NCAA Basketball FanHouse

Mississippi State Rack and Rollin'

Michelle Smith — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:54:00 EST

Filed under: California, Connecticut, Gonzaga, Maryland, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Virginia, WCC, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mid-Majors, MWC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

Two weeks ago, Pat Summitt surveyed the national scene and said this:

"A lot of people don't have Mississippi State on their radar screen and they should."

Never argue with Pat.

Mississippi State is climbing the rankings -- moving from No. 25 to No. 19 in this week's poll -- and the ladder of national recognition, particularly after Sunday's 84-55 win over No. 20 Maryland.

Granted, Maryland is remodeling after the graduation of Kristi Tolliver and Marisa Coleman and the transfer of Marah Strickland, and Brenda Frese's program will likely struggle with change most of the year, but the Bulldogs took it to the Terrapins on their home floor.

Senior guard Alexis Rack -- one of eight seniors on the roster -- broke out for 43 points, including seven 3-pointers in the victory. It was the fourth-best individual scoring performance in school history.

"Sometimes I was just letting it go," Rack (above, right) said after the game.

Mississippi State is flying high at 4-0, and it has enjoyed its home court advantage. It's time to hit the road now ... which leads up to the sun and sand of the Paradise Jam Tournament next week in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This year's eight-team field will feature five ranked teams.

Mississippi State will be there, playing in the "Reef" division along with Rutgers, USC and No. 13 Texas.

The "Island" division includes No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 23 San Diego State and South Carolina.

San Diego State, who broke into the national rankings for the first time in 14 years, feels like there's a little honor in the invitation to play.

"Three years ago, the only way we get there is to hold a fundraiser and go in the spring," Aztecs coach Beth Burns said.

The holiday's other big tournament is the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas. It is a bit more of a second-tier group with four ranked teams in the field including George Washington, No. 25 Michigan State, South Dakota State, Indiana, Minnesota, TCU, No. 18 Kansas, UNC Charlotte, No. 15 Virginia, Marist, Oklahoma State and No. 9 Xavier.

Don't overlook Tennessee

Summitt was handing off credit to Mississippi State, but her own team was building some impressive momentum after beating Virginia, 77-63. Angie Bjorklund, Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnson combined for 56 points.

The Lady Vols were even good enough to get their locker room back at Thompson-Boling Arena. The team had been kicked out of it for lackluster play in February and Summitt had said her team would have to "win something" to earn its way back in.

Apparently, beating a Virginia team that beat the Vols by one point in Knoxville last year was good enough to unlock the door.

Tennessee is young and inexperienced right now. But they look very, very good -- good enough to turn Connecticut and Stanford's intimate party as national championship contenders into a legitimate threesome.

Now for the bad news: Freshman center Faith Dupree will be sidelined for the season with a back injury. She played in two games, including 18 minutes against Texas Tech on Tuesday night in San Antonio. The Lady Vols are down to 11 active players for the season and need to keep Kelley Cain healthy to avoid serious depth issues in the post.

A View From the Top

The Huskies and the Cardinal don't look to be moving off their top two rankings any time soon. Here's a look at how the best of the best are stacking up so far.

Tale of the Tape
Category	No. 1 UConn	No. 2 Stanford
Scoring Avg.	91.7	86.2
Reb. Margin	17.0	23.0
Victory Margin	49.4	20.4
Next Five Games	vs. Hofstra vs. Richmond vs. Vermont vs. Hartford vs. Iona	vs. Utah vs. Gonzaga vs. DePaul vs. Duke vs. Tennessee

The Week Ahead

The most intriguing non-tournament matchups of the coming week:

UCLA at Tennessee: Former Vols assistant Nikki Caldwell comes back to Knoxville with an intriguing team that should finish near the top in the Pac-10.

Gonzaga at Stanford: One of the country's top mid-majors has a major-league test at Maples Pavilion against the Cardinal.

Cal vs. Ohio State in the Buckeye Holiday Tournament: Cal has showed its youth with poor shooting performances and the Bears lost to Baylor by 20 at home on Sunday. The No. 3 Buckeyes will be an even bigger challenge.

Randoms...

For a mid-major, Dayton is having a good early season run playing tough against big-conference teams. Dayton threw an opening salvo with a 77-74 win over Michigan State, lost a two-point game to Louisville and then knocked off Purdue 56-53 in the Boilermakers' own tournament ... The top nine teams in this week's AP poll went 19-0 last week with an average victory margin of 27 points ...There are two conferences in which every team has at least a .500 record thus far: the Big East and the Big Ten.

Mississippi State Rack and Rollin' originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another Inevitable Conclusion for UConn?

Michelle Smith — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Connecticut, Duke, Stanford, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

When Connecticut ran through the 2008-09 season with a 39-0 record and cruised through the Final Four to a national title, they turned an entire season, thousands of games involving hundreds of teams, into an exercise in inevitability.

At the cusp of a new college season, the biggest question is: Can the Huskies do that again? Or will the search for a new point guard to replace Renee Montgomery will bring UConn back to the pack?

Connecticut is the undisputed No. 1 team in the nation at its start, the unanimous choice in both national polls. But, of course. The Huskies have Maya Moore and Tina Charles, two of the top three or four players in the country, they have outstanding role players such as Kalnna Greene and Kaili McLaren. They have Geno Auriemma, who embraces the role of front-runner in a big, enthusiastic bear hug.The Huskies are an interesting combination of swagger and hunger. The championship run of last March marked the first time in four years that Connecticut had won a title, a virtual eternity in Geno-years. They wanted their trophy back. They are going to want it again.

Auriemma was asked whether he thinks this will be a better team that the last one, that one that won every game by double-digits, by an average margin of 30.5 points a game.

"I don't know. Things change, people change. Certainly circumstances change," Auriemma said. "I think each individual on our team will be better than they were last year. ... Does that translate into having a better team? I don't know. Again, you can't discount what Renee did and how she did it."

Stanford looks to be Connecticut's biggest challenger, returning six players with starting experience, bringing the nation's deepest post game, led by senior center Jayne Appel, and one of the country's top freshman -- forward Joslyn TInkle -- into the mix.

If the Cardinal get consistent, high quality guard play from the experienced trio of JJ Hones, Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and Jeanette Pohlen, they might be in a very good spot to claim the program's first title since 1992.

