The College Basketball Post

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

Them _'s look gay!

 

[rhymestein]

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

Them _'s look gay!

STAMPED!!!

 

[allen3xis]

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

Them _'s look gay!

I went through the pics, like hmmmm...
Then cakes line sums it up perfectly

 

[allen3xis]

Since MM is the biggest selling point for G'Town...(no football game visits or anything)

...the list is looking crazy

Committed players (2009) - Hollis Thompson, DaShonte Riley,

Committed players (2010) - Nate Lubick, Markel Starks

Recruited players (2010) - Roscoe Smith, Rod Odom, JelanKendricks

Recruited players (2011) - Michael Gbinije, Quinn Cook, Chris Martin, John Manning, C.J. Barksdale

Recruited players (2012) - Kyle Anderson, Jamaal Lewis

And Terrence Jones and Will Barton rumored to be.

That's at least 4, maybe 5 kids for 2010 and 2011 that are in the Top 30 for their respective class

 

[lnmymind]

Ill be in attendance before I go bag some Howard Homecoming chicks

 

[N41D]

BoBo Morgan's lame %%% tat... He gonna look like a square if he wears that snug white tee under his jersey

Dude's a riot.

 

[seymore cake]

Originally Posted by allen3xis

Since MM is the biggest selling point for G'Town...(no football game visits or anything)

...the list is looking crazy

Committed players (2009) - Hollis Thompson, DaShonte Riley,

Committed players (2010) - Nate Lubick, Markel Starks

Recruited players (2010) - Roscoe Smith, Rod Odom, Jelan Kendricks

Recruited players (2011) - Michael Gbinije, Quinn Cook, Chris Martin, John Manning, C.J. Barksdale

Recruited players (2012) - Kyle Anderson, Jamaal Lewis

And Terrence Jones and Will Barton rumored to be.

That's at least 4, maybe 5 kids for 2010 and 2011 that are in the Top 30 for their respective class

I read the 1st two lines that said committed and the names then I just saw the name Roscoe and thought he committed and instantly my heart fluttered like"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!" (>_<)!!!

Then I went back and saw "Recruited" don't do @#!% like that Allen

 

[allen3xis]

.

We can both hope this lingers...

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh's Levance Fields, one of the Big East's topguards, will miss the start of preseason practice Friday while he recovers from a second operation this year on his left foot.

Fields was sidelined for seven weeks last season after breaking his foot. He returned to help lead Pitt to the third round of the NCAA tournament, only toreinjure the foot in August.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said Thursday it is uncertain how long Fields will be out. Pitt, which is likely to be a preseason Top 10 team, begins play Nov. 14against Fairleigh Dickinson.

"I don't think we can make any predictions on that," Dixon said. "Who would have thought he'd be playing on it for two months [thissummer] and not have one problem with it, and then have the injury re-occur? It's unexplainable."

Pitt doesn't play for nearly a month, meaning Fields has more time to get into shape than he did last season. The Panthers were in the middle of theirBig East schedule at the time.

Fields, a senior, was second on the team in scoring with an 11.9 average. He also averaged 5.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds.

"We're taking our time with it -- not like last year," Fields said. "I'm not saying that we rushed it, but it was in-season and Iwanted to get back. Being where we are now, we can take a little more time with it."

If Fields isn't ready to start the season, freshman Travon Woodall probablywould replace him. Woodall sustained a concussion and had several teeth loosened during a workout Wednesday and may not practice Frida



..

Big weekend for Kansas with guys like Xavier Henry, Michael Snaer, Dominic Cheek and Harrison Barnes coming in for Midnight Madness. … Derrick Favors andJohn Wall are headed to N.C. State for visits.

 

[allen3xis]

[h1]IN THEIR WORDS[/h1] [h2]What's going to happen on the hardwood between Midnight Madness and Jim Nantz's final call? Here are some views.[/h2]

by Various College Hoops Observers​

Getty Images

This is what you play for.

[Ed's note: When the NFL season started, we organized this. As the NHL dropped its first pucks, we put this together. Seems logical for us to do it for college hoops as well.]
[h2]IF THE TAR HEELS DON'T WIN IT ALL THIS YEAR, WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT ROY WILLIAMS' LEGACY?[/h2]

Getty Images

What is his legacy going to be?

