Where’d Everybody Go? : Freshmen to NBA, Coaches to Unemployment Line and Ratings Down the Drain? This Sport Needs Some New Blood

Hoop junkies, you’d better grab some bench.

There’s so much to catch up on since Kentucky cut down the nets last April it isn’t even funny.

Remember that tough-as-nails guard from Mississippi State, Marcus Bullard, the kid who led the Bulldogs to the Final Four last year?

He’s wearing a different number now.

He’s in jail.

Ralph Underhill, who coached Wright State to a 356-162 record the last 18 seasons?

He got fired last week, four days after he was charged with . . . shoplifting.

Marcus Camby, the national player of the year? Turns out he walked away from Amherst with more trinkets than Zsa Zsa Gabor, it hit the papers, and now UMass is in a UMess.

Oh, the television ratings came in a while back and let’s just say that, of the two Dicks, Button was happier than Vitale when the World Figure Skating Championships pulled a better rating than the NCAA basketball tournament.

What’s with those double axels, baby?

Now, get your protractors out and note the ratings trend in this NCAA title-game chart: 1992 (22.7); 1995 (19.3); 1996 (18.3)

No biggie, except that CBS is paying $219 million a year for the rights.

It gets worse. A year after Jerry Stackhouse, Joe Smith, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess turned pro early, the exodus continued.

Of the top 13 picks in last June’s draft, two were seniors.

So how good were Allen Iverson, Camby, Erick Dampier, Antoine Walker, Stephon Marbury, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Ray Allen anyway?

First-round good.

Count your lucky stars--there aren’t many left--these five guys decided to stay: Brevin Knight at Stanford, Tim Duncan at Wake Forest, Danny Fortson at Cincinnati, Keith Van Horn at Utah and Jacque Vaughn at Kansas. Otherwise, this year’s preseason All-American team might have included Manny, Moe and Jack.

Arizona Coach Lute Olson says there’s nothing to worry about.

“I think interest in college basketball is greater now than it’s ever been,” Olson says. “By season’s end, there will be a lot of household names out there that will rival the guys who are gone, I think.”

He thinks.

Elsewhere, UCLA fired Jim Harrick because he lied about an expense report and California cut loose Todd Bozeman, who was accused of NCAA violations. The NCAA dropped in on Louisville over the summer, cited Denny Crum’s team with 10 possible violations and put the program on two years’ probation Wednesday.

Kentucky’s Rick Pitino, the game’s brightest coaching star, almost left to coach the New Jersey Nets.

John Calipari of Massachusetts, the game’s brightest star, junior grade, did leave to coach the New Jersey Nets.

On a brighter note, poor, misunderstood Richie Parker, the kid-phenom no principled university would touch after that little stairwell incident in high school, is getting a second chance at Long Island University.

So is Coach Rollie Massimino, of Villanova-Nevada Las Vegas fame-shame, who’s starting over at Cleveland State.

People say Cincinnati is the team to beat for the national title, unless the Bearcats punch each other out first. Or maybe you didn’t hear about the recent locker-room skirmish the Bowery boys had after an intrasquad game.

Can the season still have a Broadway musical-type happy ending?

Oh, sure, the sun can come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar.

Here’s what has to happen:

This new crop of highly touted freshmen will need to step up and make people forget Iverson, Marbury and the like.

The nominees are guard Mike Bibby at Arizona, forward Tim Thomas at Villanova, guard Shaheen Holloway at Seton Hall, Lester Earl at Louisiana State and center Jason Collier at Indiana.

No pressure, fellas.

If you want the positive spin on these mass NBA defections, consider this theory: The diluted talent base will allow more middle-of-the-pack teams to make a run in the NCAA tournament.

We’re thinking here of Jerry Tarkanian’s roughshod Fresno State team, which may not be a year away after all.

Also, watch out for Al Skinner’s Rhode Island Rams, who have all five starters back from last season’s 20-14 team.

Need a feel-good angle? North Carolina Coach Dean Smith, with 851 victories, needs 26 more to pass Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp on the all-time list.

OK, so no one would feel good about it in Lexington.

Other changes: Lon Kruger ditched Florida for the Illinois job, Fran Fraschilla left Manhattan for St. John’s, Eastern Michigan’s Ben Braun took over for Bozeman at Cal, Murry Bartow succeeded dad Gene at Alabama Birmingham.

Lorenzo Romar, once the Heir-rick apparent at UCLA, is kicking himself over at Pepperdine. But how about that ocean view?

