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Tennessee center Wayne Chism bruised his spine and elbow when he hit the floor after blocking a shot during the No 14 Volunteers’ victory over Louisiana Lafayette.

He will make a full recovery and be evaluated day to day, associate athletic trainer Chad Newman said Tuesday. Coach Bruce Pearl said the team hopes he can return during the week if his recovery allows.

Chism left the arena on a stretcher and went to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for testing on his head and neck. The school says all tests were negative, and Chism was released early Tuesday.

The 6-foot-9 player blocked a shot by La’Ryan Gary with 5:12 left in Monday night’s 89-62 victory, then landed hard on his back under the basket. He had 18 points and 15 rebounds at the time.

“We’re all thankful that Wayne’s injury does not appear to be serious,” Pearl said in a statement. “There was a lot of praying going on when he went down, and with some 21,000 Vol fans hoping he was going to be all right, those prayers seem to have been answered.”

The Vols (9-2) were off Tuesday but will practice Wednesday. Tennessee visits Kansas on Saturday.

Every once in a while, Edgar Sosa will do something that will remind Rick Pitino why he likes his enigmatic point guard so much.

Maybe it’s a nifty wraparound pass to Louisville teammate Samardo Samuels after Sosa snakes his way through the lane. Maybe it’s a well-timed 3-pointer from the top of the key. Maybe it’s a deflection at the front of Louisville’s suffocating fullcourt press.

Yet three years into his roller-coaster career, the plays aren’t coming fast enough for Sosa, his coach or the 18th-ranked Cardinals.

Pitino hasn’t lost faith in Sosa’s ability, but he doesn’t have time to wait.

The Cardinals (8-2) host streaking UNLV (11-2) on Wednesday, and they’ll do it with shooting guards Preston Knowles and Jerry Smith in the backcourt. That leaves the playmaking to forwards Earl Clark and Terrence Williams while Sosa watches from the bench.

After spending more than two seasons watching Sosa be either brilliant or bratty, Pitino doesn’t think he has a choice.

“If his mind-set would change he’d be a great playmaker,” the coach said. “His mind-set is he gets so emotional that he wants to score, and then if he doesn’t score he gets down on his game and that’s the toughest thing with him.”

Chastised as a freshman for being a little too exuberant following even the most mundane of plays, Sosa has slipped to the other end of the spectrum. Moody at times, Sosa vanished from the locker room following Louisville’s 82-62 win over UAB last weekend, a game in which he played just six minutes, none in the second half.

“I was watching a clip last year right before the half he went in, had a layup hit the front rim and missed it and had his head down as he was going off the court,” Pitino said. “The air just came out of him. We’ve just got to get him to the point where he just thinks about playmaking. I think he can be an outstanding playmaker.”

Maybe, but time is quickly running out. Sosa has already been passed by Smith, Knowles and Andre McGee on the depth chart as Pitino has chosen to run the offense through his talented forwards.

“Our guards are good, they’re steady, they get the job done, but I don’t think they’re playmakers necessarily,” Pitino said. “The playmakers on this team are Earl and T-Will and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

Williams and Clark have accounted for nearly half (83) of Louisville’s 186 assists. Sosa leads Louisville guards with 30 assists, but 10 of those came in the season-opener against Morehead State. It was the kind of performance that he’s occasionally tantalized his coaches with over the last two-plus seasons. Yet he’s failed to back it up and his erratic play - not to mention his 30 percent shooting - has him watching more than he’s playing.

There’s some irony in Sosa losing his starting job to Smith. The two came in as freshmen and appeared to be the backcourt of the future, with Sosa the decision-maker at the point and Smith the spot-up shooter. Now it’s Smith who is at the top of the press, Smith who is the next option when Williams and Clark give it up.

Pitino allows Smith isn’t a penetrator who will drive and dish that way Sosa can. But Smith’s intensity and maturity mean Pitino knows what he’s going to get when he puts Smith on the floor.

