By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

Remember when Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor was being recruited? As far as high school players go, his hype was bigger than Jesus, Jimmy Clausen, and Tim Couch combined. (This analogy is contingent on Jesus’ having played college football, and I’m assuming that’s true because he’s a part of Notre Dame’s wall of fame.)

Entering his junior season, Pryor hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.

Katie Witham covers Ohio State football and basketball for the Big Ten Network, and before spring practice started, I asked her what Buckeye fans will be focused in on this April.

“This spring all eyes, including mine will be on Terrelle Pryor and how he’s progressed. The kid is good. There’s no doubt about that,” Witham said.

“The biggest thing for me with Pryor is whether or not he can back up all the talk; and that means doing away with all the easy turnovers and making something happen every snap,” she continued.

Last fall Pryor was the preseason Big Ten Player of the year. He fell well short of that expectation, but he did have his moments. I’ll let Sport Bank’s Ohio St. expert Hans Hetrick sum up Pryor’s ‘09.

Pryor obviously closed out the season with a fantastic Rose Bowl, but there are a few caveats that should be considered, namely, his release and decision making, both of which are slower than the Olentangy River in the middle of summer.

Oregon brought a lot of people into the box in that game. Remember, running the ball and playing good defense was OSU modis operandi throughout the season. The Ducks were going to make Pryor win the game through the air, and he did. But he did it against a small Oregon defense. Pryor’s ability to break tackles and a fantastic job by the offensive line gave him an extraordinary amount of time to throw the ball or pick a gap and run. In my mind, Pryor still hasn’t proved he can carry the team on his arm, which he’ll need to do if the Buckeyes are to make a serious run at the NCAA championship.

The good news for Pryor is that almost the entire offense is returning for 2010, standout tackle Jim Cordle being the only loss. That should help Pryor pick right up where he left off in the Rose Bowl.

That hasn’t exactly happened this spring. Outside of the most football-crazy portions of SEC and Big 12 country, there are precious few who care about spring football. But for those that do, eyes have indeed been watching Pryor, and the results have been less than promising.

I’ll let the O-Zone describe what went down on Saturday.

The Buckeyes lost five starters on defense this off-season, but it didn’t show one bit Saturday. Jim Heacock and his defense held on to the coveted Scarlet practice jerseys with a 78-24 thumping of the offense in the spring jersey scrimmage…With the defense hounding him all morning, Pryor finished the game just 5-of-16 passing, unofficially, for 45 yards. Part of that was the cold weather, part of it was dropped passes and bad protection, but a big portion of it was just bad passing by the junior signal caller who was wearing a black no-contact jersey.

It’s become abundantly clear that Pryor hates wearing the black jersey, and seems to struggle when he is confined to being a pocket passer at the mercy of his offensive tackles. For that reason, Tressel doesn’t expect to get an accurate reading on Pryor’s progress from this type of setting.

The article also mentions how this game had only one touchdown in it. Yet there were 102 points scored! What the..?! If watching one team play itself doesn’t turn you off from spring football, then perhaps the inconsistent, incoherent, and indecipherable scoring systems for the games will.

Yes, it’s true that we can’t learn much about a quarterback from a game where he’s not allowed to be hit. And perhaps Pryor’s ugly stats do mean much less in a game where he’s not allowed to scramble (especially when analyzing a QB whose game has such an important running dimension). And we should recall that Pryor put up the most impressive statistics of his college career during his final six games in ‘09, all Buckeye wins, capped off with a 338 yard day which earned him the Rose Bowl MVP award.

But this much is clear; if Pryor doesn’t challenge for national QB awards and/or lead his Buckeyes into the national championship discussion, his career will be a tremendous bust. In 2010, should Pryor struggle, those shortfalls can no longer be blamed on lack of experience.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

When Kalin Lucas went down, Michigan St. lost their best player and floor general. His replacement Korie Lucious, a 5-10 sophomore point guard from Milwaukee, did an admirable job in his place.

He didn’t have the flashiest game statistically, with 9 points on 3-9 shooting, but he played every minute but one, contributed 6 boards and only committed 2 turnovers.

“Watching ESPN this last week I’ve been hearing a lot of analysts saying I can’t run the team,” Lucious said. “They don’t think we can win because Kalin went down, but I just tried to show everybody that I’m a good point guard and can run the team to a win,” he continued.

Most importantly, Lucious hit the game’s most pivotal shot, a stunning turnaround jumper with the shot clock expiring on the game’s most crucial possession.

“I just think it’s from years of staying in the gym, just working out a lot with my dad and my friends and whoever else was in the gym with me, my teammates, just having the confidence in me to take that shot, Lucious said about the play.

“I mean just staying in the gym throughout all my years and just trying to perfect shots that may seem difficult or something like that,” he said. But I don’t know, I just try to take it with confidence and try to get an open shot. I saw the shot clock was going down and thank God it went in,” Korie stated.

