Back safely on the campus of Bristol U., ESPN.com's Answer Man has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to his mailbag. But, after a month of recruiting trips, he's ready to answer a few questions from ESPN.com users.

I am a recent Boston College grad and I was very disappointed by the team's play last season -- especially the play of our freshmen recruits. I hear good things about our new recruit Craig Smith. Will Smith be able to bring some much needed scoring punch to BC's lackluster and predictable offense?
David Dlott
Brighton, Mass.

David,
You were right to be disappointed. The Eagles didn't have much chemistry and really did miss the three departing seniors. Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney are getting backcourt help with the additions of Johnnie Jackson and Louis Hinnant. The good things you're hearing about Craig Smith are true. He's a scoring forward who should be the team's sixth or seventh man and take some pressure off of Uka Agbai. They need the extra "scoring punch" to not be so predictable. Good assessment.

I have a question in regards to the NCAA's rule on exempted tournaments. Does the "2-in-4" rule completely prohibit a team from playing in more than 2 exempted tournaments in 4 years? Or could a team still play in such a tournament after using its allotted 2 exemptions, but be required to count all three games towards the scheduling maximum instead of just one? I realize that most big name schools would rather have the revenue from 2 home games if faced with the latter situation, but I was wondering if it was still theoretically possible.
David Rueth
Indianapolis, Ind.

David,
The NCAA won't allow teams to count the games in the tournaments. Yale tried to do that with the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks and the NCAA said, 'No'. I'm not sure why as long as a team doesn't exceed the maximum of 28 games. There will be a time where teams will struggle to get games and counting the tournament games for the mid- and low-major teams will make sense.

I have several questions related to Oklahoma's men's baskettball program. How can Oklahoma keep signing players to basketball scholarships? How many scholarships did they have available for the 2002-03 school year? In particular, I am curious about the Larry Turner situation. How is it that Turner did not meet admission requirements at Georgia, but he can meet admission requirements at Oklahoma and they still have a scholarship available? Finally, what makes Oklahoma so attractive to recruits because they seem to be on everyone's list and players at other schools who have problems seem to want to play at Oklahoma?
Steve Thorpe
Ashland, Ore.

Steve,
Oklahoma had a scholarship open. That's the first issue. Secondly, Georgia wouldn't admit him because he lied on a student honor code letter when he first signed two years ago. That's when he allegedly cheated on his standardized test. He then went to a prep school in Maine and got a qualifying test score making him NCAA eligible and good to go to Oklahoma or anywhere else. Georgia could have taken him but chose not to this fall. The reason everyone wants to go to Oklahoma is simple -- Kelvin Sampson. They love playing for him and want to be a part of his program where hard work is the motto.

Will Texas get Chris Owens back any next season, or is he working out for some NBA clubs?
Kris
Harrison, Texas

Kris,
This is a dead issue. Owens was taken by Milwaukee in the second round of the NBA draft. His eligibility is over.

Hi Andy. I've been following your coverage and I enjoy your knowledge. Could you explain to me why do all the McDonald All-Americas choose the Duke's and the North Carolina's of the world. I'm a UConn fan and was shocked that the flood gates weren't opening after they won the title in 1999, shocking Duke as well as the world. One thing about Jim Calhoun is he doesn't get all the All-Americas, but he always get the maximum of the players he has. Could you shed some light on why, because it can't be of lack of exposure. Thanks for your insight.
Vernon
Waterbury, Conn.

Vernon, Connecticut has done well getting very good players who weren't McDonald's All-Americans. The Huskies have had plenty of star players like Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton and will continue to do so. Players like Ben Gordon and Denham Brown will likely be stars with the Huskies, too. Getting McDonald's All-Americans is overrated. The whole game is a farce. The selections for the game are all political and almost always have an ACC slant. I wouldn't put too much stock in who gets into the game and who doesn't.

Andy,
You had two interesting notes in your last column (July 26): one about Chris Drejer signing with Florida, and then you followed that almost immediately with the new NCAA amateurism rules regarding international players. Will Drejer have to sit just those eight games in 2002-03? I know he played in the NEBL for Magic's Great Danes in 2000-01, which the NCAA regards as a full pro league. I would think that would kill his eligibility entirely.

