Jim Boeheim became only the third major-college men's coach to reach the 900-win plateau (second if you don't count Bob Knight's three forfeit victories in Big Ten Conference competition). The most illuminating item about Boeheim after passing Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) last season to rank fourth among the nation's all-time winningest coaches is that the bespectacled "Baron of Upstate New York" has a stunning streak of nothing but winning records in 36 seasons with Syracuse. His worst worksheet was 16-13 in 1981-82 when the NIT-bound Orange dropped four of its last five outings.

Rupp never had a losing record in 41 campaigns but did post one breakeven mark with UK (13-13 in 1966-67). When assessing this topic, keep in mind the following mentors among the all-time biggest winners each had multiple non-winning seasons: Phog Allen (four non-winning records), Jim Calhoun (six), Lefty Driesell (four), Lou Henson (eight), Hank Iba (eight), Bob Knight (two), Mike Krzyzewski (four), Lute Olson (three), Dean Smith (two) and Eddie Sutton (two).

Has any bench boss come close to Boeheim in getting the most out of an underappreciated cast of players? On seven occasions, he has guided the Orange to the Top 20 in a final AP poll after they were not ranked that high in the preseason. Boeheim achieved the feat in his initial campaign (1976-77) and six times thereafter - 1983-84, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2008-09 and 2009-10.

No coach, active or retired, is anywhere close to Boeheim in total victories coaching his alma mater. Boeheim doesn't generate the headlines of other elite mentors as a tactician titan. But he entered this season with the best record among active coaches in close contests (196-118 mark in games decided by fewer than six points, 62.4%). He is atop the following list of five major-college coaches in history with winning marks every year in college careers spanning more than 20 years.

Coach	Seasons	Closest to Non-Winning Record
Jim Boeheim	36	16-13 (Syracuse in 1981-82)
*Jerry Tarkanian	31	16-12 (UNLV in 1980-81) and 19-15 (Fresno State in 2001-02)
John Wooden	29	14-12 (UCLA in 1959-60)
Lou Carnesecca	24	17-12 (St. John's in 1987-88)
Peck Hickman	23	13-12 (Louisville in 1957-58)

*Tarkanian also compiled seven more winning records in as many seasons for two community colleges in California, where he won five consecutive state championships after notching a 14-13 mark in 1961-62 at Riverside City College to begin his coaching odyssey.

At least three Heisman Trophy winners in three straight decades - 1940s, 1950s and 1960s - are among the football players who also competed in college basketball. But Florida State's Charlie Ward (1993) is the only multi-sport athlete in the last 50 years to achieve the feat.

Three such recipients in a 10-year span from 1947 through 1956 were from Notre Dame. Following is an alphabetical list of Heisman Trophy winners who played varsity basketball at some point in their college careers:

According to Wikipedia, V was an American science fiction TV series running two seasons on ABC, chronicling the arrival on Earth of a technologically advanced alien species ostensibly coming in peace, but actually boasting sinister motives. According to CollegeHoopedia, ABC also has an annual V rerun on ESPN. The intent isn't sinister but, if you value the whole truth, there is some soapboxing fiction involved.

Veering off-course, the Nationwide Leader violates the time-honored vow of telling the entire story. It's vexing that ESPN's parade of glorification pitchmen, including staffers and it-takes-a-village coaches, incessantly laud former commentator Jim Valvano by chapter and verse. A "Jimmy V Week" culminates with an early-season two-night classic to enhance cancer research fundraising for a foundation named after an individual who joins John Calipari (UMass/Memphis) and Jerry Tarkanian (Long Beach State/UNLV) as the only coaches to have multiple schools under their watch forced to vacate NCAA playoff participation.

Anyone with a visible pulse supports the vision of finding a cure for cancer, but a classic lack-of-proper-perspective stemming from the cult-of-personality dynamic is ESPN's vivid hero worship of the vibrant Valvano. He isn't a bloodthirsty villain but there are a variety of vigorous reasons for not carrying ESPN's water supporting his canonization. After running afoul of NCAA investigators at Iona, a private attorney retained by North Carolina State was convinced that the institution could successfully sue Valvano for failing to ensure the academic progress of his players.

ESPN seems as if it will "never give up" a vintage and valiant voyage portraying V as the most virtuous coach in history. The sanitized version is in the network's veins. Voicing valid opposition to this mythical narrative leaves someone open to vilification as vapid and/or venomous. But the network's depiction of V is as real as fake girlfriend of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o.

Irish idealist Dick Vitale spearheads promoting the V Foundation, which has raised an impressive $100 million-plus, and his visceral reaction probably is that any dissent makes Valvano the victim of a vicious vendetta. Anything but vapid, there is no doubt Vitale means well and has his heart in the proper place. But as verbose Vitale is wont to do, he has a tendency to vehemently go overboard with his voluminous embellishment.

In an affront to valuable numbers that never lie, there are times when ESPN sycophants shamelessly enhance Valvano's credentials as a "Survive and Advance" tactician, perpetuating a falsehood he was a late-game strategical genius. You can't take a vacation from the veracity of cold hard facts that Valvano ranks in the lower third of coaches among those with at least 150 close contests (decided by fewer than six points).

There is no reason to be vague and treat big boys with velvet gloves. ESPN could virtually avoid any vanishing credibility in this instance by incorporating recently-deceased Rick Majerus in the foundation equation. After all, the 24-year veteran college head coach was also a vocal ESPN analyst. Call it the V & M Foundation and add heart disease to the venture's research grants.

A tearjerker ESPY speech notwithstanding, it's a cancer of priorities and ESPN simply sullies its reputation with insufferable verbal voodoo vouching that Valvano was something he wasn't beyond a good coach who never had a season with fewer than four defeats in conference competition. Amid narcissism and extensive self-promotion, an "inspirational" story exists because a complicit sports media wants the maximum tear-inducement there like some fairytale. Forget the vulgar academic progress of Valvano's players at N.C. State (735 average SAT score in mid-1980s). But a network shouldn't be an outside-the-lines enabler seemingly accountable to no one while selling only a partial story. They have an obligation to tell the whole story; not vacillate and be on verge of failing their constituency in regard to vainly providing a genuine role model.

As for venerable Majerus, there won't be a movie made about his self-effacing humor, eating habits and fact none of his NCAA playoff teams with three different schools ever had to vacate NCAA play. In a stark scholastic contrast, his 1998 Utah squad provided the vanguard of Final Four achievements - only team ever to feature three Academic All-Americans among its versatile regulars. For the record, Majerus ranks among the top third of coaches in games decided by fewer than six points.

ESPN's abundant coverage seemed to revel in cancer frontman Lance Armstrong's arrogant stumblin' and bumblin' "one big lie" rather than taking his bike-ride fall in a valley as time for self-reflection. The view from this vantage point is that defend-the-brand revisionist history is unacceptable. But a final verdict persists about a greater-good higher calling. As many folks as possible should make a vital donation to the V Foundation. Just envision V as Victory (over cancer) or as Vitale (for his long-term heavy lifting in the project). Are you buyin' what ESPN is sellin' verbatim - accepting it hook, line and sinker? Very odd this vociferous emphasis on V.

A total of 48 NCAA Division I schools have lost to DII Alaska-Anchorage after the Seawolves upended UC Riverside and Loyola Marymount this season. Over the years, Alaska-Anchorage upended the following current/future members from the six power conferences - Auburn, California, Houston, Miami, Michigan, Missouri, Notre Dame, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, Wake Forest and Washington.

Michigan's 1989 NCAA Tournament champion lost on a neutral court (Utah) to Anchorage, 70-66, during the Wolverines' pre-Big Ten Conference competition slate. The Seawolves dropped six of their last 12 games that season against Chaminade, Metro State (twice), Eastern Montana, Puget Sound and Alaska-Fairbanks to finish with a 21-9 record before Michigan earned an NCAA crown maneuvering through the DI playoffs under interim coach Steve Fisher.

Chaminade knocked off Texas coach Rick Barnes this year for the second time after he previously lost there while guiding Providence. Barnes is one of numerous respected major-college mentors who lost to non-DI institutions.

UAA defeated at least one major university 10 consecutive campaigns from 1985-86 through 1994-95. If sizing up small-school successes over the big boys is your hot button, CollegeHoopedia.com has assembled "one-of-a-kind" details on the striking number of "David vs. Goliath" small-college victories over major universities.

An announcement about Louisville joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014-15 means the Cardinals will have been members of five different leagues in 41 years. But there are other schools - including UL's fellow MVC/Metro/Great Midwest/C-USA members Cincinnati, Memphis and Saint Louis - with similar wanderlust.

Amid nearly 60 schools becoming new league members this year and the next two seasons, Memphis was slated to revive its rivalry with Louisville in the Big East but The Ville preferred to chill with new friends in the ACC. Resembling upwardly-mobile divorcees seeking the perfect spouse, New Mexico State is expected to become the 11th school to join the following list of most nomadic institutions:

After 105 years steeped in history amid off-the-chart contempt, the rivalry between Kansas and Missouri expired for the foreseeable future after Mizzou departed the Big 12 Conference for the SEC. Their border war series was as energetic and entertaining as you'll find anywhere and should have been continued. The feud stacked right up there with the more nationally-acclaimed "Clash of the Titans" between Indiana and Kentucky - which also ended because of colossal coaching egos.

By any measure, it was shortsighted of KU/Mizzou and IU/UK to let their rivalries end. Regretably, the schedule neglect doesn't end there. Notre Dame is finally meeting Purdue this year but it's obscene that fans aren't able to enjoy the following potentially great natural non-league matchups between in-state power league members: Cincinnati/Ohio State, DePaul vs. Illinois and Northwestern, Georgetown/Maryland and Penn State vs. Pittsburgh and Villanova.

Misguided Memphis mentor Josh Pastner didn't see the benefit in continuing the Tigers' series with Tennessee. He'd rather just sit at home and beat up on out-of-state fodder such as East Carolina, Harvard, Loyola (Md.), North Florida, Oral Roberts and Samford. Do you think there is any connection between that mindset and Pastner going winless in his first 11 assignments against opponents ranked in the Top 25?

Maryland, rather than coping with an exit fee lawsuit from the ACC, should face litigation from Terrapin fans because of a woeful non-league home schedule. To their credit, the Terps were wlling to play what turned out to be an entertaining game against George Mason. A similar view regarding what's best for the fans, players and game in general also applies to power league members opposing other quality nearby mid-major schools. For instance, Michigan deserves kudos for opposing all three in-state MAC schools while Michigan State should be criticized for avoiding them amid picking on a passel of patsies.

Rather than insomnia-curing mismatches, how much more interest would there be in Wichita State opposing Kansas and Kansas State, Akron and Dayton against Cincinnati and Ohio State, Tulsa against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, VCU against Virginia and Virginia Tech, Illinois State against DePaul and Illinois, plus Belmont against Tennessee and Vanderbilt? What about sizing up the All-American credentials of guards Isiah Canaan (Murray State) against Kentucky and Louisville, D.J. Cooper (Ohio University) against Cincinnati and Ohio State, Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary's) against California and Stanford plus C.J. McCollum (Lehigh) against Penn State and Villanova?

