ESPN Men's Basketball

Indiana and Kentucky were at an impasse on the location of their series and couldn't agree on a site.

Indiana wanted the series to be home-and-home. Kentucky wanted it to be on neutral courts.

So they're not playing next season.

Could the Xavier-Cincinnati rivalry be headed for a similar impasse?

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Tuesday that the rivalry game was moving to the neutral U.S. Bank Arena for the first time in 25 years. The Enquirer reported that the game would be Dec. 18, 19 or 20, according to multiple sources.

Soon after the story came out the presidents of Xavier (the Rev. Michael J. Graham, S.J.) and Cincinnati (Gregory H. Williams) issued a joint statement saying that they were surprised to read about the announcement of the Crosstown Shootout and that although both schools are committed to the rivalry, "specific discussions are ongoing and no details have been finalized.''

On Friday, Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski took it one step further. He agreed that nothing has been set and that the neutral site is a possibility.

"But it's been no secret,'' Bobinski said. "From the get-go, I've been in favor of playing it on campus. That's me. It's not a unilateral decision. I'm in favor of playing the game.''

The Dec. 10 brawl cast a cloud over the rivalry and affected both teams in different ways. It was a month before Xavier corrected itself in the A-10. Cincinnati cooled a bit after going strong after the fight, even with multiple suspensions. Ultimately, both teams made the Sweet 16. Xavier lost to Baylor; Cincinnati fell to Ohio State.

The game would be at Cincinnati next season and the Bearcats could clearly use another quality home game. Cincinnati is hosting top 25-30 program New Mexico. The Bearcats are still awaiting word on a possible home game in the SEC-Big East Challenge. Cincinnati is in a tournament at UNLV with Oregon and Iowa State. Adding a home game against Xavier would increase the home slate even more.

The game should be played next season and the series shouldn't be interrupted. Putting it at U.S. Bank Arena would be a way to neuter the atmosphere a bit with the teams splitting the tickets. Student attendance would probably be down a bit if it is at U.S. Bank Arena.

It appears that the game will be played but the location, Bobinski said, has yet to be decided.

The hope is that, unlike IU-UK, this rivalry won't be stuck on a site.

Bobinski said Xavier and Cincinnati haven't gone to U.S. Bank Arena with a proposal.

"We've not jointly gone to them with anything yet,'' Bobinski said. "Maybe U.S. Bank Arena has held dates, but none of that is done.''

If the game moves to U.S. Bank, then it appears to be Cincinnati's call. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said this is not his decision and didn't offer any comment. Athletic director Whit Babcock was unavailable for comment Friday.

There is no question that it would be good for the game, the city and the sport to continue to have true home-and-home nonconference games on campus.

Does the rivalry need to be cooled at a neutral site for a year or two? No. The more appropriate thing might be to have the teams do something together in the community, with students from both campuses, in advance of the game.

Civil behavior leading up to the game is the most important thing, regardless of the location.

Bobinski, who is chairman of the men's basketball selection committee for the 2013 tournament, said that nonconference home-and-home series aren't fading. But they're not a widely held practice either.

Several rivalries have continued the practice of alternating campus sites on a regular basis: Kentucky-Louisville; New Mexico-New Mexico State; Tennessee-Memphis; Georgia Tech-Georgia; Clemson-South Carolina; Providence-Rhode Island; Marquette-Wisconsin; Iowa State-Iowa; Nebraska-Creighton; Washington State-Gonzaga. BYU, Utah and Utah State all play home-and-home series, and now so do Villanova-Saint Joseph's and Nova-Temple.

Losing Xavier-Cincinnati from this list would be a shame.

Bobinski said that nonconference scheduling is one of the more interesting exercises in the game, with so much posturing and positioning and, at times, over-analyzing.

This may be an instance where being proactive and creative on the front end would make more sense than changing the locale of the rivalry. Taking it off campus may start a trend that neither school wants to begin.

Xavier clearly wants it on campus, even if it means going to Cincinnati next season. Now the onus is on Cincinnati to see if it wants the series to continue in a traditional format.

All that's left for Bob Thomason to craft the perfect exit is for Pacific to win the Big West conference tournament and earn the league's automatic berth in 2012-13.

Few coaches have been able, regardless of conference, league or level, to put together an exit that is as tidy as this one.

Thomason announced his retirement last week, effective after the upcoming season, his 25th at his alma mater.

The Tigers will leave the Big West for the West Coast Conference after this season. It's the league Thomason said he had been pushing for Pacific, the lone private institution in the Big West, to join for decades.

And to set up this final run, the Tigers are taking a trip to France in August.

"It all turned out perfect,'' said Thomason, who is 64 and one of the most respected coaches on the West Coast even though in national anonymity for years. His fans among coaching colleagues are many, including former Long Beach State, South Florida and Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg and former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian.

I can remember covering a number of Fresno State-Pacific games and driving through the fog from Fresno to Stockton to find a packed house at the Spanos Center. The Tigers have been consistently good in the Big West, enjoying nine 20-plus-win seasons under Thomason, going to four NCAA tournaments and beating Providence and Pitt in successive NCAA tournament first-round appearances.

