ESPN Men's Basketball

Jeff Goodman and Andy Katz discuss recruiting and its effect on our Future Power Rankings.

Mark Schlabach discusses the comments made by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany that college basketball and football programs would be better served by allowing players to go pro after high school.

1. Louisville begins practice Saturday. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino said these are the main objectives at the beginning of practice: "We have a veteran team so we will just work on execution of our presses and learning our sets. We have a strong team but will miss the incredible attitudes of Peyton (Siva) and Gorgui (Dieng). They are incredible team-first guys.'' Pitino added that wing Kevin Ware, rehabbing from a broken leg suffered last March in the Elite Eight, will start workouts in two weeks. "He should be ready to go at it around late October,'' said Pitino.

2. Duke starts practice this weekend with three stated goals for the Blue Devils. According to assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski they are: 1. Pace: "to get accustomed to the pace at which we will play, especially defensively.'' 2. Leadership: "Replacing the maturity of a good senior class we want to see who steps up to create and lead in the same positive environment.'' 3. Role: "Start to identify and establish some roles.''

3. Arkansas coach Mike Anderson had already decided to start practice on Oct. 5 before flooding occurred at Bud Walton Arena. He said he wanted the players to get acclimated to school and stay with a three-to-four-week conditioning program. Anderson said he doesn't anticipate any long-term damage to Bud Walton. Meanwhile, Anderson is extremely high on his newcomers, who will have to play a significant role with the departures of B.J. Young and Marshawn Powell. Anderson said the freshmen (Moses Kingsley, Bobby Portis and Manuale Watkins) have been the first guys in and the last guys out of the gym. Anderson said he likens this Arkansas team to ones he had early at UAB and Missouri. Anderson said he expects this Razorbacks team to be much more of a team, rather than one based on highlighting individuals. "We hogs, that's our mindset, we hogs,'' Anderson said. He added that senior Coty Clarke would be the team's leader. Anderson is still looking for a reliable player to score but also had high hopes for Alandise Harris, who sat out last season. "This can be the ultimate team,'' Anderson said. "We're trusting each other and sharing the ball. I'm excited.''

The preseason is boring. The only good news is we're all in it together. Because while we fans sit around and beg for real, actual basketball, college coaches and players are stuck in preseason workout limbo, drilling skills and lifting weights and running in open gyms but not actually playing any real five-on-five basketball. It's got to be the worst part of the calendar, especially for players. Games are fun. Practices are not fun. And for another six weeks, all anybody can do is practice.

Which is precisely why you've got to spice it up. In the past, VCU coach Shaka Smart has put his VCU Rams through Navy Seals training. This summer, DePaul's Oliver Purnell worked some beach volleyball into the sprint-and-lift routine. Some of it is fun, some of it is brutal physical stress, some of it is both. Anything to change up the routine.

Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg has his own variation on this theme: yoga. Maybe you've heard of it? I hear it's pretty popular, and by "hear" I mean everyone I know and everyone that lives within a mile of my house is always either a) doing yoga, b) talking about doing yoga, or c) buying overpriced clothes in which they might one day ostensibly do yoga. It's easy to be dismissive, in other words, but yoga does have its recognized benefits -- from breathing to muscle strength and flexibility to good old-fashioned meditative calm.

The Iowa State kids seem to be feeling all of the above these days. Or maybe that's just exhaustion? Ames Tribune reporter (and friend of the CBN) Travis Hines stopped by for a hot session last week, and both senior Melvin Ejim and sophomore forward Georges Niang were effusive in their praise, even if Niang's "runner's pose" elicited "the pained expression of someone attempting to squat 400 pounds."

“When [instructor] Emily [Hampton] is telling you not to let up, this is all in your head, it’s so true,” Niang said. “It’s like when you’re down five with 30 seconds to go. You have to tell yourself you can do it and fight through.” […]

“To be able to completely focus on one thing, to let go of what your mind is thinking and kind of just give yourself the opportunity to get everything out of what you’re doing,” said Ejim, “I think it’s a great opportunity.”

