Arizona

State of '08: The Three-Program States

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:47:27 -0700

What is the top D1 basketball program in each state.. and which program is the worst? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a state by state ranking based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: The four 3-program states.. followed by individual state articles. Note that 8 states have either one or no teams (Alaska). For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

THREE PROGRAM STATES

ARIZONA - Is the gap closing between one and two?..

Arizona - Last year was one of the more disappointing seasons in Wildcat history.. and it only looks to get worse with Bayless going pro and Jennings taking a year abroad in Italy. Still, down years for Arizona are good years for almost any other program, and their RPI of 38th still dominated ASU's RPI of 83.

Arizona State - Herb Sendek is leading a resurgent ASU program that actually finished ahead of Arizona in the conference standings (9-9 to 8-10). Still, ASU was coming off a couple seasons in which they were arguably no better than Northern Arizona.

Northern Arizona - Had this ranking been done last summer, NAU would have given ASU a run for its money. In 06 & 07, NAU dominated the Sun Devils in the computer polls. Despite coming off another solid 19-win season, the Lumberjacks still have to be considered the third fiddle in the Sun State, though #1 in terms of quality of their Mascot.

IDAHO - The Gem State is void of any basketball gems.

Boise State - From 2005 to 2008, the Broncos RPI has improved each season, from 201st to 87th. The improvement culminated in a 24-win season and a surprising trip to the NCAA Tournament. For the standards of Idaho, that's pretty heady stuff.

Idaho State - Despite being in a lesser conference than Idaho (the Big Sky), the Bengals have still managed more success over the last handful of years. In fact, ISU has beaten their in-state rival the last four seasons,

Idaho - One of the saddest programs in the country, Idaho would be more competitive again NAIA competition. Despite an RPI of 299, it was actually Idaho's best season in a couple years as they won 5 games in the WAC.

KANSAS - Putting the Rock in Chalk since 1898..

Kansas - National champions. One of the all-time great programs.. not much to say here.

Kansas State* - Before Bob Huggins came along, KSU was the Nebraska of its state.. always hovering around 110 or so in the RPI, never horrendous but never good. Huggins lured some big names to Manhattan, and though he's long gone, the momentum has carried into the Frank Martin era. While K-State has been better than WSU the last two seasons, it was just their first tournament win in 20 years.

Wichita State* - Mark Turgeon did a great job turning a dormant program back into a winner. WSU won at least 20 games in 04-05-06, and made the Sweet Sixteen in the last of those good seasons. But Turgeon is now at Texas A&M, and it remains to be seen what Gregg Marshall can do in Wichita. Though an improvement over last season's dismal 11-win, 199 RPI season is a lock.. anything more than .500 in the MVC would be overachieving.

* These two programs have had very similar success in the past 5 years. KSU's average RPI is 85.4 to 87.8 for WSU, while WSU has averaged 18 wins to 17 for KSU. But K-State gets an edge for being in a tougher conference, with more respect on the recruiting trail, and for having more historical success.

RHODE ISLAND - The Lamar Odom State

Providence - Since making the Big Dance in 2004, Providence has been going in the wrong direction and Tim Welsh finally lost his job after a promising start. Still, four postseason trips in 7 8** years still takes the cake in Rhode Island.

Rhode Island - URI topped Providence in ~~wins~~ RPI*** for the first time since 1999 thanks to the solid play of Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron. The 21 win season was a nice accomplishment considering the Rams won just 6 games as recently as 2005.

Brown - Perennially, one of the worst teams out there.. Brown is coming off its best season since about the time I was in kindergarten. 19 wins and an 11-3 Ivy record is impressive, but it will take an epic run to move them out of last on this list.

State of '08: The 7 Two-Program States Delaware, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, West Virginia

State of '08: The Introduction

Arizona, Davidson, Oklahoma Highlight NIT Season-Tip Off Field

Press Release — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:49:11 -0700

NEW YORK - The 16-team field for the 2008 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament was announced today by C.M. Newton, chair of the NIT Selection Committee.

"Once again, the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament features an outstanding field and we look forward to another exciting start to college basketball," commented Newton.

