Lost That Championship Feeling: Dodson Misses Out on Title Ring

Darnell Dodson played in the NCAA Tournament this year with Southern Mississippi, grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds in a loss against Kansas State. But the former junior college player missed out on some championship bling because he departed a couple of seasons ago from Kentucky.

Dodson joins the following alphabetical list of players who were successful after transferring, but missed out on receiving an NCAA championship ring because they left a school that subsequently captured a national crown:

Transfer Player Alma Mater Original College (Title Year)
Mohamed Abukar San Diego State '07 Florida (2006)
Ryan Appleby Washington '08 Florida (2006 and 2007)
Craig Bardo The Citadel '87 Indiana (1987)
Larry Bird Indiana State '79 Indiana (1976)
Mario Boggan Oklahoma State '07 Florida (2006)
Adam Boone Minnesota '06 North Carolina (2005)
Bob Brannum Michigan State '48 Kentucky (1947)
Delray Brooks Providence '88 Indiana (1987)
Chris Burgess Utah '02 Duke (2001)
Deward Compton Louisville '48 Kentucky (1947 and 1948)
Doug Davis Miami (OH) '02 Michigan State (2000)
Darnell Dodson Southern Mississippi '13 Kentucky (2012)
Micah Downs Gonzaga '09 Kansas (2008)
Bob Fowler Iowa State '80 Kentucky (1978)
Alex Galindo Florida International '09 Kansas (2008)
C.J. Giles Oregon State '08 Kansas (2008)
Mike Giomi North Carolina State '87 Indiana (1987)
Danny Hall Marshall '78 Kentucky (1978)
Kenny Harris Virginia Commonwealth '94 North Carolina (1993)
Derek Holcomb Illinois '81 Indiana (1981)
David Huertas Mississippi '10 Florida (2007)
*Karl James South Alabama '91 UNLV (1990)
Taylor King Villanova '12 Duke (2010)
Jack Kramer UAB '91 Michigan (1989)
Darrell Lorrance Missouri '47 Kentucky (1947)
Billy McCaffrey Vanderbilt '94 Duke (1992)
Malcolm McMullen Xavier '50 Kentucky (1948)
Mike Miday Bowling Green State '81 Indiana (1981)
Crawford Palmer Dartmouth '93 Duke (1992)
Stacey Poole Georgia Tech '14 Kentucky (2012)
Rodrick Rhodes Southern California '97 Kentucky (1996)
Clifford Rozier Louisville '95 North Carolina (1993)
Marty Simmons Evansville '88 Indiana (1987)
Oliver Simmons Florida State '00 Kentucky (1998)
Will Smethers Bowling Green State '51 Kentucky (1949)
Alex Stephenson Southern California '11 North Carolina (2009)
Barry Sumpter Austin Peay State '87 Louisville (1986)
James Thues Detroit '05 Syracuse (2003)
Jeff Tropf Central Michigan '79 Michigan State (1979)
DeShaun Williams Iona '04 Syracuse (2003)
Elliot Williams Memphis '12 Duke (2010)

*Played for a junior college between four-year schools

NOTES: McCaffrey and Palmer played for an NCAA champion with Duke in 1991 and Huertas did with Florida in 2006. . . . King played only one season for Villanova in 2009-10. . . . E. Williams left Memphis after 2009-10 campaign when he declared early for the NBA draft

Sharing Same Name: Many All-League First-Teamers Have Familiar Ring

There is some dispute as to which Larry Anderson had the most impact on the PCAA/Big West Conference. Is it the Larry Anderson who combined with All-American Sidney Green to power UNLV to the Top 10 in 1982-83? Or is it the Larry Anderson who was a two-time all-league first-team selection the past two seasons with Long Beach State?

But there is no dispute about who had to live up to the most pressure associated with the name of his boyhood idol. Penn guard Michael Jordan, a versatile player like his namesake also nicknamed MJ, was a two-time All-Ivy League first-team selection in the late 1990s.

Inspired by scouring old college basketball guides, you can discover a bevy of other individuals with the same name. Following is an alphabetical list of former all-league first-team selections in addition to Jordan who make you immediately think of someone else more prominent inside the world of basketball:

Familiar Name Pos. School 1st-Team Season(s) Conference
Eric Anderson F-C Rhode Island 1955-56 New England/Yankee
Larry Anderson G Long Beach State 2010-11 and 2011-12 Big West
Sam Bowie F Southeastern Louisiana 1995-96 Trans America Athletic
Michael Brooks G Tennessee 1984-85 SEC
Mike Cooper F Fordham 1982-83 Metro Atlantic
Walter Davis C Texas A&M 1950-51 and 1951-52 SWC
Jerry Dunn F Western Kentucky 1970-71 and 1971-72 Ohio Valley
Kevin Johnson G Texas-Pan American 1987-88 American South
Ollie Johnson F San Francisco 1962-63 through 1964-65 West Coast Athletic
Jeff Jones F UNC Asheville 1985-86 Big South
Bob Leonard G Wake Forest 1964-65 and 1965-66 ACC
Dean Smith G Maine 1989-90 North Atlantic
Steve Smith G-F Marist 1982-83 Northeast
Isaiah Thomas G Washington 2009-10 and 2010-11 Pacific-10
Jimmy Walker F Alabama 1933-34 and 1934-35 SEC
Bill Walton G Eastern Kentucky 1965-66 Ohio Valley
Jerry West C-F St. Mary's 1967-68 West Coast Athletic
Jason Williams F Radford 1999-2000 and 2000-01 Big South
Ben Wilson F Mercer 1987-88 Trans America Athletic

Familiar Surroundings: Jones Returns to Alma Mater Louisiana State

Johnny Jones, a former player and assistant coach for Louisiana State, returned to his alma mater after leaving North Texas. Jones joined UNLV's Dave Rice as the only active coaches to have played for their alma mater in the Final Four.

A total of 12 NCAA Division I coaches in the previous three years were put in charge of their alma mater's basketball fortunes. Following is an alphabetical list of active head coaches and the first season they coached their alma mater:

Active Coach Alma Mater 1st Year
Jerome Allen Pennsylvania '95 2009-10
*Dave Bike Sacred Heart '69 1978-79
*Jim Boeheim Syracuse '66 1976-77
Bobby Braswell Cal State Northridge '84 1996-97
Jamion Christian Mount St. Mary's '04 2012-13
Mick Cronin Cincinnati '96 2006-07
Scott Cross Texas-Arlington '98 2006-07
Keith Dambrot Akron '82 2004-05
Howie Dickenman Central Connecticut State '69 1996-97
Bryce Drew Valparaiso '98 2011-12
Willie Hayes Alabama A&M '90 2011-12
Mitch Henderson Princeton '98 2011-12
Fred Hoiberg Iowa State '95 2010-11
Bob Huggins West Virginia '77 2007-08
Lewis Jackson Alabama State '84 2005-06
Clemon Johnson Florida A&M '78 2011-12
Johnny Jones Louisiana State '85 2012-13
Brian Katz Sacramento State '80 2008-09
Derek Kellogg Massachusetts '95 2008-09
Rob Krimmel Saint Francis (PA) '00 2012-13
Chris Mack Xavier '92 2009-10
Mike Martin Brown '04 2012-13
LeVelle Moton North Carolina Central '96 2009-10
Dan Muller Illinois State '98 2012-13
Matt Painter Purdue '93 2005-06
Dave Rice UNLV '91 2011-12
Keith Richard Louisiana-Monroe '82 2010-11
Lorenzo Romar Washington '80 2002-03
Marty Simmons Evansville '88 2007-08
*Bob Thomason Pacific '71 1988-89
Wayne Tinkle Montana '89 2006-07
Roy Williams North Carolina '72 2003-04
Marty Wilson Pepperdine '89 2011-12
C.Y. Young Georgia Southern '94 2009-10

*School's all-time winningest coach

Jones departs with six years remaining on his Mean Green contract. He joins the following striking number of coaches who virtually ignored contractural obligations of more than five years (including Xavier three times):

Promising Starts: Prohm Posts Best First-Season Mark in 33 Years

Steve Prohm of Murray State (31-2) posted the best first-year record for a coach since Bill Hodges directed Indiana State (33-1) to the 1979 Final Four. Since Hodges' debut, only three coaches from power six leagues compiled the nation's best first-year mark - Oregon State's Jim Anderson in 1989-90, North Carolina's Bill Guthridge in 1997-98 and Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon in 2003-04. Hodges succeeded Bob King, who earlier in the decade gave Norm Ellenberger a quality team on a silver platter in 1972-73.

Joining King in the category of twice being the predecessor for coaches who compiled the best first-year mark are Gene Bartow (Memphis State '75 and UCLA '78) and Tim Floyd (Idaho '89 and New Orleans '95). Following are first-year NCAA Division I head coaches with the best winning percentages going back to prominent mentors Lou Carnesecca and Bob Knight in 1965-66:

Season Coach School W-L Pct. Predecessor
1965-66 Lou Carnesecca St. John's 18-8 .692 Joe Lapchick
1965-66 Bob Knight Army 18-8 .692 Tates Locke
1966-67 Tommy Bartlett Florida 21-4 .840 Norman Sloan
1967-68 John Dromo Louisville 21-7 .750 Peck Hickman
1968-69 Tom Gola La Salle 23-1 .958 Jim Harding
1969-70 unavailable
1970-71 Richard "Digger" Phelps Fordham 26-3 .897 Ed Conlin
1971-72 Chuck Daly Penn 25-3 .893 Dick Harter
1972-73 Norm Ellenberger New Mexico 21-6 .778 Bob King
1973-74 Lute Olson Long Beach State 24-2 .923 Jerry Tarkanian
1974-75 Tom Apke Creighton 20-7 .741 Eddie Sutton
1974-75 Wayne Yates Memphis State 20-7 .741 Gene Bartow
1975-76 Bill Blakeley North Texas State 22-4 .846 Gene Robbins
1976-77 Jim Boeheim Syracuse 26-4 .867 Roy Danforth
1976-77 Charlie Schmaus Virginia Military 26-4 .867 Bill Blair
1977-78 Gary Cunningham UCLA 25-3 .893 Gene Bartow
1978-79 Bill Hodges Indiana State 33-1 .971 Bob King
1979-80 Bob Dukiet St. Peter's 22-9 .710 Bob Kelly
1979-80 Dave "Lefty" Ervin La Salle 22-9 .710 Paul Westhead
1980-81 Pat Foster Lamar 25-5 .833 Billy Tubbs
1981-82 Jim Boyle St. Joseph's 25-5 .833 Jim Lynam
1982-83 Ed Tapscott American University 20-10 .667 Gary Williams
1983-84 Rick Huckabay Marshall 25-6 .806 Bob Zuffelato
1984-85 Newton Chelette Southeastern Louisiana 18-9 .667 Ken Fortenberry
1985-86 Pete Gillen Xavier 25-5 .833 Bob Staak
1986-87 Pete Herrmann Navy 26-6 .813 Paul Evans
1987-88 Rick Barnes George Mason 20-10 .667 Joe Harrington
1988-89 Kermit Davis Idaho 25-6 .806 Tim Floyd
1989-90 Jim Anderson Oregon State 22-7 .759 Ralph Miller
1990-91 Alan LeForce East Tennessee State 28-5 .848 Les Robinson
1991-92 Blaine Taylor Montana 27-4 .871 Stew Morrill
1992-93 Fran Fraschilla Manhattan 23-7 .767 Steve Lappas
1993-94 Kirk Speraw Central Florida 21-9 .700 Joe Dean Jr.
1994-95 George "Tic" Price New Orleans 20-11 .645 Tim Floyd
1995-96 Mike Heideman Wisconsin-Green Bay 25-4 .862 Dick Bennett
1996-97 Bill Carmody Princeton 24-4 .857 Pete Carril
1997-98 Bill Guthridge North Carolina 34-4 .895 Dean Smith
1998-99 Tevester Anderson Murray State 27-6 .818 Mark Gottfried
1999-00 Mark Few Gonzaga 26-9 .743 Dan Monson
2000-01 Thad Matta Butler 24-8 .750 Barry Collier
2001-02 Stan Heath Kent State 29-6 .829 Gary Waters
2002-03 Brad Brownell UNC Wilmington 24-7 .774 Jerry Wainwright
2003-04 Jamie Dixon Pittsburgh 31-5 .861 Ben Howland
2004-05 Mark Fox Nevada 25-7 .781 Trent Johnson
2005-06 Rob Jeter Wisconsin-Milwaukee 22-9 .710 Bruce Pearl
2006-07 Anthony Grant Virginia Commonwealth 28-7 .800 Jeff Capel III
2007-08 Brad Stevens Butler 30-4 .882 Todd Lickliter
2008-09 Ken McDonald Western Kentucky 25-9 .735 Darrin Horn
2009-10 Shaka Smart Virginia Commonwealth 27-9 .750 Anthony Grant
2010-11 B.J. Hill Northern Colorado 21-11 .656 Tad Boyle
2011-12 Steve Prohm Murray State 31-2 .939 Billy Kennedy

The Way We Were: Lasting Impact of Former NCAA Division I Schools

The University of New Orleans, still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, can't get Division I hoops out of its blood. UNO, after two seasons competing against small colleges, intends to return to the major-college level as an independent.

The Privateers long for the days when three different coaches guided them to the NCAA playoffs in a 10-year span from 1987 through 1996. UNO finished in a final Top 20 poll twice during that stretch. New Orleans led the nation in rebounding margin in 1990-91 under coach Tim Floyd before going unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference in 1992-93.

Individually, UNO's Bo McCalebb is the Sun Belt's all-time leading scorer (2,679 points from 2003-04 through 2007-08. Privateer products Wayne Cooper, Ledell Eackles and Ervin Johnson each played at least seven seasons in the NBA.

In the previous eight years, Houston Baptist, Northern Colorado and Seattle returned to the DI ranks after prolonged stints competing at the small-college level. Which school might be next to return after Abilene Christian (TX) decided to come back to the Southland Conference in 2012-13? Following is a trip down memory lane assessing historical tidbits on the impact of former major-college programs (listed alphabetically):

  • Abilene Christian (TX) finished in a tie for second place with Lamar behind Arkansas State in the 1970-71 Southland Conference standings. Abilene Christian's Kent Martens led the nation in field-goal shooting in 1971-72 (66.7%) and Ronnie Hearne paced the Southland Conference in scoring in 1969-70 (22 ppg). In the small-college ranks, ACU defeated eventual NCAA championship coaches Hank Iba (1965-66 with Oklahoma State) and Jim Harrick (1984-85 with Pepperdine).

  • In 1944-45, Baldwin-Wallace (OH) handed NIT runner-up Bowling Green State its only regular-season loss to a collegiate opponent. Bowling Green State, which compiled the seventh-best record in the nation during the decade of the 1940s, also lost against Baldwin-Wallace four years later in a season the Falcons finished third in the NIT (extras/nit-summary). Baldwin-Wallace had two players finish among the national statistical leaders in the early 1950s - John Popp was fourth in free-throw shooting (83.1%) in 1949-50 and Dick Retherford was seventh in scoring (21.8 ppg) in 1951-52.

  • Baltimore's Terry Copeland led the ECAC Metro in free-throw percentage in 1982-83 (84.4%).

  • The only non-winning season for Birmingham-Southern (AL) in its six years at the NCAA Division I level was 2001-02 when it went 13-14. BSC tied for the Big South Conference regular-season title in its first season in the league in 2003-04 when the Panthers led the nation in three-point field-goal shooting (43%).

