College Basketball Programs Need New Rulers

It's always interesting to see just how wrong college athletics programs are when it comes to player measurements. Somehow, it's become quite a guessing game. One that usually isn't figured out until the player has left the program, and is getting sized up by pro teams. The latest round of clearing up some misinformation comes from the results of last week's NBA Pre-Draft Camp. Currently, Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose are regarded as the top two picks. And how did they stack up against their official college numbers?

Michael Beasley, listed as 6'10". Measured at 6'7" w/o shoes and 6'8-1/4" in shoes.

Derrick Rose, listed as 6'3". Measured at 6'1-1/2" w/o shoes and 6'2-1/2" in shoes.

I doubt that anyone really cares how tall these guys are without shoes, but that 1-3/4" discrepancy for Beasley is rather large. At least Rose was within 1/2" of his measurement.

So, is it that the athletic departments just don't care that much about the accuracy of the heights listed for the players? Or, do they think they're gaining some type of psychological edge by inflating the numbers? This isn't something new either, as we always hear about players not stacking up to what their college measurements had them listed as.

It's Rocky At The Top

Alright, Tennessee beat previously unranked Memphis in their home gym on Saturday night. They moved into the #1 spot, poised to make a run for the tourney in the top spot. And they followed all that up with a loss at Vanderbilt.

Wait! What?!?

Yep, the Vols will likely spend one week ranked #1 thanks to their loss on Tuesday night against #18 Vandy.

So, how did it happen? Well, Vandy, the strong 3-pt shooting team that is, shot 37.5% from behind the arc. Compare that to the 29.6% that UT held Memphis to, and you can see how the Vols dropped this one. Vanderbilt also shot their free throws much better than Memphis, 67.6% as opposed to 47.1% for the Tigers.

Luckily, Tennessee shouldn't drop too far, so a #1 tourney seed is definitely within their grasp. And if they play the way they did against Memphis on a consistent basis they should do pretty well. Though, that game against Florida next Wednesday, the one that I said was huge for the Gators, has become just as big for the Vols.

How Do These Young Gators Really Compare?

It's no secret that this year's UF men's basketball squad is young. Just about every team breakdown mentions it, and they're right. There are no seniors, and just two juniors on the roster. Some point to the '04-'05 team as a comparison, and state that the "Big 3" of Horford, Noah and Brewer stepped onto campus in a similar situation and they ended up winning two national championships. Well, let's take a look at just how accurate that comparison is.

The '04 team started two freshmen(Horford & Brewer), two juniors(Walsh & Roberson) and one senior(Lee). The '07 lineup consists of two freshmen(Calathes & Lucas), two sophomores(Speights & Werner) and one junior(Hodge). Right away it's apparent that this year's team, while it's starting the same amount of freshmen, lacks the upper classman experience that the '04 team had. And what about the key bench players?

That 2004 Gators team had two freshmen(Noah & Green), two sophomores(Humphrey & Richard) and one junior(Moss) coming off of the bench. This year's team has three freshmen(Parsons, Tyus & Allen) and one sophomore(Mitchell) making an impact off of the bench. Once again, that '04 team had more experienced reserves.

And how do the two teams stack up through their first meeting of the season against Kentucky?

The '04-'05 Gators had a 14-6 record, including a 69-66 loss against the Wildcats. They were averaging 80 points per game, and had cracked the 100 point mark once up to that point.

The '07-'08 Gators have a 16-3 record, and that includes an 81-70 overtime win against Kentucky. They're averaging 81 points per game, and have scored over the century mark twice this season.

That '04 team finished with a 24-8 record, defeated Kentucky for the SEC title and made it to the second round of the NCAA tourney before being defeated by Villanova.

If this year's team can duplicate that type of success, then they are on the right track to achieving the same level of competitiveness that Horford, Noah and Brewer exhibited on their way to winning back-to-back national championships.

ESPN College Gameday Flip-Floppers

Last night, prior to the Florida/Kentucky(Thanks for pointing that out bkassing) game, the ESPN College Basketball Gameday Crew discussed some of the results from earlier in the day. At one point, they got to the topic of what team had been the most impressive, and that's when things got a little wacky.

