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Roundball Chatter
Dick VitaleSPECIAL TO ESPN.COM
November 3, 2006
Each Friday I write about the sport I love, college basketball.
I was just wondering … if you took a poll of Hoosiers fans and asked them if the arena in Bloomington should be re-named the Robert Montgomery Knight Center at Assembly Hall, I firmly believe the positives would outweigh the negatives. It blows my mind when I think about all the good things Knight did at Indiana, that nothing has been done to properly honor him. I feel it is because of the egos there in the administration. The bottom line is let's be fair and honest. If arenas are being named for coaches in other places, there is no way Knight should be left off the honors list. He graduated his players, won three national champions and became an icon of the game. He should be recognized in a special way. Come on guys, get with it and do the right thing. The man has earned the right and he deserves to have the building named after him. He will always be Mr. Indiana in my book.
Speaking of Knight, I really believe he is trying to motivate and inspire Jarrius Jackson to reach his potential, both on and off the court. The message has been sent loud and clear that he must perform better in the classroom, and his future will depend on his effort as a student. Knight's message: do what is right and you will be back in uniform. My feeling is he will come through like an All-American and he will be back in that Red Raiders uniform. If Jackson comes back and gets his academic problems behind him, he could be part of a dynamite backcourt tandem. Knight has been impressed with newcomer Charlie Burgess, the first kid he has coached from the Big Apple.
Tough news in the Big 12. Kansas lost center Sasha Kaun with a knee injury that will sideline him for the start of the season. Kaun's injury comes shortly after C. J. Giles was suspended, cutting the Jayhawks' depth up front. Look for Julian Wright and diaper dandy Darrell Arthur to team up to form a tough tandem up front. Missouri also suffered a setback when diaper dandy guard Keon Lawrence suffered a stress fracture in his foot. Lawrence is expected to miss a month.
More injury news. Penn State's Geary Claxton, a potential All-Big Ten performer this season, suffered a broken pinkie and could miss a couple of weeks for Ed DeChellis' squad.
The two Mikes --Tranghese and Slive -- have come together to form the Big East-SEC Challenge. Four teams from each of these conferences will form two doubleheaders over consecutive nights beginning in the 2007-08 season. It should be some exciting basketball, eliminating some of the cupcake match-ups in the pre-conference schedule. It will present two great nights of hoops, going the same route of the successful ACC-Big Ten Challenge. It is a positive move, providing basketball interest.
I rate the Big East as the deepest conference in college basketball. Just look at a team like Villanova sitting seventh in the poll conducted by the league's coaches. Jay Wright's squad, despite losing the likes of Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry has lots of talent, especially if Curtis Sumpter can come back strong. This conference is more than just the heavyweights. Georgetown is back, and the Red Storm is improving, in the heat of the battle. You know that down in New Jersey Fred Hill at Rutgers and Bobby Gonzalez of Seton Hall are getting after it. There are recruiting wars there and it will create more nightmares for other Big East coaches. Expansion was great for basketball fans and TV, but not for the coaches.
If you read the newspapers recently, you probably saw some interesting scores in exhibition games. Louisville beat Georgetown (of Kentucky, an NAIA school) 94-92. Syracuse beat Bryant, 92-86. Maryland edged Division II California-Pa., 79-78. Michigan State got past Division II power Grand Valley State, 61-57. Connecticut trailed American International at halftime before pulling away. Some fans get a little bit worried when they see these scores. Let me tell you … don't get carried away. Coaches are often looking at different combinations, giving several individuals playing time. There is also the hunger factor as some kids were rejected by major universities and end up on Division II schools. They get the opportunity to show their talent in these exhibitions. Don't read too much into it; for example, Louisville was without Brandon Jenkins and David Padgett. Exhibitions do give freshmen the chance to get used to the lights, the fans, playing in a collegiate environment. Some stepped up, like Branden Wright of North Carolina (19 points in 18 minutes in a Tar Heel win); Derrick Caracter of Louisville (25 points, 11 rebounds); Maryland's Eric Hayes (nine assists in 25 minutes) and Hasheem Thabeet of Connecticut (11 points, eight rebounds, seven blocks in 20 minutes).
Exhibition games also show players needing to step up compared to last season. Michigan State will need more scoring from Drew Neitzel now that Paul Davis, Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager are gone. Neitzel scored 27 against Grand Valley State and he had more opportunities with Travis Walton doing more of the ballhandling. Eric Devendorf had 30 points for the Orange.
I have said it time and time again that athletes after to take responsibility for their actions, and it seems like each week there are more players being sidelined. Kentucky forward Sheray Thomas was suspended for three games by coach Tubby Smith for violating team rules. Thomas will miss the team's two exhibition games plus the season opener against Miami-Ohio.
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.
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