1. We try not to get into NBA issues too much here, but the Los Angeles Lakers coaching vacancy hangs like a big cloud over college basketball particularly in Storrs, Connecticut. Among the many candidates for the job is Kevin Ollie, who might be the hottest NBA commodity among college coaches given his recent NBA experience and the fact that he is coming off a title. Even if there is nothing going on between Ollie and the Lakers the possibility has scared the Connecticut administration enough that they are reportedly willing to pay Ollie double his current salary, which would bring him up to almost $2.5 million per year. The Lakers could certainly pay more than that so it is something to keep an eye on.
2. Kansas had an interesting close to last week. Soon after losing Naadir Tharpe to a transfer, the Jayhawks found out that Devonte Graham would be coming to Kansas after one of the more complicated recruiting sagas in recent years. You may remember that Graham had committed to Appalachian State and signed a National Letter of Intent, but wanted to back out when his stock shot up. Former Appalachian State coach Jason Capel refused to release him. When Capel was fired and replaced the new coaching staff let Graham out of his letter of intent. In a strange way, this will probably work out better for Kansas because Graham might already be better than Tharpe or any of the point guards that the Jayhawks have.
3. The newest conference challenge involving the Big East and Big Ten is one that we would have loved to have seen a few years ago when the Big East was much stronger, but it is something that we will still enjoy. The Gavitt Tipoff Games will be held annually starting next season and feature eight games between the two conferences through the 2020-21 season with the games being spread out from Tuesday through Friday during the first full week of the regular season. Given the lackluster opening that college basketball typically has this could be a nice boost for the sport.
4. The coach’s son might have helped put Creighton on the college basketball map for casual fans, but it might be transfers who keep it there. The Bluejays had already received a commitment from Boston University transfer Maurice Watson Jr and now they have added Nevada transfer Cole Huff, who committed to Creighton over the weekend. Like Watson, Huff will sit out next season and have two years of eligibility left when he is able to play during the 2015-16 season. Last season, Huff, a 6’8″ forward, averaged 12.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Those numbers will not make anybody forget about Doug McDermott any time soon, but they could help ease the transition into the next stage for the program.
5. There were two notable transfer announcements that were significant for very different reasons. The first and least complex one was the decision by Seth Allen to leave Maryland. As we mentioned last week when it was first suggested that Allen might be on his way out we have to question how long Mark Turgeon will last in College Park as Allen, who averaged 13.4 points and 3.0 assists per game after coming back from a broken foot, is the fourth Terrapin to transfer since the season ended about a month ago. The other interesting transfer announcement came out of Air Force where Tre’ Coggins and Darrius Parker announced that they would be leaving the school. As you may have noticed the decision by two players to transfer typically is not noteworthy (or frankly that interesting), but in this case it is because the two reportedly are reportedly leaving due to issues with the required five-year post-college service required of all Air Force graduates. We have not heard otherwise so we are assuming that Coggins (16.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game) and Parker (3.8 points and 2.1 rebounds per game) will have to sit out a year although given the other transfer waivers that we have seen granted we would not be shocked to see them request one from the NCAA since their reported issue with the school was a required post-college commitment.

Go home Mountain West, you’re drunk! How else to explain looking at the standings two weeks in and seeing Nevada – they of the eight non-conference losses, including to such luminaries as Pacific, Cal State Bakersfield, Morehead State, and New Orleans – alone atop the conference standings? How about Boise State and UNLV, two teams expected to contend for NCAA Tournament bids prior to the season, sitting back at 1-2? How about the worst team in the conference, San Jose State, giving New Mexico everything the Lobos can handle? How about the conference, home of terrific home court advantages up and down the West, sporting just a combined 10-9 record in league play so far? How about a San Diego State team in a rebuilding year with a work-in-progress offense carrying the banner for the conference with a top 15 ranking in the most recent RTC Top 25? Face it. Not a lot in this conference makes a ton of sense this year. And it is fascinating.

Deonte Burton Has Led A Wolf Pack Resurgence In Conference Play. (US Presswire)

Team of the Week

Nevada – This team was – not to put too fine a point on it – awful in the non-conference. They didn’t share they ball, they couldn’t rebound, they couldn’t defend. Less patient athletic directors may have begun their next coaching searches before Christmas. Now, while we’ve still no reason to suspect that the Wolf Pack are actually going to challenge for the conference title, much less an NCAA Tournament bid, these guys have turned into a real team. You actually want to find a way to watch them just to see what’s going on. They’ve got an NBA talent in Deonte Burton; they’ve got newcomer A.J. West providing some toughness up front; and they’ve got a handful of talented ancillary parts. And with sophomore Marqueze Coleman now back from injury, they’re starting to get back to whole. And – get this – they’re actually allowing less than a point per possession in four conference games. Maybe you can believe in this team, at least for a little while.

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