The 2008 NIT Season Tip-Off teams and brackets are as follows:

The East Regional will take place at Boston College and the Eagles will play Loyola (Maryland) while Cornell squares off against St. John's. In the North Regional, Purdue is the host site for its game against Eastern Michigan and for the Georgia vs. Loyola (Chicago) matchup. Oklahoma is the site for the South Regional, and the Sooners will tip against Mississippi Valley State and James Madison will play Davidson. In the West Regional, Arizona is the host against Florida Atlantic and Santa Clara faces University of Alabama-Birmingham. All first-round games will take place on November 17 with the championship and consolation games of the four regions to follow on November 18.

The NIT Season Tip-Off, which began in 1985, has evolved to an enhanced format this year that guarantees every team four games.

First- and second-round games will be played at the home campus sites of the four highest-seeded teams. The winners of those sites will move onto New York's Madison Square Garden over the Thanksgiving holiday for the semifinal and final doubleheaders November 26 and 28.

The remaining 12 teams will play third- and fourth-round games on November 24 and 25. These games will be played on the home campus sites of the three highest remaining seeds. Participating teams will not play any team twice and third and fourth rounds will be assigned to the most geographically compatible site possible.

ESPN will provide coverage throughout the event; televising games on ESPN2 and ESPNU, with select games also simulcast on ESPN360.com.

Cheerleader of the Day: Arizona

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:01:46 -0700

Cheerleader of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we have access to thousands of great college & NBA basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, along with our Picture of the Day, we'll be featuring a Cheerleader of the Day. After a brief mid-summer run of NBA dancers, we're back with college girls..

Arizona: Archived

- Check out past Cheerleaders of the Day!

- Also check out the Picture of the Day!

Rise and Fall: Pac-10 Program Review

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:19:22 -0700

Like civilizations, all great basketball programs eventually fall.. replaced by an upstart newcomer. In this week's Rise & Fall series, we'll take a look at which BCS programs are rising, falling, or merely treading water. Up today, the:

PAC-10

ARIZONA - DECLINING (SLOWLY )

While the Brandon Jennings loss hurts, its not the end of the world for this storied program. In fact, a steady decline has been occurring for the last handful of seasons. Bracketing the turn of the century, the Wildcats were a Top 10 RPI team in 8 of 10 seasons, but its hard to imagine those lofty heights being met in the near future. The talent level just isn't what it once was, and with this group, just making the Big Dance will be an accomplishment.

ARIZONA STATE - RISING

In Tempe, there's definitely (and finally) positive momentum building. Herb Sendek was obviously the first key, followed by the big catch of James Harden. With Harden back for another season, some are suggesting this is a Top 15 team. While I wouldn't go that far, this should be the best ASU team since at least 2003 (RPI of 32), and possibly as far back as the mid-nineties.

CALIFORNIA - DECLINING (SLOWLY )

While you might think this program is in a freefall, the reality is that the Bears haven't been good since 2003 (2006 being a flukey interlude). Last year's team won only 6 league games.. and that was with Ryan Anderson and DeVon Hardin. It would be an amazing accomplishment for new coach Mike Montgomery to match that total. Montgomery and stud recruit DJ Seeley prevent Cal from dropping into the Declining (Quickly) category, but it will take some time to get things back on the right track.

OREGON - STATUS QUO

The Ducks have been frustratingly mediocre for the last decade. In fact, there's only been one Top 30 team in the past 8 years. Last year's experienced team blahed it up to a 9-9 Pac-10 record (the NCAA bid simply being a result of the league's undeserved hype). While the roster turns over with some talented kids coming in, another similar mediocre effort should be in store. For whatever reason, the administration is satisfied with this state of affairs (recently extending Kent's contract), but I'm not as easily impressed.

OREGON STATE - DECLINING (QUICKLY)

In a sense, this is an unfair assessment. Last year's results were such an embarrassment (to not only the program, but D1 basketball in general) that there's really nowhere to go but up. But maybe I'm wrong.. their RPI trend is from 103, to 176, to 198, to 276.. leaving 40 more spots for OSU to fall. (In reality, the Pac-10 schedule strength creates a floor around 280 or so that OSU couldn't possibly fall through unless they literally didn't win a game all season).