Logic: We don't want to start off on a negative foot, but UNC has almost everyone coming back. Williams is undeniably one of the best college coaches of the past two decades, but-there's always a but-he has ONE ring, from the '05 Heels. What will you think of him if he doesn't close the deal with this bunch?

"Well, considering this is Williams's 21st season and it took Dean Smith 21 years to win a national title, I'm guessing Tobacco Road knuckleheads will say "he's no Dean Smith," which is a little like saying Andy Roddick is no John McEnroe. There will be a lot of chatter, but really, it's hot air." - MICHAEL LITOS, AUTHOR OF CINDERELLA: A SEASON INSIDE THE MID-MAJORS[/i]

"Tar Heels fans don't seem to think Williams lives up to Smith's standard, but the only thing Smith had that Williams doesn't have is blind luck. Smith's two titles were clinched when someone on the opposition inexplicably passed to the wrong team (Fred Brown for Georgetown, 1982) and inexplicably called a timeout when he had none left (Chris Webber for Michigan, 1993). If those things don't happen, Smith isn't half the legend he is today, and yet he had no control over those events whatsoever." - MATT MEYERS, CONTRIBUTOR TO ESPN THE MAGAZINE

"Failure to win a championship with a great team is forgivable, I think-there are too many ways the ball can bounce when it comes down to elite teams. Failure to return to the Final Four at all might be a serious downer, though. As a Kansas alum who now lives in ACC country, I have seen a lot of Roy, and I think his legacy is this: amazing recruiter, masterful motivator, but maybe not an elite strategist." - ERIC ANGEVINE, CO-EDITOR / STRONGMAN OF STORMING THE FLOOR

"If his team collapses in the tournament again, it's pretty safe to say Williams isn't a big game coach." - JAMESON FLEMING, CONTRIBUTOR TO STORMING THE FLOOR

"If Roy fails to win with the Tar Heels this season, he should be the laughing stock of college basketball-at least until the 2010 tournament when his revamped Heels likely win it. I say that as nicely as possible because I have all the respect in the world for Roy. But, seriously, everyone should point and laugh at him if he cannot bring home a title. If he loses, Roy's legacy would be that he was the Chicago Cubs of college basketball coaches-he could put a great team together, have it play out a strong regular season but ultimately falter in the postseason in dramatic fashion." - MATT MATTUCCI, WGN RADIO PRODUCER

"I think what he does with this talented Tar Heel team will basically determine whether or not history will remember Roy as one of college basketball all-time great coaches (along with lines of Dean Smith, Coach K), or one of college basketball's better coaches that should have won much more than one NCAA title with the talent he coached." - MARCO ANSKIS, FOUNDER OF STORMING THE FLOOR
[h2]WHO IS YOUR BREAKOUT PLAYER, TEAM AND CONFERENCE FOR THIS SEASON?[/h2]

Getty Images

Who is this guy, this year?

Logic: Can you find the Stephen Curry BEFORE he becomes Stephen Curry?

"My breakout player doesn't go to a small school, but he's still overlooked. I think Florida's Nick Calathes will make a few midseason magazine covers. He's so much a Billy Donovan guy that he is starting to look like his head coach a little. He's 6'6" with a guard's handle, great passing chops, and a do-everything mentality. He wasn't a great shooter as a freshman, so he'll need to add that to his arsenal to live up to my high praise." - ANGEVINE

"My breakout team is Baylor. The four incredible guards, Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat, Tweety Carter, and LaceDarius Dunn will be one of the best backcourts in the country. Add in stud forward Kevin Rogers and you get a team that can really score. If they play any semblance of defense, they could easily make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament." - JAMESON FLEMING

"The Valley was "down" last year, which is a nice way of saying they stunk. The Valley will be back with multiple bids this year." - LITOS

"Does Arizona State count? I know they beat Arizona twice last season, but they want to prove they should've gotten that Tourney berth last year. And hell, when was the last time you actually watched one of their games? If someone east of the Mississippi actually searches for their scores on the ESPN scroll this year, I'm counting it as a breakthrough. If that doesn't work for you, Rutgers. The Big East is clotted with Final Four potential but I think Fred Hill's team has the talent to play spoiler to one conference team." - ESPN THE MAGAZINE WRITER ELENA BERGERON

"Selfishly, I'm hoping the breakout player is a healthy Jodie Meeks. Damion James and Devan Downey come to mind as well but I don't think South Carolina is going to be good enough for Downey to matter. James will be a beast for Texas." - CHRIS RICHARDSON FROM INTENTIONAL FOUL
[h2]IF YOU WERE RUNNING A NATIONAL MAGAZINE (UH) AND HAD TO PICK A THEME FOR THE PREVIEW ISSUE, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?[/h2]

Getty Images

Do you put this dude on a preview cover automatically?

Logic: Sometimes we like to hear other ideas, ya know?

"Tom Petty's lawyers may suddenly start buying vacation property, but "Into the Great Wide Open" stands out for me. The beauty of the game is that you never really know who or what will happen next." - LITOS

"I'd put Curry on the cover. The fearless tweener has captured the fancy of basketball fanatics. Maybe I'd mix it with the "big is back" notion and have a shooters vs. big men theme. This is why nobody asks me to design national magazine covers, by the way." - ANGEVINE

"I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here, with an idea that is timely and topical…Beasts of the Big East. I'm throwing Thabeet, Harangody, Terrance Williams, DuJuan Blair on the cover in creppy monster-like Halloween costumes. And no, I'm not suggesting this because I think that Haragody could go for Frankenstein's body double with some monster face paint. Nope, not at all." - ANSKIS

"I would get a primarily irrelevant musical group-like say, hypothetically, AC/DC or Bon Jovi-and I would have them write a song that served as the theme for the 2008 season. Then, I would strategically play that song every five minutes when college basketball was being shown. Because people would recognize it as a symbol for the great season." - WILL BRINSON, BRAHSOME.COM

"Something with the coaching carousel - "Clean Slate" maybe. Tom Crean was obviously big news. But Trent Johnson, Travis Ford, Johnny Dawkins and Mike Montgomery were all some pretty big (and surprising) coaching changes as well." - MATTUCCI

"I would run a "Beasts of the East" theme. With the Big East going to be so good and the emergence of UNC as the title favorite, the East coast is a haven for college basketball this year. Add in a pretty strong ACC, America's favorite Cinderella, Davidson, and a down year for the PAC-10, and the East is the superior region in the country for College Basketball." - JAMESON FLEMING
[h2]WHO IS YOUR FINAL FOUR AND NATIONAL CHAMPION?[/h2]

Getty Images

Is he headed back to the Final 4 this season?

Logic: This is a fairly standard preview question, we'd imagine.

"North Carolina will be a regional champ for the reasons everybody knows. Oklahoma will benefit from the return of beast Blake Griffin and the arrival of McDonald's All-American Willie Warren. Louisville has a solid core of size and experience, and add big freshman Samardo Samuels-if they can survive the brutal Big East, they'll make the final weekend. And, believe it or not, I think this is the year Gonzaga breaks through, with Pargo scoring and dishing to the big bodies Mark Few has brought to Spokane." - ANGEVINE

"North Carolina: You're not going to find me trying to be cool and pick a sleeper champion, you'd have to be damn fool to bet against the Heels' returning talent." - ANSKIS

"North Carolina, Connecticut, Texas, and I'll say Notre Dame. I'll go with the legacy pick and say North Carolina wins it." - LITOS

"North Carolina wins the title easily. UNC is the most talented team in the country as it returns the majority of its Final Four roster from a year ago. UConn and Notre Dame will also make the Final Four behind the bigs of Hasheem Thabeet and Luke Harangody. Gonzaga will finally make it to the Final Four." - JAMESON FLEMING

"I'm going to go with Wake Forest to win it all. Crazy, I know. How-EVA, I was going to put $100 on them in Vegas but spent all my money on, um, other things. Carolina will also make it, as will UCLA (they always do) and, um, let's see, Tennessee. Davidson will be a huge disappointment this season (relatively speaking)." - BRINSON

"Louisville, Memphis, UConn and Kentucky. The last one is a complete homer pick. Out of all that, I'm going with UConn. No one in that group can stop Thabeet." - RICHARDSON

" 1) North Carolina 2) Pittsburgh 3) UConn 4) Notre Dame. Can you tell I'm enamored with the Big East? Any team that finished .500 or better in the league should get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. But ultimately, North Carolina should win it. It returns last year's player of the year, an excellent guard tandem, and some solid role players. Then again, the Heels won't intimidate anyone from the Big East." - BOB MCCLELLAN, BASKETBALL EDITOR OF RIVALS.COM
[h2]IF YOU HAD TO EQUATE YOUR NATIONAL TITLE PICK TO A CHARACTER ON THE SIMPSONS, WHO YOU GOT AND WHY?[/h2]

Getty Images

Is it us, or did Kavner pack on a few pounds?

Logic: Because if you don't love The Simpsons, are you legitimately a human?

"Mr Burns - Just as Mr. Burns has the power to do as he pleases in Springfield, the Heels have enough talent to do as they please with the competition this season. I'd also have 'Zaga as Duff Man - after years of high expectations, it's going to be nothing but a party when the Zags get to Detroit. Duff Man! - ANSKIS

"I'm going with Ralph Wiggum, because the more completely oblivious the Tar Heels are to the world around them and the pressure on them the better their chances for success." - MCCLELLAN

"There's a little Tar Heel in every bit of Maggie. She doesn't say anything but makes a statement; the pacifier and constant sucking represents their fans; when rolling she trips and falls a lot over herself; her arms are always open to say-look at me!, especially when she's getting the least attention. You like her even though you wouldn't really admit it." - LITOS

"My champion is Marquette. And to me, they're just like Mr. Burns. Why? Because they're old. Seriously, Jerel McNeal is still there? Isn't he like 65? I swear he was recruited by Al McGuire. Did the NCAA start giving unlimited eligibility and I wasn't informed?" - MEYERS

"Roy Williams is Marge, Matt Doherty is Bart, and Bill Guthridge is quiet Maggie. I guess that means Dean Smith is the brainy Lisa and Larry Brown is Homer." - ANGEVINE

"Bleeding Gums Murphy. I always loved the dude that taught Lisa to play sax for his ridiculous name and the fact that he spent all his money on Faberge eggs, thus leaving him too poor for dental care. So I'll stretch the metaphor to say that UConn's current squad has been through plenty blues-worthy tragedies (AJ Price alone could ghostwrite a mean tune for Keb Mo). This being a cartoon reference, the bluesman might actually have a shot at a happy ending." - BERGERON

"I would compare North Carolina to Nelson. They are the ultimate bully this year and will give everyone fits." - JAMESON FLEMING

"If UConn does win it, I'd compare them to Patty and Selma Bouvier. This has to do with the quality of Calhoun's raspy voice being close to Marge's sisters. It also has to do with the fact no one outside of Conneticut seems to like the Huskies, same as Patty and Selma. I mean, how many UConn fans do you run into on a regular basis?" - RICHARDSON

 

[shannonscrooks]

Damion James
Big 12 POY....book it.

 

[jamesonnt]

^ what a ridiculous article ..

 

[wildkycat]

Originally Posted by ShannonsCrooks

Damion James

Big 12 POY....book it.
over my dude here???

 

[bigmike23]

so whats the point of Midnight Madness?

im asking cause all i hear from UCLA is that its a waste to do it and save the practice for a better time so i ask why teams do it?

i can see why trashy $!+ kentucky does it cause it is in the middle of no where and them rednecks ant got nothing else better to do

 

[shannonscrooks]

^They like to use it as a recruiting tool. Like Allen said its good for schools like G'Town that dont have other high profile sports programs.

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by ShannonsCrooks

^They like to use it as a recruiting tool. Like Allen said its good for schools like G'Town that dont have other high profile sports programs.

Pretty much. It's basically just a major marketing tool. I know last year tickets were like $15 here at A&M, I imagine they're a lotmore at places like Kentucky...that's some good money pulled in by the program for a 2 hour practice...

 

[N41D]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

Originally Posted by ShannonsCrooks

Damion James

Big 12 POY....book it.

over my dude here???

NO CHANCE.

 

[wildkycat]

i called him "my dude." you put me on him last yearthough...

Mike's just mad, guess where this guy played:

it's just basically a pep rally for the start of the season ya dumb +$#.



and tmay, the tickets to Big Blue Madness are free.

 

[shannonscrooks]

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

Originally Posted by ShannonsCrooks

Damion James

Big 12 POY....book it.

over my dude here???

NO CHANCE.




We'll see about that my good man.

 

[allen3xis]

I prefer James..idk if he's better...but I just can't stand Griffin

 

[mben32]

thank god...cbb season couldnt get here any sooner! Cfb season has been a complete failure thus far! My homeboy has tickets to marylands midnight madnesstonight. So unfortunately i'll be there to watch these scrubs practice there heart to hopefully beat duke or unc to salvage yet another horrible season:smh

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

and tmay, the tickets to Big Blue Madness are free.

I think last year was the first year they charged for 'em here...must have been because of Soulja Boy's whack %%% concert during practice

Why the hell did we have Soulja Boy performing?

That @*$+ gets meevery time I think about it...

 

[allen3xis]

Talented Saints ready for challenging season

Friday, October 17, 2008

By Mike MacAdam (Contact)
Gazette Reporter


Text Size: A | A | A

LOUDONVILLE - Because the Alumni Recreation Center was occupied, the Siena men's basketball team was forced to move its annual media day to cramped quarters in a building next door on Thursday.

It should be the last small room the Saints see this season.

The little Franciscan college has officially gone national.

Coming off a 23-11 year in which the Saints demolished Vanderbilt of the SEC in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Siena is being projected as one of the top mid-major teams in the country, similar to teams like Xavier, Saint Joseph's, George Mason and Davidson that have made deep runs in the NCAAs in the last five years.

Head coach Fran McCaffery has loaded the non-conference schedule with road games at schools like defending national champion Kansas and Pittsburgh, and the three-game Old Spice Classic.

It's designed to get Siena ready for the postseason again, like last year's brutal schedule did. The difference this time is that the Saints won't be able to sneak up on anybody. The Saints know they have a good, possibly great, team, but so does everybody else; the biggest challenge will be to weather, and fulfill, an unprecedented level of expectation.

"The publicity we're getting is a lot of fun," junior point guard Ronald Moore said. "It was hard to finally get into the limelight; it's going to be twice as hard just to stay in it. I think we're very well aware of that.

"We're not in the shadows anymore. Teams are well aware of us. It's going to make it that much harder for us to win games."

Observers aren't wasting any time hyping the Saints. ESPN.com senior writer Andy Katz has already posted a long, glowing story on Siena, over a month before the Saints' season opener against defending WAC champion Boise State at the Times Union Center on Nov. 17.

Siena deserves the hype, based on the fact that it brings back pretty much its entire roster from last year.

Senior co-captain Kenny Hasbrouck, the 2008 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament MVP and CollegeInsider.com mid-major player of the year, and junior forwards Alex Franklin and Edwin Ubiles are all potential MAAC players of the year.

Moore has been starting since early in his freshman season, and fifth-year senior Josh Duell, a Scotia native who transferred from Vermont three years ago, has seen it all, experiencing a first-round upset over Syracuse as a freshman with the Catamounts and becoming an integral part of the Saints' lineup last year.

The Saints appear to have it all: they can run teams off the floor, they can shoot from the outside, they have experience. Rebounding was a weakness last year, but Siena will be much bigger at guard this year and is anticipating a big year from sophomore Ryan Rossiter inside.

The trick will be to not let the expectations and hype outstrip the day-to-day grind required to get through the schedule.

"It's a different situation for me because I was the one being told [at Vermont] not to listen to everything like that," Duell said. "Now, I'm the one telling the young guys to do that. You really can't listen to the hype. You've got to go out there and take every game for what it is."

"There is pressure to repeat what we did last year," Ubiles said. "We do have high expectations, and other people do, too."

"It might be challenging, just the fact that there's so many expect­ations, we're on ESPN now, all types of sports news channels are talking about our season and saying we might be the 'It' team and things like that," Hasbrouck said. "But the realization will come when we start going against teams that people expect us to blow out, and we're only beating them by 10 points. Because everybody's going to be coming

after us."

Siena is scheduled to play seven games on national television, not counting the possibility of another on Feb. 21, when they'll play host to an ESPNU BracketBusters game against an opponent and broadcast platform to be determined.

They'll see Tennessee in the first round of the Old Spice in Orlando, Fla., on Thanksgiving Day, and will play either Georgetown or Wichita State the next day.

Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and Gonzaga are also in the field, and Siena will play a third game against one of those teams on Nov. 30. They'll fly straight to Balt­imore from there to open the MAAC season at Loyola.

They'll play at legendary Allen Fieldhouse against the Jayhawks on Jan. 6.

"The real test will be, can we be mature enough to have a big win and keep winning?" McCaffery said. "The difficulty lies not with the Tennessees and the Pitts and the Kansases, it's Albany, Cornell, St. Joe's, Holy Cross, Buffalo. We don't have a night off. Every game we have is a difficult game, and some of them are on the road. It will take an incredible level of maturity.

"We will not be capable of getting too far ahead of ourselves with the games we have coming up. It's impossible."

The Saints have their first off­icial team practice at 7 tonight at the ARC. They'll play an exhib­ition that replaces the annual Green and Gold scrimmage against Union College at the ARC on Saturday,


....

They're going down to Orlando and beating and out running a young Tennessee team and following it up going out to Kansas and beating that young team as well

 

[messiahchild]

Allen, Do you think Siena can have a season equivalent to Davidson last year???

I'm sure they can go thru the MAAC unscathed....But how do u feel they will do in the tournament?

 

[allen3xis]

Talent wise...They're better than Davidson...now or then.

They thoroughly whooped Vanderbilt last year...

Now, I don't know about any Elite 8...that's tough for any program to do.

But a Sweet 16 is definitely in reach and the ability to be a Top 25 team throughout the year.

All about match ups. They can't run into a big and physical front court.

Or just overall physicality...like yall had to beat them...but for example a team like Gonzaga? Siena would scare them to death.

 

[ricardo malta]

so whats the point of Midnight Madness?
Here you go Big Mike. Newly released on ESPN.com



[h1][/h1]

[h1]First practices not so much 'midnight' but plenty of 'madness'[/h1]

By Dana O'Neil
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: October 17, 2008, 11:36 AM ET

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The idea took root at third base.

Jay Wright hugged the bag and rapper Lloyd Banks held him on during a celebrity softball game for Tim Thomas' charity.

The two got to chatting about basketball, Wright's full-time job and Banks' part-time passion, and the Villanova coach half-jokingly told Banks he ought to attend Hoops Mania, the Wildcats' version of Midnight Madness.

Before Wright could head for home, Banks said he'd be there.

But a week before the event, Banks landed a guest spot on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the same night as Hoops Mania. He called Wright, apologized profusely and offered up his G-Unit partner Tony Yayo.

"That night, 50 Cent just decided to come along with Tony,'' Wright said.

Naturally.

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Villanova Media Relations

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins was an honorary head coach for Villanova's blue-white scrimmage during its 2007 Hoops Mania.
On Oct. 23, 2006, the otherwise cavernous airport hangar that serves as Villanova's home gym on the conservative Catholic campus in the even more conservative cloister of the Main Line section of Philadelphia became the hottest concert hall this side of the Garden.
Stunned Villanova players danced on the press tables and frenzied students whipped out cell phones to take pictures.

Somewhere in the middle of the mayhem, a little basketball broke out.

No one remembered.

As soon as it was over, students mobbed Wright with one question: Who can we get next year?

"'How about Kanye? Or Jay-Z?''' Wright remembered them asking with a laugh.

This is what Lefty Driesell hath wrought: rappers introducing basketball at a college run by Augustinians.

Nearly 40 years ago, Driesell, then the Maryland coach, decided to go minor league baseball and inject a little promotion into basketball practice. Taking the NCAA at its literal word, he started practice at midnight on Oct. 15, 1971, and dragged his Terrapins out for a mile run around the football field. Illuminated by car headlights and cheered on by a few hundred students, the Terps may not have copyrighted the phrase Midnight Madness (someone else did, though) but they defined it.

Driesell's idea took root, becoming an annual rite of passage for basketball teams nationwide. Students jammed gyms to watch dunk contests and hokey skits. Were it the age of YouTube in 1994, Cincinnati's Cory Clouse would have been an instant hit after sinking a half-court shot to win a year's worth of room and board plus the textbooks $%*! Vitale threw in at the last minute.

But traditions change, and Midnight Madness has been victimized by the times -- literally and figuratively.

Three years ago, the NCAA agreed to push the starting time for the first official practice to 7 p.m. And coaches, who frequently dance on the wrong side of sanity when it comes to getting an edge, believe that a five-hour differential could mean the difference between the Final Four and a burst bubble.

"The biggest change is the change in the rule,'' said Florida coach Billy Donovan, who in the past has enlisted "American Idol" famous flop William Hung and emerged from a coffin to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" but this year will go a tamer route, incorporating the madness with Florida's homecoming Gator Growl next weekend. "Waiting around until midnight isn't worth it anymore.''

Consequently, the wild parties have turned into tepid tips better reserved for the senior citizen set. "Midnight Madness" has become the ultimate oxymoron, with much of the mayhem over before prime time expires.

Even in Kansas, where a new national championship banner will be unfurled, Late Night in the Phog will be over before most college kids even think about going out (it starts at 6:30 p.m. and should be wrapped up by 9:30).

Matt Painter will grudgingly host Mackey Madness at Purdue on Friday night, sandwiching his team's event around a volleyball game. The festivities will be over at 9:30.

[h3]In today's society, how do you get kids excited? You have to find something exciting or different to get them here.

[/h3]
--Illinois coach Bruce Weber
"I always said when we see improvements in our program, we'll bring it back,'' Painter said. "Last year we made a big step, so it's the perfect time. If fans come out and support us, if there's a packed house, we'll continue it. If not, we're not going to do it.
"Midnight Madness doesn't help us win games or get better in practice. The hoopla sometimes can get in the way of being blue-collar, of doing your daily business. Maybe I'm old-school but that's just how I think.''

But even for those willing to jump headfirst into the madness, the gamesmanship is no longer the same.

Like just about everything else in college sports, Midnight Madness is no longer simple and pure. Pleasing fans is nice, but pleasing particular fans is more important.

Falling conveniently in the middle of recruiting season, Midnight Madness is yet another tool in a savvy coach's box of tricks. Lure kids to campus, lure fans to the gym and watch the magic happen.

The catch, of course, is making sure there is magic. Nothing says, "Go elsewhere, young man," quite like an empty building.

"In today's society, how do you get kids excited?" said Illinois coach Bruce Weber, who a year ago encouraged fans to purchase pink T-shirts for breast cancer and turned his midnight madness into a $47,500 pink-out. "You have to find something exciting or different to get them here.''

Kentucky used the calendar. Exposing yet another loophole in the voluminous NCAA manual, the Wildcats moved up their practice an entire week. The move didn't endear coach Billy Gillispie to his peers, but the folks who gobbled up 23,000 tickets in 40 minutes didn't seem to mind the novel idea.

Neither did Daniel Orton. The Oklahoma big man gave a verbal commitment to the Wildcats last weekend.

Weber's team practiced a week early, too, but the Illinois coach insists he wasn't looking for any sort of edge.

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University of Illinois

Illinois forward Mike Davis leaps over a fan during the Fighting Illini's Midnight Madness dunk contest last year.
He wanted to host the World's Largest Outdoor Practice as a tie-in with Coaches vs. Cancer (fans were asked to purchase a Zook Zone orange towel, with the proceeds going to Coaches vs. Cancer) and the football schedule -- the team put a temporary court on one of the end zones -- dictated the practice date.
The Illini are home this weekend, but it's a night game and Weber figured an ensuing outdoor 11:30 p.m. practice wasn't such a great idea.

"We have recruits there but we have recruits every home football weekend,'' Weber said. "We wanted to do something that got people excited about our program but also brought awareness to Coaches vs. Cancer.''

Unfortunately the pigskin Illini didn't hold up their end of the bargain. Illinois lost to Minnesota and only 5,000 or so fans stayed for the basketball practice.

Wright is going the other direction, pushing his mania back a week since students are on fall break this weekend.

It's the best way to stem a campus mutiny.

Last year, in anticipation of 50 Cent's follow-up act, students lined up for hours. More than 1,000 didn't get in, leading Wright to turn this year's Hoops Mania into a ticketed event for the first time.

Who's this year's draw? He's not saying. Wright would rather diagram a double top-secret inbounds play for you than tell you who his celebrity guest is.

"Coming up with someone for Hoops Mania is more pressure than getting the team to play well,'' Wright said. "I know what I'm doing with the team but this is pressure.''

Dana O'Neil covers college basketball for ESPN.com and can be reached at [email protected]