college basketball

By ANDREA COHEN
The Oklahoman
Saturday, July 21, 2007

Ibrahima Thomas' dad is an elementary-school teacher in Senegal. Ever since his oldest son started playing sports -- even back before he grew so very tall and his main sport was still soccer -- he had a message.

"He was always telling me, no matter what sport I do, don't let the ball use you," Thomas said.

By JEREMY FOWLER
Scripps Howard News Service
Saturday, July 21, 2007

With a basketball resting on each chair, Steve Alford shuffles back and forth, grabs and shoots.

This is a natural fit for Alford - about 15 feet from the hoop, always in motion, awaiting the inevitable swish while explaining the drill to his basketball congregation.

About 400 teenagers, who had been rambunctiously throwing Skittles in the hallway of the gym just minutes before, listen to the Indiana legend as if hearing words from on high.

Proud fathers beam from the rafters of the Franklin College gym in small-town Franklin, Ind.

"He's still the man; look at that," an adult spectator says under his breath as Alford swishes and talks with relative ease on a June afternoon.

By DENNIS BRACKIN
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

New Minnesota Gophers football coach Tim Brewster has been more visible than a politician seeking election, bombarding TV, radio, print media and the Internet with the message that his program has set its sights on the Rose Bowl.

But what about Tubby Smith? Some Gophers fans have been moved to ask "Where's Tubby?" in regard to the relatively low profile of the new men's basketball coach.

To which Smith says: "Don't worry about me.

By LONNIE WHEELER
Scripps Howard News Service
Thursday, June 07, 2007

It was shortly after his resonant recruiting triumph _ Patrick Patterson _ and also after the one that came before, without the earth tremors _ Alex Legion _ that Billy Gillispie, Kentucky's new and very happy basketball coach, was out having dinner with his staff and was approached by two engaging young ladies.

"They were probably 25, 27 years-old, and they came over to introduce themselves and introduce their dates," Gillispie was recalling Wednesday, "and they were really, really, really nice.

By CAULTON TUDOR
Raleigh News & Observer
Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Atlantic Coast Conference's basketball coaches will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the bank deposit window before they accept an expanded league regular-season schedule.

But just as sure as hearts and hopes get crushed on Selection Sunday, an 18-game ACC format is inevitable _ although unlikely for at least four more seasons.

The powerful coaches lobby is fighting a superior force: television. Specifically, television revenue.

Where sports are concerned, television gets what it wants.

And the league's television corporate partners want a bigger inventory of conference basketball games.

ACC league games simply do better in the ratings than most non-conference games. Were it up to television executives, Duke and North Carolina would play six regular-season games annually, all in prime time, and as many as possible during the February sweeps period.

That's not going to happen, but the pressure for ratings eventually will force the 12 schools to feed more frequently on each other.

It's not that an 18-game schedule would necessarily increase the size of the TV check after the league's current contract expires after the 2010-2011 season.

But going to 18 should be enough to keep the ACC from having to accept a less lucrative contract during the next round of negotiations.

What worries the coaches as much as the number 18 is what would come next. An 18-game schedule would work for a while, but then what? A 20-game schedule, that's what. Then at some point in the future, 22.

For ACC head coaches, it's a double-edged sword. Television income is a big reason why most of them earn more than a million dollars a year. But the need for that TV money eventually will create two more difficult games to win each season.

And winning conference games in the ACC isn't easy. The perfect example last season was Duke, which lost 11 games overall but only twice to non-conference opponents.

Lose enough ACC conference games and anyone could become the next Matt Doherty or Pete Gillen.

Other prominent leagues are moving in the same direction. The Big Ten and Big East soon will go to 18 games, and as much as the Pacific-10 coaches have clamored for a reduction from 18 to 16, league ADs haven't jumped aboard.

ACC fans will embrace the concept. Increasing the league schedule could make it possible for Carolina, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest to play home-away sets each season. There would probably be more league games in December and maybe one or two in November, another ratings sweeps month.

But there's give and take with any change. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge might have to end or be scaled back.

Duke and Carolina, which face the most difficult conference schedules and regularly catch the brunt of the 9 p.m. (Eastern) game starts, probably would soften their non-league schedules. Last season, UNC faced Winthrop, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Ohio State, Kentucky and Arizona. Against an 18-game conference schedule, two of those outside opponents _ probably Kentucky and Arizona _ would have been dropped.

And as much as the fans may like an 18-game schedule during the regular season, they may not be so thrilled when NCAA bids are extended.

The ACC has been down for the past two seasons, but a recovery is expected. For the majority of ACC teams, a 9-9 regular-season league record, coupled with a Thursday loss in the conference tournament, would create a lot of anxiety.

