Georgia Tech Is Finally Pulling Rank

Georgia Tech wasn’t even in the top 25 when the season started.

No problem. Last season, neither was Syracuse.

One of the differences between Syracuse and Georgia Tech is that the eventual 2003 NCAA champion was unranked partly because almost no one believed a freshman named Carmelo Anthony would lead it to the title.

Georgia Tech was unranked partly because no one believed it could build on last season’s trip to the National Invitation Tournament after losing star freshman Chris Bosh, the 6-foot-10 forward who jumped to the NBA and has played so well he deserves rookie-of-the-year buzz behind Anthony and LeBron James.

Yet, here is Georgia Tech, the surprise of the early season after upsetting then top-ranked Connecticut and No. 25 Texas Tech to win the Preseason NIT.

At 7-0, the Yellow Jackets are off to their best start since the 1989-90 team started 10-0 on the way to the Final Four.

With an average margin of victory of 25.9 points, they show no signs of slowing until the Atlantic Coast Conference season, which begins with a bang against North Carolina on Jan. 11.

And, yes, the polls have caught up. The Yellow Jackets are ranked No. 10, and even received four votes for No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, more than any other team except No. 1 Florida, No. 2 Connecticut and No. 3 Missouri.

“We felt like we had a very good team, and after the first week of practice, we felt very certain,” Coach Paul Hewitt said.

People already had started to figure out junior guard B.J. Elder is pretty good, blowing his “best-kept secret” reputation.

Point guard Jarrett Jack has made a big leap from his freshman season and is averaging 14 points and 8.4 assists, the fourth-best assist average in the country.

“Jarrett is a little older, and he’s as big a reason as any why we’re playing the way we are,” Hewitt said. “Our chemistry is a little better. This team is much tighter. But more than anything, Jarrett Jack has matured, and we have a more experienced team.”

They also have perhaps the best sixth man in the country in high-flying junior forward Isma’il Muhammad.

“He’s always been a great defensive player with tremendous energy,” Hewitt said. “Now that he understands offense better, people are starting to recognize his physical gifts. He used to try to drive one on two or one on three and get turnovers or maybe make a shot. Now we’re stressing doing the work before he gets the ball. His backdoor cuts don’t end in layups. They end in resounding dunks.”

Hewitt -- who made a whistle stop at USC early in his career as a graduate assistant to George Raveling in 1989-90 -- also says the Yellow Jackets’ frontcourt depth isn’t as shallow as people made it out to be.

“But the margin for error is thin,” he said.

Hewitt is talking about the possibility of injury, because the Yellow Jackets already have lost forward Theodis Tarver indefinitely because of a dislocated kneecap.

His worst fear is an injury to Jack, because with Georgia Tech’s high-pressure, up-tempo style, his role is crucial, and Hewitt wants to keep Elder at his most productive position, on the wing.

Others look at Georgia Tech’s situation differently: They figure Tarver will come back at some point, and they know transfer Will Bynum -- people might remember him from his freshman and sophomore seasons at Arizona -- becomes eligible next week.

Bynum, a compact but high-leaping guard, won’t start but will play a lot.

“He’s going to free B.J. up to be a full-time [shooting] guard instead of playing eight or nine minutes a game at the point,” Hewitt said. “[Bynum] will definitely be in the rotation and probably play at least 20 minutes a game.”

The Yellow Jackets look very good, but let there be a caveat.

The team that won the Preseason NIT last season was North Carolina, and the Tar Heels went 19-16 to make it back to the postseason NIT, which isn’t exactly the goal.

“I think the one thing we’ve got to avoid is another major injury,” Hewitt said. “Look at North Carolina last season. If Sean May was healthy, Matt Doherty would still be coaching.”

Trouble at Missouri

Third-ranked Missouri has much bigger problems than its unexpectedly close games against Oakland and Coppin State, and a five-point victory over an Indiana team that lost to Wake Forest by 33 points.

If even a portion of the allegations made by former player Ricky Clemons in taped jailhouse telephone conversations last summer while he was serving time in an assault case against a former girlfriend are substantiated, Missouri probably is facing NCAA probation.

Given the possibility of ineligible players on the current roster and the recent trend of self-imposing postseason bans in anticipation of NCAA penalties, it’s not outlandish to think Missouri might not play in the NCAA tournament this season.

Coach Quin Snyder, who previously acknowledged giving Clemons shoes and clothing, has denied other allegations and is not commenting because of the continuing investigation.

Current players Rickey Paulding and Arthur Johnson issued statements denying they have received improper benefits, including cash, from any of their coaches.

Clemons’ character is questionable. (He was kicked off the team last summer after a judge ordered him to jail for violating a condition he serve his sentence in a halfway house.) But as with the case of former Georgia player Tony Cole, it doesn’t matter what legal scrapes he has been in if his allegations are confirmed.

Clemons even mentioned Cole, a disgruntled former Georgia player whose allegations of academic fraud and improper payments helped bring down Jim Harrick.

“Just know it’s bigger than Tony Cole,” Clemons said in a taped conversation released by law enforcement authorities to several newspapers. “He got a couple hundred dollars. He paid for his apartment.... That’s nothing.”

The case at Missouri follows another recent trend as well. The university president is entangled in the situation, in this case because Carmento Floyd, the wife of Missouri President Elson S. Floyd, is recorded advising Clemons on everything from transferring to which sorority’s members he should date.

“I deeply regret this entire episode involving Ricky Clemons. It has been a nightmare for me personally.... “ Floyd said in a statement released by the university.

“Carmento’s actions were well-intentioned but ill-advised under the current circumstances. Her contacts with him were against my advice and without my encouragement and support.

” ... But as with any married couple, it is very difficult to dictate to one’s spouse what he or she can do or say. She has assured me that she no longer has any contact with Ricky Clemons, nor will she have any contact with him in the future.”

The trouble appears far from over.

Arizona News

Because Isaiah Fox’s knee injury was worse than feared and he is probably sidelined for the season, Arizona Coach Lute Olson has been concerned about depth and size in the front line.

As a result, when center Channing Frye is on the bench, the Wildcats sometimes use a lineup that averages only about 6-3, featuring guards Mustafa Shakur and Salim Stoudamire and swingmen Hassan Adams, Andre Iguodala and Chris Rodgers.

Iguodala, at 6-6, is the only player in that group over 6-4.

Arizona endured an overtime scare against Saint Louis last week, but Adams and Iguodala in particular put on a show in the ninth-ranked Wildcats’ mild upset of No. 6 Texas on Tuesday, when Adams scored a career-high 30 points and Iguodala recorded a triple-double.

In addition, Olson added freshman quarterback Ryan O’Hara, 6-6 and 198 pounds, from the football team, mostly to practice on what amounts to a basketball scout team.

Look at it this way: At 3-1, the Wildcat basketball team already has won more games than the 2-10 football team did.