“The good thing about Jerry is he gets a little more fatigued at the point, but he doesn’t turn the ball over much,” Pitino said.

For now, that’s enough.

Besides, not many teams have a pair of athletic ballhandlers on the wing like the 6-foot-6 Williams and the 6-10 Clark. It’s a role Clark relishes though he doesn’t exactly consider himself a point forward. If the Cardinals play well enough, Clark knows everyone will get a chance to do their thing, even Sosa.

“Edgar at times, he shows that he can be a great point guard, one of the best point guards in the country,” Clark said. “But it’s just like an up-and-down process right now and we’re just trying to keep him up.”

Top 25 Capsules.
CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands -Kemba Walker scored 23 points and Jeff Adrien added 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead No. 2 Connecticut to a hard-fought 89-81 victory over La Salle on Friday in the Paradise Jam.

The Huskies (3-0) trailed in the early minutes, but were up 46-40 at halftime under the leadership of guard A.J. Price. They never trailed in the second half, leading by as many as 10 points.

Rodney Green had a game-high 25 points for La Salle (1-2). Ruben Guillandeaux and Yves Mekongo Mbala each had 13 points.

No. 4 UCLA 77, Southern Illinois 60

NEW YORK - Alfred Aboya scored 22 points and Darren Collison had 17, helping the Bruins rebound from a disheartening loss to beat Southern Illinois in the consolation game of the 2K Sports Classic.

The Bruins (3-1) struggled in a semifinal loss to Michigan, turning the ball over 17 times and showing very little patience against the Wolverines’ zone defense.

They had their own problems with Southern Illinois, a team known for its gritty defense, before a 20-2 run covering more than 6 minutes late in the game made it much more comfortable.

Freshman guard Kevin Dillard scored 14 for the Salukis (2-2).

No. 6 Pittsburgh 86, Akron 67

PITTSBURGH - Sam Young gave Akron problems no matter where he was on the floor, scoring 26 points and taking control during a Pittsburgh surge late in the first half that carried the Panthers.

Levance Fields had 19 points and seven assists and DeJuan Blair added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers (3-0). Young scored 11 of Pitt’s final 15 points in the first half as the Panthers doubled their lead from 28-19 to 45-27.

Brett McKnight had 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, but Akron (2-1) lost its 20th consecutive game against a Top 25 opponent.

No. 10 Duke 71, Michigan 56

NEW YORK - Kyle Singler showed up from the start this time, scoring 15 points and leading Duke over surprising Michigan in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.

Nolan Smith added 16 points and Gerald Henderson had 12 for the Blue Devils, who won their four games in the 2K Sports Classic by an average of 28.5 points. Duke has won seven straight in-season tournament games after sweeping through the Maui Invitational last season.

Manny Harris scored 25 points to lead Michigan (3-1), which will get another crack at the Blue Devils (5-0) when they visit Ann Arbor on Dec. 6. DeShawn Sims added 10 points off the bench.

No. 17 Miami 70, Southern Miss 60

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - Dwayne Collins scored 14 points to lead Miami over Southern Mississippi in the Paradise Jam opener.

The junior forward also had nine rebounds for the Hurricanes (2-0). Jack McClinton and Lance Hurdle added 13 points apiece, with Hurdle hitting a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to give Miami a 36-24 lead.

Junior guard Jeremy Wise led Southern Mississippi (2-1) with 21 points. Courtney Beasley added 14 points for the Golden Eagles, who shot 39 percent.

No. 19 Southern Cal 73, Chattanooga 46

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Taj Gibson scored 17 points to lead Southern Cal over Chattanooga in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Gibson also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked five shots for the Trojans (3-1), who played a strong second half to claim the win.

Dwight Lewis scored 16 points, DeMar DeRozan added 13 and Daniel Hackett had 10 points and nine assists.

Nicchaeus Doaks led the Mocs (0-4) with 14 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

No. 21 Davidson 97, Winthrop 70

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Stephen Curry turned in another dazzling performance with 30 points and a career-high 13 assists, Andrew Lovedale dominated the inside and Davidson wore down Winthrop in the second half.

