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The Morning Mix welcomes you to a brand new season

Today is a new day for the Morning Mix. Everybody’s favorite morning round-up has been in need of a face lift for a long time, and today is the day it finally happens. It’s nothing too big, and there might be a tiny bit of tinkering over the next few days. But we feel that the new Morning Mix will serve as a much better canvas for the daily palate of college basketball news.


#ReadoftheDay: Tremendous story from Jeff Eisenberg about the hard work and patience put in by Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick. Read It. (The Dagger)

Top Stories:
NCAA cracks down on hardship waivers for transfer players: The NCAA has put a bunch of restrictions on hardship waivers which should help curb the number of players seek immediate eligibility due to family-related hardships. In the past few years, the hardship waiver has been abused repeatedly by players who don’t like their current situation and want to play somewhere else without having to sit out a season. The NCAA got this one right.

Trevor Mbakwe will pay back scholarship if the Gophers don’t make NCAA tournament: The Minnesota senior forward has vowed to repay his final year of his scholarship if he can’t lead his team to the NCAA tournament. The Gophers enter the season likely to gain an at-large bid, but will largely depend on the health of Mbakwe, who missed nearly all of last season with a torn MCL.

Something peculiar is going on at Detroit: Last Wednesday, Titan’s assistant coach Derek Thomas, along with Athletic Director Keri Gaither, resigned effective immediately. On Friday, Carlos Briggs, another member of the Titan’s coaching staff, resigned. No one knows why and neither of the sides have commented. Peculiar.


Hoops Housekeeping:
- After being denied eligibility by the NCAA in September, Former Indiana signee Ron Patterson has committed to Syracuse. The 6-foot-2 guard left Indiana and enrolled at Brewster Academy and is now set to join the Orange next fall. (Syracuse Post-Standard)

- Two Indiana big-men, Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin, are still waiting to be cleared to play by the NCAA. (Inside The Hall)

- Texas A&M freshman guard Shawn Smith was ruled a partial qualifier by the NCAA. He will remain on scholarship and will be able to practice, but will not be able to play in games (Sporting News)


Observations & Analysis:
- Oakland is expecting big things from Providence transfer Duke Mondy (CollegeBasketballTalk)

- Gonzaga was once again selected as the preseason favorites to win the West Coast Conference (Spokesman-Review)

- Expectations are high for the Kentuecky Wildcats. What can we expect from Kentucky freshman this year? (Kentucky Sports Radio)

- A quick recap of exhibition games involving Big East teams (Syracuse Post-Standard)

- While the Big East is hemmoraging basketball programs, the Atlantic-10 seems to be stockpiling them. Championship Week in the NYC-metro area is sure to be interesting (New York Daily News)

- Season preview for the Rider Broncs (Keepin’ Track of the MAAC)

- An excellent Q&A session with NJIT head coach Jim Engles, who has the Highlanders headed in the right direction (College Chalktalk)

- The top-15 most intriguing non-conference games featuring Big East teams (The Dagger)


Odds & Ends:
- Michigan State unveiled the camoflauge uniforms they will wear for the Friday season opener. The Spartans will face the UConn Huskies at the Ramstein Air Base as part of the Armed Forces Classic. (MLive.com)

- Creativity at it’s best: The “Under 6-foot All American Team”. (Run The Floor)

- Stan Van Gundy to call Navy-Marine Corps Classic on NBC Sports Network, will contribute to NBC Sports Radio Network. (ProBasketballTalk)

- Every wondered how you go about building a NBA D-League roster? This infographic breaks it down (NBA.com)


Video(s) of the Day:
There is no denying that the 2012 NCAA Tournament came up short in providing its usual assortment of last second heroics. But No.6 on the list of reasons “Why We Love College Basketball” reminds us of one of the few true shining moments. (Rush The Court)





Best.Technical Foul. Ever. (Yahoo Sports, The Dagger)

Do you like the new Morning Mix? Hate it? Have a suggestion or wanted something featured? Troy Machir will take all your praise, insults and inquiries via Twitter (@TroyMachir)