Return of core trio raises expectations significantly for Vandy

Quietly, Vanderbilt has been the home to one of college basketball's most stable basketball programs in recent years.

Why so quiet, though?

Well, what's kept the Commodores from moving into the elite upper crust is a lack of recent NCAA tournament success. While Vandy has made the NCAAs in four of the last five seasons, they've suffered three consecutive first-round losses ?�all to double-digit seeds ?�including last month's 69-66 setback against No. 12 Richmond.

Next season, Kevin Stallings' club will find excuses all but impossible to come by if they make another early exit in March.

On Thursday, while SEC neighbor Kentucky lost three of its top pieces as potential early entrants into June's NBA draft, Vandy retained its core trio.

Juniors Festus Ezeli and Jeffery Taylor, along with star sophomore guard John Jenkins, all announced that they'll be back for the 2011-12 campaign. Immediately, Vanderbilt becomes arguably the team to beat in the top-heavy SEC and a likely preseason Top-10 club.

Jenkins led the league in scoring (19.5 ppg) this season, establishing himself as one of the nation's more prolific outside shooters, hitting roughly three 3-pointers per game. Taylor and Ezeli combined to average 27.7 points and 11.8 boards on the front line. The Commodores' other two starters from a team that won 23 games ? seniors-to-be Brad Tinsley and Lance Gouldbourne ?�are also back.

The kicker is the addition of two impressive incoming freshman guards in Dai-Jon Parker and Kedren Johnson.

"I commend and applaud them for the intelligent and diligent way they approached this process in making their decision," Stallings said. "Their return certainly positions our team for an exciting season next year."

Added Ezeli: "We're going to be a better team next year, and we still have a lot of unfinished business. After the loss in the tournament, I can't leave on that note. There's no rush for me to want to leave."

In all honesty, each of the three probably made the wise choice in opting to come back. They all have professional careers in their futures, and recent history has proven that some NCAA tournament success will only boost their individual profiles.

It would also help take Vanderbilt's program to the next level. All of the pieces are officially in place for that to happen.

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.

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C.J. Leslie keeps NC State fans waiting but wisely stays in school

If C.J. Leslie shot a jumper as well as he keeps a secret, the North Carolina State freshman might be a far more alluring prospect in the eyes of NBA scouts.

First Leslie made NC State fans wait several agonizing weeks after the start of the spring signing period last year before at last announcing he would indeed play for the hometown Wolfpack. Then the early-entry deadline for the NBA draft came and went on Sunday night without the former highly touted recruit revealing whether he'd decided to turn pro or not.

At last, an NC State spokesman announced Monday that Leslie did not submit draft paperwork and would return for his sophomore season. The 6-foot-8 forward likely would have been a mid-to-late first-round pick despite averaging just 11 points as a freshman, struggling with shot selection and shooting only 25 percent from 3-point range.

The return of Leslie is critical for an NC State program trying to rise from the ashes of the disastrous Sidney Lowe era.� Leading scorer Tracy Smith graduated after a disappointing 15-16 season, but the likely return of the freshman trio of Leslie, Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown and sophomores Scott Wood and Richard Howell give coach Mark Gottfried a nucleus capable of contending for an NCAA tournament berth.

Speculation about Leslie's future intensified following the arrival of Gottfried because the freshman forward said he wanted to get to know his new coach before deciding whether he'd come back to college. That he did return to the surprise of many shows the sort of restraint, patience and maturity that were rare from Leslie on the court during the season.

Leslie frequently drew criticism from fans and media for his poor shot selection and decision making. In his apparent zeal to live up to his high school all-American hype, he often hoisted contested shots early in the shot clock or attacked the rim through traffic rather than looking for an open teammate.

Raw athleticism, length and leaping ability probably would have been enough to get Leslie drafted in the first round this June, but another year in college might help him harness his immense upside and enter the NBA at a higher pay scale.

Maybe he bulks up to the point where he can play power forward in the NBA. Maybe he hones his jump shot to the point where he can play on the wing. Either way, another year or two in college will help him tap into his potential and maximize his chances for success at the professional level.

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Indiana guard Oladipo shows he has talents besides basketball

Often we showcase talented athletes here on The Dagger, but today we're going to look at an athlete's talent -- off the court.

Indiana freshman guard Victor Oladipo used the Spirit of Indiana Showcase -- Indiana's new year-end athletics awards ceremony ? as a coming out party to show off his vocal chords.

