Most signings across the Big 12 this week have been only formalities, but in Kansas’ case, the program picked up a new commitment in forward Landen Lucas. According to Self, Lucas might be the next Darnell Jackson. If you’ll remember, Jackson started for KU’s 2008 National Championship squad and even led that extremely talented team in rebounding. If Lucas ever grows into the kind of player Jackson was his senior season, then Jayhawk fans should be more than thrilled.
For the first time in 35 games, Iowa State’s Scott Christopherson failed to make a three-point basket in a five-point loss to Drake earlier this week. That streak was a school record, and without Christopherson’s contributions, ISU looked lost offensively. Most of his team struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter as well, and it appears the Cyclones with all their new players have a lot of work to do this winter. Of course, with four transfers playing big minutes, an acclimation period has to be expected.
The Associated Press reports the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee will keep a Big 12 flavor, as Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione will replace former league commissioner Dan Beebe on the panel. Castiglione, also a former AD at Missouri, will serve until the end of the 2012-13 season. He’ll now have the difficult task of helping select which at-large teams make the NCAA Tournament, so hopefully he’s ready to face the inevitable criticism.
It’s hard to use just one word to describe Missouri’s Kim English. He’s known more for his Twitter and his post-game quotes than his game these days. After a productive freshman year in 2008-09, English then led the team in scoring as a sophomore before falling flat as a junior. Last season, he struggled in almost every facet of his game, which is why his pleasantly surprising start is good news for Tiger fans. We’ll hold off judgment until MU faces better competition, but English at least looks much more comfortable this season.
Since many of us stayed up all night to watch basketball during ESPN’s Tip-Off Marathon, the thought of next year’s event is a little unsettling. We’re tired and sleep-deprived, that’s all. But Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie has a plea: he wants to be part of the event in 2012. Gillispie even offered to play at 3 AM CST, which is normally the time slot reserved for Hawaii. If Gillispie wants to play at three o’clock in the morning, then more power to him. It might be a difficult sell for his college-aged players, though.
For the past several weeks, we’ve pretended to be experts on the Big 12 Conference here. You likely disagree with most (if not all) of our arguments, and we’ve probably made statements bold enough to send you away from RTC and never come back. If you’re still here, though, the 2011-12 season looks promising in the Big 12. It’s a wide-open league with multiple championship contenders, and it’s also a league in transition with Missouri and Texas A&M departing after the season. The realignment apocalypse has subsided for now, and we’ve got real basketball to talk about now for the next five months. As we begin our quest this season, however, let’s take a look back at our fearless predictions this fall:
The Big 12 Streak is in Tyshawn Taylor's Hands Now
Baylor freshman Quincy Miller has wasted no time putting up big numbers for the Bears. After scoring 17 in its season-opening victory against Texas Southern, Miller again dropped 17 on Jackson State in a lopsided 92-59 Baylor victory. Miller scored just two points in the first half, but went off in the second, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the game’s final 20 minutes. A common concern for freshmen is a lack of confidence on the court, but Miller appears to have no issues in that department, stating, “my coaches told me to be confident from the start and shoot the ball, and that’s what I did.”
Many Iowa State fans feared that a transfer-heavy team like their Cyclones might not be able to mesh as a cohesive unit this season, resulting in poor on-court results. Some of these worries were put to rest this weekend, however, as all four Iowa State transfer players scored in double-figures in an 86-77 victory over Lehigh. On paper, a Patriot League vs. Big 12 matchup would appear to be an easy power conference victory, regardless of which teams were participating. However, this Lehigh team is the defending PL conference champion, and narrowly lost to St. John’s earlier this season. While all transfers performed splendidly, Minnesota-transfer Royce White stole the show, dropping 25 on the Mountain Hawks.
The good news is all Big 12 teams won their season openers. The bad news? Many of the teams did it in an uninspiring fashion. Missouri struggled with Southeast Missouri in the first half before pulling away for a 15-point victory. Oklahoma narrowly defeated Idaho State, 88-84, while Texas Tech escaped Troy with a five-point victory. Kansas State found themselves down 14 at one point against Charleston Southern before clawing back for a 72-67 victory, and Baylor did not look very dominant in a 20-point victory over Texas Southern. That said, I wouldn’t look into these narrow victories too much (even though I just did). Many teams struggle in season openers, whether due to jitters, new faces, or rust.
