The move from high school to college is a ballplayer’s most dramatic change. Growing up, they were the best players on the court, hyped as the best anyone had ever seen. The expectations entering college are through the roof.

Once they finally enter the gym for a first-team practice or meeting, they are starring eye-to-eye with 14 other stars of their caliber, sometimes more talented players. Only the best can survive in college and the best of the best get to the NBA. Normally, it’s those who stand out in front of Dick Vitale who do the same in front of David Stern. But in a few instances, good players may struggle or get stuck in limited roles in college before exploding in the NBA. Read More »

To say the Big East is pretty tough is like saying Wiz Khalifa smokes a little weed sometimes.

While the company line going into this college basketball season said the Big Ten was the strongest conference in the nation, the Big East has reclaimed its rightful place: At the moment, nine of the Big East’s 16 teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, from No. 3 Syracuse to No. 25 Cincinnati. Read More »

Rick Pitino is college basketball royalty. A living legend. Which makes it hard to fathom that — while still actively coaching a strong program in the high-profile Big East conference, and only five years removed from his most recent Final Four appearance — Pitino could somehow be overshadowed in his own state.

And yet that is the case currently for Pitino, now in his 10th season at the University of Louisville. Read More »

That’s right, the start of the college hoops season is just one week away 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 »