“This guy did a heck of a job, Korie did. It’s not easy to run the point. It’s not easy to run the point at Michigan State,” MSU coach Tom Izzo said. “And, yes, down the stretch had enough confidence to go to them in a couple of those keys, including one of the incredible shots,” the King Leonidas of the MSU Spartans continued.

It’s true, running the point at Michigan St. requires living up to the legacy of Magic Johnson, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith, Drew Neitzel and now, Kalin Lucas. Big shoes to fill indeed.

“I didn’t mess with Korie much, because I knew he was cocky enough and I knew he was tough enough, so I felt like everyone else putting pressure on him, I said just go play your game within our system,” Izzo said.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Here’s more from Lucious in his own words (see video below)

Katie Witham, Ohio State reporter for the Big Ten Network, discusses OSU potential with fellow Buckeye expert Paul M. Banks, Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

(PMB) The Buckeyes have been placed into my regional each of the past 3 weekends, so after spending so much quality time with Thad Matta lately, (this following a season covering two Big Ten teams: Illinois and Northwestern) I sort of feel like I’ve earned my Master’s in OSU b-ball, and I may be a doctoral candidate if they reach Indy. I imagine, due to your work with the Big Ten Network, you’re maybe in the same place?

(KW) Definitely!  But we’re being paid to watch and talk about sports so can we really complain?! I consider myself extremely fortunate to be doing what I’m doing.  Ohio State is known for their excellence in all of their athletic programs and Thad Matta is one of most amiable and genuine coaches I have ever had the chance to interview.

(PMB) Agreed. We do have a dream job. Everyone knows all about Evan Turner; how great he is. You think he’ll win the Naismith and Wooden awards? Conversely, what flaws do you see in his game? Since OSU has no real options at point guard (P.J. Hill doesn’t get many minutes), Turner has had to set up the offense all year, and he’s made more than his share of turnovers. I’m actually getting tired of coaches and announcers making the “he almost had a quadruple double if you count the TOs” joke every time he gets close a triple double, or close to it. He’s appeared a bit rattled lately. Illinois got into his head with trash talk during the conference tournament, and UCSB seemed to fluster him by getting physical in their double teams.

(KW) Player of the Year is a huge accomplishment and no one deserved it more than Evan Turner this season.  He’s the type of player that is blessed with natural ability, but also works hard in developing it.  I think if he keeps at it, he wins the Naismith and Wooden.  If he has a weakness, it’s being too overconfident at times.  He’s a damn good player.  There’s no doubt about that…but there’s a difference in playing like a good player and playing like you know you’re a good player.

(PMB) A player of Turner’s stature needs a good nickname, so far I’ve heard “His Royal Smoothness,” “the Velociraptor” and as Mark Titus of Club Trillion calls him, “The Villain”. Heard any good ET nicknames? Care for any of these?

(KW) Actually, I haven’t heard any.  I like “His Royal Smoothness” though because he does make it look so easy.

(PMB) Let’s move on to the great players overshadowed by Turner: William “Slinky” Buford- arguably college basketball’s best second banana and the guy you’re interviewing in the introductory picture, David Lighty, and Dallas Lauderdale. (Readers: click on the highlighted names to read feature interviews on each player)

All of them have potential NBA skill sets and talents. And we can’t forget Jon Diebler, a deadly spot up shooter who gives this team another viable weapon. 

(KW) I know Diebler’s our 3′s man, but William Buford is shooting 43% from beyond the arc just in the last 2 games, and for me, Buford seems to come up with the big bucket right as Ohio State needs a swift kick in their butt.  That’s huge as a teammate.

David Lighty, the Buckeye’s unsung hero.  This guy can play and unfortunately is so overlooked most of the time because Evan Turner is that good.  Defensively, he’s my man and such a critical part of what holds this team together.

Dallas Lauderdale, the guy knows a good pair of shoes when he sees them!  Never fails to compliment me on my best pair of heels…and has come up with 11 blocks so far in the tournament.  Love it.

And the work ethic and just downright fight that Jon Diebler possess…The kid been battling a mean case of the flu throughout the NCAA’s, even had an IV (or two) before the Georgia Tech game and still knocks down four 3-pointers in the 2^nd half to keep OSU in the lead!  That’s impressive.

(PMB) Yep, Lauderdale led the Big Ten in blocks this season, and Lighty always does a great job disrupting passing opponents passing lanes with his long arms.  Just how far do you think this team of four guards and one center (who only play 6, or at most 7 guys in a game) can go? Their bracket certainly seems to breaking their way and they’ve looked really good when considering how uncharacteristically poor Turner has shot in the tourney so far. I think they’ll take the Midwest Regional this weekend.

