Offseason news and notes from the Big Ten.
Illinois
After going through a 16-19 season where, among other things, it didn't have enough backcourt firepower to compete, Illinois' coaches couldn't wait for the chance to pair fast-rising sophomore point guard Demetri McCamey with sharpshooting redshirt Jamar Smith.
Smith, who sat out the 2007-08 season as part of the penance for his felony DUI, raised hopes by spending much of his downtime dominating in practice. But in a matter of days in late July, the Illini's year-long dreams were squashed.
Two days after the Champaign County state's attorney accused Smith of violating his probation by ingesting alcohol, Illinois booted the junior guard from the team. Not only does that take away the team's likely top scorer in 2008-09, it raises fears that the Illini are headed for a repeat of last year.
Now here's Illinois's net offseason equation: It lost senior center Shaun Pruitt and senior forward Brian Randle while gaining junior college forward Dominique Keller (who's being asked to do dirty work such as rebounding and defense) and freshman forward Stan Simpson (who might need a redshirt year to gain strength).
The Illini also add Kentucky transfer Alex Legion, but the prolific scorer won't become eligible until first semester grades are posted. According to the Champaign News-Gazette, that might not happen until the final week before Christmas. That adds another level of uncertainty and transition to a program that has endured more than its share over the last two years.
Indiana
Remember when the original Cleveland Browns skulked out of town to become the Baltimore Ravens, then a few years later the NFL granted Cleveland a brand-new franchise that retained the Browns' name, colors and history?
That's essentially where Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers stand. Except for the fact they're three scholarships short of the norm because of the nefarious doings of the brief Kelvin Sampson regime, the Hoosiers and Crean are starting with a clean slate.
Everyone from last year's NCAA Tournament team is gone, with the exception of walk-on forward Kyle Taber. Even a few blue-chip recruits who signed letters of intent with Sampson at the helm decided to bolt.
That meant Crean and his staff had to scour the country during the spring looking for Big Ten-worthy talent eager to play right away. Indiana signed six recruits during a 10-week stretch that began in late April -- and some boast a pedigree one wouldn't expect from such late signees.
Six-foot-5 small forward Malik Story, who pledged himself to Indiana on June 30, originally committed to USC before changing his mind. Georgetown's Jeremiah Rivers, the son of Boston Celtics coach Glenn Rivers, decided to transfer and spend his final two years at IU. He'll sit out the upcoming season per NCAA rules.
With so many new faces on the roster, including eight freshmen, every day will be an adventure as Crean builds a team that can live up to the program's golden tradition.
Iowa
Over the course of the next three years, Iowa will carry out a $47 million renovation of Carver-Hawkeye Arena that includes the construction of a new practice facility for both basketball teams and the women's volleyball squad.
Second-year coach Todd Lickliter, meanwhile, hopes it doesn't take three more years to complete his rebuilding project. But make no mistake, it's a massive project.
Lickliter's first Iowa team posted a 13-19 record and graduated its No. 2 scorer in shooting guard Justin Johnson. Top scorer Tony Freeman (13.8 ppg) was scheduled to return for his final year, but after a conversation with Lickliter decided he needed to transfer to Southern Illinois.
That means the guts of Iowa's team this year figures to be the six recruits in Lickliter's first full class, along with some help from power forward Cyrus Tate (8.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg) and slender forward Jake Kelly (7.3 ppg).
The final pieces to Iowa's new puzzle signed in April: Junior-college shooter Devan Bawinkel, who started his career at West Virginia, and small forward Aaron Fuller. The latter averaged 24.7 points and 11.6 rebounds during his senior year at Mesa (Ariz.) High School.
Lickliter and his staff focused on finding skillful, well-rounded players. That group includes Iowa Mr. Basketball Matt Gatens and suburban Minneapolis standout Anthony Tucker. Both averaged better than 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in their senior years of high school.
Michigan
Michigan's first season with John Beilein in charge revealed a program that improved in fits and starts. Judging by the offseason roster movement in Ann Arbor, the second season could be more of the same.
In early May, sophomore Epke Udoh decided he needed to spend his final two years of eligibility elsewhere. That cost the Wolverines the Big Ten's top shotblocker.
