ACC Preview: The New-Look ACC Is Stacked

The long wait will soon be over when the first full slate of NCAA basketball games of the 2013-14 season will tip-off on Nov. 8. Some of our favorite players have moved on the ranks of professional athletes, new recruits have been polishing their games in gyms with recognizable logos on the court, and schools have switched conference allegiances. Through a series of conference previews, the BDD crew will do its best to prepare you for the next 4.5 months of collegiate hoops.

Duke freshman Jabari Parker is a big reason why the Blue Devils are a favorite to win the ACC. (bigstory.ap.com)

Favorite: Duke
Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pitt are entering their first season in the ACC, but it is still Duke who is projected to be at the top of the standings. The Blue Devils received 50 first-place votes from ACC media in the preseason poll in large part thanks to freshman Jabari Parker and Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood. Duke lost Seth Curry, Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly, but Quinn Cook will take over at point guard and the Blue Devils have the talent to find themselves in first in the ACC at the end of the season. Go ahead and circle the regular-season finale between UNC and Duke in Durham to possibly decide the conference.



Dark Horse: Virginia
Virginia is ranked No. 24 in the preseason AP poll, yet with the star power of the teams mentioned above, it is quite possible Virginia gets overlooked. Still, the ACC writers have the Cavaliers finishing fourth in the conference, and with four returning starters (most notably the top to scorers from last season, Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell), Virginia could improve on a 23-12 record from a year ago. Virginia gets two key games at home at the end of the season against Notre Dame and Syracuse before ending the year at Maryland. This team seems poised to pull and upset or two at the expense of the conference elite.


Player of the Year: Jabari Parker, Duke
The ACC media picked Syracuse's C.J. Fair, who last year led a very talented team in scoring with 14.5 points per game and added seven rebounds per game. Fair very well may be the best player in the ACC this year, but it's tough to pick against another freshman phenom in Jabari Parker. Remember, Parker was on the cover of Sports Illustrated being called the next LeBron before Andrew Wiggins. Obviously any comparison between LeBron James and a player who has yet to record a minute in college is absurd. Still, it would be no surprise if the 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward burst onto the scene and dominated the ACC this year.  


Coach of the Year: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
The natural instinct, after looking at who our favorite, player and newcomer of the years are, would be to select Mike Krzyzewski as coach of the year. Then we came across an interesting stat. Coach K has not won ACC Coach of the Year since 2000. That's not a knock on Krzyzewski. He's one of the greatest coaches of all time. Instead, it seems like the media like picking coaches such as Jim Larranaga of Miami and Leonard Hamilton of Florida State who have brought up surprising teams to the top of the conference. That's why if Boeheim can have Syracuse in competition for the ACC crown in the Cuse's first year in the conference, he seems like a strong pick for coach of the year. Also keep an eye on Tony Bennett from Virginia if the Cavaliers make one of those Florida State-like runs in conference play.


Newcomer of the Year:Jabari Parker, Duke
It seems like with many of our previews, the picks for conference player of the year are also newcomers. That's a credit to how strong this freshman class is, and tells you a bit about the culture of college basketball in the one-and-done era. Parker will be dangerous from all over the court and finds a way to score. His teammate, and Mississippi State transfer, Rodney Hood should also make a big impact on the Blue Devils this season and could be in the hunt for this award at the end of the year.

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Andrew Wiggins College Decision: The Waiting Game Paid Off

No. 1 recruit Andrew Wiggins waited longer than everyone else, a strategy that could pay off. (wagesofwins.com)

He made the college basketball world wait until the very end for the most anticipated college basketball recruiting decision of the year. But that's the perk of being the No. 1 player in the class and the most sought-after player in the country.

Other players have known and announced their college decision for months. The NBA Draft deadline came and went. And still, the sport, and more specifically the four schools still in the running, waited anxiously for Andrew Wiggins' decision.

