The big winners in my AP Top 25 this week are Michigan, Texas and Creighton.

The Wolverines jump 12 spots, from 16 to 4, after a tremendous week in which they beat No. 3 Michigan State (on the road) and No. 10 Iowa. Couple that with another road win last week at (then) No. 3 Wisconsin, and that's a brilliant three-game stretch for the Wolverines, who are 7-0 in the Big Ten. John Beilein can coach a little, eh?

I also welcome back Creighton and, for the first time, welcome Rick Barnes' Texas Longhorns. I knocked the Blue Jays out last week after they got blitzed at Providence, but welcome them right back after they destroyed No. 4 Villanova on the road on Monday, 96-68. (By the way, that loss to PC isn't so bad. The Friars are, as of right now, an NCAA tournament team, even without Brandon Austin and Kris Dunn).

Texas, meanwhile, gets the nod after winning at No. 24 Baylor and at home against No. 22 Kansas State this week. This after beating No. 16 Iowa State last week, giving it three straight wins over ranked teams. The Longhorns will look to make it four straight when they host No. 8 Kansas on Saturday.

So, with two new teams, I had to knock two out. Kansas State was easy, after a two-loss week. The other was trickier (keep in mind, I didn't have Baylor ranked). I wound up booting Ohio State, whom I had ranked No. 17 last week. The Buckeyes lost at Nebraska on Monday, their fourth straight loss. And while they bounced back with a perfunctory home win over Illinois on Thursday, I have a tough time ranking any team that's lost four of its last five games.

Elsewhere, I kept UConn at No. 23 after wins over Temple and Rutgers. I'm starting to like my SMU at No. 25 all the more, though I was one of only two voters to vote for the Mustangs last week. And I righted a wrong by moving San Diego State up a few notches and moving Kansas over Oklahoma State, whom the Jayhawks beat two weeks ago.

1.       Arizona

2.       Syracuse

3.       Florida

4.       Michigan

5.       Wichita State

6.       San Diego State

7.       Michigan State

8.       Kansas

9.       Oklahoma State

10.   Villanova

11.   Cincinnati

12.   Louisville

13.   Kentucky

14.   Wisconsin

15.   Saint Louis

16.   Iowa

17.   Pittsburgh

18.   Duke

19.   Iowa State

20.   Creighton

21.   Texas

22.   UMass

23.   UConn

24.   Memphis

25.   SMU

Shabazz Napier took exactly six shots in UConn's two exhibition game romps. Played only 14 minutes in the second one. Is he injured? Just reverting to 'Shabazz-the-distributor' mode? Anything to be concerned about?

Ummm, no.

"I didn't want to tire out 'Bazz," Kevin Ollie pointed out. "I wanted him to have fresh legs for the (Maryland) game. And I wanted to have good gamesmanship, too. I didn't want to run up the score."

Think of it as sort of like a spring training game, where the stars get one or two at-bats and leave the rest of the game to guys wearing numbers in the 70's and 80's. Still, Napier admitted to being "kind of upset" about not seeing much playing time against SCSU or Concordia.



No doubt, Napier goes through stretches where it seems he'd rather distribute than look for his shot. But Ollie has no concerns.

"The game's going to dictate it," said the coach. "You go out and say, 'I'm gonna shoot 25 shots,' that's when you don't have a good game. If the game dictates him to take 20 shots, he'll take 20. If the game dictates him to pass it and get off the ball and get 10 assists, then he'll dictate that. He's got great basketball IQ. I've been around probably one guard that's had better basketball IQ than him, and that's Andre Miller, when I was at Philadelphia."

Napier appreciated the compliment.

"That's kind of unexpected, actually. Andre Miller's got a great IQ. He's still in the league because he's a smart point guard. That's a great compliment."

Ollie continued: "I want him to be aggressive. That doesn't mean shooting. Sometimes I get on him not being aggressive -- probing the defense, getting in the thick of the defense. Maybe that's passing 20 times in a row, but that's being aggressive. I never talk about shooting with him, I just talk about aggressiveness."

A few more notes and quotes from today's practice:

*** Napier was asked how much concern the team has for Maryland on Friday night.

"I don't think anybody on this team is scared or nervous of Maryland, or anybody. Once you step on the court, everything goes out the window. Maryland ties their sneakers the same way we tie our sneakers. They've just got Under Armours, we've got Nikes."

