New Draft Declaration Rule Is Unfair

There's a lot of discussion each year about new rules that the NCAA makes pertaining to recruiting. Last year, text messaging players became illegal. This year, attending April weekend tournaments has been banned, and ACC coaches are pushing for another major rule change: Players must declare for the NBA Draft by the day before the spring signing period, which is April 15.

Now, the rule as it stands now allows players to wait until early June, just before the Draft, to make a final decision. If ACC coaches get their way, players will have about a week if their team makes the Final Four.

ACC coaches argue that players holding out to decide hurts the coaches' recruiting. Not knowing whether or not a player is going or staying leaves a potential spot on their roster in lingo. And it leaves a coach at a disadvantage with a recruit because the coach may not end up with a scholarship to give. Plus, coaches say, there's plenty of time to think about the decision during the season.

From the player's perspective, it's just as difficult. Seth Davis makes some good points in his column on Tuesday, which is linked for you in the first paragraph. Many players who are in the position to decide whether to stay or go don't necessarily have it easy. There's a ton of pressure on the players to bolt for the bucks.

People seem to forget that a lot of college athletes like college. I mean, who wouldn't? They have accomodations for everything, from one-on-one tutoring to meal stipends that end up lining their pockets. They get free stuff. They have layers upon layers of nets to make sure they don't slip through the cracks. They play 30-plus game schedules in front of crazy fans on national television. They go to parties and drink for free, all while being treated like celebrities on campus.

What's not to like?

But more importantly, and Davis makes this point very well in his column, the pre-Draft camps and individual workouts are a great way to measure where a player fits in the upcoming Draft. Scouts and NBA teams are never happy with just in-season reports. They want to see a player in person. In the flesh. Jumping. Sprinting. Shooting. All that stuff. You can't get that kind of in-depth scouting when, on any given night, a guy is playing with at least seven or eight players who will never make the NBA.

This rule would be wrong. It's not fair to the players. I've heard some rumblings of a loophole, where players would say they're staying at school, then declare for the Draft right before the deadline. Surely that loophole would be closed if the ACC coaches get their way.

Coaches and schools are already allowed to refuse release from scholarships for kids who want to transfer. They're already in control of a player's every move while he's at school. How is it fair to give coaches and schools control of a kid's future? And if it's about money, give me a break. A coach makes money off a kid while he's at school. Let the kid make money off himself when he's good and ready, and enjoy the kid while he provides his services to the school.

Elsewhere
-- Speaking of recruiting, how's this for fun news? Give us five years and babies will start verbally committing to schools before leaving the womb.

-- Can you believe a CNN.com headline said, "Obamas juggle Inaugural balls"?

-- Remember John McCain?

-- Big games tonight: Villanova at UConn on ESPN at 7; Clemson tries to break its 53-game winless streak at North Carolina at 9 on ESPN; and Arizona and Arizona State battle for state supremacy at 9:30.

The SEC West's Best

Scary, isn't he? That's John Pelphrey, coach of Arkansas. His team is scary, too.

Last night, for the second time in a week, the Razorbacks gored a top-10 Big 12 team. That's right -- Arkansas. Ya know, the team picked by SEC media to finish last in the atrocious SEC West. It made sense at the time -- Arkansas only had three players with any college basketball experience. But this is a top-2o recruiting class working its tail off for Pelphrey.

And these are the results.

Arkansas is 12-1, with wins over the two best teams in the Big 12. The Razorbacks' only loss came at Missouri State, a 62-57 travesty that saw Pelphrey's cagers turn the ball over 17 times. But we're all entitled to an embarrassing loss, right? Especially if you can rebound with a 10-game winning streak and a pair of monumental upsets.

So, Arkansas, join the ranks of Boston College in the college hoops parthenon. You are deserving. Oklahoma and Texas are good. Both teams have a legitimate shot at stealing a 1 seed in March. And you have wins against both of 'em. Both!

Get used to the names Michael Washington and Courtney Fortson. Washington, a junior, has emerged as the BMOC at Arkansas, averaging 18 and 10. The freshman point guard Fortson is a nigthly triple-double threat, posting 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds a night. That's an inside-outside combo, my friends.

The SEC West has a new frontrunner. And the Top 25 won't be the best 25 teams in the nation if Arkansas isn't on there next week.

Elsewhere
-- Clemson is good. The Tigers are 15-0 after a win against Alabama. Why does Clemson start so hot every year?