There's not a team in the country that wouldn't welcome Wiggins with open arms, and either Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky or North Carolina will do that Tuesday when the decision is finally revealed. When everyone wants you, you have all the time in the world. Wiggins took his time, waiting longer than every other top recruit, because that's what the benefit of being the best.

While the wait has been agonizing for everyone else involved, Wiggins was smart in his patience. The landscape of a team can change drastically between the regular season in February and May. Kentucky brought in recruit after recruit while more members of its current freshman class returned to school than most believed. Wiggins' wait took Kentucky out of the running, and for him, who most likely wants to be a one-and-done, this is a good thing.

Imagine if he would have committed in February. He would have no idea Alex Poythress, Kyle Wiltjer and Willie Cauley-Stein would return instead of going pro as expected. Maybe other recruits would have gone elsewhere knowing Wiggins' decisions, but if all commitments remained the same, there would not be much room for all the talent, let alone egos. Four of the top 10 players in the Rivals 150 are already heading to Lexington.

Also during this waiting period, he found out for sure that Ben McLemore was leaving Kansas and guys like James Michael McAdoo and PJ Hairston were returning to UNC. Wiggins now knows exactly what he's entering in to. There are no shocking returns or unforeseen transfers or coaching moves. It will be interesting to see if future No. 1 recruits follow Wiggins' strategy.

A pressure is lifted for to recruits finally announcing their decision and ending the media and speculation circus, and sometimes a wait won't be needed. If the top player happens to be a local kid who has known he wanted to suit up for this team since he was in middle school, then go ahead and commit. But for those like Wiggins who seem legitimately torn, what's the rush? 


The wait means more time for headlines and more anxiety from coaches, but the view of a team is so much clearer in May. It's not like people were going to forget about Andrew Wiggins. The wait will make the reward for winner of the Wiggins Sweepstakes taste that much sweeter.


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Andrew Wiggins and the Mid-Major Dream

Mid-dunk, McDonald's All-American Andrew Wiggins ponders his college options. (McDonald's via SBNation)

The NCAA Tournament has been whittled to four remaining teams and the NBA regular season is wrapping up. Andrew Wiggins will make his way, quickly, through the collegiate ranks and play on basketball's biggest stage as soon as fall 2014. Right now, though, Wiggins is a senior at Huntington Prep in Huntington, West Virginia.

The 18-year-old small forward was originally on track to leave high school in 2014, but reclassified to finish a year early — and with good reason. Wiggins is 6'7", 205 pounds and immediately passed fellow recruits Jabari Parker and Julius Randle to become the top prospect in the 2013 high school class and a very early projection as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. His picked up national momentum after ripping opponents in tournaments last summer and has since established his status by doing things like throwing down between-the-legs, 360 dunks at the McDonald's All-American game.

Although Wiggins isn't tipping his hat toward which college program will land him, none of his suitors are in the Final Four. Two were eliminated before the Elite Eight (Kansas and North Carolina) while the other two finalists (Kentucky and Florida State) fell outside the March Madness bubble. Wiggins' parents both attended Florida State as student-athletes, and the Seminoles are a quietly understood frontrunner despite their blue-blood competition.

What no one is talking about is a possible darkhorse entering the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes late: the Wichita State Shockers. That's fair because, even though his brother Nick Wiggins is a reserve guard for WSU and the Shockers' Cinderella run to the Final Four will surely put them in the hunt for better recruits in the near future, Andrew Wiggins is not going to play out his (probably) lone college season at a mid-major in the heartland. A high major program with sterling history that happens to reside on the bountiful Kansas plains, such as KU, has a legitimate chance to snag such a recruit, but Wichita State does not.

That isn't to take away from the program. Like Mark Turgeon before him, head coach Gregg Marshall has done a fantastic job building the Shockers and raising their national profile. Occasionally a highly touted recruit will opt to play for a smaller program for one reason or another, but this late in the game — Wiggins has already visited three of the four contending schools and will announce his decision before May 15 — Wichita State has no chance. Even Nick is prodding his younger brother in other directions.