It's also a lot of fun to watch. I mean, I'm guessing; I haven't seen Iowa State do yoga. But come on -- it's a bunch of huge 7-foot yoga noobs crammed into one studio. How could that not be hilarious?

Anyway, this is interesting to me not because I'm certain it will give Iowa State some mental edge -- though playing at breakneck speed the way the Cyclones do, it can't hurt -- but because it seems so obvious. Strength and speed are great, but flexibility is what ties it all together, and in few sports is 180-degree dexterity as important as this one. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar figured it out in the 1970s, and played basketball for approximately 82 years. Yet this is the first I can remember hearing of a team doing yoga as part of its workout regimen. Are other programs already on board here? Is it so obvious it doesn't require a mention? Or have college hoops programs been slow to pick it up? Is yoga not as widely accepted as I think? Forget changing the preseason workout pace. For basketball cross-training, yoga seems like a no-brainer.

Michigan State hasn't had many down years under Tom Izzo. Even his worst campaigns are, by anyone else's standards, very good -- and even then they are rare.

The 2010-11 season was that anomaly. It wasn't just that Michigan State went 19-15, and barely limped into the NCAA tournament as a double-digit seed (speaking of anomalous). It's that the Spartans, for perhaps the first time in Izzo's career, never actually seemed to care. After back-to-back Final Four trips in 2009 and 2010 with many of the same personnel -- led by talented guards Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers -- apathy was the only explanation. You could just see it.

That season was also among the most turbulent of Izzo's career. In the summer preceding it, Izzo dismissed sharpshooter Chris Allen from the team. That same summer, Korie Lucious was arrested while driving over the legal limit. A few months later, in the middle of the season, Izzo dismissed him for violating of team rules.

Reasons for the suspensions were never given, but rumors abounded, and in this case they lined up with what we all fairly or unfairly assume "violation of team rules" really means: failed drug test(s).

This summer, after finishing their careers at Iowa State (Allen in 2012, Lucious in March) both players confirmed those reasons.

Allen did so in a Facebook post: “… to athletes who smoke WEED its not worth it, Yeah it makes you happy and forget all the BS you thought your coach was on with you but at the same time it's a easy way to get you out of a respectable program and of course it's deeper than just weed but that's for me and the people that was at Michigan state those years to know.”

Lucious did so in an interview with Black Athlete: "I was smoking. I don’t want to tell a lot of people that but I was smoking a lot of weed at Michigan State. That’s the real reason I got kicked off the team and I let my mom, family and friends down."

So … that was settled. Lucious also attributed his issues at Michigan State to stylistic differences, saying Izzo "didn't respect his game," that "even if I dribbled in between my legs and he would just yell at me and say “this isn’t And-1 streeetball.'"

OK then. The only question: What does Tom Izzo think of all this? Coaches' lips are usually held firm by privacy laws, but following both players' public admissions, on "Mad Dog in the Morning," Izzo addressed the whole deal.

“There’s certain things that, coaches put up with a lot. Just like parents do,” Izzo said. “I mean, nobody throws their kid under the bus if he makes a mistake. But if the kid repeats the same mistake over and over, then it’s not a mistake, it’s a habit. When it becomes a habit, those things are hard to handle. And I think in Korie’s case, I’ll never understand … I guess I almost appreciate him saying we have a good program, I’m a decent coach, it’s just I don’t want to put up with the ‘And1’ stuff. I mean, I’ve put up with a lot of stuff from a lot of players. And his scoring didn’t change that much at Iowa State. You can change addresses, but you better change your character before you can really change. And I think that’s the lesson I try to teach all guys.”

In other words, there is casual marijuana use -- which is probably a bad idea for any athlete, as Allen wrote, for reasons both physical and legal -- and then there is direct, repeated defiance of the things your coach has asked you to do, with "hey, please don't indulge in illegal substances" somewhere near the top of the list. That's the real issue. It's not the details. It's the concept. Disillusion and apathy afflict more college basketball teams than any drug, I'd wager, and if you were wondering how a Tom Izzo-coached team that went to back-to-back Final Fours and returned its two best players finished 19-15 just one year later, well, now you know.

