Introduction to K's Korner: Blogging Through a Mid-Major's Season

We have a new writer here at BIAH!!! Scott Klatzkin is the voice of Delaware State. He will be checking in with us throughout the season as he follows the Hornets all over the country (Ed. Note: Sadly, this now means that two-thirds of the writers on this blog are Dookie's).

It’s finally here! Seven months, one week and six days after breaking the reclining chair in my living room and putting a small dent in my apartment wall all in the name of Joe Mazzulla and his near triple-double performance in West Virginia’s 2nd Round “upset” over Duke – it’s finally here, again! The greatest sport in the world is back for the 2008-09 season, and as excited as I am for the season to start, I begin this November with the same feeling as I had last March: frustration.

Frustration because as great as basketball season this is going to be and as much as I am going to enjoy covering it, I know that on April 6th I’ll have to sit and watch as the team I hate most in life cuts down the nets. At the June 16th press conference in Chapel Hill, when Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all announced they would be returning to join Tyler Hansborough for another year, the NCAA should have just made a press release stating that all Division 1 teams would be playing for 2nd place this season (although, seriously, who was Danny Green kidding when he thought he could enter the NBA Draft? Poor kid must’ve gotten into his dad’s stash).

Despite my cynicism towards this year’s NCAA Championship Game (and please don’t mistake Tyler Hansborough’s injury as a sign of weakness for the Heels - with Physco T out for a month it will only allow Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller to gain more game experience), I am still very excited about the season and have listed my personal Top 8 reasons as to why I am looking forward to following college hoops over the next 4 and a half months.

8. Super Fresh

The NBA’s “No Player Out of High School” Rule is the worst thing to happen to the NCAA’s graduation rate since Kelvin Sampson. But it makes for a whole lot of fun for those that don’t let silly things like diplomas and learning get in the way of a successful 30 game career. After all, it’s good for these guys to see what college is all about. I mean, don’t all regular students have to wake up, put on team issued Nike sweat pants and get to class in time for the groupie chick with the “U of” logo still stickered on her face to turn in the homework she did for you?

No?

Ok, so these Diaper-Dandies are indeed wasting a few months of their lives eating Chick-Fil-A in the student lounge, when they could be getting paid more (and yes, I said “more” – no college student needs $75 of per diem to find a snack in the airport before they get to their hotel where breakfast, lunch and dinner are already provided). But the NBA’s stupid rule does provide us all with some exciting youngsters in college hoops.

This season, I think there will only be a handful of guys leaving after only one season, but I am most looking forward to watching Demar DeRozan put in his year of duty. The 6-7 freshman from Compton is a lock for a Top 5 pick in next year’s draft and he’ll be on a USC team that has the potential to get out of the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Maybe even more intriguing is the rest of the Trojans 2008 “You’re Dad’s Way More Famous Than You’ll Ever Dream to Be” Recruiting Class. I doubt 6’6 Redshirt Freshman James Dunleavy will ever be good enough to keep Mike Sr. from having to sign a check in order to keep his walk-on son enrolled each semester. And it’s to be seen whether or not Romeo Miller will ever get on the floor, unless of course, he and his dad Master P are making the Galen Center crowd say “Ugghh Na-Nah Na-Nah” during a halftime show.

Other freshman I'm looking forward to watching: Jrue Holiday at UCLA, Tyreke Evans at Memphis, Scotty Hopson at Tennessee, Samardo Samuels at Louisville, B.J. Mullens at Ohio State and Greg Monroe at Big Man U, Georgetown (give this guy #55 or #33, please).

7. Back-Back, Back-Back: Give Me 20 Feet

Well, 20 feet 9 inches, to be exact. This season, the NCAA college basketball three point line will be moved back from 19’9” to 20’9” and will weed out a lot of non-shooters. This is a great move by the NCAA, in my opinion. There is no reason that Bobby, the backup shooting guard on the High School J.V. team, should be shooting three pointers from the same line as Kyle McAlarney. Just like players have to adjust to an NBA three point line that’s further back, they should also have to adjust from high school to college. As the playing level goes up, the three point line goes back. Simple as that.

