While everyone’s talking about Sherron Collins, Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry, don’t sleep on Kansas’ Marcus Morris. While his twin brother, Markieff, is also on the squad, he hasn’t done anything like this. Wow. He should send a formal apology to Pittsburgh State’s Andy Smith.

Harrison Barnes is the best high school ballplayer in the country. As the 6-6 wing from Ames, Iowa, navigates through the hectic recruiting process such a title entails, he agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First up was UNC, then Oklahoma; now Barnes recaps his trip to Kansas for “Late Night in the Phog” during the weekend of Oct. 16. Here’s an excerpt:

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After seeing them practice and play, I can see why people say that they’re No. 1 in the country. Read More »

In just his first season, Mario Chalmers proved he could make the transition from March Madness hero to a solid NBA player. The former Kansas Jayhawk put together a very nice rookie campaign. He started all 82 games for the Heat and averaged 10 ppg, 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals - which was fourth best in the NBA. In the playoffs, Chalmers bumped up that steals average to nearly three a game and was a key contributer to a Miami squad that pushed the Hawks to seven games.

Just an hour ago, I hit up Mario, who was chilling at home in Alaska. Read More »

At one time in his life, LeBron James was just simply LeBron James. Back when he was growing up in Akron, Ohio playing basketball at the local community center, without Sports Illustrated knocking on his front door and asking to put him on their cover, Bron was just a kid who loved to play basketball and happened to be pretty good at it. But the world we live in today is always looking for the Next Big Thing and sometimes they’re harder to find than others. Don’t worry though, I was able to find him in Wichita, Kansas and his name is Perry Ellis. Read More »

Watch out now, but John Calipari is quickly trying to become the next Coach K. Sure the wins aren’t there yet, and neither are the titles, but in terms of helping former players/aspiring coaches get a start in the profession, right now there is no one better than Cal. Read More »

The first weekend is in the books, the field of 65 is down to 16, and I seriously need a break from watching basketball. After the first two rounds of the Big Dance, here are my big winners (big losers coming soon):

THE HIT LIST

Cole Aldrich — Going into the Tournament, nobody was talking about Aldrich in regards to the 2009 NBA Draft. Read More »

After Austin beat me to it this afternoon declaring that Louisville will win it all, I’m actually glad he did. Because after watching the brackets unfold, it seems Louisville winning is the last thing the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee wants to see happen. Read More »