The question at the heart of Insider's College Basketball Future Power Rankings project is simple: Which college hoops programs will have the most success over the next three seasons (2013-14, '14-15, '15-16)?

To come up with the answer, we had our panel of experts rate programs on a 1-to-10 scale in five different categories: Coaching, Current Talent, Recruiting, Program Power and Stability. We compiled the results and weighted the categories (for a more in-depth description of the category weighting and the methodology behind the rankings, see the inline at right or click here) to produce the top 25 rankings you see below.

Our panel: Paul Biancardi, Jay Bilas, Fran Fraschilla, John Gasaway, Jeff Goodman, Seth Greenberg, Andy Katz and Miles Simon. In addition to voting, each contributed to the team write-ups.

Here you have it -- our top 25 ranking of the teams best positioned for success over the next three seasons (including a surprise at the top, at No. 25 and at several spots in between). Click here to read the complete top 25 .

A few quick hitters from Tuesday's podcast, which you can listen to here:

1. Maryland coach Mark Turgeon is for one transfer rule: either everyone sits or no one sits out a year. Turgeon also said it might have helped Dez Wells if he had sat out last season instead of playing immediately after transferring from Xavier. Wells will have to be the leader on this team. Meanwhile, Turgeon wants to play one game a year at the Terps' former home, Cole Field House. The Terps will host a Midnight Madness-type of event there Oct. 18. But Turgeon would like to set up a game at Cole Field House in late December in future years … Turgeon said he never talks about recruiting to the Big Ten since the Terps are going from one elite league to another.

2. UConn coach Kevin Ollie said Tyler Olander's suspension still is in place after his DUI charge was dropped (still dealing with a guilty plea of driving without a license). Ollie said he couldn't commit as to whether or not Olander would be allowed to practice Friday when the Huskies take the court. Olander still has to prove to Ollie that he can handle himself in a mature manner before he can be reinstated … The Huskies are still awaiting on the eligibility of freshman Kentan Facey. Ollie said he has no idea if he'll be cleared to play this season.

3. Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said Josh Gasser hasn't been cleared yet to practice, but he's hopeful the lead guard will be in the next week or so as he comes back from an ACL injury that sidelined him last year. Ryan sees no reason why Gasser and Traevon Jackson can't coexist as two playmakers. Ryan, like Turgeon, is for either all transfers to have to sit or no one sits. He wants uniformity of the rules … Boise State coach Leon Rice said the Broncos are embracing the attention as a possible MWC top two finisher. The Broncos return eight of nine scorers back and Rice said the Broncos are the only NCAA tournament team from last season that returns all five starters.

Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg get ready for the season with four head coaches: Maryland's Mark Turgeon, Wisconsin's Bo Ryan, Boise State's Leon Rice and UConn's Kevin Ollie. Listen to the podcast here.

1. Former Oregon coach Ernie Kent was hired in an executive role with the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Kent said Monday his goal is to grow the game, about which he said has been "very passionate since he was out of coaching." He said he has seen how much coaches care about student-athlete welfare from visiting schools since he has been out. But this organization needs to be much more forceful in the legislative process. The NABC has lost its activist role of late. The coaches should never be surprised by the draft date (pushed through by the ACC) or complain about the transfer waiver issue as much as they do without really trying to affect change. Coaches have the power in college basketball, much more so than the players. If they want to really force an issue then they must get out front, educate other decision makers and make sure they can actually do something. The governance structure is going to change, with more weight given to the power schools. That shift is coming. So the coaches, who are their best lobbying group, must almost act like legislators. Not knowing about the shift in rules that affect them is ignorant. It should never happen. If Kent is going to have a real effect in his job, then he must act.