STANFORD - STATUS QUO

Last year was impressive, but the Lopez twins were the main reason why. Now they should be back to the trend set in 05-06-07, about 17 wins and an RPI of 60. If anything, it might be a little worse this year, but those middling NIT-type teams should be the norm in the near future.

UCLA - STATUS QUO

Ben Howland has already completed one of the all-time great turnarounds.. turning an 11-win program into a three-time Final Four participant in less than a blink of the eye. Now, there's really nowhere to go but down. But considering the monster class heading to Westwood and the return of Darren Collison, another Final Four trip is certainly within reason. When Final Fours become the "status quo", you know you're doing a great job.

USC - RISING (SLOWLY)

While the one-year OJ Mayo era might simply be replaced by the one-year Demar DeRozan era.. Tim Floyd has already done a good job getting the Trojans back on track. In the last four years, the RPI has risen every season.. and this year's crew should once again fall in the Top 25-30 range. The next step for the program (now that they have the Galen Center) is to add the needed depth that will sustain the growth for years to come.

WASHINGTON - DECLINING (SLOWLY)

From 3rd in the country in 2005, the Huskies RPI has dropped from 35 to 81 to 121.. pretty brutal stuff. But they avoid the dreaded "Declining Quickly" category because I expect big-time improvement this season due to the return of Jon Brockman and an impressive recruiting class. Still, this was a program that was seemingly all the rage a handful of years ago, and now Lorenzo Romar and crew barely register on the national radar.

WASHINGTON STATE - RISING (SLOWLY)

Coming off two of the most improbable Top 25 seasons in college basketball history.. WSU is now at a crossroads. Do they begin the steady slide back into the dark & dank confines of the conference cellar, or does Tony Bennett ride the wave and build up a legitimate Top 25 program? Based on this year's loaded recruiting class (for WSU's standards), the latter seems more likely. While a major drop-off should be expected with Weaver, Low, etc gone.. the future is still bright in Pullman.

- up next & last is the SEC -

Additional Resources:

Rise & Fall: ACC

Rise & Fall: Big East

Rise & Fall: Big Ten

Picture of the Day: Abdul Gaddy & Avery Bradley

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:53:23 -0700

Picture of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, we now have access to thousands of great college basketball photos to use on the site. Each day, CHN will feature a Picture of the Day, which might include a newsworthy, funny, or simply interesting subject. At the bottom will be a caption or headline that might be informative or amusing. The possibilities are endless!

Abdul Gaddy & Avery Bradley

These two top West Coast recruits and buddies from out of Washington showed up at the Reebok All-American Camp this week, where CHN writers were on hand to take in the action.

- Check out recent Pictures of the Day!

- Also check out the Cheerleader of the Day!

Official: Brandon Jennings Going to Europe

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:02:20 -0700

Arizona's Pac-10 title hopes (and no doubt Lute Olson's feelings) were crushed tonight as Brandon Jennings officially announced his decision to pursue professional basketball in Europe. The SAT troubled Jennings was already garnering praise as a potential All-Freshman & All-American candidate.

Word came through the pen of his lawyer, who released the following statement from Jennings: "Over the course of the last two months I have consulted a number of people in basketball before coming to this decision. I would like to thank the University of Arizona for their interest and support through this process."

Not to be outdone in terms of bland statements, Arizona head coach Lute Olson released the following: "We're disappointed in terms of Brandon's decision, but we want to wish him the best of luck. We hope that things turn out well for him in the future."

While its too late in the evening to write a complete diatribe on this move's effect on college basketball, it is at the very least, a supremely interesting (and gutsy) move. Will this become a severe blow to our beloved game or a non-starter? Time will tell.

- A couple weeks back, we put up a poll asking fans where Jennings would play next season. Only 16% said Europe.. apparently the readers were wrong.

Where Will Brandon Jennings Play in 08-09?

