Could the Best Player in the West be Playing for Seattle?

Washington fans may remember Charles Garcia. The talented big man was originally slated to play from the Huskies, both coming out of high school and when he transferred from Riverside Community College. Unfortunately he didn't qualify academically either time, and is now playing under former Washington assistant Cameron Dollar at the University of Seattle. Now, Washington is wishing that they had him, because Garcia is putting up the best numbers of any big man in the country. Garcia is averaging 26.1 points a game, including a 41 point outburst against Wofford and grabbing 9.4 rebounds a game (with 3 double-double's through 7 games). What's also notable is that he has put up these numbers against pretty decent competition. Through their first 7 games, Seattle has played only one independent (Presbyterian) and has played formidable foes such as Oklahoma St., Portland (5-0), Utah (beat Illinois), Weber St. (Big Sky favorite), and Wofford (beat Georgia, lost to Pitt by 3). Garcia has even caught the eye of ESPN NBA analyst Chad Ford, who says, "If he can clear what looks like a checkered background check, he could find a place in the NBA." This brings us to the question, is Garcia the best player in the west? The Pac-10 has had a pretty horrific start to its season, but Klay Thompson of Washington St. has impressed against meager competition scoring 28 a game as of today. Nevada's Luke Babbit, a combo forward has also looked stellar in the early going, As well as a number of players from the WCC (T.J. Campbell, Omar Samhan and Dior Lowhorn). So far, the 6'9" Garcia has superior stats (except Thompson's scoring numbers) than any of these players, and will get a chance to inflate them against very weak competition in the coming month. Its hard to argue for Garcia, but at the same time its hard to argue against him, I think the deciding factor in this debate will have to be when Seattle travels to play the best team in the Pac-10, Washington on January 26th.

Good Starts, Bad Starts

Good Starts

Syracuse (5-0): No team has achieved as much as Syracuse in the early part of the season. The Orange used strong efforts to blow out Cal and UNC en-route to winning the 2K Sports Classic. Syracuse has 5 players averaging double figures (almost six, Kris Joseph is averaging 9.8 a game), and Wesley Johnson was dominant against UNC.

Cincinnati (4-0): Cincy started slow, struggling in a 69-62 win over Prairie View A&M, but have since won two neutral site games against NCAA tournament caliber competition in Maryland and Vandy. 6' 9" 260 pound sophomore Yancy Gates has been the key, nearly averaging a double double and shooting nearly 60% from the field.

New Mexico (5-0): Although their competition has been fairly weak, the Lobos are are 5-0 and getting outstanding production from JUCO transfer Darington Hobson (17.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.6 apg and shooting 44% from outside. Its a young team, but they could be a force in the MWC.

Gonzaga (4-1): Losing at Michigan State has been the only downside to a strong start for the Zags. Robert Sacre has emerged as a force in the paint, and new comers Elias Harris and Bol Kong has contributed nicely in wins against Wisconsin and Colorado. Now we will see if Gonzaga can match up athletically with Cincinnati in the Maui Invitational Championship.

Florida (5-0): Freshman Kenny Boyton is packing all the scoring punch that people thought Florida might lose with the departure of Nick Calathes. The Gators have won every game by double figures, including a 68-52 stomping of instate rival Florida State.

Bad Starts

Penn St. (3-2): Talor Battle has been pretty much outstanding, but losing to UNC Wilmington and Tulane is not going to help the Nittany Lion's case come March.

Iowa (1-4): To put it plain and simple, Iowa has been pretty horrible this season. The Hawkeyes lost at home to Texas-San Antonio and on a neutral court to Wichita St. They have scored under 60 points in all but one game, and have only one player averaging double figures.

Oregon (3-2): They where the worst team in the Pac-10 last season, and it doesn't seem like thats going to change. Oregon lost @Portland (a decent WCC team I'll give you that), but also at home to Montana. Michael Dunigan had a solid freshman year, but this season he's only averaging 5.7 points a game.