And although Thomason may be known for coaching Michael Olowokandi -- a relatively unknown walk-on who recruited the school -- he will be remembered as a coach who was reliable, respected and credible.

"It's an amazing story that he was the No. 1 pick after coming here and playing 12 minutes a game the first year,'' Thomason said Olowokandi, an England native who went No. 1 in the 1998 NBA draft. "I feel very fortunate that I coached players at all levels, and we were able to compete at a consistent level. We developed teams and kids.''

"I'm healthy,'' Thomason said. "But how do you know to get out? I told my wife four years ago when I signed my contract that I wanted to get out at the end of the contract. I knew we had a good team coming back, and I'm hoping Ron [Verlin, his longtime associate head coach], if he's the coach, would have a good team when we go to the West Coast Conference. It didn't seem right for me to coach one year in the WCC.''

Thomason said he advocated for Pacific to get into the all-private WCC four or five times. "It's a perfect fit for Pacific,'' Thomason said. "Gonzaga and BYU are doing great. It's an ideal fit. We'll have great excitement here, sellouts when Gonzaga and BYU come. Season tickets will go up. This is an event town, and this will come at the perfect time.

"I want to win before we go out, and we have a chance to win the league and go to the NCAAs. I'm proud of graduating 90 percent of our guys, of having three teams that won 16 in a row, one that won 22 in a row. That's not easy in any level.''

Thomason said the Big West's decline to a one-bid league amid defections (most notably UNLV) has made it harder to recruit players. "Now we're going to get a breath of fresh air for the program,'' Thomason said. "Now we could beat Santa Barbara with a kid being from the WCC, but before it would be tough.''

The Big West is improving its standing in replacing Pacific with San Diego State, a Top 25 program. If the league adds Boise State, it is, at the very least, gaining a national name, even if the Broncos are still a work in progress in men's basketball.

Thomason said he has played basketball since fourth grade and has coached since he was an adult. His parents, at 87 and 83, are still doing well and live in nearby Lodi, Calif. He wants to be with them and his grandchildren more often. "I'll be around, but I won't be a pest,'' Thomason said.

Staying a quarter century in one place isn't the norm these days. Hall of Fame coaches like Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Jim Calhoun (UConn) have done it. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) is on the way to the Hall, and he may do it as well.

"I'm not sure it's great for everybody,'' Thomason said. "Nowadays you should change. The money is so good and the expectations and the pressure make for a change. It's good to have a new start, and moving around isn't so bad. There might be some. I could see Mark Few staying there [Gonzaga] for 30 years.

Pacific finished 11-19 overall and 6-10 in the Big West this past season. Long Beach State may be picked as the favorite again in the conference. But the return of top scorers Lorenzo McCloud and Ross Rivera and top rebounder Travis Fulton gives the Tigers a chance.

Verlin has been a trusted sidekick for 18 -- and soon to be 19 -- seasons, and former player Adam Jacobsen has been on the bench for 11 seasons.

Thomason has crafted a stable, loyal and professional program. That's his legacy. It's one that he should be proud of as he retires in a year.

The trip to France will begin the send-off. He hopes the NCAA tournament will be his curtain call.

If you live outside of the "big six" conferences, scheduling can be an often-frustrating game.

But not at UNLV. The Runnin' Rebels, much like Xavier, Temple, Memphis, Gonzaga and Butler, can get quality nonconference matchups.

Last season, UNLV had games with North Carolina, Wisconsin and Illinois, along with a prime MWC-MVC Challenge game at Wichita State.

Wisconsin is off the schedule this season and the Illinois series is taking a year off before resuming in 2013. But the Rebels, who will likely be the Mountain West favorite or co-favorite with San Diego State, are putting together quite a résumé-building schedule.

The Rebs travel to Cal and UTEP, host Hawaii, and host a tournament with likely at-large candidates Cincinnati, Oregon and Iowa State.

The Valley game next season will be at home against likely league contender Northern Iowa and there is a return game at North Carolina on Dec. 29.

Ah yes, the Tar Heels. No game on UNLV's schedule last season had as much impact as the win over No. 1 UNC at the Orleans Arena in Vegas. The game positioned the Rebels for a tourney bid, gave Mike Moser a national platform for his talents and -- according to head coach Dave Rice -- played an integral part in securing the transfer of Pitt big man Khem Birch and the signing of Findlay Prep power forward Anthony Bennett, ranked seventh nationally in the ESPN 100.

Birch transferred midseason and will be eligible on Dec. 17, in time for the trip to El Paso and well in advance of the return game in Chapel Hill.

Rice said the Rebels have signed up for a four-year series with Arizona, beginning in 2013, and are going to resume a series with Louisville, likely starting in 2013 as well.

"And we're getting in Maui too in the future," Rice said. "Having a competitive schedule is certainly a priority for us."

No one else in the Mountain West has it quite like UNLV.

San Diego State, which has become a top-25 program under Steve Fisher, is off to the Big West in 2013 while its football goes to the Big East. New Mexico has as passionate a following as any program, but the Lobos do have to be creative to get quality games. UNM coach Steve Alford has been willing to do that and recently signed up for a home-and-home series with Cincinnati. New Mexico has also been willing to play in competitive neutral-site tournaments, which wasn't the case for decades as the Lobos soft scheduled four-team events at the Pit.