This will also keep the 3-pointer from being a shot taken just for the hell of it. The line change is subtle enough that guys like Stephen Curry and Jack McClinton won’t be effected too much, but it will keep those swing forwards and any post players from even thinking about it. With the line at 19’9”, there were certain players that could get away with trying it out every now and again, but now the line is for established shooters only. This will keep post players in the paint and shooters behind the arc. Not much more to say about the change, just wanted to give a thumbs up to the NCAA Rules Committee.

6. First Weekend Warriors

Since I have turned 21, local bars have absolutely loved Duke Basketball. Bartenders can see me coming from a mile away. As Joe Alexander is making his way to the post-game interview, I’m making my way to the bar, and as soon as Eric Maynor takes his final shot, I’m already taking my third. But I truly believe my liver is going to get a break this year. Not because Duke is necessarily that much more talented than last year’s squad, but because the Devils finally have somebody with some heart. Gerald Henderson single handedly got the Dukies out of the 1st round last season, and did it with enough swagger to perform a 5th verse on a T.I., Jay-Z, Weezy, Kanye track. That’s something this team has been missing for a long, long time.

I’ll admit it, just like every white kid that has ever scored more than 10 points in a city pick-up game and been nicknamed Larry Bird because it’s easier for his teammates to remember, I identified with the guys wearing Blue and White growing up. The suburban guys like Chris Collins, Steve Wojciechowski (spelled correctly, thank you) and Mike Dunleavy. But enough is enough! The guys that have been putting on Duke Blue lately are of a totally different breed.

I swear Greg Paulus shaves more points than Tony in Blue Chips; Brian Zoubek and Jon Scheyer are softer than hospital cotton; and Taylor King was so afraid to get anywhere near the basket last season that he would just pull 30 foot jumpers until it was time to go back to his comfortable seat on the bench (he’ll now be doing the same for Jay Wright at Villanova - good luck with that). Before this group of softees, it was two years of Josh McRoberts. Then he jumped to the NBA where he served as the guy that wipes the sweat off Greg Oden’s forehead in Portland (though, I’ll admit, that is a tough job, have you seen #52’s big wrinkled noggin?). And as much as it pains me to say, and as much of a G he was throughout his career, my favorite player of all-time, Jonathan Clay Redick, was marshmallowee soft against LSU as he shot 3 of 18 in the Tournament his Senior year.

So, the fact that Gerald, Jr. gives Duke a guy with toughness and street ball swagger excites me. And after watching Elliot Williams in the High School dunk contest, I am hoping he is the first of what will be a new breed of Duke recruits. But until then, I am confident that the Blue Devils will be playing after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2 seasons, and that’s a bet even Greg Paulus would take.

5. Bob Carpenter’s “Cockpit”

No, that isn’t the name of a movie you rent in your hotel room, hoping that the front desk was correct in telling you that the name of the film doesn’t show up on the bill. It’s the name of the Student-Section at the Bob Carpenter Center: Home of University of Delaware Men’s and Women’s Basketball. And as excited as I am about my alma mater’s Men’s team this season (led by Georgetown transfer, Marc Egerson and A-10 All-Rookie Team Selection at St. Joe’s, Jawan Carter), I am more intrigued by the Women’s games that will be taking place there.

Not for the players on the floor, but for the player in the stands. 2008 Girls High School Basketball National Player of the Year, Elena Delle Donne, who was once tagged as “The Female LeBron James” and signed to women’s powerhouse UConn, decided to quit the sport this summer. But she’s not fooling anyone. Elena “took a break” from basketball last summer, “needed some time off” during summer classes at UConn, and finally “quit” after re-joining her teammates for a whole day of practice in Storrs this August.

No one except Elena and her family knows the real reason she has left her sport to become an All-Conference caliber Volleyball player at the U of D, but everyone knows that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. And every time the top player in the country hears the ball bounce on that Acierno Arena floor, or the ball swish through the net (or clank off the rim, the Lady Blue Hens finished a dismal 7-24 last season) from her seat in student section, she’ll be missing it more and more.