The hoop haughtiness of power schools denying fans stimulating non-league games isn't a new phenomenon. For instance, LSU avoided potentially attractive in-state assignments for decades by never opposing McNeese State's Joe Dumars, Tulane's Jerald Honeycutt, New Orleans' Ervin Johnson, Louisiana Tech's Karl Malone, Northeast Louisiana's Calvin Natt, Centenary's Robert Parish and Southwestern Louisiana's Andrew Toney.

Don't we deserve to see national players of the year such as Indiana State's Larry Bird (never opposed Indiana), Navy's David Robinson (Georgetown and Maryland) and Bradley's Hersey Hawkins (Illinois) strut their stuff in regular-season contests against nearby prominent programs? The Terrapins only met "The Admiral" when they were forced to in the second round of 1985 Southeast Regional when Robinson contributed game-high figures in scoring, rebounding and blocks.

In a form of "gaming," a striking number of power league schools appear as if they want to celebrate Black History month in advance during their non-conference slates by overdosing on scheduling outmatched opponents from the MEAC and SWAC. Arkansas, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Missouri and Pittsburgh are among the HBCU adjunct members this season.

If Boston College doesn't discern the value in opposing UMass, it serves the Eagles right to lose to Bryant, which averaged almost 25 defeats the previous four seasons. With respect to Gonzaga, the Zags have the upper hand over Pac-12 member Washington. Even if an observer detests government involvement, perhaps state legislatures should step in where they can and force power league members to get off their high horse and play the following potentially entertaining intra-state games against quality mid-level opponents:

In a caste-like era separating the haves from the have-nots, imperial universities are seeking megaconferences and, perhaps in the near future, an even more restrictive upper division. But the elitist institutions won't be able to exclude humble small schools from making a big impact on college basketball. In the aftermath of a focus on small colleges when Grinnell's Jack Taylor erupted for 138 points in a single game, following is a chronological notebook with items detailing what will always be appealling about the little guy:

Basketball was a new demonstration sport at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, which also was part of the World's Fair the same year. Hiram College (Ohio), Wheaton College (Illinois) and the University of Latter Day Saints (known today as Brigham Young) were the three college teams invited to compete in what was officially called the "Olympic Collegiate Basketball Championship." Hiram finished the round-robin tournament 2-0 and was declared the champion and awarded the first Olympic gold medal in basketball.

College of Charleston (S.C.) went winless 10 seasons from 1913-14 through 1923-24 (0-56 record; did not compete in 1918-19). . . . Paul Davis, after leaving Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Oklahoma State), guided North Dakota State (18-0 in 1916) and North Dakota (16-0 in 1920) to undefeated seasons in a five-year span. He was also the football coach for these schools. . . . Indiana State's coach for five seasons from 1918-19 through 1922-23 after playing for the institution (known as Indiana State Normal School at the time) was Birch E. Bayh Sr. His son with the same name is a former U.S. Senator from Indiana from 1963 to 1981 and candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election. His grandson, Birch E. "Evan" Bayh III, is a former Indiana Governor and U.S. Senator (from 1999 to 2011). . . . Peru (Neb.) State Teachers won 55 consecutive games over a five-year span from 1921-26. . . . Earl Kinzie, a member of McPherson's 1928 Kansas Conference championship team that placed third in the national AAU Tournament in Kansas City, became a doctor and practiced family medicine in Texas for 50 years. He delivered more than 2,000 babies, including standout running back Earl Campbell.

Stanford All-American Hank Lusetti is usually credited with introducing the jump shot but fans of Glenn Roberts from Emory & Henry (Va.) beg to differ. Roberts led the nation in scoring in 1933 and 1935 en route to tallying 2,013 career points. . . . Westminster (Pa.), playing in the first-ever collegiate basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on December 29, 1934, upset St. John's, 37-33. . . . Tarleton (Tex.), coached by W.J. Wisdom, posted 86 straight victories from 1934 to 1937 en route to winning 112 of 113 games in a seven-year span. . . . Amos Alonzo Stagg Jr., the son of a legend who had the longest coaching career in the history of football (71 years), guided the basketball squad at Susquehanna (Pa.) for 16 seasons from 1935-36 through 1950-51. . . . Carleton (Minn.) forward Wayne Sparks, a "Little All-American" in 1936-37, died in a bomber crash in World War II. . . . Drury's Eugene "Peaches" Westover (class of '38), a four-time All-MCAU forward, was killed January 1, 1945, during WWII at the Battle of the Bulge. . . . Western Kentucky was the only school to defeat Murray State in a 79-game span from January 3, 1936 through March 10, 1938. . . . The leading scorer for champion Central Missouri State in the first NAIA tourney in 1937 (when it was known as the National Intercollegiate Tournament) was eventual major leaguer Chuck Workman, an outfielder-third baseman who finished second in the National League in home runs in 1945 with 25 for the Boston Braves. . . . Louisville lost a school-record 19 consecutive contests in the midst of a six-year stretch from 1936-37 through 1941-42 when the Cardinals were 57 games below the .500 mark. Louisville was a long way from becoming a major-college power in 1944 when Peck Hickman was hired as coach for $200 per month. The Cardinals won a total of 29 games over the previous seven seasons. In that span, they lost at least three times to Alfred Holbrook (three defeats), Berea (four), Centre (seven), Georgetown College (nine), Hanover (nine), Oakland City (three) and Transylvania (six). . . . Ulyss "Useless" Brock, a 6-0, 135-pound forward, scored 83 points (22 field goals and 39 free throws) for Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in a 101-21 verdict over Bethel in February, 1940. . . . UC Santa Barbara reached the 1941 NAIA Tournament semifinals although All-CCAA first-team center Lowell Steward, the league's first black player, couldn't compete because Missouri was a Jim Crow state at the time. Steward would later fly 143 combat missions in Europe as a P-51 pilot for the famed Tuskegee Airmen. . . . George Barr, regarded as probably the finest player in Northland (Wis.) history when he competed in the early 1940s, entered the Army Air Corps as a senior during World War II, earning his diploma in absentia. Barr volunteered for the Jimmy Doolittle raids over Tokyo in 1942. His plane was forced down on mainland China after the raid and the crew imprisoned. Barr was a prisoner of the Japanese for 3 1/2 years with most of the time spent in solitary confinement. Teammate Duane Borst served as a First Lieutenant with the Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder Group in France, flying 43 missions over Germany.

Football legend Eddie Robinson won more than 70 percent of his games as Grambling's basketball coach from 1942-56. . . . York (Neb.) College, boasting an enrollment of 50, upset Akron, 52-49, in the first round of the 1943 NAIA Tournament before losing to North Texas, 51-49, in the second round. Brothers Jim and Wayne Kaeding scored 78 of York's 101 points in the two contests. . . . North Carolina College's Rocky Roberson scored 58 points in a game against Shaw (N.C.) during the 1942-43 season for what was believed to be a college record at the time. . . . More than 100 current NCAA Division I schools previously competed in the NAIA Tournament. Thirteen of the 17 different colleges to win NAIA titles from 1941 through 1963 are currently classified as NCAA Division I institutions. One of the 13 universities is Southeast Missouri State, which captured the 1943 crown after losing its first four games of the season. . . . Mississippi College defeated Mississippi State three times by double-digit margins in 1944-45. . . . Howie Schultz, a star for Hamline (Minn.) in the early 1940s, replaced Jackie Robinson at first base in Robinson's first regular-season game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. . . . CIAA champion West Virginia State was the nation's only undefeated college team in 1947-48, finishing with a 23-0 record. The squad, coached by Mark Cardwell, included future NBA players Bob Wilson and Earl Lloyd. . . . UCLA legend John Wooden was in his final season as coach of Indiana State when the Sycamores lost to Louisville in the 1948 NAIA final. Curtis Walker, Indiana State's 12th man, was the first African American to play in the NAIA Tournament. The all-tourney first five included Beloit's Johnny Orr, who went on to become a longtime major-college coach. Two years later, Indiana State won the NAIA title. . . . Tennessee State, coached by Henry A. Kean, was the nation's only undefeated team in 1948-49 with a 24-0 record. The Tigers' leading scorers, Clarence Wilson and Joshua Grider, were both eventually longtime standouts with the Harlem Globetrotters. . . . Hamline (Minn.), the 1949 NAIA champion, had two players - center Vern Mikkelsen and forward Hal Haskins - on Converse's first three five-man All-American teams. In 1950, scribes named Haskins winner of the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association's Gold Star Award as the outstanding visitng player in New York. In what might be the most impressive honor ever received by a small-college player, he virtually doubled the vote total of runner-up Chuck Cooper of Duquesne. North Carolina State's Sam Ranzino finished third, UCLA's George Stanich placed fourth and Holy Cross' Bob Cousy was fifth. The first five winners of the award were Penn's Howie Dallmar, DePaul's George Mikan, Kentucky's Ralph Beard, St. Louis' Ed Macauley and Denver's Vince Boryla. Haskins was among seven Hamline players who started their professional careers in an eight-year span from 1946 through 1953 under coach Joe Hutton Sr.

Morris Harvey's George King became the first college player to average 30 or more points per game in a seson when he led the nation's small-college players with a 31.2-point average in 1949-50. King went on to become a prominent major-college coach. . . . Sewanee (Tenn.) played 58 games in 10 weeks during the summer of 1951 while touring Africa and Europe with Goose Tatum, Marques Haynes and the Harlem Globetrotters. This reportedly was the first international trip for any college basketball team. . . . Florida A&M won the 1952 SIAC Tournament final against host Alabama State, 71-67, despite having just four players on the court the final 13-plus minutes (including two overtimes) because of players fouling out. . . . The first predominantly black college to take the floor in an integrated national collegiate tournament was Tennessee State (then Tennessee A&I) in 1953. Hall of Famer John McLendon coached Tennessee State to three consecutive national titles (1957-59). Oddly, the '53 Tennessee State team defeated McLendon-coached North Carolina College for the opportunity to go to Kansas City. . . . Seven years earlier, McLendon led North Carolina College to a 64-56 triple-overtime victory over Virginia Union in the final of the first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The CIAA Tournament blossomed into one of the premier postseason events in the country, including major-college tourneys. . . . Alderson-Broaddus College's Joe Miller (3,666) and Carl Hartman (3,373) became the only pair of 3,000-point scorers in college history to be teammates (1954 and 1955). . . . Southwest Missouri, winning the 1953 NAIA crown to become the first school to capture back-to-back titles with a 32-team format, played the last 3 1/2 minutes of its semifinal game with only four players on the court after encoutering foul problems. The principal reason Southwest Missouri was shorthanded stemmed from two squad members being in spring training on their way to playing 12 seasons of major league baseball - infielder Jerry Lumpe and first baseman/outfielder Norm Siebern.

