ESPN Men's Basketball

The selection committee adheres to its body of work mantra for a reason. Getting an NCAA bid isn't about one game; it's earned over the course of the regular season and conference tournament.

But one game can change a season -- and certainly the perception of a team.

It did for Notre Dame when the Irish beat top-ranked and previously undefeated Syracuse on Jan. 21. It has for Miami, too, after the Hurricanes knocked off Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday.

The two teams, which appeared to have no shot on New Year's Day because of injuries (Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis played in just two games and is out for the season, and Miami's Reggie Johnson returned to the lineup Dec. 17 after missing four nonconference losses with a knee injury), are now suddenly involved in the NCAA conversation.

Who says college basketball's regular season is meaningless? It means something because it gives teams that looked dead on arrival a chance to earn bids in March.

"There are certain games that draw national attention; that's one of them," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said of the Duke win. "You knock off a top-5 team (Duke was No. 5 at the time), especially when you're not ranked, it helps catapult you forward into the conversation."

Larranaga takes a more pragmatic view of earning a bid. He was well-schooled in this at George Mason when the Patriots had to win a late-season BracketBusters game at Wichita State in 2005-06 to convince the selection committee of their worthiness.

"You don't get judged on a test halfway through the questions," Larranaga said. "When you're in the mid-majors it's hard to move up [in the power rankings]. You might be at 60, but it's hard to get up to 50. In our league [ACC], you can go from 30 from 60. But you can also go down to 80 quickly, too."

The Hurricanes' season could have easily spun in an opposite direction the past week. Miami needed double overtime to beat Maryland at home before the overtime victory at Duke. The Hurricanes had to play the overtime sessions versus Maryland without Johnson (fouled out), and they didn't have center Kenny Kadji (sat out with injury). Backup big man Raphael Akpejiori had fouled out too, leaving the Canes undermanned versus the Terps.

Miami (14-7, 5-3 ACC) still has plenty of work to do, with two games against Florida State and one against North Carolina at home. Five of its final eight are at home, beginning with Virginia Tech on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the Irish (15-8, 7-3 Big East) followed up the Syracuse win with road wins at Seton Hall and Connecticut and a home win over Marquette.

They beat Pitt in late December and won at Louisville in double overtime, but there was still reason to doubt this team after consecutive losses to UConn and at Rutgers, which came before the Syracuse win.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, who said he's never had more fun coaching a team, told his squad in the locker room at Gonzaga after a 20-point loss on Nov. 30 that the team isn't very good but "let's see if we can make progress by Christmas. Abro isn't coming back. These are the guys playing the roles. This is our team."

Brey said the win at Seton Hall was one of the most impressive of the season, since it came four days after the Orange victory.

"We just had the biggest win in the history of our program so we might have had a free pass but when we win that showed signs of being special," Brey said.

That's why Miami's game against Virginia Tech on Thursday will be critical to see if the Canes are in it for the long haul.

Brey has settled on a solid rotation, and the tandems of Jack Cooley and Scott Martin inside and Jerian Grant and Eric Atkins on the perimeter have worked seamlessly. Finding Pat Connaughton as the fifth starter has settled everything else, with Alex Dragicevich coming off the bench.

The Irish finish with two games against West Virginia (starting in Morgantown on Wednesday) and one at Georgetown. Overall, they have four home games and four road games left on the schedule.

"In our league it's been time and time again," Brey said of earning a bid through the conference. "We were so off the map in November and December and rightfully so. But the perception changes [with the Syracuse win], inside the locker room. The kids really digested that they've got a shot, and it builds confidence. It's all about riding the momentum of a win like that. You can ride that to get in position. We've done that.

"We've ridden this to get a bid," Brey said. "It's never too late due to the power of our league."

Larranaga and Miami now have a shot to do the exact same thing.

Miami coach Jim Larranaga sat in a Charlotte hotel room and found himself looking at his roster and game plans in a totally different light.

The Hurricanes face Charlotte on Thursday night and then play nonconference games against Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro before their ACC schedule begins. It gives Larranaga a chance for a fresh start in his first season in Miami.

He now has the availability of his best big man in 6-foot-10 junior Reggie Johnson and is expected to get recently eligible 6-7 senior DeQuan Jones back, too.

Larranaga won't get Julian Gamble back; he's out for the season with an ACL injury. But the additions of Johnson and Jones move the Hurricanes closer to a full roster for the rest of the season.

In an ACC so far devoid of any consistent teams outside of Duke, North Carolina and Virginia, the Canes could prove to be trouble for their opponents.

Guards Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott are averaging in double figures, but the team had no inside presence before Johnson. He returned from an offseason leg injury to play against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, finishing with 15 points and nine boards in 36 minutes.

With the high-flying Jones, Miami has depth and options. The school initially ruled that Jones was ineligible for the season. He was being investigated for an allegation that came out of an offseason Yahoo! Sports story that former Miami booster Nevin Shapiro gave someone associated with Jones $10,000 for his commitment to Miami out of high school. It is a charge that Jones' family refuted. The school then made a sudden announcement this week that Jones was reinstated. He had been practicing with the team after averaging 4.5 points per game and 2.5 boards last season.

But in his and -- more importantly -- Johnson's absence, the Canes lost at Ole Miss in overtime (no shame), at Purdue in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge (understandable), at home by 17 to C-USA favorite Memphis (disaster) and on the road at West Virginia by 11. None of those losses are "bad" by résumé standards. But Miami doesn't have a signature win to promote heading into the holidays.

Larranaga said Jones is eligible and the school is waiting for his grades to get posted. As soon as he is cleared, he can join the Canes, possibly for the Charlotte game, although he wasn't with the team Tuesday night. Miami spokesperson Chris Freet said Wednesday that Jones is expected to join the team in time for the game.

Jones attorney Jason Setchen told the Miami Herald that Jones is "ecstatic" that this case was re-evaluated and "there is insufficient evidence to support his suspension." Setchen said in the story that he had contended Jones never "violated any team rules and was not associated with the purported activities of Nevin Shapiro. We are very pleased that DeQuan has been given the opportunity to compete this year and that the University and the NCAA have made the decision they have. We hope that somehow this helps clear the air with respect to the allegations that have been made about DeQuan."

"Adding Reggie Johnson and DeQuan Jones to our roster means we all of a sudden have the team that we anticipated," said Larranaga, who left George Mason for Miami after Frank Haith was tapped for the Missouri job.

The Canes don't have Gamble. And Garrius Adams is out until after Christmas with a leg injury. He was averaging 6.8 points in 24.9 minutes a game and missed the 93-90 win over FAU. He had scored 15 points in the loss at West Virginia. Freshman guard Bishop Daniels had not been practicing up until a week ago. He had a broken foot, but once Daniels is available, that gives the Canes another potential scorer/defender on the perimeter. "There was a time when we had eight scholarship players," Larranaga said. "That makes it very hard to prepare. Now with Reggie and DeQuan we can practice and prepare correctly. We can really prepare for opponents, and that will be a huge difference."

