ESPN Men's Basketball

1. Ohio State and Marquette are in negotiations to play on a naval ship in Charleston, S.C., on or around Veteran’s Day, according to multiple sources familiar with their scheduling. The game would be organized by Morale Entertainment, the same group that set up the USS Carl Vinson game on 11-11-11 between North Carolina and Michigan State. Ohio State’s other marquee games are at Duke in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, while also hosting Kansas in a return game. Marquette is in the Maui Invitational with North Carolina, Texas, Butler, Illinois, Mississippi State, USC and host Chaminade. The Golden Eagles are waiting to see who they will play in the SEC-Big East Challenge. But they have games against LSU in a return situation, host rival Wisconsin, and are at Green Bay in what overall should be the toughest nonconference slate under Buzz Williams.

2. Kansas had struggled to find a quality home game, so the Jayhawks went to an old friend, former player and league rival. Colorado and Tad Boyle, who played at Kansas and coaches Colorado, are finalizing a deal with the Jayhawks to do a two-year home-and-home series, starting in Lawrence. The Buffaloes reached the NCAA tournament third round last season, losing to Baylor in Albuquerque. Kansas had no ill will toward the Buffaloes when they left the Big 12 for the Pac-12, unlike rival Missouri. Re-starting this series is good for both leagues and programs.

3. The A-10 followed the Big East’s lead by declaring during its meetings Thursday that any school that is ineligible for the NCAA postseason cannot participate in its championships. The A-10 doesn’t have any school facing a penalty, but wanted to do this just in case it occurs. The Big East had to make this rule after UConn was banned from the 2013 postseason due to poor APR scores. The same thing is happening in the CAA with Towson and UNCW. The Big East changed its bylaws, preventing a school that is not allowed to go to the postseason to play in its championships. The CAA has the same rule. That means UConn, Towson and UNCW cannot play in the 2013 Big East or CAA, tournaments, respectively.

1. The Atlantic 10 will discuss and then likely decide Thursday on how it will schedule with 15 teams next season, according to commissioner Bernadette McGlade. The A-10, which will wrap up spring meetings Thursday, will have 15 schools in the league because VCU left the CAA immediately. Temple and Charlotte don’t leave for the Big East and C-USA, respectively, until 2013. The A-10 will add Butler in the fall of 2013. Xavier coach Chris Mack said one format discussed was to have each team have two partners (four games) and then play the other 10 five home/five road. McGlade said the A-10 has been looking at creative alternatives.

2. Baylor picked up a road game with Kentucky, adding again to the Bears' solid schedule. Bears coach Scott Drew said Baylor will also play at Gonzaga in a return game from two years ago in Dallas, and also will host Northwestern and BYU. The Bears are one of the marquee teams in the Charleston Classic with Murray State, Colorado, St. John’s and Dayton. Auburn, Boston College and the College of Charleston are also in the field. Baylor will get plenty of power-rating pop for this schedule, especially with the addition of Kentucky. No one should be surprised that the return game is in a neutral setting at Cowboys Stadium. Duke and North Carolina have done similar scheduling agreements many times.

3. Class move by new Illinois State coach Dan Muller to retain the coach he beat out for the job in Illinois State assistant Rob Judson. Judson didn’t have a job after losing out to Muller since Tim Jankovich left for a coach-in-waiting position at SMU. Judson and Muller made the mature decision that this was the best move for all parties to keep the Redbirds near the top of the Missouri Valley after losing in the tournament title game against Creighton. Muller clearly showed that he is comfortable in his own skin to hire Judson. This kind of move is certainly a rarity, not the norm.

To go along with today's feature story on the return of the dominant shot-blockers, here’s my list of the nation’s best. If your favorite guy is missing from the list, let me know (@MedcalfByESPN or mmedcalf3030@gmail.com). But this is not just based on raw numbers. Efficiency is certainly a factor.

Could Nerlens Noel end up being the best swatter in college next season? Yes. In fact, probably. But it's hard to put him No. 1 five months before Midnight Madness.

