COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : He Has a Team Like This, Yet He’s the Same Old Dean

The Atlantic Coast Conference schedule has begun, which means it’s time for North Carolina Coach Dean Smith to do what he does best: poor-mouth and win games.

Smith is the only guy who could look at the Venus De Milo and criticize it for missing an arm. The overwhelming favorite to win the ACC and perhaps a second consecutive national championship, Smith will say only that the Tar Heels will contend for the league title.

“But there are a lot of contenders out there,” he warned.

Is that so? How many of them have four returning starters, including Final Four outstanding player Donald Williams and three seniors--elite center Eric Montross, the invaluable and indispensable point guard Derrick Phelps and forward Brian Reese, who has his moments?

Also at Smith’s disposable is freshman forward Jerry Stackhouse, freshman center Rasheed Wallace and freshman guard Jeff McInnis, all of whom could start for about 99% of the other Division I programs. In fact, Stackhouse might be a full-time starter by midseason.

Rounding out Smith’s rotation is guard Dante Calabria, who recently scored 20 points as a replacement for the injured Williams.

Yet, Smith insists on repeating the company line, going so far to say that nearly every ACC game will “go down to the wire.”

“Any game is up for grabs and has been in this league for a long time,” Smith said.

It’s a nice thought, but at the moment the ACC is a three-team conference. There’s North Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech and then lots of question marks.

Maryland has Joe Smith, a skinny 6-foot-9 1/2 freshman center whose early-season performances have been a lot more exciting than his name. But the Terrapins, who managed to upset Georgia Tech on Tuesday night, have only 11 scholarship players, thanks to the aftereffects of NCAA probation. Give Coach Gary Williams another year, then talk to us.

Florida State reached the Final Eight last season but won’t this time around. An early marshmallow schedule can’t compensate for the recent loss of key sophomore swingman Derrick Carroll, who will undergo shoulder surgery Jan. 14 and then be redshirted. The Seminoles have lots of guards, but not much front-court experience or depth.

Clemson has center Sharone Wright and forward Devin Gray, but the backcourt is something of a mystery.

Wake Forest lost Rodney Rogers to the NBA and prized recruit Makhtar Ndiaye to NCAA rules violations. Virginia lost Corey Alexander to injury. Meanwhile, North Carolina State merely loses. The Wolfpack suffered embarrassing defeats to tiny Campbell and later, to Davidson. Many more like that and likable North Carolina State Coach Les Robinson will start feeling the heat from impatient fans.

HAS NCAA SENT NDIAYE THEIR WAY?

UCLA isn’t the only team courting Ndiaye.

Michigan desperately needs a power forward to help fill part of the void left by Chris Webber’s early departure to the NBA.

Ndiaye was ruled ineligible to play at Wake Forest because the school, according to the NCAA, gained an unfair advantage during the recruitment of the 6-9, 245-pound prospect from Senegal.

Ndiaye, who is eligible as soon as a transfer is finalized, could help any program. For UCLA, Ndiaye could help solidify the Bruins’ chances at a Final Four run. Or the coaching staff and player could agree to a redshirt season, saving him for a 1993-94 debut.

Michigan has no such luxury. The Wolverines aren’t exactly in dire straits--they are ranked No. 13--but it’s obvious that Coach Steve Fisher has little depth on the front court. Truth be told, the Fab Four needs help.

Michigan recently suffered a 119-95 loss to Arizona, the Wolverines’ worst defeat since a 20-point loss to Duke in the 1991-92 NCAA championship game. It won’t get any easier for the Wolverines now that the Big Ten Conference schedule has begun. In fact, four of Michigan’s next five games are on the road.

Ndiaye, a sweetheart of a person, still doesn’t understand why he was penalized for Wake Forest’s recruiting mistake. But those are the rules--silly as they sometimes are--and the reason why UCLA’s Jim Harrick and Michigan’s Steve Fisher will be holding their breath for an answer.

THERE’S A STORM BREWING INSIDE

Seventh-ranked Temple continues to win, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to Coach John Chaney.

Chaney said he was thankful for the Owls’ record, but that was about it. He then proceeded to rip his front-court players, most notably, center William Cunningham and forwards Jason Ivey and Derrick Battie.

“It’s a matter of knowing how long this is going to continue,” he said. “These kids have been in a drought for a long time.”

Chaney is steamed because the Owls’ inside game is nonexistent. Cunningham, Ivey and Battie haven’t been able to make a thing--layups, short jumpers, even free throws. “And it’s going to rip us up like lightning,” Chaney said.

That’s not entirely true. Chaney is blessed with a backcourt that includes Rick Brunson, Aaron McKie and swingman Eddie Jones. Against St. Joseph’s a couple of nights ago, the three players accounted for 58 of Temple’s 67 points.

And therein, Chaney said, is the problem.

“All of a sudden I start calling special plays (for Brunson, McKie and Jones) from the beginning of the game,” he said. “It just shouldn’t happen. It just shouldn’t happen. I don’t have that many plays in my book.

