August 6, 2009

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer

The most dubious streak in college basketball nearly ended last season. Perhaps this is the season Northwestern - the only team from the six major conferences never to earn an NCAA tournament bid - finally goes dancing.

Northwestern returns four starters from the team that beat eventual NCAA runner-up Michigan State on the road en route to earning an NIT invitation. That explains the unusually high expectations swirling around Evanston, Ill., this summer.

"You probably need 20 wins against quality teams and you're looking at a possible bid," Northwestern forward Kevin Coble said. "For us, that's very doable this year."

Coble's optimism is justified, even though most preseason projections won't have Northwestern finishing in the top half of the Big Ten.

Northwestern went 17-14 overall and 8-10 in Big Ten competition, which matched the Wildcats' highest Big Ten victory total since they went 10-2 in league play and tied for first place in the league - in 1933.

That kind of record might disappoint two-thirds of Northwestern's conference opponents, but it represented a quantum leap for a program that had gone a combined 3-31 in Big Ten play the previous two seasons. Northwestern's 17 victories marked the second-highest overall win total in school history.

The Wildcats return 12 lettermen to match Michigan State for the most in the Big Ten, and no returning player is more important than Coble.

Coble knew during the recruiting process that Northwestern never had played in the NCAA tournament, yet he still decided to leave the desert - he's from Scottsdale, Ariz. - for the freezing Chicago winters.

"I knew it wasn't a traditional basketball powerhouse school," Coble said, "but I wanted to go somewhere that I could play and contribute right away. The style fit me perfectly."

His perception of Northwestern as a perfect fit proved accurate. Coble is the only player in school history to lead the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding in each of his first three seasons.

Coble's status as a big man who can handle the ball and shoot the 3-pointer makes him an ideal player for Wildcats coach Bill Carmody, who still favors the deliberate pace that worked so well for him at Princeton. Coble ranked fourth in the Big Ten in scoring (15.5), seventh in 3-point percentage (.395), ninth in steals (1.3) and 16th in rebounding (4.8) to earn second-team all-conference honors last season.

He has demonstrated a knack for making the kinds of shots that other players might not even attempt.

"Certain guys can take bad shots, and what I mean is they are bad shots for me and you. But for him, he can make those," Carmody said after Coble's 31-point performance in a 70-63 upset of Michigan State.

"The TV does not do justice to him," Indiana coach Tom Crean said after Coble scored 19 points in a 77-75 victory over the Hoosiers. "You see him make those plays on television or see him make those plays on tape, and then you get into the game and it's amazing."

The return of four starters could help Northwestern withstand the absence of Craig Moore, who completed his eligibility last season after leading the Big Ten with 3.6 3-pointers per game.

Coble indicated the Wildcats are working particularly hard this offseason as they attempt to replace Moore.

"Everybody's been doing a good job of realizing that even though we are close, we have to start all over come September," Coble said. "It's going to be hard not having [Moore] out there. He was always there to get a big shot and make a big play. We need everybody to mature a little bit."

The Wildcats also need to respond better in close games. Northwestern likely sealed its NCAA tournament fate last season when it lost three consecutive games by a combined total of nine points in early February. The Wildcats fell 56-51 to Iowa after leading with less than 90 seconds remaining. They blew a nine-point lead in the final 2:20 of a 60-59 loss to Illinois. Then they fell to Michigan 70-67 in overtime.

"It was just a matter of sticking to what we did," Coble said. "A lot of times we went away from the game plan, and we didn't have the raw talent that a lot of other teams have that allow you to get away with it. We have to make sure we execute our stuff. If on a few possessions we don't do that, we're all of a sudden losing games.

"Obviously, hindsight is 20-20, but when you look at that, it's really frustrating. At the same time, it builds confidence when you realize we let those games slip away and we were still so close."

Northwestern's poor performances the previous two seasons may have allowed them to sneak up on unsuspecting opponents last season. They won't have that luxury this season.

The Big Ten also should be much tougher. Michigan State and Purdue likely will open the season in the top 10. Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State return most of their key performers after reaching the NCAA tournament last season.

But if they have learned enough to turn some of those close losses from last season into victories this season, the Wildcats finally may give themselves reason to celebrate on Selection Sunday.

Brackets announced

This is the time of year when early season tournaments start releasing their brackets. The Old Spice Classic, Maui Invitational and 76 Classic announced their schedules in the past week.

The Old Spice Classic, which starts Nov. 26 at Disney's Wide World of Sports, offers a friendly draw for a home-state team. Florida State is the only NCAA tournament team from last season in its half of the bracket. The Seminoles face Iona in the first round and would play either Alabama or Baylor in the second round. The other first-round matchups are Alabama-Baylor, Creighton-Michigan and Marquette-Xavier.

The Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament that begins Nov. 19 in San Juan features one of the most intriguing fields of the early season tournaments. This eight-team field includes 2009 Final Four participant Villanova as well as a few teams that should be vastly improved (e.g. Indiana, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech) this season. First-round pairings are Dayton vs. Georgia Tech, George Mason vs. Villanova, Indiana vs. Ole Miss and Boston University vs. Kansas State.

First-round games in the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., are West Virginia-Long Beach State, Minnesota-Butler, UCLA-Portland and Clemson-Texas A&M. That tournament runs from Nov. 26-29.

Tip-ins

? Two years after allowing a national title to slip through its fingers, Memphis finally will get a chance for revenge. Memphis is playing Kansas on Nov. 17 as part of the Hall of Fame Showcase doubleheader in St. Louis. The other game matches Louisville and Arkansas. Of course, Memphis' roster has changed quite a bit since that 75-68 overtime loss to Kansas in the 2008 NCAA championship game. Willie Kemp, Pierre Henderson-Niles and Doneal Mack are the only remaining Memphis players who appeared in that game. None scored or played more than four minutes.

? Florida's backcourt received a boost this week when Nimrod Tishman, a 6-foot-6 guard from Israel, was admitted to school. Tishman's admission still needs approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse before he can be allowed to play this season. Tishman's pending arrival could provide depth to a roster short on ballhandlers. Nick Calathes' decision to sign with a Greek pro team leaves sophomore Erving Walker as the Gators' only point guard, and he played mostly shooting guard last season.

? Arizona's planned retirement ceremony for former coach Lute Olson on Saturday should feature plenty of star power. Thirty-seven of Olson's former Arizona players - including 13 NBA veterans - are scheduled to attend the event at the McKale Center. Participants with NBA experience are Mike Bibby, A.J. Bramlett, Jud Buechler, Sean Elliott, Reggie Geary, Andre Iguodala, Richard Jefferson, Steve Kerr, Khalid Reeves, Eddie Smith, Tom Tolbert, Luke Walton and Pete Williams. Ronnie Lester and John Dorsee, who played for Olson at Iowa, also are scheduled to appear at the ceremony. Another scheduled participant is former Arizona State coach Bill Frieder.

? Tickets go on sale Saturday for the Dec. 19 Texas-North Carolina showdown, which will mark the first basketball game to be played at Cowboys Stadium. Tickets are available for $30, $50, $75, $200, $250 and the eye-popping figure of $500 for seats on the first two rows between the baskets. For comparison's sake, ticket prices for the sold-out 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis were $160 to $180 for the whole weekend. Barry Mendelson, who is co-promoting the game along with the Dallas Cowboys, said the majority of tickets are going for between $30 and $75. The Dallas Morning News reported that Texas and North Carolina are receiving $200,000 each for playing the game, which marks the opener of a two-year contract between the schools (they will play at Greensboro, N.C., during the 2010-11 season). Texas also will receive a $25,000 bonus if more than 35,000 tickets are sold, an additional $25,000 if more than 50,000 tickets are sold and a total of $75,000 if more than 75,000 tickets are sold.

? Utah State forward Gary Wilkinson was selected this week as the male winner of the Stan Bates Award, which goes annually to the top male and female student-athlete in the Western Athletic Conference. Selection is based on a student's athletic and academic accomplishments. The prize is a $2,000 postgraduate scholarship. Wilkinson averaged 17.1 points per game last season to help Utah State go 30-5 and reach the NCAA tournament.

? Marist is suing former coach Matt Brady for breach of contract after he left for James Madison. After signing a contract with Marist that lasted through the 2010-11 season, Brady left for James Madison in the spring of 2008. As James Madison's coach, he signed four players who had been offered scholarships by Marist when he was there, though only one of those recruits had committed to Marist. "This isn't about the kids," Marist athletic director Tim Murray told The Associated Press. "We didn't want to impact them in any way. If young men or women don't want to play for Marist, then so be it. This is solely about the contract."

? East Tennessee State is establishing a scholarship fund in honor of center Seth Coy, who died in a car wreck last week while driving through Kentucky on the way to his home in Montgomery, Ind. Anyone wanting to contribute to the fund should call (423) 439-8398 or send donations to the Buccaneer Athletic Scholarship Association, P.O. Box 70707, Johnson City, TN 37614.

Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.