-- So, remember last night when I said there were two ranked teams playing each other every night in the Big East? Well, this is what reminded me of it. A huge win for UConn at West Virginia. And Villanova does itself well, too, with a win against Seton Hall.

-- And, oh yeah, Purdue is 0-2 to start Big Ten play. Yikes. Really, though, you lost to Penn State. Doesn't that automatically disqualify you from the NCAA Tournament?

-- You know what? College football is stupid. There, I said it. This is why I'm a hoops guy. One game in the regular season doesn't determine your fate if you are a good enough team to rebound. And you decide your national champion with a grueling three-week tournament that, by the end of March, weeds out most, if not all, of the riff-raff. Oh, yeah, and the tournament actually decides on a champion. Why wouldn't someone want to see USC, Utah, Texas and the winner of Oklahoma-Florida in a playoff? Why can't we separate them into an eight-team playoff and add three other teams? God, even the overtimes are stupid. [/rant]

-- If I could, I'd like to recommend Seth Davis. He's always a good read. Also, check out his book, When March Went Mad. Not sure when it comes out officially, but I'm rolling through an advance copy now. Very good if you like sports. And SI.com's Luke Winn is good, too, even if he is stealing my blog post from months ago.

-- Movies you should see: Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler and Bond. Make it happen, people.

The Beast Rears Its Ugly Head

The Big East is responsible for eight teams in both the AP and Coaches polls today. Only one other Big East team received any votes -- West Virginia got one AP vote.

So, how hard will it be for the teams that line up behind the Big 8?

Well, last year, the first year the conference went to 18-game schedule, 9-9 was the worst record that a Tournament team had in the Big East. This year, 8-10 might be acceptable, given the challenging nature of conference play.

This year, the five teams destined for Nos. 9 through 13 in the Big East are all doing reasonably well:

-- Seton Hall is 8-1, with wins against USC and Virginia Tech. Those should hold a lot of weight if the Pirates don't lose any bad games before conference play, which would leave them at 11-1 before Big East games start. SHU should finish at least 7-11 in conference, so stealing one or two games against the top 8 would go a long way. Eighteen wins might not be good enough unless SHU gets a good win against a top-15 team.

-- St. John's is also 8-1, albeit against a cupcake schedule. But still, hosting Miami (FL) and Duke at MSG gives the Red Storm two more opportunities to snag a marquee nonconference win. I just don't see St. John's getting more than seven conference wins, and without the marquee wins like Seton Hall, that's not good enough.

-- West Virginia is 7-2, with losses to Davidson (in New York) and Kentucky. Good wins came at Ole Miss and in Las Vegas against Iowa. Games against Miami (OH) and Ohio State (on the road) give the 'Eers a chance to get two more good nonconference wins. My initial count says WVU goes just 6-12 in the Big East, but knowing its track record at home, I'm willing to adjust to 8-10 or even 9-9. If WVU does that, and wins the rest of its nonconference sked aside from the one at Ohio State, it will finish 19-12. That's good enough, I'd say.

-- Cincinnati is 6-2, with losses against Florida State in Las Vegas and at home against No. 7 Xavier. Two nice wins against UNLV and UAB will help Mick Cronin's squad if its on the bubble in March. A matchup with Mississippi State this week and Memphis in two weeks gives the Bearcats two chances to grab another quality win. I only see Cincy getting 7 wins, which is too few, but a stolen win to get to 8 conference wins, plus a 10-3 nonconference record means 18 wins is possible.

-- Providence was the chic pick to steal one of the top 8 spots in the Big East this year, but the Friars struggled immediately, losing their first game to Northeastern ... at home. Now, PC is quietly 6-3, with a good win against Rhode Island. PC still plays at Boston College, but other than that, there really aren't any other spots for good nonconference wins. This enigmatic bunch looks primed for about a 6-12 or 7-11 finish in the Big East. Steal a win or two, and the Friars could have 17 or 18 wins to their ledger, which still might not be enough.

So, what do these teams do?
Well, that's easy to answer: win. Beating a ranked team or two on your home floor helps. Beating one on the road helps even more. Making sure you win games you should win and beating teams in similar situations as you (these five teams play each other plenty of times) can help overcome the ridiculously tough conference slate.

If I had to pick right now, I'd say Seton Hall and West Virginia are the two teams best positioned to sneak into the Tournament. Marquette and Villanova have some vulnerabilities that leave me thinking those two could struggle, potentially leaving space for one of these next-tier teams to sneak into the Big East's top 8. Keep an eye on Syracuse, too. It'll be interesting to see how the Orange deal with Eric Devendorf's almost certain season-long suspension.