Tom Hart of Middlebury (Vt.) became the greatest rebounder in collegiate history. He still holds the record for most rebounds per game in a single season (29.5 rpg as a junior in 1954-55) and in a career (27.6 rpg). His coach was former baseball major leaguer Tony Lupien. The 6-4 Hart had two 46-rebound games in 1955 and grabbed 45 in a contest the next year as a senior. In track meets, Hart routinely entered six events and often scored over half his team's points, specializing in the high jump and pole valult. . . . West Virginia Tech averaged more than 100 points per game four consecutive seasons from 1954-55 through 1957-58. . . . Bill Reigel, playing for his third college in six seasons, led the nation's small-college players with a 33.9-point average when he paced McNeese State to the 1956 NAIA Tournament title. Reigel had averaged 18 points per game for the Duquesne freshman team in 1950-51 and 16.3 points per game for the Duke varsity in 1952-53 before entering military service. He later coached McNeese for three seasons from 1971-72 through 1973-74. . . . One of McNeese's three defeats in its championship season was at Lamar, 61-60, after the Cowboys had clobbered the Cardinals (12-12) by a total of 84 points in two early-season contests. . . . Long-time Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy directed the basketball squad from Coe (Iowa) in the 1956 NAIA Tournament. . . . Lee Pfund, the coach for 1957 NCAA Division II champion Wheaton (Ill.), compiled a 3-2 pitching record for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. The all-time winningest coach for Wheaton had three sons (John, Kerry and Randy) each score more than 1,150 points for the school. Randy went on to become coach of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers before becoming vice-president of the Miami Heat. NBA coach Donn Nelson, who gained a reputation as an authority on foreign basketball talent, collected 1,460 points and 538 rebounds for Wheaton in the mid-1980s. . . . Western Illinois missed an opportunity to become the nation's only undefeated college team in 1957-58 when it lost to Tennessee State, 85-73, in the NAIA Tournament championship game. Western had defeated Tennessee State, 79-76, earlier in the season. It was one of three consecutive NAIA titles won by Tennessee State, which boasted future pros Dick Barnett, John Barnhill and Ben Warley. . . . Davis & Elkins' Paul Wilcox, 6-6, is the only player to lead the NAIA in scoring (22.6 ppg) and rebounding (22.3 rpg) in the same season (1958-59). . . . In 1959, North Carolina A&T became the first predomiantly black institution to participate in NCAA Division II national playoff competition. The Aggies finished third in the tourney. . . . Jack Madden, the dean of NBA referees for an extended period, graduated from Rider (N.J.) in 1959 as the school's career leader in scoring and rebounding.

The NAIA All-Stars upset NCAA champion Ohio State, 76-69, in a first-round game in the 1960 Olympic Trials. The NAIA zone defense limited Buckeye All-American Jerry Lucas to 14 points. . . . The first final NCAA College Division poll in 1960-61 included three coaches - Stan Albeck (Northern Michigan), Harry Gallatin (Southern Illinois) and Butch van Breda Kolff (Hofstra) - who went on to coach in the NBA for at least four seasons. In the next 10 campaigns, three other coaches - Bill Fitch (North Dakota), Bill Musselman (Ashland) and Scotty Robertson (Louisiana Tech) - guided College Division schools to a final Top 10 spot before moving up to the NBA for at least five years. Fitch and his successor, Jimmy Rodgers, coached multiple NBA teams. . . . The 1961-62 All-SWAC first-team selections included three frontcourters who later played at least 10 seasons in the pros - Prairie View's Zelmo Beaty, Southern's Bob Love and Grambling's Willis Reed. . . . Grambling finished in the top 10 of the first 76 weeks of College Division/Division II polls from January 5, 1961 through the end of the 1966-67 campaign. The Tigers, coached by Fred Hobdy, placed in the top five 40 consecutive weeks from March 2, 1961, through January 28, 1965. Grambling supplied seven top 20 NBA draft choices in a 20-year span from 1957 through 1976 before moving up to the NCAA Division I level - Bob McCoy (10th in 1957), Hershell West (16th in 1963), Willis Reed (10th in 1964), Wilbert Frazier (12th in 1965), Jimmy Jones (13th in 1967), Fred Hilton (19th in 1971) and Larry Wright (14th in 1976).

Ronnie Maravich, a letterman for Georgia Southern in 1961-62, is a half-brother of Hall of Famer Pete Maravich (NCAA DI all-time leading scorer from LSU). . . . North Carolina A&T's Hugh Evans, a 12th-round draft choice by the St. Louis Hawks in 1963, went on to become a long-time NBA referee. Evans, a high school teammate in New York with Connie Hawkins and a college teammate of Al Attles, spent three years in the San Francisco Giants' minor league system. . . . Longtime Harlem Globetrotter Fred "Curly" Neal was an All-CIAA selection for Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) in 1962-63. . . . South Dakota State's decisive basket in a 44-42 decision over Wittenberg (Ohio) in the 1963 College Division Tournament final was a 40-foot baseball pass by Sid Bostic that went in after the buzzer sounded while the ball was in flight. . . . Winthrop "Wink" Davenport, who holds career average (19.6 ppg) and single-game (44 points as a junior vs. Bowdoin on February 2, 1963) scoring records for Wesleyan (Conn.), is the father of former women's tennis sensation Lindsay Davenport. He played for the U.S. volleyball team in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. . . . Sam Alford, father of former Indiana All-American guard Steve Alford, led the NAIA in free-throw shooting in 1963-64. The elder Alford hit 91.2 percent of his foul shots for Franklin (Ind.) that season. . . . Midwestern (Tex.) defeated Austin College, 14-11, in overtime in 1964. Midwestern held a 4-1 halftime lead and the teams were tied at 8-8 at the end of regulation. Midwestern had won an earlier game that season with Austin by 40 points, 92-52. . . . Bob Jones, the all-time leading rebounder for Georgetown College (Ky.), is the father of former Virginia All-American guard and coach Jeff Jones. . . . Evansville was ranked No. 1 for 19 consecutive weeks from January 30, 1964, through the end of the 1964-65 season. . . . Jerry Sloan outscored Walt Frazier, 25-16, in Evansville's 85-82 victory over Southern Illinois in the 1965 NCAA College Division Tournament final. They went on to become NBA All-Defensive Team first-team selections the same year four times in seven seasons from 1968-69 through 1974-75. . . . Shippensburg's team in the mid-1960s had four different players eventually coach high school state championship teams in the mid-1980s during their careers following graduation. Art Taneyhill and Reggie Weiss coached basketball champions in Pennsylvania while Harry Chapman and Jim Deibler coached football titlists. . . . Wilberforce (Ohio) forward Lonnie Lynn Sr., a 1966 NBA draft choice of the St. Louis Hawks who played in the ABA in 1969-70, is the father of entertainer "Common" (previously Common Sense), a hip hop artist, actor and rap poet who was invited to the White House by the Obama Administration. . . . In 1966-67, Cleveland State's John McLendon became the first African-American to coach at an integrated college in the United States. He had previously been the first black coach at the professional level with the ABL's Cleveland Pipers. . . . In 1966-67, Kentucky Wesleyan had its first of 13 full seasons ranked in the top 10 of College Division/Division II polls (1967-68-69-82-84-87-90-98-99-00-01-02-03). . . . Rockhurst's Ed McKee, a 10th-round choice of the ABA's Indiana Pacers in its initial draft in 1967, went on to become P.R. director of the franchise after it merged with the NBA. McKee was also SID for Indiana State when Larry Bird gained national notoriety. . . . Ashland (Ohio) was coached by Bill Musselman in 1967-68 when the school allowed only 33.9 points per game, an NCAA record. . . . Scranton (Pa.), boasting a 20-5 record in 1968-69 under coach Nat Volpe, defeated five different major colleges that season--Lehigh, Rider, Lafayette, Colgate and Seton Hall. . . . Youngstown State's John McElroy became the shortest player (6-0) ever to score 70 or more points in a game involving NCAA colleges when he scored 72 against Wayne State (Mich.) on February 26, 1969. . . . Mickey Gibson, a transfer from Kentucky who was dismissed from the Wildcats' squad by coach Adolph Rupp because he got married, set the UNC-Asheville single-game scoring record with 44 points against Washington & Lee on February 8, 1969.

The first family of small-college basketball, if not all of hoopdom, was the six brothers Jones from McGehee, Ark., all 6-8 or taller, who became the top six rebounders in Albany (Ga.) State history during the 1960s and 1970s. Oliver and Melvin were borderline pro prospects before Wil (nine), Caldwell (17), Major (six) and Charles (15) each played a minimum of six ABA/NBA seasons.

Doug Williams, a 32-year-old Air Force veteran, earned NAIA first-team All-American honors for St. Mary's (Tex.) in 1969-70 when he averaged 18.9 points per game. He scored 24 in a 76-66 upset of Houston. . . . Elmore Smith, a 7-0 center for 1970 NAIA champion Kentucky State, was called for goal tending 12 times in a 116-98 defeat to Eastern Michigan. . . . New Orleans won 38 consecutive home games in a small arena nicknamed the "Chamber of Horrors" after losing its opener against Louisiana College in the Privateers' varsity debut in 1969-70. LC, coached by Billy Allgood, also defeated Mississippi State that season. LC defeated the following six eventual DI in-state schools at least five times apiece from 1964-65 through 1974-75: Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northeast Louisiana, Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana. The Wildcats also defeated Tulane three times from 1962-63 through 1967-68. . . . Stephen F. Austin, the top-ranked team at the NCAA College Division level in 1969-70, had four players selected in the NBA draft after the season - Narvis Anderson, George E. Johnson, Surry Oliver and Erwin Polnick. . . . Curlee Conners, Southeastern Louisiana's leading scorer and rebounder in 1969-70 and 1970-71, is an uncle of Marcus Dupree from Philadelphia, Miss., and a central figure in the recruiting of the nation's premier prep running back by Oklahoma in the early 1980s. . . . In 1970, with an enrollment under 650 students, three Maryland State College players from a 29-2 team were selected in the NBA draft--Jake Ford (2nd round), Levi Fontaine (5th) and James "Bones" Morgan (7th). Four years later, the school (now known as Maryland-Eastern Shore) had three more players chosen from a 27-2 squad - Rubin Collins (2nd), Talvin Skinner (3rd) and William "Billy" Gordon (4th). . . . Tennessee State edged Oglethorpe (Ga.), 7-4, on February 16, 1971, in what is believed to be the lowest-scoring college game since the center jump was eliminated prior to the 1937-38 season. Tennessee State had overwhelmed Oglethorpe, 82-43, earlier in the season. . . . Louisiana Tech had two players selected fourth overall in an NBA draft - Jackie Moreland (Detroit Pistons in 1960) and Mike Green (Seattle SuperSonics in 1973). . . . Birmingham-Southern's Russell Thompson scored 25 points without making a field-goal attempt in a 55-46 victory over Florence State in the 1970-71 season. He converted 25 of 28 free throws. . . . Kentucky State's Travis "Machine Gun" Grant set the single-game NAIA Tournament scoring record with 60 points against Minot State in 1972. Grant finished his four-year college career with 4,045 points and a 33.4-point average. . . . Roanoke guard Hal Johnston, whose athletic career was almost ended when he fractured his skull in a fall from a truck as a senior in high school, was a runaway choice for most outstanding player honors at the 1972 NCAA College Division Tournament. . . . Robert "Firechief" Smith came to USC-Spartanburg in 1972 as a 34-year-old center, powering USCS to its first two winning seasons. He averaged 9.9 rpg in 1973-74, when he was named MVP of the Palmetto Conference Tournament - the first title of any kind in the history of the program. . . . Guilford won the 1973 NAIA Tournament with a lineup that included included three future NBA players - Lloyd Free, M.L. Carr and Greg Jackson. Guilford's top reserve was Steve Hankins, a 6-6, 220-pound, 28-year-old Marine Corps veteran who had served 44 months in Vietnam and was one of the military pallbearers at President Kennedy's funeral. . . . Guilford (N.C.) and Tennessee State are the only two small colleges to have two alums score more than 20 points per game in an NBA season - Free and Bob Kaufmann attended Guilford, and Dick Barnett and Truck Robinson attended Tennessee State.

