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Roundball Chatter
Dick VitaleSPECIAL TO ESPN.COM
November 24, 2006
Each Friday I write about the sport I love, college basketball.
I know some people may be surprised to hear me say this, but I wonder if college basketball would be better off starting a little bit later. The reason I say that is simple – a lot of great match-ups are overshadowed in November because of college football. Think about it – this week we had games like Memphis-Georgia Tech, UCLA-Kentucky and Duke-Marquette, to name a few. If they were played later on, wouldn't they get more publicity after the college football regular season ended?
Mark my words. Connecticut will lead the nation in blocked shots for a sixth straight season. Over the years the Huskies have had the likes of Emeka Okafor, Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone. Now, remember the name – Hasheem Thabeet. He's a 7-3 diaper dandy from Tanzania who played his high school ball in Texas last year. Thabeet is a shot-blocking wiz who should help Jim Calhoun's team dominate in the blocked shot category once again.
Even though his team lost in the semifinals of the CBE event Monday, Jeff Bzdelik of Air Force has a legitimate contender in the Mountain West. The Falcons have an experienced squad that should win 24 or 25 games again this season. Bzdelik started his coaching career along with Texas coach Rick Barnes down at Davidson. They worked for coach Eddie Biedenbach, who is currently at NC-Asheville. Biedenbach is a basketball junkie and these two began under his tutelage.
Pity poor Rick Scruggs. So you are asking who is Rick Scruggs? A few years ago I mentioned it was going to be cupcake city for Colorado State when they faced his team at Gardner-Webb. Scruggs' team came away with the "W" and I got cupcakes sent to my door … by the way, they were pretty good. There were no cupcakes last week. In less than seven days he got to coach against the General, Robert Montgomery Knight, and North Carolina's Roy Williams, a future Hall of Famer. I wonder if he went and got any autographs, baby!
How about a salute to the Ivy League. Let's raise the glass for a tribute, and this is not about Penn or Princeton, teams that have done damage in the past. There aren't full scholarships and funding is based on need. Brown, under new coach Craig Robinson, stunned Big East member Providence. Earlier in the season, Cornell posted a "W" against Northwestern of the Big Ten (the Wildcats then bounced back and beat DePaul). You see some quality hoops played in the Ivy.
Illinois is going to be better than many experts have projected. Bruce Weber's team got Rich McBride back from a suspension. Now if Brian Randle and Jamar Smith get healthy, watch out. Ohio State and Wisconsin are the teams to beat in the Big Ten, but the Illini are not far behind.
I was really impressed with the quickness of Marquette's guards when I saw them play at the CBE event in Kansas City. Tom Crean has four very capable guards in Dominic James, Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal and David Cubillan. Remember, a lot of people felt Villanova couldn't play with four guards and the quartet of Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Kyle Lowery and Mike Nardi got to the Elite Eight.
Louisville has looked like a M*A*S*H unit again. The latest injury came when guard Andre McGee was sidelined 3-6 weeks with torn cartilage in his knee. Rick Pitino saw David Padgett and Juan Palacios miss a lot of time last season. Brandon Jenkins and Padgett were supposed to miss time this season, though both played limited minutes in the team's regular-season opener.
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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