LIVE HOOPS! "Looking for SLEEPERS, in the countries ... that everybody sleeping on!" DEEP in the part of France a lot of French people haven't even been to ... Maine-et-Loire region, CHOLET, aka handkerchief town aka "The house that Rudy Gobert built" Cc: @maxjacoby.bsky.social

"He admits he overlooked Tanner in his initial roster evaluation. And then Byington actually had his first real conversation with Tanner and his family. "I sat down with him for like five minutes, and I'm like, 'I might have just met the best young man I've ever met in my life,'" Byington said.

Good morning from glazed-over Nashville. Here's a big column on a small guy who plays larger than anyone on the court. Tyler Tanner is a diminutive dynamo who grew up 15 minutes from Vanderbilt but rarely went to the games—because Vandy often lost. Now he's changing all of that for the 18-3 Dores.

Brayden Burries ... The guys who go about things the right way in recruiting process seem to find their way. Pops seems plugged in on the right things

Arizona is 21-0. It dangerously flirted with being 20-1. But it's 21-0. And it just induced AJ Dybantsa into the worst game of his college career. I talked to Tommy Lloyd and Brayden Burries—who vastly outplayed Dybantsa—after last night's win. Column from Provo:

No. 25 Miami is college basketball’s best-kept secret: Why the RedHawks are ranked, undefeated, and unsatisfied www.cleveland.com/sports/colle...

Didn't expect this when perusing the international and domestic news of the day. 😂 John Calipari has penned an op-ed in Washington Post How to stop the chaos of college sports www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Column: Everyone is trying to figure out Indiana's secret sauce under Curt Cignetti. The main ingredient is stunningly simple. A breakdown of the Hoosiers' historically great ability to not screw up. bit.ly/49GRbVP

#Nebrasketball is HERE Nebraska basketball’s stunning rise: Huskers crack top 10 for first time since 1966 apnews.com/article/top-...

"And I don’t think I agree that based on past precedent in terms of who the first four out and the bubble teams are, that it’s the 12th, 13th and 14th power-conference schools. "

New: Q &A with NCAA president Charlie Baker. Eligibility, portal, NIL, CSC, tourney expansion … and his favorite sporting events since becoming the most enthusiastic fan to ever lead the association. bit.ly/45x3OAn

I reached out to Dan Hurley for a quote about Baylor adding a former NBA pick/in-season roster adds. He left me a voice memo tonight with a thought on the state of CBB. Hurley understandably catches flack about his sideline antics, but IMO he cares about the sport as much as any coach out there.

Baylor has landed an in-season free agent who was an NBA pick in 2023. The news set the college sports world aflame. I talked to Scott Drew this morning about why he did it, but more than that, laid out just how increasingly common rostering pros is becoming in college sports. Please read:

"the integrity of games — perhaps the most precious commodity in sports and the one that once united the leagues’ commissioners against gambling — is increasingly being called into question, a trend some are calling an existential threat to the long-term viability of sports."

Interesting @washingtonpost.com profile of Pablo Torre www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/... “Journalists maybe stopped appreciating how cool their job is. "You guys are basically detectives if you’re actually reporting s---. Bringing people into the process is like bringing them into a movie.”

It’s not even January, but Tim Bergstraser is already delivering feats the Denver men’s basketball program hasn’t seen in over 20 years. www.denvergazette.com/2025/12/26/t...

D.J. Wagner, once the nation's No. 1 recruit, embraces his role as a college basketball veteran www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2025/de...

Wyoming's Wicks not using NIL as an excuse www.wyomingnews.com/wyosports/un... “We can’t be the team that sits there and has an excuse like, ‘Ah man, we’re not quite there yet, and our budget’s not quite there yet, and we don’t have what Grand Canyon has,’”

The ACC aimed to restore its men’s basketball reputation. So far, it’s working Read more at: www.newsobserver.com/sports/colle...

Interesting article, discussing how fouling up 3 in NBA isn't as common as you'd think, and brings up potential of fouling up 2.

Still not even remotely tired, so here's one of the fastest 1,200-word columns I've ever written, filed 15 minutes after Houston won earlier tonight. Cougars are at the table with every other national title contender. Don't sleep on Houston.

“I wanted to work smarter. I was killing my body. I was never fresh. I was never feeling my best. Coming into the summer, I wanted to feel my best in order to go harder on the floor, go harder in the weight room. “Less is more sometimes.” -Tyler Kolek

Stanford women’s basketball’s big bet? Degrees over dollars will buy blue chip talent “I have no idea what I want to do after basketball stops,” Swain said. “But with the degree I’ll be able to make certain decisions I need to make.” www.sfchronicle.com/sports/colle... RESPECT

"Hoiberg's doing this while overseeing a Nebraska team that, according to my sources, at best ranks 15th (& potentially as low as 17th) in the league in NIL ... Hoiberg's NBA experience -- as a player & a coach -- has been massive in offsetting some of Nebraska's disadvantages"

Today's Court Report leads on the feel-good story of the season so far: Nebraska. I also get into Yaxel Lendeborg's growing case vs. Cam Boozer for NPOY. And I obtained Mick Cronin's contract. He secretly signed an extension in May; UCLA never disclosed. What to know + how much he's being paid.

