College Basketball

At look at the players expected to be among the best in college basketball this season: ? Ashton Gibbs , junior guard, Pittsburgh, averaged 15.7 ppg last season: As a sophomore, Gibbs made 39% of his three-pointers. ? JaJuan Johnson , senior post, Purdue, 15.5 ppg: Because of his range and his 6-10 frame, Johnson is tough to guard ? and shoot over. He blocked 72 shots last season. ? Kalin Lucas , senior guard, Michigan State, 14.8 ppg: The Spartans are aiming for a national title with the return of Lucas from an Achilles' tendon injury.

Ron Holmes, then a USC basketball player, was with a buddy at a summer league basketball game in 1982 when he saw his future on the court. Watching Faye Paige play, Holmes said to his friend, "See that No. 10? She's going to be my wife and we're going to make some All-Americans. " Shabazz Muhammad has a chance to fulfill that prediction. Muhammad, Ron and Faye's 18-year-old son, is a 6-foot-6 swingman who is widely regarded as the nation's best or second-best high school senior.

A look at what are expected to be some of the top games of the college basketball regular season: Michigan State at Duke, Dec. 1 This Big Ten/ACC Challenge meeting could preview the national title game. Kentucky vs. North Carolina, Dec. 4 The Tar Heels are eager to show they're new and improved. The Wildcats want to show they're new and just as good. Illinois at Gonzaga, Dec. 4 Gonzaga's stacked frontcourt will be a test for the jet-lagged Illini.

Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in college basketball history, is stepping down as the University of Tennessee's women's coach, the school announced Wednesday. Summitt, who was diagnosed less than a year ago with early-onset dementia-Alzheimer's type, will take the title of "head coach emeritus. " She will be replaced by Holly Warlick, who has served as Summitt's assistant for 27 seasons. "I've loved being the head coach at Tennessee for 38 years, but I recognize that the time has come to move into the future and to step into a new role," Summitt said in the university's statement.

# of teams; state (teams); avg rank 3; Kentucky (Kentucky, Murray State, Louisville); 10.67 2; North Carolina (Duke, North Carolina); 6.0 ; Michigan (Michigan State, Michigan); 8.5 ; Kansas (Kansas, Wichita State); 11.5 ; Wisconsin (Marquette, Wisconsin) 13.0 ; Florida (Florida; Florida State); 13.5 ; Indiana (Notre Dame, Indiana); 21.5 1; New York (Syracuse); 2.0 ; Missouri (Missouri); 3.0 ; Ohio (Ohio State); 8.0 ; Washington, D.C. (Georgetown)

At tipoff Thursday night in Eugene, Ore., USC and Oregon players can gaze down at the most unusual and iconic court in all of college basketball. And if they gaze up, they'll find the largest and most advanced center-hung scoreboard in all of college athletics. And all around them, whether from the end lines, sidelines, or the steeply-tiered seats sitting practically on top of the court, more than 12,000 Oregon fans will be at fever pitch as the referees toss the ball up, commencing the opening of the Ducks' gleaming $200-million Matthew Knight Arena.

One glance at the sideline was all it took. Catching sight of the scowl on his coach's face, Michael Lizarraga knew that he was about to get chewed out. It had been that kind of night for the Cal State Northridge basketball player, a step slow and a second late, struggling to keep track of his man on defense. "I tried to push myself," he said. "I just wasn't playing so good. " Now he banged with his hips and elbows, using every inch of his 6-foot-7 frame to wrestle for position under the basket.

In a perfect world, Joe Paterno would have been John Wooden. College basketball wouldn't have cornered the market on respect and reverence. College football would have had an entry of its own. The principles they held were similar. They said they were teachers first, stewards of athletic success a distant second, even though they each had lots of the latter. Wooden won 10 national titles and Paterno two, as well as winning the most games in the history of major-college football, 409. But legacy-building is a tricky thing.

For USC men's basketball devotees, a few clues to the Trojans' most pleasant surprise so far this season: His last name is Jones, he's a freshman guard and, at age 18, he has already become a steady playmaker. Maurice Jones, the fleet-footed point guard? No, but close. Try his roommate, Bryce Jones. The Los Angeles native is tied with his roommate for second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.8, heading into USC's game here Saturday against Nebraska.

