ESPN Men's Basketball

Remember when the 2013-14 Kansas Jayhawks were going to be a shaky proposition? I do!

Just two weeks ago, Kansas was the team losing all five of last season's starters, among them four seniors and one freshman top-five draft pick. Left in their wake was an unusually young team. Sophomore Perry Ellis would have to be a star. Naadir Tharpe would have to develop into a less erratic distributor. A crop of promising freshmen would have to step up right away.

After nine straight titles, Kansas' stranglehold on the top of the Big 12 must be taken as an article of faith. But with Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart back, and Baylor looking plenty talented in its own right, said stranglehold appeared to be straining at the knuckles. Would this finally be the year?

Those were the days, weren't they? Of course, that was before Kansas landed arguably the best young prospect in the past decade in Andrew Wiggins, and also before Monday evening's news that Memphis senior Tarik Black had chosen to play his final year of collegiate eligibility -- available immediately via the graduate transfer exemption -- in Lawrence, Kan.

Black's decision is more icing than cake. Whereas Wiggins was a revolutionary addition, by all accounts the type of player who could have lifted an 18-16 Florida State team into ACC title contention, Black is merely a nice bonus. Which is not to say he isn't talented. He is, and always has been. But after arriving as a highly touted prospect, he was disappointing in three seasons at Memphis, primarily thanks to his inability to stay out of foul trouble. Over three seasons, Black averaged 5.7 fouls per 40 minutes. His lowest rate, 5.1 as a sophomore in 2011-12, also coincided with his most efficient performances. His 68.9 effective field goal percentage was the second-highest in the country that season.

Whether or not Black will be able to stay on the court long enough to put his combination of skills and size to work is an open question, but it's almost beside the point. Kansas needed another big body, not a star, and preferably a veteran. Black should be able to play 20-25 effective minutes, when he can take some pressure off the nation's top-ranked incoming center, Joel Embiid. That's a baseline expectation KU coach Bill Self would surely be happy with. Anything else is, again, a bonus.

In any case, any thoughts you might have had about the Jayhawks two weeks ago are essentially irrelevant. Kansas is still young, sure, but not as young as it was. It is more talented than ever now, with the exact thing it lacked -- a veteran in the frontcourt -- signed up for the ride. The end result is another KU team that will enter the season as the Big 12 favorite and a national title contenders. Same as it ever was.

The Champions Classic, a two-game, one-night November event conjured up two years ago, was pretty much always guaranteed to be a success. Indeed, it was just what the sport needed -- a big, marquee event featuring four of the game's best programs and coaches in the first week of the season, timed to remind casual fans there is more to college basketball than the gradually increasing attention spans of late February and early March.

Two years later, the Champions Classic has already been an unequivocal success. In its first year, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski broke the all-time coaching wins record against Tom Izzo and Kentucky and Kansas offered up an early preview of the national title matchup. In Year 2, the defending champs and their coach, John Calipari, met Duke in Atlanta, the site of the 2013 Final Four.

And despite those heights, Year 3 might be the best yet.

The Classic's rotating schedule creates new matchups each season, and so here's what we'll have in United Center on Nov. 12: Kentucky will play Michigan State, while Duke will play Kansas. You probably don't need me to explain why this is so exciting, but just in case you do, here goes: UK-MSU will be one of our first glimpses at the 2013-14 Kentucky Wildcats, who boast the best recruiting class in history, against a Michigan State team that returned all of its most talented players and looks primed for a Final Four run. Watching Adreian Payne and Gary Harris test their NBA readiness chops against the Harrison Twins, Julius Randle and James Young? Yes and please.

And even that game pales in comparison to what's offered in Duke-KU, which can be summed up in one phrase: Andrew Wiggins vs. Jabari Parker. This might be the only minor angle left undiscussed in Wiggins' Tuesday decision to play his one year of college ball at Kansas: It set up an early-season matchup with Parker, the No. 2 player in the class, who was No. 1 for years before Wiggins reclassified last fall.

At worst, that's a great game between two exciting teams with two brilliant young stars. At best, it's a preview of the next decade of basketball, the start of an individual rivalry not unlike the one between Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James during the 2003 NBA draft and their first few years in the league. Wiggins is often favorably (and unfairly!) compared to James; Parker's frame and game bear obvious parallels with Anthony's. The similarities are uncanny.