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John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/MCT/Getty ImagesKansas' Jeff Withey had 31 blocks in last season's NCAA tournament, a new record.
1. Jeff Withey (Kansas): He finished the year No. 1 on Ken Pomeroy’s block-percentage chart (a rate determined by an opponent’s two-point attempts) and is the top returning shot-blocker entering the 2012-13 season, after a phenomenal Final Four that concluded with a record for blocks in a single NCAA tournament (31). With Withey inside, Kansas should remain on its Big 12 perch next season.
2. Gorgui Dieng (Louisville): Withey and Anthony Davis dominated the headlines in March. But Dieng (3.2 blocks per game), a 6-foot-11 sophomore from Senegal, was a very talented shot-blocker, too. He offered a sneak preview in New Orleans by blocking four shots in the national semifinals against Kentucky. Next season, however, he’ll be a star for a top-5 program.
3. Nerlens Noel (Kentucky): I’ve never seen a high school player dominate his peers the way Noel did during the Peach Jam AAU tournament last year. He’s a special talent. Anthony Davis claims Noel is the better shot-blocker between the two of them, and that’s not a crazy concept. It’s just scary for every team that’s scheduled to face Kentucky next season.
4. C.J. Aiken (St. Joseph’s): In a 10-point victory over No. 22 Temple in February, Aiken scored five points. But his five blocks were vital in that upset. You have to appreciate the fact that Aiken is still raw in many ways. I saw him live in Philly a few years ago and watched a bunch of St. Joe’s games this season. And I think he’s on the cusp of emerging on the national radar with his high-octane defense (3.5 blocks per game). Growing every year.
5. Isaiah Austin (Baylor): Another special talent. He’s so athletic and versatile that he played some point guard on the AAU circuit. Austin, a McDonald’s All-America center, averaged 5.0 blocks per game as a senior in high school. He’ll have a similar impact in the Big 12 next season, probably his only year as a collegiate player. His 7-foot-1 frame hasn’t filled out yet but his length and shot-blocking will be a problem for the rest of the conference.
6. Zeke Marshall (Akron): He’s an under-the-radar defensive force. But the MAC knows all about his shot-blocking skills. Mississippi State’s Arnett Moultrie had one of his worst games of the season against the Zips due to Marshall’s defense. The 7-footer blocked 2.9 shots per game. And he altered even more.
7. Rhamel Brown (Manhattan): Here’s why you have to love advanced statistics: Brown, a sophomore at Manhattan last season, averaged 2.4 blocks per game for the Jaspers. But he finished second behind Withey on Pomeroy’s block percentage rankings. He’s only 6-foot-6, but Brown disrupts offenses at a high level.
8. Steven Adams (Pittsburgh): Yes, another freshman on the list. Another guy who hasn’t competed in a collegiate game yet. But I think Davis’ success last season means these youngsters earn early credit on potential alone. This 7-footer has been a beast on the AAU and prep circuits. The standout from New Zealand also has international experience. So he’ll be a young veteran for a Pitt team that needs his physical presence inside. Adams has the athleticism to be a great shot-blocker at this level.
9. Hunter Mickelson (Arkansas): As a 6-foot-10 freshman on a lackluster Razorbacks squad, Mickelson averaged 2.3 blocks in 17.1 minutes per game. He’s an efficient defender who was fourth in the SEC in blocks per contest. And he finished fifth on Pomeroy’s block percentage chart. He’s still raw but the future seems bright for Mickelson.
10. Damian Eargle (Youngstown State): First, he has the best name on this board. But he’s an equally talented defender who squeezed 3.7 blocks out of his 6-foot-7 frame. Youngstown State struggled in most Horizon League stat categories but the squad led the conference in blocked shots thanks to Eargle, who was a junior last season.

Jeff Withey set a record for blocks in a single NCAA tournament with 31 total in the 2012 edition of the Big Dance. He’s returning for his senior year as a key leader for a Kansas team that lost lottery pick Thomas Robinson and talented veteran Tyshawn Taylor.

Withey talked about basketball, the national title game and next season in a Q&A with ESPN.com.

What kind of player would you like to be for the Jayhawks next year?

Jeff Withey: I definitely want to be a scorer next year. I feel like I have to be with Thomas leaving. That’s going to be a big gap. I’m definitely working on my game. My post moves. My midrange game. Last year, I felt like people backed off me whenever I caught it at the high post. I definitely want to be able to hit that open jumper. It’s going to be tough with coach [Danny] Manning leaving, but we’ve got some good coaches. … I’m pretty much just worried about gaining weight right now, going to the gym to shoot a ton of shots. But I definitely want to become that guy who can hit that open jump shot and give it to me on the block and be able to make a move. I definitely want to play that role.

I’m going to be doing a lot of stuff later in the summer. I’m going to Amare Stoudemire camp. I’ll definitely learn some things there.

After a strong NCAA tournament, why did you decide against going pro?

JW: I definitely considered it. It was definitely a dream of mine to play in the NBA. I thought about it. I talked to my parents about it. I talked to my coaches about it. At the end of the day, I felt like it was better to come and graduate and maybe go a lot higher than I was projected to go.

How will this team change without Robinson and Taylor?

JW: We’ve got some really good young guys coming in. We’ve got Perry Ellis coming in. We’ve got this guy named Zach [Peters] that’s coming in. We’re excited about our team. We still have a strong core of seniors: me, Elijah [Johnson], Travis [Releford] and Kevin Young who came off the bench last year is going to be a senior also. We’ve got some good experience. Going that far in the tournament, I feel like you learn so much about basketball and just, we’ll be able to kind of coach the young guys and help Coach [Bill] Self in getting them right and what to expect. I feel like, hopefully, we’re going to be right back in it next year. I’m excited.

Have you watched the national title game yet?

JW: No. I can’t watch it. I can’t watch it. I was thinking about doing it when I was flying back home to San Diego. Our film guy put it on my iPad, but I didn’t want to watch it.

How did Jayhawk doubters prior to the start of last year affect the team’s overall performance?

JW: In the beginning of the season, nobody picked us to go as far as we did or win the Big 12. We saw it as kind of fuel. We didn’t want to be that team that lost it. We’ve won eight straight now. To lose that title would just be different. We didn’t want to be those guys to lose. So we definitely used it as fuel, especially in the tournament. We felt like every time we played, we felt like everyone was saying we were going to lose and not make it very far. Missouri was going to do this and that. Missouri’s our rival so we wanted to upstage them, of course. It’s just a great way that this whole year went. It went perfect for us. It was awesome.

1. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said the Irish have extended their commitment to the Crossroads Classic for another two seasons. Brey expects the event to continue and be a fixture on the Irish’s schedule. Notre Dame lost badly to Indiana last season while Butler beat Purdue in thrilling fashion in the first event. Next season, in what will be the second of the initial two-year deal, will pit Notre Dame against Purdue and Indiana against Butler. Brey said the rotation of Notre Dame and Butler alternating with the two in-state Big Ten schools would continue in 2013 and 2014. The coach doesn’t anticipate playing Butler in a separate game since it might be hard to justify playing another in-state school, even one as highly rated and respected as Butler.

2. College basketball is in an era of transfers and another example of this is the attention 5-foot-9 Illinois State freshman Nic Moore is commanding. Moore had a solid freshman season for Tim Jankovich and the Redbirds -- averaging 10 points, 3.9 assists and 2.3 turnovers a game. Jankovich went to SMU to be coach-in-waiting, Vanderbilt assistant Dan Muller was hired, and now Moore wants out. As is the case with every transfer, there are suitors lining up. Notre Dame is in line with Illinois and Purdue for Moore’s services.

3. Davidson got plenty of mileage by beating Kansas in a neutral-site game in Kansas City early last season. Now Wildcats coach Bob McKillop is looking for a similar matchup. He said he called Texas coach Rick Barnes and told him he would love to play the Longhorns in Houston or Dallas at a neutral-but-Texas-leaning game. Davidson is in the Old Spice Classic, is playing Duke in Charlotte on the Bobcats’ home court, and is trying to get a single game at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Kansas is playing Oregon State in the same game in KC that Davidson played last season. The Jayhawks are still desperately seeking a major home game on its schedule.

Incoming freshmen should anticipate major adjustments at the Division I level. The players are bigger, stronger and faster.

But the uptick in competition is only part of the transition from high school to college. The 21st-century college basketball player should understand off-court expectations, too.

They're all about adhering to proper swagger etiquette.

I hope you all have notepads ready. Here’s what you’ll need to get ready for Division I basketball off the floor:

• An Instagram account: Twitter is so 2011. These days, college basketball players send messages through photos via Instagram. It’s a cool tool. You take photos, attach a brief memo and ship the image to the world. Or if you’re Jared Sullinger, you send photos of text-message exchanges with other All-America forwards. You need this. Trust me.
• Friendships with rappers: Blame Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins. Lil Wayne’s highly publicized crush on the talented guard dramatically increased her street cred and Twitter follower count. Jay-Z sat behind Kentucky’s bench during the Final Four. Romeo Miller (the onetime Lil' Romeo who now just goes by Romeo) didn’t just support USC basketball. He actually joined the team. Find a rapper. Become his friend.
• Fashionable specs: I know. You have 20/20 vision. Doesn’t matter. This is all about style. I learned about this recent development in college basketball fashion from Michigan State’s Adreian Payne. He says his black glasses project sophistication. It’s either that or an affinity for Clark Kent.
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Kelly Kline/Getty ImagesNerlens Noel brings a signature coif to Kentucky ... but does he have the right backpack?
• The Kevin Durant backpack: Throw the gym bag in the trash. That’s old school. You need a backpack. Not a normal backpack. You won’t haul anything in it. You need a backpack that’s also a fashion statement. Durant’s backpack -- one he wears to postgame press conferences -- started this trend.
• Access to a state-of-the-art facility: Florida State’s players get access to their team’s practice facility by placing their hands on some sort of “Star Trek” detection device. Indiana’s facility features underwater treadmills in the training room, his and hers gyms for the men’s and women’s squads and an atrium that doubles as a museum for Indiana basketball. Players’ lounges -- think college kids bonding, not “Shaft” -- are standard, too. And then, there’s Oklahoma State’s basketball facility. Is that legal?
• Trend-setting hair: Nerlens Noel is covered. But what about the rest of the incoming freshmen? Will your hair matter? It definitely did for Wisconsin’s Mike Bruesewitz. Stores in Madison sell wigs of his former curly-afro look. Still waiting for the cornrows version. The hair on top of St. Louis guard Jordair Jett’s head can only be described as majestic. Talk to your barber about this.
• Beats by Dre headphones: Yes, they’re $300 headphones, but a multitude of college players wears them and, somehow, purchases them. They’re a necessity, I guess. You either have a pair of mammoth Beats by Dre headphones or you don’t wear headphones in public as a Division I basketball player. I don’t think the headphones offer a real advantage over their competitors. But, they’re the norm for college basketball players. The obsession with Dr. Dre’s headphones among NBA players has certainly trickled down. Even high school players demand them now. Put it on the shopping list.