Hubert Davis stated that Maryland had impressed him the most, though his on-screen graphic said USC. At least he rolled with it, and gave his explanation as to why the Terps were so impressive.

Digger Phelps on the other hand, starts out by saying "I'm going with Southern Cal. I really thought that when you look at what Southern Cal did against UCLA..." Then he sees the on-screen graphic that says Villanova, and quickly changes his pick to the Wildcats. Finishing his praise of USC with "...oh no, I mean Villanova on the road at Syracuse".



Apparently, all that talk of politics finally got to Digger. With the ability to change his opinion in mid-sentence like that he'll be running for office in no time.

The 2007 NBA Draft A Testament To Billy Donovan's Coaching Ability

Most of the press surrounding Billy Donovan over the past weeks hasn't exactly been positive. First, there was the flirtation with the Kentucky job. Next came an only somewhat serious look at the Memphis job. Then, of course the whole Orlando Magic debacle. Hopefully tonight everyone can put those events aside to see just how good of a coach Billy Donovan is.

Before we get started here, I want you to keep in mind that Donovan has achieved his success at a school that was never known for basketball. Prior to Donovan's arrival in 1996, the Gators had made just five appearances in the NCAA tournament, with their best showing being a loss to Duke in the '93'-94 Final Four. The Gators didn't even reach their first NCAA Tournament until the 1986-1987 season, 39 years after the start of the program.

College basketball isn't exactly what it used to be. Many kids just see it as a springboard to the NBA. The ultimate goal is to play well enough in college so that you get drafted into the NBA. Before Billy Donovan the biggest NBA stars to come out of Florida were Neal Walk, Vernon Maxwell, Dwayne Schintzius and Andrew Declerq. Since Donovan took over as head coach he's had four of his players taken in the first round. That's double the amount drafted in the first round since the first Gator basketball player was ever drafted back in 1958.

And he's poised to add three more first round picks to that list, with the possibility of Taurean Green rounding out a total of four Gators drafted overall. You might think that Donovan just recruited 5-star athletes, and that their natural ability made them gifted enough to be possible top-10 NBA draft picks. Well, here's how the "Big Three" were ranked heading into Florida:

Corey Brewer: #7 ranked small forward, #31 overall(rivals.com)

Al Horford: #7 ranked power forward, #36 overall(rivals.com)

Joakim Noah: #19 ranked power forward, #75 overall(rivals.com)

And the fourth:

Taurean Green: #19 ranked point guard, #105 overall(rivals.com)

Sure, Brewer and Horford were ranked in the top 10 at their position, but the class as a whole wasn't in the top 10. However, Donovan coached them into a frontcourt that most college coaches dream about having. He helped Green become the driver of the team, and elevated his draft stock in the process. As an example, Glen Davis was the #3 ranked power forward back in '04. Most NBA analysts have him ranked as the #10 rated NBA power forward prospect, whereas Horford is usually #2.

Coach Donovan has shown the ability since he arrived in Gainesville to recruit good players, and be able to hone their strengths. Tonight's NBA Draft will be a prime example of his handiwork.

College Recruits, We Get Older But They Stay The Same Age(Or Get Younger)

For the second year in a row, the University of Southern California has locked up a talented eight-grade prospect. Yes, that's right, Tim Floyd went all to "Catch A Predator" again and sweet talked Ryan Boatwright, a kid who hasn't even played a game on a high school court. Oh, what's that, you didn't realize that Tim Floyd was the middle school version of a "basketball predator"? Well, last year he persuaded Dwayne Polee Jr. to give him a little oral commitment. I guess someone's going to have to tell Floyd that he has to re-register as a predator since he moved from New Orleans. Chris Hansen is a good option.


Seeing as how two eighth-graders have committed to playing college basketball in the past two years, and how competitive recruiting has become, I thought it would be a good idea to examine some of the other prospects that could be committing in the upcoming months. So, here are five recruits that are currently terrorizing the sandbox, swingset and recess street hoops games.