During the event, Oladipo covered Usher's R&B hit "U Got It Bad" and it's pretty good. Oladipo almost sounds as though he's lip synching until he pauses during the song to show that he's not. The sunglasses and the preppy look are a nice touch as well. All he's missing is the fedora.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not telling young Mr. Oladipo to abandon his promising basketball career for a shot at American Idol. In fact, Oladipo was one of the few highlights of the Hoosiers 12-20 season. He averaged 7.4 points per game, shot 54.7 percent from the field, averaged 3.7 rebounds per game and 1.1 steals. As a freshman on a team that's still trying to dig its way out from under NCAA sanctions, that's not bad and it's fair to assume that he'll only get better as he gets older.

The same could be said for Oladipo's voice. Not to go all Simon Cowell here, but there were times when he was a little off pitch. Still, it was a nice rendition (probably better than most of the folks on American Idol the past couple years) and you have to give the young man some credit for getting up in front of all of those people and covering one of the more popular songs in R&B in 2001. That's the other thing, Oladipo was, what? Probably 8 or 9 years old when the song originally came out? Props to him for keeping it old school.

(Thanks, College Basketball Nation)

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Miami’s wrapping up spring drills, and Seantrel Henderson’s demotion still stands

Like quite a few returning starters who failed to impress the new coaching staff in Miami's winter workouts, Seantrel Henderson began the spring listed with the second string. Unlike most of his fellow demotions, the former mega-recruit and freshman All-American is going to finish with the second string, too, behind unheralded classmate Malcolm Bunche:

… Bunche ? now a redshirt freshman listed at 6-7 and 328 pounds ? is not playing next to rising sophomore All-American Henderson. He's playing ahead of him.

Henderson (6-8 and 345 pounds), who will be idled by an undisclosed injury Saturday for the spring game, will end the spring as the backup.
[…]
Golden said he sees Bunche remaining at left tackle.

"You don't mess around with that position," he said. "If they're over there, it's because they have the tools to do that. That's the one position on the offensive line, other than center, that you want to make sure you have the right guy there."

At no point since Golden stepped on campus last December has Henderson, a ten-game starter in 2010 and arguably the most hyped offensive line recruit of the last decade before his late defection from USC last summer, seemed like the right guy. He was forced to fight for his job and, for now, has apparently lost the fight. (When Golden talked about starting "the five best" up front, he mentioned three other names ? guards Harland Gunn and Brandon Linder and center Shane McDermott ?�in addition to Bunche, All-ACC guard Brandon Washington and Jermaine Johnson, the current starter at right tackle, leaving Henderson out of even the top six.) Already Golden has had to put the kibosh on transfer rumors, and even then has remained conspicuously silent on multiple reports that Henderson will be suspended for the season opener at Maryland for a mysterious offense.

As his initial depth chart proved, Golden is not above demoting anyone for motivation/mind games purposes, especially if they're already in the doghouse for one reason or another. But virtually all of the other 'Canes who fond themselves in the same position at the start of the spring ?�Gunn, quarterbacks Jacory Harris and Stephen Morris, receivers LaRon Byrd and Travis Benjamin, safety Ray Ray Armstrong ?�had worked their way back to the top of the depth chart by the end of the first scrimmage, after which Golden said, "I want the depth chart to reflect performance, not potential. A lot of coaches get fired based on waiting for someone with potential to develop." He didn't mention anyone by name, but heading into the summer, the '2' next to Henderson's name says enough.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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Breakfast Buffet: Tennessee loses another Bruce Pearl recruit

1. In addition to guard Kevin Ware backing out of his letter of intent to Tennessee in favor of Central Florida earlier this month, the Vols will apparently lose another member of Bruce Pearl's final recruiting class. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports Chris Jones will play�for former Vols assistant coach Steve Forbes at Northwest Florida State College next season.

2. Pac-10 fans hoping to earn more national respect next season will not be pleased with Gary Parrish's latest column at CBSSports.com. He correctly points out that the conference could again be the worst of the Big Six next season as a result of a rash of early departures from last year's top underclassmen.

3. The field for the fifth annual Puerto Rico Tip-Off will include a pair of second-round NCAA tournament teams and three of this past season's four NIT finalists. Purdue, Temple, Alabama, Colorado and Wichita State will be joined in Puerto Rico by Iona, Western Michigan and Maryland.

