LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Ever since Gonzaga spent the early portion of this decade making multiple trips to -- and winning more than one game there in -- the NCAA tournament a number of similar lower-profile schools have tried in vain to emulate the Zags.
The most common problem from schools out of the Missouri Valley to the MAAC is how to be like Gonzaga.
One way is for television to fall in love with your squad/program. The only team that has since received a bit of a sniff in this department is Butler, which got in the Great Alaska Shootout (when it was on ESPN last season), the NIT Season Tip-Off the previous season and has had a few rare neutral-arena games of note, like playing Florida State last season in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Davidson may finally be the closest to emulating the Gonzaga model -- at least for next season.
Last season, the Wildcats had their made-for-TV moments against Duke and North Carolina, and although the UCLA game was in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, it wasn't a nationally televised game.
But the Wildcats' magical run to the Elite Eight, when they were one possession shy of the Final Four, is paying off.
Last week, Davidson coach Bob McKillop rattled off the games this season that may be aired on national television.
• vs. West Virginia in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 9 (ESPN)
• at Duke (ESPN)
• vs. NC State at Bobcat Arena in Charlotte (likely national TV, possibly ESPNU)
• at Oklahoma in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off in November (ESPN or ESPN2)
• vs. Purdue in the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis (CBS)
• The Wildcats will host Winthrop in a return game of the BrackBusters last season. The Wildcats will also be one of the featured teams in the BracketBusters event with a televised game in February (likely ESPN or ESPN2).
And McKillop also said he was told one of the 20 Southern Conference regular-season games will be nationally televised, likely on ESPN2.
"We're not afraid to play these games," McKillop said. "But none will be easy."
McKillop isn't convinced that the Wildcats are the new darling for television as much as the media just wants to watch junior guard Stephen Curry play again. Curry, who should be a first-team all-American, averaged 25.9 points a game last season. He scored 40 against Gonzaga in first round of the NCAAs, 30 against Georgetown, 33 against Wisconsin and 25 in the two-point loss to Kansas in the Elite Eight.
"I think Stephen Curry is the reason we're getting all the TV attention," said McKillop.
• Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said he's hoping that impact freshman power forward Delvon Roe will be cleared to play in three or four weeks. Roe sat out last season at Saint Edward High (Lakewood, Ohio) after injuring his right knee and undergoing microfracture surgery. Izzo said the injury, which kept Roe from competing last season, put him under the radar. But the Big Ten-favorite Spartans will need Roe to be a key player for them if they're going to reach their potential, according to Izzo. Izzo also said that Kalin Lucas (36.4 percent on 3s as a freshman) must be the shooter needed in replacing Drew Neitzel in his lead guard role. And Izzo added that junior forward Raymar Morgan, who led the Spartans in scoring at 14.0 points a game, has to be really good for the Spartans to be an elite team.
• Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik said Jerome Jordan needed to go against UConn's Hasheem Thabeet at the Nike LeBron James Skills Academy earlier this month in Akron to understand how physical he needs to play for the Golden Hurricane. The 7-foot Jordan, a native of Jamaica, looks like the next JaVale McGee. McGee, out of Nevada, had a solid sophomore season and split for the NBA draft. Jordan averaged 10.5 points, 7.9 boards and 3.7 blocks last season. But Wojcik said he firmly believes Jordan, who will be a junior, may come back for his senior season instead of bolting early like McGee. Tulsa, a competitor for second place in Conference USA with UTEP, UAB, Southern Miss and Houston behind first-place favorite Memphis, will pick up nonconference power-rating points by playing at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma in Tulsa, Texas A&M in South Padre Island (the other teams at this event are Illinois and Kent State), hosting BYU, at Ohio and at Charlotte.
• Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said the Dukes will play at Duke on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
• Coppin State coach Fang Mitchell is up to his old tricks of scheduling the Eagles into oblivion to start the season. The Eagles, which upset No. 1 seed Morgan State in the MEAC title game despite finishing seventh in the regular season, will start with 12 straight road games next season. Last season, Coppin State played 15 of its first 17 on the road, winning only four times. Mitchell said the Eagles (based in Baltimore) will travel to Purdue, Kansas, Richmond, Baylor, Wisconsin, the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu (three games), Oklahoma and Missouri, with two local road games sprinkled in there against Loyola (Md.) and a league game at Morgan State. Mitchell said the Eagles may also play in a tournament in Delaware that would push the number of consecutive road games to 14. The Eagles won't play a home game in November and December, according to Mitchell.
• ESPN's Fran Fraschilla is heading off next week to coach soldiers in what has become an annual trip to the Persian Gulf in "Operation Hardwood." Fraschilla will be joined by the National Association of Basketball Coaches deputy executive director Reggie Minton, Dayton head coach Brian Gregory, American head coach Jeff Jones, DePaul's Jerry Wainwright, Manhattan's Barry Rohrssen, Hofstra's Tom Pecora and Texas-Pan American's Tom Schuberth.
• Oregon's Ernie Kent has had his contract rolled over or renegotiated every season he has been with the Ducks, according to Oregon spokesperson Greg Walker. Kent just had his contract renegotiated for the third time. The rollover contract is common among many coaches so that coaches can tell recruits they still have years left on their deal. But Oregon seems to put out news releases every time the contract is rolled over. Not every school does that. Kent took the Ducks to the Elite Eight in 2002 and 2007 and squeezed them into the NCAAs this past season with a 9-9 Pac-10 finish. The Ducks lost to Mississippi State in the first round.
Andy Katz