There are no murmurs about Andrew Wiggins suiting up in black and yellow like his brother because such things are beyond the scope of rational thought. Andrew Wiggins is the kind of player who stars at a traditionally premier program before moving on to an inevitable career in the NBA. That much we know before he even graduates from high school, and that's fine. The Shockers have a shot a national championship. Making the Final Four is an accomplishment for any team, let alone one that was slated to finish third in their non-power six conference in preaseason polls. Adding the top recruit of the incoming freshman class would undoubtedly be a windfall for Wichita State. It won't happen.

But it's a nice daydream.


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UNC & UK Struggling: College Basketball Just Doesn't Feel Right

Kentucky and North Carolina are struggling this season, making the basketball world seem off. (thesportsfanjournal.com)

Two of the most famous college basketball colors of blue are on the verge of not making the NCAA Tournament in March.

Kentucky and North Carolina have both fallen from the top of their respective conferences and national relevance this season after massive personnel overhauls. Kentucky (10-5) has lost every big game it's played this season (Duke, Notre Dame, Baylor, Louisville and Texas A&M) and probably wouldn't make the tournament if the season ended today. UNC (11-5) has ugly losses on the resume (Texas and a blowout to Indiana, while also losing a tough game to Butler in Maui) and started ACC play 0-2 without either of those coming against the top two conference teams, Duke and NC State (instead they came at the hands of Virginia and Miami).

No one is feeling sorry for these two. High player turnover is a price the great teams pay for college basketball being a quick pit stop for the NBA. The same NBA talent that can help a team reach an Elite Eight or even a National Championship one year can leave that team with massive holes the next, as is the case with our two struggling powerhouses. But that is a challenge great teams face. Ask any mid-major if they would trade a Final Four for losing its best players the next year and they'd jump at it in a heartbeat.

It may not go as far as hurting the game. It may hurt a little in March when these two large, traveling fan bases are going to the NIT in New York rather than Atlanta or one of the regional NCAA Tournament sites. The Kentucky and North Carolina names alone carry enough weight to make TV viewership high. But for every blue blood having a down year there is a budding mid-major program ready to shock the world to take its place. And believe it or not, upsets and Cinderella stories do great things for TV ratings.

I would like to think maybe these poor performances could do some good toward changing the NBA Draft rule, keeping good players in school longer (or just letting them leave out of high school) and enhancing the game. After all, other teams like Duke, Louisville and Kansas are winning with senior leadership. But this is unlikely. The game is too far into John Calipari's strategy of cycling through NBA talent like an assembly line every year to be changed after one unsuccessful season. 

The fact is, love them or hate them, college basketball is at its best when the big-name programs are relevant. It was the same when Indiana was rebuilding several years ago. The basketball world just didn't feel right with the Hoosiers losing 20 games in a season in 2010-11.

Rivals of Kentucky and UNC aren't crying right now, as they have a chance to take advantage of an easier road to a conference and national championship. Plus, there's a distinct and powerful pleasure in seeing a rival team failing to live up to expectations, as if your team had anything to do with it. But a part of Duke or Florida must be disappointed. A rivalry loses its energy when one team is down. Duke may beat UNC by 15 at Cameron this year, which the Blue Devils would enjoy, but not to the extent that the win would have been enjoyed a season ago.

Beating Kentucky while they're down doesn't have nearly the satisfaction of when they're a title contender. It's like fighting Muhammad Ali well past his prime. You stand more of a chance at winning, but the satisfaction of victory is not the same. Competitors want opponents at their best. When they're great, the school names on the front of both those blue jerseys are a target of accomplishment and a feat few others can secure. Each conference game against Kentucky is the biggest game of the year for SEC teams.

It's strange not seeing North Carolina and Kentucky scores scrolling across the bottom of the screen with the rest of the top 25 games. It feels like a weird joke that doesn't make sense. Kentucky and UNC are always ranked. That's just how we've been trained to think thanks to decades of dominance. It just doesn't feel right.

