Game strong despite full-court press
Legal woes haven’t overshadowed promising season — at least not yet
A federal trial revealed more details of a pay-to-pay recruiting scandal, darkening the cloud hanging over college basketball for a second straight season.
But will it make a difference? Outside of a handful of suspensions, the curtain pullback of the sport’s worst-kept secret had little impact last year. The 2018-19 season could take a similar route.
Two trials are still coming and more details could emerge from a federal investigation into shady recruiting practices, so college basketball — with Arizona, Louisville, Kansas, Duke, Oregon and North Carolina State, among others, facing accusations — may still feel a major jolt. But the sport is perhaps better than ever on the court. Scoring remains up, more starin-the-making freshmen dot rosters across the country, blue blood programs have restocked and the mid-majors have more reason for optimism after Loyola-Chicago’s Final Four run.
Unless something monumental arises from the investigation or the NCAA, don’t expect too much to change.
A few things to look for on the court during the men’s college basketball season, which opens on Tuesday:
THE FRESHMEN
More high-level freshmen seem to have huge impacts every season and this year should be no different. Duke has three of the top freshmen on one team, with Canadian and pro- jected No. 1 NBA pick R.J. Barrett, projected rim wrecker Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish adding another five-star haul to Coach K’s loaded recruiting class. Indiana coach Archie Miller got a huge boost toward getting the Hoosiers back to the NCAA Tournament by convincing Romeo Langford to stay in state. North Carolina’s Nassir Little could be an NBA lottery pick after this season, Quentin Grimes is Kansas coach Bill Self’s latest high-level freshman guard and Keldon Johnson may be the best player among coach John Calipari’s latest stellar recruiting class.
MID-MAJOR MARK
Mid-major programs should get a boost of confidence this year after watching UMBC beat Virginia to become the first No. 16 seed to beat a No.1and Chicago-Loyola’s improbable run to the Final Four. This season has plenty of deep-run-potential mid-majors. No. 7 Nevada has its highest preseason ranking and coach Eric Musselman has a loaded roster in Reno. Buffalo has five of its top six scorers back from a team that knocked off Arizona in the opening round of the NCAAs. And never count out Loyola-Chicago and Sister Jean after what they did last year.
THE FAVOURITES
Kansas is the pre-season No. 1 for the third time behind a loaded roster that includes a stellar recruiting class and preseason All-American Dedric Lawson, a transfer from Memphis. No. 2 Kentucky has a similar type of roster, with former Stanford forward Reid Travis now in Lexington to lead a young, talented team. No. 3 Gonzaga reached the Final Four two seasons ago and may have a more talented roster this season, though it will have to play the first two months without do-itall forward Killian Tillie due to an ankle surgery. No. 4 Duke has all those talented freshmen, No. 5 Virginia has plenty of talent coming back and motivation after losing in the NCAA first round, and No. 6 Tennessee has the type of roster that could lead to the program’s first Final Four.