Bye Ron Franklin. Wesley Johnson. Carolina #4 at SN. Katz hanging in
Izzo’s basement (Video). Wake Forest and Al Farouq Aminu (NC Sate Bonus).Q&A with Jeff Capel. Yesterday’s late #5 from SN. Minnesota wins like a Top 25 team should.

ESPN Dumps Ron Franklin from Big Monday.
The Big Lead has a nice article up on Ron Franklin being taken off of Big Monday. Franklin was good, Mussberger is ok too though. Bob Knight as the color guy truly is awful. No one would Bob Knight if he is high on painkillers, much less when he is talking for two hours through your TV.  He knows basketball, but he’s just a jerk.

Is Wesley Johnson the best transfer in College Basketball?
That’s a good question. One that we saw a possible answer to earlier in the week, albeit in a loss to a Division II team. That being said,Johnson is going to make a big splash not only at Syracuse but also in the Big East. We were on the fence on how big this one would be (Johnson was taken in the first 8 picks of the fantasy hoops keeper league I play in),but it looks like he is going to pan out and be a scoring machine.

The Sporting News is down to #4 in their countdown and it would appear they have overrated the Heels, just like everyone else (well, coaches/ESPN at least). Is Carolina a top ten team? Yes. Top 5? That’s a stretch in the preseason. Maybe they will be in the end, but I can’t see them at #4 to begin the year.

I’m a bi-polar Andy Katz fan at best, but this is a cool video look at Tom Izzo’s basement. Cool stuff, worth watching.

Last year, several players shunned the NBA draft to stay in school for one more year, a few were even “locks” as lottery picks. One of the biggest surprises was Al-Farouq Aminu staying put at Wake Forest. It would appear that this is going to pay off. His preseason debut netted him 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. NC State recap in that link as well.

Q&A with first class person and one heck of a basketball coach Jeff Capel.  You have to love this guy.

Here is Sporting News #5 from yesterday, which was up late in the day, West Virginia.

Minnesota last night played Minnesota Duluth. I know I’m harping no teams like UCLA and Syracuse, but they did what good D1 teams do to any D2 team.  The Gophers destroyed Minnesota-Duluth 114-47.  Without two of their highly touted newcomers.  This is how Top 25 teams deal with lesser opponents.  Destruction.

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