  • Brooklyn defeated Toledo to open the 1985-86 season the same year the Rockets beat Houston in coach Guy Lewis' 30th and final campaign with the Cougars. Brooklyn's Glen James finished sixth in the nation in assists with 7.5 apg in 1984-85 (higher than Wake Forest's Tyrone Bogues and North Carolina's Kenny Smith). The Kingsmen finished fourth in the country in field-goal shooting in 1990-91 (52%).

  • Case Western Reserve (OH) featured two All-Americans in a four-year span in the mid-1930s - Eddie Finnigan in 1933 and William Fleishman in 1936. In its final season at the major-college level, Dick Howard finished 16th in the nation in scoring (24.3 ppg in 1954-55).

  • Glenn Kolonics finished 15th in the nation in scoring with 23.5 ppg for Catholic (DC) in 1976-77 in its debut season at the major-college level. Catholic defeated NIT-bound Saint Joseph's in 1979-80, which was one season before St. Joe's upset top-ranked DePaul in the 1981 NCAA Tournament.

  • Centenary (LA) compiled an 87-21 record during center Robert Parish's four-year career from 1972-73 through 1975-76 when he averaged 21.6 ppg and 16.9 rpg while shooting 56.4% from the floor. Parish led the nation in rebounding his last two seasons after finishing among the top five his first two campaigns. The Gentlemen, after winning the 1990 TAAC regular-season title, paced the country in steals in 1992-93 with 14.1 per game. Centenary's Willie Jackson is the Trans America Athletic Conference's all-time leading scorer (2,535 points from 1981-84) and Ronnie McCollum led the nation in scoring in 2000-01 with 29.1 ppg.

  • The University of Chicago won four consecutive Western Conference (predecessor to Big Ten) championships from 1907 through 1910. The school had three all-league first-team selections in 1909.

  • City College of New York had three Jewish All-Americans - Moe Goldman (1934), Red Holzman (1942) and Irwin Dambrot (1950). In 1950, the Beavers became the only school to win the NCAA playoffs and NIT in the same year. CCNY's Lionel Malamed finished sixth in the nation in free-throw shooting in 1947-48 (83.3%) and Ed Roman ranked 22nd in scoring in 1950-51 (18.6 ppg).

  • Ron Warner of Gettysburg (PA) finished among the nation's top 15 scorers in back-to-back seasons (1960-61 and 1961-62). Gettysburg ranked third in the nation in team defense in 1963-64 (56.8 ppg) after finishing fifth in team offense in 1950-51 (73.8 ppg).

  • Grinnell (IA) posted only one losing record in Missouri Valley Conference competition in its last six years in the league from 1933-34 through 1938-39.

  • Six different Hamline (MN) products played in the NBA in the early 1950s when the league had far fewer franchises.

  • Hardin-Simmons (TX) averaged 18.5 victories annually from 1963-64 through 1966-67, finished runner-up to Purdue in team offense in 1968-69 with 91.9 ppg and had four straight non-losing records in Trans America Athletic Conference competition from 1984-85 through 1987-88. Hardin-Simmons had eight different players rank among the nation's top 10 in a variety of statistical categories - Eric Adams (9th in FT% in 1986-87), Lee Dixon (6th in scoring in 1975-76), Tommy French (8th in FG% in 1989-90), Cliff Harris (9th in rebounding in 1970-71), Buddy Matthews (7th in FT% in 1950-51), Bill Preston (10th in FG% in 1951-52), Ronnie Ryan (6th in FT% in 1954-55) and Ray Williams (10th in FG% in 1970-71). Nate Madkins scored a school-record 52 points against West Texas State in 1963-64.

  • Center George Dalton of John Carroll (OH) ranked among the nation's major-college scoring leaders four straight seasons in 1952 (20th), 1953 (8th), 1954 (14th) and 1955 (21st).

  • Norm Hankins of Lawrence Tech (MI) led the nation in scoring with 22.5 ppg in 1947-48.

  • In 1973-74, Los Angeles State finished in second place in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association standings behind Lute Olson-coached Long Beach State (24-2 record). The previous year, Los Angeles State's Raymond Lewis established the PCAA single-season standard for scoring average (32.9 ppg as a sophomore before leaving early for the NBA draft as a hardship case).

  • Loyola (LA) participated in back-to-back NCAA playoffs in 1957 and 1958 when the tourney field was comprised of no more than 24 entrants. In 1970-71, the school finished fourth in the nation in field-goal shooting (50.9%) and fifth in scoring (92.1 ppg). In Loyola's final season at the major-college level, Charles Jones finished sixth in the nation in rebounding in 1971-72 with 15.8 rpg (ahead of UCLA's Bill Walton). Loyola's Charley Powell finished seventh in the country in free-throw shooting in 1968-69 (87.6%) after ranking 13th in scoring the previous year (26 ppg). Loyola had three of the nation's top 25 field-goal shooters in 1952-53

  • Muhlenberg (PA), in the midst of 21 consecutive seasons with double digits in wins from 1939 through 1959, led major colleges in field-goal percentage in 1948-49 after finishing national runner-up the previous year. Muhlenberg had three different players rank among the nation's top three in field-goal shooting - Daniel Mackin (2nd in 1947-48), Denny Roth (3rd in 1956-57) and Mel Kessler (3rd in 1958-59). The Mules appeared in the NIT three consecutive years from 1944 through 1946.

  • NYU participated in national postseason competition seven times in an eight-year span from 1959 through 1966. The Violets had three different All-Americans in an eight-year span in the 1960s - Tom "Satch" Sanders (1960), Barry Kramer (1963 and 1964) and Mal Graham (1967).

  • Northeastern Illinois led the nation in steals per game with 12.8 in 1991-92 when one of its players (Victor Snipes) paced the country in that category with 3.4 spg.

  • Oklahoma City ranked among the nation's top five in team defense four consecutive years from 1951 through 1954 and appeared in six straight NCAA Tournaments from 1952 through 1957. On the other end of the court, OCU led the nation in scoring in 1966-67 before ranking fourth the next year and third in 1980-81. OCU's Ernie Hill holds the Trans America Athletic Conference's single-season record for scoring average (26.6 points per game as a junior in 1978-79). OCU's Arnold Short led the nation in free-throw shooting in 1951-52 (86.1%). Short (1953 and 1954), Hub Reed (1957 and 1958), Bud Koper (1963 and 1964) and Rich Travis (1968 and 1969) are OCU players who ranked among the nation's top 20 scorers in back-to-back years. Hill (1979) was among the following OCU players who each ranked once among the country's top 13 scorers: Jerry Lee Wells (1966), Gary Gray (1967), Ozie Edwards (1973), Marvin Rich (1973) and Rubin Jackson (1981).

  • Regis (CO) finished fifth in the nation in rebounding in 1962-63.

  • Scranton (PA) hired Buck Freeman as coach just before the start of the 1937-38 campaign after he won more than 85% of his games with St. John's in nine seasons from 1927-28 through 1935-36.

  • Sewanee (TN), also known as the University of the South, competed against Alabama (1933) and Louisiana State (1939) in the SEC Tournament after defeating defending champion North Carolina State in the first round of the 1930 Southern Conference Tournament.

  • Felix Thruston of Trinity (TX) finished 18th in the nation in scoring in 1970-71 with a Southland Conference-leading 25 ppg.

  • U.S. International (CA) led NCAA Division I in points per game in 1985-86 with 90.8. USIU's Kevin Bradshaw paced the nation in scoring in 1990-91 with 37.6 ppg.

  • Utica's Keith Walker led the nation in field-goal shooting in 1984-85 (71.3%).

  • Washburn (KS) finished ahead of eventual NIT champions Saint Louis and/or Tulsa in the Missouri Valley Conference standings five times in a seven-year span from 1935 through 1941.

  • Washington (MO) won three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championships from 1928 through 1930. The Bears finished fourth in the nation in team defense in 1949-50 (46.3 ppg).

  • Washington & Lee (VA) captured back-to-back Southern Conference regular-season titles in 1936 and 1937 ahead of eventual ACC members Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Washington & Lee opposed North Carolina or Duke in four straight southern Conference Tournament finals. Washington & Lee's Jay Handlan led the nation in free-throw shooting in 1950-51 (86%) when he was runner-up in scoring (26.2 ppg). Handlan finished 11th in scoring the next year. Washington & Lee had at least one all-league selection all but one season (1952-53) in an eight-year span from 1950-51 through 1957-58.

  • West Chester State's Joe Senser led the nation in field-goal shooting in 1976-77 and 1977-78, finishing his career at 66.2%.

  • West Texas State finished among the top three in the Missouri Valley Conference standings three times in a five-year span from 1975-76 through 1979-80. West Texas State's Jim Scott led the nation in free-throw shooting in 1954-55 (89.5%) and Steve Davidson finished third in rebounding in 1971-72 (17.5 rpg ahead of Providence's Marvin Barnes and UCLA's Bill Walton). WTSU paced the country in free-throw shooting in 1966-67; ranked among the top three in field-goal shooting in 1963-64 and 1976-77; finished runner-up in rebounding average in back-to-back seasons (1970-71 and 1971-72), and placed runner-up in scoring in 1980-81 (85.5 ppg).

Sports Pioneer: Jackie Robinson Also Influenced College Basketball

Every sports fan acknowledges the cultural significance of Jackie Robinson. But in the aftermath of the 65th anniversary celebration regarding Robinson beginning his major league baseball career, it is easy to forget there was a time when the now 75% black National Basketball Association was 100% white. It's also easy to forget how Robinson was instrumental in college basketball's "civil rights" movement.

Before Robinson arrived on the scene in the National League, however, there was Columbia's George Gregory, who became the first African-American to gain college All-American honors in 1930-31. In an era of low scoring, he was the team's second-leading scorer with a 9.2-point average. But he was proudest of his defense, and a statistic that is no longer kept: "goals against." In 10 games, Gregory held rival centers to only eight baskets. "That's less than one goal a game," he told the New York Times. "I think they should have kept that statistical category. Nowadays, one guy scores 40 points but his man scores 45. So what good is it?

"It's funny, but even though I was the only black playing for Columbia, and there was only one other black playing in the Ivy League - Baskerville of Harvard - I really didn't encounter too much trouble from opponents. Oh, I got into a couple of fights. And one time a guy called me Nigger,' and a white teammate said,Next time, you hit him high and I'll hit him low.' And we did, and my teammate, a Polish guy named Remy Tys, said to that other player, `That's how we take care of nigger callers.'"

But Gregory said the worst racial incident he encountered was at his own school. "After our last game in my junior year, the team voted me captain for the next season. Well, there was a hell of a battle when this came out. Columbia didn't want a black captain, or a Jewish captain, either, I learned. The dean was against it, and the athletic director was against it, and even the coach was against it.

"The coach told me, `Get yourself together, Gregory, or I'll take your scholarship away.' They were worried that if we played a school in the South and met the other captain before the game, the guy would refuse to come out and it would embarrass the school. But the campus was split 50-50 on whether to have a black captain for its basketball team.

"The fight went on for three or four weeks. The school insisted that the team vote again. We did, and I won again. One of my teammates said, `You forced the school to enter the 20th Century.'"

Harrison "Honey" Fitch, Connecticut's first black player, was center stage during a racial incident delaying a game at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for several hours in late January 1934. Coast Guard officials entered a protest against Fitch, arguing that because half of the Academy's student body was from southern states, they had a tradition "that no Negro players be permitted to engage in contests at the Academy." Eventually, UConn's coach kept Fitch on the bench the entire contest and never explained why.

The first black to appear in the NBA didn't occur until a couple of decades after Gregory graduated and Fitch transferred to American International. UCLA's first basketball All-American Don Barksdale, one of the first seven African-Americans to play in the NBA, was the first black U.S. Olympic basketball player (1948) as well as the first black to play in an NBA All-Star Game (as a rookie in 1952).

Inspired by the black labor movement in the 1930s, Barksdale said, "I made up my mind that if I wanted to do something, I was going to try to do it all the way, no matter the obstacles."

As a 28-year-old rookie with the Baltimore Bullets, he was paid $20,850 (one of the NBA's top salaries) to play and host a postgame radio show, but that notoriety also put extra pressure on him. Forced to play excessive minutes during the preseason, he sustained ankle injuries that plagued him the remainder of his four-year NBA career (11 ppg and 8 rpg).

Why play so many minutes? "It's Baltimore, which is considered the South," said Barksdale, who wound up back in the Bay Area as a well-known jazz disc jockey. "So the South finally signed a black man, and he's going to play whether he could walk or crawl."

Chuck Cooper, who attended Duquesne on the GI Bill, was the first black player drafted by an NBA franchise. "I don't give a damn if he's striped or plaid or polka-dot," were the history-making words of Boston Celtics Owner Walter Brown when he selected Cooper, who averaged 6.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in six pro seasons. In Cooper's freshman campaign, Duquesne was awarded a forfeit after refusing to yield to Tennessee's refusal to compete against the Dukes if Cooper participated in a game just before Christmas.

In the 1955-56 season, the Hazleton (Pa.) Hawks of the Eastern League became the first professional league franchise to boast an all-black starting lineup - Jesse Arnelle, Tom Hemans, Fletcher Johnson, Floyd Lane and Sherman White. Arnelle (Penn State) and White (Long Island) were former major-college All-Americans.

As for the multi-talented Robinson, UCLA's initial all-conference basketball player in the 1940s was a forward who compiled the highest scoring average in the Pacific Coast Conference both of his seasons with the Bruins (12.3 points per league game in 1939-40 and 11.1 ppg in 1940-41) after transferring from Pasadena (Calif.) City College. Continuing his scoring exploits, the six-time National League All-Star who spurred #42 uniforms throughout MLB was the leading scorer for the Los Angeles Red Devils' barnstorming team in 1946-47.

Seven-time All-Star outfielder Larry Doby, the first black in the American League, was also a college basketball player who helped pave the way for minorities. He competed on the hardwood for Virginia Union during World War II after originally committing to LIU. The four-month lead Robinson had in integrating the majors casts a huge shadow over Doby, who was the first black to lead his league in homers (32 in 1952), first to hit a World Series homer and first to win a World Series title.

Running on Empty: Rose Seeks Alma Mater to Excuse Fab Five Fraud

Bring in the clowns! His brain running on empty much like our vehicles these days because of high gas prices, Jalen Rose added fuel to a simmering fire when he expressed his displeasure about Michigan's school president adamantly reaffirming her opposition to retrieving the Wolverines' 1992 and 1993 Final Four banners from storage and rehanging them at Crisler Arena.

Rose must not have taken a logic class while in college. Resembling an egomaniac extorter, Rose distributed a classless tweet implying he might ask for a $250,000 donation back from his alma mater. But rather than smugly humiliating ESPN colleague Skip Bayless for embellishing his Oklahoma H.S. playing career with "water-Pistol whipping" drive-by ridicule, Cracklin' Rose (a genuine #1 hit at same time frame in early 1970s) should get on board by focusing more on restoring his own credibility after he was pulled from the air briefly by the Worldwide Leader following his failure to disclose a DUI arrest.

Rose could call an authentic "timeout" on his self-absorbed commentary similar to the documentary he helped produce last year blasting Duke's Dynasty for preferring to recruit "Uncle Tom" African-American student-athletes. While Rose continued to fail to comprehend there are consequences to actions disgracing a revered school, President Mary Sue Coleman was infinitely more concerned with integrity. She told the Michigan Daily: "It was a very difficult time and we were ashamed of what happened because the university has higher standards than that."

