times this winter. This isn’t groundbreaking news, but the thought of the Cowboys wearing gray is a bit peculiar. Travis Ford said the team will get brand-new uniform designs in 2012-13, but gray is the mold in Stillwater for now. Incidentally, the football team also wore gray jerseys in the season opener this fall.

There’s a reason the Sixth Man of the Year award exists. Our society values toughness; it roots for the underdog, and it appreciates good character. In short, America loves bench players, and so do college basketball coaches. The game’s best recruiters find hidden gems to help them off the bench when stars need to take a breather. Alas, here are the Big 12’s top reserves, listed in terms of their ever-important roles.

Mr. Ferocious

Ray Turner, Texas A&M: Turner’s statistics won’t blow your mind, but his leaping ability certainly will. A&M students didn’t campaign Turner for class president for nothing, after all. He’s probably the most exciting reserve in college basketball because of his athletic ability, but he can also rebound the heck out of the ball. Even though Turner is still playing in a crowded front court this season, new coach Billy Kennedy will figure out a way to give him valuable minutes. Or else he’ll miss out on dunks like the above.

The Backup Point Guard

Bubu Palo, Iowa State: It’s about time to give this walk-on a scholarship. Palo is more than just a funky name off the bench for the Cyclones. He’s a very good passer with some scoring punch, and overall, he’s the quintessential backup point guard. He played in every game last year and even started three contests, cracking double figures in the scoring department four times. Coach Fred Hoiberg has to find Palo a role on this team again in 2011-12.

The Steady Veteran

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With the completion of the NBA Draft and the annual coaching and transfer carousels nearing their ends, RTC is rolling out a new series, RTC Summer Updates, to give you a crash course on each Division I conference during the summer months. Our latest update comes courtesy of our Big 12 correspondent, Evan Pfaff.

Reader’s Take

Summer Storylines

• Round Robin Scheduling – For the first time since the Big 12 was formed, the conference will implement full round-robin scheduling, meaning each school will play a home-and-home with each of the other nine schools in the conference.  In the past, schools played the teams in their division in a home-and-home, but only played schools in the other division once per season, switching home courts every year.  That meant the epic battles between the Texas Longhorns and Kansas Jayhawks happened only once per regular season, and whichever school hosted the game had a monumental advantage over the other.  With a full round-robin format, not only will each school play two additional conference games, but seeding will be based more on outcomes on the floor than the scheduling fates.
• Reloading Talent – The Big 12 is used to replacing an enormous amount of talent. In 2010, ten Big 12 players were taken in the NBA Draft.  Two months ago, the Big 12 cupboards were once again raided, as seven players heard their names called. The conference should again be stacked and we might hear as many as ten names called on draft day 2012. From incoming freshmen like Baylor’s Quincy Miller, Texas’ Myck Kabongo and Oklahoma State’s LeBryan Nash, to returning stars like Kansas’ Thomas Robinson, Baylor’s Perry Jones III and Texas A&M’s Khris Middleton, the Big 12 should again be a breeding ground for NBA rosters.
• New Coaches… EVERYWHERE.  Change is inevitable in college athletics, but stability at the top usually translates into success on the floor. So it is eye opening that from Mike Anderson and Mark Turgeon leaving to Pat Knight and Jeff Capel being shown the door, the Big 12 had a 40% coaching turnover this summer. Now with Frank Haith, Billy Kennedy, Billy Gillispie and Lon Kruger roaming Big 12 sidelines, the conference has some questions to answer. Can Missouri conform to a set offense? Can A&M meet high preseason expectations under new management? Do Billy Clyde Gillispie and Lon Kruger have another run left in them?

Kansas head coach Bill Self has a tall task in front of him after losing most of the punch from last season's potent lineup.

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