Three days after Curry scored a career-high 44 points in a loss at No. 12 Oklahoma, the nation’s leading scorer drilled five 3-pointers and continued his seamless transition to point guard, committing only three turnovers.

But he got plenty of help from Lovedale, who keyed Davidson’s comeback from a six-point first-half deficit. The senior had a career-high 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, helping the Wildcats (3-1) to their 18th straight win at home.

Cameron Stanley scored 13 of his career-high 20 points in the first half for the Eagles (1-3), who went cold from the field in the second half and lost their third straight game.

Anthony Mason Jr out for season. St. John’s senior swingman Anthony Mason Jr. will miss the rest of the season because of a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot.

“We are all disappointed and feel for Anthony,” coach Norm Roberts said. “This is an unfortunate situation, but it is part of the game. We believe that Mase will come back from this, a stronger player and a stronger person.”

Mason was hurt earlier in the week and an MRI and ultrasound on Friday afternoon revealed the extent of the injury.

Mason averaged 18.0 points for the Red Storm (2-1) in the games against Cornell and Boston College in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

He averaged a team-best 14.0 points in 22 games last season.

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North Carolina’s Hansbrough makes season debut.

Tyler Hansbrough made his season debut for North Carolina on Friday night, joining the top-ranked Tar Heels’ starting lineup against UC Santa Barbara.

Hansbrough missed the first two games for Carolina (2-0) because of a stress reaction in his right shin. Last season’s national player of the year had been held out of practice and exhibition games since the injury was diagnosed in October.

Hansbrough had played in all 108 games in his first three years for Carolina before missing the first two this season.

North Carolina wants to play as fast as possible. And the return of Ty Lawson gives the Tar Heels the ideal catalyst to turn up the tempo. There may be no one in the nation who is faster with the ball in his hands than Lawson, one of the three Tar Heels who pulled out of the NBA draft shooting guard Wayne Ellington and small forward Danny Green were the others. Lawson can solidify a spot in the first round with a solid year. Most deadly in the open court, Lawson generates a lot of transition baskets. Although he isnt much of an outside shooter, he excels at attacking the basket and can score with a floater or finish around the basket. The junior point guards decision-making and on-the-ball defense have been shaky at times. If he can improve in those two areas and stay healthy his missed seven full games and most of two others with ankle injuries it will be tough to stop the talent-laden Tar Heels from winning it all.
Ellington gives the Tar Heels a steady No. 2 scoring threat and an outside shooter that defenses must respect. The junior made big strides last season, scoring in double figures in 34 of 39 games while raising his scoring average from 11.7 to 16.6 points per game. He also hit a number of clutch shots and shot 40 percent (78-of-195) from 3-point range. The Tar Heels lack another reliable 3-point shooter, so avoiding a cold stretch - especially when the postseason rolls around - is critical.

The Tar Heels will be without starting wing Marcus Ginyard for at least the first two weeks of the season. Ginyard recently had surgery for a stress fracture in his left foot and is expected to return sometime in December. A defensive specialist, Ginyard normally guards the opponents top perimeter scorer and is also counted on for rebounding help. He needs to fully recover or the Tar Heels overall defense will suffer.

Ginyards absence early on probably means more playing time for senior Bobby Frasor and freshman Larry Drew II. The original plan was for Frasor to back up Lawson and for Drew to back up Frasor. But both may be needed on the wing to back up Ellington. Frasor is returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his year in the 12th game last season. Frasor was the starting point guard as a freshman and did an adequate job, but he has been a role player since. Drew, who is a solid ballhandler and shooter, was the No. 10 point guard and No. 71 overall prospect in the 2008 class.