New members Nevada and Fresno State can be competitive players in the MWC, and rising Colorado State will continue to be. But none can command quality nonconference games on a regular basis like Vegas.

"I've always said we're very happy with our relationship with the Mountain West, but UNLV transcends conference," Rice said. "You don't talk about Gonzaga's conference and you don't talk about Xavier's conference. We're very happy with our affiliation, but UNLV transcends it."

This isn't about UNLV's history of success under Jerry Tarkanian. It's about the love of Las Vegas by opposing coaches and schools.

"There is something to be said for that," Rice said. "Las Vegas has become the capital of basketball in the United States with all that goes on here with college tournaments, high school and AAU tournaments. The Pac-12, Mountain West, WAC and WCC host their tournaments here and Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] and Jerry Colangelo have made USA basketball's home here. They use our practice facility. And there are a number of NBA players who come through here [as well as the NBA summer league]."

And now that Lon Kruger and his successor Dave Rice have made the Rebels relevant again, playing UNLV makes even more sense.

And with a team that will have Moser, Birch and Bennett along the front line by late December, there's little doubt the Rebels will be nationally relevant in 2012-13.

Rice said he will move Moser to small forward to play all three together once Birch is eligible. He said one thing he noticed during the end of the season and the loss to Colorado in the NCAA tournament was the lack of length inside.

"To advance you need to be bigger and stronger and longer," Rice said.

Bennett will be counted on to do a variety of things, from scoring to hitting the boards. Birch's potential is untapped after a brief stay at Pitt. Moser is one of the best rebounders in the country and is a double-double machine. USC transfer Bryce Jones is eligible to compete immediately in the backcourt. Freshman shooting guard Katin Reinhardt is expected to jump into the rotation. And don't forget the return of Justin Hawkins and Anthony Marshall on the perimeter, making the Rebels as formidable a team as any in the West.

"We've worked hard and we've had a little bit of luck," Rice said. "Having Stacey Augmon on the staff has been a big deal for us. The kids weren't born when UNLV was winning a national title and competing for them in the '80s and '90s. But that still resonates with AAU coaches and parents."

And so does playing and winning big games in the nonconference, especially with the exciting up-and-down brand of basketball the Rebels play.

"Lon left us 11 returning players who stayed," Rice said. "But it's the style of play that has helped and beating North Carolina on ESPN when they were the No. 1 team in the country helped. They were excited about how we played."

The Big East will send out its annual straw poll to its coaches to get their preseason predictions about the strength of the league's teams to help put together next season's conference schedule.

The league office said Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Pitt's Jamie Dixon will be allowed to vote in the poll, even though the schools are leaving the conference for the ACC. They weren't invited to the conference meetings earlier this week in Florida.

The results of the poll will determine which teams face each other twice during the conference schedule. Having a tiered system based on those predictions has worked well for the Big East, rather than the predetermined rotations of which teams play each other twice used by the Big Ten, ACC and SEC.

The Big East had 11 teams in the NCAA tournament in 2011; it sent nine teams last season. Coaches firmly believe handling scheduling this way is the reason.

"We've been able to give the league the flexibility to balance the schedule," Cincinnati's Mick Cronin said after the Big East meetings wrapped up Tuesday morning in Ponte Vedra Beach. "The repeat opponents have been set up by the hierarchy of the league in the summer. Something has been done right. We've had 11 teams and then nine teams in the NCAA. The coaches were against 18 league games but then it has helped us get more teams in [the tournament]."

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey agreed that the formula has worked for the Big East.

"It has driven us to get more bids," said Brey, who added it was odd not to have Boeheim at the Big East meetings for the first time during Brey's tenure at Notre Dame. "We've got to stay with this formula. It's not too constrictive. We don't want a rotation. We've got to keep an open mind. Some of it is by design, some of it is by luck, but it has really worked. You can sit there as a coach and say, 'If you're in the top eight, you're in the tournament.'"

There were 13 men's basketball coaches in attendance at Monday's meeting. Four coaches stayed to meet with athletic directors Tuesday. UConn's Jim Calhoun and Louisville's Rick Pitino weren't in attendance and neither were coaches from incoming 2013 members Temple (Fran Dunphy), Memphis (Josh Pastner) and SMU (Larry Brown).

According to Brey, the 11 other coaches in attendance, outside of him and Cronin, were: Stan Heath (South Florida), Ed Cooley (Providence), Kevin Willard (Seton Hall), Steve Lavin (St. John's), Mike Rice (Rutgers), Jay Wright (Villanova), Buzz Williams (Marquette), John Thompson III (Georgetown), Oliver Purnell (DePaul) and 2013 new members Donnie Jones (Central Florida) and James Dickey (Houston).

Heath said that there was even discussion about possibly opening up to 20 games from 18 when the new teams come into the conference.

"We had some conversation, but nothing was shot down," Heath said.

Heath, Cronin and Brey all said there was a renewed sense of optimism in the room, especially with presentations from television executives from NBC and Fox. ESPN and CBS have the current Big East rights, but the league will enter a new negotiating period in the fall.