Kentucky and UNC fans should take this season to appreciate all the success their programs have seen. This is proof that this season is not gift wrapped just because they've done well in the past. Cherish the success, because it won't always be there. The rest of the country will be waiting patiently, some enjoying the wait, while these two programs get better once more and the target can again be placed on the school name written on the front of those blue jerseys and the college basketball world can feel right again.

The BDD Interview: Cormega, part 1

The BDD interview series was conceived with the intention of getting opinions on basketball and basketball culture from the perspectives of those outside the game's typical realm. For the inaugural edition, we reached out to Queensbridge rapper Cormega to discuss his hometown New York Knicks, which QB streetballers could beat Ron Artest pre-Metta World Peace, and the NBA player with the best rap career. Don't forget to read part two.

Photo courtesy of Cormega

What was your introduction to the game?

Growing up in the inner city, basketball is a part of our culture. I always expect that, if you ask any kid from the inner city, they’ll tell you that. There’s just something cool about guys who play basketball because of the way they handle themselves. They’re cool. I think the first name that stood out that I remember is Dr. J. Like that name “Dr. J” was like, that was awesome, you know what I’m saying? Like, "Dr. J! Dr. J!" It ain’t until I got older that I realized how great or how good he was on the court, but when I was younger, the name Dr. J, you just heard it. It echoed and resonated. As I got older, I just got into it and I loved it. I’ve been a Knicks fan since forever. My favorite Knick – the first Knick that really drew me in – was Bernard King.

Did you ever play basketball growing up? I know there’s some footage of you playing in a celebrity game with Allen Iverson a few years back.

Yeah, obviously I played a little ball if you seen the two NBA three-pointers I hit in that video. I used to play basketball, I played with [New York City AAU program] Riverside Hawks when I was little for a little while and I played in some other tournaments back in the day, but I’m not going to sit here and lie in the interview like I was destined for NBA stardom if I didn’t rap. I done shot ball. I wasn’t MJ. I wasn’t nothing to write home about. I always loved it, wished I was better than I was, but there was definitely a lot of guys better than me. I developed a wicked jump shot, though, that could compete with a lot of good guys, and I’ve just been a fan.

People live and die by the jumper. They can make careers out of it.

I’ve got a wicked jump shot. I can brag about that.

On your track “The Legacy” (warning for younger viewers, explicit lyrics) one of the lyrics is “Wee-Wop was the illest ball player.” Who was Wee-Wop? I assume this is basketball related.

He was a streetball player from Queensbridge and I believe he went to college, also. His name was Warren Walker. He died; incredibly talented. Ron-Ron [Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest] is a testament of hard work. Ron-Ron wasn’t even the best basketball player in Queensbridge, you know what I’m saying? The streets is so alluring that there’s people that was actually better than Ron-Ron and they decided to sell drugs. They wasn’t as dedicated as Ron-Ron, that’s why I say he is a testament to hard work. Ron-Ron could be outside shooting the ball when it’s raining, when it’s snowing. He worked to get where he’s at. There was a guy named Troy Battle who, say, if we were playing a pick-up game of basketball 15 years ago and Ron and Troy were standing there and if you had the first pick, you would have picked Troy without a shadow of a doubt. You see what I’m saying? Troy hustled. A lot of the guys that’s out of the hood, they hustle and they didn’t follow they dreams because the streets have a magnetic allure to it. Wee-Wop is one of those guys [who] just died, though. He went to college, and he was incredible. There was also a guy, Mark Morris, from our block. He went to Tulsa, I believe. He was good, but he was on Tulsa before Tulsa was Division I, before they got all the love like they get now. If he would have been on Tulsa when they had the spotlight, he probably could have made it to the NBA. He was just that good. There was another guy named Hi-C, who was so good I can’t even describe him because you’ll think I’m exaggerating. I’ve never seen nothing like this. But he was in the street. There’s a lot of guys in the streets who were some incredible guys. Some of them you never see them unless you go to a game like the Rucker and then you’ll see some guys and you’ll be like, “Damn, who the hell is this guy?” [There are lots of] guys like that that didn’t follow their dreams or didn’t make it for some odd reason, but they’re just good and not in the NBA.