Alcorn St. (0-6): I hate to jump a SWAC team into this group, but Alcorn St. has been in the news too often for the wrong reasons. The braves first gave up a triple double to Evan Turner, then 130 points (51 to Rotnei Clarke) to Arkansas. Alcorn St. hasn't won a game, and could be the worst team in Division I.

UCONN (3-0): The Huskies may be 3-0, but they haven't looked impressive doing it. UCONN has struggled against William and Mary and Hofstra, which has some thinking that they don't deserve the #13 ranking that they have attained.

Rotnei Clarke Has a Shooting Performance for the Ages

Sure Arkansas was playing Alcorn St., one of the worst teams in one of the worst conferences in the country, and sure Clarke probably never would have played the extended minutes he did if Arkansas wasn't limited to seven scholarship players, but none of that should take away from his record breaking performance. Clarke broke the previous SEC record for three's made in a game (12), by nailing 13 from behind the arc, and finished with 51 points on 15-21 shooting. Last season as a freshman, Clarke was solid hitting 39% of his three point tries and scoring just over 12 a game, but I don't think that even he ever imagined scoring 51 in a game. Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports ranked Clarke as the best shooter in the country before this season, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up.

College Basketball Starts Tonight!

Who's ready for some real college hoops! Sure, the match-ups for tonight, and the whole week for that matter aren't really better than the exhibition games we've seen already, but at least these games count. Tonight marks the start of the 2k sports classic with 4 ranked teams (UNC, Ohio St., Cal, Syracuse) taking the floor tonight against inferior competition (Alcorn St., Murry St., FIU, Albany). All I can say is I've been ready for this day for a while, but I am disappointed that I won't be able to see any of the action live, because I don't have ESPNU.

Marcus Jordan Wears Jordans, Costs UCF 3 Million

As you may have heard, Marcus Jordan (you-know-who's son) wore a pair of Air Jordans during an exhibition against St. Leo. By doing so UCF was failing to comply to the terms of a five year agreement with Adidas (the contract was in its final year, but UCF was working on negotiating a new 6 year 3 million dollar agreement). Adidas promptly terminated the contract with UCF. The situation has turned some head and generated some negative backlash. I have found the situation to be particularly interesting, because of the mixed reactions across the board. Many people are calling Marcus, "a spoiled brat" for failing to abide by the same terms as all the other players on the UCF team. Others point the finger at UCF, who apparently promised him the right to wear his fathers brand when he signed with the school. Yet some point the finger at Adidas. Like former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro, who said,"What a PR nightmare for adidas. This should have been a no-brainer, It's nothing but a personal thing against Michael Jordan.'' Although Vaccaro's opinion may be a bit biased, he is not the only one that feels the way he does. The UCF Athletics sponsorship released a statement saying that “During Marcus’ recruitment to UCF we received assurances from adidas that he would be permitted to wear his father’s footwear without ending the adidas contract." Right now I, like many have mixed feelings about the ordeal. I understand that Marcus Jordan is sort of basketball royalty, even though he only scored 1 point in 23 minutes of action against St. Leo, but why would adidas make such a big deal about it. UCF is not going to be playing on national TV every week, and its not like anyone is going to think anything of Michael Jordan's son wearing Jordans. On the other hand, I feel like Marcus Jordan should not be allowed to exempt team rules just because he is MJ's son. I mean if anyone else on the UCF basketball team in years past had decided that they wanted to play Nikes, they wouldn't have been allowed to because of the contract with Adidas. All in all I think too much was made of a silly sneaker war.

Video Triple Play... Best Midnight Madness Dunk: Will Coleman vs. Isaiah Thomas vs. Keion Bell

Memphis' Will Coleman

Pepperdine's Keion Bell

Washington's Isaiah Thomas' dunk is in the blog post below.

Video: Isaiah Thomas Has Nate Robinson Ups

At Washington's Midnight Madness, 5'8" Isaiah Thomas showed his incredible leaping ability when he jumped over 6'9" Mattew Bryan-Amaning. Take a look.