The Champions Classic was devised as a way to get ultra-recognizable college basketball "brands" in the same building on the same night in November. It's foolproof: With Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State on board, you're bound to get great players and great games.

But the best part is these matchups aren't planned, no more so Coach K's historic night was planned for a mid-November date at Madison Square Garden. Whether a team is down or a national title favorite, whether Wiggins chooses Kansas or Kentucky or Florida State, the games are what they are. And in 2013, they're going to be incredible.

Kansas coach Bill Self dishes on Andrew Wiggins' decision to join the Jayhawks, Wiggins' potential, the one-and-done rule and more.

No, we're not talking about the imbeciles on Twitter, the people who take time out of their day to write horrible things to an 18-year-old kid because he chose to attend a school different from the one they root for (and probably didn't even attend themselves). Hopefully Andrew Wiggins has paid no attention to those remarks. If he hasn't, I assume -- based on the impressive way he handled his surprising decision to attend Kansas on Tuesday -- he's already possessed of more perspective and maturity than any of the grown men and women wishing him ill on Twitter. Let's ignore these people, shall we?

Indeed, I'm talking about the rest of college basketball. Now that we know where Wiggins will play his one year of college hoops -- for Bill Self in Lawrence, Kan. -- we can extrapolate so much more. We can talk about what kind of lineup will suit Wiggins best, how his versatility will help a young Kansas team compensate for the loss of five starters and a rush of inexperienced newcomers playing big minutes and key roles previously occupied by seniors. And, perhaps most exciting, Kansas' nonconference and Big 12 opponents can begin circling dates on their calendars. Wigginsmas comes more than once a year.

Dana O'Neil hit on this in her column as to the pressure Wiggins will continue to face even after the compressed insanity surrounding his decision fades. As Dana wrote, Wiggins has impossibly high (though not unfair!) expectations to live up to next season, and any slip-ups or false starts will spawn any number of national overreactions. The general, vague pressure -- pressure from fans, pressure to live up to billing -- will be there from now until next April. It isn't going away.

There is a more specific kind of pressure, the kind Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg described to Andy Katz after Wiggins made his decision Tuesday:

"When you go against a guy compared to LeBron James, that's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a lot of guys in our league," Hoiberg said. "The hype surrounding him is the main story. I'm sure everyone is taking note of that and the opportunity to play against him."

Allow me to translate for the unflinchingly polite native Iowan: We're all coming for Andrew Wiggins.

This is hardly a surprise. Every college player in the country knows who Wiggins is. They know what people say about him. They've heard the comparisons. They know he's already a near-lock to go No. 1 in the 2014 NBA draft. No one is going to be scared. Most are going to be convinced they're better than Wiggins, that all of their hard work and college basketball experience adds up to more than his talent. Any team with Kansas on its schedule just got an extra reason to put a bull's-eye on the Jayhawks' back.

This is nothing new for Kansas, of course, and it's nothing new for Wiggins, who has been the best player on the court in every possible setting -- the target of other players' attempts to boost their own profile at every recruiting event and high school game -- for as long as he can remember. But college basketball isn't easy for even the most talented freshmen. Imagine how much harder it must be when every single player in the country wants to prove you aren't as good as everyone seems to think you are.

That is the challenge Wiggins faces in 2013-14. It's not just high expectations and scrutiny from fans. It's not just about accomplishing as much as possible in a short period of time. It's about playing an entire freshman season with a target on your back, about being specifically challenged by every opponent every time you put on a uniform. It's the pressure of taking everyone's best shot every night. It's the peril of superstardom.

I can't decide which is bigger: Wiggins' challenge, or the potential thrill of seeing him take it on. All I know is November can't come soon enough.

Andrew Wiggins maintained a clandestine approach to his recruitment, but there's nothing secret about the 2014 potential of his choice: Kansas is right back in the driver's seat. Eamonn Brennan writes:

According to its website, Canada's version of the Central Intelligence Agency (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) is "at the forefront of Canada's national security establishment, employing some of the country's most intelligent and capable men and women."