Feel free to add on …

1. Being on the NCAA tournament selection committee has become a bad omen for athletic directors or commissioners keeping their jobs, with a third member losing his day job while on the committee. Last year, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe was fired and had to step away from the committee; he was ultimately replaced by Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione. Then, UConn athletic director and chair Jeff Hathaway was forced to “retire.” He had to take a faux consultant job with the Big East to stay on the committee. Hathaway is now the athletic director at Hofstra. The latest to lose his job is SMU AD Steve Orsini, abruptly fired Thursday. Chair Mike Bobinski of Xavier and new NCAA vice president Mark Lewis will now have to huddle to find a replacement for Orsini on the committee. If they stay in the Big East/Conference USA area, they should look at USF AD Doug Woolard, Big East associate commissioner Dan Gavitt or East Carolina AD Terry Holland.

2. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Kentucky’s Anthony Davis -- the consensus No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft -- brings shot-blocking, something the U.S. Olympic team may need this summer in London. Davis’ chances have risen due to the injury to Orlando’s Dwight Howard. Krzyzewski said Davis isn’t “trying out” for the team; rather, Davis is now in the pool of players who may be selected. Krzyzewski said it would be good to get Davis indoctrinated right away into USA Basketball. “He’s a great talent and a good kid," Krzyzewski said. “Hopefully we don’t get any more guys hurt."

3. Organizers for the Battle 4 Atlantis -- the top non-conference tournament -- won’t decide on the bracket until August for the November event. The event, at the Atlantis Hotel on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, could put all eight teams in the NCAA tournament. They are: Louisville, Duke, Stanford, Missouri, Minnesota, Memphis, VCU and Northern Iowa.

The last time we checked in on the Border War -- Kansas and Missouri's century-old blood feud, currently cancelled by conference realignment -- it was just two weeks after Kansas's run to the national title game.

The setting: an elementary school in Lee's Summit, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City. The crime: A school administrator played the Kansas fight song on the day of the national title game. The principal may have thought this was a fun and lighthearted activity designed to lighten the mood at the start of another school day, but that principal thought wrong. Missouri fans -- some of which went so far as to accuse the principal of attempted KU "indoctrination" -- were not happy.

Unfortunately, the latest batch of Mizzou-KU-related hatred is not quite as entertaining as that. But give credit to Kansas City Star writer Rustin Dodd, who opens his story on the matter with a truly tremendous lede:

There’s an old saying in college sports: If one school refuses to play you, then you can be darn sure you don’t let that school have specialized license plates in your state.

Wait, what?

As Dodd explains, "word leaked out" last week that the University of Kansas Alumni Association was attempting to get KU-themed vanity license plates approved by Missouri lawmakers. The horror! Naturally, to prevent this egregious crime against humanity, two brave Missouri state senators took time out of their busy schedules to stand up for the rights of Missouri fans everywhere.

“With the long-standing rivalry between Mizzou and KU, I find it appalling that the creation of this license plate would be conceived in the Show-Me State,” Sen. Stouffer said.

Indeed. To be fair to the Missouri folks, Kansas's alumni association has a history of trolling other states for acceptance of the vanity plate. A few years back, it even tried to get one approved in North Carolina, before finding out the state required a presale of at least 1,300 plates before a new one could be approved. The alumni association's director of alumni programs, Danny Lewis, even admitted to the trolling:

“Our group in North Carolina wanted to annoy the Duke and North Carolina grads by getting KU license plates out there,” Lewis said, adding, “We approach everything state by state.”

KU has plates in Maryland and Texas, if that helps, and it does have a rather large alumni base in Missouri, of course ... but, well, yeah: I'm going to go ahead and assume there aren't many Missouri lawmakers who want to be labeled as backstabbing KU-loving traitors, simply because they approved a license-plate plan.

And so the Border War lives on. Unfortunately, these programs won't continue to settle things the good old-fashioned way: on the court. Instead, their fans will have to continue to find other outlets. Message boards, elementary schools, automotive flair -- really, the options are endless. Even if the series itself isn't.

Six weeks after his team finished a somewhat-surprising season with a march to the NCAA title game, Kansas coach Bill Self ducked out of Lawrence last weekend for a vacation with a couple of buddies.

Destination: Cabo San Lucas.

“It wasn’t awful,” Self said of his trip. “I promise you that.”

It was tough for staff members not to be jealous of Self when he returned to work at Allen Fieldhouse Monday, tanned, refreshed and relaxed.

Self is glad he snuck the trip in when he could. The Jayhawks hosted a recruit on Monday and Tuesday, Self’s basketball camps are slated for next month, and most of July will be spent on the road recruiting.

Kansas has won eight straight Big 12 titles and averaged a national-best 33 wins over the past six seasons. As difficult as it’s been to reach that level of excellence, Self knows maintaining it will be even tougher.

“We’ve set the bar pretty high around here,” he said.

Self spent some time Tuesday answering questions from ESPN.com.

What sort of feedback have you received since your march to the NCAA title game?

Bill Self: From recruits, the [response] has been positive. We probably won’t know as much from them until the November signing period, because that’s when we’ll hopefully capitalize on our run to the finals. I think the fans are excited around here. Everyone is disappointed we lost to [Kentucky] but, on the flip side, I think this is a team that really got a lot further than everyone probably anticipated we would have. So with that, everyone thinks it was a great campaign.

You’ve won eight straight Big 12 titles and have been to four Elite Eights and two Final Fours since arriving at Kansas. How confident are you that next season’s team can continue that trend of high-level success?

