Meet Me In St. Louis

Rick Majerus is back in the game, baby!! I'm remaining moderately composed only because the big guy has been known to change his mind before. Regardless, his hiring means I no longer have to suffer through his periods of excruciating babble on Big Ten telecasts. Sure, over time I will probably grow to miss the occasional "O-ffense" reference, but for now, I will celebrate with a double-stacker ham and cheese sandwich.

Do yourself a favor and check out this spectacular archive of Majerus quotes. If only he was that entertaining on the air ...

I found it odd that Brad Soderberg got dumped for Majerus when that is precisely what Wisconsin intended to do back in 2001 when it let Soderberg go. Also, Majerus (a Sheboygan, WI native) got his head coaching start at Marquette, which like St. Louis, is a Jesuit Catholic university. We all know Majerus as the long-time Utah coach, which got me asking myself one question: does Rick Majerus enjoy maintaining a personal basketball rivalry with Mormons? Utah and BYU are bitter rivals, and the Catholic-Mormon angle is a cheap rivalry that journalists can drum up every time. I hope the Billikens schedule the Cougars soon.

Lastly, are there any Wisconsin fans out there worried that Majerus might try to lure Trevon Hughes to transfer to St. Louis? He sure buttered him up during every Badger game. Maybe no one told Trevon about it. But seriously, that's one heck of a man crush.

"Text Message" is a Verb

As mentioned a week ago, the recruiting practice of text messaging has been under the microscope. Now, the NCAA has officially banned coaches from text messaging recruits, closing a technological loophole. It's about time. The story details how the athletes themselves dislike the aggressiveness of the method. Imagine waking up with 52 unread messages!!

Putting the ban into place starting in August should curtail the abuse by some of the slimier coaches. Hmmm ... Tom Crean loves to text, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's preview piece yesterday in anticipation of the change. In a way, those coaches were smart to exploit the loophole as long as they could (a la the "Bret Bielema rule" revisions in college football). However, it only takes a second to see the kind of hounding that the top prospects must have endured. Not everybody wants that much attention.

Speaking of cell phone technology, let's have one more look at my favorite hands-free device.

NBA Draft Update

The past few days have been full of decisions about the future of certain high-profile collegiate underclassmen. The recent string of announcements culminated Wednesday with a second Georgia Tech freshman declaring early and a couple of UCLA Bruins announcing their official return to school for their junior seasons. Great news for UCLA, bad news for NBA teams looking to draft a point guard this year. With Darren Collison's return, the potentially loaded point guard draft became 2008, not 2007. Among stellar freshmen, only Mike Conley Jr. declared, while UNC's Ty Lawson and Texas' D.J. Augustine stayed put. Acie Law IV appears to be the only solid lead guard left at the top of the board, but his stock is slipping.

All the activity makes for some bad decisions. You really have to feel for kids who get bad advice and go full speed ahead with the draft only to be left on the cutting room floor. ESPN's resident NBA Draft guru Chad Ford has posted a great, up-to-date list of early entry declarations. For a more in-depth look at such players, swing on by DraftExpress.

The early entry eligibility deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET on April 29. A large number of players who have already declared are waiting to hire an agent this year, indicating a trend to test one's marketability at the earliest sign of success. As long as the player does not hire an agent and can pay his own way to workouts/camps, he has until June 18 to withdraw from the draft without repercussions.

To refresh on the schedule of events facing guys like Oden, Durant, Tucker ... even Bucks GM Larry Harris ... visit NBA.com's draft coverage online. There you will find a breakdown of each team's odds of landing the top prize in this year's draft lottery. The ping-pong magic happens May 22, usually at halftime of an NBA Playoff game. Careers will be made and hearts will be broken that day. I hope Danny Ainge is kept away from sharp objects during the proceedings. Then, finally, the 2007 NBA Draft will take place way down the road on June 28. Just two months away, kids.

Sorry Iowa fans -- from the sound of things at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament earlier this month, Adam Haluska won't be getting his name called by the Association. Time to learn Italian!