4. The Arizona Republic's Doug Haller notes that Pac-10 schools have signed 16 junior college players the past two years, the most during a two-year span since 2002-03. That number could increase to 17 if Washington lands Erie Community College forward God's Gift Achiuwa, who is slated to decide Thursday between the Huskies, St. John's and Cincinnati.

5. Two Winthrop players made headlines for all the wrong reasons on Wednesday. Robbie Dreher and Julius Francis have been suspended indefinitely after they were charged with two counts of sexual misconduct stemming from an April 17 incident involving a 19-year-old woman.

This space typically is reserved for college basketball clips, but the above video of a frighteningly huge tornado passing right by Alabama's Bryant Denny Stadium is too horrifyingly amazing to pass up. Best wishes to everyone in Tuscaloosa and other cities impacted by Wednesday's wave of storms.

"I feel like (Tyler) Honeycutt didn't perform like he could have. On the defensive end they really needed him on some plays but he seemed lost." -- UCLA signee Norman Powell assessing what went wrong for the Bruins in their second-round NCAA tournament loss to Florida. (ESPN Los Angeles)

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UNLV’s Rice and Hauck to play in tennis exhibition

New UNLV basketball coach Dave Rice has been on the job for a little more than a week, but he's already established an early objective -- beat a 10-year-old in tennis.

Rice and UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck will team up in a doubles competition Saturday to face former UNLV standout and 1997 NCAA Doubles Champion Tim Blenkiron and 10-year-old Jack Hambrook, who happens to be the UNLV tennis' coach's son. Hambrook is a member of the No Quit Tennis Academy in Las Vegas and is coached by Blenkiron.

The match is all in good fun. The game will consist of just one game to seven points and will be played at the intermission of the Rebels final home match against San Diego State.

Dave Rice has a little tennis background. When he was at UNLV seven seasons ago, he and the other assistants would sneak off to the UNLV courts to get in a couple games. His partner, however, hasn't played tennis in 15 years. But if this was fly-fishing, Hauck, who spent seven years coaching Montana, would have the leg up.

Blenkiron also coaches Asia Muhammad, the sister of highly-touted basketball recruit Shabazz Muhammad. Shabazz Muhammad is the top shooting guard in the 2012 class and the No. 3 overall recruit according to Rivals. He's also undeclared. Perhaps that's something for Rice to think about during the match.

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Calipari creates ‘Kentucky Combine’ to help his team’s NBA prospects

The NBA draft's early entrants who chose not to sign with agents right away, but rather test the waters, are truly on the clock once the April 24 deadline to declare passes.

They have until just May 8 to gather their information from NBA personnel before making an ultimate decision.

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who while at UK will likely deal with this scenario every year he's in Lexington with his never-ending streams of high-profile freshmen, is helping his guys out by essentially taking the idea of a college football Pro Day and moving it to the hardwood.

It's called the Kentucky Combine, and it'll take place at the team's practice facility ? the Joe Craft Center ?�on May 2 and 3.

The only way for players to get information from NBA folks before April 28, no matter how early they declared without an agent, is through their college coaches. After April 28, there's no more middleman, but this eliminates the need for a whirlwind travel schedule all across the country in order to showcase talents for teams individually. It's also helps in keeping players from missing class over the next week to head from city to city, which ensures their eligibility if they decide to withdraw from the draft.

Each NBA team has been invited to UK for the combine, and Calipari claims that the workouts will be conducted by NBA personnel.

The Wildcats this season have three early entrants who have yet to sign with agents: Freshman point guard Brandon Knight, freshman swingman Terrence Jones and junior guard and defensive stopper DeAndre Liggins. Also working out at the combine will be senior forward Josh Harrellson.

Knight and Jones are all but guaranteed to be staying in the draft, as both are pegged as solid lottery picks. Something like this, however, is quite beneficial to guys like Liggins and Harrellson.

Liggins fits into the category of guys who are testing the waters but are truly on the fence. This should provide about as accurate of a reading on his draft position as he could hope for in early May. As for Harrellson, he's the senior who may not be on the draft radars of many, but could do himself a huge amount of good by showing well in a controlled environment such as this.

It's a good preemptive strike of sorts against the NCAA's ridiculous, always-shrinking deadlines pressing unsure underclassmen who have their eyes on the NBA, while it benefits Calipari, too, as this can make for a nice nugget during recruiting pitches.

And don't be shocked when more coaches follow suit in the coming years.

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.

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