There’s a reason that basketball has been thriving again in Manhattan, Kansas. And it’s less about Bob Huggins, Michael Beasley and Bill Walker’s respectively quick residencies; it has to do with Coach Frank Martin and his beast of a senior guard, Jacob Pullen. Read More »

Ask yourself: How many people had Duke as a preseason national title favorite last year? Outside of Durham, N.C., close to zero. The Blue Devils were ranked 9th and 8th, respectively, in the preseason AP and ESPN/coaches polls. They were considered a dangerous team, but not on the level of Kansas and Kentucky.

Over the course of the schedule, however, the realization hit that Duke possessed most of the pieces you’d want for a national title run: Experienced guards, quality shooters, versatile forwards, solid defense, good coaching and NBA-caliber talent in the right spots. Throw in a healthy “Us against the world” mentality (because they’re Duke) and a favorable NCAA Tournament bracket, and the Evil Empire was back on top of the game. Read More »

Cincinnati freshman Lance Stephenson is the most polarizing prospect in this year’s NBA Draft. The former New York City high school phenom is all over mock drafts boards, with some slotting him in the teens, some in the 20′s, others in the second round, and some even have Lance going undrafted. In our Dime #57 NBA Draft preview, Austin Burton and Aron Phillips debated whether or not “Born Ready” will live up to the hype: Read More »

West Virginia was two wins shy of a national championship. While that won’t be any immediate consolation to the players who worked all season to get to the Final Four, it’s a lot better than 300-something other D-1 teams can say. Kevin Jones was an instrumental part in the Mountaineers’ run, averaging 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds this season. And in WVU’s four NCAA Tournament wins, the 6-8 sophomore forward was good for 15 points and 8 boards a game.

Kevin agreed to check in with Dime during the most hectic week of his career to give us a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like reaching the pinnacle of college basketball. After West Virginia lost to Duke in the national semifinal Saturday night, he reflected on the season and the Final Four experience: Read More »

Everybody wants to make the Hoosiers comparison, but the best movie for Butler‘s surprise run to the NCAA championship game might be Invictus. Yesterday’s win over Michigan State was like part basketball and part rugby. It was ugly, it was grimy, it was gritty, but the Bulldogs pulled off the upset despite shooting 31% from the field, enduring a 10-minute stretch in the second half where they didn’t make a shot, and trying time and time again to give the Spartans the game … Read More »

For all of those haters and “experts” who have been crying from moment the original NCAA Tournament seedings were announced weeks ago (and there were many) that Duke was handed a cakewalk to the Final Four, know this: when the smoke clears, Duke will have absolutely earned their stripes by battling through what has quickly become the most difficult road to a national championship faced by any team in the field. Read More »

The day after Christmas ’09, I watched West Virginia play at Seton Hall and get everything they could handle before narrowly edging a mediocre Big East opponent. West Virginia was ranked No. 6 in the country at the time and considered a national title contender, but I saw a team that might not have cracked the Top 20 four years ago.

But these Mountaineers aren’t playing against history; they’re playing the teams in front of them who are also part of the 2K10 version of college basketball. Read More »

Kevin Jones has been instrumental in West Virginia’s run to this year’s Final Four, averaging 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds during the season. And in WVU’s first four wins of the Tournament, the 6-8 sophomore PF/C has been good for over 15 points and 8 boards a game.

Kevin has agreed to check in with Dime during the most hectic week of his career to give us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like reaching the pinnacle of college basketball: Read More »

Kevin Jones has been instrumental in West Virginia’s run to this year’s Final Four, averaging 13.7 points and 7.2 rebounds during the season. And in WVU’s first four wins of the Tournament, the 6-8 sophomore power forward/center has been good for over 15 points and 8 boards a game.

Kevin has agreed to check in with Dime during the most hectic week of his career to give us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like reaching the pinnacle of college basketball: Read More »

Why will Michigan State win the national championship? As I sat down and thought about what to plug into the blank document in front of me, I really believed I could finish this post and still feel completely vindicated with a mere two words: Tom Izzo.

Izzo, in my opinion, is arguably the best coach in the nation — a tier accompanied by only a few other greats — and prepares his players like no other. Read More »