With the seventh pick of the 2012 NBA draft, the Golden State Warriors selected former North Carolina Tar Heel Harrison Barnes.And with that selection, Golden State will officially be a strong shooting team. The Warriors already have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to light it up from the outside, but they lacked a player that could consistently take it to the hole.Barnes could be that guy for the Warriors. If he improves his ball-handling over ...

Predicting where NBA prospects will land is a science—and hardly an exact one. But today, I'm giving my predictions and tracking the four UNC Tar Heels entering the 2012 NBA draft.Tyler Zeller, Kendall Marshall, John Henson and Harrison Barnes are all up for grabs, and are currently taking up a lot of real estate on the NBA teams' big boards. Boards will shift and teams will surprise analysts and fans. The only thing we know ...

According to the Draft Express Top 100, six of the top 35 players in the 2012 NBA Draft are former Kentucky Wildcats. From the clear No. 1 pick, Anthony Davis, to the borderline first-rounder Marquis Teague, it appears Kentucky head coach John Calipari has personally gift-wrapped a shipment of NBA talent and sent it off to commissioner David Stern. Despite being part of the top recruiting class, the 2011 Wildcats put their egos aside and ...

It's early, but ESPN has given us a revised Top 25 to critique and utilize. Here, we'll look at 25 teams that didn't make the cut for The Worldwide Leader In Sports, but are the "next best" 25 teams in college basketball.Last season, nine teams that finished in the postseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll were not in the preseason poll. Some of those teams, like Murray State, are being overlooked once again despite strong seasons just one year ago.Read on ...

Living in Omaha, Nebraska, I have had a first-hand look over the past two weeks of two of the most prestigious amateur athletic organizations on the planet: the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA.Both organizations tout themselves as parties who care about sports and the athletes who participate in them. They both paint themselves as doing all they can to support, in many cases financially, the sports they govern.Sadly, this is not the case.Archaic policies and ...

Dynasties are good for well-followed sports, but not for college baseball. Arizona's victory ruined South Carolina's chance at the sport's longest run since USC from 1970-1974.A "three-peat" would have damaged whatever excitement the sport had earned for itself this year. South Carolina's squad was a fan favorite, but it wasn't because of their recent dominance.College baseball fans enjoyed South Carolina's unlikely runs in 2009 and 2010. They would have enjoyed this year's triumph through the ...

He's a bust already, before his first game. People are betting against Andre Drummond, the massive UConn big man who disappointed in his one-and-done year. Before last season, many thought him to be the No. 1 pick, ahead of Anthony Davis. In Chad Ford's most recent ESPN mock draft, Drummond has fallen to No. 7. He's chased down the draft board by the draft ghosts of Hasheem Thabeet and Greg Oden. It's understandable and unfair all ...

Arizona did not just win the College World Series, it dominated it. However, this title will not be a stepping stone to a period of dominance for the Wildcats.Winning this title was a major upset. South Carolina not only won the previous two national championships, but until last week, it had won 22 straight NCAA tournament games. It had a great roster filled with talent and experience that seemed to never give up.Unfortunately for the ...

Wake Forest men's basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik got the year off to a very good start with his 2013 recruiting  class after Greg McClinton, a forward from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, committed to Wake earlier this June.The Demon Deacons have been struggling in the past few years, but Bzdelik reigned in an impressive seven man 2012 class, including top recruits Codi Miller-McIntyre and Arnaud Moto. With McClinton starting off the 2013 class in the right direction, ...

Arizona went 10-0 at the College World Series to win the school’s fourth baseball national championship, and several talented players will be back next year. The Wildcats put on a dominant performance and never trailed during any game in Omaha. Arizona had several players taken in this year’s draft, including star shortstop Alex Mejia and ace Kurt Heyer. These players may or may not return next year, but regardless of their decisions, there will still ...