BS: They told me the other day that we’ve averaged 33 wins over the last six years. So the past teams have set the bar pretty high. I never thought this past year’s team would get to 32 [wins], to be honest -- especially with the way we started. I don’t see how in the world, playing in the Big 12, that next year’s team can get to that level. But players do rise up to the challenge around here. We lost two great players in Thomas [Robinson] and Tyshawn [Taylor]. We’re going to have to have some guys step up and some newcomers step up and be good for us. But I do like our guys. I think we’ll have a chance to be a pretty good team.

Since you mentioned newcomers, Ben McLemore, who redshirted last season, has received a lot of hype of the last 12 months. Is he as good as advertised?

BS: From an athletic standpoint, he’s about as impressive of a kid as we’ve had. He’s got great feet. He could be a good defender. There aren’t too many guys that can score that want to be told they could be a great defender. But he could be. He could be a terrific defender. We think he’s going to be really good. We think Jamari Traylor is going to be really good, too. But these guys don’t know what they’re doing. Even though they’ve been here for a semester practicing with us, it’s still going to be all brand new to them. But they both have a chance to impact this program in a big way, and I would anticipate it being next year.

As good of a season as he had last year, what can center Jeff Withey do to enhance his game even more?

BS: To me, Jeff is a guy that has probably improved about as much during the course of a season as anyone I’ve been around. He goes from being a guy who couldn’t get in the game two years ago to just barely getting in last year to now, he (owns) the all-time record in the NCAA tournament for blocked shots, and there have been some pretty good players in the NCAA tournament. Offensively, he’s got to get stronger. He’s got to get to where he’s the No. 1 option inside, whereas last year he played off of Thomas. I think he’s capable. I just think he’s got to get stronger.

Any early thoughts on the Big 12?

BS: Our league is always going to be good. Adding TCU and West Virginia offsets the loss to Texas A&M and Missouri. It gets us an opportunity to play another game in the [Dallas-Fort Worth] metroplex, and of course we get a personality coming into in the league in Huggs (Bob Huggins). Our league, basketball-wise, will not take a step backward. We’ll take a step sideways because it’s different personnel. But not a step backward. I think we’ll have a great shot to be one of the top three or four leagues in the country, as we have been, for the most part, year in and year out.

Would you like to see the Big 12 add a few more teams, or do you like it at 10?

BS: To be honest with you, I thought nine was the perfect number. Because that way you’re playing 16 league games and, in football, everybody plays eight game. But I understand the reasoning why you’d want to go to 10 or 12. Without question, I understand the reasoning. It gives you more of an appearance of stability and more of a safety net as conference realignment continues to develop. Hopefully the brakes have been put on that, at least for the short term. But I anticipate us expanding. We’ve even heard rumors here recently about a school from the ACC (Florida State) potentially looking to come our way. I think you’ll have more and more of that talk. Because the Big 12, at least from an appearance standpoint, is on the best footing it’s been on in a long time.

The NBA draft is less than two months away. Everyone knows Thomas Robinson will likely be a top five pick, but what about Tyshawn Taylor?

BS: We’ve been in a situation like a lot of schools have, where NBA scouts get a chance to see your guys in practice and in multiple games. There’s no telling how many (NBA) teams watched our last eight or nine games. You come away impressed [with Taylor], but once you see him in person, and in an individual workout, you’ll be even more impressed. He’s a good workout-guy. He’s good technique-wise, he’s got great fundamentals, he’ll show that he can shoot it, because he can. He just didn’t shoot it well in the tournament, but he shot it well for us, for the most part, all season long. He’s definitely a first-round talent. Whether he’s able to get in there ... that remains to be seen because of what certain teams may be looking for. But I’ve had some good players, and he’s definitely a first-round talent.

Let me start by saying this is not a definitive list. There are hundreds of talented assistant coaches around the country.

The following, however, is a list of coaches 40 years old and under who have put themselves in a position to earn a head-coaching job in the future.

