CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The facility tour has been a ritual on ESPN.com's preseason practice swing around the country.
North Carolina coach Matt Doherty was the guide Friday, showing off a new practice court at the Smith Center, renovated locker rooms for the players and coaches, a spacious players' lounge and weight room. All that was missing -- and it's probably coming -- is an updated video area.
Upgrades to the basketball team's way of life, however, are the norm these days.
Michigan State has a video area worth over a half-million dollars within its NBA-like coaches' offices, a movie theatre viewing area for the players to go over film, and a gender-equity friendly court for the men and the women. Oregon's athletic department offices are an ode to Nike with flat-screen televisions dangling from the ceiling and electronic scoreboards above the weight room.
Connecticut's coaches' offices, players locker room, computer room, lounge and weight room, is all state of the art, even though it won't be finished for another few weeks. Gonzaga is building a new Kennel and will likely have a few more amenities for the players as well as the coaches within the next three years.
Illinois, Oklahoma and Florida all had new digs last season. Maryland has a new arena and offices at the Comcast Center.
Does it matter? Certainly. Comfort and plush areas don't hurt luring recruits, either. Yet, Arizona hasn't done much with McKale Center and Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson still shares a coaches' locker room with the volleyball coach and every other men's head coach in the department.
The multi-million dollar arms race in college basketball is ongoing and Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said "you have to do it to keep up."
The most impressive aspect of Carolina's new digs is that it's all theirs. North Carolina has a unique situation without having to share with the women, let alone volleyball.
The Smith Center is for the men's team, and no one else. The only person who has a say as to what goes on in the Smith Center, outside of Doherty, is the chancellor of the university. The women's team plays on campus at Carmichael Auditorium as does the volleyball team. That means the Tar Heels have free reign within the Smith Center. It's one thing to have luxurious accommodations, but another to have the whole run of the place without having to coordinate practice times with two other sports (women's hoops and volleyball).
But Carolina's facility would have been impressive even with a few cracks in the paint -- as long as they don't take down the pictures of former Tar Heels Michael Jordan, Jerry Stackhouse, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter and Rick Fox.
Self wishes Gillespie well, but ...
Illinois coach Bill Self will likely wait until the spring to replace assistant Billy Gillespie. But Self wanted Gillespie to get the gig at UTEP and wants the same (see: a head coaching job) for trusted, longtime assistant Norm Roberts. But the timing couldn't be worse for the Illini, which is trying to lock up a top recruiting class.
Gillespie will be hard to replace, considering his contacts in the state of Texas. He'll obviously be working those hard to lock up recruits for UTEP. If UTEP was absolutely certain it couldn't get Nolan Richardson in the spring then hiring Gillespie was the right move.
Gillespie is a proven recruiter in Texas and the Miners need to get back into the homes of high school and JC players in the state. UTEP can't rely on players from around the country like they did under Don Haskins. The Miners need to stay local considering the school doesn't have the name recognition that it once had with national players (like Chicago).
Meanwhile, Illinois purposely played a lighter schedule early in the season and that's why it's no great loss that the Illini are playing schools like Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Lehigh in the first two games without senior center Brian Cook. Illinois knew that there could be trouble with Cook and Jerrance Howard playing in an unsanctioned summer league. The Illini's tough games don't begin until the ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup with North Carolina (Dec. 3) and Arkansas four days later. Temple, Missouri and Memphis also are on the December slate.
Badgers keep Butch close to home
Wisconsin beat North Carolina, Marquette and Kansas for center Brian Butch of Appleton, Wis. But Butch probably is a better fit for the Badgers than the Tar Heels, who are running and gunning under Raymond Felton at the point. Butch's pounding inside game will work better in the Big Ten and at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers could be one of the biggest teams in the school history when the 7-foot Butch would be a sophomore and joins class of 2004 committed 6-11 center Greg Steimsma. Both are tough inside players who are good passers and have a face-the-basket game. Getting these two players to stay home is similar to Minnesota keeping Rick Rickert at home two years ago.