(KW) I genuinely think they could go all the way.  I know all we’ve been talking about in the media lately is OSU’s lack of depth but you know as well as I do that’s more or less media hype.  There’s a funny thing that happens sometimes in sports…when you’re on a team that has a  group of players with a lot of ability and click together…anything can happen.  I think the biggest thing for the Buckeyes is coming out and playing an entire 40 minutes at the level they are capable of.  If Ohio State plays to their opponent’s level, they won’t make it much further.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks, Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

As I’ve pointed out before, National Player of the Year Evan Turner is like the Hillary Clinton of college basketball: quite a polarizing figure. Fans of teams eliminated by Turner’s Ohio State Buckeyes HATE him. And as the tournament rolls on, this bandwagon will indeed pick up more steam.

But on the other side, he’s also Mr. Popularity. He told me after the Big Ten Tournament Michigan buzzer beater, he had 150 text messages waiting for him when he got back to the locker room. And of his many close friends, a few are college hoops stars.

In the past I profiled (click where highlighted to read more about Turner’s friendship with each player) Illinois Demetri McCamey, and Penn State’s Talor Battle. This week we add Georgia Tech’s native of Oak Park, IL Iman Shumpert. And if you had Turner himself to this team, we’ll just need a fifth to round out the All-Turner BFF team.

“You always want to see guys from your city do well, but we also want to win and be mentioned as better than the other one,” Shumpert said Saturday when asked about his upcoming match-up against Turner and the Buckeyes.

The two players were 8th grade teammates with Turner at the two, and Shumpert running the point. It’s a rare experience to have two players with high NBA first round draft potential on the same team middle school team. In high school, they played against each other multiple times. After Evan Almighty and Ohio State eliminated Shumpert’s Tech team, Evan talked about what the thought of Shumpert’s skills today versus back then. “You know, he’s definitely gotten stronger, defense has gotten a lot better,” Turner stated. “He’s always been a leader. But pretty much the same. He’s definitely a competitor and he’s coming out to win,” he continued.

His Royal Smoothness Evan Turner also talked about how much he keeps in touch with Shumpert. “Actually, me and Iman talk a lot away from basketball. We talk a lot on AIM and Skype and stuff on Facebook. So when we’re at home we usually see each other for the most part. We’re definitely friends,” he said.

I was more intrigued though by a soundbite from the previous day. A reporter asked Shumpert, “have you ever played against a guard who rebounds as well as Turner does? “Demetri McCamey. Demetri was actually a five man for MacArthur when we were all in 8th grade, and Evan and I went up against him, so he naturally rebounds as well as anybody,” he responded. Looking at where these three guys are now, and where they come from, it’s a very strong example of just how much basketball talent we have in the Chicago area.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks and Jeff Ghiringhelli, The Sports Bank.net

By now you all know that Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas will be out for the remainder of the tournament with a ruptured achilles tendon. Rehabilitation will last 4-6 months, but head coach Tom Izzo is confident that he will make a full recovery and be ready for next season.

Stepping into the spotlight for the second time this season will be backup point guard Korie Lucious. He filled in for Lucas earlier this season when the star point guard went down with a sprained ankle. Lucious did not fare very well, as the Spartans lost three games in a row against tough opposition with him at the point. Officially, MSU is 0-1 this year without Lucas

Things may be different this time however. Lucious hit the exciting, buzzer beating three pointer on Sunday to beat Maryland, and send the Spartans to the Sweet 16. His confidence should be sky high. Of course, even if Lucious does well the rest of the tournament, MSU will be missing their team leader.

Lucas led the Spartans in points, assists, field goals made and attempted, and minutes per game. Not to mention his abilities as the floor general and calming influence during the game. He didn’t earn the nickname “Too Easy” for nothing. “Leadership- that’s what my most important trait is,” Lucas told me after the Big ten tournament, “also what I’m focused on improving on the most,” he continued.

Lucas is easily one of the quickest players in basketball, if not THE quickest. His loss greatly hurts their transition game, so expect the Spartans to possibly play at a slower pace versus Northern Iowa than they did against Maryland. You won’t be hearing a game plan like this

“As far as us I think we are going to push the pace a little bit. That’s something we do well. We’re going to make sure we push the ball, make sure I push the ball at all times and we’re going to make sure we run,” Lucas said before Sunday’s game.

Of course, no player is perfect, and Lucas is no exception. After returning from his sprained ankle, Lucas went through a stretch where he only averaged nine points per game with a shooting percentage under 40 percent. The Spartans struggled as a result, finishing their last ten games at 5-5. He can also get frustrated on the court at times, and that can bring the entire team down.

Izzo knows the importance of Lucas to his team’s success, and has used some tough love this season to prove it. He threw Lucas out of a practice near the beginning of the season, saying that he needed to better realize and demonstrate his role as leader. Lucas responded well, but now that he is done, other players must fill this role.