Most everybody else in the elite ranks looks pretty young. Baylor, North Carolina, Oklahoma -- all are in various states of rebuilding after large exoduses of experience and talent.

Tennessee, meanwhile, is in a form of recovery. Last year, a freshman-laden team drove Pat Summitt crazy and exited the NCAA Tournament in the first round for the first time in the history of the program. That's a lot to atone for. Now a sophomore group led by last year's national freshman of the year Shekinna Stricklen, along with Glory Johnson and Kelley Cain, are taking another shot at living up to the program's high standards.

The Big 12 has a new power in Kansas, led by senior Danielle McCray, but the big story will be at Baylor, where the Bears are highly ranked and those votes of confidence come largely based of the presence of freshman Brittney Griner, the dunk machine making her collegiate debut in the hot glare of the national spotlight.

Ohio State has been a regional powerhouse, the recent ruler of the upper Midwest, but OSU is still waiting to break through on a national level. This could be that year for the Buckeyes with a strong inside-out combination in point guard Samantha Prahalis and junior center Jantel Lavender. The start of the season has been marred, however, by three-game suspensions to two players, including senior defensive standout Shavelle Little.

North Carolina will lead the way in an ACC race in which all of the top teams have undergone significant turnover. Five ACC teams are in the preseason rankings, but most of them are dependent on newcomers after losing stalwarts such as Kristi Tolliver and Marisa Coleman (Maryland), Chante Black and Abby Waner (Duke), Rashanda McCants (UNC) and Tanae Davis-Cain and Mara Freshour (Florida State).

"I think it just so happens to be that a lot of the teams that are ranked high have a lot of underclassmen," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "Hopefully it will make for some interesting games."

But it may not prevent the foregone conclusion at the end of the season.

Another Inevitable Conclusion for UConn? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stanford Now Has 1-2 Ogwumike Punch

Michelle Smith — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Connecticut, Notre Dame, Stanford, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

Tara VanDerveer, right, has been coaching for nearly 30 years. She doesn't think she's recruited siblings before. So as new experiences go, it's worked out pretty well.

Chiney Ogwumike, a 6-foot-3 forward from Texas and the No. 1-rated recruit in the country, signed her national letter of intent to play at Stanford on Thursday. Chiney will join her older sister Nneka, who is a sophomore forward for the No. 2-ranked Cardinal. Ogwumike chose Stanford over Connecticut and Notre Dame.

"I know it sounds surprising, but I really had to consider Nneka a teammate in order to be fair about it," Chiney Ogwumike said Thursday. "She'll always be my sister. But Stanford has the best combination of what I've worked for in academics and athletics. I believed Stanford would be the best for me."

Chiney called VanDerveer early Thursday morning with the good news. The coach said she was "knocked out." And she suspects Chiney's sister knew first.

"When I asked her if Nneka already knew, she just laughed," VanDerveer said.

Nneka Ogwumike said she was "very excited" about her sister's decision, one that should give Stanford the most athletic post game in the country.

"It was her own decision," Nneka said. "She felt like this was the best place for her and I think she picked the best place. I never wanted to poke my head in too much. She was always asking me questions. I was not going to lie and tell her this place isn't amazing."

Chiney said the two would talk about "sisterly" things instead of recruiting.

"When it came to recruiting, she would say she hoped things were going well, that there was no pressure that she wanted me to do what's best for me," Chiney said. "Coincidentally, it ends up being at Stanford with her."

Chiney Ogwumike has led Cy-Fair to the Texas state tournament the past three seasons. She played her season opener Tuesday night, scoring 28 points with eight rebounds.

VanDerveer, who has made it a yearly habit to bring in some of the nation's elite post players, said the two sisters are very different players and they will complement each other well on the court. Nneka is a true post, most comfortable under the basket. Chiney could end up moving out to the wing as a fit for her driving, aggressive game.

"The thing I really like about Chiney is she is really aggressive and versatile," VanDerveer said. "I think it will be an easier adjustment, to have a sister on the team.

Some thought this would be a slam-dunk process for Stanford considering the family ties. But Chiney Ogwumike made it clear she would make her own decision. Ultimately, she chose to follow her sister's path.

"I think it worked for us," VanDerveer said.

The good news for VanDerveer, there are still two more younger Ogwumike sisters in the pipeline.

"I don't know if I'll still be coaching then," VanDerveer laughed.

Stanford Now Has 1-2 Ogwumike Punch originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Brittney Griner Cleared for Takeoff

Michelle Smith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Stanford, Tennessee, Big 12, Women's Basketball

Dunks in women's basketball have been like meteors in the night sky, fleeting moments of excitement, flashes that fade quickly until the next one shows up. Six women have dunked in a college game, totaling 15 dunks.

When a dunk happens, it makes the highlight reel, sparks a brief discussion about the impact on the women's game and then fades away again.

But along comes Baylor's Brittney Griner, who promises a meteor shower. It's no overstatement to say that Griner will change the women's game beginning Sunday when the seventh-ranked Bears take on No. 8 Tennessee in Knoxville in the State Farm Tip-off Classic.

Griner is a 6-foot-8 freshman from Houston who dunks.

Regularly.

She dunked 52 times in her 32 high school games last season. She can dunk with two hands and hang on the rim. She can dunk from a standing position under the basket. In one video that has made the rounds on YouTube, she dunked off the backboard. She doesn't need an open lane or a running start. This is no novelty act.

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey acknowledged Monday that Griner's ability to dunk was part of the appeal of bringing her to the program. Baylor drew 6,000 for an exhibition game over the weekend and the fans didn't come to see the Bears beat up on Incarnate Word.

"There's an attraction for fans who don't like women's basketball, for those men who attack the game, an attraction for media because it's a highlight film."
-- Baylor coach Kim Mulkey They came to see Griner throw down. And with 14:25 left in the game, she did. It was not her first official dunk because it happened during an exhibition game, but it's almost assured that the masses won't have to wait long to see her do it again.

"I've never seen a girl play above the rim like Brittney," Mulkey said. "You're watching her on the computer or on TV on in person and it excites you because you are witnessing something you've never seen before."