Beilein tried to fill that gap in the post by signing 6-foot-10 Robin Benzing, a member of Germany's national youth team. Less than two months later, Beilein had to announce that Benzing couldn't hit the NCAA's initial-eligibility guidelines and won't play.
Where does that leave the Wolverines? Still looking for a few pieces to revolve around sophomore guard Manny Harris, a first-team all-Big Ten player waiting to happen, and junior forward DeShawn Sims.
Beilein's puzzle will become more clear shortly before Christmas when Arizona transfer Laval Lucas-Perry becomes eligible. Lucas-Perry averaged 9.8 points per game this summer while playing for Athletes in Action at the Jones Cup in Taiwan. His point guard skills will allow Harris to focus more on scoring.
Complete Wolverines team report
Michigan State
While Michigan State traditionally brings in one of the nation's top recruiting classes, Tom Izzo usually has enough talented veterans to allow his youngsters to ease their way into the picture.
That's not the case with prized freshman power forward Delvon Roe. The multi-talented McDonald's All-American has skills the Spartans need on their front line from Day 1.
That's why Izzo was so relieved to hear Roe's knee surgery in early August shouldn't prevent him from being ready to play when official practice gets under way. Roe had small chunks of cartilage removed from his left knee during the procedure, which should allow him to return in late September.
"I couldn't be more ecstatic about the news," Izzo said on MSUspartans.com.
If a healthy Roe can assume his spot on Michigan State's frontline alongside senior post Goran Suton and junior small forward Raymar Morgan, then nobody in the Big Ten should be able to match them.
Balance that with the Spartans' talented backcourt -- paced by sophomore troika Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen and Durrell Summers -- and nobody in the league has a higher ceiling.
Minnesota
When every player on Minnesota's roster was new to Tubby Smith, he and his staff transformed a 9-win program into a 20-win unit that earned a spot in last year's NIT.
With that in mind, it should be nothing for Tubby to build a cohesive team with just five newcomers in the fold. Of course, that's being a bit facetious.
Minnesota graduated its top three scorers -- Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson -- and those guys doubled as the team's most experienced players.
Since no Big Ten team other than Ohio State also lost three starters, that suggests the Gophers need to do some quick work to regain their place in the league.
Fortunately for Minnesota fans, Smith restocked the shelves with prospects who are ready to play right away. Six-foot-5 combo guard Devron Bostick was named the National Junior College Association's player of the year. Freshman center Ralph Sampson III (yes, he's the son of THAT Ralph Sampson) and freshman shooting guard Devoe Joseph (the Canadian who was just certified to play by the NCAA's Clearinghouse) are a pair of Top 100 recruits who can fill roles from the jump.
In a league that figures to be long on guards, Minnesota appears well-positioned with Bostick, Joseph, sophomores Al Noren and Blake Hoffarber and junior Lawrence Westbrook. The latter is the team's top returning scorer at 8.5 points per game.
This depth should allow the Gophers to continue to play the intense pressure defense that helped to turn the program around.
Complete Golden Gophers team report
Northwestern
When you finish last in the nation -- THE NATION -- in rebounding margin, it's probably a good idea to sign some big men somewhere along the line.
More than a month after the Wildcats wrapped up their 8-22 season -- a record that certainly wasn't helped by their minus-10.8 rebounding margin per game -- they finally found some big men.
Better yet, they found some freshmen they really wanted and who figure to contribute right away.
First came 6-foot-10 Luka Mirkovic, a Serbian who came to Indiana last year. He turned down offers from Marquette and Louisville to go with the Wildcats.
Then, in a slight upset, 7-foot, 280-pound Kyle Rowley, who had originally decided to reclassify as a Class of 2009, elected to switch back and signed a late letter of intent with Northwestern.
If the duo progresses as coach Bill Carmody hopes, this duo will share the minutes at the "5" spot this year. That will allow such miscast centers as Jeff Ryan (6-7, 190) and Ivan Peljusic (6-8, 195) to shift to positions more palatable. The third NU center last year, Nikola Baran, transferred to Div. II Rollins College.