Senior Raymar Morgan has been playing very well of late, and he must keep it up this weekend. Sophomore Draymond Green is expected to see an increase in minutes, and may even be asked to become the new vocal leader. Green fits the role well despite being an underclassman. He is not afraid to speak up and show emotions on the court, as he began doing so at the Final Four last year. This season, Izzo has clearly shown he’s frustrated with how State’s year has gone. Both Draymond and Kalin were asked what needs to be done to get this team back into Izzo’s good graces.

“I think we’re pretty much past that point where he’s frustrated. It’s one and done time. We have pretty much wiped our slate clean of everything that went on in the regular season. We’re all working together as a team now. Coaches, players, managers, everyone, because we all know that one loss and you’re done for the year. So it’s pretty much wiped clean and no more frustration for anyone,” Green responded.

Kalin’s response? “Pretty much agree with that answer.”

Regardless of who steps up statistically, Lucas’ shoes cannot be completely filled. He will obviously travel with the team this weekend, so his vocal leadership will be present on the bench. Of course, everyone on the team wishes he was in uniform instead. How the Spartans react and play on Friday will be very interesting to watch.

A good sign for State? They already beat a higher-seeded Maryland team without a 100% Kalin Lucas. They won despite playing without their star for much of the game, and when they did have him on Sunday, he really wasn’t himself again. Lucas tweaked his ankle again in the win over New Mexico St. on Friday.

“I wouldn’t say he’s a hundred percent. Because I think he’s a hundred percent in his mind because he knows what is on the line and that’s all that matters to me. But there’s no doubt he tweaked that ankle again and he did practice today, wanted to practice which speaks a little about him,” Izzo said on Saturday before the game.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net Paul M. Banks has an exclusive with Ohio State’s Mark Titus, founder and author of the enormously popular “Club Trillion: Life views from the end of the bench” blog.

Ohio State walk-on Mark Titus created his own blog, “Club Trillion”, whose name refers to his stats in most games: 1 minute of playing time, and zeroes for every other statistic. His blog, and lack of playing time have garnered lots of national media attention including: ESPN.com’s ‘BS Report’ with Bill Simmons, the New York Times.

Last April, Titus used his blog to formally announce his entrance into the 2009 NBA Draft. Even though his draft stock is about as high as Lehmann Brothers. This specific blog entry was a headline story on Yahoo!’s home page.

PB: So the Ohio State SID tells me she has to arrange more media requests for you than just about any player. What’s been the best part of all the publicity you’ve received?

MT: “I just wanted to tell some stories, having a unique perspective, being on a top 10 basketball team. I never expected it to be as big as it is. That wasn’t the goal, I was trying to have a lot of fun with it all and it’s been pretty fun for me.”

PB: Web 2.0, Facebook where you have about 10,000 fans, Twitter- all this stuff emerging now made it the perfect time for something like this to blow up?

MT: “Everything worked out well for me, the fact that I’m at a school where there’s a huge following all over the world. We got alumni everywhere so that definitely helps, the social media going on helps me, the fact that we have a really good team helps, it’s all been a nice culmination.”

PB: And it’s made you kind of a campus celebrity?

MT: “When I go out in Columbus now, people recognize me and that’s kind of fun for me. Because the first year at Ohio State- I was Greg Oden’s friend, and walking around it was “Whose that guy walking around with Greg Oden?” Now people know my name.”

PB: And it’s changed the national perception of bench-warmers, and computer geeks- two types of people who typically are seated as far away from the “cool table” as possible.

MT: “I never really had that intention, but it has. There’s a lot of people who have fun not playing. I guess that’s been the most rewarding part. There’s high school kids who email me and tell me they don’t play on their high school team. They were discouraged but then they found out about my blog and now they turn it into a fun game and they’re not so discouraged anymore.”

PB: So now you could even say it’s cool to be a benchwarmer and a blogger…maybe?

MT: “Yeah exactly, I had no idea what a blog even was until I started mine. Benchwarming is not necessarily something I loved doing. It’s not like 2 years ago I wanted to be the face of benchwarming or anything. Now that we’re having fun wit it, it’s no so bad.

PB: And you have a book deal in the works?

MT: “I’ve been contacted by a lot of publishers, I need to get a book agent and sort it all out. There’s going to be a book, a fun little thing. I’m going to write about my experiences at Ohio State, the fun things I’ve been able to do, the great players I’ve played with, and more behind the scenes stuff that I haven’t been able to talk about on my blog.”

PB: Future plans after graduation?

MT: “I really don’t know. I’m really opinionated, so maybe a column or something would be cool, but I don’t have my eyes set on anything. Whatever comes up, I’ll try to tackle.”