"There was excitement over the TV presentation possibilities," Cronin said. "The Big East can't negotiate now but there was interest in our product. You could see people spending valuable time on the presentations and they say we'll be even stronger with the media market changes in adding Dallas, Houston and Orlando, which only helps the big picture."

The coaches agreed that the conference tournament must include all members in 2013, regardless of that number.

Heath said he brought up to the coaches that former USF player Kentrell Gransberry never played at Madison Square Garden during his career at South Florida because all the teams weren't invited.

"It's meaningful to the players and the teams even if it's one game," Heath said. "It's a big part of being in the Big East."

The format for the 2013 Big East tournament is still being discussed. There are 15 teams in the league this season with West Virginia's departure. Connecticut is currently not eligible for the tournament since it is not allowed to play in the postseason because of an NCAA ban for poor academics.

The coaches said the plan would be a for 14-team tournament with two games on Tuesday (instead of the previous four) and the rest of the schedule going forward from Wednesday on during championship week with the remaining teams.

Brey said the number of games for an 18-team Big East is still an issue.

"Everybody wants to play everybody," Brey said. "We can't have no-plays. And we need all of the schools to come to New York. A lot of these schools do a lot of business around the Big East tournament. We've got to figure out a way to do this. We're going to figure this all out together."

Colonial Athletic Association commissioner Tom Yeager called Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino on Thursday to give him the professional courtesy of knowing that he would be contacting a few of Iamarino's member schools, widely believed to be Davidson and College of Charleston.

"I appreciate that and I'm hoping to convince them [to stay]," Iamarino said. "We've got league meetings coming up [May 29-June 1 in Asheville, N.C.] and like every other conference, except the Ivy League, I suspect, 85 to 90 percent of the issues will be centered around realignment issues."

The trickle-down effect of conference realignment seems to never end. The CAA loses anchor programs VCU (to the Atlantic 10 in the fall of 2012) and Old Dominion (to Conference USA in the fall of 2013). Those two moves came on the heels of Georgia State moving to the Sun Belt.

The CAA has to do something to maintain relevance, and the Southern Conference, and possibly the America East Conference, are ripe for the pickings. (America East commissioner Amy Huchthausen said the league won't comment on any overtures from the CAA or anyone else toward its programs, such as Boston University and Stony Brook.)

"[The CAA] is such a Southern league I think they have to replace them with Southern teams," Delaware coach Monte Ross said. "I think they have to have that Southern flavor that the league is known for, and Davidson is a quality name and program."

Said Towson coach Pat Skerry: "But we've got to get someone in the North, too. Stony Brook could be a viable option."

Davidson and College of Charleston are the most obvious choices.

Iamarino is well aware of the interest in his league's programs. But he said he has every intent of reminding the schools that they are in a competitive league and the proximity of the member schools offers low travel costs.

"We're all within the geographic footprint," Iamarino said. "We avoid missing class time. The fans can travel to road games. That's why conferences were normally put together in the first place."

Iamarino said the exit fee is $300,000 for notice of two years or more and $600,000 for less than two years.

Charleston athletic director Joe Hull said the school doesn't have a position on the matter yet and said his school was happy in the Southern Conference.

Davidson athletic director James Murphy said it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on conference affiliation. But head coach Bob McKillop was willing to speak.

He said that 25 percent of the 1,800 students on campus play a sport, meaning that a move to the CAA affects a high percentage of the student population.

"We have rigorous academic standards," McKillop said. "We've been to the NCAA tournament five times and the NIT twice in the past 10 years. We present a unique situation. But any decision will be made at the presidential level, not just a basketball decision."

Translation: Davidson is doing just fine in the Southern and doesn't necessarily need to move to the CAA. It also means that their options may not be limited to the CAA. The CAA needs Davidson to beef up its membership and provide a consistent competitor for the likes of George Mason and Drexel.

"VCU left the Colonial for the A-10, but who is to say the A-10 isn't going to change in the next three to four months? Who is to say the Big East or who is to say the Colonial won't change more?" McKillop said. "The dominoes have been blowing from the BCS. There are so many kinds of hypotheticals. Maybe James Madison and Delaware will go to the MAC in football or William & Mary to the Patriot."

Northeastern coach Bill Coen said he's hopeful that there are no knee-jerk reactions in the CAA.

"I think everyone needs to take a breath," Coen said. "You have to guard against doing something quickly that might not be a long-term solution."

George Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor said the onus is on the remaining schools to continue to show a commitment to remaining in the league.

"We all need to be proactive," O'Connor said. "You can't be stagnant. If you look internally and basketball is important to you then make sure you give the program all the tools to be successful."

Georgia State and Old Dominion are in the Colonial next season, but league bylaws prohibit their participation in the conference tournament. Towson and UNC Wilmington are ineligible for the tournament based on poor academic scores; Towson is appealing.

At this juncture, unless something changes, only seven schools would be eligible for the conference tournament in 2013.

O'Connor said the bylaw preventing Old Dominion and Georgia State from postseason participation should be changed when the league meets next week.

"My philosophy is that we should let the student-athletes play in championships," O'Connor said. "I think we can have conversations about our bylaws in the CAA."