Mid-Night Madness: Wildly Unentertaining

Prior to last night, I had never taken the time to watch Mid-Night Madness when the time came. I was more interested in diving into college basketball previews and glossing over last seasons statistics. To be honest, Mid-Night Madness never really interested me, probably, because my home team (Georgia) has never had a program relevant enough to pull such an event off. So, from a fan perspective there really wasn't much of interest for me. The only reason I had any interest in watching "The Madness" this year, was because I, like many have an interest in seeing the best teams in action, even if they are playing themselves. First of all the broadcast team of Adrian Branch, Andy Katz and who ever the other guy was, was horrible. They offered little to no actually insight, just rambling on about the best player on each team. The antics where equally bad, I for one had no interest in seeing UNC's players dress up as elvis, or Tom Izzo ride in on an Indy race car (even though is was a good pun, seeing as the Final Four is in Indy this season). In addition the scrimmages had even less substance that I had envisioned. They where virtually no-contact and jump shots where rarely contested if ever, not to mention the amount of run out dunks, that got the students excited, but just made the game even sloppier. By watching these practices, there is no way to tell if one of these teams is more prepared than the other. Kentucky's Big Blue Madness was probably the most entertaining, seeing as the people in Lexington are completely nuts. Kentucky sold all its tickets to the event in less than 2 hours, and Calapari looked like Obama when he addressed a crowd full of his supporters. It wasn't all bad, there where some nice touches to the program, like when ESPNU went to Fargo, North Dakota to see the Bisons' Mid-Night Madness and some of the dunk contest dunks I saw where pretty exciting. All in all thought it still wasn't satisfying. Sure these universities can get 20 or 22 thousand people to show up for a bunch of cheesy skits and dance numbers, but for the college basketball purists there is not much offered when it comes to Mid-Night Madness.

2009-2010 Midnight Madness Schedule

Everything Will Be On ESPNU, so if you don't have it, you will be stuck with sports center highlights like most of us. I don't really see where North Dakota St. fits in with this, but hey they where a great story last season, making it to their first ever NCAA tournament ever, after just a few years in Division I. 


Connecticut (Gampel Pavilion)- Doug Gottlieb
Duke (Cameron Indoor Stadium)- Jay Williams
Georgetown (McDonough Arena)- Lou Canellis and Bill Raftery
Kansas (Allen Field House)- Dave Armstrong and Fran Fraschilla
Kentucky (Rupp Arena)- Dave LaMont and Jimmy Dykes
Michigan State (Breslin Center)- Stephen Bardo
North Carolina (Dean Smith Center)- Rob Stone and Hubert Davis
North Dakota State (Bison Sports Arena)- Jim Barbar
Washington (Bank of America Arena)- Steve Physioc and Steve Lavin

Why This Will Be Northwestern's Year

Last season was easily the best season in the last decade (or ever?) for Northwestern basketball. After finishing 2-14 in Big 10 play in 06-07 and 1-17 in 07-08 the Wildcats finally broke through and finished 8-10. The record wasn't good enough for an NCAA bid, but it did earn the Wildcats an NIT bid. Among those 8 wins, were impressive road victories against Michigan St. and Purdue, as well as a non-conference triumph over Florida State. Many milestones were achieved along the way, including beating a top ten team on the road for the first time since 1953, winning consecutive games against ranked teams for the first time ever, and reaching the NIT for the first time in this decade. With a solid core returning, Northwestern could be in the hunt of its first ever NCAA tournament berth. The Wildcats' stud is Kevin Coble, who will probably never play in the NBA, but has a game that was tailor made for the Princeton style offense that Northwestern runs. Coble is as unique as any player in college basketball, a political science major, who was a game that reminds some of Dirk Nowitzki. He can score from any spot on the floor, and possess deadly range that extends way beyond the college line. He uses his quickness to execute perfectly timed back door cuts and can create a mismatch with almost any defender. Returning with Coble is junior point Michael "Juice" Thompson. Thompson, set Northwestern's freshman record for assists, and last season came up big against Michigan St., scoring 20 points and hitting several key shots. John Shurna, who was much more of a role player last season, was part of U.S.A.'s U-19 team and will get plenty more burn this season. Rebounding and interior defense still remains a problem though, unless 7-foot 280 pound Sophomore Kyle Rowley can reel in more than 1.8 rebounds a game. Interior defense is where the Wildcats have been hit the hardest, but the front court is solid, and this years Big 10 does not present its self to have any dominant back to the basket bigs at all. Finishing off close games was also a huge issue for Carmody's squad. If Northwestern had executed a little bit better down the stretch they could have already punched their first ticket to the dance. Its been a ruff stretch for Bill Carmody, who doesn't have a ton of fans in Evanston, but he may have earned the trust of some last year. This year presents itself with hope and many more opportunities for the 10th year coach. Looking at the schedule, the Non-conference slate provides plenty of challenging, but winnable games against formidable competition (Butler, Notre Dame, NC State, Stanfored), and the Wildcats finally have the tools to be successful in Big 10 play.