The CSIS has become a modern spy agency -- spending most of its time working to prevent North American terrorist threats.

If only it could offer an NBA salary.

On Tuesday afternoon, the best high school basketball player on the continent -- the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, and probably the best, too -- proved he is not only possessed of otherworldly basketball gifts but also a preternatural ability to keep the world from knowing a singular piece of information.

Read more from Brennan by clicking here.

Picking Kansas takes a burden off Andrew Wiggins' back, but the pressure has only begun. Dana O'Neil writes:

On his Twitter page, @22wiggins, Andrew Wiggins says that he is "Just a average kid trying to make it."

My niece is an average kid. She has 384 followers.

Wiggins has 80,000 followers and counting, mostly because on the basketball court he is anything but average. In fact, he is freakishly amazing, a generational talent ranked the top player in his recruiting class.

On Tuesday, the average kid declared that he would play at Kansas. He did it quietly -- no television appearance, no grand gestures of tinkering with various ball caps before making his choice.

That didn't stop the news cycle from churning out thousands of words (this column included) about his decision, following up on the tens of thousands of words written in advance of his decision.

Read more from O'Neil by clicking here.

No. 1 high school basketball recruit Andrew Wiggins committed Tuesday to Kansas over Florida State, Kentucky and North Carolina. Seth Greenberg breaks down what it means for the Jayhawks to land the superstar from Huntington Prep (W.Va.).

Now that uber-recruit Andrew Wiggins has chosen a school, Jason King has updated his early Top 25 for the 2013-14 season -- with Kansas vaulting from No. 21 to No. 5. Check out King's revised Top 25 here.

Myron Medcalf breaks down Kansas athletic officials reviewing allegations that the former AAU coach of Ben McLemore received payments aimed at steering him to a sports agent.

In 2011, when Hunter Mickelson committed to John Pelphrey at Arkansas, he was highly regarded. He was the No. 8-ranked power forward in the class, the No. 55-ranked overall player, and a key part of the recruiting class that was supposed to save Pelphrey's job. It didn't. When Mike Anderson took over, there was some question where Mickelson would fit within "40 Minutes of Hell," whether he was the type of player that could really excel in Anderson's run-and-gun system.

He didn't and now he's transferring. And, to paraphase the immortal words of Jon Lovitz in "The Wedding Singer," Kansas is reaping the benefits.

Mickelson announced his decision to transfer to Lawrence Thursday afternoon, ending a pretty brief examination period during which he considered a handful of schools, Butler most seriously. But you can't fault the decision either way, and you have to think Mickelson could be a really nice addition for the Jayhawks.

Sure, he averaged just 5.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 16.6 minutes a game last season, with an offensive rating of just 97.0 and decent, but unspectacular, rebounding rates on both ends. Those aren't high-impact, elite-transfer type numbers. But it's entirely possible that Mickelson was simply lost on a team and in a style of play that didn't fit him. That was the consensus during his departure which was amicable as it gets, by all accounts). He could still be scratching the surface. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed, Bill Self's staff at Kansas tends to make players better. Like, every player.

And even if none of that is true, Mickelson is a good defender and a great shot-blocker. He finished with a 13.5 percent block rate as a freshman, which took a dive last season (to a still-very-respective 8.2 percent); he once went 20 games in a row with at least one blocked shot. Even if that's all you get from him, fine, right? Plenty of coaches would take it.

Memphis forward Tarik Black has taken over the transfer circuit this season, because everyone wants a big, physical, veteran big. If Black is desirable enough to earn the affections of the nation's best, by 2013-14 Mickelson might just be the steal of the summer.

1. Kansas may have the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft and the top nonconference schedule for 2013-14 season. The Jayhawks haven't finished the slate as of yet it but it's getting better with each game that they finalize. The Jayhawks are hosting Georgetown, San Diego State, playing at Colorado, Duke in the Champions Classic in Chicago, and are the marquee team in the Battle 4 Atlantis with Villanova, Tennessee, UTEP, Xavier, USC, Wake Forest and a team to be determined (was going to be Michigan State but the Spartans couldn't get out of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Brooklyn). The SEC-Big 12 Challenge isn't set yet, but according to multiple sources the Jayhawks could be headed to Florida. The inaugural SEC-Big 12 Challenge will have a number of marquee games but some are already determined like Kentucky playing Baylor in Dallas, which will be folded into the event. Kansas also plans on playing two to three "guaranteed" buy games against top 100 teams.

