1. Sports Illustrated: Luke Winn hits another home run with his analysis of Duke‘s team this year. The more stories I read about this Blue Devils’ team, the more excited I am to see Miles Plumlee suit up this season. Coach K is really hyping his front court, which will certainly play a crucial role if the Blue Devils hope to keep up with Tobacco Road rival North Carolina. Winn also spends time discussing Duke’s back court and the maturation that will be needed from freshman guard Austin Rivers.
2. ESPN: The Worldwide Leader’s college basketball coverage continued Thursday with interesting posts from Dana O’Neil and Andy Katz. O’Neil highlighted five things she’s looking forward to from the ACC this season. Possibly the most interesting of her questions is whether or not NC State can get its “verve” back. It’s certainly possible with a relatively down conference and a team that is full of sneaky talent, but after last season’s relative mediocrity it’s tough to find a Wolfpack bandwagon to jump on. Katz gives some quick, lesser-reported facts from the conference media day, with a tidbit from each team (and two from Duke and North Carolina). My personal favorite part of the article is when Katz goes off on a tangent about Tony Bennett‘s and his shared love for network comedy Modern Family.
3. Washington Post – Terrapins Insider: One under-reported part of Operation Basketball were the discussions on Gary Williams and his sudden retirement. Mike Krzyzewski nostalgically spoke about Williams’ career, praising both the great Duke-Maryland games over the past ten years and Williams’ legacy as a “lifer” of the same generation as Coach K, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun: “People don’t approach — I’m not saying they don’t approach the game well — but they don’t approach it the same way we did. So you lose some of that.”
4. Chicago Tribune: Former Miami coach Frank Haith still faces questions regarding his tenure in South Beach (excuse me, Coral Gables) thanks to Charles Robinson’s jaw-dropping exposé of Hurricane booster Nevin Shapiro’s utter disregard for the NCAA rulebook. For those who may not remember, Haith reportedly accompanied recruits to a strip club and knew about a $10,000 dollar gift to help land a recruit (for the record, Haith has denied both allegations). But according to Haith the questions are coming from the media, not his team at Missouri.
5. Shakin’ the Southland: In the second part of their Clemson basketball preview, Shakin’ the Southland looks at the Tigers’ very youthful roster, which reflects a late coaching change that kept Brad Brownell from recruiting a strong sophomore class. One freshman to keep an eye on is TJ Sapp, who draws comparison to Clemson star Demontez Stitt. The opening part of their basketball preview analyzed Clemson’s schedule.

BONUS: SpartanJerseys.com noticed a Michigan State uniform in a clip about the patches being sewed on the Cardinals’ World Series jerseys. The interesting thing about the Spartan uniform: it’s camouflaged. A little deductive reasoning led the site to guess that the camo jerseys will be for the Carrier Classic game this November. The Michigan State jersey is white, which means North Carolina will probably be wearing its road blues (with camouflage of course). First, I’m confused why the uniform made the video in the first place. Second, I’m incredibly impressed someone noticed it. And third, could that be North Carolina’s jersey just off screen (top right corner)? It’s a cool idea (even if it’s a little gimmicky) to emphasize the special nature of the game with a shout-out to the US Armed Forces.

One Observant Viewer Noticed a Camouflaged Michigan State Uniform in This Video (h/t SpartanJerseys.com and Uni Watch)