There’s no guarantee that 6′8 junior Pierre Henderson-Niles will be a member of the Memphis squad this season. Coach Calipari has made it clear that Pierre must get his weight down to 280 in time for the first game…or else.
At the end of last season Pierre was at 349.
As you will see, he is down to about 300 right now. It shows.

Via rivals.yahoo.com Full Court Press
Pierre could be a nice weapon for Memphis this year. He has some hop in his step.
This from Dan Wolken, Memphis Commercial Appeal
“He’s doing good,” Calipari said. “Can he sustain it? …read more

Don’t overlook the Tigers.
Shawn Taggert is Tyson Chandler with offensive skills. Tyreke Evans is, well, a 6′6 point guard who will be in the NBA in 2009. Robert Dozier is rock solid. Did I mention that Evans has a 7′3 wingspan?
And of course do include Pierre Henderson-Niles, who lost about 50 pounds during the summer. So from now on, Pierre, people are going to expect Robert “Tractor” Traylor types of things from you on the court—you know, like when Traylor was in college.
Jeff Zillgitt, USA Today
The 104 victories in three years tied an NCAA …read more

Generous Davidson College assistant Jim Fox provided me with some insight on a few questions I threw his way via email recently.
September 30, 2008
Q.
“Frank Ben-Eze… Can he be a big factor for this year’s team? 15 + minutes/gm?”
A.
“I believe Frank will be able to help us out this year. Like any freshman, he will have to adjust, but he works extremely hard and has fit in very well here at Davidson.”
Q.
“Does Stephen basically play all 40 minutes for you guys this year?”
A.
“Haha, We have a pretty good team. Steph is very important, but we have some other …read more

Despite the return of the big three for Pitt, serious questions of front court depth and back court competence still persist.
Not only did Mike Cook get a no go for another year of eligibility, but quality guards Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin graduated.
Everyone knows what to expect from tough minded Levance Fields, but what if Levance cannot shake the concerning foot injury suffered last year? Unheralded freshman Travon Woodall can’t be expected to help the team right the ship, maybe in a pinch, but it’s not likely because of the lack of experience and firepower at the …read more

Point guard Levance Fields averaged 11.9 ppg last year to go along with 5.3 assists/gm.
His health is a prime concern right now. Will he be ready for the beginning of the season?
Looks as if the early season schedule will allow Pitt to take it slow with Fields.

Friday, Nov. 14
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
Petersen Events Center
TBA
Monday, Nov. 17
MIAMI, Ohio
Petersen Events Center
TBA
Friday, Nov. 21
Legends Classic vs. AKRON
Petersen Events Center
TBA
Saturday, Nov. 22
Legends Classic vs. IUP
Petersen Events Center
TBA
Tuesday, Nov. 25
BELMONT
Petersen Events Center
TBA

Forward DeJuan Blair had an impressive …read more

The *Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball squad, for a while anyway, is the immediate athletic focus for the school, especially with their realistic aspirations to make it to Detroit for the Final Four this April. Going into this season they carry a 37 game home winning streak, good for second best in the country.
They return four out of the top five scorers. The team is senior laden and coached by one of the most underrated coaches in college basketball, Mike Brey.
Notre Dame Basketball is a big deal.
A few reasons why they are …read more

The Sooners come into the season as under-the-radar as you can get while having one of the most talented players in the country on the roster. While Blake Griffin is now a widely known force, soon the country will discover just how good freshman guard Willie Warren is. A 6’4 combo guard, Willie will be expected to play on the wing as well as man the point, no small wonder even for the most polished guard signee the Sooners have ever had. Willie will in no way, shape, or form be handed anything right away.
In …read more

The Spartans are again wickedly athletic, versatile, deep and, yep, a likely good tease as well.
Losing Drew Neitzel won’t be as catastrophic for the Spartans as it would be for quite a few other quality teams in the country. Izzo had some depth to work with last year and that allowed fellow guard Kalin Lucas, now a sophomore, to really gain a wealth of experience. As one of the fastest players in the country, Kalin often does not need anyone to accompany him on a fast break. He’s an up tempo player of the A grade variety. …read more

In July I reckoned that because of the Augustin departure, the Longhorns would be invariably forced to spread the offensive touches around a bit, at least more so than they had to last season, possibly making this group a well rounded offensive juggernaut.
They won’t be so jump shot laden and an important reason why will be the added role of Damion James. Damion will take and make his share of 3’s, but he can pile up the buckets in a variety of ways. He hits the offensive glass with a vengeance and his athleticism allows him to finish …read more

Promising that I would release my selections…
#1
Without the unparalleled presence of Tyler Hansbrough, this year’s UNC squad might just have fallen into the trap of entitlement.

Newscom
The players could easily look around and see that every one of the starters is back… plus the sixth man, notice that turnover machine Quentin Thomas graduated, feel comfort in Roy Williams’s oversight of each drill, meeting and walk through and really, habitually, know there’s a couple mindboggling good recruits fattening the depth even more in the interior and perimeter; so it’s all good.
Then the complacency sets in and ‘flip the …read more