This also will allow scoring virtuosos like Kevin Coble and Craig Moore to focus more on the things they do best.
Ohio State
During John Wooden's heyday, did UCLA bring in studly 7-footers with alarming regularity? If not the Wizard of Westwood, then who has enjoyed as much success recruiting big men as Thad Matta?
Greg Odem showed up two years ago, led Ohio State to the NCAA title game and fled for the NBA. Kosta Koufos showed up last year, helped OSU to the NIT championship and fled to the NBA.
Now it's time for 7-foot, 270-pound B.J. Mullens to take his one-year spin in Columbus' center ring. Mullens, projected as a top-five pick in the next NBA Draft, headlines another massive talent haul by the Buckeyes.
Matta won't have any qualms about plugging Mullens into the middle right away, but the perimeter won't be as easy to sort out. Junior David Lighty and sophomore Evan Turner, a pair of small forward/shooting guard types, are the team's returning starters.
But space needs to be made for McDonald's All American shooting guard William Buford as well as combo guard Jeremie Simmons, the NJCAA Div. II player of the year.
Then there's the matter of replacing all-Big Ten point guard Jamar Butler.
The Bucks figure to have enough talent to return to the NCAA Tournament, but will everyone figure out how they can best revolve around Mullens?
Penn State
Maybe it's because there's not a whole heckuva lot of Penn State basketball tradition. Maybe it's because the Nittany Lions are so far removed from the rest of the Big Ten schools and rarely appear on ESPN.
Whatever the reason, there's a real sense that the greater Big Ten community doesn't understand which way Penn State is heading.
While the league wasn't too strong last year, the Nittany Lions claimed seventh place for their best finish since a sixth-place tie for the 2001 NCAA Tournament team. Considering Penn State settled for the 11th seed in the Big Ten tournament five of the previous six years, that represented a marked improvement.
More impressively, Penn State returns all of its key players except for Geary Claxton. When one considers Claxton missed the final half of the season with his wrecked knee, then the Nittany Lions are already well on the way toward knowing their roles for the 2008-09 season.
Penn State adds three solid freshmen and Villanova transfer Andrew Ott into the mix this season. Ott, a 6-foot-10 forward, will boost the program's traditionally weak post game when he becomes eligible at the end of the first semester.
Complete Nittany Lions team report
Purdue
With all five starters returning from last year's 25-win team, Purdue figured to be the last team to need an overseas venture during the offseason.
Yet coach Matt Painter chartered a five-game trip to Australia during August that found the Boilermakers battling against many of the best professionals Down Under had to offer -- and playing NBA-length games that taxed their limited roster.
It's all part of Painter's plan to build some physical toughness that will translate into a long run during March. He noticed how Xavier outmuscled his Boilers during the second round of the NCAA Tournament and doesn't want that to happen again.
Purdue redoubled its efforts in the weight room during the offseason, which figures to be noticeable when the Boilers get rolling in November.
"Now we've got to take that functional strength and take it to the court," Painter said.
Complete Boilermakers team report
Wisconsin
One of the beautiful things about Wisconsin's program -- aside from the back-to-back 30-win seasons -- is the usual lack of drama during the course of a year.
Head coach Bo Ryan doesn't waste time in the offseason looking for another job. His players don't agonize over whether to leave early for the NBA and rarely show up on the police blotter. His recruits don't get waylaid by poor grades or test scores.
That means Wisconsin's offseasons are about as exciting to track as grazing cows. But it also means that the Badgers staff -- and their fans -- can start to figure out how things might work in the winter without worrying about whether someone might go astray.
Wisconsin lost three of its top seven players from its 31-5 team, including starters Michael Flowers and Brian Butch. While the Badgers have a few new guards who could bolster the backcourt from the get-go -- point guard Jordan Taylor and scorer Robert Wilson -- there are more question marks upfront.
Not only do the Badgers have to replace Butch, they need to find someone to take Greg Stiemsma's role as the towheaded eraser in the middle. Sophomore Keaton Nankivil, a powerful rebounder, and freshman Jared Berggren, a borderline Top 100 recruit, have resumes that suggest they'll help.