"It's gonna be tough. Dez Wells is a great player, one of the best players in college basketball. He's big, strong, he's lie 6-4, 6-5. It's gonna be hard. But one thing I can tell you, we'll be ready to play them."

*** Gotta love Phil Nolan.

"I do't have a go-to move or anything," Nolan said. "When I catch the ball, I have, like, 10 different moves in my head. Whichever one happens, it just happens. I have a couple of favorites, but I just like switching it up. I just don't know what I'll do."

*** Ollie said he has no set starting lineup at this point.

"I'll figure that out on my trip down to Brooklyn ... The starters get their name called out, but that's who I like. Who I trust is the guys who are in at the end of the game. When I was a player, I wanted to be in to finish the game."

*** Brooklyn natives Omar Calhoun and Terrence Samuel get to play a true home game on Friday.

"I'm definitely excited, that's where I grew up," Calhoun said. "There's gonna be a lot of people there -- family, friends, coaches -- coming out to support me."

Does he have to guard against trying to do too much for the hometown fans?

"At the end of the day, everybody knows I'm focused on the game. I want to win, I'm a competitor."

Ollie was asked if Samuel, a freshman, also had to be careful not to get too amped up.

"I"m just gonna say calm down, play your game, be a point guard," said Ollie. "If he gets too jacked up, he'll sit by me. I've got a lot of guards on the bench."

*** Jim Calhoun will join Joe D'Ambrosio on the WTIC-AM 1080 broadcast, just as he did in UConn's season-opener last year in Germany -- an impressive win over Michigan State.

"Coach Calhoun is on the broadcast again, that's a guaranteed win right there," Ollie said with a smile. "We're 1-0 with coach on the broadcast with Joe D., so hopefully we're 2-0."

*** Sometimes in recruiting, it's the not ones you hit on but the ones you miss on that turn out to be a bit of a blessing.

Last year, UConn lost out on a pair of recruits -- Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Brandon Austin -- who they certainly wanted badly. Rathan-Mayes, despite his father being a New Haven native, elected to take his talents to Florida State (his pop's alma mater). Austin, a Philly native, selected Ed Cooley and Providence over the Huskies.

Now, Rathan-Mayes is out for the year after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA. And now Austin, along with fellow frosh Rodney Bullock, is suspended indefinitely from the Friars after "not upholding their responsibilities as student-athletes."

Certainly, no one wishes ill will on either player, and hopefully both are able to get their respective issues resolved and (at least in Austin's case) return to the basketball court as soon as possible. And certainly in Austin's situation, there's no telling whether whatever he did or didn't do at PC, he wouldn't have made the same mistakes at UConn.

But fans that live and die each time a recruit chooses another school over UConn should realize that, sometimes, it's UConn that drops interest (in the cases of Rathan-Mayes as well as Ray Kasongo), and sometimes not getting a particular recruit ends up being a blessing in disguise.

Stony Brook may be a bit tired, having played a game yesterday (an 82-75 win over Canisius) and ferried to Connecticut this morning. But the Seawolves don't figure to be a pushover for the Huskies.

Stony Brook is looking to go 5-1 for the first time since November, 2009, and just the second time in program history. The Seawolves are a fierce rebounding team, beating Canisius on the boards 47-32 on Saturday. They also hit 27 of 31 free throw attempts.


A win today would give Stony Brook its first-ever victory over a nationally-ranked opponent. It would also give Steve Pikiell his 100th win as Stony Brook’s head coach.


Elsewhere:

*** As expected, R.J. Evans and Leon Tolksdorf are both out today. UConn associate head coach Glen Miller told The Day's Gavin Keefe that Evans is hoping to be back by the Huskies' Dec. 4 battle with N.C. State at Madison Square Garden.

*** Trying to think of the last time, before Brandon Austin, that UConn lost a much-coveted recruit to Providence. Not Kris Dunn, whom UConn backed off on late in the recruiting process. Not Ryan Gomes, whom UConn obviously didn't think much of. Geoff McDermott, who the Huskies liked after getting in on his recruitment late, might be the best (and only) answer.

Is it time yet?

The loss of another big-time recruit (Brandon Austin ... to Providence, of all places), coupled with the early-season success and rave reviews for Kevin Ollie begs the question of whether it's time Warde Manuel decides to give Ollie a long-term deal.

Ask anyone from Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim and Rick Barnes to people close to the UConn program to the vast majority of college basketball media, they'll tell you that Ollie's lack of a long-term commitment (he's only signed through March) is a HUGE impediment to the Huskies on the recruiting trail. Noah Vonleh and Austin are two recent examples.
I asked Manuel at the Paradise Jam Monday night whether he worried that Ollie's lack of a long-term contract is hurting the team recruiting-wise.