The schedule, though, isn't kind. If the Canes want to mount a campaign in the ACC, let alone any kind of postseason bid, they have to get through a tough opening week. Miami plays at Virginia, arguably the third-best team in the ACC, and at preseason favorite North Carolina in early January. Going 0-2 won't be a shock. But the next five ACC games are all certainly winnable -- Clemson, NC State, at Georgia Tech, at BC, Maryland -- if we're to take Miami seriously.

The problem for the Canes will be that they must knock off one of the big three -- UNC, Duke and Virginia -- to justify NCAA consideration in March. Miami plays UNC twice but Virginia and Duke just once and both are on the road.

"What we're going to do over the Christmas break is look at every decision we've made and see what worked for us and what didn't so we can shelve it," Larranaga said. "We were playing a lineup of four guards and one 6-5 forward. We no longer have to consider that as an option."

Miami is in a deep hole for an NCAA bid now. But it least has a shot to reconfigure itself going forward in the ACC. Part of that is becoming the top-five ACC team the Hurricanes were projected to be in the preseason.

At this time last year, Ben Hansbrough's name didn't appear on the Wooden Award preseason watch list.

Five months later, he edged out Connecticut's Kemba Walker for Big East Player of the Year.

Using that as a backdrop, let's remember that the list of 50 Wooden nominees is flawed, much like any of the award lists. The Wooden Award does not allow its voters to nominate any freshmen or transfers (either four-year or junior college) on their ballots.

And with college basketball as loaded with talent as any year since 2007-08, narrowing it down to 50 is not easy. So below I've attempted to come up with the names that didn't make it, either as "just missed the cut" omissions or just because they're freshmen or transfers. These guys aren't on the list (which can be found here), but might show up when it's updated during the season.

This group is by no means definitive, either. There's no telling who else might emerge nationally as the games get under way.

Let's take a look …

The omissions (in alphabetical order):

Julian Boyd, Long Island: The Blackbirds are the favorite again in the Northeast Conference and the main reason is because Boyd is back and ready to dominate the stat sheet.

D.J. Cooper, Ohio: The diminutive point guard does a little bit of everything; he averaged 15.8 ppg, 7.5 apg and 5.0 rpg for the Bobcats last season.

Jared Cunningham, Oregon State: Cunningham has some of the best hops in the sport and a chance to be a Pac-12 star, allowing the Beavers to finally move up in the standings this season.

Seth Curry, Duke: Curry was a standout shooter for the Blue Devils on their trip to China and could be one of the top scorers on the team.

Brandon Davies, BYU: Davies was recently reinstated to the Cougars, and the offense is expected to flow through him inside and out as BYU mounts a campaign to win the WCC in its first year in the league.

Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's: SMC coach Randy Bennett envisions this as one of the best teams he's ever had, but a lot of that will have to do with whether Dellavedova can shoot like Mickey McConnell did last season.

Greg Echenique, Creighton: Echenique was a rebounding force for Venezuela this summer and should do even more for the Bluejays with a full season to work with.

TyShwan Edmondson, Austin Peay: The Governors should be the favorite in the Ohio Valley with a legit scorer like Edmondson, who has a strong man, Will Triggs, to take pressure off him.

Kyle Fogg, Arizona: Fogg is next in line to assume a leadership position for the Wildcats, who are in a position to compete for Pac-12 titles for years to come.

Kevin Foster, Santa Clara: As a sophomore, Foster sort of came out of nowhere to average 20.2 ppg and become one of the nation's top 3-point shooters.

Chris Gaston, Fordham: The Rams aren't any good, but the nation's leading returning rebounder (11.3 rpg) at least deserves a shout-out in this space.

Yancy Gates, Cincinnati: UC coach Mick Cronin said he'd be surprised if Gates wasn't one of the 10 names on the Big East preseason first team.

Malcolm Grant, Miami (Fla.): The Hurricanes have to play most of the season without big man Reggie Johnson, so Grant will have more opportunities to shine.

Rob Jones, Saint Mary's: Jones could be a double-double regular for the Gaels, and for Saint Mary's to win the WCC, Jones will have to be a star.

Doron Lamb, Kentucky: John Calipari says Lamb will be the Wildcats' best player. Just Coach Cal mind games, or the truth?

Meyers Leonard, Illinois: Leonard didn't contribute a whole lot as a freshman, but he was a hidden gem on the U.S. U-19 team in Latvia this summer. The Illini are expecting big things out of him.

C.J. McCollum, Lehigh: McCollum is the nation's leading returning scorer (21.8 ppg) and is in the top five in steals (2.5 spg). Oh, and he did that as a freshman. What more do you need to know?

Cameron Moore, UAB: The Blazers have been consistently good under Mike Davis and have had unheralded C-USA stars. Moore is the latest.

Toure' Murry, Wichita State: If the Shockers win the Missouri Valley over Creighton, a lot of the credit will end up going to the veteran Murry.

Brandon Paul, Illinois: Illini coach Bruce Weber was a bit surprised Paul didn't crack the top 50 on the Wooden list, given his overall importance to this team.

Ryan Pearson, George Mason: The Patriots are a trendy pick for the Top 25 and a lot of that has to do with the versatility of Pearson.

Damier Pitts, Marshall: The Thundering Herd are a real sleeper to gain an NCAA tourney berth out of Conference USA in large part because of Pitts.

Herb Pope, Seton Hall: Pope has come back from multiple life-threatening situations and has a real shot as a senior to put it all together and finally shine.

Terrence Ross, Washington: The Huskies can't be dismissed as a major player for the Pac-12 title, and if they win it, Ross will be a significant reason why.

Robert Sacre, Gonzaga: Sacre has matured into a solid post player, and that progress shows no signs of stopping as the Zags once again compete for the West Coast title.

Mike Scott, Virginia: If the sleeper Cavs mount a run to the NCAA tournament, the oft-injured Scott will be the reason why.

Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State: If Sidney is in shape and plays up to his potential, he has SEC Player of the Year potential and could be the difference between the Bulldogs making the NCAAs or NIT.

Andrew Smith, Butler: The Bulldogs will have fewer stars this season, but Smith has a chance to outshine Khyle Marshall and newcomer Roosevelt Jones with his scoring prowess in the post.

Chace Stanback, UNLV: Stanback's suspension to start the season is only one game, so that won't diminish his ability to lead the Rebels in their hunt for a Mountain West title.

Raymond Taylor, Florida Atlantic: FAU quietly won the Sun Belt East Division last season and Mike Jarvis' diminutive point guard was the catalyst behind the regular-season championship.

Hollis Thompson, Georgetown: If the Hoyas are to make the NCAA tournament again and be a pest in the upper half of the Big East, then Thompson needs a breakout season.

Kyle Weems, Missouri State: Doug McDermott is the one everyone is talking about in the Valley, but let's not forget that Weems is the reigning MVC Player of the Year. Too bad for the Bears he's their only returning starter.

Kendall Williams, New Mexico: The sophomore guard was the leading scorer in four postseason NIT games for the Lobos and should only get better with the addition of Australian Hugh Greenwood.

The transfers

Dewayne Dedmon, USC: Trojans coach Kevin O'Neill firmly believes this JC transfer is an NBA talent who could dominate the post and average a double-double for SC.

Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State: The former UTEP big man is ready to have a bust-out season for a team that has serious bounce-back potential after a disappointing 2010-11 campaign.

Mike Rosario, Florida: The former Rutgers scoring guard finally has plenty of support around him and will put up numbers for a winner.

Rakim Sanders, Fairfield: The Boston College transfer should flourish after dropping down a level, and he should get coach Sydney Johnson another trip to the NCAA tourney. Johnson is beginning his first year at Fairfield after leading Princeton to the 2011 tourney.

Royce White, Iowa State: White is finally ready to be a star on the college scene after multiple transgressions at Minnesota.

Brandon Wood, Michigan State: The Spartans picked up a rare senior transfer (taking advantage of the graduate transfer rule) from Valparaiso who could be one of the best shooters in the Big Ten.

Tony Woods, Oregon: The embattled Woods arrived from Wake Forest after legal issues and has a chance to really shine as a double-double player for the first time in his career.

The freshmen

Bradley Beal, Florida: Beal has a chance to be a productive player in a frontcourt that has a vacuum after multiple seniors departed.

Gary Bell Jr., Gonzaga: Coach Mark Few has been anticipating Bell's arrival for over a year now. He's expected to step in and deliver right away.

Wayne Blackshear, Louisville: The Cardinals fancy themselves a Big East title contender, and that's partly because they consider Blackshear a star in the making.

Jabari Brown, Oregon: Brown was the star of the Ducks' trip to Italy with his scoring prowess, and expect that to continue in the Pac-12.

Jahii Carson, Arizona State: There is some question right now as to Carson's eligibility, but if he's good to go, the Sun Devils might become relevant in the Pac-12 again.

Erik Copes, George Mason: Copes was bound for George Washington before Karl Hobbs was fired; now he'll be a headline performer for the Patriots and first-year coach Paul Hewitt.

Anthony Davis, Kentucky: Davis has a chance to be the SEC Player of the Year and the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, so expect him to be on the midseason list when freshmen are allowed.

Andre Drummond, Connecticut: He will be an immediate star and help lift the Huskies into the national title chase again. He's more than likely a future top-five pick in the NBA.

Myck Kabongo, Texas: Coach Rick Barnes has had quite a bit of success with big-time freshmen guards, and Kabongo is next in line.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky: Gilchrist will be another star on what will be a headline team throughout the season.

Johnny O'Bryant, LSU: Coach Trent Johnson needs the Tigers to start trending upward again, and he has a shot with the arrival of the big man from Mississippi.

LeBryan Nash, Oklahoma State: OSU is a bit of a mystery team in the Big 12, but the All-American from Dallas could push the Cowboys into contention.

Austin Rivers, Duke: Rivers will have the ball in his hands quite a bit and appears to be the next Duke star in a lengthy list of recognizable names.

Josiah Turner, Arizona: The Wildcats will win the Pac-12 regular-season title if Turner is as good as advertised.

Cody Zeller, Indiana: If coach Tom Crean is going to turn the Hoosiers into a relevant team this season, it will be because of Zeller and his impact in the Big Ten.

Kansas State coach Frank Martin said he was never overly worried about the Wildcats' future when the fall of the Big 12 seemed imminent, but he did admit to feelings of uneasiness about KSU's place on the college sports landscape if a massive realignment had taken place.

How could he not have been when the very real possibility of a temporarily homeless K-State loomed like a black cloud? Would the Cats and Kansas remain in the Big 12? Would they be the backup plan in the Pac-12 if Texas and Texas Tech didn't want to join Oklahoma and Oklahoma State? Would they end up in the Big East? Would KU dump Kansas State if the ACC called?

In the end, though, only Texas A&M left. And while there's still a chance Missouri bolts to the SEC, the Big 12 is now revisiting expanding beyond nine rather than an every-man-for-himself scramble to find a new home.

"It was frustrating at times -- the uncertainty,'' Martin said of conference affiliation. "But I thought we'd be OK.

"Our league is sticking together. We're in the middle of the country and it's easy to see why all these other leagues would be interested. But contrary to popular belief, I think our league now is so much stronger than five years ago. It's making our league leaders sit down and figure this out. We're going to be making more money than five years ago. Our presidents now have to engage with each other and move forward as a league.''

Conversations at the athletic director level occurred Tuesday in Grapevine, Texas, among the nine remaining Big 12 ADs. There is an expansion committee that will resume talking in the coming weeks with the likely targets coming from its original list of BYU, Louisville and West Virginia. Whether the Big 12 and/or those schools have mutual interest is still to be determined.

Martin said he'd like to see the Big 12 return to 12, even though this season the league will have a true round-robin schedule in its only season with 10 teams. Nebraska (Big Ten) and Colorado (Pac-12) split after last season.

"Ten is the perfect scheduling scenario and when our league season ends we'll have the truest winner of any conference in America since we'll play everybody twice,'' Martin said. "I came from the Big East (where he was an assistant at Cincinnati under Bob Huggins) and I'm not saying we're better than the Big East, but every fan base at every school is absolutely nuts about their school. You don't have a game where you go into someone's arena and it's half full. It's a hard, hard league.''

Martin said he'd like to see the expansion turn to teams with similar traits. BYU, Louisville and West Virginia would certainly qualify. Brigham Young traditionally has had one of the most loyal followings in the West, and Louisville and West Virginia have two of the most devoted fan bases in the Big East.

"I want to make sure if we do grow that, whoever comes in, that school adds value,'' Martin said. "I want the schools the bring long-term credibility and substance. We want this league to continue to be bigger and stronger, because that's what makes this league so much fun. We don't play in empty arenas in men's basketball. If the Big 12 went in that direction [BYU, Louisville and West Virginia], then I don't care what anybody else says, you can't come close to the strength of that basketball league.''

Like some of the schools in the Big 12, it appeared Martin himself might be headed to the ACC this offseason. When Frank Haith left Miami to take the Missouri job, the hometown Hurricanes were looking for a coach and it seemed natural that Martin would be the leading candidate. He never publicly said he wanted the job, but he was the clear front-runner in the minds of many.

And he didn't exactly defuse those rumors with these comments to the Associated Press back in April:

"Everyone's reporting that my salary is $1.55 million. Actually, my salary is $1.1 million," he said. "Now, I'm an old high school teacher who was making 32 grand when I moved to Boston, and I'm extremely grateful and thankful for the salary I make right now. If I stayed the length of the [five-year] contract and I collect every bonus on the contract, it will average out to $1.55 [million]. And you know what? There is a chance that the University of Miami never called because they think I make 1.5. There's a chance just because it was released at 1.55 the University of Miami said, 'We can't call him. Why waste our time? We can't pay him.'"

Miami hired George Mason's Jim Larranaga.

And that's why it was surreal that a communication error with a security detail led to Martin not being allowed on the field last Saturday for an ESPNU on-camera interview during Kansas State's football win at Miami. UM associate athletic director Chris Freet said Tuesday that Martin was denied field access because of a new university policy that won't allow anyone but Miami players, staff and essential personnel to be on the Hurricanes' sideline. The policy was put in place in response to the scandal that rocked the university after an extensive investigation by Yahoo! Sports.