Other high profile players have dunked in the women's games, most recently Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles, but Griner may be the first to make it routine.

There are two distinct camps in women's basketball when it comes to the dunk. There are those who think that dunking would be a boon to women's basketball, a chance for the game to get attention and respect and capture the interest of the mainstream sports fans.

And there are those who think that dunking should never be a standard of success for a game that will be played below the rim by the vast majority of players.

Griner's combination of size (she has a 7 1/2-foot wingspan) and athleticism is an extraordinary package. Her game is more than one-dimensional. She will block shots, she will score and she will rebound. But when it comes to dunking, she is the exception, no matter how far the game progresses.

But for as long as she plays, the women's game will have an element, a drawing card that it never had before. Mulkey said she's confident Griner will be able to handle the attention. She has plenty of experience.

"Brittney is going to have a lot of people focused on Baylor and watching her play," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "The fact is, she can dunk and it's not a challenge for her. She plays above the rim and that does generate more media, more television exposure and more excitement."

Summitt is in the "good for the game" camp. Mulkey is there as well.

"There's an attraction for fans who don't like women's basketball, for those men who attack the game, an attraction for media because it's a highlight film," Mulkey said.

Like Griner, Stanford's Nneka Ogwumike is from Houston and she is considered one of the most athletic players in the country. She jumps so high on rebounds and Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer jokes that she will get a goaltending call this year.

Ogwumike said Griner will "revolutionalize women's basketball. She does it so easily."

Ogwumike, who is 6-foot-3, doesn't dunk. Not yet.

"I've been thinking about it," Ogwumike said. "It's not that I don't want to do it. I've been thinking about doing it in practice this year, see how it goes."

Mulkey said she expects a lot of attention for Griner and the program welcomes it.

"I would welcome it even I wasn't at Baylor because I want people to appreciate women's basketball," Mulkey said.

Brittney Griner Cleared for Takeoff originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Look At the Top 5 Schedules in Women's College Basketball

Michelle Smith — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:53:00 EST

Filed under: Connecticut, Oklahoma, Stanford, Tennessee, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, SEC, Women's Basketball

Part of the beauty of college basketball is that it isn't like college football. The top teams don't have to be afraid of playing a tough opponent; worried that risking a single loss would derail a season's worth of effort.

Instead, the best teams in college basketball want to cut their teeth on one another, learn from their shortcomings, shore up before spring, or build a resume for the NCAA committee by collecting wins against stiff competition.

The following is a list of the top five schedules in women's college basketball this season. These teams are going to do it the hard way. And you gotta admire that.

1) Tennessee. The Lady Vols never duck anyone (well, except maybe for that one team up north). The fact that they are coming off an unprecedented first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament doesn't change the degree of difficultly for Pat Summitt's program.

Tennessee routinely plays the most challenging schedule in the country and this year is no exception. The Lady Vols' non-conference schedule includes games against eight teams ranked in the first poll of the season, which was released Friday.

The Lady Vols' slate includes home games against Baylor, UCLA, George Washington, Texas, Louisville, Old Dominion and Oklahoma. The road schedule includes Virginia, Middle Tennessee and Stanford and a pair of big neutral-court games against Texas Tech and Rutgers.

At No. 8, Tennessee starts with its lowest ranking since 1985.

2.) Stanford. The second-ranked Cardinal have put together the best schedule in program history, one that includes games against five ranked teams and three conference champions. With many of the top teams in the Pac-10 rebuilding or reloading this year, Stanford will have to find out where it stands by going outside of the conference and, specifically, across the country.

Stanford will make two trips to the East Coast -- a season-opening journey to Old Dominion and Rutgers, followed by a Dec. 23 date against top-ranked Connecticut that will rank as one of the marquee regular-season matchups of the year.

Stanford's six-game home non-conference schedule includes Utah, Gonzaga, DePaul, Duke and Tennessee.

"We're playing such good competition that I don't know what will happen," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "There's a sense of urgency now, that if you don't have that schedule, I don't know that we could feel."

3.) Oklahoma. The 13th-ranked Sooners, who have been ranked in the AP Poll since the opening poll of the 2005-06 season, could play as many as nine of the teams ranked in the current preseason poll, and will face 10 others who received votes in the first poll.

Oklahoma's schedule includes tough road games against Georgia (Nov. 15), Tennessee (Jan. 3), and a matchup with Notre Dame in the Virgin Islands Tournament. The Sooners also face up-and-comer San Diego State, South Carolina, mid-major star Marist, and have home games against Baylor, Texas, Kansas and Connecticut.

4.) Rutgers. With the departures of Epiphanny Price and Kia Vaughn, the 25th-ranked Scarlet Knights are rebuilding, and just like last year, they will find out where they stand pretty quickly.

Rutgers' schedule includes eight ranked teams, four of them in the non-conference and four in the brutal Big East. The non-conference schedule includes home games against No. 2 Stanford, Boston College and Florida with a New York City date against Tennessee on Dec. 13.

Rutgers will go on the road to play Georgia and George Washington and will meet both Mississippi State and Texas in the Virgin Islands tournament on Thanksgiving weekend.

5.) Connecticut. The top-ranked Huskies don't always load up with non-conference opponents, but tough competition in the Big East always ups the RPI.

UConn's non-conference slate includes a neutral-court game against Texas in San Antonio, home games against Stanford and North Carolina -- the latter in the middle of the Big East schedule -- and road games against Florida State (Dec. 28) and Duke (Jan. 18).

If Connecticut blows through this schedule, a second straight national title could seem like a foregone conclusion come March.

A Look At the Top 5 Schedules in Women's College Basketball originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thin Stanford Loses Top Freshman

Ray Holloman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:03:00 EST

Filed under: Stanford, Injuries

Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins may not be the unluckiest man in college basketball right now, but with the way his luck is turning, he can probably get the poor sap that is to buy him a beer.

On the day Dawkins received a verbal commitment from the prize of his 2010 recruiting class, the second-year Cardinal coach watched Andy Brown, the star of the 2009 class go down with a knee injury. Monday night, the school confirmed that the ACL tear will cost Brown the season.

"This is an unfortunate loss for our program and I know how much of a disappointment this is for Andy," Dawkins said. "Andy had worked very hard leading up to the start of practice and we were expecting him to contribute this year. I wish him well in his recovery and look forward to having him back next season."