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

MILWAUKEE- Orlando “Tubby” Smith is entering his second NCAA Tournament (and third year) as the leader of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Despite reaching the second round on 14 prior occasions during his career, he has to win a tourney game with the Gophs. Is this the year?

On Sunday a reporter asked how the team could do in the tourney this year, given how much they learned from making the big dance last year.

“…Not just the experience from last year’s NCAA Tournament, I think we’d play well in the NCAA Tournament. We’re never going to have to play four games in a row again, so right away I could see the fatigue on us, either mental, this is the second that I’ve coached in, one back at Kentucky, and it’s a challenge. That wall, it’ll hit you at a certain point in time, and you’re hoping that other guys will step up and make plays. I know Blake, he’s probably completely dead. His shot I don’t think was barely getting to the rim, stuff like that, because he’s having to work so hard,” he said.

Smith has the 8th highest winning percentage among active coaches, and he has a national championship, 4 elite eights and 10 sweet sixteens to his credit. However, Twin Cities tourney bids haven’t been all that common until Tubby showed up (especially with program naughtiness vacating those great seasons in the mid to late 90s). Expanding the field would get Minnesota, annual bubble dwellers into the big dance more often. And it would make things easier for coaches in general. Tubby gave the stock coach answer when asked about expansion.

“I’ve been in favor for a while. I think it’s a great — one of the greatest sporting events in the world, and certainly here, and I think I mentioned before, there was 340-some Division I schools, and that’s been expanded — we keep expanding there, but we haven’t expanded the tournament. Aggregate, make sure you expand and allow some more student-athletes to have a chance to experience this wonderful atmosphere of March Madness,” he said.

Since Tubby took over the team went from 8–22 in 2006–07 to 20–14 in 2007–08. Smith also led his Golden Gophers to the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals after defeating 2nd seeded Indiana that year. Coach Smith then netted a top 25 recruiting class, the best in MANY years for the program. Last year, Tubby led Minnesota to a record of 22–11, and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Last week Tubby redeemed Minnesota’s mediocre, up and down season during the Big Ten Tournament, with 3 wins in 3 days (one in overtime over Michigan St.) to advance to Minnesota’s first ever appearance in the Big Ten championship game. Smith has a consecutive 20-win season streak of 17 going for him. But for him to show the University and the rest of the state that the rebuilding project he started is moving forward, he needs to win a tournament game. Now. In 2008, Smith had the highest salary of any state employee in Minnesota, and in this venture, ROI=wins in the big dance

.

Will his vast experience get him there?

“It can be useful, but it’s more important to have good players, and we have some pretty talented players. Colton and Ralph are very talented, big men that are proven now and starting to play their best basketball.

It helps because you’ve been through the wars and because of age, I guess, and longevity and experience in a number of different opportunities. But it’s all about preparation, whether it’s with your staff. That helps, also, because all the guys on the staff have coached in tournament play, and so we draw from all those resources, and it’s been helpful for I think the focus of the team and their mental concentration, probably all starting with — they talk about being a unit, one unit, team work, playing together, playing unselfishly, and those are the things as a coach you work for.” Tubby stated.

Personally, I think the Gophers are getting hot at the right time, and will upset #11 seeded Xavier tomorrow. What about #3 seeded Pittsburgh on the other side of the bracket? Should they get by Oakland of course…well, we’ll see.

And of course, I can’t write an interview feature profile without explaining how he got the name Tubby.

Smith, was born in Scotland, Maryland, the sixth of 17 children born to sharecroppers Guffrie and Parthenia Smith. His large family accounts for his unusual nickname. Of all the Smith children, Tubby was most fond of staying in the galvanized washtub where the children were bathed. Smith says he tried to shake the moniker several times, but it stuck incessantly. He recalls that a 10th grade teacher who didn’t tolerate nicknames was the last person to call him by his proper name, Orlando.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

INDIANAPOLIS- Big Ten player of the year, and likely national player of the year Evan Turner has become quite the polarizing figure this weekend. The Ohio State swing-man made magical memories for OSU fans on his way to becoming Big Ten tournament MVP. But he also angered many partisans of the teams who were vanquished by the Ohio State Buckeyes; en route to their tournament championship.

If he’s on your side- you love him. Here’s what his coach Thad Matta had to say after the tournament championship game.

“You know, at what point I literally said, hey, take the game over, and that’s when he hit the three off the pull-up. But when you say that to a guy like Evan, he’s so cerebral basketball-wise, he can do it with the pass, you can do it with the defensive stop. But his play-making ability is really good. And just with his size, they had smaller guys on him, they tried Johnson on him there for a while, but it was — when you look at the body of work over the weekend,

I mean, this has to go down as probably — I know I’ve been in this league for six years. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Of course, if you’re playing against Turner, you probably don’t enjoy his body of work so much. I even heard two different nicknames for ET circulating around the BTT. People who love him call him “His Royal Smoothness,” his detractors refer to him as “The Velociraptor.” Evan was candid about his disgust with the Illini trash-talking on Saturday. “They were just running their mouths too much, and that was it.They were hitting shots and front runners, and they were running them off entirely too much. That’s all I’m saying,” Turner re-iterated.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term “front-runner” he means they only talk smack when they’re winning, and remaining quiet when the game is tight.