But 18 is on the way. It's just a question of when.

By CAULTON TUDOR
Raleigh News & Observer
Thursday, May 17, 2007

The Atlantic Coast Conference's basketball coaches will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the bank deposit window before they accept an expanded league regular-season schedule.

But just as sure as hearts and hopes get crushed on Selection Sunday, an 18-game ACC format is inevitable _ although unlikely for at least four more seasons.

The powerful coaches lobby is fighting a superior force: television. Specifically, television revenue.

Where sports are concerned, television gets what it wants.

And the league's television corporate partners want a bigger inventory of conference basketball games.

ACC league games simply do better in the ratings than most non-conference games. Were it up to television executives, Duke and North Carolina would play six regular-season games annually, all in prime time, and as many as possible during the February sweeps period.

That's not going to happen, but the pressure for ratings eventually will force the 12 schools to feed more frequently on each other.

It's not that an 18-game schedule would necessarily increase the size of the TV check after the league's current contract expires after the 2010-2011 season.

But going to 18 should be enough to keep the ACC from having to accept a less lucrative contract during the next round of negotiations.

What worries the coaches as much as the number 18 is what would come next. An 18-game schedule would work for a while, but then what? A 20-game schedule, that's what. Then at some point in the future, 22.

For ACC head coaches, it's a double-edged sword. Television income is a big reason why most of them earn more than a million dollars a year. But the need for that TV money eventually will create two more difficult games to win each season.

And winning conference games in the ACC isn't easy. The perfect example last season was Duke, which lost 11 games overall but only twice to non-conference opponents.

Lose enough ACC conference games and anyone could become the next Matt Doherty or Pete Gillen.

Other prominent leagues are moving in the same direction. The Big Ten and Big East soon will go to 18 games, and as much as the Pacific-10 coaches have clamored for a reduction from 18 to 16, league ADs haven't jumped aboard.

ACC fans will embrace the concept. Increasing the league schedule could make it possible for Carolina, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest to play home-away sets each season. There would probably be more league games in December and maybe one or two in November, another ratings sweeps month.

But there's give and take with any change. The ACC/Big Ten Challenge might have to end or be scaled back.

Duke and Carolina, which face the most difficult conference schedules and regularly catch the brunt of the 9 p.m. (Eastern) game starts, probably would soften their non-league schedules. Last season, UNC faced Winthrop, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Ohio State, Kentucky and Arizona. Against an 18-game conference schedule, two of those outside opponents _ probably Kentucky and Arizona _ would have been dropped.

And as much as the fans may like an 18-game schedule during the regular season, they may not be so thrilled when NCAA bids are extended.

The ACC has been down for the past two seasons, but a recovery is expected. For the majority of ACC teams, a 9-9 regular-season league record, coupled with a Thursday loss in the conference tournament, would create a lot of anxiety.

But 18 is on the way. It's just a question of when.

By
Raleigh News & Observer
Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Atlantic Coast Conference's basketball coaches oppose it. Television executives are in favor of it.

ACC officials could decide this week which side gets its way on a proposal to increase the number of conference games from 16 to 18 each season beginning in 2008-09. The issue is being debated at the league's spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla., and a vote on a scheduling change may be held Wednesday.

For the coaches, it would mean giving up two non-conference games a season. For television, it could mean two more attractive games to boost ratings and match the 18-game conference schedules in place in the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10.

On Sunday, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told The Charlotte Observer that going to an 18-game conference season would be a "huge mistake."

Other coaches said much the same, although Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg told the Observer that ACC officials probably would approve the proposal.

"The league is going to do what's in the best interests of the league and also what's in the best interests of their relationship with the television partners," Greenberg said.

A proposal to go to 18 games was defeated in the conference's May meetings three years ago, before Boston College joined the league as its 12th member.

"One of the main things that made the ACC's profile so special was its ability to play in top-flight intersectional games and tournaments throughout the season," Krzyzewski said. "In turn, this allows us to negotiate the nation's best television package. We should not forget the reason the league enjoys the notoriety of being the best basketball conference in the country."

Ken Haines, president and CEO of Raycom Sports, the league's TV package syndicator, said that he favors an 18-game schedule.

"Common sense indicates that the more you have them playing each other, the more attractive the schedule is, as long as it's not at the expense of marquee matchups with non-conference opponents," he said.

Haines said the TV contracts, which end after the 2010-2011 season, probably would not be renegotiated before then.

It also would present some interesting choices for the coaches: keeping a big non-conference game for TV exposure and recruiting benefits, or scheduling a lesser team that might guarantee a win and possibly help with reaching the NCAA Tournament.