“That’s over-coaching. It’s driving me crazy.”

HE HAS HIS GATORS OFF AND RUNNING

Florida hired Lon Kruger four years ago to stabilize a Gator program in disarray. Now the no-nonsense Kruger, after 11-, 19- and 16-victory seasons, appears to be positioning the Gators for a possible NCAA tournament invitation, which would be their first since 1989.

Already Florida has beaten then-No. 20 Oklahoma State, Villanova and Texas in nonconference play, and the Gators (10-2) defeated Louisiana State on Wednesday night. It was the first time since the 1986-87 season that a Florida team began its January schedule with as many victories. For what it’s worth, that was the same season Florida advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Last year the Gators didn’t record their 10th victory until Jan. 24.

“I would think the surprise team in our league to this point has been the University of Florida,” Georgia Coach Hugh Durham said.

If so, Kruger can thank sophomore forward Dametri Hill, who has lost more than 60 pounds since arriving at Florida. He now weighs 290.

“Dametri’s confidence is high,” Kruger said. “He feels he can score.”

Hill leads the Gators in scoring (14.2 point average). And at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, Hill showed he could play some defense, holding All-American candidates Bryant Reeves of Oklahoma State and Clifford Rozier of Louisville to a combined 11 points and 10 rebounds.

THE REST

North Carolina, which almost always plays in some exotic holiday tournament, declined all invitations this season. The senior-laden team went to Dean Smith during the summer and asked that he not schedule any late-December games. For a change, the players wanted to go home for Christmas. The gracious Smith agreed, which meant the Tar Heels played Pittsburgh Dec. 20 and didn’t play again until Jan. 2. . . . Kansas freshman guard Jacque Vaughn, who played at Muir High in Pasadena and is drawing boffo reviews from Jayhawk Coach Roy Williams, might be averaging 4.0--as in grades. Depending on his final test results in an English class, Vaughn could have ended his first semester at Kansas with straight A’s. . . . Williams is one of many NCAA basketball coaches eagerly awaiting the start of next week’s NCAA Convention in San Antonio. Among other things, the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches is going to push for a return to the 14-scholarship level. Budget-cutting has reduced the total to 13. “I think we got more support,” said Williams. “Whether we got enough support. . . . “ Our guess: The 13-scholarship limit will stay.

At least Florida State Coach Pat Kennedy is honest about an early-season nonconference schedule that included the likes of Florida Atlantic, Bethune-Cookman, Morgan State, Mt. Saint Mary’s and Lafayette. “This year I just wanted to give our kids a chance to make the (NCAA) tournament,” Kennedy said. The reasons: Senior point guard Charlie Ward wasn’t going to be available from football until Jan. 11 at the earliest, maybe as late as the 16th; senior guard Chuck Graham wasn’t going to be back from reconstructive knee surgery until December and freshman guard Andre Cooper, who also played wide receiver for the Seminoles, wasn’t going to be ready until after Jan. 2. “We thought it was the right thing to do,” said Kennedy, who reminded everyone that Florida State’s nonconference schedule next season includes Connecticut, Arizona and Florida--all in December. . . . Kennedy on Ward: “He’s just taking a week away from everything. He’s not answering the phone. He’s just trying to rest mentally and physically.” Ward isn’t joining the team for tonight’s game at Virginia. “I might bring his Heisman Trophy along with us,” Kennedy said, “but he won’t be there.”

During a ceremony to retire Sidney Green’s Nevada Las Vegas jersey number, Green made the mistake of thanking the UNLV administration, specifically school President Robert Maxson and Athletic Director Jim Weaver. Bad move. Maxson and Weaver were immediately booed by the crowd of 6,944. Speaking of crowds, UNLV is averaging about 8,900 after five home games. The Thomas & Mack Center seats 18,500. The disappointing attendance figures are the product of a so-so team--the Rebels were 4-3 going into Wednesday night’s game against Fullerton--and some last-minute scheduling that resulted in games played at home on Dec. 23 and 30. . . . So much for the predictions of Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino. “I thought it would be a recruiting year,” he said. Instead, the Wildcats enter tonight’s game against a mediocre Notre Dame team with a 10-1 record and No. 4 ranking. A key factor has been the switch of Tony Delk from point guard, where he struggled, to shooting guard. “Once we moved him over . . . he’s totally at ease,” Pitino said. Pitino’s mood could change, though, now that center Rodney Dent is out for the season because of a knee injury suffered Tuesday night.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Arkansas 10-0 2. Duke 8-0 3. North Carolina 11-1 4. Kansas 14-1 5. UCLA 7-0 6. Kentucky 10-1 7. Temple 6-1 8. Massachusetts 10-1 9. Purdue 12-0 10. Arizona 11-1

Waiting list: Georgia Tech (9-2); Wisconsin (9-0); Minnesota (9-3); Indiana (7-2); Louisville (9-1).