Frontcourt

Tyler Hansbrough isnt just the best big man in college basketball. Hansbrough is one of the best big men ever to play the college game. The numbers and awards Hansbrough has piled up have earned the 6-foot-9 senior a place among the games greats. Hansbrough is on pace to become the ACCs all-time leading scorer he needs 602 points to pass Dukes J.J. Redick and the NCAAs all-time leader in made free throws he needs 173 free throws to pass Wake Forests Dick Hemric. Hansbrough also has a good chance to become just the second four-time first-team All-American (Purdues Paul Hoffman managed the feat in the 1940s) and the first four-time first-team All-ACC selection.

Its tough to imagine Hansbrough getting any better. The menacing power forward is coming off a season where he set career highs in virtually every statistical category, including points per game (22.6) and rebounds per game (10.2). But Psycho-T has a work ethic that perhaps no one else can match, and word is he has been sharpening up the jumper from 15-18 feet that he added last season. One final chance to win a national title perhaps his true reason for staying in school adds extra motivation. The point being, dont be surprised if he manages to improve a little more.

Green probably will slide into Ginyards starting spot early on, which will make the Tar Heels even better on offense. Green was perhaps the nations premier sixth man last season, averaging 11.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. In the Tar Heels 76-68 win at Duke, the versatile 6-6 swingman was the best player on the court, scoring 18 points, grabbing eight boards and blocking seven shots. He can play just about every role imaginable, which will help if Ginyards recovery takes longer than expected.

The Tar Heels are hoping that junior power forward Deon Thompson will be their most-improved player. The 6-8 Thompson has the potential to give the Tar Heels a second inside scoring threat and another big force on the glass. Thompson became a starter last season and made some significant strides, but he didnt have the breakthrough year many envisioned after he played so well at the U-19 World Championships in the summer of 2007. Thompson chose to stay on campus this past summer to focus on his body and his game, and he is noticeably slimmer.

Alex Stepheson, who backed up Hansbrough and Thompson last season, transferred to USC to be closer to his ill father. But the Tar Heels are going to be deeper and more talented on the inside thanks to the addition of a pair of highly touted freshman big men: 6-10 Ed Davis and 7-0 Tyler Zeller. Davis, a long, athletic lefty, was ranked No. 15 in the 2008 class. Zeller, who runs the court well and has a solid jump shot, was No. 33. Its important that at least one develops quickly and provides some interior depth, and its possible that both could be part of the rotation.

Offense

Coach Roy Williams wants the Tar Heels to push the pace and look to score in transition whenever possible. They work particularly hard on secondary breaks and getting their big men to beat their counterparts down the court. In half-court sets, getting the ball to Hansbrough on the blocks will be the main priority.
Defense

When the Tar Heels offense goes cold its a problem because their defense isnt the stingiest. Opponents averaged 72.5 points per game last season, a number that doesnt bother Williams because the Tar Heels averaged 88.6 points. But the fact opponents shot 42.5 percent, which ranked fifth in the ACC, does bother the coach. Hed like to see that number closer to 40 percent.

The Tar Heels use an aggressive man-to-man in an effort to force turnovers. At times, especially when their big men land in foul trouble, theyll mix in a 2-3 zone and a point zone that is similar to a 1-3-1.

Shoes to Fill

Quentin Thomas. There may not have been a better backup point guard in the nation. When Lawson missed nearly seven full games in February, Thomas led the Tar Heels to a 6-1 mark, averaging 6.5 assists per game during the stretch. Frasor doesnt have Thomas speed, but hes more than capable of handing the backup duties. Frasor started out as the backup last season and beat out Thomas for the starting job three seasons ago.

Must Step Up

Thompson. This big man disappeared too often last season for someone with his size and athleticism. Thompson is capable of averaging double figures in scoring, but he can make a bigger impact on defense.

Impact Newcomer

Davis. No newcomer is going to make a big impact on this veteran-laden squad, but Davis could very well play 10-15 minutes a game. With the departure of Stepheson, the Tar Heels need a quality big man to bring off the bench - and Davis is the top candidate. He may be the most physically gifted of all of their post players.