Why would grandstanding Rose want to celebrate the lower standards of losing two NCAA title games, anyway? Perhaps UM could appease him by hanging a Big Ten Conference championship banner. Oh, I forgot! The Wooferines never achieved that feat from 1991-92 through 1994-95.

Why doesn't Rose offer to purchase the meaningless banners for an amount equal to the $616,000-plus money launderer "Uncle Ed" lent to UM players and he can hang them wherever he wants? They could be placed by all of the banners Rose (13 seasons) and college teammates Chris Webber (15) and Juwan Howard (18th) garnered in a cumulative 45 years in the NBA. Oh, I forgot! None of the Fraud Five ever achieved that distinction, either.

Rose might bloom as a discriminating analyst if he had also accosted colleague Screamin' A. Stiff with his water pistol and dwelled on Stephen A. Smith's player prowess with Winston-Salem State. Much like overstating Skip Baseless, the "First Take" from this corner is that Hatin' Jailin' seems to be talking a better game (on and off the court) than he played, too.

Hot or Not: Difference of Opinion About Best Way to Enter Tourney

Which cliche is most accurate? If a team is on a winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament, it has momentum on its side and is peaking at the right time. On the other hand, some observers contend a loss before the start of the playoffs is deemed as a wake-up call.

Since the last undefeated team in Division I (Indiana was 32-0 in 1975-76), there have been 36 national champions. Twenty-one of those teams entered the tourney with a victory; 15 entered with a defeat. The longest winning streak of a champion-to-be in that span was by UCLA, which won 13 in a row in 1995 before posting six more triumphs in the playoffs.

Of the 21 aforementioned squads entering on a winning note, the average winning streak was six in a row. Following in reverse order is how those 36 post-unbeaten IU titlists entered the NCAA playoffs (including conference tournaments):

Year Champion Coach Pre-NCAA Finish
2012 Kentucky John Calipari Lost one (Vanderbilt)
2011 Connecticut Jim Calhoun Won five
2010 Duke Mike Krzyzewski Won four
2009 North Carolina Roy Williams Lost one (Florida State)
2008 Kansas Bill Self Won seven
2007 Florida Billy Donovan Won four
2006 Florida Billy Donovan Won five
2005 North Carolina Roy Williams Lost one (Georgia Tech)
2004 Connecticut Jim Calhoun Won three
2003 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Lost one (Connecticut)
2002 Maryland Gary Williams Lost one (North Carolina State)
2001 Duke Mike Krzyzewski Won four
2000 Michigan State Tom Izzo Won five
1999 Connecticut Jim Calhoun Won five
1998 Kentucky Tubby Smith Won seven
1997 Arizona Lute Olson Lost two (Stanford and California)
1996 Kentucky Rick Pitino Lost one (Mississippi State)
1995 UCLA Jim Harrick Won 13
1994 Arkansas Nolan Richardson Lost one (Kentucky)
1993 North Carolina Dean Smith Lost one (Georgia Tech)
1992 Duke Mike Krzyzewski Won seven
1991 Duke Mike Krzyzewski Lost one (North Carolina)
1990 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Won five
1989 Michigan Bill Frieder/Steve Fisher Lost one (Illinois)
1988 Kansas Larry Brown Lost one (Kansas State)
1987 Indiana Bob Knight Won one
1986 Louisville Denny Crum Won 11
1985 Villanova Rollie Massimino Lost one (St. John's)
1984 Georgetown John Thompson Jr. Won six
1983 North Carolina State Jim Valvano Won four
1982 North Carolina Dean Smith Won 11
1981 Indiana Bob Knight Won five
1980 Louisville Denny Crum Won three
1979 Michigan State Jud Heathcote Lost one (Wisconsin)
1978 Kentucky Joe B. Hall Won eight
1977 Marquette Al McGuire Lost one (Michigan)

Land of Plenty: Kentucky is 1st Champ With Five Different Scoring Leaders

Kentucky's well-balanced attack, featuring six players averaging from 9.9 to 14.2 points per game, enabled the Wildcats to become the first NCAA Tournament champion to have five different players lead the team in scoring during the playoffs en route to capturing the crown. Underclassmen Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Doron Lamb and Marquis Teague deserve at least one more plaudit before most or all of the quintesential quintent comprised of three freshmen and two sophomores declare early for the NBA draft.

Prior to UK's young guns, North Carolina '82 is the only one of the following nine NCAA Tournament champions spreading the wealth to have as many as three freshmen and sophomores among four different players leading the team in scoring during the playoffs en route to earning a title:

Highs and Lows: Mid-Major Players Dominate Scoring Leadership

Glenn Robinson Jr. (30.3 ppg for Purdue in 1993-94) is the only player from a power six conference to lead the country in scoring in the last 41 years. All-Americans J.J. Redick (Duke), Kevin Durant (Texas), Michael Beasley (Kansas State) and Marshon Brooks (Providence) plus dynamo Devan Downey (South Carolina) placed among the nation's top four scorers in the last seven years but each of them finished behind mid-major players.

Reggie Hamilton, restricted to a season-low 11 points by Arkansas, averaged a modest 13 ppg in Oakland's first three games before erupting for a season-high 41 points against Valparaiso en route to finishing with a national-leading 26.2 ppg. Following is a look at the high and low games for players during the season when they led NCAA Division I in scoring average:

Year Leading Scorer School Avg. High Game Low Game
1936 Hank Luisetti Stanford 14.3 31 (Utah State)
1937 Hank Luisetti Stanford 17.1 unavailable
1938 Chester Jaworski Rhode Island State 21.0 unavailable
1939 Chester Jaworski Rhode Island State 22.6 unavailable
1940 Stan Modzelewski Rhode Island State 23.1 40 (Connecticut)
1941 Stan Modzelewski Rhode Island State 18.5 unavailable
1942 Stan Modzelewski Rhode Island State 21.4 unavailable
1943 George Senesky St. Joseph's 23.4 44 (Rutgers-Newark) 4 (Elizabethtown)
1944 Ernie Calverley Rhode Island State 26.7 48 (Maine)
1945 George Mikan DePaul 23.3 53 (Rhode Island State)
1946 George Mikan DePaul 23.1 37 (Indiana State)
1947 Bob Brown Miami (Ohio) 19.9 39 (Evansville)
1948 Murray Wier Iowa 21.0 34 (Illinois) 5 (Purdue)
1949 Tony Lavelli Yale 22.4 52 (Williams) 8 (Stanford/Villanova)
1950 Paul Arizin Villanova 25.3 41 (Seton Hall)
1951 Bill Mlkvy Temple 29.2 73 (Wilkes)
1952 Clyde Lovellette Kansas 28.4 44 (St. Louis) 13 (Iowa State)
1953 Frank Selvy Furman 29.5 63 (Mercer) 15 (Manhattan)
1954 Frank Selvy Furman 41.7 100 (Newberry) 25 (Newberry)
1955 Darrell Floyd Furman 35.9 67 (Morehead State) 20 (Newberry/Washington & Lee)
1956 Darrell Floyd Furman 33.8 62 (The Citadel) 18 (Davidson)
1957 Grady Wallace South Carolina 31.2 54 (Georgia) 14 (North Carolina State)
1958 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 35.1 56 (Seton Hall/Arkansas) 16 (Drake)
1959 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 32.6 45 (NYU) 13 (Houston)
1960 Oscar Robertson Cincinnati 33.7 62 (North Texas) 13 (Duquesne)
1961 Frank Burgess Gonzaga 32.4 52 (UC Davis)
1962 Billy McGill Utah 38.8 60 (Brigham Young)
1963 Nick Werkman Seton Hall 29.5 42 (St. Francis PA) 11 (Boston College)
1964 Howard Komives Bowling Green State 36.7 50 (Niagara) 25 (Toledo)
1965 Rick Barry Miami (fl) 37.4 59 (Rollins FL) 17 (Florida State)
1966 Dave Schellhase Purdue 32.5 57 (Michigan) 23 (UCLA)
1967 Jimmy Walker Providence 30.4 47 (Holy Cross) 5 (Villanova)
1968 Pete Maravich Louisiana State 43.8 59 (Alabama) 17 (Tennessee)
1969 Pete Maravich Louisiana State 44.2 66 (Tulane) 20 (Tennessee)
1970 Pete Maravich Louisiana State 44.5 69 (Alabama) 20 (Georgetown/Marquette)
1971 Johnny Neumann Mississippi 40.1 63 (Louisiana State) 17 (Louisiana State)
1972 Dwight "Bo" Lamar Southwestern Louisiana 36.3 51 (Louisiana Tech/Lamar)
1973 William "Bird" Averitt Pepperdine 33.9 57 (Nevada-Reno) 10 (Clemson)
1974 Larry Fogle Canisius 33.4 55 (St. Peter's) 18 (South Carolina)
1975 Bob McCurdy Richmond 32.9 53 (Appalachian State)
1976 Marshall Rogers Texas-Pan American 36.8 58 (Texas Lutheran)
1977 Freeman Williams Portland State 38.8 71 (Southern Oregon) 11 (Gonzaga)
1978 Freeman Williams Portland State 35.9 81 (Rocky Mountain MT) 14 (New Mexico)
1979 Lawrence Butler Idaho State 30.1 41 (SDSU/Boise State/UNLV) 12 (Georgia)
1980 Tony Murphy Southern 32.1 50 (Mississippi Valley State)
1981 Zam Fredrick South Carolina 28.9 43 (Georgia Southern)
1982 Harry Kelly Texas Southern 29.7 51 (Texas College)
1983 Harry Kelly Texas Southern 28.8 60 (Jarvis Christian TX)
1984 Joe Jakubick Akron 30.1 42 (Illinois-Chicago) unavailable
1985 Xavier McDaniel Wichita State 27.2 44 (West Texas State) 13 (Ohio University)
1986 Terrance Bailey Wagner 29.4 49 (Brooklyn) 15 (Fairleigh Dickinson)
1987 Kevin Houston Army 32.9 53 (Fordham) 18 (Holy Cross)
1988 Hersey Hawkins Bradley 36.3 63 (Detroit) 17 (Tulsa)
1989 Hank Gathers Loyola Marymount 32.7 49 (Nevada) 22 (Pepperdine)
1990 Greg "Bo" Kimble Loyola Marymount 35.3 54 (St. Joseph's) 21 (UNLV/Gonzaga)
1991 Kevin Bradshaw U.S. International 37.6 72 (Loyola Marymount)
1992 Brett Roberts Morehead State 28.1 53 (Middle Tennessee State)
1993 Greg Guy Texas-Pan American 29.3 38 (Jacksonville) 13 (Lamar)
1994 Glenn Robinson Jr. Purdue 30.3 49 (Illinois) 15 (Wisconsin)
1995 Kurt Thomas Texas Christian 28.9 45 (Illinois-Chicago) 13 (Virginia Tech)
1996 Kevin Granger Texas Southern 27.0 unavailable
1997 Charles Jones Long Island 30.1 46 (St. Francis PA) 16 (UAB)
1998 Charles Jones Long Island 29.0 53 (Medgar Evers NY) 16 (Mount St. Mary's)
1999 Alvin Young Niagara 25.1 44 (Siena) 3 (Iona)
2000 Courtney Alexander Fresno State 24.8 43 (UAB) 11 (Wisconsin)
2001 Ronnie McCollum Centenary 29.1 44 (Northwestern State) 14 (Louisiana State)
2002 Jason Conley Virginia Military 29.3 42 (Western Carolina) 17 (Eastern Mennonite VA)
2003 Ruben Douglas New Mexico 28.0 43 (Wyoming) 12 (Pepperdine)
2004 Keydren Clark St. Peter's 26.7 39 (Hofstra) 17 (Loyola/BSC/Niagara)
2005 Keydren Clark St. Peter's 25.8 43 (College Of Charleston) 14 (Tennessee Tech/Rider)
2006 Adam Morrison Gonzaga 28.1 44 (Loyola Marymount) 11 (San Diego)
2007 Reggie Williams Virginia Military 28.1 45 ((Virginia Intermont) 9 (Army)
2008 Reggie Williams Virginia Military 27.8 43 (Southern Virginia) 10 (Richmond)
2009 Stephen Curry Davidson 28.6 44 (Oklahoma/North Carolina State) 0 (Loyola MD)
2010 Aubrey Coleman Houston 25.6 38 (Tulane) 10 (Texas-San Antonio)
2011 Jimmer Fredette Brigham Young 28.9 52 (New Mexico) 13 (Creighton/Fresno Pacific)
2012 Reggie Hamilton Oakland 26.2 41 (Valparaiso) 11 (Arkansas)

NOTE: Leaders are unofficial from 1935-36 through 1946-47.

Moment in Spotlight: Highest Single-Game Scorers Against NCAA Titlists

Louisville sophomore guard Russ Smith secured the satisfaction of posting the highest single-game output against NCAA champion-to-be Kentucky with 30 points on New Year's Eve. But on the other end of the spectrum, Smith managed only nine points, going 4 for 15 from the floor, in the Cardinals' ballyhooed national semifinal setback against UK.

Since UCLA's first NCAA championship in 1964, Smith has the lowest scoring average (11.5 ppg) for any player who had the single-game high against a titlist. Some of the names probably will be surprising, but following is a look in reverse order at the last 49 individuals who posted the season-high scoring total against the NCAA kingpin:

Year Opposing High Scorer Vs. NCAA Titlist Avg. Single-Game High
2012 Russ Smith, G, Soph., Louisville 11.5 30 points at Kentucky
2011 Dwight Hardy, G, Sr., St. John's 18.3 33 vs. Connecticut
2010 Trevon Hughes, G, Sr., Wisconsin 15.3 26 vs. Duke
2009 Kyle McAlarney, G, Sr., Notre Dame 15.0 39 vs. North Carolina at Maui
2008 Michael Beasley, F-C, Fr., Kansas State 26.2 39 at Kansas
2007 Al Thornton, F, Sr., Florida State 19.7 28 vs. Florida
2006 Chris Lofton, G, Soph., Tennessee 17.2 29 vs. Florida
2005 Will Bynum, G, Sr., Georgia Tech 12.5 35 vs. North Carolina in ACC Tournament
2004 Chris Thomas, G, Jr., Notre Dame 19.7 31 vs. Connecticut
2003 Chris Hill, G, Soph., Michigan State 13.7 34 vs. Syracuse
2002 Jason "Jay" Williams, G, Jr., Duke 21.3 34 vs. Maryland
2001 J.J. Miller, G, Sr., North Carolina A&T State 16.0 34 at Duke
2000 A.J. Guyton, G, Sr., Indiana 19.7 34 vs. Michigan State
1999 Trajan Langdon, G, Sr., Duke 17.3 25 vs. Connecticut
1998 Brian Williams, G, Jr., Alabama 16.1 28 vs. Kentucky in SEC Tournament
1997 Isaac Fontaine, G, Sr., Washington State 21.9 32 vs. Arizona
1996 Marcus Camby, C, Jr., Massachusetts 20.5 32 vs. Kentucky at Great Eight
1995 Ray Allen, G, Soph., Connecticut 21.1 36 vs. UCLA in NCAA playoffs
1994 Gary Collier, F, Sr., Tulsa 22.9 35 vs. Arkansas in NCAA playoffs
1993 Chris Webber, F, Soph., Michigan 19.2 27 vs. North Carolina at Honolulu
1993 Randolph Childress, G, Soph., Wake Forest 19.7 27 vs. North Carolina
1993 James Forrest, F, Soph., Georgia Tech 19.5 27 vs. North Carolina in ACC Tournament
1993 Lester Lyons, G, Jr., East Carolina 15.4 27 vs. North Carolina in NCAA playoffs
1992 Malik Sealy, F, Sr., St. John's 22.6 37 vs. Duke at Greensboro
1991 Jeff Webster, F, Fr., Oklahoma 18.3 32 vs. Duke
1990 Greg "Bo" Kimble, F-G, Sr., Loyola Marymount 35.3 42 vs. UNLV in NCAA playoffs
1989 Roy Marble, F, Sr., Iowa 20.5 32 vs. Michigan
1988 Mitch Richmond, G-F, Sr., Kansas State 22.6 35 vs. Kansas
1987 Freddie Banks, G, Sr., UNLV 19.5 38 vs. Indiana in NCAA playoffs
1986 Ron Harper, F, Sr., Miami (oh) 24.4 36 vs. Louisville in Big Apple NIT at Cincinnati
1985 Len Bias, F, Jr., Maryland 18.9 30 vs. Villanova
1984 Chris Mullin, G-F, Jr., St. John's 22.9 29 vs. Georgetown in Big East Tournament
1983 Ralph Sampson, C, Sr., Virginia 19.1 33 vs. North Carolina State
1982 Ralph Sampson, C, Jr., Virginia 15.8 30 at North Carolina
1981 Mike McGee, F, Sr., Michigan 24.4 29 vs. Indiana
1980 Jeff Ruland, C, Jr., Iona 20.1 30 vs. Louisville
1979 Joe Barry Carroll, C, Jr., Purdue 22.8 27 vs. Michigan State
1979 Calvin Roberts, F-C, Jr., Cal State Fullerton 15.3 27 vs. Michigan State
1978 Freeman Williams, G, Sr., Portland State 35.9 39 at Kentucky
1977 Dave Corzine, C, Jr., DePaul 19.0 26 vs. Marquette
1976 Terry Furlow, F, Sr., Michigan State 29.4 40 vs. Indiana
1975 Kevin Grevey, F, Sr., Kentucky 23.5 34 vs. UCLA in NCAA final
1974 Billy Cook, G, Soph., Memphis State 16.2 33 vs. North Carolina State
1973 Billy Knight, F, Jr., Pittsburgh 23.7 37 vs. UCLA
1972 Fred Boyd, G, Sr., Oregon State 19.8 37 vs. UCLA
1971 Austin Carr, G, Sr., Notre Dame 38.0 46 vs. UCLA
1970 Pete Maravich, G, Sr., Louisiana State 44.5 38 vs. UCLA
1970 Rich Yunkus, C, Jr., Georgia Tech 30.1 38 vs. UCLA
1969 Vic Collucci, G, Soph., Providence 15.4 36 vs. UCLA
1968 Elvin Hayes, F-C, Sr., Houston 36.8 39 vs. UCLA
1967 Bill Hewitt, F, Jr., Southern California 19.5 39 vs. UCLA
1966 Jerry Chambers, F-C, Sr., Utah 28.8 38 vs. Texas Western in NCAA playoffs
1965 Ollie Johnson, C, Sr., San Francisco 21.6 37 vs. UCLA
1964 Tom Dose, C, Sr., Stanford 20.0 38 vs. UCLA

We're Back: Five Schools Returning to Old Stomping Grounds

Dominoes seem to fall every time a school seeks greener pastures. The Ivy League is the only Division I conference to remain intact since the late 1980s.

Oddly, some schools such as Boise State (Big West), Charlotte (C-USA), Georgia State (Sun Belt), Pacific (West Coast) and San Diego State (Big West) are going full circle and returning to leagues where they previously were members. They join the following institutions that re-enlisted with a conference after leaving for various durations:

School DI Conference (Membership Tenure) School Status During Interim
Boise State Big West (1997-2001 and will rejoin in 2014) WAC (2002-11) and Mountain West (2012 and 2013)
Campbell Big South (1986-94 and since 2012) TAAC/Atlantic Sun (1995-2011)
Charlotte Conference USA (1996-2005 and wll rejoin in 2014) Atlantic 10 (2006-13)
Creighton Missouri Valley (1929-48 and since 1978) Independent
Davidson Southern (1937-88 and since 1993) Big South (1991 and 1992)
Drake Missouri Valley (1908-51 and since 1957) Independent
Duquesne Eastern 8/Atlantic 10 (since 1977 except for 1993) Midwestern Collegiate (1993)
Georgia State Sun Belt (1977-81 and will rejoin in 2014) TAAC/Atlantic Sun (1985-2005) and CAA (2006-13)
Harvard EIBL/Ivy League (1902-09 and since 1934) Independent
Lamar Southland (1969-87 and since 1999) American South (1988-91) and Sun Belt (1992-98)
Murray State Ohio Valley (since 1949 except for 1962) Independent
New Orleans Sun Belt (1977-80 and 1992-2010) Independent and American South (1988-91)
Northern Illinois Mid-American (1976-86 and since 1998) Mid-Continent (1991-94) and Midwestern Collegiate (1995-97)
Oregon Pacific Coast (1916-59 and since 1965) Independent
Oregon State Pacific Coast (1916-59 and since 1965) Independent
Pacific WCAC/West Coast (1953-71 and will rejoin in 2014) PCAA/Big West (1972-2013)
Penn State Eastern 8/Atlantic 10 (1977-79 and 1983-91) Independent
Prairie View A&M SWAC (since 1921 except for 1991) Discontinued program one season
San Diego State Big West (1970-78 and will rejoin in 2014) WAC (1979-99) and Mountain West (2000-13)
Washington State Pacific Coast (1917-59 and since 1964) Independent

Never Never Land: No Duke All-American Has Come From North Carolina

Austin Rivers is the 34th different individual to become an All-American for Duke (23 under coach Mike Krzyzewski). Incredibly, none of them can be counted as in-state recruits from any of North Carolina's 100 counties. It doesn't seem possible, but North Carolina laid a Blue Devils' goose egg while states such as Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma and Oregon have contributed to their list of All-Americans.

The official web site of the State of North Carolina says the state is "a better place." But it hasn't been for Duke in regard to securing premium players. Following are the hometowns of Duke's 34 All-Americans coming from 18 different states plus the District of Columbia:

All-American Pos. A-A Year(s) Hometown
Mark Alarie F 1986 Phoenix, AZ
Tommy Amaker G 1987 Fairfax, VA
Gene Banks F 1979 and 1981 Philadelphia, PA
Shane Battier F 2000 and 2001 Birmingham, MI
Carlos Boozer C 2002 Juneau, AK
Elton Brand C 1999 Peekskill, NY
Chris Carrawell F 2000 St. Louis, MO
Johnny Dawkins G 1985 and 1986 Washington, DC
Chris Duhon G 2004 Slidell, LA
Mike Dunleavy F 2002 Lake Oswego, OR
Danny Ferry F-C 1988 and 1989 Hyattsville, MD
Mike Gminski C 1978 through 1980 Monroe, CT
Dick Groat G 1951 and 1952 Swissvale, PA
Gerald Henderson G-F 2009 Merion, PA
Art Heyman F 1961 through 1963 Oceanside, NY
Grant Hill F-G 1992 through 1994 Reston, VA
Bobby Hurley G 1992 and 1993 Jersey City, NJ
Ed Koffenberger F-C 1946 and 1947 Wilmington, PA
Christian Laettner C-F 1991 and 1992 Buffalo, NY
Trajan Langdon G 1998 and 1999 Anchorage, AK
Mike Lewis C 1968 Missoula, MT
Jack Marin F 1966 Farrell, PA
Jeff Mullins F 1963 and 1964 Lexington, KY
DeMarcus Nelson G-F 2008 Elk Grove, CA
Jonathan "J.J." Redick G 2004 through 2006 Roanoke, VA
Austin Rivers G 2012 Winter Park, FL
Jon Scheyer G 2010 Northbrook, IL
Kyle Singler F 2011 Medford, OR
Nolan Smith G 2011 Upper Marlboro, MD
Jim Spanarkel G 1978 and 1979 Jersey City, NJ
Jim Thompson F 1934 Washington, DC
Bob Verga G 1966 and 1967 Belmar, NJ
Jason "Jay" Williams G 2001 and 2002 Plainfield, NJ
Shelden Williams C 2005 and 2006 Forest Park, OK

State Budgeting: Majority of All-Americans Are Not Homegrown

Only four of 18 All-Americans named by AP, NABC and USBWA this season were homegrown in-state products - Missouri's Marcus Denmon (Kansas City, MO), Michigan State's Draymond Green (Saginaw, MI), Vanderbilt's John Jenkins (Hendersonville, TN) and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger (Columbus, OH).

Over the years, nine states supplied at least 20 All-Americans beyond their borders - New York (86), Illinois (54), Pennsylvania (48), Indiana (40), California (39), New Jersey (39), Georgia (22), Ohio (22) and Maryland (20). Following are the players who attended high school in a state other than where they earned All-American recognition while attending a four-year university:

Alabama (11) - Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins (2010), Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore (1970 and 1971), Kentucky State's Travis Grant (1972), Colorado State's Bill Green (1963), Memphis State's Larry Kenon (1973), Southern Illinois' Joe C. Meriweather (1975), Louisville's Allen Murphy (1975), Kansas' Bud Stallworth (1972), Texas Southern's Ben Swain (1958), Southwestern Louisiana's Andrew Toney (1980), Indiana's D.J. White

Alaska (2) - Duke's Trajan Langdon (1998 and 1999) and Carlos Boozer (2002)

Arizona (2) - Duke's Mark Alarie (1986), Brigham Young's Joe Richey (1953)

Arkansas (8) - Oklahoma State's James Anderson (2010), Texas Western's Jim Barnes (1964), Gonzaga's Frank Burgess (1961), San Diego State's Michael Cage (1984), Memphis State's Keith Lee (1982-83-84-85), Minnesota's Quincy Lewis (1999), Seattle's Eddie Miles (1963), Memphis State's Dexter Reed (1977)

California (39) - UNLV's Stacey Augmon (1991), Oregon's Greg Ballard (1977), Oregon State's Fred Boyd (1982), Arizona State's Joe Caldwell (1963), Oregon State's Lester Conner (1982), New Mexico's Michael Cooper (1978), Penn's Howie Dallmar (1945), Boston College's Jared Dudley (2007), Brigham Young's John Fairchild (1965), Kansas' Drew Gooden (2002), Utah State's [Cornell](schools/cornell) Green (1962), Texas' Jordan Hamilton (2011), Arizona State's James Harden (2009), Brigham Young's Mel Hutchins (1951), Oregon State's Steve Johnson (1980 and 1981), Arizona's Steve Kerr (1988), Weber State's Damian Lillard (2012), Oregon's Stan Love (1971), Oregon State's John Mandic (1942), Utah's Billy McGill (1960-61-62), Utah's Andre Miller (1998 and 1999), Arizona's Chris Mills (1993), Duke's DeMarcus Nelson (2008), Notre Dame's Kevin O'Shea (1947-48-49-50), Oregon State's Gary Payton (1990), Kansas' Paul Pierce (1998), Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince (2001 and 2002), UNLV's J.R. Rider (1993), Creighton's Paul Silas (1962-63-64), Arizona's Miles Simon (1998), Boston College's Craig Smith (2005 and 2006), Brigham Young's Michael Smith (1988), Temple's Terence Stansbury (1984), Oregon's Vic Townsend (1941), Vanderbilt's Jan van Breda Kolff (1974), Utah's Keith Van Horn (1996 and 1997), Kansas' Jacque Vaughn (1995-96-97), Arizona's Derrick Williams (2011), Portland State's Freeman Williams (1977 and 1978)

Colorado (9) - Utah's Art Bunte (1955 and 1956), Purdue's Joe Barry Carroll (1979 and 1980), Iowa's Chuck Darling (1952), Nevada's Nick Fazekas (2006 and 2007), Wyoming's Bill Garnett (1982), Notre Dame's Pat Garrity (1998), Wyoming's Harry Jorgensen (1955), Kansas' Mark Randall (1990), North Carolina State's Ronnie Shavlik (1955 and 1956)

Connecticut (11) - Boston College's John Bagley (1982), Dartmouth's Gus Broberg (1940 and 1941), Massachusetts' Marcus Camby (1996), UCLA's Rod Foster (1981 and 1983), Duke's Mike Gminski (1978-79-80), Providence's Ryan Gomes (2004), Niagara's Calvin Murphy (1968-69-70), Seattle's Frank Oleynick (1975), Villanova's John Pinone (1983), Rhode Island's Sly Williams (1978 and 1979), Michigan's Henry Wilmore (1971 and 1972)

Delaware (1) - Temple's Terence Stansbury (1984)

District of Columbia (12) - Seattle's Elgin [Baylor](schools/baylor) (1957 and 1958), Syracuse's Dave Bing (1965 and 1966), Notre Dame's Austin Carr (1970 and 1971), Utah's Jerry Chambers (1966), Duke's [Johnny Dawkins](coaches/johnny-dawkins) (1985 and 1986), Syracuse's Sherman Douglas (1988 and 1989), San Francisco's Ollie Johnson (1965), North Carolina's Bob Lewis (1966 and 1967), Syracuse's Lawrence Moten (1995), Kansas' Thomas Robinson (2012), Duke's Jim Thompson (1934), Providence's John Thompson (1964)

Florida (14) - Houston's Otis Birdsong (1977), North Carolina's Vince Carter (1998), North Carolina State's Chris Corchiani (1991), Oklahoma State's Joey Graham (2005), Georgia Tech's Tom Hammonds (1989), Illinois' Derek Harper (1983), Wake Forest's Frank Johnson (1981), Vanderbilt's Will Perdue (1988), Villanova's Howard Porter (1969-70-71), Kansas State's Mitch Richmond (1988), Duke's Austin Rivers (2012), Louisville's Clifford Rozier (1994), Minnesota's Mychal Thompson (1977 and 1978), Kansas' Walt Wesley (1966)

Georgia (22) - California's Shareef Abdur-Rahim (1996), Providence's Marshon Brooks (2011), Marquette's Jae Crowder (2012), North Carolina's Hook Dillon (1946 and 1947), Florida State's Toney Douglas (2009), Tennessee's Dale Ellis (1982 and 1983), Louisville's Pervis Ellison (1989), southern Illinois' Walt Frazier (1967), Oklahoma's Harvey Grant (1988), Clemson's Horace Grant (1987), Grambling's Charles Hardnett (1961 and 1962), Utah's Merv Jackson (1968), Tennessee's Reggie Johnson (1980), Mississippi State's Jeff Malone (1983), Kentucky's Jodie Meeks (2009), Auburn's Mike Mitchell (1978), Clemson's Tree Rollins (1977), Kentucky State's Elmore Smith (1971), Kentucky's Bill Spivey (1950 and 1951), Florida State's Al Thornton (2007), Kentucky's Kenny Walker (1985 and 1986), North Carolina's Al Wood (1980 and 1981)

Idaho (1) - Brigham Young's Roland Minson (1951)

