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‘Horse race’: Big Ten title up for grabs in ‘06-07
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Also by Michael Poppy:
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by Michael Poppy
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
CHICAGO — With nearly every team around the Big Ten losing key members from last season, many coaches and players feel as though the conference will be a wide-open race this year.
Only four teams return at least half of their scoring from a year ago and even less know what their starting lineup is going to look like as the season opener nears.
This looming uncertainty is the exact opposite from last year, when it seemed as if every team was bringing back a veteran squad.
"I think if you start asking all the coaches to name their starting lineup, it's hard to figure out," Iowa head coach Steve Alford said. "It's unusual, but it is what makes this league so much more exciting. Last year we were a veteran league and had a lot of people coming back, this year we have a lot of newcomers."
"I don't know if it's going to be as deep as it was last year," Minnesota head coach Dan Monson added. "A lot of people have to answer questions along with us to know how good they're going to be.
"It's a horse race, and we're coming out of the gate in camp with a whip."
Even preseason favorite Ohio State has a number of questions to answer after losing four starters from a year ago, including last year's Big Ten Player of the Year in Terence Dials.
But with a heralded incoming class, no one's really questioning the Buckeyes' spot at the top.
While Greg Oden headlines the newcomers, two other McDonald's All-Americans — Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook — join him, along with David Lighty and junior college transfer Othello Hunter.
Ohio State's freshmen have come into Columbus with high expectations, being compared to Michigan's "Fab Five" of 1992, but with a new name — the "Thad Five," referring to head coach Thad Matta.
Matta, however, doesn't feel any pressure with all the preseason expectations.
"These guys have a pretty good feel for it," Matta said. "They know last year nobody really knew we had a basketball team so they know there are guys out there just like them trying to get it done this year."
Another new face
Whereas many teams across the Big Ten will be sporting some new players on the court, only one team has a new head coach.
Oklahoma's Kelvin Sampson was named Indiana's head coach in the offseason after Mike Davis' resignation, and the move has provided some excitement for the Hoosiers' players.
"It's been good for our players," Sampson said. "They have some excitement and curiosity about the upcoming year … these kids have been great, and I applaud Mike Davis for that. We didn't inherit any discipline problems."
For Hoosier players, it's still an ongoing adjustment, changing from Davis' style to Sampson's.
"Every coach has a different type of system," IU guard Roderick Wilmont said. "[Sampson] is all about defense so you just try to get used to it. He just wants us to play hard."
Davis soon bolted for the University of Alabama at Birmingham after his departure and brought former IU guard/forward Robert Vaden with him as a transfer.
Another player who was rumored to leave with Davis was Hoosiers' star forward D.J. White, a preseason All-Big Ten selection this year.
However, according to White, the thought never crossed his mind.
"I never really considered transferring anywhere," White said. "I just had to weigh my options to see what was the best for me, and my decision was to stay at Indiana."
One name tossed around the Indiana coaching rumor mill before Sampson stepped in town was Iowa's Steve Alford.
Alford, an IU alum who is the school's all-time leading scorer, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the job ever since Bobby Knight's firing in 2000.
So when the Hoosier chitchat swirled around Alford once again this year, it was nothing new to him.
"It wasn't tough because it's been happening for eight years," Alford said. "This was nothing new, it was just a different twist because a coach stepped down in January, but it's always been there."
Anonymous (November 1, 2006 @ 7:28am):
TO ALL YOU UW BADGER FANS,IF I WERE YOU I WOULD NOT FIT YOUR BIG 10 CROWN ON THE HEAD TOO SOON,SAME GOES FOR THAT SCHOOL IN COLUMBUS,OHIO?GREG ODEN STILL HAS A WRIST PROBLEM,SO WHO'S GOING TO PLAY CENTER,I'D SAY(NO ONE)!SEE ALL OF YOU AT BLOOMINGTON,REAL SOON!
Anonymous (November 1, 2006 @ 8:13am):
Steve Alford is not IU's all time leading scorer. That title belongs to Calber Cheaney ('89-'93).
Anonymous (November 1, 2006 @ 8:39am):
steve alford is not iu's leading scorer. calbert cheaney is in fact iu's and the big ten all-time leading scorer.
thanks,
r. burch
Anonymous (November 1, 2006 @ 9:22am):
Alford is not the all-time leading scorer for Indiana. That would be Calbert Cheaney, the all-time scoring leader both at IU and in Big Ten History. Check your facts.
Anonymous (November 1, 2006 @ 7:56pm):
Correction: Steve Alford finished his career as a Hoosier as Indiana's all-time leading scorer. Calbert Cheaney later passed him.
Our mistake,
Herald Sports