So what did certain Illinois players say?

Now I can’t verify this, but what I heard from three different reporters who were court-side for Illini-Ohio St, was Illini freshman D.J. Richardson supposedly said: “If I keep spanking you, they’re going to send my black ass to jail.” At Turner. And Turner’s friend/former high school teammate Demetri McCamey added: “You’re going to prison,” at Richardson. Again these are not verbatim QUOTES, just what was SUPPOSEDLY overheard. Neverthless be proud Illini Nation. Your team, a bubble team, was talking smack to the Sporting News player of the year and his potential #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament teammates. As an alum, I find this to be one of the finest Illini moments of 2010 so far.

Of course, Turner is anything but innocent in this exchange, as we saw him make the “grasping money” signal with his hands towards the Illinois bench in one of the overtime sessions.

Whether that signifies the money he’ll soon make in the NBA, that his shot is “so money,” I don’t know. But what I do know is minutes after Ohio State’s 72-53 route at Illinois on Feb. 14, Evan Tweeted “You all witnessed the ‘Valentine’s Day massacre,”’ on his Twitter account after finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. So you could say he started this up a month ago.

(Also, in a semi-related story, Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson drew a technical foul for allegedly saying “he keeps grabbing on my sh#$t” to the referee; in reference to an opposing Minnesota player during the other game Saturday night.)

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net,

This year’s NCAA tournament will see Arizona, North Carolina, UCLA and Indiana missing from the dance card. Those four tradition rich programs have produced 22 National Championships and 144 tournament appearances. So what are the benchmarks, the numbers, the standards of entry into the same class as the four historically elite programs I just mentioned?

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, whose program has been in the national conversation for the last 10 years or so, offered a couple definitions. Izzo has led his Spartans to 6 Elite Eights in 9 years, 5 final fours in 11 years. However, his most impressive statistic is the fact that every player he’s coached for all four years at State has been to at least one Final Four.

“The old adage is true: it’s harder to stay there than to get there. There’s more outside distractions, not the media, but for the players: agents, different things they deal with, and recruiting is getting harder. I think there’s more cheating, I think it’s getting worse as we make more money- let’s be honest about it,” Izzo said.

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So what is the gold standard?

“There’s NEVER an off-season when you’re at a a school like ours; which means the school doesn’t recruit to itself like a Kentucky or Kansas or Carolina does.  We’re not Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State football; those are all 100 year deals. But you still have to stay up to those standards,” Izzo said.

I asked for further clarification on what the term “recruit to itself” means. Basically, it seems like the benchmark is having more people come to you than you coming to them.

“The program {Michigan St.} does not recruit to itself, but I’m not sure it ever will and there’s only 5 or 6 programs that do that. Do I think we’re in that next tier? Yeah I do, the UConns, Texas, Florida, UCLA’s a different bird because they were so good for so long. But I have to be out every day of the summer. I think I’ve missed two days in 14 years. Those programs {the top tier} they work, but they can be out 10-12 days in the summer. And that’s not gonna change, not in my era. Because what I’m trying to build, they built at Kentucky and Carolina in 50 and 70 years. What I’m hoping to do is get to that point where the basement and first floor are so good. Maybe one of my guys comes in from there and takes it up another level down the road,” Izzo responded before later articulating about what growth he himself has left to achieve:

“My next step is to learn to enjoy what we have, because we proved now that we’ve sustained it, and that was a big deal because if you can do it for 10-12 years or more, you should be able to say, yeah we weren’t a shot in the dark. And I’m not sure I’ve learned to do that. Players got to learn new things, so do coaches,” he said.

Essentially, Tom Izzo regards his program as not within the top tier of elite programs, but in the second tier right beneath it. Is the pantheon the ultimate goal for him?

“It bothers me enough to drive me, but it doesn’t eat me alive. And makes me want to say let’s win the third national championship, let’s be elite in that way; not many coaches have done that. The comparisons to the Dukes and Carolinas, that stuff is ultimately out of my control.”

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

The f$%&ing selection committee can’t seem to get anything right.  Those idiots in their ivory tower stare at computers all damn weekend for one weekend a year and then make horrible decisions.  Florida?  Really?  Florida?  And Utah State?  How do they justify putting Minnesota in over Illinois, when Illinois finished better in the Big Ten?