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:48:39 -0700

2008-09 All-American Projection: Post-Decision Update

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:27:17 -0700

A few days after the 2008 NCAA Championship game, I made an early projection of the 08-09 All-Americans to go along with Top 50 and All-Freshman projections. Now that players have officially entered or withdrawn from the Draft, we have a much better sense of how next year's landscape will look: First Team G - Brandon Jennings - Arizona G - Stephen Curry - Davidson F - Kyle Singler - Duke** F - Luke Harangody - Notre Dame F - Tyler Hansbrough - North Carolina ** Originally, I had slated DJ Augustin into the All-American team. He's been replaced by Singler, who could be a major breakout candidate despite Duke's balanced attack. Second Team G - James Harden - Arizona State G - Darren Collison - UCLA** G - Tyrese Rice - Boston College F - Chase Budinger - Arizona** F - Jon Brockman - Washington ** I thought Collison would go pro, but he returns to form a solid backcourt with Jrue Holiday (though perhaps Holiday will end up stealing Collison's thunder..). Budinger always seems to disappoint, but now that he's back in school, its hard to imagine he wont score 20 ppg next year. Third Team G - AJ Price - UCONN G - Nick Calathes - Florida** G - Demar Derozan - USC** F - Blake Griffin - Oklahoma F - Patrick Patterson - Kentucky ** Trent Plaisted was an original Third Team member, but is now hoping to be a 2nd round pick in next week's Draft. Tyreke Evans was originally in Derozan's place, but the return of Antonio Anderson, Robert Dozier, etc to the Tigers make Evans less likely to put up huge numbers. Fourth Team G - Ty Lawson - UNC** G - Eric Maynor - VCU F - Tyler Smith - Tennessee** F - Terrence Williams - Louisville** C - AJ Ogilvy - Vanderbilt ** Williams was originally on the 2nd Team, but the return of Collison and Lawson knock him down a peg. Smith's return was huge for Tennessee, and he could end up as high as the First Team. Lawson's return was somewhat of a surprise, and he gets slotted into the Third team. Next in Line: Jrue Holiday - UCLA Dominic James - Marquette Hasheem Thabeet - UCONN BJ Mullens - Ohio State Tyreke Evans - Memphis Samardo Samuels - Louisville Looks like a lot of big men get squeezed into the "Next in Line" group. All-American voters are swayed by numbers, and forwards like Brockman and Patterson have a chance to light up the scoreboard in ways that a Thabeet never could.

NBA Draft: Nothing Wrong With Testing the Waters

Jason Brubaker — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:57:53 -0700

Nothing wrong with testing the waters..

With the deadline for underclassmen to pull out of the 2008 NBA Draft now passed, it’s time to look at who used, and who was used, by the system, The rule that allows players to “test the waters” has come under fire from some analysts in recent weeks, as players with no business declaring for the Draft have left college coaches and fan bases anxiously awaiting their final decisions.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas even wrote that the “testing the waters” rule needs to be eliminated, feeling that all of the kids who declare do so with the intention of staying in the draft, only returning to school if they were forced to. While I can’t necessarily disagree with that, it’s hard for me to say that the system isn’t working.

To illustrate that, simply look at the list of players returning for another year of school. North Carolina has to be considered the early title favorite, with Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and Danny Green all pulling out and returning to Chapel Hill for another season. Now, maybe all of them would have preferred to stay in the Draft, but now they return to school, knowing what they need to work on and where they need to show improvement for the 2009 draft. Where’s the harm in that?

Likewise, Arizona guard Chase Budinger declared for the draft, wasn’t able to get a good read on his stock, and decided to return for his junior season. How this does anything but help him is a mystery to me.

I understand the anxiousness caused by players declaring early, both amongst coaches and fans. North Carolina would have had a drastically different look if their terrific trio elected to stay in the draft, likely having to rely on incoming freshmen to carry a large load. Now, Coach Roy Williams knows he has an experienced, veteran group who enter the season sporting a large target. Not knowing who will be on the team in the fall can drastically alter a coach’s summer plans, be it on the recruiting path or even just in the gym, working out players.

But the rule also allows players to get honest feedback on their Draft status, adding another layer of protection to a high-risk process. Players now can declare, see where they stand, and return to school, having gained a knowledge of the process and an understanding of what they need to work on. If they were simply “in or out”, as some analysts would prefer, more and more players would be sure to slip through the cracks, becoming cautionary tales for future generations, following in the tradition of players like Omar Cook and Joe Forte. The draft is a risky endeavor for all parties, and any way to reduce that risk should be encouraged.