No harm, no foul ... right? Martin is still in a good spot, even without the Miami offer. He can probably win at a higher level by staying in Manhattan. The Wildcats were in the Elite Eight two seasons ago, and while last season was a bit of a disappointment, they still rallied in time to make another NCAA tourney appearance. KSU did lose its leader in Jacob Pullen, as well as recruiting ace Dalonte Hill, who left to become an assistant on Mark Turgeron's new staff at Maryland.

Kansas State won't be picked in the first tier with Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M and Kansas. But the Wildcats will still be a pest in the Big 12, with a chance at a tournament bid.

"This may be the most athletic team we've had here,'' Martin said. "We are fast. When Denis Clemente was here we were fast, but now we're fast at all five positions. We've got guys who were complementary that now can accept frontline positions.''

Rodney McGruder tops that list -- one that includes Shane Southwell, Will Spradling and Jamar Samuels.

"We've got a nucleus of guys,'' Martin said. "We've got guys who have played big-time minutes. We don't have a guy who could do what [Pullen] did right now. We're not there yet, but we've got a chance.''

The ACC's decision to add Pitt and Syracuse will undoubtedly strengthen men's basketball more than its last round of expansion (Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami).

But it will create more controversy given how a potential 14-team league might be divided.

The Panthers and Orange may come in 2012 if they can buy their way out of the Big East's exit demands of 27 months and a $5 million departure fee. The Big East has publicly stated that it wants the two schools in for the duration and for BCS purposes it may need them to ensure that the league still has the necessary amount of teams. The ACC is in no rush to add Pitt and Syracuse, but those two schools would rather not go through more than one lame-duck season.

Nevertheless, there is already discussion about how the two will be incorporated into the ACC. Formal talks on the matter won't occur until the annual meetings later in the academic year. But if the league goes to divisions, or at the very least goes to a divisional-style scheduling format, there still might be at least one team in a difficult spot: Wake Forest.

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg looks at the divisional setup along regional lines -- and it makes some sense. ACC associate commissioner Karl Hicks agrees, and he acknowledged that's the way it might turn out.

If that were to happen, the North would have to be Virginia Tech, Virginia, Maryland, Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College and one more team.

The South would be Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State and Miami, and then there are the three schools in the Research Triangle (Duke, UNC and NC State) that would likely demand to be in the same division together.

That leaves the Demon Deacons as the odd team out. Would Wake have to be put in the North, separated from its three in-state rivals?

The current 12-team divisional alignment in football isn't set up in a North-South split. Wake Forest is in the Atlantic and at least has NC State on its side with Maryland, Clemson, Florida State and Boston College. But the Demon Deacons' two in-state rivals that it would rather play more -- UNC and Duke -- are in the Coastal with Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Miami.

Wake will make it clear that it doesn't want to be shipped away from the three other North Carolina schools if the league goes to two seven-team divisions. The Demon Deacons want in some form two games against the three in-state schools if there are divisions or if it's one 14-team league.

"If you do it North-South, then one North Carolina team has to be in the North,'' Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman said. "We want to play North Carolina more than we do. It's been four years since we played them at home in football, so we are interested in a concept where we play the North Carolina schools. That's a point of emphasis for us. As soon as we announce our schedule, our fans are disappointed that we don't play every North Carolina school in football or [twice in] basketball. Those rivalries were established before the league was in 1953.''

Wellman said when the ACC gets together next month, the topic of how to align a 14-team league will likely be discussed. Wake Forest is nearly two hours away from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, but Deacons fans clearly want to feel attached to the state's other ACC teams.

The other option for the conference would be to keep Wake Forest in the South and ship Miami to the North with the rationale that the Hurricanes would have to fly to every ACC school anyway due to its location (technically, the Hurricanes could drive to Tallahassee for FSU, but even that is a lengthy drive on a school night).

If the ACC were to go to 16 (which is the preferred number by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina's Roy Williams, among others) and the additions were two more Big East schools (say, UConn and Rutgers), then geography naturally would put both in the North. That would be the easiest solution for the ACC, allowing Wake Forest to compete in the South.

Of course, there will be some other issues here, too. Maryland will demand that it still has its rivalry games with Duke and North Carolina. The Terps would still get to be paired with the two Virginia schools, but losing a Duke home game would seriously dampen the spirits in College Park.

In the end, Hicks said the league doesn't have to go to divisions.

"Ultimately, it will come down to a vote of the ADs and they'll decide what they'll want to do,'' Hicks said. "It will be hard to take those North Carolina schools and separate them. Rivalries and geography will be in play. The good news is that we have time to work through it. We do have permanent partners in our scheduling now. It's the same issue we have now in scheduling, but we added two more teams.''

• If Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe is officially out of a job, then the NCAA tournament selection committee will have two of its 10 members not working while serving on the committee. The other is Jeff Hathaway, who was forced to retire at Connecticut as athletic director.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson, a former committee member, said that the personnel on the committee has always been overrated and that the committee will be fine since the system itself is all that really matters.

Hathaway's term as chair of the committee started on Sept. 1 (replacing the outgoing chair, Ohio State AD Gene Smith) and NCAA men's basketball tournament spokesperson David Worlock said there has been no change in his position. The same may be true of Beebe if he's officially out. The committee won't meet again until November, and the heart of their work doesn't really begin until January and February, anyway. Hathaway and Beebe certainly would have more time to focus on the national landscape.

The only issue that will be in play for the selection committee: Would Hathaway have to leave the room when UConn is discussed and would the same apply to Beebe when Big 12 teams are talked about, since neither would be employed by either entity?

The consensus from former committee members is that bringing in two more new members to go along with the two regularly scheduled new members to the committee wouldn't be prudent. No one wants to see a committee that has four of its 10 members doing the selections and seeding for the first time. So if Hathaway and Beebe both stay, then the only hiccup will be their role when the teams that they formerly served are being discussed.

Marshall and Western Kentucky say they did their due diligence before hiring former Miami assistants Jorge Fernandez and Jake Morton, respectively.

Both schools' head coaches -- Marshall's Tom Herrion and Western Kentucky's Ken McDonald -- said they went through the proper protocol, as did their compliance offices. That means an email or phone call to the NCAA enforcement to see if there are any violations, even if they are secondary, on the record of the individual.

But what is not given up is whether there is an ongoing investigation.

"We've never received information like that," said Marshall's Derek Gwinn, the school's associate director of athletics for compliance. "It's always been that they won't comment on ongoing investigations."

Bob Williams, the NCAA's vice president of communications, confirmed as much.

"What we do is tell schools who have secondary or major violations," Williams said. "If there is an investigation ongoing, they won't say the individual is under investigation because of the confidentiality clause."

The NCAA has said it's been investigating Miami for five months, while Yahoo! Sports spent 11 months on its investigation. The allegations broke by Yahoo! on Fernandez were that Miami booster Nevin Shapiro witnessed him having impermissible contact with Miami football players in 2008 and entertaining then-AAU-coach Moe Hicks (now on the St. John's staff).