For the first time since 1981, basketball is back at Portland State. Did anyone miss it?

One last change. Shawnta Rogers, the pint-sized point guard from George Washington, made a uniform switch, from No. 10 to No. 53.

He’s 5 feet 3. Get it?

There will be many more questions between now and late March, when the Final Four convenes at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

Here are a few:

PACIFIC 10

Will Stanford’s Mike Montgomery even want the UCLA job, now that he has landed two highly regarded recruits the Bruins coveted, Jarron and Jason Collins?

Can the talented Bruins mount a win-one-for-the-tipper (What’s 15% on a $1,085 dinner tab?) drive for Harrick, or will UCLA unravel under interim Coach Steve Lavin?

Will Arizona freshman guard Mike Bibby shake pop Henry’s hand after his team whips USC on Jan. 16?

Can no-nonsense, new Coach Braun restore order at Cal, with Bozeman’s leftovers?

Will Oregon, with its top nine players returning, finally earn some respect?

Will Stanford center Tim Young’s back hold up until March?

Has USC’s Rodrick Rhodes recovered from transferring out of Kentucky the year before it won the national title?

BIG TEN

Will the conference go for a postseason tournament over Bob Knight’s dead body?

Will Michigan’s Maurice Taylor drive the lane better than he drove that $30,000 Ford Explorer he crashed while showing a potential recruit around town?

Is Minnesota the sleeper?

Is the Big Ten’s 3-11 record in the NCAA tournament the last two years something coaches put in recruiting brochures?

Is Michigan the conference’s first Final Four team in four years?

Can Purdue’s Gene Keady work another miracle and win a fourth consecutive title?

SOUTHEASTERN

Does everyone realize this was the best conference in the country last season, with a 14-2 NCAA tournament record, four teams in the Sweet 16 and 13 players drafted?

Can Kentucky make another national title run despite having lost three NBA first-round draft picks--Walter McCarty, Tony Delk and Antoine Walker?

Will Wildcat sophomore Ron Mercer turn pro after he wins the Wooden Award in April?

Can top recruit Lester Earl save LSU Coach Dale Brown, who has had three consecutive losing seasons?

Will Mississippi State, a Final Four team last season, go back to its hole after losing all five starters?

ATLANTIC COAST

Can anyone stop Wake Forest, now that Duncan has decided to return for his senior season?

Can the Demon Deacons win it all if guard Tony Rutland hasn’t recovered from torn knee ligaments?

Is Florida State’s Pat Kennedy in trouble after two consecutive losing seasons?

Can the overrated ACC rebound after failing to put a team in a Final Four for the first time since 1987?

Did it really take Mike Krzyzewski only one subpar season to make Duke a power again?

Will North Carolina win at least 20 games for the 27th consecutive season?

Will Dean Smith retire if he breaks Rupp’s record?

If that happens, will Michael Jordan be the new coach?

Is Clemson ready to play with the ACC’s big boys?

ATLANTIC 10

Does George Washington need a traveling interpreter, what with seven foreign players, four from Belarus?

Can Massachusetts survive the post-Camby scandal and the loss of Calipari and forwards Donta Bright and Dana Dingle?

Are Minutemen Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso the best guard tandem in the country?

Will George Washington center Alexander Koul make headbands popular again?

Will Virginia Tech forward Ace Custis be as good as last season with four starters around him gone?

Can Rhode Island unseat Massachusetts in the Eastern Division?

BIG EAST

Can NCAA title runner-up Syracuse recover from losing prize recruit Winfred Walton to bad grades?

Under Fraschilla, will Felipe Lopez and Zendon Hamilton finally live up to their hype at St. John’s?

Can Connecticut, 89-13 the last three seasons under Jim Calhoun, ever get to the Final Four?

Is this John MacLeod’s last season at Notre Dame?

Is Villanova merely leasing freshman phenom Tim Thomas for one season?

Did any conference lose more impact players to the NBA, with Iverson of Georgetown, Wallace of Syracuse, Allen of Connecticut and Kerry Kittles of Villanova all gone?

Is Providence’s Austin Croshere the next superstar?

Can the Big East get seven teams into the NCAA tournament?

BIG 12

Considering he has four starters from California, isn’t Kansas Coach Roy Williams the best choice for next UCLA coach?

Can Ryan Robertson handle the point for Kansas until Jacque Vaughn recovers from his wrist injury?

Can Jayhawk shooting guard Jerod Haase recover from last season’s shooting slump?

Will Iowa State, which finished 24-9 after having been picked to finish last in the old Big Eight, catch anyone by surprise with five starters returning?