O'Connor said there should be discussion about suspending or doing away with the rule altogether. He said the bylaw was put in place 10 years ago but "the world has changed in a lot of different ways. Student-athletes should have an opportunity to participate in championships."

If the membership can resolve the tournament issue, that might be the first step in trying to move ahead as one conference thinking about each other rather than the individual interests.

The CAA has to stick together at this point, or it will quickly fade from relevance.

New Jersey is hosting a draft combine Saturday and Sunday for mostly second-round and some possible first-round picks.

Minnesota will host a similar event May 30-31 before the NBA takes over for the annual draft camp in Chicago June 6-8.

Here are some consensus comments from NBA personnel:

• Kentucky's Anthony Davis is so clearly the No. 1 pick that there isn't even a close second. Davis still doesn't have an agent as he works out with Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne. Davis' father, Anthony, said there is no rush. And every team agrees, saying that all Davis needs at this juncture is for someone to work on marketing deals.

• The battle for the second pick is probably between Florida's Bradley Beal and Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Kidd-Gilchrist's motor has the personnel buzzing. But Beal's physical stature and his ability to make shots mean he's ready to contribute.

•The rest of the lottery is expected to go, in some order, like this: Andre Drummond (UConn), Jeremy Lamb (UConn), Harrison Barnes (UNC), John Henson (UNC), Kendall Marshall (UNC), Tyler Zeller (UNC), Jared Sullinger (OSU), Perry Jones III (Baylor) Thomas Robinson (KU), Damian Lillard (Weber State) and Austin Rivers (Duke).

• The names that NBA personnel can't all agree on are Dion Waiters (Syracuse), Terrence Ross (Washington), Terrence Jones (Kentucky), Arnett Moultrie (Mississippi State), Meyers Leonard (Illinois) and Fab Melo (Syracuse).

• Marquette seems to have a player every year who climbs into the first round and goes higher than projected. That player this year will likely be Jae Crowder.

• A senior who could easily move himself up over the next month is Michigan State's Draymond Green. He'll wow NBA brass during interviews in Chicago.

• Iowa State's Royce White has the talent to be higher, but will teams get over any concern they have with his past?

• Baylor's Quincy Miller could end up being a classic workout wonder who moves up.

• Kentucky's Marquis Teague will climb when teams realize the need for a point guard. Teammates Doron Lamb and Darius Miller will have to work their way into a solid position in the first round.

• The consensus is that this is a deep draft, but teams will be making moves because last season's lockout slowed down the number of transactions at draft time.

• The opinions on the players outside of Davis are as wide as we've seen during the draft.

• East Coast and Midwest evaluators are a bit more pro-Waiters, while those on the West Coast have an affinity for Ross.

• There are some who are heavy in the Rivers camp. And there are others who are lukewarm.

• Disregard the enigmatic seasons by Jones III, Drummond and Leonard. They will go higher than projected. As is always the case, these players will be selected on size and untapped ability over productivity.

• Moultrie may have the best chance to move up.

• The battle between Marshall and Lillard will be intriguing to watch. They are viewed as the top two lead guards in the lottery.

• The combination of the lockout forcing a later draft camp date and the first year no underclassmen can test the draft (even for just two weeks) means that NBA personnel will be relying more than ever on in-season scouting. There will be a mad rush on workouts post-Chicago, but decisions will need to be made earlier, and it could lead to more trades on draft night.

Oregon State put the full-court press on Victor Robbins as soon as Jared Cunningham declared for the NBA draft by the NCAA's April 10 deadline.

The Beavers nabbed the 6-foot-6 forward from Compton, Calif., to give them a much-needed body up front who has length and athleticism.

"After Jared stayed in the draft, [Robbins] will fit in perfectly with us like the guys that we've been recruiting of late," coach Craig Robinson said. "For us to get Victor, the planets had to be aligned. We were aware of him, but not heavily recruiting him and hadn't any big plans to push unless Jared was gone for good."

Cunningham made up his mind before April 10, thus allowing the Beavers to get heavily involved in recruiting Robbins.

Robbins is Exhibit A for the coaches in the ACC who support the April 10 draft deadline. Those coaches initially pushed for the early-entry draft rule of May 8 and then again last year, when the legislation came through to set a unilateral NCAA deadline of April 10.

The NBA still respects only one deadline, which is its own on April 29. Baylor's Quincy Miller announced he was returning to Baylor by the April 10 deadline but then changed his mind before April 29 for the NBA. He couldn't go back to Baylor, but he was eligible for the NBA draft. Maryland's Terrell Stoglin, who was ultimately banned for a year by the Terps for a violation of team rules, didn't say anything by the April 10 deadline but declared by April 29.

The purpose of the April 10 deadline was to give college coaches more time to fill scholarships used by early entrants. But it is a selfish rule for the college coaches to not allow the underclassmen to test the draft process anymore. If they declare by April 29, they are no longer an amateur in the eyes of the NCAA.

"It's possible that we might not have gotten him if the deadline were April 29," Robinson said. "Knowing in the middle of April helps us just like knowing in March would help us. The earlier that we know the better it is."

Villanova coach Jay Wright also benefited from the early notification that two of his players, Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek, were declaring for the draft.