1. Orlando Antigua (Kentucky): The former Pitt standout helped John Calipari sign another top-ranked recruiting class. He’s also assisted Calipari in developing the young prodigies who have come to Lexington. After Kentucky won the national title in April, Antigua was a candidate for multiple jobs, including Duquesne. It’s just a matter of time before he’s leading his own show. He turns 40 next year.
2. Travis Steele (Xavier): Xavier has produced some of the top coaches in the country (Skip Prosser, Sean Miller, Thad Matta, John Groce). Current coach Chris Mack says assistant Steele, 27, is next in line. The Butler graduate has been on Mack’s staff for the past three seasons. Mack says Steele, who has helped develop and recruit the players who have led Xavier to four Sweet 16 appearances in five seasons, is “3-4 years” away from a head-coaching gig.
3. Tim Fuller (Missouri): When opposing coaches say you’re on the rise, that means something. Fuller has amassed a solid reputation in coaching circles. After just a season with the Tigers, Frank Haith promoted Fuller to associate head coach. Fuller, who played at Wake Forest from 1997-2000, is just 34. But his stock is rising fast.
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Cal Sport Media/AP Images Duke's Steve Wojciechowski is a hot coaching commodity after having won two national titles as an assistant to Mike Krzyzewski.
4. Steve Wojciechowski (Duke): The 35-year-old might be Coach K’s heir after a lengthy stint as one of his top assistants. He started out as an assistant in 1999 but was promoted to associate head coach in 2008. “Wojo” was known for slapping the floor on defense during his playing career and he’s equally passionate on the sidelines for the Blue Devils, who have won two national titles during his tenure.
5. Adrian Autry (Syracuse): The former Orange standout joined the staff prior to last season. And during a tumultuous year that included the firing of Bernie Fine over sexual abuse allegations and the dismissal of Fab Melo, the 39-year-old helped the program remain focused. He’s a reputable recruiter with strong ties to the D.C. area, connections that helped the Orange lock up the No. 15 recruiting class in 2012, according to ESPN.com.
6. Mike Rhoades (VCU): In a short span, Rhoades has gone from a Division III assistant at Randolph-Macon (Ashland, Va.) to a top assistant under Shaka Smart. VCU has been defined by its gritty defense, better-than-they’re-ranked prospects and passion. Rhoades has helped the Rams embrace every tenet of Smart’s philosophy, one that helped VCU reach the Final Four last season. “He’s great,” Smart says.
7. Jeff Boals (Ohio State): The former Ohio forward joined Matta’s staff in 2009. The Buckeyes have enjoyed success in all areas during his time with the program. He’s helped Matta develop top players such as Jared Sullinger and Evan Turner. And he’s an energetic and effective recruiter. Boals, 39, won’t be an assistant for long.
8. Kevin Ollie (UConn): The program went south last season. But the year that preceded it ended with a national title. And Ollie was credited with equipping Kemba Walker & Co. for that run with his coaching on and off the floor. Ollie might take over the Huskies' program if Jim Calhoun retires. But even if he doesn’t, he’ll be an attractive candidate for multiple openings in the near future.
9. Matthew Graves (Butler): Last year, Brad Stevens promoted Graves, who’s in his late 30s, to an associate head-coaching position, a credit to his role in the program’s success. You don’t reach back-to-back national title games as a mid-major program by accident. Stevens and his staff put the program on the national map. With a move to the Atlantic 10, the Bulldogs will attain even more national exposure. And Graves, who’s been vital to the program’s efforts in recent years, will end up on a multitude of lists once jobs open up again after next season.
10. James Whitford (Arizona): Sean Miller’s longtime assistant was pursued by Miami (Ohio) in the offseason but decided to stay in Tucson, where he helped the Wildcats sign one of the top recruiting classes in the country. The Wildcats struggled during the 2011-12 campaign. But with Mark Lyons and some talented recruits headed to Arizona, the Wildcats could win the Pac-12 next season. It’s easy to see why Whitford, 40, stayed put.

Former Kansas State coach Frank Martin has been exasperated. Any time anybody writes about his decision to move from K-State to South Carolina, any time he fields questions about the move, he is asked about some supposed breakdown in his relationship with his former athletic director Jim Currie. He denies it, time and again. In late April, Martin made a pretty good point to back up his case:

"I was happy there. Obviously, there's a team in place that can challenge for that Big 12 championship," he said. "We left a lot of good behind. You don't do that because you're unhappy."

Regardless of the motivations, he's right: Martin left talent behind for new coach Bruce Weber, talent that looks ideal for Weber's style and should make his transition from Champaign, Ill., to Manhattan, Kan., much easier than most.

Years ago, before Weber ran aground with a group of players he begged and pleaded and still couldn't get to defend -- Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale, Mike Davis, and assorted others from the past five seasons -- Weber built his reputation on hard man-to-man defense. Even when his teams were bad, like the 2008 team that went 16-19, it defended hard in the half-court to the tune of a top-25 adjusted defensive efficiency mark (per KenPom). This is what Weber does, what all of his teams, if they're to be successful, must do: defend with man-to-man.

The returners from Martin's 2012 Kansas State squad will be plenty familiar with this concept. Martin's team played almost all man defense last season, and played it well, ranked No. 21 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. The Wildcats weren't the best defensive rebounding team in the country, and they fouled much too often to be elite, but they did do two things well: They challenged shots (opponents averaged a 46.0 effective FG percentage) and created turnovers (ranking No. 27 in the country in turnover rate). That is the fingerprint of a defense that got after you, to use a phrase, the exact kind of team Weber has spent years trying to build on his own at Illinois.

Even better -- almost everyone returns. Senior Jamar Samuels is the only missing piece from the 2012 squad. Backcourt stalwarts Angel Rodriguez, Rodney McGruder and Will Spradling are all back. Jordan Henriquez, Thomas Gipson and Adrian Diaz will form a frontcourt with not one but two (Henriquez and Diaz) 7-footers in the fold. That is a big, physical team, one that can dominate the boards and guard with strength out to 25 feet, just the way Weber likes. As he told ESPN's Jason King in King's excellent feature, published Friday:

"I even told our guys, 'You can't forget who you are. You won [under Martin] because of rebounding, toughness and defense. Don't lose that.' Now if we can add a little more offensive [structure], maybe we can take another step."