You mentioned Tulsa and a bunch of guys who went and played college ball. Do you follow college ball, too, or do you just follow the NBA?

I follow college ball, but not as much as I used to. I lost some of my love for college once guys started leaving after one season and stuff. It’s exciting, but it’s not like it used to be. I’m a Tar Heels fan, though. I’ve been a Tar Heels fan since James Worthy and [Michael] Jordan and them. I like college ball, but the integrity of the game in college basketball is different now. I tend to like women’s college basketball more sometimes. They put their heart and their souls through war. You have a guy that’s incredible, but it’s like you can see it in their eyes. It’s like, “I’m only here because I have to be here for one semester. Next year, I’m out. I’m going to the NBA.” That’s what it feels like.

It’s like the Coach [John] Calipari system at Kentucky. That doesn’t exactly apply to women’s college basketball.

Exactly.

And the Tar Heels are having a down year, but they have a good lineage with Jordan, [Jerry] Stackhouse and Vince Carter, who came out of there, too.

They got my man Rasheed Wallace and they’ve got a lot of people out of there. I mean, Raymond Felton came out [of North Carolina]. They’re just a consistently good program. I’ve been liking them forever. I’ve just stuck with them. That’s the team that I’ve kept. Even if there’s another team that I admire, the Tar Heels is my team, just like in the NBA the Knicks is my team, but there’s other teams that I like. If you follow my tweets, every year I give my predictions of who’s a sleeper team and I’m often right. I think in the future I’m going to try to be some kind of sports writer or something like that with basketball because I be saying stuff and I be making predictions and I be right. Also, I be knowing some inside scoops that people don’t be knowing way ahead of people because I know people in the NBA, like I told people that Mike Bibby was coming to the Knicks before he came. A lot of stuff. If you look at my Twitter, dudes is actually like, “OK, Mega, I fuck with you, but now you’re going a little bit too far. I can’t believe that.” Then everything I said was true because I know guys in the NBA. I know coaches, I know assistant coaches, I know players, so there’s stuff that I be knowing before everybody. It’s just funny.

I do follow some of your tweets. I loved the “'Sheed is 'Sheed” tweet from earlier this season.

Which one?

The one where you said you told guys that 'Sheed was 'Sheed. It was when he came back and I think it was the first or second game he suited up for the Knicks this year.

It’s like this: people have to understand basketball. If you’re a fan of a team, it’s one thing, but you have to be a fan of the game to understand the game. There’s a difference between understanding the game and being a fan. Some people who don’t understand basketball are like... When we got Jason Kidd, I was ecstatic. People were like, “Ah, man, we’re old. The Knicks are old,” and I’m like, “Yo, you don’t understand basketball.” Jason Kidd is the Brett Favre of basketball. Even when he gets older, his brain mechanics supercede his athletic mechanics. Jason Kidd probably has the highest basketball IQ in the NBA. He’s just that smart. And Rasheed… One of things about Rasheed is -- if you follow the game -- Rasheed has an extremely high IQ, but people overlook that because they always look at the technicals, etc., etc. Two things about Rasheed: he has a very high basketball IQ, and then he has a streetball persona. He knows how to get under guys’ skin. He’s the only guy I’ve seen that would fuck with Shaq’s head, get under Dwight Howard’s skin, so with them players that we got, I was extremely happy and people thought I was all crazy, but now look, everybody’s like, “You was right, Mega. You was right.” I love 'Sheed. 'Sheed is just dope. 'Sheed can post up, he has a three-point game, he plays defense and he’s ball smart. What the hell else you want?

'Sheed, all around, is good. I figure it’s safe to say you like the current Knicks line-up.

