College basketball’s Decepticons are back. Duke is in the Final Four for the 11th time during Coach K‘s reign (and the first time since ’04), so if you’d been missing Krzyzewski’s scowl, the army of three-point bombers, the goofy big guys, the smug grins, the confident swagger, and Dick Vitale re-enacting an Extenze commercial with every TV cameo (“I’m bigger!”) you’re glad to see the program the rest of us love to hate back on the biggest stage … The Blue Devils trailed Baylor at halftime, as their turnovers led to transition buckets, and it looked like LaceDarius Dunn outside (22 pts) and Ekpe Udoh inside (18 pts, 10 rebs, 5 blks) might be able to carry the Bears to the win. Read More »

As a former high school All-American with an NBA body and Lottery-pick potential, Scotty Hopson was supposed to be Tennessee’s top scorer and take on a leadership role. Next year.

But when UT head coach Bruce Pearl dismissed All-SEC senior wing Tyler Smith from the team in January following Smith’s arrest on misdemeanor gun and drug charges — an incident from which three other players were suspended — Hopson had to step up. Two days after Smith was dismissed, the sophomore scored 17 points to lead the Volunteers in an upset win over No. 1-ranked Kansas. Read More »