NewsOK.com examines if the Big 12 Tournament could return to Oklahoma City soon, where it was hosted in 2007 and 2009. The men’s tournament is under contract to remain in Kansas City’s Sprint Center until 2014. However, with the expected change in Kansas City’ conference culture due to Missouri’s departure to the SEC, many folks think that the Big 12 will not be interested in renewing its contract to for Kansas City and instead will look somewhere else. Oklahoma City and Dallas are the only two cities who have hosted a Big 12 tournament, other than Kansas City, so one of those would seem to be a natural fit.
Billy Gillispie’s exhibition debut at Texas Tech resulted in a victory, but it wasn’t a banner performance by any means. Tech trailed by four at halftime to Southwestern Oklahoma before scrapping out a 76-70 victory. The game went to the wire as the Red Raiders led by just two points with 10 seconds remaining. Although Gillispie’s entire team is essentially composed entirely of newcomers, it was two returners who led the way on Thursday night. Sophomore Javarez Willis scored 22 points while Robert Lewandowski, the lone senior on the team, chipped in 18 points. It wasn’t a pretty start start for Texas Tech, but a win’s a win, as they say.
Gillispie’s old school, Texas A&M, had a little less trouble in its exhibition match-up with Dallas Baptist. Khris Middleton’s 20 points led the Aggies to a 91-55 romp, a game that featured a ridiculous rebounding margin (47-23) and a lot of three-point attempts (38 combined between the two teams). A&M led by 26 at halftime and coasted from there. Kourtney Roberson also finished with a double-double: 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The NBA Development League held its 2011 draft Thursday night. It’s not exactly a hit with the Nielsen ratings, but a few notable Big 12 players were selected. Former Iowa State Cyclone Jamaal Tinsley, a former Big 12 Player of the Year, went first overall. He’s already played eight years in the NBA so the moment for him probably wasn’t a tearjerker. Gary Johnson (Texas) went in the late first round, Brady Morningstar (Kansas) went in the third, and Darion Anderson (Iowa State) was drafted in the fourth. Here’s to an extended career to those four players.
For you TV announcer junkies, here’s a look at the commentators for the upcoming Big 12 season, as well as the rest of college basketball. Looks like more of the same, especially on Big Monday: Bob Knight and Brent Musburger are back. Depending on how you feel about The General, that’s either a brilliant or disastrous move. Also, both Jon Sciambi and Mitch Holthus will call weekly Big 12 games.
And in your sad news of the morning: Oklahoma held a memorial service for radio announcer Bob Barry, Sr., who died last weekend at the age of 80. Barry spent 50 years in the business and every player, reporter, and coach he’s ever worked alongside had nothing but the best to say about him. Barry was an Oklahoma icon, and he will be missed–even by people who never met him.
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.
Steve Fetch of Rock Chalk Talk is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can find him on Twitter @fetch9.
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This is of course the last year for Texas A&M to leave its mark on the Big 12, and it could be Missouri’s as well. Both teams enter the 2011-12 season with serious conference title hopes, but each comes with some question marks. Missouri lost Laurence Bowers to an ACL injury, which really puts a strain on their interior depth. They didn’t rebound terribly well in the first place, ranking 317th nationally in defensive rebounding, and the loss of the 6’8” Bowers, who was their best returning player on the glass, won’t help. A&M meanwhile still has Khris Middleton, but do they have anyone to get him the ball? Dash Harris had a turnover rate of almost 30% last year and an assist rate of only 21%
Speaking of those two, the Big 12 has four new coaches this year, with Texas Tech and Oklahoma joining A&M and Missouri as teams with new head men. The Big 12 hasn’t had this many new coaches since 2007 when six of the twelve schools had first-year men on the job. I took a look at how coaches in the Big 12 have done in their first year on the job and compared it with the historical performances of the programs who have new coaches at the helm this season, and it looks like all four could be in for rough times initially.
Kansas has won at least a share of the last seven Big 12 titles, but in order or the Jayhawks to make it eight, Bill Self will have to do his best coaching job yet. He lost both the Morris twins and Josh Selby to the NBA, as well as the underrated Tyrel Reed and Brady Morningstar to graduation. What’s more, incoming freshmen Ben McLemore, Jamari Traylor and Braeden Anderson were all deemed ineligible. Kansas still has some talent to work with, especially Thomas Robinson, who had a tremendous summer.