Illinois (54) - Minnesota's Jim Brewer (1973), Seattle's Charley Brown (1958 and 1959), Indiana's Quinn Buckner (1974-75-76), Iowa's Carl Cain (1956), Penn's Corky Calhoun (1973), Detroit's Bob Calihan (1939), Kansas' Sherron Collins (2009 and 2010), Wisconsin's Bobby Cook (1947), Kentucky's Anthony Davis (2012), Indiana's Archie Dees (1957 and 1958), Detroit's Bill Ebben (1957), Marquette's Bo Ellis (1975-76-77), California's Larry Friend (1957), William & Mary's Chet Giermak (1950), Michigan's Rickey Green (1976 and 1977), Indiana's A.J. Guyton (2000), Notre Dame's Tom Hawkins (1958 and 1959), Michigan's Juwan Howard (1994), Kentucky's Dan Issel (1969 and 1970), Central Missouri's Earl Keth (1938), Minnesota's Tom Kondla (1967), Notre Dame's Moose Krause (1932-33-34), Iowa's Ronnie Lester (1979 and 1980), Oklahoma A&M's Bob Mattick (1954), Marquette's Jerel McNeal (2009), Colorado's Cliff Meely (1971), Dartmouth's George Munroe (1942), Iowa's Don Nelson (1961 and 1962), Wisconsin's Ab Nicholas (1952), Houston's Gary Phillips (1961), Kansas State's Jacob Pullen (2011), Murray State's Bennie Purcell (1952), Wisconsin's Don Rehfeldt (1950), Notre Dame's Eddie Riska (1941), Marquette's Doc Rivers (1982 and 1983), Wyoming's Flynn Robinson (1965), Kansas' Dave Robisch (1971), Memphis' Derrick Rose (2008), Michigan's Cazzie Russell (1964-65-66), Duke's Jon Scheyer (2010), Evansville's Jerry Sloan (1965), Purdue's Forrest Sprowl (1942), Notre Dame's Jack Stephens (1955), Indiana's [Isiah Thomas](players/isiah-thomas) (1981), Wisconsin's Alando Tucker (2007), Ohio State's Evan Turner (2010), Marquette's Dwyane Wade (2003), Arkansas' Darrell Walker (1983), Marquette's Lloyd Walton (1976), Marquette's Jerome Whitehead (1978), Cincinnati's George Wilson (1963), Kansas' Julian Wright (2007), Arizona's Michael Wright (2001), Georgia Tech's Rich Yunkus (1970 and 1971)

Indiana (40) - Michigan State's Chet Aubuchon (1940), Tennessee State's Dick Barnett (1958 and 1959), Cincinnati's Ron Bonham (1963 and 1964), Denver's Vince Boryla (1949), Louisville's Junior Bridgeman (1975), Wyoming's Joe Capua (1956), Memphis' Rodney Carney (2006), East Tennessee State's Tom Chilton (1961), Kentucky's Louie Dampier (1966 and 1967), North Carolina State's Dick Dickey (1948 and 1950), Kentucky's LeRoy Edwards (1935), Arizona's Jason Gardner (2002 and 2003), Western Michigan's Harold Gensichen (1943), Florida's Joe Hobbs (1958), Georgia Tech's Roger Kaiser (1960 and 1961), Wyoming's Milo Komenich (1943), Texas' Jim Krivacs (1979), Kansas' Clyde Lovellette (1950-51-52), Kentucky's Kyle Macy (1978-79-80), North Carolina's Sean May (2005), Drake's Willie McCarter (1969), Tennessee State's Porter Merriweather (1960), North Carolina State's Vic Molodet (1956), North Carolina's Eric Montross (1993 and 1994), Texas Christian's Lee Nailon (1998), Kentucky's Cotton Nash (1962-63-64), Ohio State's Greg Oden (2007), Kentucky's Jack Parkinson (1946), Louisville's Jim Price (1972), Northwestern's Ray Ragelis (1951), North Carolina State's Sam Ranzino (1950 and 1951), Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson (1958-59-60), Michigan State's Scott Skiles (1986), Wake Forest's Jeff Teague (2009), Tennessee's Gene Tormohlen (1959), North Carolina State's Monte Towe (1974), Michigan's John Townsend (1937 and 1938), Southern California's Ralph Vaughn (1940), UCLA's Mike Warren (1967 and 1968), North Carolina's's Tyler Zeller (2012)

Iowa (8) - North Carolina's Harrison Barnes (2012), Creighton's Ed Beisser (1943), Kansas' Nick Collison (2003), Kansas' Kirk Hinrich (2002 and 2003), Creighton's Kyle Korver (2003), Kansas' Raef LaFrentz (1997, Creighton's Doug McDermott (2012) and 1998), Carleton's Wayne Sparks (1937)

Kansas (5) - Kentucky's Bob Brannum (1944), Vanderbilt's Matt Freije (2004), Army's Dale Hall (1945), Colorado's Jack Harvey (1940), Oklahoma's Gerry Tucker (1943 and 1947)

Kentucky (18) - Navy's Buzz Borries (1934), Florida State's Dave Cowens (1970), Cincinnati's Ralph Davis (1960), Tennessee Tech's Jimmy Hagan (1959), Alabama's Jerry Harper (1956), Tennessee's Allan Houston (1992 and 1993), Virginia's Jeff Lamp (1980 and 1981), Tennessee's Chris Lofton (2006-07-08), Louisiana State's Rudy Macklin (1980 and 1981), Duke's Jeff Mullins (1963 and 1964), Ohio State's Arnie Risen (1945), Tennessee's Danny Schultz (1964), Furman's Frank Selvy (1952-53-54), Army's Mike Silliman (1966), Xavier's Hank Stein (1958), Cincinnati's Tom Thacker (1963), Duquesne's Jim Tucker (1952), South Carolina's Grady Wallace (1957)

Louisiana (13) - Texas' D.J. Augustin (2008), Creighton's Benoit Benjamin (1985), Duke's Chris Duhon (2004), Houston's Louis Dunbar (1974), Iowa State's Marcus Fizer (2000), Vanderbilt's Shan Foster (2008), Houston's Elvin Hayes (1966-67-68), Villanova's Kerry Kittles (1995 and 1996), Georgetown's Greg Monroe (2010), Kentucky's Cotton Nash (1962-63-64), Oklahoma's Hollis Price (2003), Jacksonville's James Ray (1980), Kentucky's Rick Robey (1977 and 1978)

Maryland (20) - Boston College's John Austin (1965 and 1966), Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2008), Wyoming's Charles Bradley (1981), North Carolina State's Kenny Carr (1976 and 1977), San Francisco's Quintin Dailey (1982), Notre Dame's Adrian Dantley (1975 and 1976), Texas' Kevin Durant (2007), Duke's Danny Ferry (1988 and 1989), North Carolina's Joseph Forte (2001), Connecticut's Rudy Gay (2006), Kansas' Tony Guy (1982), Davidson's Fred Hetzel (1963-64-65), North Carolina's Ty Lawson (2009), North Carolina State's Rodney Monroe (1991), Duke's Nolan Smith (2011), Virginia Tech's Dale Solomon (1982), Saint Joseph's Delonte West (2004), North Carolina State's Hawkeye Whitney (1980), Georgetown's Reggie Williams (1987), Pittsburgh's Sam Young (2009)

Massachusetts (11) - Rutgers' James Bailey (1978 and 1979), Villanova's Michael Bradley (2001), Georgetown's Patrick Ewing (1982-83-84-85), Rhode Island State's Chet Jaworski (1939), Yale's Tony Lavelli (1946-47-48-49), Oregon's Ron Lee (1974-75-76), Marshall's Russell Lee (1972), Rhode Island State's Stan Modzelewski (1942), Ohio State's Scoonie Penn (1999 and 2000), Michigan's Rumeal Robinson (1990), Providence's Jimmy Walker (1965-66-67)

Michigan (19) - Duke's Shane Battier (2000 and 2001), Dayton's Bill Chmielewski (1962), Syracuse's Derrick Coleman (1989 and 1990), New Mexico's Mel Daniels (1967), Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts (2008), Arizona's Bob Elliott (1977), Canisius' Larry Fogle (1974), Iowa State's Jeff Grayer (1988), Texas Western's Bobby Joe Hill (1966), Florida's Al Horford (2007), Arkansas' George Kok (1948), North Carolina's Tom LaGarde (1977), Alabama State's Kevin Loder (1981), Temple's [Mark Macon](coaches/mark-macon) (1988), Tennessee State's Carlos Rogers (1994), Purdue's Steve Scheffler (1990), Missouri's Doug Smith (1990 and 1991), Bradley's Chet Walker (1960-61-62), Iowa's Sam Williams (1968)

Minnesota (4) - Kansas' Cole Aldrich (2010), Boston College's Troy Bell (2001 and 2003), Dayton's John Horan (1955), Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor (2011)

Mississippi (5) - Missouri's Melvin Booker (1994), Murray State's Isaiah Canaan (2012), Louisiana State's Chris Jackson (1989 and 1990), UC Irvine's Kevin Magee (1981 and 1982), Alabama's Derrick McKey (1987)

Missouri (18) - UCLA's Lucius Allen (1968), Princeton's Bill Bradley (1963-64-65), Idaho State's Lawrence Butler (1979), Duke's Chris Carrawell (2000), Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough (2011), North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (2006-07-08-09), Tulsa's Steve Harris (1985), Southern Methodist's Jon Koncak (1985), Southern Methodist's Jim Krebs (1957), Oklahoma A&M's Bob Kurland (1944-45-46), Drake's Red Murrell (1958), Tulsa's Bob Patterson (1955), Kansas' Fred Pralle (1938), Texas-Pan American's Marshall Rogers (1976), Notre Dame's Dick Rosenthal (1954), Kansas' Brandon Rush (2008), Kansas' Jo Jo White (1967-68-69), Memphis State's Win Wilfong (1957)

Montana (3) - Iowa's Chuck Darling (1952), Utah State's Wayne Estes (1964 and 1965), Duke's Mike Lewis (1968)

Nebraska (5) - Kansas State's Bob Boozer (1958 and 1959), George Washington's Bob Faris (1939), Michigan's Mike McGee (1981), Wyoming's Les Witte (1932 and 1934), Iowa's Andre Woolridge (1997)

Nevada (3) - New Mexico's Darington Hobson (2010), Arizona State's Lionel Hollins (1975), Missouri's Willie Smith (1976)

New Jersey (39) - Miami's Rick Barry (1964 and 1965), Temple's Mike Bloom (1938), West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler (2010), DePaul's Clyde Bradshaw (1980), Illinois' Tal Brody (1965), Notre Dame's Gary Brokaw (1974), George Washington's Corky Devlin (1955), Providence's Vinnie Ernst (1963), Morehead State's Kenneth Faried (2011), Dayton's Henry Finkel (1966), Columbia's Chet Forte (1957), Villanova's Randy Foye (2006), South Carolina's Skip Harlicka (1968), Holy Cross' Tom Heinsohn (1955 and 1956), Duke's Bobby Hurley (1992 and 1993), North Carolina's Tommy Kearns (1957 and 1958), Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2012), Pittsburgh's Brandin Knight (2002), Stanford's Brevin Knight (1997), Southern California's Mo Layton (1971), Villanova's Bill Melchionni (1966), Providence's Eric Murdock (1991), Notre Dame's Troy Murphy (2000 and 2001), Seattle's Eddie O'Brien (1953), Seattle's Johnny O'Brien (1952 and 1953), North Carolina's Mike O'Koren (1978-79-80), Holy Cross' Togo Palazzi (1953 and 1954), Notre Dame's David Rivers (1988), Massachusetts' Lou Roe (1994 and 1995), Iowa's Ben Selzer (1934), Notre Dame's John Shumate (1974), Duke's Jim Spanarkel (1978 and 1979), Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor (2012), Notre Dame's Kelly Tripucka (1979-80-81), Duke's Bob Verga (1966 and 1967), Saint Joseph's Bryan Warrick (1981 and 1982), Xavier's David West (2002 and 2003), Long Island's Sherman White (1950), Duke's Jason Williams (2001 and 2002)

New Mexico (2) - Kansas' Bill Bridges (1961), West Texas State's Charles Halbert (1942)

New York (86) - UCLA's Lew Alcindor (1967-68-69), Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson (1990 and 1991), Penn State's Jesse Arnelle (1955), Minnesota's Ron Behagen (1973), Kansas State's Rolando Blackman (1980 and 1981), Duke's Elton Brand (1999), North Carolina's Pete Brennan (1958), Dartmouth's Audie Brindley (1944), Utah's Ticky Burden (1975), North Carolina State's Lorenzo Charles (1984), Missouri's Derrick Chievous (1987), New Mexico State's [Jimmy Collins](coaches/jimmy-collins) (1970), Holy Cross' Bob Cousy (1948-49-50), North Carolina's Billy Cunningham (1964 and 1965), Wake Forest's Charlie Davis (1971), Maryland's Len Elmore (1974), Massachusetts' Julius Erving (1971), Georgia's Vern Fleming (1984), Brigham Young's Jimmer Fredette (2010), Louisville's Francisco Garcia (2005), Louisville's Don Goldstein (1959), Louisiana State's Al Green (1979), Duquesne's Sihugo Green (1954-55-56), UNLV's Sidney Green (1983), Tennessee's Ernie Grunfeld (1976 and 1977), North Carolina State's Tom Gugliotta (1992), Penn's Ron Haigler (1975), Loyola of Chicago's Jerry Harkness (1963), Notre Dame's Billy Hassett (1945), Hawaii's Tom Henderson (1974), Villanova's Larry Hennessy (1952 and 1953), Duke's Art Heyman (1961-62-63), North Carolina State's Julius Hodge (2004), Xavier's Tu Holloway (2011), Baylor's Vinnie Johnson (1979), West Virginia's Kevin Jones (2012), South Carolina's Kevin Joyce (1973), Holy Cross' George Kaftan (1947 and 1948), Guilford's Bob Kauffman (1968), Maryland's Albert King (1980 and 1981), Tennessee's Bernard King (1975-76-77), North Carolina's Mitch Kupchak (1975 and 1976), Duke's Christian Laettner (1991 and 1992), North Carolina's York Larese (1959-60-61), Marquette's Butch Lee (1977 and 1978), Davidson's Mike Maloy (1968-69-70), Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury (1996), Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn (1993), Louisville's Rodney McCray (1983), Richmond's Bob McCurdy (1975), Marquette's Dean Meminger (1970 and 1971), North Carolina's Doug Moe (1961), Notre Dame's John Moir (1936-37-38), Florida's Joakim Noah (2007), Boston College's Jim O'Brien (1971), Kentucky's Bernie Opper (1939), Idaho's Ken Owens (1982), North Carolina's Sam Perkins (1982-83-84), Connecticut's A.J. Price (2008), Villanova's Allan Ray (2006), Arizona's Khalid Reeves (1994), South Carolina's Tom Riker (1972), Kentucky's Pat Riley (1966), South Carolina's John Roche (1969-70-71), North Carolina's Lennie Rosenbluth (1956 and 1957), Georgia Tech's John Salley (1986), North Carolina's Charlie Scott (1968-69-70), Rutgers' Phil Sellers (1975 and 1976), Iowa State's Don Smith (1968), North Carolina's Kenny Smith (1987), Providence's Kevin Stacom (1974), DePaul's Rod Strickland (1988), Miami of Ohio's Wally Szczerbiak (1999), Marquette's Earl Tatum (1976), Princeton's Chris Thomforde (1967), Marquette's George Thompson (1969), Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley (2001), Marquette's Bernard Toone (1979), Connecticut's Kemba Walker (2011), Providence's Lenny Wilkens (1960), Southern California's Gus Williams (1975), Austin Peay's Fly Williams (1973), Michigan's Henry Wilmore (1971 and 1972), Wyoming's Tony Windis (1959), Tennessee's Howard Wood (1981), Marquette's Sam Worthen (1980)