The allegations against Morton were more serious. Shapiro alleges that Morton was aware a family member of then-recruit and current senior DeQuan Jones wanted $10,000 for a commitment to Miami and that Shapiro agreed to front the money. The allegation is Morton met Shapiro to pick up the cash and Morton returned the money after Shapiro went to prison.

Former Miami head coach Frank Haith didn't take Morton and Fernandez with him to Missouri.

So far, according to Marshall and Western Kentucky, neither Morton nor Fernandez has spoken to NCAA investigators. That sort of leaves them in limbo, but Herrion and McDonald are sticking with their new assistants and have been told by each that the two men didn't do anything wrong. Both coaches say the cases have to run their course before any judgment can be reached. Both coaches will remain on staff and continue to recruit.

Meanwhile, Haith isn't allowed to comment on the case as he waits to be interviewed by the NCAA for his alleged role in knowing about a payment for Jones. Haith is being kept in limbo as well since the NCAA investigation will likely last into 2012 since it also involves football. That means Haith will have a shadow over him for quite some time, forcing Missouri to decide if it is going to stick with him or cut him a negotiated settlement (which would likely be in the millions) before any investigation is complete. Haith has publicly professed his innocence in a statement but can't speak anymore on the subject, making it harder for him to defend himself.

The former assistants are in a similar situation, but with a much dimmer spotlight on them. Yet, like Haith, both are at new institutions, and that makes it more difficult since neither has built up any equity at his new job.

More news and notes from around the country:

• Herrion said Marshall has signed up to play at Syracuse this season for a $100,000 guarantee. The Thundering Herd, which fancy themselves contenders with Memphis for the Conference USA title, will play two other notable Big East teams -- at Cincinnati (a return game in 2012-13 will be in Charleston, W. Va.) and the annual rivalry game against West Virginia in Charleston. MAAC favorite Iona is going to Huntington, as is MAC contender Akron. Marshall is also playing an in-season home-and-home against a Belmont team that won 30 games last season and returns nearly everyone. Games against Ohio, UNC Wilmington and High Point are also on the schedule as Marshall looks for one more game.

• The NCAA is expected to resolve outgoing UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway's situation as incoming chair of the men's basketball tournament committee in weeks, not months, according to a NCAA spokesperson. The Big East would like to see Hathaway in the same role and trust his due diligence on the committee, even if he's not employed at a member institution. He will, after all, be technically paid by one during his year as chair since UConn reached a settlement with Hathaway.

• Williams said you can expect a number of the actions discussed at the presidential retreat to be enacted at either the next board of presidents meeting in October or in January at the NCAA convention. Williams said the new cut score for the APR (930) will likely be adopted and that teams will start missing the NCAA tournament if they don't average at least that number over a four-year period. Williams said it wouldn't affect the 2012 tournament since the schools need time to adjust to the new score. It'll kick in for the 2013 tourney at the earliest, but likely later.

• The Big East hopes to finish its conference schedule sometime around Labor Day. And that means Connecticut will know who its opponents will be for the first three Big East games that coach Jim Calhoun will have to miss due to an NCAA-imposed suspension. The Big East traditionally is the last conference to publish its league schedule as it works with a number of NBA and NHL arenas on scheduling dates.

• The MAC's decision to advance the top two teams to the semifinals of its league tournament was a much-needed change. The MAC had to do something to protect the best teams and give them the best chance to advance to the NCAA tournament then win a game. This is the same move that a number of leagues, notably the WCC, have made recently.

• Texas A&M to the SEC makes sense with the conference getting into the Houston market and dipping into a state that certainly loves its football. Leaving Texas and its natural rivalries would be a sacrifice worth taking for the more lucrative payday and passion within the Southeastern Conference. But figuring out the SEC's 14th fit -- if it comes to that -- is a bit trickier. If the SEC schools were to block out schools from their own states, that eliminates Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Clemson.

Virginia Tech would seem a natural, but the Hokies like their competitive position in the ACC and there are also the political ramifications to "breaking up" with rival Virginia. If there is one school that's a dark horse, it's West Virginia. The Mountaineers certainly could hang in both major sports (football and men's basketball) and compete at a high level. The SEC offers a lot more stability than the Big East in football and WVU's passion for its sports teams is akin to the SEC.

The problem of course is that the media market is small and doesn't deliver much to the SEC in terms of number of households. West Virginia can dip into the Pittsburgh area and that wouldn't hurt. The school would also likely have the least resistance politically of any of the other candidates. From a hoops standpoint, adding Bob Huggins to the mix and renewing an old rivalry with his old pal John Calipari would be entertaining for all.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and North Carolina coach Roy Williams were in attendance, as were Florida State's Leonard Hamilton, Ohio State's Thad Matta and Pitt's Jamie Dixon. Alabama and NC State were represented as well.

Sitting among the headline names at the HP Field House on the campus of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex was Jim Larranaga, adorning a freshly acquired bright orange golf shirt with a "U" embroidered on the left chest, the traditional moniker for the University of Miami.

For 14 years as the coach of upstart George Mason, Larranaga relished his role as the underdog, most notably when the Patriots embarked on a historic run to the 2006 Final Four. He cashed in on that achievement by becoming a successful motivational speaker with a Washington, D.C.-based speakers group.

Larranaga had carved out his niche. George Mason was a Colonial Athletic Association power and a regular contender for an NCAA tournament berth. The Patriots are expected to be a preseason Top 25 team this season, and one that could possibly go on another magical March run.

He was 61. Yet he wasn't satisfied.

"I loved my 14 years at George Mason, and I know a lot of coaches say this: 'Don't mess with happiness,' and I was very, very happy at George Mason," Larranaga said. "I'm very goal-oriented and I wanted to take a shot at a league that gives you a chance to win a national championship."

Larranaga had an opportunity to return to his alma mater, Providence, three years ago when the Friars fired Tim Welsh. He turned them down.

"I've always been driven by the opportunity to succeed in your own league, so when I was being courted by my alma mater, Providence, in the Big East I knew the money was substantially better, but the opportunity to win the Big East for Providence would have been a stretch. To compete with teams like Connecticut, Syracuse, Georgetown and Louisville?" Larranaga said.

So Larranaga stayed on at Mason in the CAA. The league put another team in the Final Four in April when Virginia Commonwealth made an improbable run from the inaugural First Four to the Final Four. That means the CAA has put two teams in the Final Four in a five-year period; Miami has four NCAA tournament wins in its history.

And let's be honest: Miami isn't beating North Carolina or Duke for the ACC regular-season title any time soon. But getting access to an NCAA tournament berth should be easier out of what is currently a rather pedestrian ACC once you get past the Blue Devils and Tar Heels.

After former coach Frank Haith was scooped up by Missouri, Miami initially flirted with Harvard's Tommy Amaker, but to no avail. Then Miami president Donna Shalala and her top administrators got word of some interest from Larranaga and, suddenly, there was a match few would have predicted.

"Every individual is on their own journey," said Larranaga, who consistently speaks as though he were giving a motivational speech. "I've never been driven by money, and when other schools came courting everyone thought I would move for the money.

"Right now, the ACC is going through a tremendous transition with eight new coaches [over the past three seasons], and any one of those eight could jump up into the upper echelon and make themselves a national contender," Larranaga said.