2. North Carolina said Monday that P.J. Hairston's status hasn't changed. That means he's still suspended. But the school also must make clear if he can practice or play in anything competitive. Practice starts Friday. This shouldn't take long. Either he is practicing Friday and beyond or he is not. The length of any discipline is up to North Carolina. No one should tell them how long or if he should be suspended. But the fan base and those who contribute to the program should know his status. That is of the public domain. Once that is known, then Hairston and the Tar Heels can move forward with the season.

3. Indiana starts an intriguing season Friday, the one post-Big Ten title and Sweet 16 appearance. The anchors, Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller are gone. So what is Tom Crean looking for in the first week of practice? "Getting this team to understand that transition and help defense require great effort and talking," Crean said. "Also getting the team to understand the next play, the next pass and the next-shot mentality over worrying about the last play."

Somehow, college basketball practice will begin this week.

We can credit a new NCAA rule that allows teams to start practice two weeks earlier than past seasons.

It’s a great step. The earlier, the better. Throws off the traditional Midnight Madness schedule a bit, but we’ll adjust.

There are obviously a million storylines.

Here’s one of many: Every Final Four team from last season will feature a new point guard this year.

I don’t know. I think that’s interesting.

It’s even more intriguing when you consider the strength of the foursome. Louisville, Wichita State, Michigan and Syracuse all boast the talent to make another trip to the Final Four.

That potential, however, is tied to the performances of their new floor leaders.

Louisville: Peyton Siva to Chris Jones -- There’s a lot of buzz about Kentucky, but rival Louisville might be the best team in America. Chane Behanan, Luke Hancock, Wayne Blackshear, Russ Smith and Montrezl Harrell are all back. But Siva will not be easy to replace. He was Pitino on the floor, a point guard who manned the position for four seasons. Chris Jones doesn’t have that Division I experience. But he might be more talented. Jones, the consensus No. 1 junior college player in the country last year, should step in and help the Cardinals by giving the program a versatile and skilled point guard. Plus, he’ll have Smith in the backcourt next to him. That should make life easier on him. But his voice on the court and in the locker room will both be significant. Those are the traits that will be the most difficult for Pitino to replace.

Michigan: Trey Burke to Derrick Walton Jr. -- There are shoes to fill. And then, there are craters. The latter is closer to the situation that Walton will enter in his freshman season. Walton, ranked 30^th in the 2013 class, is following Trey Burke. He doesn’t have to be Trey Burke. He can’t be. Burke won the Wooden Award last year and authored one of the most impressive performances in NCAA tournament history when he led Michigan over Kansas in the final minutes of a come-from-behind win in the Sweet 16. But Walton will still face pressure as the probable point guard for a Michigan squad that shouldn’t fall far in 2013-14. Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson III are both potential lottery picks. They’re backed by talented veterans and freshmen. Let’s see how Walton adjusts to this grand role in his first season at the collegiate level.

Syracuse: Michael Carter-Williams to Tyler Ennis -- Jim Boeheim has a few holes to fill. But the Orange also possess a solid crew anchored by C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant. The biggest question centers on the point guard spot. Carter-Williams was a big point guard who created matchup problems on both ends of the floor. He could slash to the rim with ease. And he was the perfect player for the 2-3 zone. Ennis, a Canadian star in this summer’s U19 world championships, is expected to start at point guard for the Orange. The early praise is high for the 6-doot-2 guard. And he definitely has the pieces around him to guide Boeheim’s program deep into the tourney.

Wichita State: Malcolm Armstead to Fred Van Vleet -- Armstead, who transferred from Oregon, was a veteran leader who was physical and aggressive for Gregg Marshall’s squad. He was a strong defender. And he had no problem penetrating and willing his way to the rim when necessary or desirable. But he was also a leader in the locker room. All of those components helped the Shockers on their way to the Final Four last year. This is a team that was just a few plays away from upsetting Louisville in Atlanta. And some of the best players from that team return. Van Vleet, a former top-100 recruit, is not a new face. He will accept more responsibility, however, during his sophomore season. He might not be the scorer that Armstead was. But the Shockers could be more fluid with him running the show.