State of the Site

You'll notice two things about the website these days. One, I replaced the generic blog header with a title banner -- which I will tinker with constantly over the next few weeks (and I welcome all comments and suggestions). Secondly, The Google video search bar has been moved front and center to the sidebar for better visibility and usability. In order to make it worthwhile, I will need to change the search keywords every once in a while to avoid lame videos. But if you missed the Free Ticket episodes, Marinara's got you covered. "All Access 4"? Tell me you don't love Bo Ryan, the greatest snake oil salesman of all-time.

Expect a recruiting post very soon. AAU season is in full swing, which means Badger prospects are in full bloom. The spring is the time for kids to earn their (full ride) money. Early reports are that Wisconsin was the first to offer a scholarship to Royce White, yet another Minnesota product. White is a 6'6" swingman from Minneapolis in the Class of '08 who has been impressing on the circuit. UW has had decent luck offering early to Twin Cities-area recuits (Kam), so Badger fans should keep an eye out for this guy. White plays on the same Howard Pulley team as Jordan Taylor and Jarred Berggren, who are both committed to Wisconsin for 2007.

A late run on Pittsburgh native D.J. Kennedy might be a stretch for Wisconsin, but Bo and Co. are at least in the conversation, according to Rivals.com. Maybe Bo's old Chester, PA connections will pan out. Incidentally, Kennedy's Schenley team defeated Chester in the Pennsylvania Class AAAA championship this past season.

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Check out the voice on this chap talking with Kam Taylor for a recent Sirius radio interview, circa the NCAA tournament. Unreal. Like in a Muppet sort of way. "Wisconsin guard KAAAm Taylor here ... you're a bAAAsketball player."

Depatures from the Big Ten

Players transferring after a head coaching change is nothing new. But when I heard that Iowa released super-frosh Tyler Smith from his scholarship on Friday, it was a little surprising. Moving closer to home, where his father is dealing with cancer, is understandable. His change or heart puts Iowa in an even tougher position as Todd Lickliter attempts to rebuild the program.

Although Iowa expected to say goodbye to only two seniors following the season, the Hawkeyes now must replace over 60 percent of their per-game scoring from 2006-07.

Smith is just one of several Big Ten departures so far this spring. Sophomore Maurice Joseph is leaving Michigan State. Purdue was hit with transfer requests from three young players, including guard Chris Lutz who led the conference in 3-point shooting percentage. Unlike Iowa, however, both MSU and Purdue have highly-rated incoming recruits to offset the losses and build upon.

With a mediocre freshman class expected next year, Iowa is one team in the Big Ten anticipating a much tougher season in 2007-08. Northwestern will again be the sludge of the conference. Although early-entry candidates have weakened Ohio State, the Buckeyes will be competing for Big Ten titles annually under Thad Matta. Wisconsin's personnel losses were to graduation, but the same high expectations apply to Bo Ryan's bunch.

Indiana, like Michigan State, is an early favorite at the top of the league. Guard phenom Eric Gordon's arrival coupled with D.J. White's surprise return for a senior season will make Kelvin Sampson's second year in Bloomington a special one. Michigan and Minnesota will be better through coaching upgrades alone.

Penn State also returns four starters, including the now-seasoned Geary Claxton-Jamelle Cornley duo that ranked 1-2 on the team in both scoring and rebounding. Of course, they were supposed to be improved last season as well ... I don't think 11-19 qualified as a breakthrough. The other team I cannot figure out is Illinois. The karma feels quite bad in Champaign, where off-the-court issues continue to mount in addition to the team dropping to ninth in the Big Ten in scoring offense. Shaun Pruitt is considering the NBA Draft for some odd reason, but the Illini did just add junior college star Rodney Alexander to their incoming class.

For what it's worth, Wisconsin teams have seemed to thrive in the underdog role, rather than as a favorite. Expect the conference to be much more balanced next season, unlike the Big 2/Little 9 look that we've seen so often in football. Purdue served reasonably well as my sleeper pick last season, but I'll take a little more time to make a pick this season. You never know who else will jump ship between now and the next tip-off.