Guard Greg Procell averaged 11.5 ppg in two seasons for Northwestern State in 1972-73 and 1973-74. Procell, a native of Noble, La. (Ebarb H.S.), held the national high school scoring record (6,702 points) until 2002 when it was broken by Jeremy Monceaux at Parkway Christian Academy of Birmingham, Ala., after Monceaux played varsity as a seventh- and eighth-grader at Spencer, La. Procell's NSU-career high was 27 points as a junior in a 76-70 overtime loss at Northeast Louisiana. He originally signed with Southwestern Louisiana, but when the Rajun Cajuns' program was shut down for NCAA infractions Procell attended Panola (Tex.) Community College, where he averaged 33.7 ppg as a freshman and 28.5 ppg as a sophomore. Procell, who had a J.C. single-game high of 57 points, became a fishing guide on Toledo Bend and an assistant principal at Huntington High in Shreveport. . . . Leon Gobczynski, a 6-10 center, averaged 36.1 points per game for Millikin (Ill.) in the 1973-74 season despite being blanked by Augustana (Ill.) in an 88-61 defeat. Gobczynski, who had scored 43 points in an earlier game that year between the two teams, missed all nine of his field-goal attempts in 36 minutes of playing time. . . . Albany (Ga.) State's Major Jones led NCAA Division II rebounders in 1974-75 with an average of 22.5 per game. Jones, 6-9, is the last Division I or Division II player to average at least 20 per game. . . . Salem (W. Va.) College's Archie Talley set an NAIA record for most points in a season (1,347) in 1975-76 when he averaged 40.8 per game. . . . Philadelphia Textile defeated a different Big Five school in three consecutive seasons from 1975-76 through 1977-78 - Villanova twice, Temple and St. Joseph's. . . . Amherst's Jim Rehnquist, son of Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, finished fifth in NCAA Division III scoring in 1976-77 with an average of 27.8 points per game. . . . Dave Robbins, who is white, became coach at Virginia Union in 1978-79 in the predominantly black CIAA. Robbins went on to win more CIAA Tournaments than any coach in league history. VUU finished in the Top 10 of final national rankings nine consecutive seasons from 1987-88 through 1995-96 and 12 of 13 beginning in 1983-84. . . . Former Briar Cliff (Iowa) players comprised Panama's entire starting lineup in the 1987 Pan American Games. Four members of Briar Cliff's "Panamanian Pipeline" were selected in NBA drafts from 1978 through 1981 (Mario Butler, Rolando Frazer, Tito Malcolm and Ed Warren). In the late 1980s, the first five spots on the school's career scoring list were Panamanians.

When Tampa resurrected its men's program in 1983-84 after a 13-year hiatus, coach Richard Schmidt took his first-year squad, starting one junior transfer and four freshmen, and won the Sunshine State Conference postseason tournament and automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs en route to a 20-11 record. It was the first time in NCAA history that a first-year team in any division qualified for the national tourney. Schmidt is a professional aviculturist who breeds exotic birds and raises other prize-winning animals on his ranch. Entertainer Wayne Newton has purchased birds from him. . . . Former Phoenix Suns/Seattle SuperSonics coach Paul Westphal guided Grand Canyon (Ariz.) to the 1988 NAIA title. . . . Four of the eight NAIA finals from 1981 through 1988 required extra sessions. Nine of 11 championship games in one stretch were decided in overtime or by fewer than six points in regulation. . . . Chuck Randall, Western Washington's longtime coach, invented the Slam-Dunk basketball rim. . . . Gary Lydic, a guard for the junior varsity as a freshman at McPherson (Kan.) and student assistant coach as a senior, served as director of ministry services for Focus on the Family when the organization was headquartered in Pasadena, Calif. On the morning Hall of Famer Pete Maravich died of a heart attack stemming from a heart defect, Lydic was among the men playing with him in a pickup game before the 40-year-old legend was slated to be interviewed on a Christian radio program. . . . Michael Jordan wasn't the best former college basketball standout performing as an outfielder with Birmingham (AA Southern League) in the Chicago White Sox's farm system in 1994. The superior baseball player was teammate Scott Tedder, a 6-4 lefthander who graduated as Ohio Wesleyan's all-time leading scorer in 1988. Tedder, playing about 1/4 of the '94 season in the league with Orlando, hit .281 while Jordan managed a lowly .202 and amassed more than 2 1/2 times as many strikeouts (114). Tedder posted a .261 average over five years with the Barons. . . . The pep song for Chadron (Neb.) State should have been "Here's to Mrs. Robinson" during eight seasons from 1988-89 through 1995-96 when three brothers (Josh, Jason and Jeremy Robinson) played for the Eagles. Each of Gerry and Triss Robinson's sons was a four-year starter and they collaborated for 5,081 points and 2,138 rebounds in a total of 330 games. No one can determine for sure, but they might have combined for more points and rebounds than any other trio of brothers at any single college. Josh, the eldest brother, finished his career as the school's all-time leading scorer (2,041 points). . . . Marquette's Al McGuire wasn't the only former Belmont Abbey (N.C.) coach to make a name for himself at the major-college level. All four Belmont Abbey coaches in the 1980s went on to coach Division I schools - Bobby Hussey (Davidson/Virginia Tech), Eddie Payne (East Carolina/Oregon State), Kevin Eastman (UNC Wilmington/Washington State) and Rick Scruggs (Gardner-Webb).

Oregon Tech's Danny Miles, the winningest active coach in NAIA Division II, earned his 400th career victory on January 15, 1990, in a game that took over 4 1/2 hours to complete. Oregon Tech was meeting Simpson College in Redding, Calif. Early in the game, Owl forward Tyrone Holmes shattered the backboard on a slam dunk. The contest was moved 20 miles away to another gymnasium before Tech could pull out the win. . . . Todd Rowe, a 1992 graduate who is the all-time leading scorer for Malone (Ohio), became the first player in a professional Chinese league to score 3,000 points before he moved on to a league in Japan. . . . Bob Hoffman was deprived of becoming the first coach in NAIA history to guide men's and women's champions when No. 1 seed Oklahoma Baptist bowed to Hawaii Pacific (88-83) in the 1993 championship game. Hoffman had directed Southern Nazarene (Okla.) to the 1989 NAIA women's title. . . . John Pierce of Lipscomb (Tenn.) became college basketball's all-time leading scorer after totaling 33 points in his 1993-94 regular-season finale, a 119-102 triumph over Cumberland. Pierce's 4,110 total career points broke former roommate Phil Hutcheson's mark of 4,106 set in the 1990 NAIA Tournament. . . . NAIA powerhouse Life (Ga.) had a 99-game homecourt winning streak, the third longest in college history, snapped by Talladega (Ala.), 75-72, in January 1999. Talladega was an unlikely spoiler, having won just two of its first 16 games that season. Life went on to become the first unseeded team to win the NAIA Tournament by overcoming a 26-point deficit to frustrate Mobile, 63-60. . . . Central Arkansas ranks among the schools for most NAIA Tournament appearances but none of those were when 1992 U.S. basketball Olympian and Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen played for the Bears. . . . David Lipscomb's Don Meyer reached the 700-win plateau quicker than any coach in college history. He compiled 702 victories through 1998-99 in 24 seasons before leaving for Northern State (S.D.) when he disagreed with Lipscomb's decision to move up to NCAA Division I. His 1989-90 squad won a college basketball-record 41 games. . . . Six different members of the MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) from the state of Missouri - Central Missouri State, Missouri-Rolla, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Northwest Missouri State and Southwest Baptist - finished with a final Top 10 ranking in a 12-year span from 1990-91 through 2001-02. . . . Prior to the inaugural season for Westminster (Pa.) in the NCAA in 1998-99, the Titans were acknowledged as the all-time winningest program in NAIA history with 1,299 victories. . . . Dan Miles, en route to becoming the winningest collegiate coach in history from the Northwest with more than 600 victories, earned win No. 400 in 4 1/2 hours because a broken rim at Simpson College in Redding, Calif., forced the game to be moved 20 miles to another facility. In college at Southern Oregon, Miles set the all-time pass completion percentage record for both NCAA and NAIA for a single season based on 225 attempts (1965, 190-247, .769) and career percentage based on 500 completions (1964-67, 577-871, .662).

Three different North Dakota State coaches the first three years of the 21st Century - Ray Giacoletti, Greg McDermott and Tim Miles - went on to guide other schools at the NCAA Division I level to national postseason competition. . . . Kenyan Charles Maina, who led Lynn (Fla.) in blocked shots two seasons in the late 1990s, starred in the nationally-acclaimed movie "The Air Up There." . . . Haitian Robert Joseph of Union (Tenn.) surpassed David Robinson's record by becoming the single-season blocked shots leader for all levels of college basketball with 242 rejections in 2001-02. . . . The College of Staten Island (N.Y.) started hosting an in-season tournament, called CSI Tournament of Heroes, to pay homage to three former CSI players (Terrance Aiken, Scott Davidson and Tom Hannafin) who perished during the terorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Aiken had just started a computer consulting job on the 97th floor of World Trade Center Tower I while Davidson and Hannafin were New York City firefighters. . . . Jaeson Maravich, a son of NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich, was an NAIA All-American for William Carey (Miss.) in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Jaeson previously had stints with Alabama and McNeese State sidetracked by a back ailment. . . . Hope International (Calif.) ended a 60-game losing streak with a 94-84 win over Redlands (Calif.) in 2003-04. . . . Jack Bennett, the coach of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's 2004 NCAA Division III champion, is a brother of Dick Bennett, who guided Wisconsin to the 2000 NCAA Division I Tournament Final Four. Just like Dick had a son (Tony) play for him at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Jack had a son (Nick) who supplied 83 three-pointers for the Pointers in 2003-04. . . . Grinnell (Iowa) set an NCAA single-season scoring record for all levels by averaging 126.2 points per game in 2003-04. The Pioneers (18-6) had more three-pointers (530) than either two-point baskets (472) or free throws (495). Boasting eight players with more than 25 treys, they scored fewer than 100 points only three times. Grinnell coach David Arseneault had his teams press from the start and they would surrender a layup for a chance to come back down and take a three-point shot. The Pioneers hit 530 of 1,582 attempts from beyond the arc (33.5%).