North Carolina (18) - Fresno State's Courtney Alexander (2000), Indiana's Walt Bellamy (1960), UCLA's Henry Bibby (1972), Kansas State's Mike Evans (1978), Furman's Darrell Floyd (1955 and 1956), Georgetown's Sleepy Floyd (1981 and 1982), Minnesota's Lou Hudson (1965 and 1966), Minnesota's Bobby Jackson (1997), Maryland's John Lucas (1974-75-76), Kansas' Danny Manning (1986-87-88), Louisiana State's Pete Maravich (1968-69-70), Lamar's Mike Olliver (1981), Texas' P.J. Tucker (2006), Kentucky's John Wall (2010), Xavier's David West (2002), Tennessee's Tony White (1987), Georgia's Dominique Wilkins (1981 and 1982), Maryland's Buck Williams (1981)

Ohio (22) - Southern California's Sam Clancy (2002), Washington State's Don Collins (1980), Northwestern's Evan Eschmeyer (1999), Notre Dame's Bob Faught (1942), Michigan's Gary Grant (1987 and 1988), Michigan State's Johnny Green (1958 and 1959), Kentucky's Kevin Grevey (1974 and 1975), Kentucky's Alex Groza (1947-48-49), Michigan's Phil Hubbard (1977), Southwestern Louisiana's Bo Lamar (1972 and 1973), Pittsburgh's Jerome Lane (1987 and 1988), Kentucky's Jim Line (1950), Indiana's Scott May (1975 and 1976), Purdue's Todd Mitchell (1988), Notre Dame's John Paxson (1982 and 1983), Kentucky's Mike Pratt (1970), Long Beach State's Ed Ratleff (1972 and 1973), Arkansas' Alvin Robertson (1984), Davidson's Dick Snyder (1966), North Carolina State's Bobby Speight (1953), Oklahoma Baptist's Albert Tucker (1966 and 1967), Kansas State's Chuckie Williams (1976)

Oklahoma (7) - Texas Western's Jim Barnes (1964), San Francisco's Winford Boynes (1978), Arkansas' Lee Mayberry (1992), Kansas State's Willie Murrell (1964), Georgia Tech's Mark Price (1984-85-86), Syracuse's Etan Thomas (2000), Duke's Shelden Williams (2005 and 2006)

Oregon (7) - Brigham Young's Danny Ainge (1979-80-81), Duke's Mike Dunleavy (2002), UCLA's Kevin Love (2008), Gonzaga's Blake Stepp (2004), Arizona's Damon Stoudamire (1995), Arizona's Salim Stoudamire (2005), UCLA's Richard Washington (1975 and 1976)

Pennsylvania (48) - Duke's Gene Banks (1979 and 1981), Kentucky's Sam Bowie (1981 and 1984), Kansas' Wilt Chamberlain (1957 and 1958), Wake Forest's Len Chappell (1961 and 1962), DePaul's Dallas Comegys (1987), Seton Hall's Bob Davies (1941 and 1942), Cincinnati's Danny Fortson (1996 and 1997), Loyola Marymount's Hank Gathers (1989 and 1990), UNLV's Armon Gilliam (1987), North Carolina's George Glamack (1940), Duke's Dick Groat (1951 and 1952), Connecticut's Richard Hamilton (1998 and 1999), UCLA's Walt Hazzard (1963 and 1964), Duke's Gerald Henderson (2009), Kansas' Wayne Hightower (1960 and 1961), West Texas State's Simmie Hill (1969), George Washington's Joe Holup (1956), Loyola Marymount's Bo Kimble (1990), Duke's Ed Koffenberger (1946 and 1947), Rutgers' Bob Lloyd (1967), Drake's Lewis Lloyd (1980 and 1981), Navy's Elliott Loughlin (1933), Marquette's Maurice Lucas (1974), Duke's Jack Marin (1966), Connecticut's Donyell Marshall (1994), Vanderbilt's Billy McCaffrey (1993), Michigan State's Julius McCoy (1956), Maryland's Tom McMillen (1972-73-74), North Carolina's Larry Miller (1967 and 1968), Winston-Salem State's Earl Monroe (1967), Kansas' Marcus Morris (2011), Syracuse's Billy Owens (1990 and 1991), Virginia's Barry Parkhill (1972 and 1973), North Carolina State's Lou Pucillo (1959), North Carolina State's John Richter (1959), West Virginia's Wil Robinson (1972), North Carolina's Lee Shaffer (1959 and 1960), West Virginia's Lloyd Sharrar (1958), Virginia's Sean Singletary (2007), Utah's Mike Sojourner (1974), Weber State's Willie Sojourner (1971), Cincinnati's Jack Twyman (1955), Michigan State's Horace Walker (1960), Virginia's Wally Walker (1976), North Carolina's Rasheed Wallace (1995), Syracuse's Hakim Warrick (2004 and 2005), North Carolina's Dennis Wuycik (1972)

South Carolina (4) - Connecticut's Ray Allen (1995 and 1996), North Carolina's Raymond Felton (2005), Louisiana State's Pete Maravich (1968-69-70), Wichita State's Xavier McDaniel (1985)

Tennessee (13) - Wake Forest's Skip Brown (1977), Arkansas' Todd Day (1991 and 1992), Kentucky's Tony Delk (1996), Oral Roberts' Richie Fuqua (1972 and 1973), Oklahoma A&M's Bob Harris (1949), Indiana's Kirk Haston (2001), Cincinnati's Paul Hogue (1961 and 1962), Mississippi State's Bailey Howell (1958 and 1959), Western Kentucky's Tom Marshall (1954), Kentucky's Ron Mercer (1997), Mississippi's Johnny Neumann (1971), Oral Roberts' Anthony Roberts (1977), Tulsa's Bingo Smith (1969)

Texas (18) - Oklahoma's Mookie Blaylock (1989), Kentucky's Bob Burrow (1955 and 1956), Wyoming's Fennis Dembo (1988), Arizona State's Ike Diogu (2005), Purdue's Keith Edmonson (1982), UNLV's Larry Johnson (1990 and 1991), Syracuse's Wesley Johnson (2010), Oklahoma State's John Lucas III (2004), Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin (2000), Oklahoma's Eduardo Najera (2000), Connecticut's Emeka Okafor (2003 and 2004), Louisiana State's Shaquille O'Neal (1991 and 1992), UNLV's Eddie Owens (1977), Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts (2004), Mississippi's Ansu Sesay (1998), Wichita State's Dave Stallworth (1963-64-65), South Carolina's Freddie Tompkins (1934), Illinois' Deron Williams (2005)

Utah (3) - Montana State's Cat Thompson (1929 and 1930), Montana State's Frank Ward (1930), Iowa's Herb Wilkinson (1945)

Virginia (18) - Duke's [Tommy Amaker](coaches/tommy-amaker) (1987), Maryland's Bosey Berger (1932), Kentucky's Keith Bogans (2003), Wake Forest's Randolph Childress (1995), Duke's Grant Hill (1992 through 1994), Georgetown's Allen Iverson (1996), East Tennessee State's Mister Jennings (1991), North Carolina's Kendall Marshall (2012), Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning (1989-90-91-92), Kansas State's Jack Parr (1957 and 1958), Tulsa's Paul Pressey (1982), Duke's J.J. Redick (2004 through 2006), North Carolina's J.R. Reid (1988 and 1989), Villanova's Scottie Reynolds (2010), Navy's David Robinson (1986 and 1987), Georgia Tech's Dennis Scott (1990), Maryland's Joe Smith (1994 and 1995), Xavier's David West (2002 and 2003)

Washington (5) - Oregon's Aaron Brooks (2007), Arizona's Michael Dickerson (1998), Arizona's Jason Terry (1999), Louisville's Terrence Williams (2009), Oregon's Slim Wintermute (1938 and 1939)

West Virginia (2) - Virginia Tech's Chris Smith (1960), Virginia's Buzz Wilkinson (1955)

Wisconsin (8) - St. Louis' Dick Boushka (1955), Iowa's Fred Brown (1981), Connecticut's Caron Butler (2002), Louisville's Reece Gaines (2003), Iowa's John Johnson (1970), Utah's Jeff Jonas (1977), Minnesota's Chuck Mencel (1953 and 1955), Cincinnati's Nick Van Exel (1993)

Wyoming (1) - Utah's Vern Gardner (1948 and 1949)

NOTE: Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont are the only states not to supply an All-American for an out-of-state college.

Major Relief: Matt Thornton Went From Hoop Dreams to Field of Dreams

The Chicago White Sox started the baseball season last week with a closer-by-committee. Former college basketball player Matt Thornton, a lefthanded reliever, notched new manager Robin Ventura's first victory, a 4-3 decision over the defending American League champion Texas Rangers. Rangers reliever Mike Adams (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and San Diego Padres outfielder Will Venable (Princeton) are other active major leaguers who played college hoops.

Thornton is the latest among the following lengthy alphabetical list of ex-college cagers who went on to play for the White Sox: Jerry Adair, Bill Almon, Bosey Berger, Tim Cullen, Dick Culler, Guy Curtright, Larry Doby, Walt Dropo, George Earnshaw, Paul Edmondson, Sammy Esposito, Kerby Farrell, Dave Frost, Jim Geddes, Paul Gregory, Frank Grube, Steve Hamilton, Atlee Hammaker, Gail Hopkins, Ron Jackson, Duane Josephson, Howie Judson, Bob Keegan, Don Kessinger, Art Kusnyer, Vance Law, Kenny Lofton, Tony Lupien, Ted Lyons, Jim Lyttle, Ed Madjeski, Sam Mele, Lyle Mouton, Cotton Nash, Tim Nordbrook, Gary Peters, Don Rader, Gary Redus, Ron Reed, Steve Renko, Jeff Shaw, Art Smith, Jimmy Stewart, Tim Stoddard, Billy Sullivan, Cecil Upshaw, Joe Vance, Frank Whitman and Jim Wilson

The 6-6 Thornton averaged 5.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game for Grand Valley State (MI) from 1995-96 through 1997-98, shooting 54.7% from the floor his last two seasons before becoming a first-round draft choice by the Seattle Mariners. Thornton is among the following alphabetical list of major leaguers who were first-round selections in the amateur baseball draft after playing varsity college basketball:

First-Round Choice Position College MLB Team Selector Pick Overall Year
Bill Almon SS Brown San Diego Padres 1st 1974
Andy Benes RHP Evansville San Diego Padres 1st 1988
Tony Clark 1B Arizona/San Diego State Detroit Tigers 2nd 1990
Cameron Drew OF New Haven CT Houston Astros 12th 1985
Atlee Hammaker LHP East Tennessee State Kansas City Royals 21st 1979
Rick Leach 1B-OF Michigan Detroit Tigers 13th 1979
Jim Lyttle OF Florida State New York Yankees 10th 1966
Ben McDonald RHP Louisiana State Baltimore Orioles 1st 1989
Dennis Rasmussen LHP Creighton California Angels 17th 1980
Jeff Shaw RHP Rio Grande OH Cleveland Indians 1st 1986
*Mike Stenhouse OF-1B Harvard Oakland Athletics 26th 1979
Matt Thornton LHP Grand Valley State MI Seattle Mariners 22nd 1998
Dave Winfield OF Minnesota San Diego Padres 4th 1973

*Did not sign that year.

Deal or No Deal? Contracts Don't Seem to Mean Squat to Many Coaches

Should I stay or should I go? It's a good thing universities play in mammoth arenas because the egos of their "Pompous Pilots" wouldn't fit any other place.

Much of the excess in the canonization of coaches is perpetuated by coaches-turned-television commentators who shamelessly fawn over their former colleagues. Instead, the analysts should be more concerned about encouraging mentors to spare fans the pious blather about school loyalty and the sanctity of a contract.

Granted, it's survival of the fittest amid the offer-you-can't-refuse backdrop. But in many instances, schools have been little more than convenient steppingstones for "larger-than-life" coaches along their one-way street to success. It's understandable in many instances why mercenaries are leaving the minute they're appointed because coaches are in a distasteful "hired-to-be-fired" vocation, where a pink slip is only one losing season or poor recruiting class away.

Nevertheless, it's a black eye on the sport when loyalty seems to have become too much of a one-way street. At times, it makes one wonder how the bench bosses can look themselves in the mirror. Five of Tulsa's six coaches in one stretch - Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith, Steve Robinson, Bill Self and Buzz Peterson - abandoned ship for more prestigious positions despite each of them having at least three years remaining on their deals.

More than 70 different active coaches had at least three years remaining on their pacts when leaving for greener pastures. Trent Johnson, slated to leave LSU for TCU, joins the following alphabetical list of coaches who departed three or four schools before their contracts expired:

The length of contracts doesn't seem to carry any weight as a factor in the equation. Johnny Jones, a former player and assistant coach under Dale Brown at LSU before averaging 21 victories annually the previous six seasons with North Texas, returned to his alma mater for more green. In doing so, the thumbed his nose at the six years remaining on his Mean Green contract and joined the following striking number of coaches other than Peterson, Smith and Turgeon who virtually ignored contractural obligations of more than five years left on pacts: Rick Barnes, John Beilein, Tony Bennett, Dave Bliss, Mike Brey, John Calipari, Jeff Capel III, Tom Crean, Matt Doherty, Larry Eustachy, Dennis Felton, Tim Floyd (twice), Travis Ford, Billy Gillispie, Brian Gregory, Leonard Hamilton, Ben Howland, Jeff Lebo, Gregg Marshall, Thad Matta, Fran McCaffery, Sean Miller, Dan Monson, Lute Olson, Skip Prosser, Oliver Purnell, Mike Rice Jr., Steve Robinson and Kelvin Sampson.

Jay Spoonhour is Latest NCAA Division I Coach From Junior College Ranks

Jay Spoonhour, commencing his major-college head coaching career similar to his respected father (Charlie Spoonhour), was hired by Eastern Illinois after guiding a pair of junior colleges. Jay and Charlie both coached Moberly Area (MO). Recently-deceased Charlie also coached Southeastern IA. Jay directed Wabash Valley (IL) to the 2001 NJCAA Tournament title before replacing his father on an interim basis with UNLV in 2003-04. Jay will need to win as many games as Charlie did (373) in order for them to crack the Top 10 of all-time winningest father-son head coaching combinations.

There are usually about 40 to 45 active Division I head coaches who previously served in a similar capacity at a junior college. Jay Spoonhour doesn't expect to take EIU to an NCAA Tournament championship like former J.C. coaches Denny Crum (Pierce CA), Lute Olson (Long Beach City CA), Nolan Richardson (Western Texas) and Jerry Tarkanian (Riverside and Pasadena CA) did for more prominent universities.

But it would be a monumental achievement if Jay could duplicate what his dad did along with the following former major-college mentors who guided teams to the NCAA Tournament after coaching at the J.C. level: Mike Deane (Delhi A&T NY), Benny Dees (Abraham Baldwin GA), Bobby Dye (Santa Monica CA), Jack Hartman (Coffeyville KS), Maury John (Moberly MO), Gene Keady (Hutchinson KS), Jim Killingsworth (Cerritos CA), Dick Motta (Weber UT), Ted Owens (Cameron OK), Roy Skinner (Paducah KY), Eddie Sutton (Southern Idaho), Stan Watts (Dixie UT) and Jim Williams (Snow UT).

Hartman had two of his J.C. stars (Paul Henry and Lou Williams) tag along with him to Southern Illinois, where he toiled eight years before becoming Kansas State's all-time winningest coach. Keady, a football player for K-State, signed three J.C. recruits, a high number by a Big Ten Conference institution, for his final season with Purdue in 2004-05.