The theory that a coach has to move to a power-six job to compete for a national title seems to have less clout. Larranaga, in large part, helped start the trend that has since been followed by Butler's Brad Stevens and VCU's Shaka Smart.

But one thing that hasn't changed is access to players. Recruiting at a high level remains difficult, and in most cases out of reach for schools outside the power six.

"The quality of the player that receives our phone calls and shows genuine interest is different," Larranaga said. "We're now in the battle to get the really good players. Our football team has won five national championships. Our baseball team has won titles. In my mind, and the coaches here feel the same way, there's no reason why we can't compete with the best teams in the country to win a national championship. That's our goal."

Larranaga is no stranger to the ACC. He was an assistant to Terry Holland at Virginia in the 1980s when Ralph Sampson starred for the Cavaliers. But Duke wasn't Duke then. Now, North Carolina and Duke aren't going anywhere but the top of the ACC. The rest of the league is trying to catch them, with each taking a rotating turn in the chase. Maryland is going through a transition with the departure of Gary Williams and the arrival of Mark Turgeon; Hamilton has made Florida State consistently good; Virginia Tech has been a thorn in the side of all the above teams under Seth Greenberg but hasn't been able to get through to the NCAA tournament; Clemson made a smooth transition from Oliver Purnell to Brad Brownell and should be a regular in the postseason discussion; Virginia appears to be on the verge of a breakthrough under Tony Bennett.

It's too early to judge Steve Donahue at Boston College, but he is facing an overhaul of his roster. Mark Gottfried and Brian Gregory just arrived at their respective schools, NC State and Georgia Tech. Wake Forest is facing a major rebuild under Jeff Bzdelik.

"I love the challenge of now recruiting against the best teams in the country," Larranaga said.

Larranaga's current team took a major hit when one of the best big men in the ACC, Reggie Johnson, went down with a knee injury (torn meniscus) that will sideline him until January at the earliest. Johnson, a 6-foot-10, 305-pound center, averaged 11.9 points and 9.6 rebounds for the Canes as a sophomore.

"Reggie was going to be an impact force for us in the low post and could have been the leading rebounder in the league," Larranaga said. "Because of the sensitivity of the knee and the decision to repair the cartilage they need four to five months for it to heal properly. He weighs 300 pounds and that can pound on his knee. So it will take three to four weeks to get him in playing shape.

"The earliest is Jan. 1 for a return, but it's more realistic to think mid-January," Larranaga said. "There will be a transition when Reggie comes back. He'll have to shed the cobwebs from being out for six months. Then we'll have him hopefully for the close of the ACC season in February, the ACC tournament and hopefully the postseason."

Larranaga will be counting on Florida transfer Kenny Kadji -- who never realized his potential with the Gators -- senior Julian Gamble and sophomore Raphael Akpejiori to fill in for Johnson. All are about 6-10 to 6-11, but none have proved themselves at this level.

Getting shooting guard Bishop Daniels to keep his commitment was one of Larranaga's most significant coups after he got the job. Daniels will join an experienced roster in the backcourt with Malcolm Grant, Durand Scott and DeQuan Jones, and there's an expectation that UMKC transfer Trey McKinney Jones will have an impact, too.

Miami had the talent a year ago to be an NCAA tournament team, but the guard play wasn't strong in late-game possessions, notably early in the season at Memphis. That contributed to a bizarre season in which the Hurricanes finished ninth in the ACC at 6-10 overall, yet finished 21-15, enough to earn a bid to the NIT, where they lost to Alabama in the quarterfinals.

"Miami did win 21 games last season, but they did finish [ninth] in the ACC, and that concerns me," Larranaga said. "I think everyone thinks we'll be better this season, but it's a new system and a new philosophy and there will be an adjustment. They played a lot of 2-3 zone, and we'll only play zone in an extreme situation."

Larranaga said the Hurricanes will have multiple seasons within one -- the nonconference, the early ACC without Johnson, the latter part of the ACC with him and the ACC tournament before possibly the postseason. To reach that postseason goal, the Hurricanes will have to make some noise in the nonconference schedule. The ACC ranked 16th in nonconference scheduling last season. The Big East was No. 1. That was a major issue at the annual spring meetings. The ACC had four NCAA tournament teams. The Big East had 11.

Larranaga knows about scheduling into the NCAA tournament. He had multiple at-large berths at Mason, including in its 2006 Final Four run.

This season, the Canes will play Purdue, Memphis, West Virginia, Rutgers, Ole Miss and UMass in nonconference play.

"If we can succeed without Reggie in the nonconference then we should be able to set ourselves up to compete for postseason play out of the ACC," Larranaga said. "I've never had the ambition to retire. I love coaching. I have the passion to keep doing it and see players develop and mature."

Frank Martin didn't have a choice to make about whether to leave Kansas State for the head-coaching job at Miami.

The Hurricanes never called Martin, who grew up playing hoops across the street from the Orange Bowl.

There was a concerted effort by at least one representative of Martin's and plenty of his friends and followers in his hometown to get the Canes to hire the K-State coach as Frank Haith's replacement in Coral Gables.

The call never came. Miami made a run at Harvard's Tommy Amaker and then scooped up George Mason's Jim Larranaga in what turned out to be a surprise hire.

But Martin insists he wasn't scorned and said he's glad to still be in Manhattan, Kan., ready for another fight to prove the doubters wrong and to show that the Wildcats can sustain what he has built in the past four years, now sans his top assistant coach Dalonte Hill (who left for Maryland) and Mr. Everything Jacob Pullen.

"I'm excited for them," Martin said of the Hurricanes. "I'm not an alum but I grew up across the street, and everyone around there adopted Miami as their school.

"Only two things bothered me about the whole thing: No. 1 was that they portrayed it as a bad job, which is ridiculous. It's a great university. No. 2 was that there was so much talk about me and the job so I had to answer these questions. I was never contacted. I was never a candidate for the job. I was asked a question and I answered it. You try to be honest today, but they use it against you.''

The quote in question was when Martin clarified his salary to AP reporter Doug Tucker, saying: "Everyone's reporting that my salary is $1.55 million. Actually my salary is $1.1 million. Now, I'm an old high school teacher who was making 32 grand when I moved to Boston and I'm extremely grateful and thankful for the salary I make right now. If I stayed the length of the [five-year] contract and I collect every bonus in the contract it will average out to $1.55. And you know what? There's a chance that the University of Miami never called because they think I make $1.5. There's a chance just because it was released at $1.55 the University of Miami said, 'We can't call him. Why waste our time? We can't pay him.'''

Martin said he was humbled and flattered by how many people follow Kansas State in Miami, enough to push him for the position.

But he was emphatic about where he calls home now: "This is my home. I'm from down there and Kansas State is my home. I'm so excited about where I'm at and what we're going to do.''

Martin said he wasn't bothered that he was never a candidate at Miami, a job that would have paid him less in a league where it's harder to ascend to the top with North Carolina and Duke locked in as the prohibitive favorites on a yearly basis.