Okay okay.  That was my initial reaction.  The reality is that Minnesota earned their way in by playing as well or better than the Illini in the tourney while adding a win in Champaign to their resume late in the season.  Utah State and Florida did not deserve to be there, but Illinois really hurt themselves by losing 5 of 6 down the stretch; essentially melting down when the eyes of the college basketball world were upon them the last few weeks of the season.  So if the selection committee isn’t to blame, then who is?

Maybe Bruce Weber shouldn’t get a pass, as the team took the floor night in and night out looking less than motivated.

McCamey, the supposed leader of the team, definitely deserves some share of the blame.  His atrocious defense and lack of any real leadership qualities besides a decent jump shot and streaky passing skills were a problem.

Davis and Tisdale?  I would have to say that one of my worst moments of the season was a few weeks ago when the Illini were on national television and I heard Steve Lavin explain how the Illini big men play “more of a European style of basketball”.  Ouch.  One big man like that can be effective, but two?  Who will rebound?  No one apparently, as the Illini got beat on the offensive glass all season long.

I will tell you one thing that deserves no blame at all, but instead a round of applause: The Illini home crowd.  Game in and game out, even when the team did not show any heart, Assembly Hall was jumping with crazy passionate fans ready to go balls out for their team.  They deserve a lot of credit, and possibly an apology from the entire team.  Not every team has that kind of support, there were a lot of road games this year where the Illini looked up and saw empty arenas.  Not in Champaign.

I’m not going to follow the Illini’s “miracle” run in the NIT this year, but there is some Illini news that might cheer you up.  One of our top recruits coming in next year, the 7-foot Meyers Leonard, led his high school team to a state championship.  Here is a beautiful highlight of him putting the ball on the floor and throwing down a nasty dunk from his Illinois state championship run:

He better not be “European-Style”. We already have two of those.

By Paul M. Banks Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net

INDIANAPOLIS- Ohio State’s Evan Turner is likely going to sweep the national college basketball player of the year awards. He truly is royally smooth on the court. On Friday, in the Big Ten quarterfinals, his 40-foot buzzer beater to eliminate Michigan was the lead national story in almost every sports outlet. “I got 150 texts about it when I got back to my phone in here,” Turner said said Saturday.

But even “His Royal Smoothness” can get rattled by trash talk sometimes. And after his Buckeyes beat the Illinois Fighting Illini 88-81 in double overtime, Turner discussed how the trash talking by his opponents got under his skin.

“It definitely got me going. Usually I don’t really — I show emotion but I don’t really get too much into it like that. For them to start running their mouths, they really, really annoyed me. I knew we were a tougher team and everything we’ve been through. I started thinking about the sand pits, all the injuries, we always battled back through that. I knew what type of team we had. I knew what we had was way tougher than what they had, and definitely I wasn’t trying to lose.” Turner said.

The Big Ten player of the year fouled out in the second overtime, but still finished with a game 31 points, along with 10 rebounds, and six assists. Despite the fact that Turner is close friends with Illinois star Demetri McCamey, (they attended St. Joseph’s high school in Chicago together), there was some acrimony in this game.

“They were just running their mouths too much, and that was it.They were hitting shots and front runners, and they were running them off entirely too much. That’s all I’m saying,” Turner re-iterated.

For more on this, watch the video of the interview below:

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks, President of The Sports Bank.net

When Michigan State meets #3 Purdue on Sunday, it’ll have huge influence on who wins the Big Ten regular season title. But beyond that…who will eventually take Purdue’s #1 seed in the NCAA tourney now?

The Purdue Boilermakers are 12-3 in the Big Ten, a half-game ahead of Ohio State and a full game in front of the Michigan State Spartans, so Sunday’s clash in West Lafayatte between the two is already huge. But now we have the added storyline of Purdue playing their first game without their most important player- Robbie Hummel. And it will be the first of EVERY game they’ll play this season without him, as he is out for the season with a torn ACL.

When I asked Tom Izzo earlier this season, who Purdue’s most valuable player is, he told me “I think it’s Hummel. He’s really what makes them go.” And as I’ve pointed out numerous times before, Izzo is an all-knowing, all-seeing sage; whose status as an all powerful guru is never to be questioned- EVER!

Since Robbie Hummel is the Purdue engine, the Boilers are now like an airbone plane with an engine that failed and Coach Matt Painter is a pilot attempting to glide this craft back to land without crashing massively. What will they be without Hummel? Last year, when Hummel suffered more back problems than a 70 year old furniture mover, Robbie missed 4 games, and the Boilermakers went 1-3.

This will be sort of be like Ohio State without Evan Turner. Times five.

The Boilermakers controlled their own destiny for a Big Ten regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the big dance. But like Barack Obama said, “it’s not enough to just change the players, you have to change the game.” And Hummel’s loss actually changes a lot more than a player in the starting lineup, it changes the game on a national scale. Michigan State or Ohio State could grab the Boilers’ once likely conference title.