Jonathan Moses, 6th grade, 5'10"/135lbs. Prospective colleges: Florida, Washington, Duke. Moses is a gifted "big man". He already dwarfs most of his classmates at close to six feet tall, and he never gets picked last in any pickup games. He has to improve his footwork, and work on quitting sucking his thumb between timeouts. Florida is the leading candidate because they believe that they've found a player with Joakim Noah's..ahem.."skills".

Donnie "Double QP" Walters, 7th grade, 5'3"/155lbs. Prospective colleges: St. John's, Syracuse, Pittsburgh. Walters is the definitive "lane clogger". Hell, he's been clogging school toilets since 2nd grade. His conditioning is poor, and he doesn't have a very good jumpshot. However, he can box out and bang down low with the best of them, and his ability to snatch rebounds is impressive given the amount of weight he has to move. St. John's is the current leader in the recruiting race due to Manhattan having the highest concentration of McDonald's in the world. Yeah, that "QP" stands for quarter pounder, a staple of Donnie's diet.

Winston "Wrist Rocket" Madison, 5th grade, 4'9"/80lbs. Prospective colleges: Duke, Texas A&M, Ohio State. Madison has excellent court vision, and supreme passing skills. He's garnered the "Wrist Rocket" nickname because of the way he can thread the needle with passes during one recess session, and then knock out the entire class in dodgeball during the next one. He's also got good quickness, and can take every challenger he's faced off the dribble. Though, he's only competed against a pretty weak selection of private school opponents. Duke is favored to grab him because of his equally impressive academic achievements, and his propensity to drink too much apple cider, pop the collar on his Polo shirt, and drive his Little Tykes Hummer H2. Welcome to Durham, J.J. Redick Jr.!


Jermaine Jordan, 8th grade, 5'5"/125lbs. Prospective colleges: UNC, Texas, Arizona. Jordan is the consumate slasher/scorer, and his career average to date of 18ppg reflects that. He can take opponents off the dribble, and utilizes screens and picks effectively. He can be lazy on the defensive end at times, and relies on his athletic ability too much instead of sharpening his skills as a defender. Because of his last name he draws obvious comparisons to MJ. UNC is in the lead because they see a future "Air Jordan".


James "Old Man" Olsen, 5th grade, 5'9"/130lbs. Prospective colleges: Ohio State, LSU, UMass. Yes, that's Olsen's class photo from 5th grade. He can post-up down low, and has enough mobility to move in and out of the paint with the ball. He also has to shave twice a day. Ohio State is currently leading the recruiting battle due to their strength in recruiting players that look 50 years older than they actually are.

So there you have it. Just a few of the recruits that you could see signed by D-1 schools in the next few months as the recruiting wars heat up. However, the colleges better be careful not get caught up by Chris Hansen.

I'm Chris Hansen with NBC Dateline, exactly what were you looking for by coming here...

Billy Donovan Seems To Be Experiencing Signer's Remorse

Usually you think of someone experiencing a bad case of remorse when they purchase a car, and then regret the decision 24 hours later. Apparently, that's what Billy Donovan is going through right now, except that it involves an NBA team and a $27 million contract.

"Sources close to the situation"(you always have to love those!) say that Donovan is "attempting to return to Gainesville". The situation is serious enough that Florida AD Jeremy Foley had to return quickly to Gainesville on Saturday morning instead of meeting with VCU coach Anthony Grant, a former Donovan assistant, to discuss the opening. Sources close to that "situation" say that Florida was poised to offer Grant the job for $1.1 million per year.

I guess Donovan realized that the NBA is much more of a grind than college, and that being the King of Basketball in Gainesville isn't all that bad. Heck, a few more winning seasons, and they would probably would change the name on the O'Connell Center for him.

My hunch is that the DeVos family told him that he would have to sell 25,000 units of Amway products, and that BillyD realized that playing Kentucky twice a year wasn't so bad after all. Florida fans may be rowdy, but at least they're not cultlike.

