Hoops Notes

SUPER SENIORS
Which top ranked teams have good senior talent?

NO. 1 ILLINOIS (17-0) - Two senior starters, Luther Head (15.8 points per game) and Roger Powell (12.8), and 7-foot-2 reserve Nick Smith.


NO. 6 OKLAHOMA STATE (12-1) - Seven seniors including an all-senior starting lineup, led by former Division I transfers Joey Graham (19.1) and John Lucas (18.8).


NO. 7 SYRACUSE (16-1) - Three senior starters including All-America candidate Hakim Warrick (19.4, 8.5 rebounds).


NO. 8 GEORGIA TECH (11-3) - Five seniors including stalwarts B.J. Elder (13.2), Will Bynum (11.2) and Luke Schenscher (10.4, 7.9 rebounds).


NO. 15 MICHIGAN STATE (10-2) - Three seniors on the perimeter - 6-3 Chris Hill (10.4), 6-4 Kelvin Tolbert (11.3) and 6-6 Alan Anderson (12.8) - rank among nation's most experienced
trio.

SCHEDULING MAJOR DIV-IA HOOPS
Quote from our guy:

John O"Connor, Georgia Tech"s director of basketball operations, said his primary goal is to create a balanced schedule.


'You have some big games,' O"Connor said. 'Then you try to balance it off a little bit in terms of playing the mid-majors.'

CHRIS PAUL: WHO PAYS HIS CELL PHONE BILL?

The Deacons' Chris Paul, who is close friends with Winthrop's Chris Gaynor, was on his cell phone with McCants on Wednesday, hours before the Tar Heels faced Georgia Tech.


"Trying to get him ready for the game," said Paul, who had also spoken with Tech's Jarrett Jack for 90 minutes the night before. "But you can't root for nobody!"

TIM BRANDO ON THE ACC & OTHER STUFF

Although the Yellow Jackets lost big at North Carolina this week, they were without B.J. Elder, their No. 1 scorer who makes a big difference for them.


The ACC legitimately has a great shot of getting three teams into the Final Four in St. Louis this year.

HODGE, LEADING HIS TEAM...NOWHERE

Hodge repeatedly raised the Georgia Tech game as the new barometer for a 10-5 team with few significant victories against a play-dough nonconference schedule.

COACHES DECRY LIMITED ACCESS TO RECRUITS
Say the word "decry" about 10 times and tell me if it still makes sense?

Basketball coaches Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech and Roy Williams of North Carolina have opposing views on recently adopted NCAA academic reforms that will be in place beginning next season.


It's a nice idea in the broadest concept, but, from Hewitt's vantage point, terribly narrow-minded.


"I think that type of thinking, that concept, is extremely flawed," Hewitt said. "It sounds good to the media ... and fans who don't understand. It's more of a PR move as opposed to addressing sincere and meaningful problems we have graduating kids."


Hewitt's biggest issue is that schools won't operate on a level playing field, citing the differences between a school where a science curriculum is predominant, like Georgia Tech, being measured against a liberal arts school.

On the issue of access to players:

Hewitt agreed: "I hope they realize that there's a lot of sense in giving us more access, because you have so many people these days trying to get access to our players. I think the more access the coaches have, we can give them proper guidance."

RECRUITING - THE AMINUS
Well, big brother Alade will be coming in next year. Evidently little brother Al Farouq is making quite a name for himself as a high school freshman:

The Aminus: As Alade Aminu is putting the finishing touches on his high school career, younger brother Al-Farouq is just beginning. Alade, a 6-foot-9 Georgia Tech signee, is averaging 19.5 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for Stephenson. Al-Farouq, a 6-6 freshman, is averaging 12 points, 10.3 rebounds and five blocked shots for Wesleyan, which has a 13-6 record in Class AA. Al-Farouq, who is 14, has a 72-inch wingspan. "Al-Farouq is playing spectacular for a freshman," Wesleyan coach Bill Bufton said.

WEARING ROSE-COLORED GLASSES

Georgia Tech just doesn't look like the same team it did a year ago. I guess the luster of being the pursuer has worn off, as last season's national runner-up has become the pursued.

How soon we forget. How easy it is to remember last season, when the Jackets struggled through the ACC schedule, barely finishing above .500. How easy it is to forget a humiliating loss to UGA (oh wait, that's not easy to forget). The bottom-line is this - the frustrations you feel about the team right now were mirred plenty of times last season. Plenty.


WHERE ARE THEY NOW - BOBBY CREMINS
Nice little story on our coach as he spoke to the Chatanooga Rotary Club.