"I want us to be in the best position," Manuel said, "but as I've said before, you never know what hurts you in recruiting. Jim Calhoun, in his prime, lost great recruits. Kevin is going to win a lot in the recruiting wars, and he's going to lose some, whether he's been there one year, 10 years or 20 years ... I've been around quite a bit with some great coaches who have lost some kids, and you never truly know. You put your best foot forward, and the student-athlete makes the choice to go somewhere else for a different reason."

Manuel indicated he'd like to see Ollie in Big East competition before he decides on his future, and also said he'd like to make a decision before the season ends on March 9.

"Whether I make it before then or not remains to be seen," he added. "I don't have a timetable."

I may be in the minority on this, but I understand Manuel's position. For one, he was put in a tough spot by Calhoun's abrupt retirement on Sept. 13, essentially forcing him to hire Ollie. For all the praise Ollie got at the time from sources all around the basketball world, it was fair for Manuel to be a bit cautious about giving a long-term deal to someone who'd never coached a game of basketball in his life, at any level. And, he had to show that whomever the new long-term coach at UConn was going to be was going to be his decision, not something thrust upon him by Calhoun's retirement.

And if that was the case two months ago, it's hard to say that things should change too much since then. As impressive as Ollie has looked on the sidelines and in practice (like he's been doing this for four decades, not four games); as impressive as the win over Michigan State was, along with a good showing by a fatigued team in St. Thomas, getting to the championship game; five games would seem to be a little early to make a rash, long-term decision.

But maybe Manuel should. The Huskies are getting killed in recruiting. There's no excuse losing a recruit to PC, even if the Friars seem to be on the rise and Ed Cooley is as likable a coach as any. And, well ... Ollie has certainly done the job to this point, no matter how early it's been.

Back on Sept. 13, here's what Manuel said he'll be looking for from Ollie this season:

“I’m looking to see how he is on the sidelines, how he handles decision-making, how he does substitutions and things that are normal in the course of a game,” he said. “How does he handle a loss with a team, how does he motivate them the next day to come back and play. How's he handling practice and the staff and all the things that come with being a head coach at this level.  I want to see it, because I can’t turn to somebody and say, ‘Hey, how did he do? How was he as a head coach?’ I need to see that. It really, truly is a long-term plan. I want to see where Kevin is before I extend that long-term contract. But I love Kevin, I’ve enjoyed working with him the past six months. I see why Jim believes in him so much, but I want to see it myself before I would make that determination.”

Let's break it down:

"I'm looking to see how he is on the sidelines" -- Ollie appears in complete control. Sometimes the game speeds up young coaches, but that hasn't happened with him. And he's got a stellar staff of Glen Miller, Karl Hobbs and George Blaney behind him, as well.

Manuel admitted as much Monday, saying, "You don't just roll the ball out and say, 'Shabazz, Ryan, go score.' He's designing the plays, and he and the staff are impressive to watch."

"How he handles decision-making, how he does substitutions ..." --- Again, all aces. Ollie lets guys play through their mistakes, by and large (unlike Calhoun), and, in fact, will ride the hot hand (i.e., Enosch Wolf vs. Wake Forest) even if it means a starter rides the pine for a longer-than-expected time. Ollie seems to use his timeouts rather judiciously, but that's not a major criticism.

"How does he handle a loss with a team, how does he motivate them the next day to come back and play ..." --- Well, we'll find out for sure on Sunday against Stony Brook, on the heels of the Huskies' first loss of the season Monday to New Mexico. But so far under Ollie, UConn has shown it can handle prosperity (the Huskies could have laid an egg against Vermont after flying home on the wings of the Michigan State victory, but instead played well), as well as in-game adversity (they were down 10 with less than five minutes to play against Quinnipiac, only to win in double OT).

"How he's handling practice and the staff and all the things that come with being a head coach at this level ..." --- Ollie has taken some of the ideals he learned under Calhoun and put his own personal brand on it, from techniques he learned from 13 years in the NBA (bringing in a sports psychologist, fostering better team communication, etc.) and different basketball philosophies. He's been terrific thus far. Manuel even admitted such Monday night.