At forward, for your 2009-10 Fightin’ Blue Hens, from Wilmington, DE… 6’4, Sophomore, Elena DelleDonne.

4. Let’s Go Huskies!

After being sent to bed on a school night in 1999, I had to sneak down stairs to watch the NCAA Championship in the dark with no volume, only to be disappointed watching UConn beat The Alaskin Assassin and his Blue Devil teammates (True story, by the way. What kind of parenting is that? I mean, I get that the game was on late, but I was in 8th grade. I think allowing your son to watch his favorite team potentially win a championship overrides the fact that I may have been a little groggy should a pop Vocabulary quiz had come up the next day). And in 2004, I stormed out of my own 19th Birthday party after the Huskies once again dropped the Devils in the Final Four (Ed. Note: How sweet it is...).

I am now offering Jim Calhoun and his team a chance to TOTALLY redeem themselves by winning it all this season! For 2008-09, I am a huge Connecticut Huskies fan. If anyone in the country can knock off the Heels, it’s them. With Big East Defensive Player of the YearHasheem Thabeet back in the paint, A.J. Price, Kemba Walker, and Jerome Dyson in the backcourt, and double-double machine Jeff Adrien on the block, this team should get a #1 seed and an eventual date with the Heels in the Championship.

So if you can’t beat ‘em, cheer for someone else that can! Go Huskies!

3. Point ‘Em Out

It takes a special type of point guard to get selected as an underclassman in the NBA Draft Lottery. Unlike their much taller counterparts who can be selected on size alone (See: Patrick O’Bryant ’06, who can’t even see the game from where he sits on the Celtics bench), for a point guard to shake hands with David Stern he must either be speculated as the next Magic Johnson (See: Shaun Livingston ’04, who unfortunately seems to be on a career path more similar to former Spartan's Mateen Cleaves and Shawn Respert than the Magic Man) or must have led his team to a Final Four in his first season (See: Mike Conley ‘07, who had the help of Old Man On Campus, Greg Oden, but did put up impressive numbers in his freshman campaign).

If the playmakers don’t fit into either of those categories it will take all four years to prove themselves, and because of this, the caliber of point guards in college basketball is always high. I absolutely love the fact that guys that have no shot at making an impact on an NBA roster can be superstars at the college level. Why should it matter if Tyus Edney only played 4 seasons in the NBA? Does that make his lay-up against Missouri any less amazing? Do you think going undrafted will stop Ed Cota from telling his grand children about becoming the first player in NCAA history to score 1000, dish 1000 and grab 500? A story like that is what college basketball is all about and I love watching these older guys run their squads.

If you don’t look closely, you’ll miss these special guys while they are still dropping dimes and wetting nets. Remember that shot you made in high school that garnered you extra attention in the hallways the next day? So what if you didn’t go on to play at the next level. You were still the man for those few years when you stepped onto your gym floor. That’s what it’s like for these guys, except at the college level. From Carmelo Travieso (UMass ’97) to Scoonie Penn (Ohio State ’00) to Pepe Sanchez (Temple ’00) to Donnie McGrath (Providence ’06) to Sean Singletary (Virginia) last season, these guys play the game because they love playing it, and it shows in their performances.

Do yourself a favor and check out these Senior floor generals, because next season you’ll need either a passport or tickets to NBA Summer League to do so…

Toney Douglas (Florida State), Byron Eaton (Oklahoma State), Levance Fields (Pittsburgh), Dominic James (Marquette), Curtis Jerrells (Baylor), Chris Lowe (UMass), Jeremy Pargo (Gonzaga), Jack McClinton (Miami), Tyrese Rice (Boston College), Taylor Rochestie (Washington State), Ronald Steele (Alabama) and Mike Trimboli (Vermont).