The system also is great for players at lower-profile schools, such as Lester Hudson at UT-Martin. A terrific scorer, Hudson was able to test his skills against a higher caliber of players than he faced during the season, giving him a better feel for his own skill set. Although he showed some potential, the process exposed holes in his game that he might never otherwise have found, and he returns to school a better player because of it. His name is also going to be on scouts’ radar all year now, and he has a chance to be a first-round pick in 2009.

I understand the process now encourages players who have no business declaring to give it a shot, hoping to catch fire in a couple workouts and convince a team to take a shot (i.e. Ronald Steele). But if the thought behind wanting to eliminate the rule is wanting to eliminate bad decisions…well that’s just not going to happen. Today’s players have too many friends, family members, runners, etc. whispering in their ears, telling them how good they are, and sad as it may be, that’s not changing anytime soon.

But as it stands now, kids are allowed to make a poor choice, and then reverse it. Today’s players can use the system to their advantage, and many of them did this year. There will always be poor decisions made by players who overestimate their own skill set – that’s not going to change no matter how many rules are put in place. IUPUI’s George Hill and USC’s Davon Jefferson, in my opinion, made poor choices staying in the draft, as neither will likely be a first rounder. But for guys like Hudson, Steele, the UNC trio, Budinger, Jeremy Pargo, Lee Cummard, Robert Dozier…the system worked great, and they will be better players because of it.

Chase Budinger to Return to Arizona

Press Release — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:06:51 -0700

TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona men’s basketball player Chase Budinger announced today that he will return to the program for his junior season in 2008-09.

Budinger made himself available for the National Basketball Association draft on April 8, but was eligible to return to college without losing eligibility by not signing with an agent and maintaining his coursework.

“Over the last several weeks I have experienced the NBA draft process, attended several workouts with a variety of NBA clubs and received much positive feedback from those teams, however, it is my decision to return to the University of Arizona,” said Budinger. “The opportunity to play again for Coach Olson in my mind best prepares me to have a successful NBA career. I want to enter the NBA with great certainty of my future potential and believe the chance to develop further under Coach Olson enhances that opportunity. I want to thank the NBA and the clubs for their time and feedback and look forward to another exciting season as an Arizona Wildcat.”

Budinger, a 6-foot-7, 208-pound sophomore forward from Encinitas, Calif., earned second-team all-District 15 honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and third-team all-Pacific-10 Conference kudos after averaging 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 34 appearances this season. Budinger shot 44.6 percent (204-of-457) from the field and led the team with 73 three-point field goals (.380 percentage) and 1,200 minutes played. He posted a team-leading 29 double-figure scoring games in 2007-08 and registered one double-double.

He posted season bests in nearly every statistical category as a sophomore, including field goals (204), field goal attempts (457), three-point field goals, three-point field goal attempts (192), free throws (102), free throw attempts (142), rebounds (184), assists (99), steals (38), points scored (583) and scoring average.

In two seasons at Arizona, Budinger averaged 16.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 65 career games (all starts). He connected in 46.3 percent of his field goal attempts in those two seasons, including 37.5 percent from three-point range. Budinger became the 42nd player in Arizona history to score 1,000 career points on March 6, and was just the sixth sophomore to accomplish the feat.

“I’m thrilled that Chase has decided to come back,” said Olson. “Selfishly, I feel the decision is in Chase’s best interest. I feel that in a year he will be a top-10 pick. With guards like Nic (Wise) and Brandon (Jennings), he’ll have two great passers getting him the ball. Our style of play next year will be much more conducive to Chase having a great year, much like he did when he was the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 2007.”

Budinger was one of 12 Wildcats to declare early for the NBA Draft during the Lute Olson era: Brian Williams (1991), Mike Bibby (1998), Gilbert Arenas (2001), Jason Gardner (2001), Richard Jefferson (2001), Michael Wright (2001), Andre Iguodala (2004), Chris Rodgers (2005), Mustafa Shakur (2006), Marcus Williams (2007) and Jerryd Bayless (2008). Of that list, only Gardner, Rodgers, Shakur and Budinger returned to school and completed their eligibility.

The Wildcats (19-15 overall, 8-10 Pac-10) made its 24th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007-08, which is the longest active streak in the nation.