COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Season Is a UMess for Williams

Until further notice, Massachusetts senior guard Mike Williams’ career is finished and with it, the Minutemen’s chances of an NCAA championship.

“Suspended indefinitely,” UMass Coach John Calipari said of Williams.

“Do you expect to see him back by this season?” he was asked during an early week conference call.

“He’s suspended indefinitely,” Calipari snapped, treating the subject as if it were radioactive waste. “Next question . . . about basketball and the team I have right now, please.”

Wednesday, the coach extended the suspension for the rest of the season.

“This is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do as a coach,” Calipari said. “Coaching is about teaching life skills, not just basketball.”

A year ago, Calipari was calling Williams the Atlantic 10’s best offensive player “when Mike wants it.” Williams won or tied four games in the waning seconds. He was the Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP. He had an outside shot to die for.

But Williams kept sticking his toe in hot water. He was suspended for UMass’ opening game against Arkansas in the Tip-Off Classic. His grades were so-so and, as the season wore on, so was his game.

Williams really botched things about two weeks ago. He broke unspecified team rules--the Hartford Courant reported that he and teammate Andre Burks returned to their hotel rooms at 5 a.m. after a Feb. 11 victory at Southwestern Louisiana--and that apparently was enough for Calipari to cut him loose. Not even a desperation Monday news conference by Williams’ parents, during which they pleaded their son’s case, called the suspension “harsh” and “unwarranted” and said a letter of apology had been issued to the team, could change Calipari’s mind.

PUBLIC SERVICE

As a special late-February favor to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee, here are our current top five seeds for each regional:

WEST--1) UCLA, 2) Maryland, 3) Oklahoma State, 4) Virginia, 5) Syracuse.

EAST--1) Massachusetts, 2) Connecticut, 3) Michigan State, 4) Missouri, 5) Arizona State.

SOUTHEAST--1) North Carolina, 2) Arkansas, 3) Villanova, 4) Mississippi State, 5) Oklahoma.

MIDWEST--1) Kentucky, 2) Kansas, 3) Wake Forest, 4) Arizona, 5) Purdue.

And in no particular seeding order, the remaining 44 tournament teams:

ACC (Georgia Tech), Atlantic 10 (George Washington, Temple), Big East (Georgetown), Big Eight (Iowa State), Big Sky (Weber State), Big Ten (Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan), Big West (Utah State, New Mexico State), Colonial (Old Dominion), Great Midwest (Memphis, Cincinnati, St. Louis), Ivy (Penn), Metro Atlantic (Manhattan), Metro Athletic (UNC Charlotte, Tulane, Louisville, Virginia Tech), Mid-American (Miami, Ohio), Mid-Eastern (Coppin State), Midwestern (Xavier), Missouri Valley (Tulsa), North Atlantic (Drexel), Northeast (Rider), Ohio Valley (Tennessee State), Pac-10 (Stanford, Oregon), Patriot (Bucknell), Southeastern (Florida, Alabama), Southern (Tennessee Chattanooga), Southland (Nicholls State), Southwest (Texas), Southwestern (Texas Southern), Sun Belt (Western Kentucky), Trans-America (Samford), West Coast (Santa Clara), Western Athletic (Utah, Brigham Young).

Bubble teams: California, Seton Hall, Southern Mississippi, DePaul, Southern Illinois, Texas Tech, Texas Christian, Georgia, College of Charleston.

BUBBA ALERT

Forget Newt Gingrich. President Bill Clinton survived a halftime interview with ESPN’s Dick Vitale and has bruised eardrums to prove it.

Vitale: “Will you be at the Final Four?”

Clinton: “I hope so. I’ve got a job, though.”

And this from Clinton when he spotted a sign pushing him and Vitale as 1996 running mates: “That may be Al Gore’s idea, that sign.”

Clinton is becoming one of the great local good luck charms. He was there when unranked George Washington upset then-No. 1 UMass at the Smith Center on Feb. 4. And Monday night at the USAir Arena, the Georgetown alum (Class of ‘69) saw his unranked Hoyas overwhelm No. 9 Villanova.

As for Vitale, he says he’s going to take Clinton up on his offer to shoot hoops at the White House.

“The guy has a tremendous understanding of the game,” Vitale said.

HELLO, I MUST BE GOING

North Carolina’s Rasheed Wallace and/or Jerry Stackhouse . . . gone?

Villanova’s Kerry Kittles, Arkansas’ Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman . . . gone?

Maryland’s Joe Smith, Wisconsin’s Rashard Griffith, Ohio’s Gary Trent, UMass’ Marcus Camby . . . gone?

Who knows for sure, but expect a lot of underclassmen to bolt early if NBA owners and the players union continue talking about a possible rookie salary cap as part of the league’s next collective bargaining agreement.

“The salary cap . . . nobody knows how that’s going to work out,” said North Carolina Coach Dean Smith, who has a long history of helping Tar Heel underclassmen (Bob McAdoo, James Worthy, J.R. Reid, Michael Jordan) determine their pro worth. “So it’s too early for us to really discuss.”