For Brown, a mobile 6-foot-8 forward who starred at Southern California basketball power Mater Dei, the injury was the second ACL tear in 10 months.

For Stanford, an all-but-certain shoo-in for the back of the line in Pac-10 predictions, it was another blow to the immediate future of the program.

Without Brown, the Cardinal are jersey-thin in the front court. Only Josh Owens, a 6-foot-8 junior who started 28 games last year but averaged only 6.9 points per game, is a threat in the frontcourt.

Stanford's depth elsewhere isn't much better.

The Cardinal lost three starters from last year's squad 20-14 team, including team MVPs Anthony Goods and Lawrence Hill (one of that duo led Stanford in scoring in 30 of 34 contests last year), and Mitch Johnson, a four-year fixture at point guard.

Complicating matters on The Farm is that all that talent going out hasn't been replaced by talent coming in, at least not yet. Brown comprised a third of Dawkins' first recruiting class. The only other freshman, Gabriel Harris, was expected to be the replacement for Johnson, but arthriscopic knee surgery in the offseason will likely slow that succession plan. The third member of the class, Andrew Zimmerman, has size at 6-foot-9, but redshirted last season at a junior college after transfing from Santa Clara, where he averaged less than two points a game as a freshman.

Meanwhile, the starter in the middle should've been Miles Plumlee, but the would-be sophomore opted out of his commitment when coach Trent Johnson left for LSU, ironically signing with Duke, where Dawkins served as an assistant before accepting the Stanford job.

If there's a silver lining, it may be that it forces Dawkins' hand in building a more up-tempo attack out of Mike Krzyzewski's playbook, with the four-perimeter player sets the Blue Devils have employed off and on over the past dozen years.

And the future is brighter for the Cardinal. Dawkins has secured four verbal commitments for 2010, all ranked in the top 40 at their position by Scout.

But their arrival is one, possibly painful year away.

Right now, Dawkins would probably be happy making it to the season opener with the rest of his roster intact.

Of course, even the opener seems fittingly ominous. The date of the Cardinal's first game? Friday, the 13th.

Some guys have all the luck.

Thin Stanford Loses Top Freshman originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:03:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stanford at Full Strength for First Practice

Michelle Smith — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Stanford, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

In recent weeks, Tara VanDerveer's go-to line about Jayne Appel and JJ Hones has been: "If we had a game today, they'd be playing." But instead, Stanford had its first official practice of the season on Friday night at Maples Pavilion and Appel and Hones ... well, they were playing. Appel, the senior All-American and national player of the year candidate, and Hones, a key factor in the Cardinal's Final Four run in 2008, are both coming off knee injuries.

Appel had offseason surgery for a torn meniscus for the second straight year. Hones, a point guard, sustained the second ACL tear of her career last fall in a non-conference game against Rutgers. Both are cleared, both took part in drills and scrimmaging on Friday and both were riding on the stationary bikes by the time the Cardinal closed practice with sprints.

"Why the extra pounding then they don't have to?" VanDerveer said after practice.

Stanford, widely regarded as the No. 2 team in the country behind defending national champion Connecticut, had a head start on Friday's smooth, efficient practice session. The Cardinal traveled to Italy last month, played a handful of exhibition games and got in a few days of practice as a team before they left. And with just two new players on the roster, it really wasn't that difficult to pick up where they left off.

Except that Stanford left off with a loss in the national semifinals last April, falling hard to the Huskies after an impressive 33-5 season and NCAA run.

After a 12-year absence, Stanford has been back to the Final Four two years running and has its legitimate sights set on making it three in a row. "I know it sounds cliche, but I think the building blocks are already in place," Appel said. "We don't have to spend a lot of time reviewing the little stuff."

Appel, who sat out the team's trip to Italy last month, said she "absolutely" is ready to play. "I feel good, it's exciting," Appel said. "It's the first day and everyone is going 2,000 miles an hour."

Hones, meanwhile, knows that the road back from an ACL injury is not always direct and smooth. She had swelling on the knee a few days ago and had to take a break, but said she felt strong Friday night. Two years ago, her last practice coming off a knee injury, she was out of shape and tentative, unsure how much she could push her conditioning on a healing knee joint. Now she knows better. "It's still just as frustrating, but I know how it's going to go, that there are going to be setbacks," Hones said. "I've been through it before and I'll do it again."

VanDerveer said, however, that Hones, one of the team's top 3-point shooters, is not all the way back yet. "She's not where she was last year," VanDerveer said. "But she's really working and in a month, she's going to be a lot better. Obviously, if she's healthy, she's going to help us."

It is expected that Hones will be in the mix for the starting point guard spot with fifth-year senior Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, senior Melanie Murphy and last year's emergency fill-in Jeanette Pohlen, the junior who appears on the verge of a breakout season. Pohlen could end up back at the point, but will likely settle in the 2-guard spot.

Appel anchors a deep post game that includes explosive sophomore forward Nneka Ogwumike, junior Kayla Pedersen and freshman Joslyn Tinkle, one of the country's top recruits. Pedersen turned an ankle Friday night, the only wrinkle in another otherwise smooth evening for VanDerveer, who is starting her 24th season as the Stanford head coach.

"After all these years, I should have this figured out," VanDerveer said. "It was good. Usually, I feel lot more rushed, but we tried some new drills and thought we broke things down, did a lot of teaching."

Pohlen, who along with Pedersen, hasn't yet known a season that didn't end with a Final Four appearance, realizes that is something not to be taken for granted. "I can't even imagine losing before the Final Four, because I don't know that," Pohlen said. "We have so much potential and not to live up to it would probably be pretty hard, so we are improving each day so that doesn't happen."

Stanford at Full Strength for First Practice originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Return to Court a Foreign Concept Right Now for Stanford's Jayne Appel

Michelle Smith — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Stanford, Women's Basketball

The ice bag on Jayne Appel's left knee is pretty big, as in a pretty big sign that her trip to Italy with the Stanford women's basketball team is going to be a vacation, not a warm-up.