Nearly a decade ago, former national player of the year Adam Morrison was the guy who graced the cover of every preview magazine in America.

Gonzaga was on the national radar before his arrival, but his long hair, visible passion and scoring ability gave the Bulldogs a more prominent position in college basketball’s hierarchy.

Morrison was the man.

And throughout the 2005-06 season, he was the antagonist to Duke’s J.J. Reddick, another great college player.

The final image of Morrison’s college career features the devastated wing on the floor after a come-from-behind loss to UCLA in that season’s Sweet 16.

He was the third overall pick in that summer’s draft. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 11.8 points per game as a rookie with the Charlotte Bobcats, but things went downhill from there. Injuries didn’t help.

Morrison exited the league and played overseas after a stint with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009-10, but he never found his way back.

Now, Morrison is a student assistant on Mark Few’s staff. His father was a coach, so it’s a natural transition.

What’s surprising, however, is his attitude about his pro career. He’s been ridiculed for years as a draft bust. But he doesn’t subscribe to that view.

During an interview with the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., Morrison said he’s happy with his accomplishments and excited to tutor young players in his new role:

Morrison, 29, is basically a scholarship student-athlete again, back in class with his education paid for by the university but with different duties on the court.

“A lot of people when they first heard said, ‘Why?’ ” Morrison said. “I said, ‘Why wouldn’t you want to further your education and I get a chance to coach here. I’m the lucky one. I’m getting experience in a great program. I get to come back to the university I played for. I get to stay at home. And if everything goes right, then doors open up for me.”

He's at peace with the end of his playing career:

“There was a time in the past it was really upsetting,” he said. “It was a combination of things. I didn’t play well my first year and then I had a knee injury. Then there was a new coach and I got traded to a very good team. So that part is frustrating, but at the same time I had so many life experiences, made so many friends and did so many things that other people have never had had the opportunity to do. I had a good career leading up to that and I’m settled with it.”

It was time to move on.

“I made that decision the day I got cut by Portland,” he said. “As good as I played in summer league and then I couldn’t even get a half-guarantee [contract] or a make-good [contract]. I went to Europe and played well. Then I came back and had a good summer league and if I can’t make it, then I’m not going to be one of those guys that beats my head against the wall. Sometimes you have to look at yourself in the mirror.”

It’s an honest view.

It’s easy to criticize Morrison for what he didn’t achieve during his time at Gonzaga and in the NBA. He obviously didn’t live up to the hype attached to a top-three draft pick.

But he’s not moping about the things that didn’t work out. He’s moving on.

He was aided by his realistic view of his position in the NBA. He said that he simply wasn’t good enough to latch onto another squad.

He didn’t bash coaches or teammates or owners or the media or the world.

That’s rare. And refreshing.

1. Miami coach Jim Larranaga will teach five to six classes this semester as a guest lecturer. His topics will be on Teamwork and Leadership, much like he did at George Mason in the school of management Executive MBA Program. Larranaga's position on the Miami faculty gives him even more influence on campus. But he is still at the whim of the NCAA in awaiting an eligibility issue. The Hurricanes will start practice Friday but won't know if Kansas State transfer Angel Rodridguez will be eligible immediately. Larranaga said Sunday there is still no indication on when Rodriguez' case will be heard. But he can practice. If he can't play this season then the 'Canes will go with a freshman, either Manu Lecomte from Belgium or Deandre Burnett, as the point guard.

2. Missouri actually has a transfer who sat out last season and who will have a major impact after improving during his redshirt/transfer season. As practice nears Friday, Missouri coach Frank Haith is extremely high on former Tulsa wing Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson averaged 14.2 points a game for the Golden Hurricane and will be expected to score in a similar manner for the Tigers. "He's very talented, a good combo,'' said Haith Sunday. "He can do everything on the court. He'll get plenty (of minutes).'' The Tigers were looking for a fresh face to be a go-to scorer. Haith has fancied this team all summer, one that has received probably the least amount of buzz in his three seasons. That's usually when a team overachieves. If this occurs in a wide-open SEC from three on down then Clarkson will be likely one of the main reasons.