"He's been unbelievable," the AD said. "I'm very, very proud. He's doing a terrific job in all aspects. He's a super guy doing a great job. He couldn't have had a better four games, a better script in his first four games. I'm proud of him, proud of the team and the effort they're putting forth. What you see on the court, he's been talking to the student-athletes about. It's a great thing to see."

So maybe it's time for that long-term contract, before the Huskies get hurt on the recruiting trail any more than they already have been.

Warde Manuel wasn't going to come down to the Paradise Jam until later this week to watch the UConn women play. But after the Huskies' dramatic double-overtime win over Quinnipiac Sunday night, he decided to make the trip down for Monday's championship game.

Here's some of what he had to say:

(on rumors of UConn being courted by the ACC)

“It’s really too soon for any comment. There are too many unknowns, what’s going to happen, what’s going on. We’ll monitor the situation, figure out what it means to us as time progresses.”

"I’ll make sure UConn is in the best position to be successful for my coaches and student-athletes.”

(on the job Kevin Ollie has done so far)

“He’s unbelievable. I'm very, very proud. He’s doing a terrific job in all aspects. He’s a super guy doing a great job. He couldn’t have had a better four games, a better script in his first four games. I’m proud of him, proud of the team and the effort they’re putting forth. What you see on this court, he’s been talking to student-athletes about. It’s a great thing to see.”

"The guys are responding to him. He’s different than Jim. He’s had to work and get them to understand the way he displays his intensity is different. That’s a good thing to see, particularly when there’s a transition from a Hall of Famer.”

“I don’t want him to worry that I’m watching him and scrutinizing every step. I’m cheering for the team … at the same time, I’m observing him, watching how he’s handling things.”

“It was very impressive, down by 10 with four minutes to play. To see what he got out of the breaks, different motivation, plays he designed. You don’t just roll the ball out and say, ‘Shabazz, Ryan, go score.’ He’s designing the plays, and he and the staff are impressive to watch.”

(on whether the short-term contract Ollie's working on is hurting on the recruiting trail. UConn lost out on highly-touted guard Brandon Austin to Providence on Monday)

“I want us to be in the best position, but as I’ve said before, you never know what hurts you in recruiting. Jim Calhoun, in his prime, lost great recruits. Kevin is going to win a lot in the recruiting wars, and he’s going to lose some, whether he’s been there one year, 10 years or 20 years ... I’ve been around quite a bit with some great coaches who have lost some kids, and you never know truly. You put your best foot forward, and the student-athlete makes the choice to go somewhere else for a different reason.”

(Manuel said he'd like to make a decision on Ollie's future before the season is over)

“Whether I make it before then or not remains to be seen. I don’t have any timetable.”

While we're all immersed in the latest conference realignment rumors and speculation, and reports say that UConn could announce it's joining the ACC as soon as Tuesday, here's a reminder that UConn has a game tonight against New Mexico for the 2012 Paradise Jam championship.

While most figured these could be the two teams to to meet in the finals, they certainly didn't take easy routes to get here. New Mexico (3-0) had to struggle to get by UIC in its opener, then pulled out a miracle to beat George Mason on Sunday. Tony Snell hit a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to give the Lobos their first and only lead of the second half in a 70-69 victory. New Mexico trailed by five with 17.7 seconds left in that one.

Of course, it took UConn two overtimes to get by Quinnipiac in its semifinal game. The Huskies trailed by 10 with less than five minutes remaining, but Shabazz Napier came up big down the stretch and UConn hit 23 of its final 24 foul shots in regulation and overtime.

The Huskies have faced New Mexico just once before, beating the Lobos 78-56 in an NCAA West Regional second round game in Denver on March 13, 1999.

Steve Alford wasn't coaching New Mexico then, but he has coached against the Huskies once before. Alford was in his final season at the helm at Iowa when the Hawkeyes beat top-ranked UConn 70-68 in the Huskies' season-opener on Nov. 11, 1999 in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden.

UConn hasn't lost a season-opener since. (Thanks to Joe D'Ambrosio for the heads-up on that tidbit).

Here's what Alford had, briefly, to say about the Huskies Sunday night, before he knew whether or not he'd be playing UConn today:



The Lobos are 3-0, but their coaching staff will tell you they haven't played a good game yet. They'll be helped by the return of backup point guard Jamal Fenton, who had to sit out the first three games due to an NCAA infraction.

"They're a good team," Kevin Ollie said of the Lobos. "They showed resiliency, too. They've got great shooters, they're big at every position. It's going to be a challenge. They don't have any give-up, either. I know Steve Alford, he's going to have his guys well-prepared, and it's going to be a great game."