"I'm not ready yet," Appel said Wednesday, as the Cardinal prepared for another practice session leading into Friday's departure to Italy. Stanford is set for an 11-day trip that includes four basketball games, a lot of sightseeing and, in the hopes of coach Tara VanDerveer, the kind of bonding experience that could last her team until next April in San Antonio.

Appel, Stanford's star center, was trying out for USA Basketball's World University team earlier this summer when her left knee began to swell. Appel, who had surgery on that knee a summer ago to repair a torn meniscus, took no chances.

She went home to the Bay Area, had it examined and got the diagnosis she didn't want. The meniscus was torn again and she would need more surgery.

She said was very disappointed to leave the U.S. team, but knew she could jeopardize her final college season if she delayed her decision.

"It was a great group of girls and we were having a lot of fun," Appel said. "I really wanted to play with them."

That team, which included her Cardinal teammates Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen, went to Serbia and won the gold medal. She stayed behind and rehabbed with teammate JJ Hones, coming off a second ACL injury. And she got a pretty good tan.

If you can manage to see around Connecticut star Maya Moore, Appel is as a legitimate national Player of the Year candidate after leading Stanford to its second straight Final Four.

She and UConn center Tina Charles will run neck-and-neck as the most dominant post player in the country, and not coincidentally, their teams should be No. 1 and No. 2 when the season opens, the Huskies the consensus preseason favorite.

Appel, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year, will stick out in a crowded post game for the Cardinal, which already included junior Kayla Pedersen and sophomore Nneka Ogwumike and added 6-3 Joslyn Tinkle and Mikaela Ruef. Also 6-3.

Tinkle and Ruef are not allowed to make the trip to Italy. And Appel isn't the only regular who won't play. Hones, who has been cleared medically to practice, will sit out. Pedersen and Pohlen will likely see limited minutes, a chance to rest after a summer full of basketball.

Appel acknowledged her healing process is behind where she was last year.

"It's the second time for this and it just takes longer," Appel said.

She might not be 100 percent when Stanford begins practice in mid-October.

VanDerveer said she's OK with that.

"You can't rush something like that," VanDerveer said. "I think Jayne maybe tried to do too much, too soon. She's extremely motivated, she's working hard. I'm not worried.

"I want her to be healthy. It's a knee, and if she doesn't practice the first day we practice, that's OK. My message to Jayne is to think long-term. She wants to play in the NCAA Tournament, the WNBA, maybe get a look for the national team. What is a week here or even a month there? We're not going to rush her at all."

So for now, it's all gelato and sightseeing for Appel.

"I've never been there and I can't wait," Appel said. "I really want to see the Vatican. It's going to be amazing."

Return to Court a Foreign Concept Right Now for Stanford's Jayne Appel originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After Defections, Cal, Washington Are Pac-10 Favorites

Gary Washburn — Sat, 16 May 2009 21:15:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, Pac-10, NBA Prospects, Oregon State

The upheaval at USC and constant defections at UCLA may have sent conference supremacy north.

The NBA draft's early entries have one month to return to school (June 15), but it doesn't appear any of the Pac-10 entries are coming back. Six underclassmen -- USC's DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson, UCLA's Jrue Holiday, the Arizona duo of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger and Arizona State's James Harden -- will participate in the draft combine beginning May 28 in Chicago, and none are likely to return to their schools. Even Holiday, a projected late first-rounder, is reportedly close to hiring an agent and remaining in the draft.

UCLA also loses All-America point guard Darren Collison and key scorer Josh Shipp, leaving the Bruins young, raw and virtually unproven. The Trojans, meanwhile, who made an improbable run to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Pac-10 tournament, could be gutted with Daniel Hackett likely headed for Italy, top recruit Renardo Sidney bolting for Mississippi State and the program under major scrutiny regarding allegations of payments to representatives for former guard O.J. Mayo. Coach Tim Floyd, if he remains at USC, will be in another major rebuilding mode in Los Angeles.

Such ruin in Southern California and major defections with the Arizona schools leaves the two most stable programs in Washington and California. The Huskies lose all-time rebounder Jon Brockman and solid guard Justin Dentmon, but coach Lorenzo Romar will depend on freshman talent along with Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Isaiah Thomas, improving Quincy Pondexter, who sparkled toward season's end, and defensive ace Venoy Overton.

Romar, always a master recruiter, was able to get Tacoma, Wash., guard Abdul Gabby, who is expected to join Thomas in the backcourt. Bruising juco forward Charles Garcia and freshman Clarence Trent will make the Huskies perhaps the deepest team on the West Coast.

California returns four of the five starters that stunned the conference by winning 22 games and advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Gifted but enigmatic swingman Patrick Christopher decided to return to school for his senior season while speedy guard Jerome Randle and redshirt senior Theo Robertson give the Bears a chance to compete for the conference title.

And there will be some noise heard from the Oregon schools with Ernie Kent's job essentially at stake this season and the Ducks coming off an awful 2-16 conference record. Craig Robinson brought home a CBI title -- College Basketball Invitational for those non-diehards -- to Oregon State in his first season and the Beavers return their top four scorers.

After Defections, Cal, Washington Are Pac-10 Favorites originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 16 May 2009 21:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Women's Hoops Gets Serious in Pac-10

Gary Washburn — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:43:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, Pac-10, Coaches, Oregon State

Stanford has ruled the Pac-10 Women's basketball landscape for the past 20 years, and California and Arizona State have recently emerged to make the conference a three-team scramble for supremacy. But two recent hires by Oregon and USC have made it apparent that women's basketball is indeed becoming a higher priority on the West Coast.

Oregon shocked the women's basketball community by hiring former NBA championship coach Paul Westhead to replace the fired Bev Smith. Westhead was fired along with P.J. Carlesimo from the Oklahoma City Thunder in December, but he comes to Eugene, Ore., with a WNBA title from the Phoenix Mercury.

While Oregon has been a fruitful recruiting base for Stanford and other national powers, the Ducks have advanced to just one NCAA tournament since 2001. Westhead's fast-paced style should attract recruits and some much-needed attention to the program. Meanwhile, USC athletic director Mike Garrett nabbed five-time NBA champion Michael Cooper to lead the Trojans, who haven't been a national power since the days of Cheryl Miller and Cynthia Cooper.