Even Bill Self Has Admitted That This Season Will Be A Challenge For The Perennial Blueblood
Predicted Order of Finish
Kansas (14-4)
Baylor (13-5)
Missouri (13-5)
Texas A&M (12-6)
Oklahoma State (10-8)
Texas (9-9)
Iowa State (7-11)
Kansas State (5-13)
Oklahoma (4-14)
Texas Tech (3-15)
All-Conference Team (key stats from last season in parentheses)
Last Friday, I began my exploration of the state of Big 12 basketball ten years ago. I examined Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Missouri. Today, I’ll finish the piece by examining the 2001-02 seasons of the remaining Big 12 teams.
Oklahoma
Hollis Price Had OU On Top of the Hoops Heap Ten Years Ago (AP)
Today, Oklahoma basketball is struggling after consecutive years of underachieving. But ten years ago, Oklahoma’s basketball program reached its pinnacle, winning the Big 12 Tournament and appearing in the school’s fourth Final Four. The Sooners were led by dynamic guard Hollis Price, who at the time was widely considered the best basketball player to come from the Sooner State since Wayman Tisdale. The 2001-02 Sooners started the season with a 13-game winning streak, and finished it with a 12-game winning streak before falling to upstart Indiana in the 2002 Final Four.
Oklahoma State
The Oklahoma State teams of the early 2000s seemed to always teeter on the line of greatness, but never seemed able to reach it until its 2003-04 breakout season where the Pokes went all the way to the Final Four. Unfortunately, the 2001-02 Cowboy team didn’t have the same essential pieces as that Final Four team. The team started out very hot, winning its first 13 games and moving up to #5 in the nation by Christmas Day. Things became difficult for the Cowboys once they entered conference play, though, and Eddie Sutton’s team never seemed to find its stride. For three weeks, OSU followed two consecutive conference wins with two consecutive conference losses. The team fizzled in the postseason, losing in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament to Texas Tech, and proceeding to get knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Cinderella Kent State.
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.”
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.”
In more Mountaineer news, the West Virginia Metro Newsdiscusses 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.
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.
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.
Hold the phone — West Virginia may not join the Big 12 after all. According to reports from The New York Times just yesterday, the Mountaineers were all but guaranteed a spot in the Big 12. Sources had said the league wanted WVU regardless of whether Missouri bolted for the SEC, and it seemed like a done deal. So what happened?
Louisville happened. It appears that the delay in WVU’s acceptance is all due to a sparked interest in acquiring the Cardinals. One Big 12 school administrator said it’s a direct battle between West Virginia and Louisville, and it may take days to sort out the situation. It doesn’t look like West Virginia is out of the running at all, but it’s interesting to hear that this same official said the league’s schools are also divided on the issue. Texas is rumored to have more interest in WVU, while Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Iowa State and Baylor all want Louisville. From a basketball standpoint, although West Virginia is obviously no slouch, it doesn’t have the sort of history and hoops fan base that UL does. So if your primary interest is hoops, you’ve got to be rooting for the Cardinals to edge West Virginia here.
For all you political junkies, one aspect of the delay with West Virginia may have to do with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a Louisville alumnus who’d have an obvious agenda to block a WVU invitation to the Big 12. This is major speculation, of course, and it’s always dangerous to get into the political game. Still, if McConnell really were trying to vouch for his alma mater, that may make for a heck of an E:60 series.
The current debate may be between Louisville and West Virginia, but CBS Sports columnist Gary Parrish has a nice breakdown of the Missouri vs. West Virginia comparison. MU’s dominance of the Big Eight in the ’80s and ’90s under coach Norm Stewart may give the impression that it has more history than the Mountaineers, but remember, the Tigers never actually made a Final Four. In fact, Stewart only made two Elite Eights during that time period. And as far as the past decade goes, Parrish shows that WVU beats MU in almost every category. Replacing Missouri with the Mountaineers might not boost the Big 12’s profile in basketball considerably, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt anything.
Sticking with off-the-court news — since that’s pretty much all we have right now — Oklahoma has responded to a proposal for a Big 12 television network. It looks like the Sooners aren’t too happy with the news; or, at the very least, they’re just very confused as to how it would work. The Sooners already want to form their own TV network, and it’s a well-known fact that Texas already has the Longhorn Network in place. OU officials say they’re still planning to create their own network despite the Big 12’s proposal. The Big 12 Network sort of exists already, but it’s only an extension of ESPN on local affiliates. Sure, there’s a nice studio show each Saturday, but every game on the Big 12 Network looks like it was filmed in the 1970s. Any Doug Bell fans in the house? Didn’t think so.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