2. The lure of Frank Martin to South Carolina wasn't just his winning culture and his commitment to his craft. Martin made sense for the Gamecocks so he could tap into his native South Florida. Well, Martin proved how significant a connection he has to the area by securing a commitment from 6-8 Demetrius Henry out of Faith Baptist Christian School in Miami, getting Henry away from the hometown Hurricanes. South Carolina has six newcomers so far for next season, including Reggie Theus Jr., the son of the new Cal State-Northridge coach. Martin will consistently tap into his South Florida contacts and ensure the Gamecocks are a player when SEC-level talent is available in the region. This has put a new competitor in play for Miami.

3. Marshall coach Tom Herrion cut loose DeAndre Kane because he was tired of his act. Herrion was clear in a statement that this was his call when he was quoted in the MetroNews of West Virginia: “After meeting with DeAndre, I have decided it is in our program’s and his best interest that he seek opportunities elsewhere. We appreciate his contributions to our team and wish him the best in his future.” There was no need to be anything but transparent here if Herrion didn't want him in the program anymore. Herrion said "it was time to move on" for Kane. Marshall was a major disappointment last season. The Herd, who were supposed to challenge Memphis for the Conference USA title, finished a disastrous 13-19, 6-10 in the league. Kane, who saw all his key production stats drop, can play immediately elsewhere if he were to graduate and then seek a master's not available at Marshall.

Angel Rodriguez's decision to transfer from Kansas State hurts more than just the Wildcats.

It damages the Big 12.

The conference already seemed poised for a down year in 2013-14. Now it’s starting to appear as if the Big 12 will be the worst power conference in the country next season. And, no, I’m not basing that comment solely on Rodriguez’s departure.

It’s merely the cherry on top.

Think about it.

Kansas loses five starters. Oklahoma and Iowa State will say goodbye to four of their top six players. And Big 12 scoring and assists leader Pierre Jackson has played his last game for NIT champion Baylor, which is also expected to lose 7-foot center Isaiah Austin to the NBA draft.

Until Monday, Oklahoma State and Kansas State appeared to be league’s only two NCAA tournament teams that wouldn’t experience much turnover.

Now things have changed.

By leaving Manhattan after a promising sophomore season, Rodriguez has put what appeared to be one of the Big 12’s better teams in a huge bind.

Usually the departure of one player -- even if he’s a semi-star -- isn’t enough to derail a team. But Rodriguez was one of the main catalysts for a Wildcats squad that went 27-8 and won a share of the conference title for the first time since 1977.

Rodriguez led the team in assists (5.2) and ranked second in scoring (11.4 points) behind Rodney McGruder, a senior who earned first-team All-Big 12 honors.

K-State was already likely to take a small step back following the graduation of McGruder and 7-foot center Jordan Henriquez, but losing Rodriguez could make a dramatic difference.

Because he was the starting point guard, Rodriguez was more than just "one player" for the Wildcats. He was the leader, the tone-setter for one of the Big 12’s grittiest, toughest teams and a shoo-in for preseason All-Big 12 honors this fall.

Those things are irreplaceable, especially for a program that will now likely depend on unheralded newcomer Jevon Thomas to play a significant number of minutes at point guard. That’s a lot to ask of a freshman.

Bruce Weber’s squad returns a handful of quality pieces in guards Shane Southwell and Will Spradling and forwards Thomas Gipson and Nino Williams.

Still, by losing its top two players in Rodriguez and McGruder (and some would argue top three if you throw in the enigmatic Henriquez), the Wildcats may be in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years.

If that happens it’d certainly be a blow to the Big 12, which had only one team (Kansas) advance past the opening weekend of the most recent NCAA tournament.

Oklahoma State returns every key piece of last season’s team including conference player of the year Marcus Smart, who bypassed millions in the NBA draft to return for his sophomore season. The Cowboys probably will open the season ranked in the top 10 or 15.