3. The package deal comments about coaches going with players to a school has been going on for years and in some form will continue for years to come. Let's get a few things straight. Staffs that are secure usually don't partake in such a practice. If there are assistants on a staff who are well compensated at a high-profile school then they are less likely to leave. So, these coaches don't need to go hire an assistant to get a player since they aren't going to have an opening on the staff. Some will be creative and do it anyway if the player is worth the trouble. But some have no choice but to act to have a chance for relevance. If Seton Hall goes ahead and hires Brooklyn Lincoln High (N.Y.) coach Tiny Morton to complete a deal to get Isaiah Whitehead as part of the recruitment then that's probably what Pirates coach Kevin Willard needed to do to get Seton Hall out of the cellar. He already had made positive moves on his staff by adding former Rutgers head coach and one-time Northwestern assistant in Freddie Hill, a mainstay in New Jersey. Getting St. Raymond's HS coach Oliver Antigua, a well-connected high school coach and brother of Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua, made sense too. Willard is in the fourth quarter of his Hall career. He needs to make a play before its too late, especially in the new Big East. He's being proactive because what he was doing in the past, simply wasn't working well enough.

I hate the NBA’s age limit for potential draftees. Hate it.

I think it’s an unfair rule that keeps young men (mostly young black men) from attaining multimillion-dollar opportunities that they’d be allowed to pursue if they played other sports.

Hockey, tennis, baseball, golf. If you’re elite in those sports after high school graduation (even before it in some cases), you can make a living in the sport you love.

But basketball put the restraints on high school players in 2005, the year the one-and-done culture emerged as the league implemented an age limit (19 years old and one year removed from your high school classes’ graduation date).

This is not the NCAA’s rule. But college coaches and officials aren’t exactly banging on David Stern’s door to change things. They’re still chasing the kids they know they’ll only have for a season. And the players are still the faces of the power programs and marquee games that drive up revenue for everyone involved.

I wrote a two-part series (Part I and Part II) about the one-and-done culture last summer. There are certainly a multitude of opinions on the impact this rule has had on young players.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a fan of it. If they’re talented enough after high school, let them play.

But pieces such as the one Grantland’s Jonathan Abrams published Thursday about NBA draft bust Korleone Young (find time to read this story this weekend) make me recognize that the issue is not black and white.

There are players, such as Young, who could ruin their lives by entering the NBA draft a year or two early. That could happen with college kids, too. But most of the horror stories all stem from the era that granted high school kids the right to turn pro after graduation.

Young, a second-round pick in the 1998 NBA draft, has tried to rebuild his life after playing just 15 minutes total with the Detroit Pistons in the 1998-99 season. More than a decade later, however, that decision is still affecting his life.

The sad cycle began as he tried to find a paid gig after the Pistons cut him following his unproductive rookie season.

From Abrams:

Instead, Young embarked on a self-destructive cycle. Though there was still interest from overseas teams, he let himself slip out of shape. He treated the tryouts with foreign squads like paid vacations. Young did stints in Australia, Russia, China, and Israel from 1999 to 2006. The farther he traveled, the further he got from his dream of returning to the NBA. He started to think of himself as a victim. He drank. He smoked. He partied. He struggled with depression, wracked by the mistakes he'd made.

"[Man], I was so dumb," Young said. "I leased [cars] then. I had a Ford Explorer. I had a Chevy Corvette. I had a couple mopeds. I was a big kid. I had toys, man. Kids have toys."

During this time, Young employed a financial adviser to oversee his affairs. But he'd sabotage himself. He'd tell the adviser, a young woman, that he planned to visit his daughters in Houston for a couple of weeks. The adviser would give him the money he needed for the trip, then Young would leave Houston after a couple of days, return home, and burn the surplus on more cars and clubs, and on fronting money to more friends and family. His father asked for money every once in a while. Young said he gave what he could when he could.