Note: Darren Collison (UCLA), Eric Maynor (Virginia Commonwealth) and A.J. Price (UConn) are all excluded from this list, as I am confident they will each be NBA 1st Rounders.

2. Coach Underachiever

The one ray of hope that I will be holding onto all season long is the fact that Roy Williams has never won anything with his own players. Yes, Williams won an NCAA Championship in 2005 with inherited players like Ray Felton, Rashad McCants and Sean May, but Bill Guthridge could have won a championship with that loaded squad (And while I’m thinking of it, can the “Duke players don’t do anything in the NBA” argument go to rest now that this group of Tar Heels has been drafted? Sean May spends more minutes in the McDonald’s drive-thru lane than he does in the lane of a basketball court).

Coach Williams has never won a ring with his own recruits and for that reason it boggles my mind that Roy is considered one of the greatest coaches of all-time. He couldn’t bring home a single title at Kansas with six different #1 ranked teams and 11 different teams that were ranked in the Top 2 in the country! Kansas was the winningest team in the 90’s, and the biggest losers each March. This guy couldn’t get a ring with a Kansas squad featuring Paul Pierce, Scot Pollard, Jacque Vaughn, and Raef LaFrentz in ’97 (believe it or not, those guys were actually all college studs before owning more different NBA jerseys than a Modell’s – sans The Truth, of course). So maybe, just maybe, Roy will work his magic five months from now and find a way to, once again, let everyone down. Everyone, that is, except this guy here and probably a few people 8.5 miles up the road from Chapel Hill.

1. K’s Korner: Blogging Through a Mid-Major Season

For the first time in my young career in radio, I am officially the “Voice” of an NCAA Division 1 college basketball team. After four years of play-by-play on the University of Delaware student radio station and a season of covering local high school hoopsters, I am now the broadcaster for Delaware State University. The Hornets play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, where the winner of the conference tournament gets the honor of the NCAA Tournament play-in game or a 30 point spanking to the eventual National Champ in Round 1.

There is nothing “Mid” or “Major” about the MEAC, as this conference has been ranked 30th or lower (out of 32, which actually was the conference’s rank in 2005) in the RPI standings for the last six seasons. This is about as low as it gets in college basketball, but it makes for one heck of a non-conference run before the calendar turns.

Playing basketball at DSU in November and December is like being the dorky kid at recess that gets beat up by the much stronger and cooler kids. Except for the Hornets it happens every single day, and instead of taking the nerd's lunch money, the big kids cut him a check close to six figures and send him on his way. To bring money into the program and to “get the team prepared for conference play,” Head Coach Greg Jackson chooses to start every year with a travel schedule that would make Carmen Sandiego jealous.

This season is no different, and his schedule will take the Hornets and me to Lehigh, Dayton, Ohio State, Kentucky, West Virginia, the Las Vegas Invitational, Connecticut, Richmond, Maryland, Rutgers and Notre Dame in the span of 33 days (not to mention the fact that I have to travel back to Norfolk and Washington D.C. for the final two weeks of DSU Football). The schedule is one of the hardest in the country, but the proof of its effectiveness is in the pudding. The Hornets boast of a 56-14 (.800) conference record over the last four years, and have made either the NIT or NCAA Tournament in three of those seasons. The 2005 squad even put a scare into #1 Duke by holding the Devils to only 21 second half points in the NCAA Tournament's opening round.

Whether or not this is another long road to post season basketball for DSU, I honestly couldn’t be more excited about seeing some of the best teams, players, coaches, and arenas in the country. I look forward to sharing the team’s journey and my stories with Ballin' Is A Habit. Check back throughout the season as I’ll share my first hand looks at coaching legend Bob Huggins, #1 Recruit B.J. Mullens, Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody, Smack Talk Extraordinaire Greivis Vasquez, Championship Contender UConn, and much more.

The DSU men’s team hosts Wilmington University on Friday, Nov. 14. Tip off is slated for 7:30 p.m. Check back soon for the first official installment of “K’s Korner: Blogging Through a Mid-Major Season”, exclusively on Ballin' Is A Habit.