Do any of these teams have the talent to match up with the Big 8? Out of this bunch, I'd say WVU and Providence do; the rest don't. But WVU has had injury issues, and Providence goes cold, can't play defense and is about as predictable as an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

Weekend Preview

Because I'm away for the weekend, let's run over some of the best games ahead, starting with tonight ...

Games of the Week(end):

St. Joe's vs. No. 15 Villanova (Thursday at 8): Last year, St. Joe's put a hurtin' on the 'Cats. Villanova has the upper hand this year, but Scottie Reynolds has to be a bigger factor if 'Nova wants to go anywhere. And if Tuesday's performance against Texas was any indiciation, Reynolds has a lot of work ahead.

Iowa at Iowa State (Friday at 8:05): This one's not on TV, but a good-old in-state rivalry never disappoints, even if this one lost its relevance about three years ago.

Long Beach State at No. 13 Syracuse (Saturday at noon): It will be interesting to see if Syracuse is distracted by the whole Eric-Devendorf-hitting-a-girl-in-the-face controversy. He'll be on the floor Saturday.

Butler at No. 21 Ohio State (Saturday at noon): Ohio State made its case for being ranked; now it's Butler's turn. We know the Buckeyes are gritty and talented. Butler has a chance to get a really high-quality win on the road.

No. 8 Tennessee at Temple (Saturday at noon on ESPN): The first of many tough games ahead for the Vols. This will test their mettle.

No. 17 Memphis at No. 19 Georgetown (Saturday at 2 p.m. on CBS): Both teams are scrapping to get recognized, but these are two clubs nobody will want to play come March. Or January, for that matter.

UMass at No. 25 Kansas (Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN): Kansas should win this game, but UMass needs to cut down on its turnovers to start competing better with big-name clubs like KU. This would be a nice place to start for the Minutemen.

Indiana at Kentucky (Saturday at 4 p.m. on CBS): Just for the names, not for the hoops.

Utah at No. 5 Oklahoma (Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2): The Sooners should win this contest, but the Utes have a nice team.

UMBC at No. 3 Pitt (Saturday at 7 p.m.): Cause it's been too long for the Panthers.

No. 10 Xavier at Cincinnati (Saturday at 8 on ESPN 2): The Musketeers are legit, we know that much. But how far has Cincinnati come this season? Good wins against UAB and at UNLV look nice, but a loss to Florida State catches my eye.

No. 4 Gonzaga at Arizona (Sunday at 6): Jordan Hill is starting to be a major player for the 'Cats, but Gonzaga is clearly at Top 5 team that is starting to really jell. They ran over Wazzou (at Wazzou, no less) on Wednesday.

OK, folks, have a nice weekend.

Is Curry overshooting?

He isn't a point guard. We know that much. But is Stephen Curry overshooting? In other words, is America's Favorite Basketball Player trigger-happy?

Let's break this down:

Caveat: Stephen Curry is one of my favorite college basketball players. He is the second-best player in the country to Blake Griffin, and is clear-and-away the best wing player around.

Last year, Curry played the 2. He V- and backdoor-cut, ran through staggered screens, took handoffs and isolated, launched over people, etc. He did everything he could to touch the ball at least once a possession.

This year, the 6-3 junior -- as you probably already know -- is playing point guard. The departure of his senior sidekick Jason Richards has clearly cramped Curry's style. Last year's Three Amigos -- Curry, Richards and big-man Andrew Lovedale -- are down to two, and Curry has taken on an even larger role in the offense.

None of this means that some role players haven't stepped up their parts. Hell, Davidson is 7-1, with its only loss coming in a thriller at Oklahoma. Steve Rossiter has certainly helped Lovedale underneath, Bryant Barr has fit nicely into the lineup as a wing threat and Mark Paulhus Gosselin (who missed last night's game against WVU) continues to be the team's top perimeter defender. And Will Archambault, Ben Allison and Ben McKillop have done well off the bench at different points.

But Richards was the NCAA's assists leader last year, setting up Curry for quicker, easier shots. And Richards also scored at a 13-point clip. That meant less shooting for Curry.

In eight games this year, Curry has taken 31.2 percent of his team's shots. His shooting percentage is nice -- 47.6 percent -- but in games against BCS opponents (at Oklahoma, NC State and West Virginia), Curry is 36 of 89 overall (40%) and 14 of 45 from 3 (31%). That's 29.7 shots a game, including 15 3s a contest.