Steve Lavin underwent nearly seven hours of surgery for prostate cancer in October, knowing that the college basketball season was just around the corner but counting on his energetic ways to carry him to a recovery full enough that he could coach this season. He wanted to be on the court as St. John's tried to build on the momentum it achieved last year when the Red Storm qualified for the NCAA tournament after becoming perhaps the biggest surprise of the Big East Conference season.

A Maine man says he lied when he accused former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him. Zachary Tomaselli of Lewiston said Friday that he fabricated the allegations and took pride in his ability to convince people his claims were true. He told the Associated Press he's a "habitual liar and sociopath" who lacks feelings for others. Two other men made accusations against Fine but prosecutors say too much time had passed to consider charges related to their allegations.

It only took ornery Uncle Bill Plaschke about the time of a fastbreak basket to try and put a damper on UCLA basketball fans' greatest day since, well, in a long time. He points out the obvious about Coach Ben Howland being on the hot seat due to increased expectations brought on by superior recruiting. I guess that puts him in the same elite boat as, well, every other coach in collegiate sports. I guess Howland would have been better off scouring the small private schools to find that next 5-10 superstar so he can keep his job as his team would then be sure to overachieve.

Name; Pos.; Ht.; Wt.; Previous school; Comment Jordan Adams; SG; 6-5; 205; Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy; One of the top perimeter shooting prospects in the country should boost Bruins' three-point accuracy. Kyle Anderson; PG; 6-8; 215; Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony; A versatile talent who can play the one to the four but will probably utilize exceptional basketball IQ as starting point guard. *Larry Drew II; PG; 6-2; 180; North Carolina; Played two full seasons and part of a third for Tar Heels.

When news of Shabazz Muhammad's college decision reached the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house on the UCLA campus, there was jubilation. "Everybody was screaming down the halls," Kumar Nadhan, a psychobiology student, said Thursday of the reaction to one of the nation's top two recruits announcing that he would become a Bruin. Dan Chikanov, another psychobiology student, said his roommates "were jumping up and down and we were all chanting 'Sha-bazz!' for five minutes straight.

The biggest enhancement to the fan experience at Pauley Pavilion will cost UCLA only a scholarship. Top prep prospect Shabazz Muhammad announced Wednesday that he would become a Bruin, immeasurably boosting the $136-million makeover of the team's arena that will be unveiled next season. The 6-foot-5 swingman from Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas, widely considered one of the top two prep seniors in the country, made his announcement in a nationally televised recruiting special on the first day of the spring signing period.

The overhaul of USC's basketball roster continued Wednesday when Los Angeles Fairfax High guard Brendyn Taylor signed a national letter with the Trojans. Taylor joins a class that includes November signees J.T. Terrell, a guard from Peninsula College in Washington, and Strahinja Gavrilovic, a Serbian forward who attends San Diego Rock Academy but did not play on the basketball team. "All of them are high-level players," USC Coach Kevin O'Neill said. "I like the class very much, especially with our guys coming back from injury and the guys who were sitting out. " Taylor, 6 feet 2 and 170 pounds, averaged 18 points a game last season.

Let's begin by bowing our heads in silent prayer for Len Elmore. He has a new job and will need all the help he can get. You remember Elmore, the 6-foot-9 former NBA player, who does intelligent commentary for network television on college basketball. A three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference player at Maryland, he was the 13th pick in the 1974 NBA draft, going to the Washington Bullets. He played eight seasons in the NBA, two more in the old ABA. In May, Elmore was appointed chief executive of an online support program for youth basketball called iHoops.

Pretty much everyone who wanders into Pat Summitt's office or visits her basketball practice these days has learned to fear the iPad. The coach keeps her tablet filled with brain-wrenching games. Crossword puzzles and Sudoku. Math quizzes and memory tests. "When people come by," said Tyler, her son, "she gets them to sit down and try one of those things. " It was seven months ago that doctors diagnosed Summitt with early-onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, an incurable brain disease that affects memory, thinking and behavior.

A high school kid dressed in a free sweat suit and giant hip glasses strolled across a red carpet into a television studio in North Carolina on Wednesday, stared into a camera and made the failing UCLA basketball program a brilliant promise. Now it's up to Ben Howland to keep it. When top-ranked prep forward Shabazz Muhammad announced he would be joining two other top-50 recruits at UCLA next season, the Bruins were instantly transformed from mediocrity to meteor. But can Ben Howland maintain the burn?