"He has coached and played at the highest level and with the greatest players in the world," Garrett said after the announcement. "He'll be an excellent in-game coach, he'll do a great job preparing his teams and he'll wow the recruits. And I'll say this: we'll be a strong team defensively."

Cooper won two WNBA titles with the Los Angeles Sparks and will coach the Sparks this summer and take over the USC program in the fall. The hiring of Cooper away from the WNBA is a serious indication that Garrett wants the women's program to snatch some of the attention given to Stanford, which has reached two consecutive Final Fours and won at least a share of the past nine Pac-10 titles.

Women's basketball is getting increasing national attention and prestige but West Coast schools have ignored this trend. Stanford is the lone Pac-10 program to consistently compete with the powers -- UConn, Tennessee, Rutgers -- on the East. But if Cooper and Westhead have any say, that will change quickly.

Women's Hoops Gets Serious in Pac-10 originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 07 May 2009 15:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pac-10 Roundup: Arizona Teams Struggle, LA Teams Roll

Shane Bacon — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:48:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Pac-10, Oregon State

On a night when the University of Arizona honored famed coach Lute Olson during halftime, something became very clear as the ceremonial speeches ended and the basketball began. If the Wildcats want to continue their NCAA streak of 25 consecutive tournament appearances, they would need more than an uplifting video (it got dusty in my apartment) and the memory of a coach that has been through a lot the last two years. The Wildcats need a W.

It wasn't happening, as Jerome Randle absolutely murdered the 'Cats in the second half, helping California (22-8, 11-6) improve to third in the Pac-10 with the 83-77 win and put the Wildcats in another uncomfortable position similar to last season -- leaving their March Madness dreams up to chance.

Arizona's Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill did all they could do to keep their team in the game, combining for 52 fo the Wildcat's 77 points, but Randle was absolutely molten from outside, hitting 8-of-11 threes, all coming when the momentum looked to be shifting.

Now, the Wildcats (18-12, 8-9) have to beat Stanford on Saturday and possibly win their first Pac-10 Tournament game to have a chance at making the NCAA Tournament. That task probably seemed a lot more likely before Arizona went on a four-game losing streak, and Stanford didn't show themselves to be capable of taking down a talented Arizona State team on the road as they did on Thursday, 74-64.

In Tempe on Thursday, the Sun Devils were abysmal, going 0-for-6 to start the game and scoring their first basket with 11:50 left in the first half. This was the third-straight loss for an ASU team that looked to be securing a solid spot in the postseason picture before the trip last week to Washington. Now, the Sun Devils have California on Sunday to try and get some positive momentum going before they head to Los Angeles for the Pac-10s.

UCLA and USC both rolled over Oregon State and Oregon, respectively, on Thursday. The No. 17 Bruins are doing the opposite dance of the Arizona teams, carding their third-straight win and improving their tournament resume as the days roll by. The win also kept them in the hunt for a split of the Pac-10 crown, needing a win on Saturday against Oregon and a loss by Washington to Washington State.

Josh Shipp had a career-high 27 points for the Bruins, and DeMar DeRozan of Southern California had 19 in the Trojans' rout of the Ducks.

Pac-10 Roundup: Arizona Teams Struggle, LA Teams Roll originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oregon Finally Wins a Pac-10 Game

Chas Rich — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:17:00 EST

Filed under: Oregon, Stanford, Pac-10

It takes a lot of work, effort and luck to go winless for the year in a conference. It means dropping heated rivalry games. It means not being able to win at home. It means the team is beyond bad, but also unlucky. Oregon has been all of that this year. Finally, though, the Ducks broke through by beating Stanford 68-60.

This game was an immovable object meeting an irresistible force -- only not. Oregon had been winless in the Pac-10, while Stanford was winless on the road in the conference. Something had to give and in the end it was the Cardinal.

Neither team was particularly impressive -- which should not be surprising for the ninth and tenth place teams in the Pac-10. Oregon just did a little bit more than Stanford to get the win. They shot a hair better from the field. They made one more free throw than Stanford. They hit one more three. They grabbed one more offensive board. They turned the ball over just a little less. It added up to the win.

Oregon joins Georgia in getting free from the fear of being a winless team in a major conference. That leaves only DePaul in the Big East as the only team still capable of going winless this season in conference play. The other winless in conference teams this year include Air Force in the Mountain West and Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley.

Oregon Finally Wins a Pac-10 Game originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Arizona State on the Bubble?

Adam Papagiorgio — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:05:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Pac-10

Arizona State was swept by the Washington schools over the weekend, and now fans in Tempe might be growing concerned that Herb Sendek's bunch is close to being on the bubble. But let's not push the panic button just yet.

In the latest Bracketology, Arizona State is a No. 8 seed, the lowest seeded team of any of the Pac-10 schools. And that's kind of a surprise. Cal is a No. 7 seed despite losing four of its last five games. In fact, the Golden Bears lone win during that stretch is over Oregon (more on them in a second).

Joe Lunardi has Baylor, St. Mary's, BYU and Penn State as his last four teams in the tournament. So that should show that the Sun Devils are safe. For now.

Arizona State has a troubling pattern of losing that Thursday game, then ratcheting up the intensity for that marquee Saturday game. That worked when ASU won at UCLA. Didn't work out so well against Washington.

So the Sun Devils aren't a bubble team right now, but they must improve their consistency.

Other notes around the Pac-10.

If the Reggie Theus watch hasn't started in Oregon, it should. Ernie Kent has been the Ducks coach for so long, he will likely get the entire season to try to turn this thing around. But Oregon (and Nike) shouldn't wait too long to pull the trigger. Arizona might figure into the mix here at well.

Arizona swept the Washington schools. Wildcats fans are going to be looking for a big-name coach in the offseason. But if Russ Pennell gets this team to the tournament, can you get rid of him? Decisions. And ask yourself, which is going to be the more attractive job? Arizona or Oregon? Arizona has the history, but Oregon is going to have the money.

UCLA looked more aggressive this weekend, and if they continue to play like that, they can do some damage.

Is Arizona State on the Bubble? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Worries About UCLA

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:04:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, Pac-10

UCLA doesn't care much about second place. That was evident on Thursday night as the UCLA put away Cal, 81-66. If Cal thought it smelled blood in the water, Thursday's game was nothing but a clever ambush by the Bruins.