Tennessee Baller Renaldo Woolridge Makes His Case For Eric Berry (for Heisman)

The Greatest College Basketball Player Blog Ever: Club Trillion

Mark Titus is not well known for his basketball prowess (he is a walk-on at Ohio St.), but he is an internet legend. Titus is the author of Club Trillion, a blog founded by himself as well as fellow bench warmers Danny Peters and Kyle Madsen. Club Trillion is a very humorous blog, in which Titus not only pokes fun at himself for being a bench warmer, but uses a unique sense of humor to make everything he writes pure comedic gold. Club Trillion gives readers a true genuine view from the end of the bench, some thing that you can't find anywhere else, because all the focus in college basketball is on the guys who are actually productive members of their teams. Despite being a walk-on, Titus is actually not a bad basketball player at all, scoring over 1,000 points in high school, but he has definitely found a home on the college basketball pine. His career highlights include grabbing his first defensive rebound against Iowa as a sophomore, and hitting his second career three pointer against Presbyterian (also as a sophomore). However, none of that detracts from how great the blog is, which currently has had over 1.7 blog views since November 2008. The Blog has been featured on local TV, as well as ESPN.com and Bill Simmons' Podcast. Basically Club Trillion is one of the most wildly entertaining blogs on the internet, and I highly recommend that you check it out, I think its great that we see a walk-on get some serious recognition, because a lot of times they are just as interesting as many of the stars we see in today's game.

From Club Trillion (on how the blog got it's name)

"When the time came for us to get in, there would usually only be 1 minute remaining in the game and after sitting down for 39 minutes, we really had no interest in trying to be all that productive. So we devised the plan of trying to get the "trillion" which occurs when we play 1 minute and do absolutely nothing that would appear in the box score, thus making our stat line say 1 minute played followed by a bunch of zeroes. I know what you are saying to yourself right now. You are saying, "That is side-splittingly hilarious. These guys are probably just a comical party waiting to happen." You are absolutely right."

Tyler Hansbrough AT&T Commercial

The Transfers (09-10)

Chase Adams (Pitt from Centenary)- The Summit League defensive player of the year last season doesn't have to sit out this season, because Centenary is moving to DIII. Adams also shot 39% from deep as a Junior, making him an offensive threat as well

Derrick Character (UTEP from Louisville)- Once the top high school player in his class, Character has battled weight and "character" issues. He will get a fresh start at UTEP, where he could form a powerful front court with 6'11" Arnett Moultrie.

Jordan Crawford (Xavier from Indiana)- Crawford is famous for dunking on Lebron James this summer, and he should be come more nationally recognized at Xavier as he prepares to take over a lead guard spot.

C.J. Henry (Kansas from Memphis)- The brother of top recruit Xavier Henry, put up monster stats in high school. He hasn't played a college game yet, but many say he has NBA potential.

Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame from Miss. St.)- Tyler Hansbrough's little brother should fit nicely into the Irish's three point happy offense.

Derrick Jasper (UNLV from Kentucky)- At 6'6" he is very big for a point guard, but the former California high school standout should be one of the best guards in the Mountain West, after seeing limited playing time at Kentucky.

Wesley Johnson (Syracuse from Iowa St.)- Johnson has been praised as an outstanding defender, using his 6'7" frame to alter shots and get into passing lanes. He was also Iowa St.'s second leading scorer in his final season as a Cyclone (12.4 ppg.)

