Sunday, October 17, 1999
COLLEGE BASKETBALL INSIDER
Expansion means a weaker C-USA
BY MIKE DeCOURCY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The last time Conference USA basketball coaches got together, they discussed ways to strengthen the league's power rating and concluded they would try not to schedule opponents ranked above 125th in the Ratings Percentage Index standings.
Now, they'll have no choice.
East Carolina was No. 204 on the RPI scale in the 1998-99 season, but that did not dissuade the presidents of C-USA schools from adding the Pirates as full members of the league beginning in 2001, when TCU also will become a member.
UC's Bob Huggins is one league coach who publicly declared his dissatisfaction with the decision to expand to 14 teams in basketball, but a number of coaches and administrators are concerned about what this means for the league's future.
Several now believe it is inevitable Louisville will depart if the Big East loses Miami to the Atlantic Coast Conference — which is not only possible, but likely — and looks for a replacement. UC can only hope the ACC decides to expand dramatically and also takes Syracuse and/or Boston College, which might get the Bearcats a chance to follow the Cardinals to the Big East.
The odd thing about the C-USA expansion is that neither of the two men at the forefront of the decision — UC President Joseph Steger, who was chairman of the expansion committee, and Commissioner Mike Slive — has offered a concrete strategic reason why it was undertaken.
Steger said the impetus for the expansion came when the Western Athletic Conference split apart and the presidents of C-USA schools discussed their future.
“The real question for all of us when we talked was, "Are we going to break up? Or are we going to stick together?'” Steger said. “So we said we better get a volume that's decent, 12 or 14 teams, and see where it's going.”
Slive said the presidents were trying to build the strongest possible league.
Neither Steger nor Slive adequately addressed the dilution of competition and rivalries resulting from an expansion that prohibits basketball schools from playing one another every year.
UCONN CAN: The Connecticut Huskies may be even more oriented toward pressure defense than in the recent past — which is saying something, given the way they attacked the ball on the way to last year's national title.
They became more of a halfcourt team as they came closer to the Final Four, partly because play gets more conservative in the tournament, and partly because UConn could afford it with players like Richard Hamilton on offense and Ricky Moore on defense.
With those two gone, coach Jim Calhoun said he may rely more on the numbers he has available. He thinks his players one through 10 are better than last year's, but that last year's starting five were clearly better.
“I don't think we have the experience this year,” Calhoun said. “We're going to have to pressure. We've always tried to do this, but we'll try to make it more of a 40-minute situation where we wear you down, try to outnumber you, get the tempo higher.”
Junior shooting guard Albert Mouring probably will take Moore's place in the lineup, but Calhoun said he doesn't know who'll fill in for Hamilton, an All-American. It probably will be 6-foot-7 freshman Doug Wrenn or 6-10 sophomore Ajou Ajou Deng, who was ineligible to play last season but generated a lot of attention with his practice play.
AROUND THE NATION: DePaul 7-0 center Steven Hunter learned on the day before Midnight Madness he'll be eligible to play for the Blue Demons this season. The NCAA eligibility clearinghouse waited that long to approve him. His presence allows 6-8 sophomore Lance Williams to move to power forward and All-America candidate Quentin Richardson to shift to shooting guard.
• TCU and Houston may begin their new C-USA rivalry earlier than scheduled. They are both entered in the Top of the World Classic next month in Fairbanks, Alaska. If Houston beats Alaska-Fairbanks and TCU defeats California, they'll play in the second round.
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