We always thought the preseason NIT was supposed to sport a field of teams expected to be good in the coming season.

Do they know something we don't? From Temple's Owlsports.com, this headline: TEMPLE TO BATTLE ARMY IN PRESEASON NIT OPENER.

While it sounds like an automatic second-round appearance for Temple, we will say this: Army might not be the most skilled basketball team in the nation. But they always play tough and you can guarantee they won't be intimidated if John Chaney decides to "send in a goon."

Looking at the rest of the field, it appears our perception of the preseason NIT was way off. This looks like little more than a series of scrimmages for Duke.
Read more!

Former Navy standout Hassan Booker is joining the staff of former Navy assistant Doug Wojcik at Tulsa.

For those who don't remember Booker:

Booker was instrumental in leading the Midshipmen to a 74-41 overall record and a 39-11 Patriot League mark. Navy totaled three league regular season titles in Booker's career and reached the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons in 1997 and 1998.

The team leader in field goal percentage and in rebounds as both a junior and senior, Booker ranks third in Navy history with a career field goal percentage of 55.4-percent, is tied for third with 61 career steals, stands ninth with 628 career rebounds and 19th with 931 career points. He earned first-team All-Patriot League honors in both 1997 and '98, and was selected as the league tournament MVP in 1997. Despite standing just 6'3", Booker was the leading force inside for a team that led the nation in rebounding margin once and finished 10th twice.

As a junior, he was named the Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player, as he averaged 17.5 points and 11 rebounds in Navy's tournament victories over Lafayette and Bucknell. He shot 65 percent from the field and 71 percent from the free throw line in those two games as he led Navy into the NCAA Tournament.

In his senior campaign, Booker led Navy back to the NCAA Tournament against No. 1 North Carolina as he averaged 12 points and 7.8 rebounds per game that season. He was named the winner of the Basketball Hall of Fame's Chip Hilton Award, which recognizes the college basketball player who has demonstrated personal character both on and off the court similar to the fictional Chip Hilton character depicted by Hall of Fame coach Clair Bee in the classic Chip Hilton Sports Series.

A Wojcik recruit at Navy, Booker has been back at the academy the last two years, serving as an assistant with the Navy women's team while teaching advanced navigation.
Read more!

Navy coach Billy Lange has named a pair of assistants. From NavySports.com:

Second-year Navy men's basketball coach Billy Lange announced Thursday the addition of Matt Sladky and Jason Crafton to the men's basketball coaching staff.

Sladky is a former Navy player.

A three-year letterwinner (1996-98) for the Midshipmen, Sladky averaged 5.8 points and 2.2 rebounds en route to leading Navy to a combined 54-32 record during his stay in Annapolis. As a senior, Sladky started 27 of the 30 games, averaging 6.7 points an outing and 1.7 assists.

He was a member of three Navy teams that claimed the Patriot League regular-season title with those three squads posting a 29-7 conference mark. He also helped guide the Midshipmen to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.

Crafton joins the Mids from Villanova, where he was an administrative assistant on Bucknell grad Jay Wright's staff.

Read more!

From a story about Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim in the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle:

I played my first 18 holes at Seven Oaks yesterday, a tough place to start out the year," Boeheim said of Colgate University's home course in Hamilton.

"It was cold and windy, and I finished and didn't lose any balls, so it wasn't all that bad."

Cold and windy? If it didn't snow, they call that summer in Hamilton.
Read more!

Lafayette transfer Jamall Douglas is taking his game to Eastern Kentucky. Douglas is one of the first four recruits signed by the Colonel's new coach Jeff Neubauer.

Douglas is a transfer from Lafayette. As a sophomore last season, he started 24 of 28 games for Lafayette, which finished 9-19. He led the Patriot League in rebounding at 7.0 per game and was the Leopards' second-leading scorer at 9.9 points per game. Because of NCAA transfer rules, he won't be eligible to play for the Colonels until the 2006-07 season.

The four players will join a team that includes four returning starters, all of whom will be seniors. The Colonels finished 22-9 last season, setting a single-season school record for wins and making the NCAA tournament for the first time in 26 years.

Read more!