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Roundball Chatter
Dick VitaleSPECIAL TO ESPN.COM
September 29, 2006
Each Friday I write about the sport I love, college basketball.
Georgia Tech got a tough break when scoring star Anthony Morrow was ruled out of preseason due to a stress fracture in his back. Coach Paul Hewitt hopes to have him in the lineup for the start of the regular season, though the injury is a setback and could affect his timing. The 6-5 junior led the Yellow Jackets in scoring last season, averaging 16 ppg. Morrow also hit just under 43 percent of his trifecta attempts. Hewitt's squad will be improved with the addition of Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton.
Iowa athletic director Gary Barta made a wise move when he extended coach Steve Alford's contract an extra year through June 2011. It shows the school has made a commitment. Now with the Indiana situation all gone (there were rumors that Alford could be a candidate for the Hoosiers, but that never happened as Indiana did not interview the former star guard), Alford and everyone else can concentrate on Hawkeye basketball. The bottom line is he will do a superb job recruiting and people fail to realize he has done a very good job in a tough situation. Think about what the Hawkeyes have done … Iowa won 25 games last season, captured the 2006 Big Ten tournament and has recorded six straight winning seasons.
The new boss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Brian Teter, also made a good move by giving coach Ronnie Arrow an extension. Teter has been around, serving as an assistant athletic director at Cincinnati and previously serving Conference USA. He did not waste any time and now that they are in the Southland Conference, moving from the Independent ranks, watch out. Arrow, whose deal now runs through 2009, is 40-16 over the last two seasons.
It should not come as a surprise that Kentucky has named Shawn Finney its director of basketball operations. Finney and Tubby Smith have been tight for many years. Unfortunately things did not work out at Tulane when Finney got a head coaching job there. Now he is back at one of the hotbeds of college basketball. Remember, it is not easy getting back after getting the ziggy, and Finney got a good break returning to Lexington.
Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun have been linked together in many ways. Both have won national championships, each has won the Wooden Coaching Legends Award, they were honored by the Jimmy V Foundation together and they went into the Basketball Hall of Fame together. They have done so much in recent years. I guess sitting around and talking, Calhoun has taken a similar approach to early-season travel. It is called home scheduling, my friends. Why leave your home arena when you don't have to. For a Christmas gift, I may have to get Mr. Calhoun a travel certificate, just like the one I got for Mr. Boeheim. Calhoun has a young team, so the philosophy makes sense. Fact is, his Huskies don't leave the state of Connecticut until after Christmas, first hitting the road December 30 at West Virginia.
Bobby Gonzalez has made a smart move, getting people excited in the Metropolitan area. It will be great exposure to have his Seton Hall Pirates take on a solid Virginia Tech squad as part of a doubleheader at Madison Square Garden on December 21. Also on that card is Duke against Gonzaga, so the Garden will be rocking and rolling. Gonzalez is back in the recruiting wars and it consumes him. I wish him all the best in his recent marriage as he tied the knot in August.
The Mountain West Conference is must improved and one team to keep an eye on is New Mexico. Ritchie McKay's squad gets a boost with J. R. Giddens and Aaron Johnson becoming eligible. Johnson, a monster rebounder, is getting into playing shape and should be ready to shine at the start of the season. Giddens, the former Jayhawk, will be a scoring threat for the Lobos. New Mexico also has JUCO All-America Jamal Smith at point guard.
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979. Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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