The Moir family has accounted for more than 1,500 college victories. Page Moir became the all-time winningest coach for a school, Roanoke (Va.), where his father, Charles, won the 1972 NCAA College Division crown before coaching at the Division I level with Virginia Tech and Tulane. Charles' brother, Sam, coached at Catawba (N.C.) for 31 seasons. . . . In 2006, Texas Wesleyan became the fourth unseeded team in eight years to capture the NAIA Division I title. Three years later, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) defeated Columbia (Mo.) in the first championship game between two unseeded teams since seeding was introduced in 1957. . . . Northern State's Don Meyer, atop the NCAA win list among active coaches with 891 at the time in 2008, had his left leg amputated below the knee after an auto accident. Meyer either fell asleep or was distracted when his car crossed the center line and collided with a semi. Meyer, 63, was diagnosed with a slow-growing cancer in his liver and bowels that doctors said might not have been found had he not been injured. . . . Brian Rice, a 43-year-old Navy retiree, was a backup for Geneva (Pa.) in 2012-13.

A Thanksgiving holiday week absolutely should include the time-honored tradition of a smorgasbord mulling over a mixture of heartfelt Thank Yous while chewing on tasteless Turkeys. The list of candidates in college basketball is extensive stemming from issues and individuals your most grateful for and those of dubious distinction. Following is a healthy serving of food-for-thought Thanksgiving tributes and tongue-lashings for hoop observers to gobble up:

THANK YOUS

• Cheers to the striking number of mid-major players who have realistic shots at earning All-American acclaim this season.

• Cheers to Indiana's Cody Zeller, who could join his brother as the 10th set of All-American siblings.

• Cheers to Missouri's Flip Pressey, who could join his father as the ninth set of father-son All-Americans.

• Cheers to ex-college hoopsters Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham, the G-Men who dominate as NFL tight ends.

• Cheers to the Pac-12 Conference, which appears to be undergoing a prompt renaissance after struggling just a year ago.

• Cheers to Colorado State's Larry Eustachy, who overcame personal problems and could become the first coach in history to win at least 24 games in a single season with five different DI schools.

• Cheers to standout seniors for not abandoning college hoops early and giving the sport at least some modicum of veteran leadership.

• Cheers to the Ivy League and Patriot League, which seem like the last bastions replete with textbook student-athletes. Five Ivy League institutions - Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale - can still hold their heads high despite each of them posting all-time losing records. The Ivy League deserves extra kudos for not conducting the money-grubbing gimmick otherwise known as a postseason conference tournament.

• Cheers to pristine playmakers who show again and again that "pass" is not a dirty four-letter word amid the obsession with individualistic one-on-one moves by self-absorbed one-and-done scholars.

• Cheers to model coaches who have their egos in check and carry their personal profiles in school media guides after, not before, the player bios.

• Cheers to upstanding schools having their academic priorities in order although it is getting increasingly difficult not to accept the stereotype that universities need to be one-dimensional sports factories to assemble successful NCAA Division I basketball programs.

• Cheers to Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who has assembled a "mid-major" powerhouse giving every indication it will eventually reach the Final Four.

• Cheers to entertaining little big men (players 5-10 or shorter) who inspire us with their self-confidence and mental toughness in the Land of the Giants.

• Cheers to women's hoops, which has improved immeasurably while the men's game has suffered somewhat from inattention to fundamentals such as competent free-throw shooting. The team-oriented women look for passing angles to teammates "flashing" into the lane while far too many one-dimensional men seek camera angles to trigger a "flashdance" routine. Some of the self-centered men haven't quite comprehended that it isn't platform diving or figure skating they're participating in and you don't secure extra points for degree of difficulty.

• Cheers to junior college players and foreigners who overcome perceptions in some misguided quarters that they are the rogues of recruiting.

• Cheers to Rashawn King, a freshman who overcame cancer to secure clearance to play for North Carolina Central.

• Cheers to the numerous promising first-year coaches assuming control of programs this season. They need to remember the fortitude exhibited by many of the biggest names in coaching who rebounded from embarrassing defeats in their first season as a head coach. An active luminary who lost multiple games to non-Division I colleges in his initial campaign before ascending to stardom as the all-time winningest coach is Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (lost to SUNY-Buffalo, Scranton and King's College in 1975-76 while coaching Army).

TURKEYS

• Jeers to Division I schools in a chaotic restructuring of conferences forsaking tradition although the quest for megaleagues could be delusional because they're vying for television revenue that might not exist as network sports divisions operate at ample deficits.

• Jeers to recruiting services incapable of discerning that Creighton's Doug McDermott should have been a Top 100 recruit coming out of high school in 2010. Ditto to announcers who infect the sport by spreading this virus without ever seeing any of the players enough to properly evaluate them.

• Jeers to marquee coaches who've served up assistants as sacrificial lambs when the heat of an investigation of their program intensifies.

• Jeers to anyone who incessantly castigates the majority of undergraduates declaring early for the NBA draft. Before accepting the party line that many of the players are making monumental mistakes by forgoing their remaining college eligibility, remember that more than half of the NBA's All-Pro selections in the last quarter century or so left college early or never attended a university.

• Jeers to any school for not promptly granting a recruit seeking to enroll elsewhere a release from its letter-of-intent when he wants to attend another institution for legitimate reasons.

• Jeers to "Me Generation" showmen who've failed to comprehend that their respective teams don't benefit on the court from a trash-talking Harlem Globetrotter routine.

• Jeers to self-absorbed players who spend more time getting tattoos and practicing macho dunks than team beneficial free throws. It all hinges on dedication. There is a reason they're supposed to be "free" throws instead of Shaq-like "foul" shots.

• Jeers to high-profile coaches who take off for greener pastures despite having multiple years remaining on their contract or don sweaters and workout gear with a logo of a sneaker manufacturer instead of their school during TV games and interviews. Where is their allegiance?

• Jeers to network analysts when they serve as apologists for the coaching community. When their familiar refrain echoes throughout hoopdom, they become nothing more than the big mouths that bore.

• Jeers to marquee schools forsaking entertaining non-conference games with natural rivals while scheduling a half-dozen or more meaningless "rout-a-matics" at home.

• Jeers to several colleges that hired tainted coaches, showing winning is still more important than dignity at some schools of lower learning. They know who they are!

• Jeers to defrauding coaches who manipulate junior colleges and high schools into giving phony grades. Ditto coaches who steer prize high school prospects to third parties toying with standardized test results.

• Jeers to "fatherly-advice" coaches who don't mandate that any player with pro potential take multiple financial literacy courses. Did they notice in recent years that products from Alabama, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Kentucky and Syracuse filed for bankruptcy after combining for more than half a billion dollars in salaries over their NBA careers? What kind of classes are taken in college anyway if a staggering 60% of NBA players file for bankruptcy five years after retirement?

• Jeers to overzealous fans who seek to flog freshmen for not living up to their high school press clippings right away. The impatient onlookers need to get a grip on themselves.

• Jeers to the excessive number of small schools thinking they can compete at the Division I level. There are far too many examples of dreamy-eyed small schools that believe competing with the big boys will get them national recognition, make big bucks from the NCAA Tournament and put the institutions on the map. They don't know how unrealistic that goal is until most of the hyphenated and directional schools barnstorm the country during their non-conference schedules in college basketball versions of Bataan Death Marches.

• Jeers to ESPN for giving forums to individuals who either lie to NCAA investigators as a coach or practice reprehensible race-baiting with the intellectually-bankrupt "Uncle Tom" bomb.

Anyone with a functioning brain knows that high school player ratings are so much unadulterated bullspit. All of the so-called recruiting analysts/experts and slobbering announcers with drool buckets giving credence to the charade are doing a disservice to the fans and impressionable teenagers. Why can't the player pimps simply wait until the athletes compete in an actual game on a college court before rendering judgment on their ability at the next level?

Conducting a live press conference on ESPN's Signing Day Special announcing a teenager's college intentions is obscene. Even if celebrated Chicago product Jabari Parker announces his intentions a month later, it's nauseating to watch adults hold their collective breath to see if a pimple-faced kid dons their alma mater's cap.

What good are the prep player rankings anyway if the brainiacs can't pinpoint a prospect who will be an NCAA consensus first-team All-American two years later? In 2010, Creighton's Doug McDermott wasn't listed among the consensus Top 100 recruits. It's not as if no one saw him in Ames, Iowa, because his H.S. teammate, Harrison Barnes (North Carolina), ranked as the nation's premier player.

But previously-shunned McDermott, who rarely dunks to shine the spotlight on himself, emerged this preseason with a fellow "Great White Hope" - Indiana's Cody Zeller - as the top two candidates for national player of the year. McDermott isn't infallible, scoring a meager five points against UAB in mid-November. But even if he averaged five points per game, that would be a higher mark than the career averages posted by the following alphabetical list of frontcourters in the same class mistakenly rated higher than him coming out of high school: Evan Anderson (Wisconsin/0.5 points per game), Michael Cobbins (Oklahoma State/4.7), Demarco Cox (Mississippi/2.5), Keith Davis (Texas A&M/1.2), Carson Desrosiers (Wake Forest & Providence/4.4), Josh Hairston (Duke/2.1), James Johnson (Virginia & San Diego State/1.5), Cody Larson (Florida/0.5), Nate Lubick (Georgetown/3.9), Justin Martin (Xavier/3.4), Fab Melo (Syracuse/4.9), Rod Odom (Vanderbilt/3.2), Adreian Payne (Michigan State/4.8) and Melvin Tabb (Wake Forest & Kent State/1.5).

Seemingly incapable of calculating the difference between street ball and team ball, the recruiting gurus can't seem to assess backcourters any better. For instance, Michigan's Trey Burke, McDermott's principal competition for national POY, wasn't listed among the Top 100 in 2011. Again, it wasn't as if he was an unknown commodity insofar as Burke was a prep teammate of eventual Ohio State All-American Jared Sullinger. It would take you all week to read the list of players ranked ahead of Burke, McDermott, Indiana's Victor Oladipo, Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk and Georgetown's Otto Porter Jr. when they left high school.

Elsewhere, guard Jeremy Lamb averaged 14.1 ppg in two seasons with 2011 NCAA champion Connecticut before leaving school early and becoming an NBA lottery pick (12th overall). But Lamb's scoring average is more than twice as high as those compiled by the following alphabetical list of guards in the same 2010 class incorrectly rated ahead of him entering college: Daniel Bejarano (Arizona & Colorado State/2.7 ppg), James Bell (Villanova/5.4), Vander Blue (Marquette/6.6), Rion Brown (Miami/5.7), Gary Franklin (California & Baylor/3.9), Crandall Head (Illinois & Southern Methodist/1.2), Jamail Jones (Marquette & Florida Gulf Coast/1.6), Jelan Kendrick (Memphis, Mississippi & UNLV/5.1 ppg), Tyler Lamb (UCLA & Long Beach State/5.8), Mychal Parker (Maryland/3.4), Stacey Poole Jr. (Kentucky & Georgia Tech/0.2), Casey Prather (Florida/1.6) and Jordan Sibert (Ohio State & Dayton/2.5).

What are the recruiting-wizard credentials of the chattering class? Never underestimate how gullible some observers can be if they don't let mistake-ridden regaling go in one ear and out the other until authentic evidence exists. At least let the latest-and-greatest phenom such as Kentucky center Norlens Noel supply some sort of next-level proof along the lines of his four-point debut against Duke.