Jeff Robinson (Seton Hall from Memphis)- For what ever reason Memphis couldn't find room for this outstanding athlete. Robinson is 6'5", but extremely strong, not to mention the fact that he possess great leaping ability. Former 4 star prospect by Rivals.

Tyrone Shelly (SDSU from Pepperdine)- This San Diego native lead Pepperdine in scoring as a freshman (15.1), and ranked 4th in the WCC in scoring.

Jai Lucas (Texas from Florida)- Lucas is a pass first point guard, who can set up Texas's many scoring options. Dad was a #1 pick in the NBA draft, brother (John Lucas III) played at Oklahoma St.

Taylor King (Villanova from Duke)- The former McDonald's All-American should fit very nicely into Villanova's offense, given his offensive skill set, which will allow the Wildcats to play him at the 4, but still stretch defenses with his shooting ability.

Elliot Williams (Memphis from Duke)- He can play right away, due to waivers, and should contribute is a pretty shallow backcourt at Memphis. Williams is an outstanding athlete, and if he can ever find consistency with his jumper he could be a lottery pick.

Tony Freeman (Southern Illinois from Iowa)- Freeman is the ideal guard for a Chris Lowery coached team. He plays outstanding defense, and can contribute offensively in a number of ways. Freeman has only one year of eligibility left, but could challenge for MVC player of the year this season.

My Pre-Season All-Americans

Center- Cole Aldrich (Kansas Jr.): Aldrich averaged a double double last season, and he is the most experienced player at his position. Not only was he dominant on offense last season, but he also averaged 2.7 blocks a game, making him the most imposing defensive force in the Big 12. Despite weighing in at around 245, Aldrich is surprisingly athletic and quick on his feet, if he can add some short of mid-range jumper to his game, he will be nearly unstoppable.

Forward- Luke Harangody (Notre Dame Sr.): It will be hard for Harangody to duplicate the astounding season he had last year (23.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 36.8% from deep), but its hard to leaving him off of this list based on those stats alone. Harangody is a work horse, but he has added an array of offensive moves since he arrived at Notre Dame, and extended his range all the way out to the three point arc, making him on of the most fascinating players in college basketball.

Forward- Craig Brackins (Iowa St. Jr.): Brackins was probably the most underrated player in the nation last season, and could be this season too, but I'm not over looking him. His game is unusually hard to describe, he his a face up post player, who does most of his damage from in between 7-15 feet usually elevating over smaller defenders for short jumpers and using a variety of slippery spin moves and fakes to get his self easy lay-ups. Brackins is an athletic freak, who is sure to be a lottery pick in the 2010 draft, but until then he has still has time to increase his 20.2 scoring average, that he put up when he was only a sophomore.

Guard- Sherron Collins (Kansas Sr.): Collins has battled some weight problems this off season, but if the 5'11" Collins can keep off the pounds he could be headed for a monster season. Collins lead the Jayhawks in scoring at 18.9 a game and assists (5.0), on his way to an all Big-12 First Team selection. Collins has proved to be a very good leader, and was a member of the 07-08 championship team, actually assisting the game winning shot by Mario Chalmers. He shot only 37% on three's last season, but he has shown tremendous range at times, and the ability to make big shots. Collins has the experience, and the skill set to have a terrific season, but if there is some thing he can improve on it is his assist to turnover ratio (1.5)

Guard- Kalin Lucas (Michigan St. Jr.): Lucas was the unquestioned leader of last season's runner up squad, and earned Big 10 player of the year honors, with a solid stat line of 14.7 points and 4.6 assists a game. Lucas is steady on offense, and a sneaky defender, able to defend other guards 3 to 4 inches taller than him. Despite all of that and the fact that Lucas was the captain of a 31-7 team last season, he still seems to be underrated. He  might not have the stats that other flashy guards have, but he showed up when it counted last season, hitting the game winner against Kansas, and dominating UCONN's guards in the elite 8. Lucas should be on everyone's pre-season All-American team, and don't think he won't be looking to make a statement  when the Spartans play UNC in the ACC/Big 10 challenge.