At those percentages, that's a little too much. I hear your argument, Peanut Gallery. Those are tougher teams, so there is tougher defense, and Davidson relies on its star more than usual to score.

Fair point.

But in the three games against the BCS teams, Curry at times has forced shots. Maybe it's in his blood to bear any burden his team has. Maybe without Richards the trust isn't exactly there with some of his teammates yet. Who knows? But, like CBS's Gary Parrish notes, there was a point last night when Curry was 5 of 22 from the field. And a lot of those missed shots were forced.

Without having the chance to move off the ball to get open, things have changed for Curry. He has had to reinvent himself offensively and figure out how to get his looks. Part of that process is feeling out his comfort zones, and right now, it doesn't seem like he is entirely comfortable.

When he reaches that comfort zone, dear lord, look out.

Elsewhere
-- Texas' defense is as good as we talked about yesterday. Villanova couldn't get into the paint much. Scottie Reynolds struggled. And Texas overwhelmed the Cats on the inside. Recipe for victory.

-- Good matchups tonight: Cal at Utah, Dayton at Creighton, San Diego State at Arizona and Gonzaga at Wazzou.

Tuesday's Tussle

Jay Wright's Villanova Wildcats have a tall order tonight: Beat sixth-ranked Texas (6-1) in New York. And it won't be easy. Texas has tested itself against some of the best competition in the country; No. 15 Villanova hasn't necessarily played the World's Hardest Schedule.

But here's a big chance to see where 'Nova (8-0) belongs. A win here proves the Cats belong in the top circles of college hoops this year (you know, the tier juuuust below North Carolina, which stands alone in its own group); a loss means there is more work to be done with Big East play lurking around the corner.

We know Villanova can defend. And the perimeter talent is always there. But can the Wildcats score against Texas' blistering D? Texas only allows 57 points a game, forcing opponents to shoot just 35 percent from the field. More importantly, the Longhorns have one of the most efficient defenses in the nation, according to Ken Pomeroy's scouting reports.

But 'Nova is no slouch on the defensive end, either. The Wildcats allow the same amount of points per game (albeit against lesser competition) and hold their opponents to 37 percent shooting. And their efficiency ratings are arguably better than the Longhorns'.

Key matchups: It has to be out on the perimeter, where AJ Abrams will try to continue his hot start to the season. It's simple really: When Abrams does well, so does Texas.

The same can be said for Scottie Reynolds at Villanova. Reynolds, however, hasn't exactly scorched the nets in his first eight games. Not that he hasn't had an impact -- the 6-2 shooting guard still averages 14 points, five assists and three rebounds a game -- but Reynolds only just found his shooting stroke, and it was against Houston Baptist. He's shooting 39 percent from the field, which is right around his career average, but he has always needed to be more selective with his shots.

And the key point to make is this: Even with Reynolds struggling in the early going of the 08-09 season, everyone else, especially Dante Cunningham, has picked up the slack. So any added showtime from Scottie will make 'Nova tough to beat.

Elsewhere
-- Another good, albeit quietly, game is West Virginia-Davidson. Bob Huggins's boys love to defend, and it will be interesting to see how WVU matches up with Stephen Curry. A key Davidson guard, Mark Paulhus Gosselin, received a suspension today from the Southern Conference. Keep an eye on how that impacts Curry's trust in his teammates.

-- Just a quick sidenote on college football: Texas got screwed, so'd Alabama. Ohio State shouldn't even be in a BCS bowl. And while I'm at it, does Georgia have to choke every year, or is that just a thing the Bulldogs like to do on their own?

Rainy Saturday Quick Hits

That man up top -- the Godfather of Basketball, Rick Pitino -- is not walking through that door in Lexington. (He's walking through another door a few hours away, actually, coaching a team that', dare I say, good.) And you have to wonder if anyone in Kentucky basketball world is wishing Rick was ambling into Rupp Arena, because the Wildcats got off to another terrible start, this time losing to VMI, 111-103.

Not even kidding. VMI.

-- Does this really surprise you? Have you seen Nick Calathes? Plus, he plays for Florida, so it figures.

-- UNC topped Penn, 86-71, today. I know you were holding your breath.

-- Really? Davidson dropped 107 points?

-- Pitt took care of business, so did UConn, Texas, Purdue, Oklahoma and Arizona State. Buzz Williams is 1-0 at Marquette. Florida, Wake and 'Nova got off on the right track, too.

-- Just wondering: Is VMI a bubble team now? Kentucky certainly is.