Ex-juco coaches currently at the DI level who have won multiple NCAA playoff games include Dana Altman, John Beilein, Cliff Ellis, Dick Hunsaker, Kevin O'Neill, Dave Rose and Bob Thomason. Following is an alphabetical list of active major-college coaches who previously held a similar job in junior college:

Division I Coach Current School Junior College(s)
Dana Altman Oregon Fairbury (NE) and Moberly (MO)
*Gib Arnold Hawaii Southern Idaho
Ronnie Arrow South Alabama San Jacinto (TX)
Roman Banks Southern Southern-Shreveport (LA)
John Beilein Michigan Erie (NY)
*Ken Bone Washington State Olympic (WA)
Dave Boots South Dakota Anoka-Ramsey (MN)
Horace Broadnax Savannah State Valencia (FL)
Will Brown Albany Sullivan County (NY)
*Joe Callero Cal Poly Highline (WA)
Bill Carmody Northwestern Fulton-Montgomery (NY)
*Tim Cluess Iona Suffolk (NY)
*Kermit Davis Jr. Middle Tennessee State SW Mississippi and Chipola (FL)
Tommy Dempsey Binghamton Keystone (PA) and Lackawanna (PA)
Howie Dickenman Central Connecticut State Greater Hartford (CT)
*Cliff Ellis Coastal Carolina Cumberland (TN)
Anthony Evans Norfolk State Ulster County (NY) and Delhi Tech (NY)
*Tyler Geving Portland State Edmonds (WA)
Dick Hunsaker Utah Valley Utah Valley
Brian Katz Sacramento State Lassen (CA) and San Joaquin Delta (CA)
Robbie Laing Campbell Jones (MS)
Bob Marlin Louisiana-Lafayette Pensacola (FL)
Mike McConathy Northwestern State Bossier Parish (LA)
Marvin Menzies New Mexico State Santa Monica (CA)
*Fang Mitchell Coppin State Gloucester County (NJ)
George Nessman San Jose State Porterville (CA) and Bakersfield (CA)
Kevin O'Neill Southern California North County (NY)
Eddie Payne USC Upstate Truett-McConnell (GA)
Steve Payne Tennessee Tech Frank Phillips (TX)
Leon Rice Boise State Yakima Valley (WA)
*Dave Rose Brigham Young Dixie State (UT)
Steve Shields UALR McLennan (TX)
Jay Spoonhour Eastern Illinois Wabash (IL) and Moberly Area (MO)
Bob Thomason Pacific Columbia (CA)
Brooks Thompson Texas-San Antonio Yavapai (AZ)
*Donnie Tyndall Morehead State St. Catharine (KY)
*Bob Williams UC Santa Barbara Cabrillo (CA) and Menlo (CA)
*Reggie Witherspoon Buffalo Erie (NY)

*Attended junior college along with other active Division I head coaches such as Arkansas' Mike Anderson, Saint Mary's Randy Bennett, Texas-Arlington's Scott Cross, Navy's Ed DeChellis, SIU-Edwardsville's Lennox Forrester, Georgia's Mark Fox, Texas Tech's Billy Gillispie, San Diego's Bill Grier, Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Northern Colorado's B.J. Hill, Sam Houston State's Jason Hooten, UCLA's Ben Howland, Stephen F. Austin's Danny Kaspar, Texas A&M's Billy Kennedy, Utah State's Stew Morrill, Mississippi Valley State's Chico Potts, UNLV's Dave Rice, Alcorn State's Luther Riley, Prairie View A&M's Byron Rimm II, Washington's Lorenzo Romar, Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings, Fairleigh Dickinson's Greg Vetrone, Cleveland State's Gary Waters and Marquette's Buzz Williams. Pittsburgh's Jamie Dixon, North Florida's Matthew Driscoll, Southern Mississippi's Larry Eustachy, Nebraska-Omaha's Derrin Hansen, Hill, Hooten, Tennessee-Martin's Jason James, Missouri State's Paul Lusk, D. Rice, Riley, Idaho's Don Verlin and Buzz Williams served as assistant coaches with junior colleges.

Young Shall Lead Them: Davis is Fifth Frosh Leading Nation in Blocks

Kentucky center Anthony Davis, the national Player of the Year after setting an NCAA single-season record for most blocked shots by a freshman, is expected to join Kansas State's Michael Beasley (led nation in rebounding in 2007-08) as the only freshmen to declare early for the NBA draft after leading the nation in a major statistical category.

Davis, who posted the lowest scoring average for a national POY since the award was introduced in 1955 (14.2 ppg), became the fifth freshman to lead the nation in blocked shots. Following is a chronological list of the 19 frosh who paced the country in a major statistical category:

Year Freshman School Category (Season Statistic)
1975 Bernard King Tennessee Field-Goal Shooting (62.2%)
1976 Sidney Moncrief Arkansas Field-Goal Shooting (66.5%)
1984 Steve Alford Indiana Free-Throw Shooting (91.3%)
1986 Jim Barton Dartmouth Free-Throw Shooting (94.2%)
1988 Kenny Miller Loyola of Chicago Rebounding Average (13.6 rpg)
1989 Alonzo Mourning Georgetown Blocked Shots Average (5 bpg)
1991 Shawn Bradley Brigham Young Blocked Shots Average (5.2 bpg)
1993 Jason Kidd California Steals Average (3.8 spg)
1995 Keith Closs Central Connecticut State Blocked Shots Average (5.4 bpg)
1997 Joel Hoover Maryland-Eastern Shore Steals Average (3.2 spg)
2002 Jason Conley Virginia Military Scoring Average (29.3 ppg)
2002 T.J. Ford Texas Assists Average (8.3 apg)
2004 Blake Ahearn Southwest Missouri State Free-Throw Shooting (97.5%)
2004 Paul Millsap Louisiana Tech Rebounding Average (12.5 rpg)
2007 Mike Freeman Hampton Field-Goal Percentage (67.8%)
2008 Michael Beasley Kansas State Rebounding Average (12.4 rpg)
2008 Devin Gibson Texas-San Antonio Steals Average (3.3 spg)
2010 Hassan Whiteside Marshall Blocked Shots Average (5.4 bpg)
2012 Anthony Davis Kentucky Blocked Shots Average (4.65 bpg)

Mid-Major Miami (Ohio) Hanging Hoop Hopes With Mr. Cooper From HBCU

Despite talk about former Kentucky guard Sean Woods becoming a candidate at LSU after guiding Mississippi Valley to the NCAA playoffs, no power six conference ever has gone to a historically black college or university to hire its head basketball coach. In fact, very few mid-major Division I schools have attracted a coach from the SWAC and MEAC since the leagues moved up to the major-college level in 1979-80 and 1980-81, respectively.

John Cooper became the fifth coach in this HBCU category when Miami (Ohio) lured him away from Tennessee State after he guided the Tigers to their first 20-win season in 33 years. Cooper joined Jeff Capel Jr. (North Carolina A&T to Old Dominion after 1993-94 campaign), Rob Chavez (Maryland-Eastern Shore to Portland after 1993-94), Steve Merfeld (Hampton to Evansville after 2001-02) and James Green (Mississippi Valley State to Jacksonville State after 2007-08).

It should be noted that John McLendon was the first African-American mentor hired by a predominantly white university when he coached Cleveland State for three seasons in the late 1960s just prior to the institution moving up to DI. After winning three consecutive NAIA titles with Tennessee State in the late 1950s, McLendon had been the first African-American head coach in professional sports when he was hired in the early 1960s by the George Steinbrenner-owned Cleveland Pipers of the short-lived American Basketball League.

Training Ground: K-State Joins Idaho and Penn in Losing Seven Head Coaches

The departure of Frank Martin to South Carolina had Kansas State join Idaho and Penn as schools losing the most head coaches, seven, over the years to other major colleges or the NBA.

South Carolina hasn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973 under legendary coach Frank McGuire. But Martin, the fourth K-State mentor to abandon ship in the last 23 years, aspires to duplicate the success enjoyed by his three most recent K-State predecessors - Lon Kruger, Dana Altman and Bob Huggins. Kruger guided Florida to the Final Four, Altman became Creighton's all-time winningest coach and Huggins directed his alma mater (West Virginia) to the Final Four.

Incredibly, Tulsa lost four coaches in a seven-year span from 1995 to 2001. The following lists show Idaho (11 years from 1983 to 1993) and Penn (15 years from 1971 to 1985) losing four coaches in significantly shorter spans than Kansas State:

Idaho - Dave MacMillan (left for Minnesota/1927), Dave Strack (Michigan/1960), Joe Cipriano (Nebraska/1963), Don Monson (Oregon/1983), Tim Floyd (New Orleans/1988), Kermit Davis (Texas A&M/1990), Larry Eustachy (Utah State/1993)

Kansas State - Jack Gardner (Utah/1953), Tex Winter (Washington/1968), Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns/1970), Lon Kruger (Florida/1990), Dana Altman (Creighton/1994), Bob Huggins (West Virginia/2008), Frank Martin (South Carolina/2012)

Penn - Howie Dallmar (Stanford/1954), Jack McCloskey (Wake Forest/1966), Dick Harter (Oregon/1971), Chuck Daly (assistant with Philadelphia 76ers/1977), Bob Weinhauer (Arizona State/1982), Craig Littlepage (Rutgers/1985), Fran Dunphy (Temple/2006)

FIU Craved National Attention but `Zeke' was a Zero as College Coach

When Isiah Thomas was hired by budget-busted FIU (don't call us Florida International), "Zeke" said with his trademark engaging smile he would coach his first collegiate season for free. Based on the ensuing not-worth-a-nickel results (26-65, .286), he should have also coached gratis the next two years before parting ways with the less-than-Golden Panthers.

Hiring Thomas, a 12-time NBA All-Star with the Detroit Pistons, was the ultimate desperate move for attention - good, bad or ugly; mainly bad and ugly. It occurred not long after a jury decided in the fall of 2007 that Thomas sexually harassed a former New York Knicks team executive, subjecting the former Northwestern women's basketball player to unwanted advances and a barrage of vulgarity (Madison Square Garden eventually settled with the married mother of three for $11.5 million and Thomas maintained his innocence). Thomas, in a deposition he claims was edited in a manner misconstruing his remarks, said it is more offensive for a white man to call a black woman a _itch than for a black man to use the same insult describing the same female.

Smiling or not, Thomas can't possibly plead innocent to his black-and-white anemic record with FIU being even worse than his 56-108 mark as coach of the Knicks in his two seasons with them in 2006-07 and 2007-08 amid the tawdry trial. Previously, the CBA almost disbanded after Thomas purchased the minor league before selling his interest in 2000. CBA executives said Thomas was "rude. . . . very poor business person. . . . doesn't listen to people. . . . makes poor decisions."

At this stage, FIU resembles the McDonald's worker who claims she lost the winning Mega Millions ticket. Hitching its wagon to Thomas, who failed to generate any meaningful increase in attendance and seemed more interested in trying to keep his ties with the NBA as a Knicks consultant before backing off, made it the acronym equivalent to Foolish Idolatry U.

Prior to delusionally handing control over to the culture of personality, FIU and other schools should realize that Indiana's Branch McCracken is the only one of the following 47 All-Americans who became major-college mentors to compile a higher winning percentage as a coach:

All-American (School; Winning Mark as Player) Coaching Career Summary (Winning Mark at DI Level)
*Steve Alford (Indiana; .724) SW Missouri State/Iowa/New Mexico (.634)
*Tommy Amaker (Duke; .783) Seton Hall/Michigan/Harvard (.579)
Forrest "Whitey" Baccus (SMU; .580) Southern Methodist (.437)
Alfred "Butch" Beard (Louisville; .783) Howard/Morgan State (.326)
Henry Bibby (UCLA; .967) Southern California (.526)
Charles "Tub" Bradley (Wyoming; .616) Loyola Marymount (.244)
Gary Brokaw (Notre Dame; .746) Iona (.493)
Bob Calihan (Detroit; .714) Detroit (.559)
Ernie Calverley (Rhode Island State; .807) Rhode Island (.552)
Tom Churchill (Oklahoma; .725) New Mexico (.627)
Jimmy Collins (New Mexico State; .841) Illinois-Chicago (.512)
Bob Cousy (Holy Cross; .839) Boston College (.750)
Howie Dallmar (Stanford/Penn; .714) Penn/Stanford (.534)
*Johnny Dawkins (Duke; .714) Stanford (.560)
Clyde Drexler (Houston; .794) Houston (.328)
Larry Finch (Memphis State; .750) Memphis State (.629)
Tom Gola (La Salle; .856) La Salle (.740)
Jack Gray (Texas; .765) Texas (.667)
Sidney Green (UNLV; .719) Florida Atlantic (.309)
Clem Haskins (Western Kentucky; .851) Western Kentucky/Minnesota (.585)
Walt Hazzard (UCLA; .773) UCLA (.621)
Moose Krause (Notre Dame; .818) Holy Cross/Notre Dame (.637)
Mark Macon (Temple; .729) Binghamton (.247)
Kyle Macy (Kentucky; .752) Morehead State (.424)
*Danny Manning (Kansas; .769) Tulsa (TBD)
Willie McCarter (Drake; .646) Detroit (.407)
E. "Branch" McCracken (Indiana; .588) Indiana (.677)
Banks McFadden (Clemson; .603) Clemson (.394)
Sidney Moncrief (Arkansas; .836) UALR (.143)
Jeff Mullins (Duke; .849) UNC Charlotte (.562)
Jim O'Brien (Boston College; .641) St. Bonaventure/Boston College/Ohio State (.547)
John Oldham (Western Kentucky; .887) Tennessee Tech/Western Kentucky (.679)
Barry Parkhill (Virginia; 620) William & Mary (.387)
Jeff Ruland (Iona; .773) Iona (.507)
Tom "Satch" Sanders (NYU; .662) Harvard (.430)
Harv Schmidt (Illinois; .742) Illinois (.536)
Frank Selvy (Furman; .738) Furman (.427)
John Shumate (Notre Dame; .746) Southern Methodist (.398)
Bob Spessard (Washington & Lee; .762) Washington & Lee (.455)
Isiah Thomas (Indiana; .734) Florida International (.286)
John Thompson Jr. (Providence; .800) Georgetown (.714)
Monte Towe (North Carolina State; .919) New Orleans (.473)
Lou Watson (Indiana; .607) Indiana (.508)
Paul Westphal (Southern California; .744) Pepperdine (.514)
*Corliss Williamson (Arkansas; .817) Central Arkansas (.224)
John Wooden (Purdue; .840) UCLA (.808)
Tony Yates (Cincinnati; .921) Cincinnati (.412)

*Active coaches.

Tweety Blurbs From the Fan Cave: Hot Topics in College Basketball

Many tweets convey more than we want to know such as when and how long you were in the bathroom enabling you to feel like you're entitled to a brand new wardrobe. On the other hand, concise capsules can quickly get to the heart of a subject.

Following is a regurgitation of pithy postings of up to 140 characters summarizing this season after they were designed to "tell it the way it is" and trigger some watercooler cussin' and discussin':

  • Jim Boeheim's money-motivated defense of 'Cuse Abuse sure isn't "fine" when considering "high" number of suspect students he recruited.

  • Need for eye exams may explain Syracuse's previous faulty free-throw shooting if players had inappropriate relations with ex-Orange aide wife.

