College Basketball Preview - Atlantic Sun Conference

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH:

1. Belmont; 2. East Tennessee State; 3. Jacksonville; 4. Lipscomb; 5. Mercer; 6. Stetson; 7. Campbell; 8. Kennesaw State; 9. Florida Gulf Coast; 10. USC Upstate; 11. North Florida.

TEAM BY TEAM ANALYSIS:

BELMONT - The Bruins made history last season, as they became the first A-Sun program to win three straight league tournament championships. Belmont also captured the regular-season crown with a 14-2 finish before losing by one- point to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. With four starters and several key reserves back in the fold, head coach Rick Byrd will be expected to have the Bruins competing for a fourth straight trip to the Big Dance in 2008-09. Belmont however, must find a way to replace the departed Justin Hare, who is the eighth leading scorer in A-Sun history. Shane Dansby is the player expected to take over Hare's role as the team's go-to-guy after notching 13.4 ppg and 6.2 rpg a season ago. The guard/forward spent the summer in Africa working on his game and should be among the top players in the conference. Matthew Dotson is another intriguing option for the Bruins, as the 6-8 forward has the size to dominate inside and the range to hit from long distance. Last season, Dotson averaged 11.4 ppg, while knocking down 42 percent of his attempt from beyond the arc. At the perimeter, Andy Wicke and Alex Renfroe both return to their starting roles, giving Belmont one of the top backcourt tandems in the conference. The 6-2 Wicke averaged 9.3 ppg and shot 83 percent at the foul line last season, while the 6-2 Renfroe handed out a team-high 124 assists. Jordan Campbell, a 6-5 guard/forward, should also make an impact after a great freshman campaign in which he turned in 7.2 ppg and 5.2 rpg. FULL STORY

NCAA talking about rules to protect 7th-graders in basketball recruiting

It has come to this in college basketball: The NCAA is weighing whether to officially designate seventh- and eighth-graders as "prospective student-athletes."

The move, backed by the new Championships/Sports Management Cabinet, is intended to help insulate youngsters from recruiters by limiting the contacts by coaches at some camps and clinics. It's also intended to limit contact by e-mail, letters and phone calls, according to Joan Cronan, women's athletic director at Tennessee and a member of the management cabinet.

"The whole idea was to eliminate unappropriate recruiting," said Cronan, also president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. "Some of the real early commitments made people stop and think how early should we be recruiting. … It's more to protect (young athletes)." FULL STORY

Coach's pay draws ire from college watchdog group

A faculty watchdog group sounded an alarm Tuesday over a $420,000 compensation package for a Kansas State assistant basketball coach, saying it represents a "new day" in the escalation of college coaches' salaries.

"Higher education should quickly rethink the merits of this professional athletics model," the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics said in a statement, "before it becomes a benchmark for the next round of athletic budget escalation and further separation of athletics from academics."

The group, representing 56 major-college faculty senates, has become a voice for reform in college athletics.

Dalonte Hill became one of the nation's best-paid assistants when K-State made him the Wildcats' associate head coach in April 2007 for an annual $150,000 in salary and an additional $250,000 for media appearances and other services. The five-year contract raises his auxiliary compensation to $270,000 annually starting this coming season. FULL STORY

BYRD IN THE HAND

I’m not sure I saw a more entertaining game all season that Belmont’s near-upset over Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Belmont coach Rick Byrd, one of the elite coaches who just hasn’t received enough credit (he has 541 career wins), did a tremendous job keeping his team in the game before the Blue Devils squeaked out a 71-70 victory.

``You can second-guess forever – and I have,” Byrd said.

Byrd said in hindsight he might have gotten the ball in the hands of then-senior Justin Hare, but guard Alex Renfroe had done a nice job all game and he opted to put the ball in Renfroe’s hands.

While the Bruins lost Hare, arguably the top player in school history and a guy who helped lead the team to three straight Atlantic Sun titles, they also return nine of their top 11 players.

Shane Dansby (13.4) and Matthew Dotson (11.4) were both double-figure scorers and started the majority of the games a year ago, but Byrd decided to change his starting lineup for most of the season for the first time in his 22-year career at the school.

``It was just too close to make a definitive starting lineup,” Byrd said.

In addition to trying to find someone to replace Hare as the go-to guy down the stretch (he made big shots and also made 92 percent of his free throws), Byrd is also concerned with a group that has an abundance of fifth-year seniors.

Most coaches would be thrilled, but Byrd is worried because of past experience.

He made a terrific point in that most players who attend Belmont are not necessarily thinking of playing beyond college and, thus, their priorities begin to change as they get close to graduating and thinking about jobs and family.

``I’ve had senior-dominated teams in the past that have underachieved,” Byrd said. “It’s a challenge with seniors because it often means that basketball isn’t at the same level of priority it was when they came in as a freshman or even sophomore.”

``If it hadn’t happened before, I wouldn’t be talking about it,” he added.

Mike Jarvis making new home at Florida Atlantic

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Mike Jarvis' new office at Florida Atlantic is still a work in progress.

Sure, pictures of his NCAA tournament teams at St. John's, George Washington and Boston University adorn one wall. And bible scriptures and a colorful painting of Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning are waiting for spots on another. But for the most part, the office at the entrance of FAU Arena is bare. FULL STORY