"It worked out exactly how the rule is planned to," Wright said. "Those two made decisions that allowed us to get involved with two transfers [who] we probably wouldn't have taken if we had those two back."

Villanova picked up Wake Forest's Tony Chennault and Rice's Dylan Ennis.

Connecticut was in a unique situation. The Huskies, who are banned from the 2013 postseason for poor APR scores, lost Alex Oriakhi to Missouri and saw two other big men -- Roscoe Smith and Michael Bradley -- transfer. In addition, they lost Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond to the draft.

Adding 6-10 Phillip Nolan in the spring was a result of all the available roster spots. UConn assistant coach Kevin Ollie said that the Huskies offered playing time, and Nolan jumped at the chance. But the early entries definitely did open up a void that the Huskies saw a need to fill.

Kentucky knew it was going to be replacing early entrants during the season. Picking up Nerlens Noel late to fill Anthony Davis' spot was planned. It wasn't a result of any early deadline or Davis' inability to test the draft process.

The same is true for Duke. The Blue Devils were recruiting 6-7 Amile Jefferson, even before Austin Rivers decided to leave early for the NBA draft. An early-entry deadline had no bearing on the Blue Devils' spring recruiting.

"It had nothing to do with the NBA draft," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We wanted him on our roster no matter what. He's a great get and a perfect fit for Duke. He certainly solidifies our team and makes our team more athletic."

Krzyzewski added that Duke isn't in a position to suddenly add players late (although the Blue Devils were recruiting transfers like Oriakhi and Central Michigan's Trey Zeigler, who went to Pitt).

"It's pretty tough for us to do it here," Krzyzewski said of adding late signees who weren't recruited until April.

Robbins is a huge addition to Oregon State. But don't think Robinson is in favor of preventing underclassmen from working out for teams to see if they'll be drafted in the first or second round.

"I think we should do what's best for the student athletes," Robinson said. "If they can test the market to see where they stood, then they'd have a more realistic opinion of their talents, and we would have an easier job of keeping them in school."

Robinson said that he would favor a more flexible approach/rule from the NCAA.

"You should be able to come back to your school and finish your eligibility," said Robinson in regard to a player's poor draft status or being undrafted. The latter was once a rule but has since been removed by the NCAA (assuming the player doesn't sign with an agent). "I still think we're in the business of educating kids and getting them college degrees. We would wait to see where Jared got drafted. We would love to have him back. If he didn't [come back] we would have a list of guys to jump on. I think everyone should have a chance to come back one time as a student-athlete."

That was once the rule, as late as two seasons ago.

And like Robinson, Wright would like one date instead of two.

Of course, the early date means the coaches benefit and the players don't. But that's only if they can find a player who fits their program. If it's just a warm body to fill a spot, it won't matter much. If it's a player who will actually contribute and make a difference, it will be a success.

Don't expect the Oregon State and Villanova pickups to replace the pro-level talent that's gone. And ultimately that's the reality: Having a unilateral early-entry date may get the school a player to fill the spot, but he's not going to be a star who can replace the production that's left. If it was just about filling the roster and adding length, size or athleticism, it has the potential to be deemed a modest success once in a while for a few schools.

The Atlantic 10 and Colonial Athletic Association will have major scheduling decisions at their respective conference meetings in two weeks, brought about by VCU's sudden move to join the A-10 for this fall rather than waiting a year.

The Rams felt they essentially had no choice because of the CAA policy that a school leaving cannot compete for a conference championship in any sport.

Georgia State, which is leaving for the Sun Belt, chose to stay in the conference next season rather than bolt early.

A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said Wednesday that the league will likely stick with 16 league games for the 2012-13 season, despite having 15 teams for one season. Charlotte and Temple will be playing in the A-10 next season before they depart for Conference USA and the Big East, respectively. Butler will join the conference from the Horizon League as the 14th team in 2013-14.

McGlade said the league will discuss going to 18 games when Butler joins in 2013-14 in two weeks at the league meetings in Naples, Fla.

McGlade said how the league schedules the 16-game schedule with 15 teams next season will be discussed, with the most likely scenario playing two teams twice and everyone else once (six home and six away).

McGlade said the A-10 is in the final year of its television deal and will meet with its TV partners -- ESPN and CBS. The A-10 is in a much stronger position to craft a new, higher-rights deal with the additions of VCU and Butler. The league is losing the Charlotte market but will gain Indianapolis. And losing the Temple/Philly market won't matter since the league already had Philadelphia schools La Salle and Saint Joseph's.

"We really want to compete and be the best basketball-only conference," McGlade said. "We want to be really good at what we're good at. We'll start negotiating in the summer. Now we know who's in and who's out."

McGlade said she fully expects VCU to be a strong traveling team, including to Brooklyn for the A-10 tournament at the Barclays Center.

There are a few scheduling hiccups for VCU, however, as the Rams have to pick up an additional four games on the schedule. The CAA schedule was 18 games, while the A-10 will be 16. And the Rams also have to find two new nonconference games since they are dropping previously scheduled games against now A-10 members Richmond (road) and George Washington (home). Those schools will also have to find replacements.