  • Is accuser Bobby Davis lying about him being noticed in Bernie Fine's road hotel room or will SU Coach Boeheim have more backtracking to do?

  • Boeheim's 850-plus wins for alma mater is amazing when one considers Miami of Ohio's Charlie Coles was active runner-up with 250 before retiring.

  • Hugs Thugs mentality must still exist at Cincinnati for coach Mick Cronin, a former aide under Bob Huggins' parade of pestilent UC players.

  • UC Coach Mick Cronin's post-melee speech was Xcellent. But the problem is he recruited the UFC tryouts strutting their "Want Some?" stuff.

  • To a certain degree, the televised UC-Xavier fisticuffs were blown out of proportion. There was plenty of blood shed in pre-ESPN donnybrooks.

  • Dicky V's four-year stint at Detroit is vastly overblown. UD's court should be named after an A-A such as Dave DeBusschere or Spencer Haywood.

  • Is Dicky V finally off Pitt's bandwagon proclaiming the Panthers will overcome an 0-7 start in Big East play and reach the NCAA playoffs?

  • Whenever NFL analyst Mike Ditka shows some passion, one can't help but wonder how "hard" his picks were while playing basketball for Pitt.

  • ESPN's farming out of NBA analysts to college games during the pro lockout was a disaster. They resembled know-nothing, union-busting scabs.

  • Occasionally condescending Dookie Jay Bilas needs to refrain from infatuation with wingspan during his normally commendable commentary.

  • Jay Bilas is nation's premier hoop analyst but year late in his support of mid-major Wichita State. An apology to VCU is also still in order.

  • ESPN should give Joe Lunardi a shot as a game analyst rather than limiting him to racket as Walmart-like greeter citing first in/first out.

  • Whether they're female eye candy or not, most of the TV sideline reporters are virtually worthless in futile bids to offer incisive input.

  • Curing cancer is fantastic but ESPN should tone down its fawning over Jim Valvano, a PTP (Placed Twice on Probation) coach for Iona & NCSU.

  • Neither Carolina nor Indiana will be "all they can be" until the Zeller brothers hit the weight room and quit being stripped inside so often.

  • Illinois would be a lock for Big Ten first division if promising center Meyers Leonard was used properly by running offense through him down low.

  • Butler can bounce back next year if Arkansas transfer Rotnei Clarke is unleashed. Long-range bomber could become the Bulldogs' first A-A.

  • Kansas can't keep whining via caustic comments about scheduling Mizzou if the Jayhawks also won't extend similar welfare to Wichita State.

  • Is KU selfless or self-centered? It's disconcerting that the Jayhawks' freshman class was littered with marginal academic credentials.

  • UK might have still won NCAA title if Terrence Jones turned pro early. He clearly shouldn't have been selected as SEC preseason player of year.

  • Coach Cal will need to change his last name to Calicrapi if UK joins two previous outposts (UMass and Memphis) as schools vacating NCAA play.

  • Uneasy about Pitino's HOF nomination so soon after Slick Rick moonlighted as porn star satisfying his appetite in a restaurant. Did this go on at UK, too?

  • Cuonzo Martin inherited a "Rocky Top" mess from Bruce Pearl. Hope Martin doesn't get so upset he forgets what his home looks like inside.

  • A Temptations tune "Ball of Confusion" comes to mind each time Mississippi State's Renardo Sidney is tempted to get his grey matter in gear.

  • If some of brightest coaching minds were conned out of $50M by an AAU guru, then how do we expect immature teenagers to cope with such fraud?

  • The public can be fooled occasionally but UConn's conniving under Jim Calhoun claiming its roster has textbook student-athletes is laughable.

  • Frustrated fans complain about the chemistry among UConn's players but some observers wonder if any of them ever took a legit Chemistry course.

  • Andre Drummond's scoreless game for UConn vs. Columbia duplicated debut goose eggs by Tim Duncan (Alaska-Anchorage) and David Robinson (Yale).

  • Notre Dame deserves plaudits for success sans Tim Abromaitis but it stems more than anything from Big East being way down from a year ago.

  • Only three years removed from a Final Four, Villanova might be worst team this season among the six Philly universities (Big 5 plus Drexel).

  • Excluding Syracuse, the first division of the underrated Atlantic 10 Conference is as competent as the first division of the Big East.

  • Is it political correctness run amok to give Oregon State coach Craig Robinson a benefit of the doubt because he is POTUS's brother-in-law?

  • If ex-Weber State coach Ben Howland can guide UCLA to three straight Final Fours, why didn't NBA-crazed Utah lure Randy Rahe away from Weber?

  • Did you know ex-Arizona mentor Fred Snowden is only black coach to win at least 60% of 100 or more DI games decided by fewer than 6 points?

  • No way former A-A guards Mark Macon (Temple/Binghamton) & Isiah Thomas (IU/FIU) can be guardedly optimistic about their coaching prospects.

  • Eight best bets as this year's VCU are Wichita State, Saint Mary's, Creighton, Drexel, Gonzaga, Harvard, Long Beach State and Murray State.

  • Should the MEAC and SWAC de-emphasize to DII? Hampton is the only HBCU not to have at least one 20-loss season in the previous eight years.

  • OSU's Jared Sullinger is outstanding but how many millions of dollars did he cost himself by returning to college after A-A freshman year?

  • How can neither the NCAA nor elite DI conferences have guidelines in place for what penalty to enforce if a player is caught doing drugs?

  • It's difficult to follow in daddy's footsteps. There never has been a father/son combination earn All-American status for the same university.

  • Was Kevin Jones, the Big East's leading scorer and rebounder, denied conference MVP award because West Virginia is leaving for Big 12?

  • If voters knew impact of Flip Pressey, Mizzou playmaker and dad Paul would be 8th set of A-A father-son honorees rather than just All-Big 12 3rd-teamer.

  • ESPN should call its bracket prediction segment with POTUS "Audacity of Hype." Ditto for CBS interview with Clark Kellogg. Please focus on economy!

  • "Ohio," Neil Young's protest song in reaction to Kent State shootings, should be anthem for OSU/UC game as protest they don't play regularly.

  • Indiana's Branch McCracken is the only one of more than 30 All-Americans who became DI mentors to compile higher winning percentage as coach.

  • Stanford shouldn't be optimistic because no defending NIT champion advanced to an NCAA regional final since field expanded to 64 in 1985.

  • Overdosing on TV visual makes Frank Martin's glaring switch from K-State to South Carolina the most overrated coaching change in memory.

  • Never underestimate gall of boob tuber. ESPN's Doug Gottlieb thought he could assist K-State. How about starting craft at Kansas Wesleyan?

  • The grass is always greener elsewhere. An average of four coaches per year leave NCAA playoff teams since seeding was introduced in 1979.

  • Kentucky freshman phenom Anthony Davis shows there is more to game than scoring as he has lowest scoring average of any national POY in history.

  • Kentucky is only the fourth school in last 30 years atop AP poll at end of regular season to go ahead and capture the NCAA Tournament championship.

  • Despite UK's crown, California (30) moved ahead of Kentucky (29) as state with most men's national titles among all levels of four-year hoops.

  • Average of only two seniors among top seven scorers for NCAA Division I champions since field expanded to at least 64 schools in 1985.

  • Anyone implying in any way, shape or form that a college team can win a legitimate game against an NBA squad is in dire need of a brain scan.

  • Is there anything more ridiculous than national forecast for next year before recruiting is complete and undergrads finish declaring for NBA draft?

Christian's Crusade: Return to Mid-American and Win With Ohio University

Jim Christian, a perennial 20-game winner when he coached at Kent State, is returning to the Mid-American Conference in a similar capacity at Ohio University. After the retirement of Charlie Coles at Miami (Ohio), Christian departed TCU to join Akron's Keith Dambrot (ex-Central Michigan mentor) as second-time around coaches in the MAC. Nationally, they are among the following alphabetical list of active coaches who were bench bosses of two different schools in the same conference:

Active Coach Conference First School Second School
Frankie Allen Mid-Eastern Athletic Howard (2001-05) Maryland-Eastern Shore (since 2009)
Horace Broadnax Mid-Eastern Athletic Bethune-Cookman (1998-2002) Savannah State (since 2006)
Jim Christian Mid-American Kent State (2003-08) Ohio University (since 2013)
Keith Dambrot Mid-American Central Michigan (1992 & '93) Akron (since 2005)
Billy Gillispie Big 12 Texas A&M (2005-07) Texas Tech (since 2012)
Bill Herrion North Atlantic/America East Drexel (1992-99) New Hampshire (since 2007)
Barry Hinson Missouri Valley Missouri State (2000-08) Southern Illinois (since 2013)
Donnie Jones C-USA Marshall (2008-10) UCF (2011)
Greg McDermott Missouri Valley Northern Iowa (2002-06) Creighton (since 2011)
Jim Molinari Mid-Continent/Summit Northern Illinois (1991) Western Illinois (since 2009)
Mike Montgomery Pacific-10/12 Stanford (1987-2004) California (since 2009)
Stew Morrill Western Athletic Colorado State (1992-98) Utah State (since 2006)
Kevin Nickelberry Mid-Eastern Athletic Hampton (2007-10) Howard (since 2011)
Kevin O'Neill Pacific-10/12 Arizona (2008) Southern California (since 2010)
Rick Pitino Big East Providence (1986 & '87) Louisville (since 2006)
Keith Richard Sun Belt Louisiana Tech (1999-2001) Louisiana-Monroe (since 2011)

States of Success: California Moves Ahead of Kentucky for Most Titles

California, buoyed by Stanford (NIT) and Concordia (DII), moved ahead of Kentucky as the state with the most national titles from each level of four-year college men's basketball - NCAA Division I, NIT, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA - despite UK's title in this year's NCAA Division I Tournament.

Illinois and Ohio are the only states to boast at least one champion from all five levels. Among the 12 states amassing a total of more than 10 national crowns, Missouri is the only one in that group without a Division I championship.

The biggest surprise among states never to capture a national title is Iowa. Following is how states stack up by national titles including the NIT and various levels of small-college basketball:

State DI NIT DII DIII NAIA Total
California 15 7 5 0 3 30
Kentucky 10 3 10 0 6 29
Ohio 3 6 3 5 2 19
North Carolina 11 2 3 0 1 17
Illinois 1 6 1 6 1 15
New York 2 10 0 3 0 15
Oklahoma 2 2 1 0 10 15
Indiana 5 2 6 0 1 14
Pennsylvania 2 6 2 3 0 13
Wisconsin 2 1 0 10 0 13
Missouri 0 1 1 2 8 12
Kansas 3 1 1 0 6 11
Virginia 0 4 5 1 0 10
Texas 1 1 0 0 7 9
Michigan 3 3 0 2 0 8
Minnesota 0 2 2 1 3 8
Tennessee 0 2 1 1 4 8
Alabama 0 0 3 0 3 6
Georgia 0 0 1 0 5 6
Connecticut 3 1 1 0 0 5
Maryland 1 1 2 0 1 5
Massachusetts 1 1 1 2 0 5
Arizona 1 0 0 0 3 4
South Carolina 0 2 0 0 2 4
Utah 1 3 0 0 0 4
West Virginia 0 2 0 0 2 4
Colorado 0 1 2 0 0 3
District of Columbia 1 0 1 1 0 3
Florida 2 0 1 0 0 3
Louisiana 0 0 0 0 3 3
New Jersey 0 2 0 1 0 3
Arkansas 1 0 0 0 1 2
Rhode Island 0 2 0 0 0 2
South Dakota 0 0 2 0 0 2
Washington 0 0 2 0 0 2
Hawaii 0 0 0 0 1 1
Mississippi 0 1 0 0 0 1
Montana 0 0 0 0 1 1
Nebraska 0 1 0 0 0 1
Nevada 1 0 0 0 0 1
New Mexico 0 0 0 0 1 1
Oregon 1 0 0 0 0 1
Wyoming 1 0 0 0 0 1

NOTE: Eight states - Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Vermont - have never had a four-year school win a men's national championship.

Senior Moments: Only One of Champion UK's Top Seven Scorers is a Senior

A senior-laden lineup is not a prerequisite for capturing a national championship. An average of only two seniors were among the top seven scorers for NCAA Tournament titlists since the playoff field expanded to at least 64 teams in 1985.

Eight of the 16 NCAA champions from 1991 through 2006 boasted no more than one senior among its top seven scorers, which is what Kentucky had this year. Only three NCAA champions since Indiana '87 - UCLA (1995), Michigan (2000) and Maryland (2002) - had seniors as their top two scorers. Following is a look at the vital seniors for the last 28 basically youthful championship teams:

2012 - Kentucky (one of top seven scorers was a senior/Darius Miller was fifth-leading scorer).
2011 - Connecticut (none of top six scorers was a senior).
2010 - Duke (three of nine-man rotation were seniors/Jon Scheyer was leading scorer, Brian Zoubek was fourth and Lance Thomas was sixth).
2009 - North Carolina (two of top eight in scoring average were seniors/Tyler Hansbrough was leading scorer and Danny Green was fourth).
2008 - Kansas (one of top six scorers was a senior/Darnell Jackson was fourth-leading scorer).
2007 - Florida (two of nine-man rotation were seniors/Lee Humphrey was fifth and Chris Richard was sixth).
2006 - Florida (none of top seven scorers was a senior).
2005 - North Carolina (one of top five scorers was a senior/Jawad Williams was third).
2004 - Connecticut (one of top eight scorers was a senior/Taliek Brown was sixth).
2003 - Syracuse (one of top eight scorers was a senior/Keith Duany was fourth).
2002 - Maryland (three of top eight regulars were seniors/Juan Dixon was top scorer, Lonny Baxter was second and Byron Mouton was fourth).
2001 - Duke (two of top nine scorers were seniors/Shane Battier was second and Nate James was fifth).
2000 - Michigan State (three of top 11 scorers were seniors/Morris Peterson was first, Mateen Cleaves was second and A.J. Granger was fifth).
1999 - Connecticut (one of top seven scorers was a senior/Ricky Moore was fifth).
1998 - Kentucky (two of top seven scorers were seniors/Jeff Sheppard was first and Allen Edwards was fifth).
1997 - Arizona (none of top seven scorers was a senior).
1996 - Kentucky (three of top 10 scorers were seniors/Tony Delk was first, Walter McCarty was third and Mark Pope was sixth).
1995 - UCLA (three of top seven scorers were seniors/Ed O'Bannon was first, Tyus Edney was second and George Zidek was fourth).
1994 - Arkansas (one of top 10 scorers was a senior/Roger Crawford was eighth).
1993 - North Carolina (one of top seven scorers was a senior/George Lynch was second).
1992 - Duke (two of top 10 scorers were seniors/Christian Laettner was first and Brian Davis was fifth).
1991 - Duke (one of top 10 scorers was a senior/Greg Koubek was seventh).
1990 - UNLV (two of top eight scorers were seniors/David Butler was third and Moses Scurry was sixth).
1989 - Michigan (two of top 11 scorers were seniors/Glen Rice was first and Mark Hughes was sixth).
1988 - Kansas (two of top 11 scorers were seniors/Danny Manning was first and Chris Piper was fourth).
1987 - Indiana (two of top eight scorers were seniors/Steve Alford was first and Daryl Thomas was second).
1986 - Louisville (three of top nine scorers were seniors/Billy Thompson was first, Milt Wagner was second and Jeff Hall was fifth).
1985 - Villanova (three of top eight scorers were seniors/Ed Pinckney was first, Dwayne McClain was second and Gary McLain was fourth).

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