Butch told the Badger staff that winning a share of the Big Ten title was one of the deciding factors. Wisconsin's Final Four in 2000 didn't register, even though it was only two years ago. Bo Ryan's ties to the high school coaches in the state helped him land the pair. Ryan is as in tune with Wisconsin basketball as Dick Bennett was prior to his arrival in Madison.
Meanwhile, Kirk Penney returned to practice as hungry as ever after New Zealand's medal-round performance at the World Championships. Penney went back to New Zealand after the World Championships in September because of a death in the family. But, once he returned, he was even more focused. This is his team and he's determined to get the Badgers back to the Dance again. The Badgers have five newcomers, including Andreas Helmigk, who was out last season with a knee injury. The 6-9 forward has been coming along slowly in practice and Ryan isn't pushing him yet.
Weekly chatter
Calhoun won't sweat the early loss of Caron Butler's scoring, as long as Ben Gordon (12.6 ppg, 41.3 percent on 3s) keeps shooting as well as he is in practice. The 6-2 shooting guard snapped 3s last week in practice and looks like he'll lead the Huskies in scoring. Calhoun said he's on track to be like Richard Hamilton and become a breakout scorer as a sophomore. Calhoun said he envisions games where Gordon connects on six or seven 3s. Gordon said he wants the pressure of picking up Butler's scoring slack and becoming Connecticut's go-to scorer on the perimeter.
Virginia keeps shutting down point guard Majestic Mapp. He hasn't played in two seasons and might not see the court until January, if that soon. He had an MRI to check out his sore knee, but the Cavs aren't going to push him any further. Meanwhile, the Cavs are rotating Keith Jenifer and Rutgers transfer Todd Billett at the point. The Cavs are thin on the perimeter in practice with no Mapp and JC transfer Devin Smith out nursing a slight meniscus tear. Virginia is holding him out of practice but is hoping he'll be back for the Maui Invitational. Virginia opens the Maui Invitational against host Chaminade -- 20 years after one of the biggest upsets in regular-season history. Chaminade beat Virginia and Ralph Sampson after the Cavs were on their way back from playing Houston and Utah in Japan. The game was the precursor to Chaminade hosting the Maui Invitational.
New Mexico State must have its guards knock down 3s during a brutal six games to open the season or else the Aggies could be in a serious hole for a possible postseason bid. NMSU will be without its top two players -- Chris Jackson and James Moore -- for the first six games because of academic issues. Losing their starting frontcourt for games against Tulsa, Colorado, New Mexico and UTEP could hurt their eventual NIT chances if they whiff on all of them. Jackson and Moore combined to average 25 points and 14 rebounds. Look for the Aggies to jack up 3s in their absence, but if Brandon Mason and Allen Haynes can't make shots they may not have any reliable forwards to board.
Indiana's new colors of Cardinal and White instead of Red and White make the Hoosiers look like Alabama. The practice uniforms are sharp, and the interlocking "IU" is stylin' ... but it's hard not to look at Indiana and see Alabama, which to former Tide alumnus Mike Davis, probably isn't a problem. While the baseball world had a field day talking about 3-year-old Darren
Baker being up late at the World Series, remember that 3-year-old Antoine Davis was the hit at the Final Four and throughout the NCAA Tournament. Davis' son was the unofficial mascot, running around the locker rooms, in the halls at Rupp Arena for the South Regional and around the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
North Carolina plans on taking a summer trip to Europe in August. The likely destination is Italy and Spain. The Tar Heels couldn't go this past summer because they were already signed up for an exempted event (Preseason NIT). The timing wouldn't have been right this past summer. The freshmen would have had to stay home. But next August Matt Doherty can take what would be a veteran squad in this era with future sophomores Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, Sean May and juniors Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott and Jackie Manuel.
Arkansas is locking up one of 2003's top 10 recruiting classes. New coach Stan Heath is using his Michigan contacts (he was an assistant at Michigan State) to nab top-five shooting guard Olu Famutimi of Flint, Mich., and former Georgia signee center Julius Lamptey. But Lamptey still needs to get eligible before he can be counted as a given for the Razorbacks.