If this isn’t the year for Kansas, what year is?

Is Texas the team to beat in the Southern Division with 10 of its top 12 players returning?

Has Missouri, 18-15 last season, recovered from Tyus Edney’s buzzer beater?

Will Texas Tech fall off the face of the earth--oh, it’s already there?--after going 30-2 last season under James Dickey?

CONFERENCE USA

Is Cincinnati better after landing Ruben Patterson, the national junior college player of the year?

Has anyone figured out this league’s Red, White and Blue divisions? With Cincinnati in the fold, shouldn’t there be a Black and Blue division?

Can a great freshman class save Joey Meyer at DePaul?

Can Memphis recover from its first-round tournament loss to Drexel?

Is Louisville on the way down with NCAA sanctions looming?

Is son Murry a chip off the old Bartow?

Does former Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg know what he’s getting into at South Florida?

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Will Utah Coach Rick Majerus ever move out of that hotel room?

Can this new 16-team format be any more confusing?

Should they fire the schedule maker who decreed that the WAC’s best two teams, Utah and Fresno State, would not meet in the regular season?

Is WAC newcomer UNLV on its way back now that second-year Coach Bill Bayno has landed a top-10 recruiting class?

Will there be a dry eye in the house when Tark returns to Thomas and Mack on Feb. 17?

Is Boston College transfer Chris Herren the difference maker for Fresno State?

If the Dream Team couldn’t stop Tulsa’s Shea Seals, who scored 20 points for the 22-and-under team last summer, can anyone in the WAC?

AND THE REST

AMERICAN EAST (Formerly North Atlantic Conference)--We understand the need for a name change, but isn’t this an airline?

BIG SKY--You think Portland State can use “undefeated, 1982 through 1995” as a recruiting slogan?

BIG SOUTH--Is Liberty’s Peter Aluma, from Nigeria, the second coming of Hakeem Olajuwon?

BIG WEST--Can this makeshift conference recover from UNLV’s defection to the WAC?

COLONIAL ATHLETIC--Will anyone care when James Madison Coach Lefty Driesell, who once said he was building the “UCLA of the East” at Maryland, passes John Wooden on the NCAA’s all-time list with his first victory this season?

IVY--Is Pennsylvania the team to beat, now that it has recruited a freshman guard named Michael Jordan?

METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC--Can Niagara freshman Calvin Murphy Jr. shoot free throws like his old man?

MID-AMERICAN--Is there a better name for a shooter than Ball State forward Bonzi Wells?

MID-CONTINENT--Have you met the Drews of Valparaiso? Father Homer, coach; son Scott, assistant coach; son Bryce, starting guard?

MID-EASTERN--Can anyone top the nickname of Coppin State Coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell?

MIDWESTERN COLLEGIATE--Did Rollie Massimino know Cleveland State was 5-21 last season?

MISSOURI VALLEY--How long before rising star Steve Alford at Southwest Missouri State gets a big-time coaching job?

NORTHEAST--Can Long Island’s Richie Parker handle the scrutiny he will endure with New York media?

OHIO VALLEY--Can Austin Peay make it back to the NCAA tournament with forward Bubba Wells, the nation’s leading scorer last season at 26.7 points a game?

PATRIOT LEAGUE--Other than Wake Forest’s Duncan, is there a better center in the country than Colgate’s Adonal Foyle?

SOUTHERN--Is Marshall Coach Greg White, a former assistant to Harrick at UCLA, double-checking his expense reports?

SOUTHLAND--Can Northwestern (State) pull off a miracle season?

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC--If Prairie View, 4-23 last season, played its football team, would anyone win?

SUN BELT--Is Dickey Nutt really the name of the Arkansas State coach?

TRANS AMERICA--How will powerhouse College of Charleston do now that it is finally eligible for the conference tournament and automatic NCAA berth that goes to its winner?

WEST COAST--Will Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar spend the year humming the UCLA fight song?

INDEPENDENTS--Wouldn’t it make sense for Oral Roberts, Southern Utah and Wofford to form the “Lonely Hearts Conference”?

* LONG BEACH STATE: Wayne Morgan’s honeymoon was over quickly, but expectations remain high. C6

* CAL STATE FULLERTON: Despite loss of key players, Bob Hawking hoping for a breakthrough season. C6

* UC IRVINE: Young Anteaters will have little time to grow into their roles. C6

* BIG WEST: With Nevada Las Vegas and San Jose State making a fastbreak for the WAC, there’s a new look. C6