Right Around the Corner
By Brian Edwards
With football season in full swing, it’s easy to forget that college hoops is right around the corner. On that note, let’s touch on a few topics of significance with the regular season set to start in the less than a month.
Mississippi State will be without Renardo Sidney and Dee Bost for the first nine games of the regular season. Sidney has still yet to lace ‘em up for the Bulldogs, sitting out all of last year while the NCAA refused to clear him due to benefits he received while playing AAU ball during his high school years. Sidney misses an additional nine games this year. Bost will be out during that same time and will miss 14 games total, but MSU fans and Rick Stansbury are just glad to have him back. He ignorantly missed the deadline for withdrawing from the NBA Draft, yet won an appeal to go back to school. Bost, a junior who has started at point guard since the day he stepped on campus, will miss five more games because he’s academically ineligible for the first semester. But Stansbury has done an excellent job of doctoring the schedule.
Wake Forest and Tony Woods have parted ways after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault of a woman. Woods averaged 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore, but he was expected to play a more prominent role in 2010-2011.
UNC head coach Roy Williams dismissed William Graves from the program last week. Graves, who had reportedly worked himself into great shape in the offseason, averaged 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last year.
Although his girlfriend seems to be trying her best to get Baylor’s LaceDarius Dunn out of trouble, it might be too late. The school has suspended Dunn from classes, so you would think even if he’s cleared of allegations, Dunn would probably have to miss the first semester. He allegedly struck his girlfriend and broke her jaw that required surgery. Dunn averaged 19.6 points and 4.8 RPG in leading the Bears to the Elite Eight last year. They lost to Duke in the region finals thank in part to several controversial calls at crunch time. Scott Drew’s team lost Tweety Carter (15.0 PPG) to graduation and Ekpe Udoh (13.9 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 3.7 BPG) early to the NBA Draft.
Butler, Murray State and No. Iowa were three of our favorite Cinderellas in recent memory, so let’s get you up to date on what those three schools bring to the table in 2010-2011. The Bulldogs, who lost to Duke in the finals, have to replace key parts like Gordon Hayward (15.5 PPG and 8.2 RPG) and Willie Veasley (9.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG). However, they have one of the nation’s premier backcourts featuring Shelvin Mack (14.1 PPG) and Ronald Nored, who had a team-high 136 assists and plays lockdown defense on the perimeter. Most importantly, senior center Matt Howard is back. Brad Stevens is hoping he can stay out of foul trouble after the feisty big man proved that he can play with any of the nation’s top post players, especially during the 2010 NCAA Tourney. BoDog has Butler’s future odds at 30/1.
The great Butler story of last year might not have taken place had Murray St. maintained its second-half lead against the Bulldogs in their second-round showdown. But the Racers are back with three returning starters and seven players that played more than 10 minutes per game. Gone, however, is Danero Thomas, who beat Vandy with a buzzer beater in the first round of last season’s Big Dance. Murray St. is obviously the class of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers will play at Ole Miss and host Western Ky. in non-conference action. They’ll also participate in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, facing Stanford in a first-round game. Other potential foes in the event include UNLV, Oklahoma St., Tulsa and Va. Tech. Sportsbook.com has Murray St. with 200/1 odds to win it all, while BoDog has the Racers as part of the 20/1 “field bet.”
No. Iowa lost three key starters, including long-range artist Ali Farokhmanesh, who will undoubtedly be dropping 3-point bombs for some lucky team overseas. The 7-footer Jordan Eglseder is also gone along with bruising forward Adam Koch, so much is lost for Ben Jacobsen. On the bright side, Kwadzo Ahelegbe is one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s best guards and the MVC’s two-time Sixth Man of the Year Lucas O’Rear is also back in the mix. Look for big improvements from Koch’s younger brother, Jake, who has even better size going into his sophomore campaign. The Panthers, who were eventually eliminated by Michigan St. in last year’s Sweet 16, have 150/1 odds at BoDog to win the 2011 national title. Sportsbook.com has 100/1 odds for No. Iowa.
BoDog has Duke and Purdue as the 11/2 (+550) co-favorites to win the national championship. Meanwhile, Sportsbook.com has the Blue Devils as the plus-600 favorites to repeat as national champs. At Sportsbook.com, the Boilermakers have the second-shortest odds at plus-700 (risk $100 to win $700).
LSU got a big recruiting coup with a verbal commitment from Mississippi big man Johnny O’Bryant this past week. Remember, the Tigers are going to be without senior point guard Bo Spencer this year. Trent Johnson booted Spencer from the team over the summer.
Penn St. sophomore Sasa Borovnjak is out for the season after tearing his ACL. He averaged just 1.8 PPG as a freshman.
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