Beyond that, it’s difficult to imagine a single Big 12 team improving from last season. Well, I supposed TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia will be better -- but only because they can’t get much worse.

Even after losing five starters, Kansas will find a way to contend for a 10th straight conference title. But remember, the Jayhawks return only two players (Naadir Tharpe and Perry Ellis) who played significant roles on last season’s team. Bill Self’s squad has signed the nation’s third-ranked recruiting class, but most of its members are three- and four-year players -- not one-and-dones. They’ll need time to grow and adjust.

Iowa State graduates four of its top six scorers in Chris Babb, Will Clyburn, Korie Lucious and Tyrus McGee, which means the junior college signees Fred Hoiberg lured to Ames will have to step up in a hurry.

Oklahoma loses Romero Osby, Steven Pledger, Amath M'Baye and Andrew Fitzgerald. The foursome combined for 43.4 points and 19 rebounds per game. Much like the Cyclones, it’s hard to imagine the Sooners getting better.

The loss of Jackson (19.8 points, 7.1 assists) is a massive blow for Baylor. But the Bears could still be decent with the return of Cory Jefferson and Ricardo Gathers in the paint and Brady Heslip on the perimeter. Much of their success will depend on junior college signee Kenny Cherry, a point guard.

Then there’s Texas, which went 16-18 in 2012-13 and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 14 years. The top two players from that team are gone, as Myck Kabongo has entered the NBA draft and Sheldon McClellan has transferred. Rick Barnes’ squad could really struggle next season; just like the Big 12, which has only two schools (Kansas and West Virginia) that signed top-20 recruiting classes, according to ESPN.com.

These things are cyclical, of course. The ACC has been subpar in recent years, at least in terms of depth. The Pac-12 was so bad two years ago that its regular-season champion (Washington) wasn’t even granted an NCAA tournament bid. And the SEC was in a transition year last season.

Through it all, the Big 12 has managed to avoid such dips.

Until now.

There was some very big news on the recruiting front Monday: Andrew Wiggins, the top prep player in a loaded 2014 class and by many accounts the best since Kevin Durant, announced the cancellation of his remaining home visits with North Carolina, Kansas, and Florida State, according to CBS' Jeff Goodman.

Kentucky coach John Calipari did in fact enjoy a home visit with Wiggins, a bonus the rest of the coaches competing for his services will not have. Calipari has already put together one of the best (if not the best) recruiting classes in the modern history of the sport. The most predictable outcome, that Wiggins would choose to play for a national title for the coach that has landed more top prospects than any other in the past five seasons, now appears to be a mere step or two away from completion.

I mean, let's be serious: It's over, right?

Maybe not! From Jeff Borzello:

“It means nothing,” Rob Fulford told CBSSports.com Monday morning. “He's just tired. He doesn't want to deal with it.” Wiggins played for the World Team at the Nike Hoop Summit this past weekend, and is still stuck in Portland after his flight home was canceled. “He's just drained. He is shutting it down.”

Of course, a high school coach saying a development in his player's recruiting decision had no meaning even though it really did would be less surprising than Wiggins ending up playing for Kentucky. (I'm trying to think of the last time a top prospect was well and truly pursued by a Worldwide Wes-backed Calipari and ended up playing somewhere else. The list isn't long.)

That's how these things work. Everything is accorded an undue amount of suspense. Every tiny development is scrutinized on the Internet. Every wave of scrutiny is immediately dismissed, and then the cycle begins anew. Throw in every fan base taking to comment sections and message boards to tell you why a kid will definitely no doubt about it choose my school and here's why, and the better the player, bigger the mess.

Personally, I can't help but think Wiggins' in-home recruiting thing is an important piece of information, because college basketball recruiting is a marketplace of respect, and that works both ways: You better believe Roy Williams, Bill Self and Leonard Hamilton would like their crack at the classic living room pitch. (I bet all three have some unreal living-room stuff in their repertoire. I would pay for tapes.) But I also don't know. Maybe Wiggins made up his mind in the opposite direction! Maybe he's introverted and would prefer to discuss these things via an IRC chat room. Or maybe he really is just exhausted.

