The college basketball recruiting class of 2012 is filled with incredible players, but these are the prospects who will truly impress during their freshman seasons.Athletic ability and skill guarantee that these 12 recruits are going to be highly successful in college basketball. While they may not be the best, they will certainly be the most impressive because of the flashy effectiveness they bring to the table.To be clear: These are not purely the best players ...

Indiana University basketball may have taken a couple years detour, but Tom Crean has the Hoosiers ready to challenge for the Big Ten and NCAA titles in 2012-13.Through hard work, determined patience and excellent recruiting, IU has returned to being one of the premiere teams in college basketball.This past season, Crean's crew went 27-9, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since Indiana made it to the NCAA Finals in 2002.Here are 10 ...

Nerlens Noel hasn’t even played a single minute for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats, and he has already caught the attention of NCAA investigators. A couple of weeks ago, Pete Thamel of the New York Times reported that the NCAA sent two members of its enforcement staff to Massachusetts (Noel’s home state) to inquire about the recruitment of Noel and the people surrounding the talented center. Now, is this a case of NCAA officials ...

One-and-done is a term synonymous with college basketball.Current NBA stars like Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose made successful jumps to the pro ranks after one year in college, while players like Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Austin Rivers are doing the same in this year's draft.While it's exciting to see some of these players play in the NBA, I personally believe the one-and-done rule must change to save the future of college basketball.Now, ...

Welcome to The Big Board, 3.0. For those of you that read my first Big Board and then my second Big Board (just a couple days ago), you'll notice that I broke each prospect down this week, due to several questions I had from readers. As we near the lottery drawing on May 30, I felt like it was time to get more in depth with the prospects. A few reminders: One, I'm not doing a ...

After J’Covan Brown announced his intentions to enter the NBA draft, Texas basketball fans started worrying that they would lose a second piece of the puzzle: Myck Kabongo. Kabongo took a while to announce his decision, before finally saying, “I think that being at Texas is the best thing for me.” Kabongo came to the Longhorns as one of the most highly rated recruits of the 2011 class. Hailing from Toronto, Rick Barnes’ residential Canadian ...

The Los Angeles Lakers have a rich history of basketball and championships; names like Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, to name a few, are synonymous with greatness.So after Game 2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, when Steve Blake missed a shot near the end of the game, Laker fans’ behavior was alarming. Despite multiple past championships and some of the greatest players in history, fanatical basketball fans fired death ...

College football is already in the midst of some seismic changes, and it looks like more are on the horizon.With the recent announcement that the Big 12 and SEC signed a five-year deal to have their champions play in a bowl game (starting in 2014), Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News reports that the sport could soon undergo more major realignment."I really can't believe I'm saying this," one Big 12 school source said. ...

The longstanding bitter rivalry between Michigan and the Ohio State Buckeyes has often been labeled as the greatest rivalry in all of sports, and there's never a bigger game on either team's respective schedule than their annual regular-season finale against one another. However, the Wolverines tilt with cross-town rival Michigan State on October 20th is, by far, the most important game they will play in 2012. At first glance, it seems blasphemous to say that any ...

Last season, Tiger fans saw a new-look Clemson team with a new offense led by offensive coordinator Chad Morris that gained national acclaim thanks to the likes of quarterback Tajh Boyd, freshman sensation Sammy Watkins and the ever-present Andre Ellington leading Clemson's rushing attack.And yet several weaknesses, such as an inconsistent offensive line and a porous defense, proved to be the Tigers' downfall late in the season, suffering blowout losses to Georgia Tech, NC State ...