We'll get to realignment after talking to some people throughout the day, and also keep an eye on Brandon Austin, who could be announcing his collegiate decision today. UConn, Texas and Providence are said to be the favorites.

Oh, and Napier is Big East player of the week.

At Jim Calhoun's retirement/Kevin Ollie's introductory press conference two months ago, Calhoun had this to say about Ollie's resiliency:

"Kevin Ollie has been rejected a time or two. So, recruiting violations? Next guy ..."

UConn has had a lot of "next guys" lately, and you can now add Noah Vonleh to the list. The coveted 6-9 center out of New Hampton (N.H.) prep committed to Indiana last night. The Huskies thought they had an outside shot at Vonleh if the Massachusetts native wanted to stay close to home, but it didn't work out.

UConn fans are likely to blame the seven-month contract Kevin Ollie is currently on for the team's recent recruiting misses (Vonleh, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, Ron Patterson, etc.). It certainly doesn't help. And while UConn's impressive, season-opening win over Michigan State on Friday night certainly could hasten Warde Manuel to offer Ollie a long-term deal, it's going to take more for Ollie to prove himself to the A.D.

Talking to others around college basketball, another factor that's hurting UConn on the recruiting trail is simply the coaching staff's lack of contacts in the AAU world. Ollie is seen as a great recruiter, and anyone who meets him loves him. But sometimes that's not enough. He's spent almost his entire professional life in the NBA and hasn't yet made the important contacts in the recruiting world that coaches need.

Associate head coach Glen Miller spent most of his coaching life in the Ivy League, which is an entirely different recruiting world than the cut-throat, big-time D-1 landscape. Assistant Karl Hobbs was a demon on the recruiting trail in his eight prior years at UConn, but that ended in 2001. As head coach at George Washington, Hobbs delegated much of the recruiting to assistants (as most head coaches do). And George Blaney doesn't handle any recruiting at all.

And, of course, there's all the speculation and questions surrounding the future of UConn in general and the Big East in particular.

This is not to say that these guys can't go out and light it up on the recruiting trail. The results haven't been there yet, but they've had their hands tied to a degree, be it Ollie's contract or, prior to that, Calhoun's health and impending retirement questions. This is a bright and talented staff that can accomplish a lot of things. But right now, it simply lacks the "bulldog" lead recruiter with the ties to the AAU/preps world that can give a call to the AAU hot-shots and make sure they put in the good word for the Huskies with their kids.

Ollie, an L.A. native, is currently trying to cultivate his West Coast connections on the recruiting trail (he is absolutely loved in L.A.). Jordan Bell, a 6-7 Class of 2013 forward out of Long Beach, will be making his decision on Monday and is said to be down to UConn, Oregon and Auburn (though the Huskies appear to be a long-shot after Bell recently cancelled a visit to Storrs). Ollie also recently had Class of 2015 forward Bennie Boatwright out of the L.A. area on campus for an unofficial visit.

Meanwhile, Class of 2013 Brandon Austin, a highly-touted 6-5 guard out of Philly, is said to be down to UConn, Providence and Texas for his final decision, which could come this week, according to SNY's Adam Zagoria. He'd be a very nice get for the Huskies.

I'd never bet against Kevin Ollie in anything, and certainly not on the recruiting trail, even with the recent rejections. It's just worth pointing out that it's not just his seven-month contract that's hurting UConn in recruiting.

According to Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal, Brandon Austin appears to be favoring Providence over UConn. That Terrence Samuel is on his way and both Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright may be back next season doesn't appear to put the Huskies in a good position with Austin, a point gaurd.

Here's something that might put UConn fans in a better mood: some recent video of commit Kentan Facey.

UConn has a pair of Class of 2014 guards here at First Night.


Khadeen Carrington, a 6-1, 175-pound shooting guard out of Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn, and Winston Morgan, a 5-11 point guard out of East Catholic High, are in the house. Commits Kentan Facey and Terrence Samuel are also expected to be here.

Also, 6-6 small forward Brandon Austin out of Imhotep in Philly will be making a visit to Storrs next Friday (Oct. 19).

According to philly.com, forward Brandon Austin will visit UConn next weekend after a visit to Providence this weekend.

Austin is a senior at Imhotep. His AAU coach, Warren Green, said that he's working on setting a date for UCLA, but could wait for the spring to do that. Georgetown and Texas round out his top five.