Noel seems to have spent more time on his UK designer haircut than developing any sort of shooting touch. At times, it appears as if he and UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad are vying to become this year's Perry Jones III, the underachieving Baylor forward who exhibited the heart of an insect last season. Many teenagers toiling at a fast-food joint ply their boring trade with more zest than Noel and Muhammad, who each occasionally play so tentatively (AAU open-gym style) it looks like they are trying to avoid an injury that would cost them dearly as a probable high NBA draft choice although that is exactly what happened to Noel in mid-season.

Power conference members Miami (Fla.), Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Texas Tech never have reached a regional final in the NCAA Tournament while Rice has achieved the feat on two occasions (1940 and 1942). The Owls won 19 games last season but will be fortunate to reach double figures in victories this year after losing leading scorer and rebounder Arsalan Kazemi, one of the nation's best foreigners (Iran) who transferred to Oregon.

A sure sign of the decline came when St. Thomas (Tex.), a small Catholic liberal arts school about two miles north of Rice's campus in Houston, coasted to a 72-59 victory over the Owls in their season opener. St. Thomas, an NAIA member on the heels of its first winning season (18-13), only introduced intercollegiate athletics in 2006.

The setback was a generous dose of humility for Rice coach Ben Braun, who guided Eastern Michigan and California to multiple NCAA playoff appearances. But many of the biggest names in college coaching history had to recover from embarrassing defeats that weren't cited on their otherwise mostly regal resumes. For instance, there are numerous mentors who captured NCAA championships despite losing to a small school at some point in their careers - Phog Allen (lost to Emporia State), Jim Calhoun (American International, Assumption, Brandeis, Bridgeport, Florida Southern, Merrimack, St. Anselm, Stonehill and Tufts), John Calipari (Florida Tech and Lowell), Denny Crum (Chaminade), Jim Harrick (Abilene Christian), Don Haskins (Louisiana College), Hank Iba (Abilene Christian and Westminster), George Ireland (Regis), Doggie Julian (Amherst, Colby, St. Anselm, St. Michael's, Springfield, Tampa and Williams), Mike Krzyzewski (King's, Scranton and SUNY-Buffalo), Rollie Massimino (New Orleans and Philadelphia Textile), Al McGuire (Evansville and Washington, MO), Rick Pitino (Adelphi), Nolan Richardson (American-Puerto Rico), Norm Sloan (Presbyterian), John Thompson Jr. (Assumption, Gannon, Randolph-Macon and Roanoke) and Jim Valvano (Armstrong State, Bloomsburg, Gannon, Tampa and Wilkes).

Kansas' Bill Self lost 18 consecutive contests bridging the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons with Oral Roberts but at least he didn't lose a decision to a non-Division I institution. Rick Barnes bowed to Chaminade this year for the second time in his coaching career. Braun joined Barnes on the following alphabetical list of high-profile coaches who lost games to non-Division I colleges at some point in their major-college careers:

• Forrest "Phog" Allen - Lost to Emporia State (Kan.) in 1947-48 while coaching Kansas.
• Forrest "Forddy" Anderson - Lost to Emporia State (Kan.) in 1947-48 while coaching Drake. Lost to Northern Michigan in 1960-61 while coaching Michigan State.
• John Bach - Lost to Adelphi (N.Y.) in 1958-59 while coaching Fordham.
• Kevin Bannon - Lost to Grand Canyon (Ariz.) at Hawaii in 1991-92 while coaching Rider.
• Rick Barnes - Lost at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1991-92 while coaching Providence and in 2012-13 while coaching Texas.
• J.D. Barnett - Lost to Louisiana Christian in 1995-96 while coaching Northwestern State (La.).
• Jim Baron - Lost to Walsh (Ohio) in 1992-93 while coaching St. Bonaventure. Lost to Lubbock Christian (Tex.) at Las Vegas in 2003-04 while coaching Rhode Island.
• Gene Bartow - Lost at American-Puerto Rico in 1994-95 while coaching UAB.
• Dick Bennett - Lost to Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1985-86 and 1986-87 while coaching Wisconsin-Green Bay.
• Eddie Biedenbach - Lost to Montreat (N.C.) in 2001-02 and Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) in 2005-06 while coaching UNC Asheville.
• Tom Blackburn - Lost to Anderson (Ind.) in 1947-48, Ohio Wesleyan in 1948-49, Muskingum (Ohio) in 1949-50 and Wittenberg (Ohio) in 1962-63 while coaching Dayton.
• Bill Blair - Lost to Morris Harvey (W. Va.) and twice to Roanoke (Va.) in 1972-73 and to West Virginia Tech and Shepherd (W.Va.) in 1973-74 while coaching VMI.
• George Blaney - Lost to Springfield (Mass.) in 1969-70 and 1971-72 while coaching Dartmouth. Lost to Assumption (Mass.) in 1973-74 and 1985-86 and at Florida Southern in 1979-80 while coaching Holy Cross.
• Dave Bliss - Lost to Rollins (Fla.) and Texas Wesleyan in 1980-81 and at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1984-85 while coaching SMU. Lost to Eastern New Mexico in 1991-92 while coaching New Mexico.
• Bob Boyd - Lost to Tennessee-Martin in 1981-82 and Delta State (Miss.) in 1985-86 while coaching Mississippi State.
• Jim Brandenburg - Lost to South Dakota in 1979-80 while coaching Wyoming.
• Byron "Buster" Brannon - Lost to Sam Houston State (Tex.) twice in 1938-39 and once in 1940-41 while coaching Rice. Lost to East Texas State, at Hamline (Minn.) and twice to Austin (Tex.) College in 1948-49, Midwestern State (Tex.) in 1953-54 and Kentucky Wesleyan in 1955-56 while coaching Texas Christian.
• Tom Brennan - Lost to St. Michael's (Vt.) in 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89 while coaching Vermont.
• John Bunn - Lost to Eastern New Mexico (six times from 1957-58 through 1962-63), Fort Hays (Kan.) State (five times from 1957-58 through 1962-63), New Mexico Highlands in 1960-61, twice to Panhandle State (Okla.) in 1957- 58, St. Cloud State (Minn.) in 1962-63, Southwestern Oklahoma State in 1956-57, Wayne State (Neb.) in 1962-63 and Western New Mexico in 1961-62 while coaching Northern Colorado.
• Jim Calhoun - Lost to Assumption (Mass.) in 1972-73; to Tufts (Mass.), American International (Mass.), Bridgeport (Conn.) and at Assumption (Mass.) in 1973-74; Assumption (Mass.) and Brandeis (Mass.) in 1974-75; Merrimack (Mass.) in 1975-76; Bridgeport (Conn.), Merrimack (Mass.), St. Anselm (Vt.) and Stonehill (Mass.) in 1976-77; American International (Mass.) and Assumption (Mass.) in 1978-79 and Florida Southern in 1980-81 while coaching Northeastern.
• John Calipari - Lost at Florida Tech in 1988-89 and to Lowell (Mass.) in 1989-90 while coaching Massachusetts.
• Lou Campanelli - Lost to West Virginia Tech in 1980-81 while coaching James Madison. Lost to Alaska-Anchorage in 1990-91 on neutral court while coaching California.
• Howard Cann - Lost to Panzer in 1938-39 and Brandeis (Mass.) in 1956-57 while coaching NYU.
• P.J. Carlesimo - Lost at Bentley (Mass.), to Southern Connecticut on a neutral court, to C.W. Post (N.Y.), at Springfield (Mass.) and at Bridgeport (Conn.) in 1976-77; to New Haven (Conn.) and at C.W. Post (N.Y.) in 1977- 78, and at Staten Island (N.Y.) and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.) in 1981-82 while coaching Wagner.
• Henry "Doc" Carlson - Lost to Bethany (W. Va.) in 1948-49, Geneva (Pa.) in 1941-42, 1950-51 and 1952-53 and Carnegie Tech (Pa.) three times in four seasons from 1938-39 through 1941-42 plus five times in six seasons from 1949-50 through 1954-55 while coaching Pittsburgh.
• Pete Carril - Lost to East Stroudsburg (Pa.) in 1966-67 while coaching Lehigh.
• Don Casey - Lost to Philadelphia Textile in 1975-76 while coaching Temple.
• Joe Cipriano - Lost at Hawaii-Hilo in 1976-77 while coaching Nebraska.
• Gary Colson - Lost to John Brown (Ark.) in 1972-73 and Moorhead (Minn.) State in 1973-74 while coaching Pepperdine. Lost to Alaska-Anchorage in 1983-84 while coaching New Mexico.
• Bobby Cremins - Lost to Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) in 1975-76 and twice in 1977-78 while coaching Appalachian State.
• Denny Crum - Lost at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1983-84 and 1984-85 while coaching Louisville.
• Charles "Chick" Davies--Lost to Waynesburg (Pa.) in 1937-38 and 1938-39 and to Wooster (Ohio) in 1937-38 while coaching Duquesne.
• Tom Davis - Lost to Moravian (Pa.) in 1973-74 and at Albright (Pa.) in 1975-76 while coaching Lafayette. Lost to Chico State (Calif.) in 1982-83 while coaching Stanford. Lost to UC Riverside in 1988-89 while coaching Iowa.
• Johnny Dee - Lost to Jacksonville (Ala.) State in 1952-53 while coaching Alabama.
• Don DeVoe - Lost to Johns Hopkins (Md.) in 2002-03 while coaching Navy.
• Ed Diddle - Lost to Kentucky Wesleyan in 1955-56, David Lipscomb (Tenn.) in 1962-63 and LeMoyne (N.Y.) in 1963 -64 while coaching Western Kentucky.
• Bob Donewald - Lost to Cal State Bakersfield in 1980-81 while coaching Illinois State.
• Homer Drew - Lost to Bethel (Ind.) in 1997-98 while coaching Valparaiso.
• Charles "Lefty" Driesell - Lost to Catawba (N.C.) twice in 1960-61 and to Carson-Newman (Tenn.) and Erskine (S.C.) in 1961-62 while coaching Davidson.
• Hugh Durham - Lost at Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in 2001-02 while coaching Jacksonville.
• Bobby Dye - Lost at Chapman (Calif.) in 1975-76 while coaching Cal State Fullerton. Lost to Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) in 1985-86 while coaching Boise State.
• Norm Ellenberger - Lost at Hawaii-Hilo in 1976-77 while coaching New Mexico.
• Fred Enke - Lost to Regis (Colo.) in 1959-60 while coaching Arizona.
• Larry Eustachy - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1991-92 and to Elizabeth City State (N.C.) in 1992-93 while coaching Idaho.
• Paul Evans - Lost at Rollins (Fla.) in 1981-82 while coaching Navy.
• Bill C. Foster - Lost at University of the South (Tenn.) and Roanoke (Va.) in 1970-71 and to Valdosta (Ga.) State in 1971-72 while coaching UNC Charlotte. Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1987-88 while coaching Miami (Fla.).
• Bill E. Foster - Lost at Albright (Pa.) in 1964-65 while coaching Rutgers. Lost at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1981- 82 while coaching South Carolina. Lost to Rollins (Fla.) in 1986-87 and 1987-88 while coaching Northwestern.
• Harold "Bud" Foster - Lost to South Dakota in 1956-57 while coaching Wisconsin.
• Bill Frieder - Lost to Alaska-Anchorage on a neutral court in 1988-89 while coaching Michigan.
• Jack Friel - Lost at Centenary (La.) in 1955-56, to Spring Hill (Ala.) in 1955-56 and Whitworth (Wash.) five times from 1951-52 through 1956-57 while coaching Washington State.
• John "Taps" Gallagher - Lost to Gannon (Pa.) and Rochester (N.Y.) in 1964-65 while coaching Niagara.
• Dave Gavitt - Lost at Springfield (Mass.) in 1967-68 while coaching Dartmouth.
• Boyd Grant - Lost to Wisconsin-Parkside in 1978-79 while coaching Fresno State.
• Murray Greason - Lost to Rio Grande (Ohio) in 1953-54 while coaching Wake Forest.
• Ron Greene - Lost to Spring Hill (Ala.) in 1966-67 while coaching Loyola of New Orleans. Lost to Tennessee Wesleyan and Mississippi College in 1978-79, Arkansas College in 1981-82, West Virginia Tech in 1982-83 and Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) in 1984-85 while coaching Murray State. Lost to Rollins (Fla.) in 1986-87 while coaching Indiana State.
• Tim Grgurich - Lost to Morris Harvey (W.Va.) in 1977-78 while coaching Pittsburgh.
• Leonard Hamilton - Lost at BYU-Hawaii in 1987-88 while coaching Oklahoma State.
• Jim Harrick - Lost at Abilene (Tex.) Christian in 1984-85 while coaching Pepperdine.
• Dick Harter - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1978-79 while coaching Penn State.
• Jack Hartman - Lost to Kentucky Wesleyan four times in three years from 1967-68 through 1969-70 while coaching Southern Illinois.
• Don Haskins - Lost to Louisiana College in 1977-78 while coaching Texas-El Paso.
• George "Jud" Heathcote - Lost at Puget Sound (Wash.) in 1972-73, 1973-74 and 1975-76 and at Southern Colorado in 1972-73 while coaching Montana.
• Bill Henderson - Lost to Howard Payne (Tex.) in 1955-56 while coaching Baylor.
• Lou Henson - Lost to Howard Payne (Tex.) twice, Midwestern State (Tex.), Eastern New Mexico and Abilene Christian (Tex.) in 1962-63; Abilene Christian and Midwestern State in 1964-65, and Pittsburg State (Kan.) in 1965-66 while coaching Hardin-Simmons. Lost at Eastern New Mexico in 1966-67, to Angelo State (Tex.) in 1971-72, at Alaska-Fairbanks in 1998-99 and at BYU-Hawaii in 2001-02 while coaching New Mexico State.
• Eddie Hickey - Lost to South Dakota in 1938-39 and 1939-40 while coaching Creighton.
• Bernard "Peck" Hickman - Lost to Georgetown (Ky.) in 1958-59 while coaching Louisville.
• Paul "Tony" Hinkle - Lost to Wabash (Ind.) in 1959-60, twice in 1960-61 and in 1966-67 while coaching Butler.
• Terry Holland - Lost at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1982-83 while coaching Virginia.
• Ben Howland - Lost to Concordia (Calif.) in 1994-95 while coaching Northern Arizona.
• Henry "Hank" Iba - Lost to Westminster (Mo.) in 1934-35 and 1936-37 and Abilene (Tex.) Christian in 1965-66 while coaching Oklahoma A&M/Oklahoma State.
• Moe Iba - Lost to Union (Tenn.) in 1968-69 and 1969-70 while coaching Memphis State.
• George Ireland - Lost to Regis (Colo.) in 1954-55, North Dakota State in 1966-67, Illinois Wesleyan in 1970-71 and Missouri Western in 1972-73 while coaching Loyola of Chicago.
• Maurice "Maury" John - Lost to South Dakota State in 1958-59 and Washington (Mo.) in 1963-64 while coaching Drake.
• Alvin "Doggie" Julian - Lost to St. Michael's (Vt.), at St. Anselm (N.H.) and at Tampa (Fla.) in 1950-51; to Amherst (Mass.) in 1952-53; at St. Michael's (Vt.), to Williams (Mass.) and at Springfield (Mass.) in 1960-61; to Colby (Maine) in 1961-62, and to Williams (Mass.) in 1964-65 while coaching Dartmouth.
• Jim Killingsworth - Lost to Westmont (Calif.) in 1980-81 while coaching Texas Christian.
• Bob King - Lost at Washington (Mo.) in 1963-64 while coaching New Mexico.
• Dana Kirk - Lost to Wisconsin-Parkside in 1979-80 while coaching Memphis State.
• Jack Kraft - Lost to Assumption (Mass.) in 1974-75 while coaching Rhode Island.
• Mike Krzyzewski - Lost to SUNY-Buffalo, Scranton (Pa.) and King's College (Pa.) in 1975-76 while coaching Army.
• Steve Lappas - Lost to Springfield (Mass.) in 1988-89 while coaching Manhattan.
• Jim Larranaga - Lost to Findlay (Ohio) in 1991-92 while coaching Bowling Green.
• Frank Layden - Lost to Thomas More (Ky.) in 1970-71 while coaching Niagara.
• Jack Leaman - Lost to American International (Mass.) in 1966-67 and 1969-70, Springfield (Mass.) in 1970-71 and Bentley (Mass.) in 1978-79 while coaching Massachusetts.
• A.E. "Abe" Lemons--Lost to Centenary (La.) in 1958-59, McMurry (Tex.) in 1960-61 and Wayland Baptist (Tex.) in 1984-85 while coaching Oklahoma City. Lost to Texas A&I in 1973-74 while coaching Pan American.
• Jim Les - Lost to Lubbock (Tex.) Christian at Las Vegas in 2003-04 while coaching Bradley.
• Guy Lewis - Lost to St. Mary's (Tex.) in 1969-70 and 1974-75, Texas A&I in 1979-80 and Alaska Anchorage and Biscayne (Fla.) in 1980-81 while coaching Houston.
• Harry Litwack - Lost to West Chester (Pa.) in 1969-70 while coaching Temple.
• Taylor "Tates" Locke - Lost to North Park (Ill.) in 1978-79 while coaching Jacksonville.
• Ken Loeffler - Lost to Centenary (La.) in 1956-57 while coaching Texas A&M.
• Jim Lynam - Lost to Saint Leo (Fla.) and at Assumption (Mass.) in 1968-69 and to Southern Connecticut in 1969- 70 while coaching Fairfield. Lost at King's (Pa.) in 1975-76 while coaching American University. Lost at Rollins (Fla.) in 1979-80 while coaching St. Joseph's.
• Nick Macarchuk - Lost to Buffalo State in 1982-83 while coaching Canisius.
• John MacLeod - Lost to Samford (Ala.) in 1971-72 while coaching Oklahoma. Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1998-99 while coaching Notre Dame.
• John "Red" Manning - Lost to Carnegie-Mellon (Pa.) in 1959-60 while coaching Duquesne.
• Rollie Massimino - Lost at New Orleans in 1973-74 and to Philadelphia Textile in 1975-76 and 1976-77 while coaching Villanova.
• James "Babe" McCarthy - Lost to University of the South (Tenn.) in 1955-56 and Mississippi College in 1964-65 while coaching Mississippi State.
• Neil McCarthy - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1978-79 while coaching Weber State. Lost to Western New Mexico in 1986-87 while coaching New Mexico State.
• Al McGuire - Lost at Washington (Mo.) in 1964-65 and Evansville in 1965-66 while coaching Marquette.
• Frank McGuire - Lost at Florida Southern in 1979-80 while coaching South Carolina.
• Jack McKinney - Lost to Catholic (D.C.) in 1966-67 while coaching St. Joseph's.
• Eddie Melvin - Lost to Cortland (N.Y.) State in 1947-48 and Gannon (Pa.) in 1948-49 while coaching St. Bonaventure. Lost to Morris Harvey (W.Va.) in 1956-57 and Wittenberg (Ohio) in 1958-59 and 1959-60 while coaching Toledo.
• Shelby Metcalf - Lost at Eastern Montana in 1980-81 and to St. Mary's (Tex.) in 1984-85 while coaching Texas A&M.
• Ray Meyer - Lost to Beloit (Wis.) in 1950-51, at North Dakota in 1965-66 and to St. Joseph's (Ind.) in 1969-70.
• Eldon Miller - Lost to Winona (Minn.) State and Wisconsin-Platteville in 1986-87 and at American-Puerto Rico and to Morningside (Iowa) in 1990-91 while coaching Northern Iowa.
• Ralph Miller - Lost at Beloit (Wis.) in 1951-52 while coaching Wichita.
• Charles Moir - Lost to Dillard (La.) in 1973-74 and 1974-75 and Xavier (La.) in 1973-74 while coaching Tulane.
• Mike Montgomery - Lost to Puget Sound (Wash.) in 1978-79 and 1980-81 while coaching Montana. Lost at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 1992-93 while coaching Stanford.
• Stan Morrison - Lost to San Francisco State in 1974-75 and at North Dakota in 1978-79 while coaching Pacific.
• Joe Mullaney - Lost to Assumption (Mass.) in 1963-64 and 1984-85 while coaching Providence. Lost to Stonehill (Mass.) in 1979-80 while coaching Brown.
• Jeff Mullins - Lost at Florida Southern in 1987-88 while coaching UNC Charlotte.
• Gerald Myers - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1990-91 while coaching Texas Tech.
• Lynn Nance - Lost to Nebraska-Omaha in 1979-80 while coaching Iowa State.
• Danny Nee - Lost to Charleston (W.Va.) in 1980-81 while coaching Ohio University.
• Jim O'Brien - Lost at Florida Tech in 1988-89 while coaching Boston College.
• Dave Odom - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1993-94 while coaching Wake Forest.
• Johnny Orr - Lost at Washington (Mo.) in 1964-65 while coaching Massachusetts. Lost at Eastern Montana in 1981 -82 while coaching Iowa State.
• Bobby Paschal - Lost to Tampa in 1986-87 and 1987-88 while coaching South Florida.
• Tom Penders - Lost at CCNY in 1974-75 and at San Francisco State in 1977-78 while coaching Columbia. Lost at Hawaii-Pacific in 1985-86 while coaching Fordham.
• Jerry Pimm - Lost to Midwestern State (Tex.) in 1979-80 while coaching Utah. Lost to San Francisco State in 1983-84 while coaching UC Santa Barbara.
• Rick Pitino - Lost to Adelphi (N.Y.) in 1978-79 while coaching Boston University.
• Harry Rabenhorst - Lost to Louisiana College in 1955-56 and at Centenary (La.) in 1956-57 while coaching LSU.
• Bill Raftery - Lost to Siena (N.Y.) in 1972-73, at Rollins (Fla.) in 1973-74 and to King's College (Pa.) in 1975-76 while coaching Seton Hall.
• Jack Ramsay - Lost to Albright (Pa.) in 1957-58 and 1961-62 while coaching St. Joseph's.
• George Raveling - Lost to St. Martin's (Wash.) in 1980-81 and Eastern Montana in 1981-82 while coaching Washington State.
• Roger Reid - Lost to Colorado-Colorado Springs in 2007-08 while coaching Southern Utah.
• Nolan Richardson - Lost at American-Puerto Rico in 1997-98 while coaching Arkansas.
• Alfred "A.J." Robertson - Lost to South Dakota in 1947-48 while coaching Bradley.
• Les Robinson - Lost to Francis Marion (S.C.) in 1983-84 while coaching The Citadel.
• Lee Rose - Lost at Eastern Montana in 1977-78 while coaching UNC Charlotte.
• Lou Rossini - Lost to Bentley (Mass.) in 1978-79 and Scranton (Pa.) in 1975-76 while coaching St. Francis (N.Y.).
• John "Honey" Russell - Lost at Saint Thomas (Minn.) in 1937-38, to David & Elkins (W. Va.) in 1949-50 and to Albright (Pa.) in 1949-50 and 1957-58 while coaching Seton Hall.
• Alex Severance - Lost to Albright (Pa.) in 1941-42, Swarthmore (Pa.) in 1943-44 and 1944-45 and Scranton (Pa.) in 1957-58 while coaching Villanova.
• Norman Sloan - Lost at Presbyterian (S.C.) in 1956-57 while coaching The Citadel.
• Jim Snyder - Lost to Marietta (Ohio) four times in five years from 1949-50 through 1953-54 and in 1959-60, Mount Union (Ohio) in 1949-50, Muskingum (Ohio) in 1950-51, Beloit (Wis.) and Lake Forest (Ill.) in 1951-52, Ohio Wesleyan in 1952-53 and Otterbein (Ohio) in 1966-67 while coaching Ohio University.
• Norm Stewart - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1985-86 while coaching Missouri.
• John Thompson Jr. - Lost to Assumption (Mass.) in 1973-74; Gannon (Pa.) in 1975-76; Randolph-Macon (Va.) in 1974-75; Roanoke (Va.) in 1972-73, and at South Florida in 1972-73 while coaching Georgetown.
• Ken Trickey - Lost to Union (Tenn.) in 1965-66, Transylvania (Ky.) in 1966-67 and 1968-69 and Oglethorpe (Ga.) in 1967-68 while coaching Middle Tennessee State. Lost to Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota in 1975-76 while coaching Iowa State. Lost to Cameron (Okla.) in 1980-81 while coaching Oral Roberts.
• Billy Tubbs - Lost to Ohio Northern in 1980-81 while coaching Oklahoma. Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1995-96 while coaching Texas Christian. Lost to Delta State (Miss.) in 2005-06 while coaching Lamar.
• M.K. Turk - Lost at Florida Southern in 1979-80 and to Fairmont State (W. Va.) in 1984-85 while coaching Southern Mississippi.
• Jim Valvano - Lost to Armstrong State (Ga.) and Gannon (Pa.) in 1972-73, Wilkes (Pa.) in 1973-74 and Bloomsburg (Pa.) in 1974-75 while coaching Bucknell. Lost at Tampa in 1986-87 while coaching North Carolina State.
• Joe Vanatta - Lost at Centenary (La.) in 1956-57 while coaching Memphis State.
• Willem "Butch" van Breda Kolff - Lost at Albright (Pa.) in 1951-52 while coaching Lafayette. Lost at Florida Southern in 1988-89 while coaching Hofstra.
• Perry Watson - Lost to Wayne State (Mich.) in 1993-94 while coaching Detroit.
• Stan Watts - Lost to Hamline (Minn.) in 1951-52 while coaching Brigham Young.
• Clifford Wells - Lost to Spring Hill (Ala.) in 1953-54 and Louisiana College in 1962-63 while coaching Tulane.
• Bob Weltlich - Lost at Alaska-Anchorage in 1986-87 while coaching Texas.
• Paul Westhead - Lost at Biscayne (Fla.) in 1971-72 and Florida Southern in 1978-79 while coaching La Salle.
• Davey Whitney - Lost to Delta State (Miss.) six times in five years from 1985-86 through 1989-90; Dillard (La.) in 1986-87; Miles (Ala.) in 1988-89 and 1990-91; Mississippi College in 1990-91, 1992-93 and 1993-94; Slippery Rock (Pa.) in 1993-94, and Tougaloo (Miss.) in 1996-97 while coaching Alcorn State.
• Ralph Willard - Lost to Williams (Mass.) in 2003-04 while coaching Holy Cross.
• Carroll Williams - Lost to San Francisco State in 1970-71 and at Alaska-Anchorage in 1991-92 while coaching Santa Clara.
• Charlie Woollum - Lost to Rochester (N.Y.) in 1975-76 and 1976-77, Upsala (N.J.) in 1977-78 and Messiah (Pa.) in 1981-82 while coaching Bucknell.
• Jay Wright - Lost at Chaminade (Hawaii) in 2003-04 while coaching Villanova.
• Ned Wulk - Lost to Lawrence Tech (Mich.) and twice to Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) in 1952-53 while coaching Xavier. Lost to Cal Poly Pomona in 1969-70 while coaching Arizona State.