Loul Deng, the top small forward in the class of 2003, is expected to make a decision in the next week. He is looking at Duke, Missouri,Indiana and Virginia. The Hoosiers are trying for a recruiting shocker by offering both Deng and 6-10 Blair Academy (N.J.) teammate Charlie Villanueva. The second-rated small forward is deciding among IU, Illinois, Villanova and Seton Hall.
The first game can't come soon enough for Missouri, considering the Tigers' staff is raving about Ricky Clemons play at the point, but only when he's with Rickey Paulding. The Tigers have to split point guards Clemons and Jimmy McKinney up for practice and Clemons hasn't had as much time with Paulding, which means he's not as sharp without another scoring option on the wing. Missouri opens the season Nov. 22 by hosting American University. Meanwhile, the experiment of having Najeeb Echols play small forward facing the basket is still an unfinished project. Echols is still trying to find a groove from the perimeter and until he's more consistent he'll come off the bench. The Tigers are running more than last season with McKinney and Clemons at the point. Arthur Johnson is in his best shape of the season, according to the staff shedding some of his extra girth. The Tigers are getting more easy shots, too.
Memphis coach John Calipari said he wouldn't be surprised if he starts two freshmen for the opener against Syracuse in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (Nov. 14) in New York. Guard Jeremy Hunt and forward Rodney Carney have outworked their competition at their respective spots. It would be the 12th time in Calipari's 11 years as a Division I coach that he has started freshmen. Senior center Earl Barron, junior point Antonio Burks and sophomore guard Anthony Rice should be the other starters. Practice has been competitive with 6-8 senior Chris Massie bulldozing his way inside. Massie is ineligible this semester and originally wasn't given a chance for getting eligible for the second semester, either. But reports are coming in that he is on track to make the grades by January. If that occurs then Massie still has to sit two games in January for playing two scrimmage games at the Chicago pre-draft camp before he withdrew and announced that he wanted to return to school for his senior season.
North Carolina coach Matt Doherty wanted David Noel to understand that it would be hard for him to commit minutes to Noel if he wanted to play football. Noel said he would rather play basketball if he had to choose and is in practice. Doherty's more proactive approach to two-sport stars is a reaction to losing point guard/quarterback Ronald Curry and forward/defensive end Julius Peppers last season. Doherty said it's too hard to rely on football players who play major minutes for the hoop team. It makes sense and Doherty's experience should be a lesson for other coaches hoping to get a significant basketball player by using a football scholarship. Stanford is going through a similar situation with forward/tight end Teyo Johnson. The concern is that the player isn't available until late November at the earliest, could miss December with a bowl game, get hurt in football and then be physically drained by midseason after going through six months of non-stop contact sports.
Georgia won't have Steven Thomas or Chris Daniels for the opener against Texas in the Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden because of unrelated suspensions. That means N.C. State transfer Damien Wilkins will strictly be a power forward in the opener. But the Georgia staff said once the team is complete, then Wilkins will split time with Rashad Wright at the point. The Bulldogs haven't been that pleased with the point play of Mike Dean and Wayne Arnold, although they have earned their keep shooting the ball and on the defensive end.
Freshman Chris Hunter is giving Michigan hope that the Wolverines can get out and run more often on the break. The 6-11 center is getting up and down the floor well enough to head out on the break with Daniel Horton getting the outlet pass for the rip and run.
You've heard of the Hoop-It-Up 3 on 3 tourneys around the country, right? Well, what about one at the Final Four with just assistant coaches? No word if the game will ever actually happen but it has made for some interesting chatter within the Duke and Arizona staffs. The Duke staff would be hard to beat with Johnnie Dawkins, Chris Collins and Steve Wojciechowski ... and they'd love to play Arizona's staff. The Wildcats are willing and able, with one replacement. They want to substitute veteran assistant Jim Rosborough with manager Jack Murphy to go with assistants Rodney Tention and Josh Pastner. If head coaches were allowed to play, North Carolina (Matt Doherty), Florida (Billy Donovan), Boston College (Al Skinner), Washington (Lorenzo Romar) would certainly make it interesting.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. His Weekly Word on college basketball is updated Fridays throughout the year.