Sure, Kansas and Texas are the standard-bearers in the Big 12. But Kansas State has found its place with Martin, reaching the Elite Eight in 2010 and still being a formidable player a year ago, despite an up-and-down season with multiple suspensions of senior Curtis Kelly, one for Pullen, and Freddy Asprilla and Wally Judge leaving the team during the season.

And when it comes to K-State and Miami, you can't even begin to compare the fan bases, the passion for the sport, the history and the home-court advantage. South Florida and Eastern Kansas are another matter, but that's not always an issue for a college coach. Martin can win at Kansas State. That matters. At Miami, the obstacles are still formidable based on the relative lack of interest and the mountain to climb within the ACC.

"We've won more games in the last four years [95] than any four-year period in Kansas State and we have a top-20 program in the history of college basketball,'' Martin said.

But Martin is faced with the first real transition period as a head coach just as the Big 12 has been reduced to 10 teams and will play a true round-robin schedule, meaning two games against Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor every season to go along with the two against Kansas and Missouri that have been on the schedule.

Pullen is gone. Hill is out.

"He's the first person to leave our staff since we got here,'' said Martin, who is still working on a replacement. "The most important thing has been stability on a staff. But the kids can trust a different voice. There will be an adjustment.''

Hill had a pipeline to the DC-Baltimore area, one he will cultivate for Mark Turgeon at Maryland. The Wildcats' most recognizable player from the area was Michael Beasley, who played for Martin in his first season when he was promoted to replace Bob Huggins once Huggins went home to his alma mater at West Virginia after one season in Manhattan.

Hill also lured DC-area players Rodney McGruder, who will be the centerpiece of next season's team, as well as returning forward Jamar Samuels and Judge, who left midway through the season and eventually transferred to Rutgers.

"We've had a transition every year,'' Martin said. "When I got the job they said it was a joke. Then Beasley left and I was going to get fired in six months without Beasley. Then we went out and won games. But then we went to the NIT and I was going to get fired because we weren't very good. And then we nearly won the whole thing and lost in the Elite Eight. But then maybe we couldn't quite get it done last year and Jacob Pullen struggled but then we turned it around, won big games and lost a heartbreaker to Wisconsin [in the NCAA tournament].''

Martin is 6-3 in three NCAA tournament appearances. Before his arrival, Kansas State hadn't been in the tournament three times in a four-year period since 1986-90. The last NCAA appearance before Martin was 10 years earlier in 1996.

"Now they say we stink and we have a bunch of nobodies,'' Martin said.

Not sure who "they" are, but Kansas State certainly will be projected in the Big 12 mix, or at least in the second tier behind Texas A&M, Baylor, Missouri, Kansas and Texas -- all of which have some questions to be answered and are hardly way ahead of KSU.

The Wildcats essentially lose Pullen and Kelly from last season's team. That hurts. But McGruder, Samuels, Will Spradling and Shane Southwell are all more than capable of being a core group that can keep this team in the running for an NCAA bid. The Cats also have a class of six newcomers.

"I'm excited about our team,'' Martin said.

During all the Miami chatter, he certainly had plenty to keep him occupied.

Martin hurt his knee in January. He couldn't sleep and knew he needed surgery after the season. He had the surgery, but soon after he found himself with intense pain in his right calf. He went to the doctor and it was discovered that he had a blood clot. He had to immediately be put on blood thinners and took medication for five days, every 12 hours. He will remain on the blood thinners for a three-month period.

Martin has had seven or maybe eight knee surgeries -- he's lost count at this point -- and this is the first time a blood clot occurred.

But the initial scare is over. And the one hometown job that may have piqued his curiosity is filled. And you know what? He's fine with that. He's ready for everyone else to doubt him again.

"I couldn't be happier where I'm at,'' Martin said. "We've done a lot of great things in four years here. I've got a great job and a great administration.''

Jim Larranaga wasn't thinking about leaving George Mason until president Alan Merten, his best friend at the school, told him he was retiring in late March, just days before Larranaga left for the Final Four in Houston.

And even then, Larranaga wasn't convinced there was a spot to land. He wasn't going to bolt on the program he had built over the past 14 years. He could have done that three years ago when the coaching job at Providence, his alma mater, was open.

"That's when I decided to start to assess if this is where I was going to be for the rest of my career,'' said Larranaga, 61, of Merten's decision.

Larranaga got a few calls from friends who had connections to the Miami job, which opened while he was in Houston after Missouri tabbed Frank Haith to replace Mike Anderson as its coach. "But I thought they'd hire Frank Martin,'' Larranaga said of the Kansas State coach and Miami native.

Larranaga's agent, Mark Carmony, called and told him there was interest from Miami. So Larranaga listened and then interviewed in Boston, just an hour after Harvard's Tommy Amaker did on April 11.

Amaker said no to the Hurricanes. Larranaga heard nothing. Miami then hired Shawn Eichorst as its athletic director. He was previously an assistant athletic director from Wisconsin.

The assumption was that Eichorst would turn to Milwaukee's Rob Jeter, a connection from the state of Wisconsin. Eichorst did talk to him. But it never got too serious. Suddenly, there was a renewed interest in Larranaga from Eichorst and Miami president Donna Shalala after the AD heard how well Larranaga had interviewed.

"And then by Wednesday [a day after Eichorst had been hired on April 12], I was the No. 1 candidate and there was an offer,'' Larranaga said.

The official hire of Larranaga came 11 days after he first interviewed in Boston. During that time, he wrestled as to whether he should leave Mason. He firmly believed at one point that he wasn't even the top choice. He was convinced that Martin was going to get the job, even though Miami never showed interest in him for whatever reason.

"Jim was upfront with me the whole time,'' George Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor said. "I was hoping that he would stay. But I always felt that at any level Jim could coach, in the ACC, Big East, it wouldn't matter, he would be successful.''

O'Connor did what he could financially. Miami offered more and a five-year contract. But ultimately, Larranaga said the decision to accept Miami's offer was about his uncertainty on Mason's future without Merten. O'Connor always had his back, but Larranaga was intrigued by the challenge.

If there were ever a time to get into the ACC, it is now. Duke and North Carolina are the standard, as has been the case for decades now. But more than half the league is in flux. Gary Williams (Maryland), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State) and Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech) are the only coaches (other than Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams) who have been at their school for more than two seasons, respectively. None has been a consistent NCAA team of late, as all have been out of the field or sweating plenty on Selection Sunday.

The rest of the league has had a complete turnover in the past two seasons. If Miami can keep forward Reggie Johnson from staying in the draft over the next week, and with the return of guards Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant, then there is no reason why the Hurricanes can't be competitive and in the ACC's top five next season.

If you were to compare Larranaga's last two options of leaving Mason -- Providence versus Miami -- it's not close. He made the right choice. The Friars are near the bottom of the Big East with plenty of disadvantages in the region, including a much, tougher, more competitive conference from top to bottom.

Larranaga's age shouldn't be a deterrent. He has plenty of energy. And as O'Connor said, he had the "total package,'' from tactical to motivation to enthusiasm to outreach to make a program successful.

