1. We weighed in yesterday on the product-of-a-slow-news-day controversy involving the media relations department at Kentucky and the school’s student-run newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel. We won’t rehash the whole thing here, but now the AP Managing Editors Association has responded to UK, calling the behavior of the school’s Sports Information Department “reprehensible” and “abhorrent at a taxpayer-owned institution.” Seriously? Without mentioning the actions of the involved student reporter, they also “urge” UK to restore the media access of both the paper and the reporter, even though their access was denied for less than 24 hours and was probably restored in full before the APME even wrote that letter. Did they read anything about this before sending it? It comes off like a formality.
2. “2012 NCAA Tournament Champions Michigan Wolverines.” Sound good, Ann Arbor? Your boy Jordan Dumars thinks so. Not only does he think it sounds good, he thinks it should happen, and confirms that that’s what his team says — “national championship” — at the end of every workout. Dumars, a transfer who will become eligible by the holidays, is not predicting nor guaranteeing such an achievement, just saying that’s where the squad is aiming. We wholeheartedly support players taking this tack when asked to give prognostications on how they think their upcoming season will go. If a kid says something like, “Well, I think we’ll go 20-14 and hopefully do well in the Tournament,” as far as we’re concerned, he just lost 14 games and got bounced in the second (former first) round. Strong work, Jordan.
3. In yesterday’s M5 we slipped in a link about how Texas A&M’s president had, according to a report in the New York Times, sent a later containing his school’s kiss-off to the Big 12. The school denies this ever happened. A&M, however, confirms receiving a letter from the office of Big 12 commish Dan Beebe detailing the withdrawal procedures for leaving the conference. And by “detailing the withdrawal procedures,” we pretty much mean “explaining how much it will cost you” and “things we need to sign saying we won’t sue each other.” The linked article above notes that while A&M would like to have this done by the beginning of the season, it may take until week two or three. In other words, folks, get on board with this if you aren’t already.
4. Recruiting insider and (from what we hear) legendary ladies’ man Evan Daniels and the crew at Scout.com have released their rankings of schools’ recruiting classes for 2012, and we wonder how loud the alarm bells will sound within a few fan bases: North Carolina’s class is 9th? Duke 11th? Kentucky…not listed in the top 20 or the honorable mention?!? Relax, you various shades of blue. It’s hard to ascend the rankings when you don’t sign anyone. Duke’s ranking is based on one player, UNC’s on two. Kentucky hasn’t signed a single player from the 2012 class. There’s a reason Daniels entitled this list the “Early 2012 Class Rankings.” Just over half of Scout’s top 100 recruits for 2012 are unsigned, so unfortunately for a certain blueblood school that’s been rebuilding for a few years that sits atop the current Scout list, it’s not a matter of if but how far they’ll fall once prospects start making their selections.
5. Every one of the RTC compounds is lousy with recycling bins and solar panels, so we’re all about recycling and reusing and sustainability and all that stuff, and letting people know you’re proud of the measures you’ve taken to reduce your impact on the environment. To that end, Kansas State has unleashed — fanfare, please — EcoKat, their mascot for the whole green-going movement. Whoa. For the sake of the KSU senior in the costume (whose pluck we admire), here’s hoping that EcoKat is never unmasked and her true identity never revealed. Ladies and gentlemen, we ask you…how hot is this?

1. Joe Dumars’ son, 6’5 freshman forward Jordan (is that a joke?), has already left the South Florida program and enrolled at Michigan for the remainder of his career.  He’s only played 27 minutes so far this season, scoring all six of his points in a single game against Kent State.
2. Oklahoma State’s Marshall Moses was suspended for one game almost immediately after his arrest for possession of marijuana and driving on a suspended license.  Averaging 11/10 on the season, he will miss tonight’s game against Coppin State.
3. Tennessee update from the AD himself:  “we start at dismissal and work our way backwards.”  Sounds about right.  Let’s hope he means it.
4. USC’s Kevin O’Neill said that delivering the news to his seniors that they would not have a chance to play in the postseason was much harder than ever getting fired (and he would know!).
5. Here’s Seth Davis‘ annual Stock Report.  This is always a fun read, and his UNC “sell” looks particularly prescient after last night’s loss to Charleston, but there will always be a few quibbles on something like this.  We will not, for example, be buying anything Florida is selling, and we are definitely unloading what little Louisville stock we still have lying around, but overall, pretty good assessment.

Just about anyone can name the best teams in college basketball, and, as far as individual players, if you’re reading this site you can most likely reel off three or four of your own personal All-America teams.  But what about those individuals who specifically excel at a few of the more exciting aspects of the game?  There are certain plays that make everyone come out of their seats:  a massive and powerful dunk that liberates some poor defender of his pride;  a ridiculously long three-pointer, especially at crunch time; and a blocked shot where the ball goes into orbit.  And of course everyone loves basketball players with cool names.  So here they are:  RTC’s rankings of the best dunkers, best long-range bombers, best shot-blockers, and coolest names in the game today.

The Most Excellent Dunkers

Unlike the NBA All-Star Weekend, we’ll begin with the dunk artists.  Each player is listed with a link leading you to an example or two of his work.  Sorry, UConn fans.  We respect you and your team, but we had to put Summers over Robinson because…well, you know why.

1. Paul George, Fresno State  (vs St. Mary’s 2008, practice video 2009, Open Gym 2009)
2. Chris Wright, Dayton  (vs Ohio State 2008, vs Marquette 2008)
3. Durrell Summers, Michigan State (vs UConn over S. Robinson 2009, vs Minnesota 2009)
4. Stanley Robinson, Connecticut (vs Michigan State 2009, vs Villanova 2008)
5. Isaiah Thomas, Washington  (Madness 09)
6. Scotty Hopson, Tennessee (vs Arkansas 2009)
7. Keion Bell, Pepperdine  (Madness 09, Madness 09 over 5 guys)

Honorable Mention (or, guys who will probably be on this list by year’s end): Will Coleman, Memphis; John Wall, Kentucky; Delvon Roe, Michigan State; Wes Johnson, Syracuse.

The All-Jeff Fryer Team

This list of the best long-range bombers is named after the legendary (in our minds) Loyola Marymount guard who still holds the record for most three-pointers made in an NCAA Tournament game, an incredible 11 against Michigan in 1990’s second round.  If you can catch that game on ESPN Classic, it is something to behold.  You have to be a little nuts to be a bomber; you have to forget your last miss like it never happened and be willing to keep firing even when they just won’t fall (our editors are familiar with this feeling).  Here’s our ranking of 25 of this season’s best:

1. T.J. Campbell, Portland
2. Rihards Kuksiks, Arizona State
3. Jared Stohl, Portland
4. Andrew Goudelock, College Of Charleston
5. Mike Roll, UCLA
6. Jerome Randle, California
7. Brandon Hazzard, Troy
8. Ryan Staudacher, Montana
9. Corey Allmond, Sam Houston State
10. Ryan Wittman, Cornell
11. Josh Young, Drake
12. Corey Stokes, Villanova
13. Jonathan Tavernari, BYU
14. Gordon Hayward, Butler
15. Troy Cotton, Wisconsin-Green Bay
16. Tweety Carter, Baylor
17. Rotnei Clarke, Arkansas
18. Corey Lowe, Boston University
19. Ricky Harris, Massachusetts
20. Mac Hopson, Idaho
21. Andy Rautins, Syracuse
22. Nic Wise, Arizona
23. Willie Warren, Oklahoma
24. Jimmy Langhurst, Robert Morris
25. Kelvin Lewis, Houston

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