Fair enough, but if it happens, count on two things: more parity and more players doing junior college imitations--two years and out.

“When players are leaving after their sophomore year, you don’t see the Dukes, the Las Vegases anymore, with three first-round draft picks,” said Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino, who lost Jamal Mashburn after his junior season. “You never quite get to that point because the players leave before they’re at their full maturity.”

They leave because the money is too much to ignore. Purdue’s Glenn Robinson got a $68-million package to come out early. Memphis’ Anfernee Hardaway received a 13-year, $65-million deal.

Meanwhile, coaches such as Pitino can offer trips to Starkville, Miss., and the chance at a diploma.

“No question about it, if you’re recruiting a Jason Kidd or a (Chris) Webber or that caliber of basketball player, you know you’re going to get two years definitely, but anything more than that is gravy,” Pitino said. “Right now, North Carolina must be looking at that and Maryland must be looking at that with Joe Smith. You know they need another year. You know everybody’s telling them about the salary cap for rookies. And you know the players are saying, ‘Well, if I get injured, that could be $40 million down the drain.’

“So, you know they’re not ready, but you got to do the right thing for the young people because the way the game is played today. The slightest twist of the knee could end a career.”

Dean Smith has one other suggestion: Never repeal the NCAA rule that allows an underclassman to test the NBA draft and then retain his eligibility if he wishes to return to school rather than join the pros. At the most recent NCAA convention, there was a failed attempt to rescind the one-year-old measure.

Smith, who helped inspire the legislation, maintains that the rule allows a player to make a more informed career decision. Critics of the measure, such as assorted NBA general managers, argue otherwise.

And according to Smith, Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins wasn’t in favor of the rule because it didn’t give him time to replace a star player. In Haskins’ case, standout guard Voshon Lenard declared himself available for last year’s draft, was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks, then decided to return to school.

“Well, whom have you ever heard of getting a great player after April of their senior year?” Smith said. “Bill Bradley of Princeton. That’s the only one. Whom are you going to go get? Everybody’s done (recruiting).”

THE REST

Yet another reason why we won’t be picking North Carolina to win our NCAA tournament office pool: In Sunday’s 73-71 loss at Virginia, the Tar Heel bench (Serge Zwikker, Pat Sullivan, Ed Geth and Pearce Landry) combined for 24 minutes and zero points. As a concession to a young team that lacks depth and can’t afford fouls, Smith has toned down his famous pressure defense, which usually begins as soon as the ball crosses half court. Instead, the Tar Heels aren’t applying much pressure until teams reach the three-point line. “Thirty-three and a half years we’ve done that,” he said of his beloved half-court pressure. “We just have to back it off a little. It bothers me because (our) confidence comes from defense.” . . . . Yet another reason why coaches are just as dumb as sportswriters: In this week’s USA Today/CNN coaches poll, someone stuck Duke (11-14, 1-12 in the ACC) on his top 25 ballot. Even worse: Arkansas Little Rock, which started the week 5 1/2 games out of first place in the Sun Belt Conference and had a terrible power rating of 167 (out of 302 Division I programs), received three votes. In the AP polls, done by the writers, Duke was nowhere to be found and Arkansas Little Rock got one vote. . . . If you prefer a long and prosperous life, it’s probably best not to ask first-year Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury if his outmanned and 9-13 team is counting the moments until season’s end. “Contrary to what’s been written,” bristled Asbury, “nobody has chucked it in. We haven’t phoned it in. We’re still a dangerous team.”

Uh, oh, Arkansas is starting to get that warm and fuzzy feeling about itself. “I’ll tell you what, I’ve always felt real good about our chances (to repeat as NCAA champions),” Coach Nolan Richardson said. “It does not surprise me that you got six, seven, eight, nine (No. 1 teams) before it’s over with. Basketball’s game has changed. Parity is here. There’s not a team I think in our league--the top four, five teams--that couldn’t have a chance to win a national championship, much less thinking about anybody else around the country. I think the Southeastern Conference has five teams that could possibly win it.” We count two--Arkansas and Kentucky--with two more as semi-longshots, Alabama and Mississippi State. . . . Duke plays UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday, marking the return of three California players: senior center Cherokee Parks, who played at Marina High; senior center Erik Meek, who played at San Pasqual High; and freshman guard Ricky Price, who played at Serra High. Price is especially eager for the trip back. He thought long and hard about signing with Cal and also considered UCLA. “My parents went to UCLA,” Price said. “That’s where they met and created the glorious me.” Instead, Price chose Duke. “I wanted to get away from home,” he said.

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Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. UCLA 19-2 2. North Carolina 20-3 3. Kentucky 19-4 4. Kansas 20-4 5. Massachusetts 20-3 6. Maryland 21-5 7. Arkansas 22-5 8. Connecticut 21-2 9. Wake Forest 18-5 10. Arizona 19-6

Waiting list: Michigan State (19-4), Arizona State (19-6), Villanova (20-6), Virginia (19-6), Mississippi State (17-5)