Does the NCAA really understand what they are doing with these new rules? If they institute the 1-for-1 rule for 2003-04, they won't get a single kid from Europe because EVERY player that is halfway decent has played on a team with at least one professional. The NCAA should know by now that all of the best players in Europe are either staying in their home pro leagues or going straight to the NBA -- most of the kids coming to colleges really want to play college hoops and get an education. If they are concerned about kids getting paid or playing in a professional environment, they should worry more about some of the AAU programs in this country; they have bigger budgets than many of the European club teams. All the NCAA is doing is hurting its own game.
Mikko Simon
New York, N.Y.

Mikko,
This could happen. But don't be surprised to see more players, say from Asia and Africa (where it's not a problem) coming over as high school seniors or immediately after their secondary schooling ends. We already saw a flurry of those players this summer. The European question will be interesting to follow over the coming years. More and more European players will likely enter the NBA draft rather than go to college. Ultimately, that will hurt the college game. But don't be surprised to see more of the club teams in Europe gobbling up more of these players as the relationship between the European teams and the NBA continues to develop. There could end up being a possible feeder system as the relationships grow. Already, teams like Benetton Treviso and Real Madrid are serving up their best players for the NBA. Every coach I have talked to raves about having a European on their squad when they get them. If the NCAA puts in rules that hinders their ability to play, then that will not only hurt the team, but also the program and the diversity of the university.

What impact will the NBA contract with ESPN have on ESPN's coverage of college hoops this season?
Steve Newhouse
Chicago

Steve,
The NBA contract shouldn't hurt college hoops. The NBA will be on Wednesdays and Fridays on ESPN. College basketball wasn't a factor on Fridays. We'll see how much it affects Wednesdays. College Hoops Tonight will still have a strong presence throughout the week, too. I don't anticipate it hurting the college coverage, but rather enhancing it as ESPN covers the game of basketball from college to the NBA.

First let me say that I enjoy reading your column very much. Your notes on the SJU situation at point guard might have been slightly inaccurate. You mentioned that Darryll Hill isn't playing next year. This we did expect. However, in sophomore point guard Triston Smith, they have a very viable back up, who can pass, shoot and play defense. Last year he was every bit of the nervous freshman we expected him to be, but just wait and you will see a hard working kid, with a chip on shoulder looking to prove to everyone who said he couldn't, that he certainly can, and will be a force in the Big East. Andre Stanley and Marcus Hatten can also bring it up as well, so look out if you think you're going man against the Johnnies.
James Deckinger
New York

James,
All good points. Stanley and Smith should provide plenty of reps to make the Red Storm forget about what could have been with Hill. But they sold Elijah Ingram on him being the primary point when they signed him. We'll see if that comes to fruition. We'll see how he responds to the competition from Stanley and Smith.

How do you forsee Cliff Hawkins' first semester academic suspension affecting the Wildcats in 2002-03?
John Shuffett
Lexington, Ky.

John,
Not having Cliff Hawkins for the first semester will definitely disrupt the team's chemistry once the SEC season starts. Hawkins was one of the better scoring point guards when he was on last season and this team desperately needs some consistency at the position. This will be a team in transition while it waits for Jason Parker to get healthy, too, not to mention the adjustments for freshman point Brandon Stockton. He'll share it at times with Gerald Fitch. But don't be surprised to see other players bring up the ball to take the pressure off Stockton when he's in the game. Keith Bogans might have to handle the ball, and when newcomers Kelenna Azubuike and Antwain Barbour are in the game, they may be pressed into some ballhandling chores.

I saw that Marlon Parmer was included on the list for the early candidates for the Wooden Award (that's pretty funny!), but is Ruben Douglas from New Mexico on that list as well? He deserves the award much more than Parmer. He can take over a game with his scoring, and even carried the Lobos last season. He also leaves everything on the court and hasn't done anything off the court. He is a stand-up guy, and if he was left off the ballot I will be extremely disappointed.
Ryan Morgan
Minneapolis, Minn.

Ryan, Ruben was on the list but didn't make the cut. That should fuel his desire to prove he can be a player of the year in the MWC when Wyoming's Marcus Bailey makes the list and he doesn't get in the top 50. Douglas will bear a heavy burden of trying to be Mr. Everything for the Lobos under new coach Ritchie McKay.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He answers questions on college basketball weekly.