And that's why leaving Mason was a tough call. He is leaving behind a Top 25 team next season, which will be one of the best at the school or at least comparable to the 2006 Final Four team. The Patriots lose two key players -- Cam Long and Isaiah Tate -- but return everyone else off the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season championship roster and second-round NCAA winner over Villanova. Ryan Pearson should enter the CAA as a possible conference player-of-the-year favorite. Sherrod Wright is expected to be healthy, too, after sitting out with a shoulder injury. That alone should bolster the team's chances.

"We've got four or five starters returning and a lot of guys with three years experience,'' Larranaga said. "We won 27 games with that team this past season, and we could be even better next year.''

But Larranaga wasn't sure where the leadership would turn above him in the next five to seven years. The Miami job presented a unique opportunity, and he took it once it ultimately came his way.

O'Connor now has to replace him. There are only a handful of head-coaching openings remaining. Even if there were more, Mason would be one of the best jobs outside of a power six. And you can argue that, except for the financial end of a Big East job like Providence, Mason is a better gig.

"Jim gave us the foundation, and there's no question that we are eternally grateful,'' O'Connor said. "We have a top 25 job, and that includes the BCS schools.''

Facilities aren't an issue. Mason lies in a fertile recruiting area. The CAA is experiencing a renaissance with VCU reaching the Final Four -- the second conference team to do so since 2006 after Mason's miraculous run. Old Dominion's Blaine Taylor has been wooed, most recently by Wyoming, and chose to stay put. VCU's Shaka Smart stayed despite the possibility of landing at NC State. Drexel's Bruiser Flint has been a consistent winner. Towson and Georgia State lured two coaches who desperately wanted in the league in Pitt assistant Pat Skerry and IUPUI head coach Ron Hunter.

"We've got everything in place,'' O'Connor said.

Whoever lands the Mason gig will have a team ready to win for next season and beyond.

Larranaga's move was precipitated by his president's desire to retire. Miami then had to sift through its own search process of seeking Amaker, dismissing the thought of pursuing Martin, and then finding a match in Larranaga.

These searches don't always end up the way they start. But in the case of Miami, it found someone who was willing to move, who had oodles of experience and can help the team win immediately.

O'Connor will seek the same result. He said he has a list of 30 names. He will whittle them down this week. O'Connor is a basketball lifer, from being a head coach to a chair on the men's basketball selection committee. He knows he has a sweet coaching gig to offer, a job where someone can win now.

Replacing Larranaga won't be an easy chore. But if O'Connor gets it right, Mason may not miss a beat. The foundation is in place, but more than that, the players are returning to continue a winning tradition.

Quick hitters on a Tuesday morning:

• Bill Grier had a clause in his contract to succeed Mark Few at Gonzaga. It was an agreement that the two and athletic director Mike Roth had agreed to years ago, but once it became clear Few wasn't going anywhere, Grier got his own gig at the University of San Diego.

Grier is one of the most well-liked coaches I've come across and has a slew of friends in the business. I've never heard an ill word about him from anyone.

That's why it's difficult for so many to witness what has happened at USD over the last few seasons. The bad run that has befallen Grier since the Toreros upset Connecticut in the 2008 NCAA tournament -- Grier's first season on the job -- is hard to fathom.

His teams have fallen off the map on the court, following that NCAA tourney momentum with a disappointing 16-16 season, then 11-21, then a horrific 6-24 this past season. The Toreros did have one highlight this season, beating Saint Mary's at home when the Gaels were atop the WCC. But there have been costly defections, notably losing the team's top rebounder and inside presence in Rob Jones to the rival Gaels.

And now this -- a point-shaving scandal that led to the arrests of former assistant coach Thaddeus Brown and the school's all-time leading scorer, Brandon Johnson.

There is no way anyone could have guessed that this quaint Catholic school up on the hill in a scenic part of San Diego would be a part of such a sordid scandal.

This is a crushing blow for the West Coast Conference, which had been on a roll as of late. BYU joined the league and just locked up coach Dave Rose with a lucrative new deal. Gonzaga continues to roll along. Saint Mary's survived another coaching carousel and kept Randy Bennett. And now USD, the worst team in the league, is embroiled in a scandal.

Grier wasn't named in the charges, nor is there any indication that he had any knowledge of the schemes. But Toledo coach Stan Joplin wasn't involved in a point-shaving scandal at that school, either. He was fired there because of a losing season, not the point-shaving scandal. But he's also still trying to find a job.

So the emotional stress on Grier has to be daunting. He was trying to rebuild the program in anonymity and now that's not possible. The point-shaving scandal will keep the spotlight on the Toreros -- and it's not a spotlight any program wants to be under.

• BYU really had no choice but to re-sign Rose. Athletic director Tom Holmoe couldn't afford to lose his successful head coach at a time when the Cougars are entering unchartered waters in the move to the WCC.

• If Reggie Theus can't get the head-coaching job at his alma mater, UNLV, where exactly is he going to get one? Theus was a successful coach at New Mexico State, making that program relevant again. He had a tough situation with the Sacramento Kings. The former Rick Pitino assistant at Louisville should be applauded for working his way up, instead of expecting a free pass to a head-coaching job. He's an NBA assistant now and desperately wants back in college, but can't seem to get a serious sniff outside being considered by UNLV and USC.

• Miami's Reggie Johnson declared for the NBA draft but didn't sign with an agent. If the Hurricanes have a chance to move up the ACC standings under their new head coach, Johnson has to return.

• Archie Miller's decision to hire Kevin Kuwik as an assistant at Dayton will go down as one of his best during his career as a head coach with the Flyers. Kuwik was the video coordinator for Ohio State the past two seasons under Thad Matta. I have documented many times what Kuwik has done in his career, from serving two tours in Iraq with the Indiana National Guard while an assistant at Ohio to his best work, helping change commuter airline legislation after the tragic death of his girlfriend Lorin Maurer and the other victims on Continental Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J., to Buffalo two years ago. Matta's decision to have the Buckeyes wear 3407 patches the past two years to honor the victims was one of the best gestures I've seen in my two decades of covering the sport. It was all class. Ohio State will miss Kuwik, but he deserved a chance to be a full-time assistant. Few will work harder. Dayton got better the moment Kuwik got the job.

• Baylor will almost certainly be in the preseason top 25 now with the surprising return of Perry Jones III. But let's not dismiss the importance of losing LaceDarius Dunn. The Bears had some leadership issues on last season's team and really didn't beat anyone of significance all season. There is still more work to be done, but getting Jones back was huge.

• I'm not sure you'll find a state without a major league baseball team that has more of a divide than Connecticut does with the Red Sox and Yankees. And that's why it was fitting that the national champs decided to split the first-pitch offers from the Red Sox and Yankees. Die-hard Sox fan and Boston-area native Jim Calhoun was in his element throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park. Kemba Walker and the players will do so at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. Calhoun won't be in the Bronx and the UConn players weren't at Fenway. The majority of the players, save Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier, are Yankees fans.

• In case you didn't notice, BYU's Jimmer Fredette won every player of the year award. Seems like that went by quietly as Fredette took home the Wooden, Naismith, Oscar Robertson, Rupp and AP national player of the year honors. I thought at some point there would be one that would go to Walker, but Fredette swept all of them. Both Fredette and Walker should be applauded for how hard they worked to get to the top of their sport this season.