I love it. I think this might be one of the best line-ups we’ve ever had. Ever.

What do you think of Amar’e Stoudemire coming back? Do you think that’s going to throw off the chemistry at all?

That’s another thing. People are not fans of the game; they’re not using their brain. Everybody’s quick to say that ‘Melo [Anthony] and Amar’e didn’t play well together. No, that was under [former Knicks and current Lakers coach Mike] D’Antoni. Carmelo and nobody didn’t play well together with D’Antoni. They was 8-2 under [current coach Mike] Woodson. So now Amar’e’s back and he’s working his way back into the line-up. The most honorable and smart thing he did was say, “I’m willing to come off the bench,” so now that he’s coming off the bench, he’s not going to interrupt the chemistry because they’re going to work him in slowly and if Amar’e gets back to form, we’re going to be one of the most formidable teams in the NBA because you’d be hardpressed to find a forward that’s going to come off the bench and be able to give what Amar’e’s going to give because he’s just that good, being Amar’e.

At the same time, Tyson Chandler might be the most underrated center in the league. There are other centers who might put up numbers, other centers who might grab rebounds better than him and they might be running back to play defense a little better than him, but he does all those things and, for a center, he knocks down free throws. I love this team. And then Marcus Camby… By the time Marcus Camby gets back healthy, I mean, c’mon, man. I love this team. Even last year, Marcus Camby was one of the better defenders and rebounders in the league. Once he gets his rhythm back, we’re gonna have solid defense and our offense is gonna be incredible. We’re gonna be a solid team.

And with Amar’e coming off the bench right now that means you have a solid guy coming into the front court, but you also have J.R. Smith, who’s been lighting it up this year.

If you look at my tweets, that’s something I said a while ago. People don’t agree with that. I said the Knicks need to re-sign J.R. Smith, ASAP. I said this. Look at my tweets. I said this. Prior to all this shit, I said it because I seen his motivation and I seen what he was doing early in the season. One thing that people need to understand is sometimes when you have a hothead or a guy that’s a little reckless abandon, all they need is guidance. They have that guidance in Jason Kidd. If you look at all the contending teams, the Lakers wanted Jason Kidd. LeBron wanted to play with Jason Kidd. Why do you think everyone wants to play with this guy? The Mavericks was very upset when he left because he’s a leader, so now J.R. has that leader to guide him. He already was incredible with his offense, now he has a leader to keep him from being reckless and to steady his game. That’s what makes him an incredible player. “We need to re-sign him” – look at my tweets. I said that.

He’s even playing defense this year. 'Melo’s playing defense. What do you think of the Woodson coaching change?

I like the Woodson coaching change. I think Woodson came from a background of defense, so that’s gonna benefit us. I was waiting to see why he wasn’t experimenting with the Twin Towers [Chandler and Camby], but now he’s doing that, especially when other teams go big. We don’t need ‘Melo trying to play power forward again.

You’ve mentioned a lot of players in your songs. On “Redemption” (explicit lyrics) you said, “Like Vince Carter, I’m too intense/ For dude’s defense to stop me, I abuse the rim.” How would you update that for 2013?

Vince Carter’s still good, but he used to be a freak athlete. He’s one of the best dunkers ever. Vince Carter’s a competitor so he’s never gonna suck. He might not be a superhero any more, but he’s not going to be a regular human either. That’s how I look at guys like Vince Carter. Stackhouse, too. Those guys are never gonna suck. They might not give you what they used to be able to give you, but they’re never gonna suck. I think one of the biggest atrocities in the NBA right now [is] there is no reason why Allen Iverson should not be in the NBA. I just don’t get it. That’s wrong.

I was surprised no teams took a flyer on him when things didn’t pan out with the Grizzlies and then he went to China.

Yeah, he’s in China doing his thing right now. Somebody might say, “Fuck it,” when they’re in the hunt for the playoffs, but I just don’t get it. This guy was one of the posterchilds of the league for so many years. At his worst, he could do better than a lot of the point guards are doing right now.

