Trying to explain to my girl why I was watching a press conference for a high school kid announcing his college decision, I described the reason for the hype behind Harrison Barnes as such:

“Remember when Grant Hill came along? He’s like that. He’s the Golden Boy.”

As good as Barnes is on the court, the 6-7 wing from Ames High School (Iowa) gets just as much praise for his intelligence, maturity, poise and overall good-guy demeanor off the court. Read More »

That’s right, the college hoops season is here and you know what that means: it’s time to unleash the mother effing fury! For the past seven months, I’ve been bottling up a vicious mixture of excitement and rage, just waiting for the moment to release my emotions onto the rest of the world. Well that time has come. Your boy Matty D is back to give you a look at the top teams in the country and to separate the champs from the chumps. Read More »

It’s hard to believe that John Wooden turns 99 today. The former UCLA coach is legendary for leading the Bruins to an amazing 10 NCAA championships in 12 years during the ’60s and ’70s. The Wizard of Westwood, who still attends UCLA games, plans to make it to 100. Read More »

Harrison Barnes, a 6-6 wing out of Ames, Iowa, is the best high school ballplayer in the country. As he navigates through the hectic recruiting process, Barnes agreed to chronicle his thoughts for us during each of his five official visits. First up is North Carolina, where Barnes visited on Sept. 3. Here’s an excerpt:

… At about noon, I got a tour of campus on a golf cart and got to see where the dorms were, where the Dean Smith Center was, and I saw a few classes and walked around a little bit.

After that I had lunch with Coach (Roy) Williams, and then I got to see the North Carolina museum. Read More »

While the news in the NBA may be slow today, some of the top programs in college basketball got one step closer to a National Championship. Jim Boeheim and Syracuse added all seven feet of top 5 prospect Fab Melo to an already stacked Class of 2010, while Roy Williams and North Carolina landed one of high school’s best shooters in P.J. Hairston. Read More »

It was over 10 minutes after it started. Maybe earlier. North Carolina blasted Michigan State to win the national championship last night, claiming the trophy a lot of people carved “Tar Heels” on way back in June, when Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and Danny Green decided to come back to school instead of jumping to the NBA … Clark Kellogg put it best right around the time UNC was beginninig to slather honey mustard on the 20-piece: Read More »