It's chef's-kiss perfect that college basketball teams are all too willing to play games in NBA arenas, and now the NBA is open to finding a way to get its games on college campuses.

Only in CJs articles do we get such niche stuff like this about Kylan Boswell manipulating the floor, ensuring he could take a rim protector out of the picture if Mirkovic and Wagler switch spots. Great stuff

No. 14 Michigan routed No. 18 Notre Dame, 93-54, today in the Shamrock Classic. That’s: -Michigan’s largest win over a ranked opponent in program history -Notre Dame’s largest loss since the 2002 NCAA tournament and largest loss to a ranked team in program history

Column: everything’s bigger in Texas, including the flops. A season that began at No. 1 looks like it will end without a playoff berth. bit.ly/3M3lAnS

AJ Dybantsa's second-half awakening is a good sign BYU, but the bigger deal is the emergence of Silas Demary Jr. for UConn. He's the kind of player who should ensure the Huskies are Final Four material again after last year's letdown. Column on Connecticut's slim win over BYU in Boston last night.

Enjoyed this @richarddeitsch.bsky.social pod with Robbie Hummel on NBA on NBC coverage podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... NBC, Amazon both doing some unique stuff with their NBA broadcasts. Really enjoying more X's and O's focus and all of that.

Article on Shaka "Smart likes to preach “Giannis posture” — everyone in the program must have the body language of Giannis ... — so he struck a deal with Ighodaro. For each time he dropped his head, every member of the staff was going to do a 1 minute plank" www.nytimes.com/athletic/680... ($)

Preach! "Army was never going to beat Duke, just like New Haven was never going to beat PSU But having these games offers up variety & camaraderie on a level no other sport can equal. Giving mid-majors an opportunity to host these types of games in fact adds to [CBB's] appeal"

As Army honors Coach K with a banner, Jon Scheyer sets another example for how big schools should treat scheduling—and has evolved Duke's reputation in the process. "[We] want to be in these types of games. ... Most importantly, doing games that haven't been done before." Story from West Point:

Great Braden Smith feature from @jeffborzello.bsky.social Braden Smith is chasing an NCAA title -- and an NBA future www.espn.com/mens-college...

Great read from Tim Keown In search of the real Nikola Jokic www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Why is Penn State basketball playing a road game at small-school New Haven? Thank you, I had been wondering about this www.pennlive.com/penn-state-m...

Loved the last section "Wicket passing Isaiah Hartenstein is keeping flashy passes practical." The through the legs pass in this scenario seems super effective.

“Players get offers 10 times higher than in Europe, so it is a very easy decision ... for the players and their families" -MISKO (prominent agent in Europe) College basketball opens a new season with an influx of international talent abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireS...

Andrew Wiggins: how a shy NBA player negotiated growing up a star in the social media era www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/n... Good read. Makes me think of NIL era, people try to force these kids to be all up on social media even if it's not their thing.

Great feature on Boozer twins in Washington Post ($) The twin sons of a former Duke star are the program’s next great hope www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

Missed this weeks ago, but Courier Journal in Louisville had surveyed ACC players at media day ... 20 of 27 players were AGAINST NCAA tournament expansion. Lot of coaches say they want to do it for the players, but players don't want it? sports.yahoo.com/article/acc-...

Superb prose from @joevardon.bsky.social Interesting look at NBA second apron. Good quotes from Larry Nance II www.nytimes.com/athletic/676...

Georgetown was notorious for soft schedules. That’s no longer the reality. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/... ($)

"When we were at our lowest, the man didn't blink': What Cade Cunningham is building in Detroit Good read from @vincegoodwill.bsky.social Oklahoma State grind prepared Cade? Didn't run to blueblood and take easy way out www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

“The amount of money that Caitlin Clark has made the league is insane, & she’s getting 0% of it because we have no rev share,” Collier says. “She gets less than $80,000 a year, & she’s bringing in, like, hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s insane. -Napheesa Collier www.glamour.com/story/wnba-w...

"A lot of times early in the season in basketball you don’t know your real problems. And we have real problems. I don’t care where we’re ranked — we have real problems. It allows us to go back to practice, eat our humble pie and try to get better so we can have a great season.” -Matt Painter

"I think there is a lot of corruption. There is more point shaving, if you want to call it that, going on than what has come out," he said. "Talking to some coaching friends, they know of some things that have happened that have not come out, and I think it's very dangerous." -Tim Jankovich

The 18-team Atlantic Coast Conference received just four bids to the NCAA Tournament in 2025, an unacceptably low number for the conference's leadership. The league adopted a schedule change to help. www.wral.com/story/acc-me...

If you're looking for ONE piece of CBB content to give you a 30,000-foot view of the sport heading into the season, this is it. 18,000 words on 101 teams. The best 101 teams. An annual labor of love, and I'm giddy to share it with you. Come take the tour and let me know what ya think!