"[The adviser] couldn't tell me what to do," Young said. "She answered to me. It was the complete opposite. I should have been answering to her."

This cycle continued until Young could no longer secure a roster spot on a team overseas. Back in Wichita, police arrested him for missing a hearing over child support payments. Young said that he could not afford to pay them at the time. That was four years ago.

Young is not the only young player who made a poor choice by entering the NBA draft too early. And he won’t be the last. Even veteran players can leave a year too early or a year too late. I don’t think that is a valid reason to maintain the current age limit.

Andrew Wiggins doesn’t need a year of college. Kevin Durant didn’t need college, either.

That assessment, however, is really just tied to what happens on the floor.

To mature off the floor, most of these young players will benefit from a year in college. But I’m not convinced that’s justification to make them all go to school for a season.

Some 18-year-olds are definitely ready to make the jump.

But heartbreaking stories like this one about Young’s career should make opponents of the rule think twice. The solution might not be as simple as it appears to be.

Young’s case proves as much.

1. The Final Four is accepting offers for future sites for 2017-20. The deadline for the bids is Oct. 11. Let's clear this up a bit. Indianapolis, host again in 2015 after North Texas in 2014, has a deal with the NCAA that they will host at least every five years through 2039. Indianapolis is a great host city with its proximity between venues and passion for the sport. The plan for a new dome in Atlanta, tentatively scheduled to open in 2017, would put that city back in the mix. New domes are always looking for huge events. If North Texas is a success, then putting the event back in Jerry's World will likely happen. I'm hopeful San Antonio and New Orleans will continue to bid for the event, as both cities have been terrific hosts and are accessible for fans. You need destinations for an event like the Final Four. That's why Houston was not a great host. The Final Four was too spread out at three different locations with nothing happening around the dome itself. Houston somehow got two Final Fours the last time the bids were handed out. Houston hosted in 2011 and will again in 2016. Phoenix/Glendale failed to host the last time around. So it will be interesting to see if they make a play again for the event. The 60,000-seat minimum and 10,000-hotel room minimum will limit some from bidding.

2. Practice starts next Friday in college basketball and teams are looking for creative ways to get fans interested early. Duke will host an open practice next Saturday from 10 to noon. But my favorite is Pitt. The Panthers had a successful late-night event on campus. This time, the Panthers are hosting an event in advance of Pitt playing Virginia in football near Heinz Field. So the morning madness next Saturday at 10:30 a.m. will try to get Panthers fans jazzed. There will be a special guest, though. Check him out here.

3. BYU coach Dave Rose is home and resting after having cancerous spots removed. But he is well enough to host recruits this weekend. If anything, the recruits should see the courage and fight in Rose that should provide quite a sales pitch to play for someone who is going through something much harder than they would ever dream about while playing at BYU. The plan is still for Rose to be ready to go for the start of practice on Oct. 7. The Cougars are choosing to wait a week to start.

The hardest part wasn't lugging the 50-pound sacks around for a 4.5-mile hike. It wasn't hauling tires or carrying metal poles. It wasn't even working up the courage to shoot M16s out of a bunker.

No, the hardest part of Missouri's overnight boot camp with the Missouri National Guard came in the quiet of the night.

As in the real quiet, when not a gadget was stirring -- not even a cellphone.

"Man, the last time I couldn't use my phone, I don't know. Maybe before I had a phone when I was a kid,'' said Mizzou senior Earnest Ross. "I'm a mama's boy too. I call my mom every night. But our phones weren't working.''

And that was exactly Frank Haith's plan when he schlepped his team on a four-hour bus ride from Columbia, Mo., to just south of Joplin -- to force the Tigers to unplug from technology and plug in to one another.

The Tigers' roster includes four freshmen, two transfers and one former junior college player, a hodgepodge group that Haith believes needs two critical things to succeed: togetherness and leadership.

To read more of Dana O'Neil's story, click here.