Kentucky fans are seeming somewhat triumphal today, and understandably so. But -- as is always the case with recruiting -- it's probably best to save any such emotion until things are really, officially done. No one, save Andrew Wiggins, really knows.

1. The NCAA's random date of April 16 to declare for the NBA draft isn't pressuring a number of players into making quick decisions. Coaches are now savvy to the date as being meaningless. That's why Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk may wait to decide until the NBA's own early-entry deadline of April 28. Olynyk is probably going to be the same player in the NBA whether he declares next season or this. He is a Wooden All-America and, if he were to return, would be one of the contenders for player of the year. Missouri's Phil Pressey is also weighing a similar decision over the next few weeks. A number of players haven't outlined their intentions but have plenty of time, like Miami's Shane Larkin, Kansas' Ben McLemore, Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, Georgetown's Otto Porter, Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas, Syracuse's C.J. Fair and Michael Carter-Williams, Louisville's Russ Smith as well as Indiana's Cody Zeller. Cal's Allen Crabbe joined the list of draftees earlier Wednesday. I fully expect Indiana's Victor Oladipo, Louisville's Gorgui Dieng, UCLA's Shabazz Muhammad and Michigan's Trey Burke to declare soon. No official word out of Connecticut, but the staff is anticipating -- at this point -- that guards Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright will return (smart move if it happens, since they don't have an NBA home to go to next season).

2. The Big Ten suddenly got incredibly younger with this week's two coaching hires -- Northwestern announcing Chris Collins and Minnesota tabbing Richard Pitino. The under-40 club will give the league a new look. The two take over programs that are striving for consistency, but both desperately need an upgrade in facilities to hang with the big boys. Collins and Pitino will need to use their youthful enthusiasm to build momentum since the dollars aren't in place for facilities they were used to -- Collins was at Duke and Pitino at Louisville and Florida before his stop at Florida International. Northwestern had been looking at Collins for quite some time. But Pitino was clearly a new name for Minnesota in the past week as athletic director Norwood Teague looked for an off-the-grid-type hire like he made at Virginia Commonwealth. Pitino got off to an impressive start in his coaching career at FIU with the upset of Middle Tennessee in the Sun Belt tournament and a chance to earn the league's automatic NCAA tournament berth. Now he'll face his toughest challenge of his career. He has a brand name in basketball, which carries weight, but will need to put together a strong staff to quickly earn the trust of his players this spring and summer. This can work at both places. Memphis, for example, has been a soaring success under Josh Pastner. Pastner led the Tigers to conference titles and NCAA tournament appearances as a young, vibrant assistant-turned-head-coach of a major program. Collins was a fit at Northwestern so there's no issue there. But give Pitino a chance to see if this could work.

3. Old Dominion looked like it was set to go to former Western Kentucky and Georgia coach Dennis Felton before the Monarchs and athletic director Wood Selig tabbed American's Jeff Jones. This hire came out of left field, but might end up being one of the better fits. Jones played and coached at Virginia and should be able to recruit well in the fertile Tidewater area. Jones had made American a consistent Patriot League contender, which isn't easy to do in a conference where Bucknell and Lehigh are the anchors. ODU knows who it is and wanted to gravitate toward a coach that made sense. This hire does.

 
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Time and time again the past few seasons, as the final buzzer sounded after a close loss, Michigan point guard Trey Burke has found himself asking the same question.

Why?

Why did those 3-pointers rim out against Arkansas and Ohio State?

Why couldn't he make that final shot in an overtime loss to Wisconsin?

Why did he miss a free throw and layup in the waning moments at Indiana?

"All of them looked good and felt good," Burke said. "I just kept asking, 'Why are they all going in and out?'"

Burke never discovered the answer -- but he never lost confidence, either. Instead the Wooden Award candidate just kept firing away in those tight moments, hoping that good fortune would eventually come his way.

It finally happened for the nation's best player Friday -- fittingly, on the biggest stage of his college career.

Burke's 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining forced overtime in the Wolverines' Sweet 16 showdown against Kansas at Cowboys Stadium. Along with capping his team's rally from a 14-point second-half deficit, the shot gave Michigan a huge jolt of momentum that it used to defeat a deflated KU squad 87-85.

For Jason King's full column, click here.