VCU coach Shaka Smart said he will speak more on the matter Friday, but the Rams' addition has been welcomed. The only surprise was the timing.

"I was shocked," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "I was fully anticipating VCU coming, but didn't know [it would be] for next season. It's really exciting. It's a huge challenge for us all, not just VCU next year but then adding [Butler] the following year. We're a basketball-driven league, and this only strengthens us more."

Mack said it was logical to go with the scheduling plan mentioned above, but he's going to express his opposition to an 18-game schedule during the meetings.

"I'm not a fan, I'm just not," Mack said. "I know other conferences do it. But we want to continue to show Xavier will go out and play anybody. And if you have 18 games, then that's two less games you schedule on your own."

The good news for Xavier and the A-10 is that the addition of Butler and VCU means higher RPI games for the league, too.

Meanwhile, the CAA has to scramble with its scheduling issues.

Georgia State is still in the league. VCU is gone. Towson and UNC Wilmington aren't eligible for the conference tournament (like Georgia State) due to a poor APR score. But Towson coach Pat Skerry said the school is appealing the penalty and hopes to have a resolution soon. Towson is also putting together a proposal to move the conference tournament from Richmond to Baltimore. CAA commissioner Tom Yeager said the league has a deal with Richmond (VCU's home) through 2014.

George Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor said scheduling shouldn't be an issue with 11 teams for 2012-13. He said the league will continue with the 18-game schedule.

Yeager said on Wednesday that is the plan. He added that if there are only eight teams in the conference tournament (no Towson, UNC Wilmington and Georgia State), the league would just play quarterfinals and move on from there.

"All we're doing is replacing one game on the schedule," O'Connor said. "Richmond has been good to us with ticket sales. We'll discuss where the best place to hold it will be."

Expansion will also come up at the CAA meetings in two weeks in Hilton Head, S.C.

Charleston and Davidson, from the Southern Conference, are expected to be at the top of the list, but there could be some buzz for Boston University and/or Stony Brook to tie in the Northeast teams in Hofstra and Northeastern, according to multiple sources.

O'Connor said the geographic footprint from Boston to Atlanta wasn't a defining issue. It's about finding the right fit.

The CAA took a body blow by losing VCU. Old Dominion is still weighing a possible move to C-USA if it wants to bump up football, but that's hardly a lock. But adding teams like Charleston or Davidson is a must to keep basketball at a high level.

The NCAA rules committee passed a recommendation that coaches have been squawking about for some time: the consistency on the floor due to temporary decals and/or logos at nonconference and conference tournaments or special one-game events.

Moisture on the court has contributed to slippage (on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson for Michigan State's Branden Dawson, for instance), and for years, coaches have rightfully complained about logos at tournaments from Maui to New York in November, and around the nation during Championship Week.

"The main thing is that the entire surface has to have consistency,'' said St. Peter's coach John Dunne, who is the chair of the rules committee. "The main thing and the primary concern is that the floor remain consistent from end-to-end regardless of what's on it.''

But there was not a clear-cut recommendation in the news release sent out by the NCAA on Monday after its meeting was held in Indianapolis on May 6-8.

The recommendation to the playing rules oversight panel, which will meet via a conference call on June 12, is to ensure that all floors are in compliance. But it doesn't say temporary logos can't be used by a professional, neutral-site or school arena. The statement says that the host game management must be responsible for ensuring that it has a consistent finish.

Does that mean the Big East tournament logo will have a polyurethane coat over it for five days during Madison Square Garden's busy season?

Dunne doesn't know. And neither does the NCAA … yet.

There is a chance that the Big East tournament could still have the New York Knicks logo on the court during the tournament. And that's fine. It could be the case where the permanent logo on a particular court stays during a tournament. This means that sponsorship may have to be displayed in different forms.

"There will be a lot of discussion about how this will be implemented,'' NCAA spokesperson Cameron Schuh said. "If this is implemented, it would be for the 2012-13 season.''

Dunne said one of the items discussed was the possibility that tournaments would have to bring in their own floors for events.

"Some of these colleges, like Georgetown, share an arena with a pro team and bring in their own floor,'' Dunne said. "That's something the Big East or the ACC or others will have to look at.

"For now, the big issue is the safety of the athletes,'' Dunne said. "That supersedes everything.''

The rules committee is in a non-rules change year, which means it can only make recommendations.

Still, the committee spoke on a few major issues that it wanted to enforce.

Dunne said sportsmanship is a concern, adding that being role models, as coaches and players, should be taken seriously.

"It's not what the fans want to hear that are paying money to sit close to the floor,'' Dunne said. "We want the officials to look at prolonged negative body language without taking away from the emotion. Players and coaches have to handle themselves in a certain way, and if not, then they will get a technical.''

The committee directed the officials to look at these adjustments:
• Comments directed at or referring to any game official that question the integrity of an official (repeated references to the number of fouls called against each team; suggesting an official is "cheating" a team, etc.).
• Profane, vulgar, threatening or derogatory remarks or personal comments relating to race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation directed at or referring to any game official or opposing player/bench personnel.
• Prolonged, negative responses to a call/no-call that are disrespectful or unprofessional and include waving or thrashing the arms in disgust, dramatizing contact by re-enacting the play, or running or jumping "in disbelief" over a call/non-call.
• A negative response to a call/non-call that includes approaching/charging an official in a hostile, aggressive or otherwise threatening manner; emphatically removing one's coat in response to a call/no-call; or throwing equipment or clothing onto the floor.
• Continual criticism during a game regarding the same incident after being warned by an official.