Defense should be a baseline for this squad; offense will be harder to come by. The big, tough, physical thing cuts both ways: Kansas State was a good offensive rebounding team, one of the six best in the country, in 2012. But it turned the ball over too often and wasn't efficient from the field, particularly from the 3-point line, where it shot just 33.5 percent last season. Weber has a system for that, a classic motion offense, and it may pay dividends for a balanced, egoless team. That's always the biggest challenge -- and the one Weber's teams struggled with most in recent years, particularly in 2012's disaster -- so we'll see.

Any way you look at it, though, Weber couldn't possibly be walking into a better situation. He's a defensive coach, borne of the Big Ten, who wants his teams to play with toughness first and touch later. That's exactly what this Kansas State team is. It's already ready. Barring surprises, this team will guard the Big 12 like crazy next season. It will push and prod and poke and rebound and frustrate some of the best offensive teams in the country.

We know this team can defend. We know Weber can coach defense. You do the math. What's not to like?

1. Indiana now has an open date with the Kentucky series dead and Kansas wants to fill the Hoosiers schedule with a game. One Kansas official said the Jayhawks would gladly start a home-and-home with Indiana, beginning next season in Lawrence. Indiana would have gone to Kentucky if the series had continued. Kansas and Indiana were in initial discussions of playing a game after the Final Four, but those talks were shelved. Memphis wanted to play Kansas in a home-and-home series and was willing to start on the road but the Jayhawks weren’t interested. Now, Indiana will have to make a decision as to how high profile a game it will put in Kentucky’s place on the schedule.

2. Hubert Davis wasn’t looking to become a head coach. But once he’s on the North Carolina staff he will become a potential contender for the job if he is a success as an assistant. Think about it: What natural North Carolina offspring is out there that would be the heir apparent to Roy Williams? There is no slam dunk and Williams’ current staff came with him from Kansas and wasn’t part of the Dean Smith lineage. It’s not a reach to consider Davis as a possible head coach if he wants to continue this career. He hasn’t started yet but he is part of the Carolina royalty and it is a job that must/will be kept in house.

3. The NBA put out its official early-entry list for the draft and there was one name that jumped out: Florida Atlantic’s Raymond Taylor. When Mike Jarvis signed Taylor he said that he was getting a Shawnta Rogers-like point guard for his team. Rogers was a point at George Washington under Jarvis. Taylor never led FAU to the NCAA tournament and according to the staff considered himself a “pro.” Taylor, and a number of other fringe draft entrants, better hope they get an invite to the Minnesota and New Jersey draft camps later this month before the NBA’s official one in Chicago next month.

It's no secret: 2011-12 was not West Virginia's best year on the basketball court. That's not the same as calling it a bad year: The Mountaineers still managed to eek out a 9-9 record in the Big East, and they still managed to sneak in to the NCAA tournament before losing to Gonzaga in the first round, and there are plenty of teams that wish they could say the same.

Still, 2012 was not the finest hour in Bob Huggins' tenure at WVU, mostly because his team was often so difficult to watch. Aesthetic value only goes so far, sure, but the Mountaineers were such a poor shooting team, and such a mediocre defensive unit, that their games often came down to a) whether Kevin Jones could carry the load and b) which team rebounded its own misses more frequently. These games were scrums, and they were ugly. Even the most loyal West Virginia fan had to occasionally avert her eyes.

So: What does 2012-13 have in store? The Mountaineers, as you already know, are joining the Big 12. Can Huggy's team compete -- or even contend -- in their new-look league?

If not, it will not be for a lack of talent. Huggins loses Jones and senior guard Daryl "Truck" Bryant, his two leading scorers from last year's campaign, to graduation. The loss of the do-everything Jones -- an adept scorer and dominant offensive rebounder and a four-year stalwart at his position -- will require a particularly difficult adjustment. But despite that loss, Huggins is in many ways reloading. And he has transfers to thank for that.

If West Virginia does indeed plan to compete for the Big 12 title in 2012-13, it may well come down to the play of Aaric Murray, a former La Salle forward, and Juwan Staten, a transfer point guard from Dayton. Both bring tons of talent. At 6-foot-10, Murray is a potential NBA prospect; as a sophomore at La Salle, he grabbed 19.0 percent of opponents' misses and recorded a block on 7.6 percent of available possessions. (He also shot 20-of-57 from 3 that season. There is versatility here, too.) Staten, meanwhile, was one of the nation's best assist men in 2011, his freshman season at Dayton, when his 39.8 percent assist rate ranked him No. 10 in the country. Staten took his fair shot of shots that season (304, to be exact), but his pass-first tendencies nonetheless shone through.

West Virginia is also bringing along a crop of 2012 freshmen -- notably Jabarie Hinds and Gary Browne, but Aaron Brown, Keaton Miles and Kevin Noreen all received solid minutes in their first seasons -- as well as one ESPNU 100 talent in No. 12-ranked power forward Elijah Macon, a Columbus, Ohio native who did his hooping and schooling at Huntington Prep. Big-bodied and ably bearded forward Deniz Kilicli returns, and hopefully he will play "Country Roads" on his guitar at Midnight Madness again. That was awesome.