UCLA played like a desperate team trying to send a message. The passive, eight-pass and settle for a horrible shot offense was flushed. Darren Collison was driving to the basket, drawing fouls and converting free throws to finish with 18 points. In fact, UCLA shot 91 percent from the line. The Bruins played defense like a Ben Howland team, forcing 16 turnovers. In short, it was the kind of dominating performance that fans in Westwood have come accustomed to.

UCLA not only crushed its NorCal rival, but also sent a message to the rest of the conference that they were still a the alpha male of the conference. The Bruins also moved into their rightful place -- that being first -- after Washington lost at Arizona. (Somebody must have been looking ahead, right?) Seems silly that a team like UCLA would need a conference win in January, but the freshman really did. Guys like Jrue Holliday, who had 13 points, needed to step up.

The leading question now is if UCLA can match the intensity against Stanford on Saturday.

Washington State 65, No. 14 Arizona State 55: The Huskies weren't the only team looking ahead for showdown Saturday. The Sun Devils didn't have an answer for Klay Thompson who was 8-of-10 from 3-point range. That's just being lazy on defense. Expect ASU to rally and at least try on Saturday. That's a pattern that the team has followed last week when ASU lost to USC on a Thursday, but followed that up with a win at Pauley Pavilion the following Saturday.

USC 70, Stanford 69: The Trojans are lurking. Saturday's game provides an interesting crossroads for USC and Cal. The Golden Bears need to salvage at least a split to remain in the hunt for the Pac-10 title. And a sweep would really benefit the Trojans who have kind of lurked just below the top of the conference. Which coach will have his team better prepared?

No Worries About UCLA originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is the Pac-10 Smelling Blood?

Adam Papagiorgio — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:53:00 EST

Filed under: Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, Pac-10

This wasn't the way the season was supposed to go for the Bruins. Despite losing a bevy of talent, UCLA was still expected to stand tall. The Bruins don't rebuild, they reload. The freshman class led by Jrue Holiday was supposed to be Ben Howland's best yet and the team was supposed to look forward to a fourth consecutive Final Four.

But it hasn't worked out that way.

The Bruins are 15-4, 5-2 in the Pac-10 and ranked No. 17 in the country. That's a good year. If you are Oregon State, or one of the other teams in the Pac-10. But this is UCLA. A place where only championship banners hang from the rafters. Something, however, is way worse for UCLA. Something nobody in Westwood is comfortable talking about.

The Bruins are mortal.

The Bruins have been like that bully over the past couple of years. The tough guy standing in the corner that nobody wanted a piece of. Now, teams not only want a piece of the Bruins, they are relishing the chance. The Bruins are being challenged in what was supposed to be a down year in the conference. Washington took them apart in Seattle. Arizona State embarrassed the Bruins at Pauley Pavilion.

Right there on the Nell and John Wooden Court, the Sun Devils exploited the Bruins, like UCLA had done to so many over matched opponents in the past.

Part of the reason is the departure of Kevin Love, who toils in obscurity in the NBA. UCLA no longer has that inside presence or that ability to pound the ball down low. The Bruins used to live at the free-throw line. Now they have a bunch of jump shooters who don't draw fouls. Not the way Love did. Nikola Dragovic is a nice player, but he's one of those European players who seems to avoid contact.

At this point, Darren Collison might be wondering why he didn't go to the NBA. (Not that he had much of a choice.)

There is still hope for the Bruins. They have a chance to reassert themselves as they play host to Cal and Stanford this weekend. Cal has been playing very well under coach Mike Montgomery, and it also possesses the same propensity to shoot the three-ball, which could work in UCLA's favor.

And the Bruins need it, too.

No. 23 Washington will play host to No. 14 Arizona State on Thursday. Raise your hands if you thought that this was going to be for the lead in the Pac-10 at this juncture of the season. Liar.

Both teams have beaten the Bruins -- as mentioned -- and could take control of the conference. To be honest, nobody is going to run away with the league crown. But Washington and Arizona State are feeling UCLA's vulnerability and can only can confidence with a victory. A sweep by either school would be monumental.

UCLA needs to make a stand against the Bay Area schools to keep pace. Worse than losing ground in the standings is losing presence in the conference. The Bruins need to make a good showing this weekend.

Is the Pac-10 Smelling Blood? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:53:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Sophomores Can't Wait Any Longer to Get to the NBA

Charles Rich — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:30:00 EST

Filed under: Nevada Basketball, Texas Basketball, Big 12 Basketball, Big East Basketball, Pac-10 Basketball, SEC Basketball, NBA Prospects, Stanford Basketball

You thought that 13 freshmen in the NBA Draft was a lot, compared to 8 last year? Wrong. The big leap came from the number of sophomores who have had their fill of college. Last year, only 5 sophomores turned pro. Not this year. Like the freshmen, the lucky 13 are not going back to their school.

D.J. Augustin, Texas
JaVale McGee, Nevada
Brook Lopez, Stanford
Robin Lopez, Stanford
Russell Westbrook, UCLA
Marreese Speights, Florida
Ryan Anderson, Cal
Darrell Arthur, Kansas
~~Derrick Caracter, Louisville~~
Walter Sharpe, UAB
*Jason Bennett, Tallahassee Community College
*Keith Brumbaugh, Hillsborough Community College
*Kiwan Smith, Redlands Community College

Even if you don't count the 3 players who got through community college, that's still a 100% increase over last year. Most of the players nearly came out after last season.

It seems that in year two of the one-and-done restriction, the freshmen and sophomores are beginning to charge back into the draft. Makes those columns from last year talking about how upperclassmen were making a comeback in the NBA draft look a little dated.

UPDATE: According to the official list by the NBA on the Draft, Caracter, Bennett and Smith all pulled their names before the deadline. That drops the number to 10 sophomores. Still a significant jump, but a little lower.

The Sophomores Can't Wait Any Longer to Get to the NBA originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Johnny Dawkins Watches Stanford Recruit Move on to Duke

Shiloh Carder — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:05:00 EST

Filed under: Duke Basketball, ACC Basketball, Pac-10 Basketball, Stanford Basketball, Carolina

Incoming freshman power forward Miles Plumlee wanted a release from his letter of intent when Stanford head coach Trent Johnson left for LSU.