The biggest question now is how will the fans react? Will they welcome him back with open arms? Will they be suspicious, always wondering when the next NBA team will try to lure him away? Personally, I think the two championship trophies in Gainesville speak for themselves, but BillyD might want to carry them around with him on campus for a while just to remind everyone.

Could Billy D Pull A Disappearing Act On The Gators?

The newest Billy Donovan-to-the-NBA rumor involves the newly head coach less Orlando Magic. It's a rumor that, at first glance, seems plausible due to Orlando's proximity to Gainesville and Donovan's success at the college level in Florida, but not extremely likely.

It's unlikely that Orlando would grant Donovan anything near "full control", and GM Otis Smith hasn't seemed that intent on getting Donovan since the rumors first started. However, there are a few intriguing thoughts that make the Donovan to Orlando move seem possible.

First, he still hasn't signed any type of new contract, extension, etc. It's been almost two months since Florida won their second straight national championship, and UF hasn't been able to get Donovan locked up in a long term deal. Each side is talking about it, but there's still no ink on a contract.

Second, like I mentioned in my post about Vince Carter possibly heading to Orlando, the Magic need to energize the fan base in order to rally support for a new arena. Right now, their part of the three piece project seems to be the most unpopular. Adding Billy Donovan and possibly Vince Carter would immediately draw in fans.

Third, the NBA predraft camp is happening right now in Orlando. If the Magic are going to make a push, then this is their best chance. Donovan's two time championship point guard is playing in the camp, and Noah, Horford and Brewer will be attending for the physical portion.

Fourth, while Noah, Horford and Brewer will most likely be off the board when the Magic pick at #44, Green probably will still be available. He isn't the top point guard prospect in the draft, but Donovan knows how to use him better than anyone. Although, Orlando does seem sort of set at the PG position. However, adding Green to a line-up of Dwight Howard and possibly Vince Carter would inject some optimism, and help with the solution to point #2.

Obviously, Donovan heading to Orlando is a long shot. There are more than a few examples of successful college coaches that couldn't duplicate anything near their college success at the pro level. And, Donovan is poised to become the king of men's basketball in Gainesville for years to come. Some might believe that trying to maintain a successful basketball program at an historically football rabid school would be difficult, but I think it's actually easier because the football program can help "absorb" any negativity in down years.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks as Florida AD Jeremy Foley focuses on getting Donovan signed. What seemed like a one-time thing with Kentucky calling has snowballed into other rumors that has some Gators thinking Donovan really might not be back next year. Though, those back-to-back national championship trophies would help ease the pain of losing "Billy The Kid" for this Gator.

As If Kentucky Needed Anymore Reason To Hate Florida

Florida versus Kentucky has become a pretty good rivalry on the hardwood in recent years with the resurgence of UF's men's basketball program. With their two wins this past season, Florida became the first SEC team to ever beat Kentucky six consecutive times. They also continued their recent win streak against Kentucky in the offseason.

The first occasion came in the head-to-head matchup for Florida's coach Billy Donovan. Donovan had recently brought the second straight men's basketball national championship to Florida, and with Tubby Smith's departure to Minnesota there was much speculation that "Billy The Kid" would become the new head coach of the Wildcats. Rumors even surfaced that Donovan was going to sign a 7-year contract worth $3.5 million per year with Kentucky after the tournament. We all know how that turned out for Kentucky.

The second "victory" this offseason came when prized basketball recruit, Jai Lucas, chose Florida over Kentucky(and Oklahoma State) yesterday. Lucas, a McDonald's All-American, is talented enough to immediately fill the void created by Taurean Green's departure. Lucas had been one of the top two recruits pursued by Kentucky, and his decision to head to Gainesville could influence his friend Patrick Patterson, another highly touted recruit pursued by Kentucky, to play for the Gators as well. If that happens, and Patterson is expected to announce his decision on Wednesday, then it's just more fuel on the fire that is the rivalry between Florida and Kentucky.

These offseason events will make the two Florida vs Kentucky games in '07-'08, especially the one in Lexington on or about March 2, that much more intense. I suggest you start making plans now to watch them if you enjoy college basketball even just a little bit.

[Photo by Tracy Wilcox, The Gainesville Sun]