Still, the key players to watch are Murray and Staten, and Staten may prove to be the most important; he offers as much promise as trepidation. Staten is the kind of facilitative point guard the Mountaineers have desperately lacked in recent seasons, particularly when Bryant was running the show. (Hinds and Browne both recorded assist rates above 20 this past season, but West Virginia's offense was hardly flowing.) If Staten is content to be that kind of player, and Murray and Kilicli and Huggins' other forwards hit the glass with the usual Hugginsian intensity, then West Virginia is almost guaranteed to improve in 2012-13. But if Staten is still mired in some of the things that precipitated his Dayton transfer in the first place -- bad chemistry with teammates, a bad reputation among his coaches, those sort of things -- the Mountaineers are going to struggle early and often on both ends of the floor.

There are many uncertainties for this team, from two bigtime transfers to a batch of freshmen with a year of experience under their belts, to a freshman power forward that may or may not make an immediate impact. Until Huggins gets his players on the floor in the fall, the best West Virginia fans can do is picture it in their mind's eye. Midnight Madness will be a fascinating experience, no doubt (and not just for Kilicli's strumming). But if all goes well, the team WVU fans see in 2012-13 could be much improved, capable -- at least -- of battling in the top half of its new league in its first Big 12 season.

At the very worst, this team should be more entertaining -- or, you know, less difficult to watch. For a squad with this many questions, the Mountaineers may offer some potentially exciting answers.

1. Texas coach Rick Barnes and NC State coach Mark Gottfried confirmed Jimmy V Classic matchups for Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden. Texas will play Georgetown and NC State will play Connecticut. Texas has a terrific schedule again with an appearance in the Maui Invitational, hosting North Carolina (meaning the Tar Heels and Longhorns will be in opposite brackets in Maui), play UCLA in Houston and traveling to Michigan State. NC State is the headline team in Puerto Rico in November, hosts Stanford and possibly will get Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on the road. The ACC is going to 18-league games next season, too, which improves the Wolfpack schedule with two games against Duke and Florida State as well as North Carolina.

2. Kansas coach Bill Self said the Jayhawks are desperate for a quality home-and-home series, starting in Lawrence next season. KU originally talked to Indiana but that deal fell through. The Jayhawks are in the CBE Classic with Saint Louis as the other high-profile team. The Jayhawks also have the Champions Classic game against Michigan State in Atlanta, return a game at Ohio State and get Temple at home. That’s still a very strong slate. But Self said the Jayhawks are looking for a new series at home and are struggling to find one.

3. Bruce Weber said when he took the Kansas State job he had to finish the schedule. The Wildcats already had a return game against Florida in Kansas City and are in the NIT Season Tip-Off as one of the four hosts (Pitt, Virginia and Michigan are the other three). Weber finished the marquee portion of the schedule by signing up to play in the Battle of Seattle against Gonzaga. Weber had enjoyed his series with the Zags at Illinois and wanted to continue to challenge the Wildcats. “It’s a fine line,’’ Weber said. “You want to win games early but with a good team you want to make sure you challenge yourself.’’

There's no mystery to it: Fred Hoiberg did an excellent job in his second season at Iowa State. He took in Minnesota castoff Royce White -- who struggled with anxiety and flamed out in epic fashion in Minneapolis -- and unleashed his unique and versatile talents on an unsuspecting Big 12. He got the rest of the team, full of transfers and holdovers from the Greg McDermott era, to play focused, defensive basketball. And he got the Cyclones to the second round of the NCAA tournament, the once-proud program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2005.

Hoiberg was insanely popular before he came back to Iowa State, his alma mater, to be the head men's basketball caoch. After 2012's immediate turnaround, the Mayor's approval rating couldn't possibly be higher. Zing.

Still, Hoiberg's return was fraught with risk. What if he didn't get the job done? What if the merry transfer bandwagon plan didn't work? What if Hoiberg's return only sullied his standing among the ISU fans who worship him? What if -- gasp -- the Mayor couldn't coach?

Turns out, despite never having been a head coach before taking over at Iowa State, Hoiberg has chops to spare. And SI's Luke Winn crunched the statistics to prove it. Luke re-evaluated the coaching performances of 2012 based on our beloved efficiency stats. Kentucky's John Calipari is named thrice, for good reason: His team was really, really good. But Hoiberg also deserves mention in a category you might not expect. From Winn:

So much for the concerns about Hoiberg having zero coaching experience prior to being hired by ISU: He was the game's best timeout tactician this season, even ahead of well-established coaches such as Thad Matta and Calipari. I ran strength-of-schedule adjustments on Synergy Sports Technology's After-Timeout Efficiency data, and the Cyclones ranked No. 1 at 1.093 adjusted points per possession, followed by Ohio State at 1.066 and Kentucky at 1.019. While the Buckeyes and Wildcats had top-10 overall offenses, the Cyclones ranked 23rd, making their national-best ATO figures even more significant.

In other words, the Cyclones were never better on offense than when Hoiberg had time to pull his team aside and draw up a play. There are a lot of different ways to gauge coaching ability; drawing up a nifty out of bounds play is hardly the only one. (Recruiting, in-year team growth, chemistry, defense, you name it.) But it's one that cuts to the heart of the in-game coaching process itself.

At the very least, that ATO stat should dispel any notion that the Iowa State coach is merely good at collecting talent, that his time in NBA front offices didn't allow him to study the intricacies of the game. The guy can coach. Case closed.