He's now made his decision on where he wants to go: Duke.

The funny thing about that is Stanford just hired former Blue Devils player and assistant Johnny Dawkins to replace Johnson. Even at the press conference, Dawkins said that he wouldn't be surprised if Plumlee chose to go to Duke.

Still, it probably wasn't Dawkins who steered him over to Duke. Plumlee will have a close friend with him in Durham -- his brother. Mason Plumlee, who is a rising high school senior, had already committed to join the Blue Devils in 2009.

The older Plumlee is quite a get. He's 6-10 and has that typical Duke perimeter game of recent big men. His size is sorely needed on a team that lacked it last year. Kyle Singler did a valiant job trying to defend in the paint but he, at times, was overmatched and it took away from other aspects of his game.

Plumlee may not be ready physically to match up against the better big men in the ACC, but he will join fellow recruit Olek Czyz and Singler for what should be a much improved front line.

Johnny Dawkins Watches Stanford Recruit Move on to Duke originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 02 May 2008 12:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coach K Told Stanford That Johnny Dawkins Is Likely His Successor

Shiloh Carder — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:23:00 EST

Filed under: Duke Basketball, ACC Basketball, Pac-10 Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, Stanford Basketball, Carolina

I guess Mike Krzyzewski is trying to get that awkwardness that Roy Williams had going on out of the way very early.

Last week, news broke that Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins would be the new head coach at Stanford. Dawkins was considered, by many, to have been the eventual successor for Coach K at Duke. According to Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby, Coach K said so himself:

Bowlsby said one of the first people he spoke to about the open job at Stanford was Krzyzewski and that he asked Krzyzewski about both Dawkins, who was Krzyzewski's right-hand man for 11 seasons, and Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski.

"At that time, Coach Krzyzewski said that Johnny was a likely successor to him [at Duke]," Bowlsby said.

Coach K has at least another ten years left in him to coach, so it wasn't like Dawkins was going to get a good look at it anytime soon. I think Dawkins is a great hire (albeit an inexperienced one) for the Cardinal program and would be the kind of guy that would stick around for a while.

Well, maybe until Coach K comes calling.

See, the same thing happened at North Carolina, who saw assistant coach Roy Williams (who wasn't in any successor plans) go to Kansas in 1988. A decade later, UNC legend Dean Smith retired and Tar Heel Nation expected Roy to come and ... well ... you know that old chestnut.

What was kinda interesting is that Stanford asked about Coach Wojo. Is he really ready to be a head coach? And if he was asked about like that, does this mean that Wojo is next in line for Coach K's gig?

As a Tar Heel fan, I must be honest that having Dawkins as Duke's head coach would've sucked. Not too many Carolina fans absolutely loathe Dawkins -- hell, most don't hate him. Kinda like when Herb Sendek was at NC State. Wojo, however, would be the perfect fiery, hate-able coach that could fill in K's shoes.

Coach K Told Stanford That Johnny Dawkins Is Likely His Successor originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Duke's Johnny Dawkins to Take Stanford Job

Shiloh Carder — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:46:00 EST

Filed under: Duke Basketball, ACC Basketball, Pac-10 Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, Stanford Basketball, Oakland, Carolina, San Francisco

Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins will be the next head coach at Stanford, according to sources. Dawkins, a former Duke player and assistant for 11 years, takes over for Trent Johnson who left for LSU.

He inherits a team that will lose the Lopez twins, Brook and Robin, to the NBA draft, but will return its primary perimeter players in Mitch Johnson, Lawrence Hill and Anthony Goods, who will all be seniors next season.

Despite flirting with Georgetown a few years ago, many people do feel that Dawkins will one day replace Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. Getting the Stanford job as his first head coaching gig is quite an endorsement of how good of a coach he is.

They are getting a great guy. Dawkins wanted his first head coaching job to be at a school with high academic standards that also had a great hoops program. Stanford is definitely that. He's just 44 years old, so he could be around Stanford for many years to come.

Or when Duke looks for Coach K's successor.

He's also in charge of player development for the U.S. Olympic Team as they get ready for the Beijing Games this summer.

Duke's Johnny Dawkins to Take Stanford Job originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:46:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stanford's AD Let Trent Johnson Walk

Ty Keenan — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Pac-10 Basketball, NCAA Basketball Coaches, NCAA Basketball Rumors, Stanford Basketball

Trent Johnson's decision to leave Stanford for LSU is not just a case of a coach leaving a program on the slide for more money and a new opportunity. As Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury-News explains, Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby delayed extending Johnson's contract for unclear reasons, creating a situation in which he felt underappreciated and open to looking for other jobs.

If these reports are to be believed, then Bowlsby handled this situation extremely poorly. He said throughout the season that he would absolutely get a contract worked out right when the season ended, but nothing has happened in the two weeks since Stanford was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament. Bowlsby had several opportunities to get this deal done in the fall or during the season, but he kept delaying it and then didn't even get the work done when no more excuses could be made.

Now, it's important to note that these are still rumors. However, these rumors come from people very close to the program and have some pretty clear validity. Johnson often stated that Stanford was his dream job. It's obviously possible that he was lying, but almost everyone who's ever come in contact with the man has characterized him as a straight shooter who believes in Stanford's true commitment to academic excellence from athletes. Put simply, it would have taken a lot of ill will to get him to leave the school. Bowlsby showing no love for the Pac-10 Coach of the Year probably would have been enough.

More on Bowlsby's huge error after the jump.

Bowlsby's dawdling gives Stanford few options at a crucial point for the program. The soon-to-be-drafted Lopez twins helped bring the Cardinal back to national prominence, but the Cardinal need to keep recruiting well in order to sustain that success. Johnson was making headway with several elite and near-elite recruits in the Class of 2009, and it's unclear what will happen now. Whatever the case, he was a tireless recruiter who committed to the program's need to find academically-qualified players throughout the country. It's difficult to find coaches with that kind of work ethic and knowledge of the program's unique relationship with the admissions office.

With no Lopez twins and legendary coach Mike Montgomery now at its biggest rival, Stanford was already in a rough situation. Bob Bowlsby just put them in an even bigger hole.

Stanford's AD Let Trent Johnson Walk originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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