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The Morning Mix

We got a lot on tap for today. Yesterday was National Signing Day, and the first round of “Feast Week” tournament games take place. Strap in for a fully loaded 24 hours of college hoops.


Thursday’s Top Games:
10:30 a.m. - Oklahoma State vs. Akron
12:30 p.m. - Dayton vs. Colorado
12:30 p.m. - UNC-Asheville vs. Tennessee
3:00 p.m. - No.16 Baylor vs. Boston College
5:00 p.m. - St. John’s @ Charleston
5:00 p.m. - No.6 North Carolina State vs. Penn State
7:00 p.m. - Alabama vs. Oregon State
7:00 p.m. - Illinois State @ Drexel
7:00 p.m. - Sam Houston State @ No.1 Indiana
8:00 p.m. - Auburn vs. Murray State
8:00 p.m. - Tennessee State @ Minnesota
9:30 p.m. - Villanova vs. Purdue
10:00 p.m. - UTEP @ No.12 Arizona


Read of the Day: Brendon Prunty on the memory of former Seton Hall assistant Kenny “Eggman” Williamson. Read it. (New Jersey Star Ledger)

Read of the Day: Did the NCAA prejudge Shabazz Muhammad before making a decision on his eligibility? (L.A. Times)
R


Top Stories:
Late Night Snacks: Fresno State beat UC-Riverside 39-30....in basketball. Yuck.

Calipari gives tour of new Wildcat Coal Lodge: As if the “Kentucky Effect” wasn’t already strong enough, John Calipari gave a video tour of the new state-of-the-art dorm built specifically for the Wildcats hoops team. This is just many in a long line of powerful weapons Kentucky has at its recruiting disposal.

Champions Classic will serve as a great teaching tool for Bill Self and his young Jayhawks team: The experience gained by the Jayhawks in their 67-64 loss to Michigan State in the Champions Classic will help serve a purpose for Bill Self as he continues to mold a talented but young team.

Saint Louis loss caps a tough week for the Atlantic Ten: The A-10 was expected to be extremely deep this season, but already teams such as VCU, Butler and now Saint Louis, who lost to Santa Clara 74-62, are looking like we may have overrated the conference.


Hoops Housekeeping:
- Eastern Michigan’s James Still plead guilty to felony assault charges stemming from an altercation he had in Rhode Island while a member of the Providence basketball program (Detroit Free-Press)

- Mississippi State guard Jalen Steele fractured his wrist during the Bulldogs’ 78-58 win over Florida Atlantic and will force him to miss the next six weeks (Jackson Clarion Ledger)

- Providence guard Vincent Council will miss the next 4-5 weeks due to a hamstring injury he sustained in the Friars win against NJIT on Friday (Friar Blog)

- highly touted big man Karl Towns will make his college decision on December 4th (New Jersey Hoops Haven)

- UCLA freshman Kyle Anderson suffered a bone contusion on his right wrist during the Bruins’ 80-79 overtime win over Cal Irvine on Wednesday, and his status for Thursday’s game is still uncertain (ESPN LA)


Observations & Analysis:
- The top ten best recruiting classes of the past 25 years (ESPN Insider)

- It was very evident in Wisconsin’s 74-56 loss to Florida that the Badgers really need a point guard to step up and fill the void left by Josh Gasser’s season-ending injury (Backboard Chronicles)

- It does not appear that traditional rivalries will be renewed as part of the SEC/Big-12 series (The Dagger)

- Arizona forward Solomon Hill thinks freshman who worry about eligibility issues should skip college all together (Eye On College Basketball)

- After two impressive performances, its apparent that Maryland’s defense is already making great strides (Washington Post)

- Potential mid-major darling Delaware is hoping to use the Preseason N.I.T Tip-Off as a stage to capture some national attention (The Dagger)

- The Pit at New Mexico is arguably one of the best venues in college hoops. If you weren’t already aware of this, the Lobos home-opener against Davidson as part of the Tip-Off Marathon proved why. (Albuquerque Journal)

- An excellent preview of the surprisingly deep Charleston Classic field (NBA Draft Blog)

- Despite the absence of Otto Porter, who sat out due to concussion-like symptoms, the Georgetown Hoyas were able to stymie the Liberty Flames en route to a 68-59 win (CBS DC Local)


News & Notes:
- The Kansas Jayhawks are eager to get back on the court following their Champions Classic loss to Michigan State (KUsports.com)

- A bunch of good quotes from UTEP head coach Tim Floyd on his role in Sean Miller-era at Arizona (Arizona Daily Star)

- UConn coach Kevin Ollie pledged $100,000 towards a new basketball facillity in Storrs, CT (Connecticut Post)

- Some great info on the conferences and teams participating in the annual late-season BracketBusters Week (The Horizon League)

- Did you know that this is the 75th anniversary of the NCAA tournament? (Sporting News)


Odds & Ends:

- Vermont’s Clancy Rugg: Great name, better dunk (Ballin’ is a Habit)

- Former-Michigan State Spartan-turned actor Delvon Roe made an appearance on Tosh.0 (Diehard Sports)

- The Hawaii basketball team wants more fans to attend home games this season (Warriors Insider)

- Some pretty entertaining suggestions for future gimmick games featuring the Syracuse Orange (Troy Nunes)

- “Free Shabazz” t-shirts are going to be the next hipster trend. I can just see it now. (Deadspin)

- There are no words to describe the picture you are about to see (The UConn Blog)




Video(s) of the Day:
I want to go back to college not for the women or for the fame, but to be able to spend four seasons with Creighton guard Grant Gibbs (You need to follow him on Twitter @DoubleGfor3).



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)