NOVEMBER
30 - Dartmouth set an NCAA single-game record by having nine different players contribute at least one three-point basket vs. Boston College in 1993. . . . John Chaney made his Temple debut in 1982 with a 68-67 triumph at George Washington en route to becoming the Owls' all-time winningest coach. . . . Bobby Cremins made his Georgia Tech debut in 1981 with an 82-66 triumph against Presbyterian (S.C.) en route to becoming the Yellow Jackets' all-time winningest coach.
29 - The three-point goal was an experimental rule in the Southern Conference in 1980 when Western Carolina's Ronnie Carr made the first three-pointer in history at Reid Gymnasium vs. Middle Tennessee State. . . . Mike Krzyzewski made his Duke debut in 1980 with a 67-49 triumph over Stetson en route to becoming the Blue Devils' all-time winningest coach. . . . Jim Calhoun made his Connecticut debut in 1986 with a 58-54 triumph over Massachusetts en route to becoming the Huskies' all-time winningest coach. . . . Billy Tubbs made his Lamar head coaching debut in 1976 with an 80-73 triumph over Houston Baptist en route to more than 600 victories with three schools. . . . Gene Keady made his Purdue debut in 1980 with a 72-59 triumph over Colorado State en route to becoming the Boilermakers' all-time winningest coach.
28 - Lou Henson made his Illinois debut in 1975 with a 60-58 triumph at Nebraska en route to becoming the Illini's all-time winningest coach. . . . Mike Krzyzewski made his Army head coaching debut in 1975 with a 56-29 victory over Lehigh before becoming the all-time winningest coach in NCAA playoff history with Duke. . . . Mike Montgomery made his Stanford debut in 1986 with a 67-65 defeat against Georgia Tech at Richmond before becoming the Cardinal's all-time winningest coach.
27 - Brandon Wood (39 points at Georgia Southern in 2009) set Valparaiso's single-game scoring record against a Division I opponent. . . . John Thompson Jr. made his Georgetown debut in 1972 with a 61-60 triumph over St. Francis (Pa.) en route to a school-record 596 victories with the Hoyas. . . . Alvan Adams (28 rebounds vs. Indiana State in 1972) set Oklahoma's single-game rebounding record.
26 - Jim Boeheim made his Syracuse debut in 1976 with a 75-48 triumph over Harvard en route to setting the NCAA career record for most victories by a coach at a single school. . . . Rudy Macklin (32 rebounds vs. Tulane in 1976) set Louisiana State's single-game rebounding record.
25 - Bethune-Cookman's Reggie Cunningham (46 points at Stetson in 1995) and Nevada's Kevin Franklin (48 at Loyola Marymount in 1989) set school Division I single-game scoring records. . . . Louisiana Tech's school-record 39-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Stephen F. Austin (67-58) in 1985. . . . Lute Olson made his Arizona debut in 1983 with a 72-65 triumph over Northern Arizona en route to becoming the Wildcats' all-time winningest coach. . . . Bob Huggins made his Cincinnati debut in 1989 with a 66-64 triumph over Minnesota en route to becoming the Bearcats' all-time winningest coach. . . . Gale Catlett made his West Virginia debut in 1978 with an 86-66 triumph over Rider en route to becoming the Mountaineers' all-time winningest coach.
24 - Gene Bartow made his UAB debut in 1978 with a 64-55 defeat against Nebraska before becoming the Blazers' all-time winningest coach. . . . Nolan Richardson made his Arkansas debut in 1985 with an 86-72 triumph over Southern Illinois en route to becoming the Razorbacks' all-time winningest coach.
22 - Kevin Martin (46 points vs. Coastal Carolina in 2002) set Western Carolina's Division I single-game scoring record.
21 - Nick Davis (23 rebounds vs. Jackson State in 1997) set Arkansas' single-game rebounding record.
20 - Okechi Egbe (44 points vs. Bethel in 2000) set Tennessee-Martin's Division I single-game scoring record. . . . Tom Izzo made his Michigan State debut in 1995 with a 69-66 triumph at Chaminade en route to becoming the Spartans' all-time winningest coach.
19 - D.J. Munir (36 points at Sacred Heart in 2001) set Stony Brook's Division I single-game scoring record.
17 - Bo Ryan made his Wisconsin debut in 2001 with a 74-69 defeat at UNLV before going on to become the Badgers' all-time winningest coach.
15 - Reggie Williams (45 points vs. Virginia Intermont in 2006) set Virginia Military's single-game scoring record.
13 - Rotnei Clarke (51 points vs. Alcorn State in 2009) set Arkansas' single-game scoring record before transferring to Butler. . . . Siena's school-record 38-game homecourt winning streak was snapped by Vermont (80-76 in 2010).
11 - Kyle Hines (38 points at Marshall in overtime in 2006) set UNC Greensboro's Division I single-game scoring record.
9 - David Holston (43 points vs. St. Bonaventure at Austin, Tex., in 2006) set Chicago State's Division I single-game scoring record. . . . Junior Hairston (21 rebounds vs. Loyola Maryland in 2007) set Towson's Division I single-game rebounding record.

If they pace their respective conferences in scoring and assists, Ohio University's D.J. Cooper (Mid-American) and South Dakota State's Nate Wolters (Summit League) are among the striking number of mid-major players who could become All-Americans this season by guiding their schools back to the NCAA playoffs. Wolters became SDSU's all-time leading scorer in mid-season and Cooper became the first player in NCAA history to amass 2,000 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 300 steals.

Finishing atop a league in scoring and assists has happened more often than one might think at first glance. Louisiana State's Pete Maravich, the NCAA's all-time leading scorer when he averaged more than 43 points per contest each of three years, also paced the SEC in assists with 6.3 per game as a senior in 1969-70. Houston's Rob Williams was a sophomore in 1980-81 when he topped the SWC in both scoring (25 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg).

Loyola Marymount's Keith Smith (West Coast in 1984-85 and 1985-86) and Marquette's Travis Diener (Conference USA in 2003-04 and 2004-05) twice achieved the feat. Premium NBA playmakers John Stockton (Gonzaga) and Steve Nash (Santa Clara) were among four different WCC players in this category in a 12-year span from 1984 through 1995.

Baylor's Pierre Jackson (Big 12) could become the first player to pace a power six league in scoring and assists in the same campaign since Arizona's Jason Terry in 1998-99. Following is a chronological list of guards who led a major conference in scoring average and assists in the same season since assists became an official NCAA statistic in 1983-84: