Nov. 8

SENDEK, N.C. STATE EYE RARE DANCE APPEARANCE
Down at N.C. State, this will be a pivotal year for coach Herb Sendek. Yes, I understand Sendek is a little bit looser and away from that intense look -- and the players love it.

For the Wolfpack to succeed, they must get great perimeter play from diaper dandy Scooter Sherrill and Anthony Grundy. Inside, Kenny Inge should come up big, while I believe Damien Wilkins will have a super soph campaign.

Will this be the year it is bye-bye to the NIT and hello to the NCAA? The last time the Wolfpack made the big dance was 1991 under Les Robinson.

Unfortunately, N.C. State will have six games against three of the top teams in America. That's right, the ACC contests against Duke, North Carolina and Maryland -- so the Wolfpack may be very good but the record may have several blemishes. Wow!

MICHIGAN'S DIAPER DANDY MAKING WAVES ALREADY
Michigan fans should be excited about diaper dandy Bernard Robinson.

The 6-6 forward has slashing ability and can hit the J. He scored 28 points in the Wolverines' exhibition game loss to the CBA's Grand Rapids team.

Coach Brian Ellerbe also has a big man to watch in 7-2 Josh Moore.

By the way, LaVell Blanchard, the super soph, sat out that exhibition contest with a sprained left ankle. The injury is not supposed to be serious.

LANG KEY FOR TAR HEELS
North Carolina is looking forward to big things from Kris Lang this season. He had 22 points in a recent exhibition win over the CBA's Yakima Sun Kings.

Matt Doherty will have a solid front line if Lang, Jason Capel and Brendan Haywood stay healthy.

FOUR CONFERENCES AVOID COACHING CAROUSEL
Only four conferences returned all of their coaches from last season: Atlantic 10, Patriot, SEC and SWAC.

The Big Ten is among the five leagues which had a high of three changes: Indiana (Mike Davis replacing Bob Knight), Illinois (Bill Self for Lon Kruger) and Northwestern (Bill Carmody for Kevin O'Neill).

Speaking of Illinois, do you think that Kruger may have had more talent on his college team if he had stayed than what he has with the Hawks right now?

Arizona's High Five
For the first time ever, one school had five players nominated for the John Wooden Award. Arizona's Jason Gardner, Gilbert Arenas, Loren Woods, Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright were all nominated for the Player of the Year honor. Lute Olson's team is loaded, baby!

Sleeper Alert
If you are looking for a couple of sleepers, check out Georgetown in the Big East and Utah State of the Big West. Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje is a factor on the inside, and Kevin Braswell is a star on the wing and a penetrating wiz.

Georgetown suffered a blow when Lee Scruggs was declared academically ineligible for the first semester. Hoyas coach Craig Esherick, a lawyer who passed his bar exam years ago but has a passion for being on that sideline, has a team that can create big noise.

Utah State doesn't get much publicity, but Stew Morrill's team won 28 games last season and returns four starters. Keep an eye on Shawn Daniels, plus point guard Bernard Rock can handle the rock.

Top Terps Return
Down at Maryland, everyone is excited about five starters returning. There could be a change in that lineup with the addition of the Terps' Marco Polo, Byron Mouton, who transferred from Tulane. The 6-foot-6 inside/baseline player can score, and he will battle Danny Miller for the starting job.

There aren't many teams in America that can throw out three legitimate All-Americans, yet the Terps can with Lonny Baxter in the post, Juan Dixon on the perimeter and Terence Morris on the wing. Gary Williams has a reason to be optimistic.