The committee also wanted to emphasize the block/charge call that was inconsistent in the first year of having the block/charge circle.

"There were too many charges that should have been blocks,'' Dunne said. "We don't want to do anything drastic since it's only been one year of having the rule.''

At issue is the fear that the officials are focusing too much on where the feet are and missing the contact, or lack thereof.

This is how the rules committee wants to strengthen the definition of the rule for the officials:

• Before the offensive player (with the ball) becomes airborne, the defender must have two feet on the floor, be facing the opponent and be stationary to draw a charge. Otherwise, it should be a blocking foul.
• Secondary defenders (help defenders) moving forward or to the side are also in violation, and these should be blocking fouls.
• Contact that is "through the chest" is not de facto proof of a charge. The rule in its entirety must be considered before determining a foul.
• In some cases, it appears that a defender is being rewarded solely for being outside the arc, without considering the other aspects of the rules.

Dunne said the instant-replay monitor was also discussed. Nothing was done in terms of a recommendation, but Dunne said there were discussions about voting next year on one judgment call in the final minute of the game.

"We want them to look at out-of-bounds calls, deflections, not just stepping on the line,'' Dunne said. "If it's a 50-50 ball on a deflection or a loose ball scrum, we want to make sure they get that right.''

Currently, officials can go to the monitor for flagrant fouls or for a score (2-pointer or 3-pointer) or for time and score in the final minute of the half or game (buzzer-beater).

NC State coach Mark Gottfried heads to the ACC meetings Sunday in Amelia Island, Fla., looking to question next season's ACC schedule.

"I traded Virginia Tech for Duke twice and Clemson for Florida State twice,'' said Gottfried, who will also play North Carolina twice. "TV looked at our team and thought we'd be good.''

And he's right. NC State is projected to be an ACC favorite after its Sweet 16 finish. Gottfried's problem is looking at his overall schedule and seeing the weight of the road games. Strip the conference name out, and the Wolfpack will be going to Duke, North Carolina, Florida State, likely Michigan (Gottfried said) for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, to Puerto Rico for a tournament, and versus Connecticut at the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden. Of course, the home schedule will include Duke, North Carolina, Florida State and a nonconference game versus Stanford, so that's not too shabby, either.

The problem is the league probably didn't have a choice in scheduling for 2012-13.

The ACC decided to go from 16 to 18 games for the '12-13 season. The decision was made before the league knew if Pitt and Syracuse were joining the conference. Now they're not for next season, but the anticipation is that both schools will be in the ACC in the fall of 2013. But that's not official, and there is still technically a chance the move could be put off for another year if the Big East makes the two schools hold true to the 27-month window, even though Temple, Memphis, Central Florida, SMU and Houston are entering the Big East for all sports, including basketball, in 2013.

As a result, the ACC remains at 12 teams for next season and thus had to hold off on a 14-team rotation schedule. Instead, the league consulted with its TV partner (ESPN) for the best matchups but decided on the final schedule on its own.

ACC associate commissioner Karl Hicks, who is in charge of basketball, sent a mock of the matchups earlier in the season and will go over the schedule at the meetings.

"Television had input in some of the matchups, and I balanced it with competitive equity where we thought our teams would be,'' said Hicks. "It's a one-year off. There is no rotation here. I've balanced it competitively. I've talked to a lot of people. I didn't do it unilaterally. But I know the conference, and the players coming in and the teams, as well as anybody.''

Hicks said the ACC didn't know about Pitt and Syracuse early enough, and the league can't set up a two-year rotation until the two schools arrive from the Big East.

"It's a one-year off [on scheduling] but it could be a two-off, because we don't know exactly when they will come in,'' said Hicks.

Each team will play seven teams twice next season and four teams once. Two of those single games will be at home and two on the road.

Hicks said the conference schedule will start in January with no need to stretch into December.

"I don't know if there's an easy answer,'' said Clemson's Brad Brownell. Brownell's unbalanced schedule has his four single games being Wake Forest and North Carolina at home and Duke and Maryland on the road.

"Everyone wants the true round-robin, but we can't in these big conferences,'' Brownell said. "You're not going to have a true champion.''

Maryland, which should still be young but improved next season, also got a heavy schedule: Duke, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida State twice, according to coach Mark Turgeon.

"Mine's not easy,'' Turgeon said. "But I don't know how else you could do it.''

Hicks said that the 2014 ACC tournament will also be on the agenda, with the expectation that Pitt and Syracuse will be in the conference. The coaches will make suggestions as to whether there should be 14 or 12 teams at the ACC tournament.

The consensus is that the coaches will vote to have all 14 teams at the tournament. The next three ACC tournaments are slated for Greensboro, N.C.

Pitt's Jamie Dixon and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim will be in attendance at the ACC meetings, but not the following weekend at the Big East meetings.