But in the bigger picture, that #1 seed they once had penciled in could now go to…..

…the Big East runner up? Why not? Syracuse is a “top line” team, and Pittsburgh or Villanova could play their way into joining them by running the table at the Big East tournament in a couple weeks.

…Duke? Well that would certainly please the Eastern Seaboard Programming Network; seeing Coach K.’s current bunch of star college players that will likely go un-drafted, or be NBA busts, grab another #1 seed. But do they actually have enough down low to not stumble anywhere down the stretch?

…K-State? Seriously, you know that Kansas and Kentucky join the ‘Cuse as mortal locks for #1 seeds. And two #1 seeds coming from the same state? A state that’s not North Carolina, Indiana or Kentucky? Yes, the Kansas State Wildcats could indeed be the biggest benefactors from Purdue’s soul-crushing loss. If things play out their way of course.

…New Mexico? No, sorry #1 seeds are reserved for high-major big boys

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

By Paul M. Banks, President of The Sports Bank.net

1. Purdue (24-3, 12-3)

Ten in a row! Give them that #1 seed. Boilers are on a mission to duplicate Michigan St.’s feat from last season- reach a Final Four held in your home state. Getting there is DEPENDENT on the health of Robbie Hummel. And the fact that he left Wednesday night’s game unable to put weight on his leg is not a good sign.

2. Ohio State (22-7, 12-4)

It’s now a two man race between “His Royal Smoothness” Evan Turner and Kentucky’s John Wall for all the National Player of the Year trophies.

3. Michigan State (21-7, 11-4)

My favorite Tom Izzo quote of the year, says a ton about this team: “He just grits his teeth and doesn’t care about all the flash and dash. He is the perfect Spartan. He’s a blue-collar work horse. I’m going to ride him like a jackass. He’s tougher than nails and winning matters to him, it really does.”

4. Wisconsin (20-7, 10-5)

The way Bo Ryan weathered the storm of missing Jon Leuer for so long, and the fact that he has been able to do what he has done with this bunch (Seriously, how many of you really expected anything from anyone on this team not named Trevon Hughes or Jason Bohannon?) really makes me belive he deserves conference coach of the year.

5. Illinois (18-10, 10-5)

I thought the comparisons of Demetri McCamey to Deron Williams last season were just a bit RIDICULOUS. But today? They do have a semblance of legitimacy as we’ve seen how he can take over a game with his scoring (Michigan St., Indiana are just two examples) or by setting up other teammates to score (tied school record for single game assists versus Purdue).

6. Minnesota (16-11, 7-8)

Did you know Blake Hoffarber is leading the nation (well, tied with Tim Abromaitis, that guy on Notre Dame with horrible acne ) in three point field goal percentage? Did you know the Gophers are sixth in the nation in assists? You do now. Indeed, these are things one should know.

7. Northwestern (17-10, 6-9)

Maybe they’re out of luck for this season, but next year looks bright with Kevin Coble returning and the promising development of freshman Drew Crawford. The Cats third leading scorer has good basketball bloodlines, as his father is accomplished NBA referee Danny Crawford.

8. Michigan (13-14, 6-9)

Did you watch this team’s loss to Illinois Tuesday night? The entire upper half of the arena was empty, so was much of the lower half. But you can’t blame them- they missed seeing their stars, Manny Harris and Deshawn Sims, shoot 8-29 from the field, as well as Stu Douglass and Darius Morris (who played 67 minutes) go 1-15.

9. Iowa (9-18, 3-11)

I’m sure this news will not shock you: Iowa (the least watchable team in the Big Ten) has not sold out a home date all season. Penn State is the only other Big Ten team with that dubious distinction. But here’s a tidbit that is shocking: #9 Ohio State has only sold out ONE game! I guess Columbus is just overly obsessed with the Blue Jackets right now.

10. Penn State (10-17, 2-13)

Wow. Two wins in a row after a 12 game drought to open the conference season- slow down guys! Nevertheless, it’s enough to finally lift them from the basement.

11. Indiana (9-17, 3-11)

How on Earth can a Big Ten team have a 217 RPI, this late in the season? That has last place written all over it.

Paul M. Banks is Founder/President of The Sports Bank.net, an Upper Midwest sports webzine. He’s also a member of the Football Writers Association of America, the United States Basketball Writers Association and a sports writer for the Washington Times.com Communities and Walter Football.com

Chris Kramer is the defensive specialist on Purdue and was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in the 2007-2008 season.  Although we here at NQTC all know he is no Chester Frazier, Kramer is still a force to be reckoned with.  And you have to love a guy who will literally swim up the court and somehow knock the ball out of bounds.