One of the knocks on him was he was more of a scoring guard. Do you think there’s anything to that?

I think people were just looking for a reason to criticize him, because you can’t condemn him for the shit you glorify Kobe for. I’m a big Kobe fan, but Kobe’s a fucking chucker. Straight up and down. They call Z-Bo [Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph] the black hole. Kobe’s a black hole. Because Kobe draws so much of the attention, he takes away from other players. Dwight Howard was having a hard time fitting in because the ball goes to Kobe so much. Kobe takes away from the other guys, or often does, and he doesn’t allow guys to get confident because he dominates the ball so much. When it’s the final shot, the clutch shot, when it’s crunch time or when it’s hammer time, you know he’s getting the ball, so there’s other players that just sit around. They don’t get to build their confidence. They have to defer to him. Iverson, they say he’s more of a shooting guard. OK, so sign him as a fucking shooting guard. He’s more of a shooting guard, but he still was an assist leader in the league. He still was in the top 10, top 15 in assists. He’s still better than most of the guys in the league. He’s still in the top of his field. Then what are you going to say? “We want good character guys”? C’mon, man. This is the NBA, not a boy’s choir. You can’t say you want good character guys. The Knicks were supposed to sign Iverson and they decided they’d pass on him. He was going to go to the Knicks the last year Mike D’Antoni was there. Mike D’Antoni is the last guy who should be judging somebody on character. He can’t get along with anybody. So with Iverson, it’s just crazy that he’s not in the league. I don’t know if he’s blacklisted or what, even from a business standpoint. Iverson will sell you some jerseys. He’ll get some people in the stands. I don’t get it.

He’ll definitely sell the jerseys. His name still carries some weight.

Hell yeah. People love him. The average girl, if you ask them about the NBA, they’ll still be like, “Iverson!” Girls loved him, dudes loved him. He was getting too street for the NBA. Iverson was such a burden to the NBA, they didn’t want him to succeed. They made a rule about the handle because he was crossing everybody over, broke Jordan’s ankles. They didn’t like that. “You’re not going to be disrespecting our posterchild of the NBA.” So he broke Jordan’s ankles, he was killing people with his handle so they made some kind of rule – a palming rule or some bullshit – so he couldn’t do his crossover any more, then they did the dress code shit. That was some anti-Iverson shit. They told him he can’t fucking make a rap album. People critique him and condemn him, but this guy played injured. You can say what you want about him, but he gave 110 percent on that court. He was hurt, he was battered, he’d crash boards, he wasn’t scared to take the big shot. He’d pass to his teammates when needed. Look at the team he took to the Finals. You’d scratch your head like, “How the eff did they get there?”

He was the frontrunner for a lot of the guys who are in the league right now. AI didn’t make his record, but would you rank the NBA players who released rap albums or say who’s the best rapper? Iman Shumpert from the Knicks is doing his thing, too.

He needs to holler at me then.

Have you heard any of his stuff?

Nah, I didn’t hear any of his stuff. If he’s good, I’ll do something with him. If he sucks, I won’t do anything with him. If he’s ok, I’ll do something with him just because he’s a Knick. But my favorite out of all the basketball players who did music, I’m going to have to go with Shaq just because he had that song with Biggie that was just dope. He had a song with Biggie, for chrissakes. That shuts down everything. Isaiah Rider was pretty good, too, from what I hear. My guys from the Bay Area say Isaiah Rider was pretty good. He was real serious about that, though. I know Chris Webber makes beats. Kurupt from Dogg Pound introduced me to Chris Webber, so I know he’s a real Hip-Hop head.


UPDATED:  In part two of the BDD interview with Cormega, he shares insights on the Air Jordan XX8's, real sneakerheads vs. fake sneakerheads, and his new album, Mega Philosophy.

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If Myck Kabongo Is Ruled Ineligible, Texas Will Suffer

Texas sophomore Myck Kabongo is being investigated for receiving improper benefits from an agent. (burntorangenation.com)

Texas sophomore guard Myck Kabongo is the latest college athlete to be investigated for his involvement with an agent, and if wrong-doing is found, it will be the team that will pay the biggest price.

The NCAA is reviewing Kabongo's relationship with agent Rich Paul, who represents LeBron James, and if Paul paid for a trip to Cleveland and a workout for Kabongo last May. Kabongo has yet to be ruled ineligible and is practicing with the team.

But should the NCAA find that Kabongo received improper benefits from Paul, he could be ruled ineligible for a portion of the season. This is a punishment the Longhorns can't afford.

Kabongo is just a sophomore, but on a team with only two seniors and no juniors, Kabongo will be looked at as one of the leaders. His numbers as a freshman were good, but many expected him to blossom in his second year. He averaged 9.6 ppg last season — good for the third highest on the team — and lead the team with 5.2 assists per contest.

One of the reasons his numbers should improve is there will be more shots to go around with the departure of leading scorer J'Covan Brown. Brown averaged 20.1 ppg and in doing so took 535 shots, nearly double the amount of any other teammate.

Without Kabongo in the lineup, Texas could have trouble finding people to score, and with their non-conference scheduling, this could lead to losses. The chances are if Kabongo is suspended, it will not be for the majority of the season, which is good for Texas with Kansas and Baylor waiting early on in conference play. But Rick Barnes likes to challenge his team early in the season, and Kabongo will need to be on the floor.


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The Longhorns' December schedule looks like a murderer's row of blue-blood programs. After facing Georgetown and UCLA in a four-day span in early December, Texas has back-to-back games just two games later against North Carolina and Michigan State before Christmas. It's tough enough to survive that stretch at full strength, but without Kabongo, the Longhorns might be happy coming away with two wins.

A ruling has not yet been made, so right now this is all a worst-case scenario. But Texas fans should hope a ruling comes quickly if the decision holds Kabongo out of games. That way maybe he just misses the month of November.

Because the longer the ruling takes, and the closer it gets to that December gauntlet, the more worried Texas should be to make it into conference play without a few L's.

Midnight Madness: From A Late-Night Run to Entertainment Spectacle

Kansas coach Bill Self rode into Allen Fieldhouse on a Crimson and Blue motorcycle for the 2011 "Late Night at the Phog." (msn.foxsports.com)

It's hard to believe it all started with a run.

The spectacle today has evolved into packed college arenas two weeks before the start of the season watching their team dance and act before practicing what they do best:  basketball.

Most call it "Midnight Madness." Some personalized the term — Duke calls their event "Countdown to Craziness" and Kansas goes with "Late Night at the Phog" — but no matter what campus or name it goes by, it is a highly anticipated show that kicks off official practices. It gives coaches and players a chance to show off a side of them rarely seen by the public.

Yet 42 years ago, the tradition was born at the University of Maryland when coach Lefty Driesell made his team run 1.5 miles around the football stadium track at midnight. There was less fun involved and more work when the tradition began, making it difficult to predict that the event would sweep across the nation and transform more into a Hollywood awards show than a preseason practice.

The events begin earlier in the night now, but the fun and excitement of fans getting acquainted with  that season's team has not diminished. Before the rise of the Internet and YouTube, the lore of player X dressing up like (insert funny costume) and dancing like (insert popular artist of the time whose whereabouts are now unknown) made for great stories that lived on long after the player left campus.

If you can't wait in line for hours before to get a ticket on Oct. 12, ESPN has the next best thing. ESPNU and ESPN3 will have live coverage of 13 events from some of the top programs in the country, including Indiana, Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina and Kansas. It's not the same as seeing it live, but it does show how large the show has become.

Midnight Madness is a celebration of a new season and for players and coaches to have some fun before the seriousness of the season sets in. Yet it all started with a run.


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