Meet the young Gophers. Ralph Sampson III hasn’t played a game yet at Minnesota, yet hardly a day goes by that he doesn’t get recognized while walking around campus.

Standing 6-foot-11, of course, will get you noticed in a hurry.

“I’ll be walking down the street and people on the other side of the street will be calling my name and waving to me,” Sampson said Friday. “It’s a very nice feeling when people recognize you. You don’t even know who they are, but they come up and they know you.”

A lot of people know Minnesota’s 2008 recruiting class. After leading the Gophers to an 11-win improvement in his first season at Minnesota, coach Tubby Smith landed a group of big names that most analysts ranked in the top 25 in the country.

The class has a little bit of everything.

- Size? There’s Sampson, the son of former Virginia great and NBA mainstay Ralph Sampson, and 6-foot-11 Colton Iverson of Yankton, S.D.

- Quickness? Point guard Devoe Joseph was the Canadian high school player of the year.

- Experience? Two hotly pursued junior college players in guard Devron Bostick and forward Paul Carter.

The well-rounded newcomers have immediately upgraded the talent in the Twin Cities and have raised the expectations of a program that fell on hard times before Smith was lured away from Kentucky last year.

“I know there’s high expectations for us, as there is with any recruit that comes into a major program to play basketball,” said Carter, an athletic forward who spent one year at Missouri State-West Plains before transferring to Minnesota. “I think that’s good for us. It will definitely push us to work hard and not take a day off at all.”

Smith has not been shy about praising the youngsters, saying they should complement an almost equally young set of returning players that includes just two seniors - reserve forward Jamal Abu-Shamala and center Jon Williams.

“I expect our incoming players to contribute right away,” Smith said. “How much? That’s up to them.

“Obviously we need size and better rebounding. I think in Colton, he’s shown that ability to play physical inside and rebound the ball. Both he and Ralph are two inches taller than anybody we had last year so that helps a lot.”

Most of the newcomers have been in town all summer trying to get to know returning players including sophomores Blake Hoffarber and Al Nolen who had impressive freshman seasons last year.

So far, they seem to be fitting in just fine.

“They’re a good group of guys,” junior Lawrence Westbrook said. “Coach Smith wouldn’t have brought them here if they weren’t good players. I think the best thing about it is we get along so well off the court. That’s going to lead to things on the court. Because like a family we hang out all the time.”

All five of them, especially the three freshmen, have had to get used to the more strenuous workouts, the college classes and being away from home.

“I got acclimated pretty fast,” Joseph said. “It’s a nice place. Campus is beautiful. It feels like home. I love it here.”

Iverson was one of the first to commit to coming, then watched the rest of the pieces fall into place in an exciting summer for the Gophers.

“When the other guys were committing, it was a great feeling,” he said. “It’s nice to be part of a class like this, one of the most talked-about in the nation. It’s just fun to be a part of, and we want to come out and do what we can.”

All the talk and hype has set the bar pretty high for Smith’s first true recruiting class - by the time he was hired in March of 2007, most of the prized recruits in the country had already made up their minds.

Carter, for one, says bring it on.

“We’re definitely in the spotlight and if we don’t come in an handle our business, then it’s going to reflect bad on the program,” Carter said. “So being recruits, we can’t just work hard, but we have to work even harder.”

Providence Ray Hall out with unspecified injury. Providence junior center Ray Hall is out with an injury that will end his career with the Friars.

Coach Keno Davis said Friday that Hall, who averaged 2 points and 1.7 rebounds a game in his two seasons at Providence, will remain with the team but will not play for the remainder of his college career.

Davis called the injury “unfortunate” but said the decision was in the best interest of Hall’s long-term health.

Arthur Parks, the Friars’ sports information director, said medical privacy rules prevent the college from discussing the injury.

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Giant George has part of foot amputed.

UNC Asheville center Kenny George had to undergo a partial amputation of his right foot due to a serious infection, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported on Friday.

At 7-7 and 370 pounds, George contracted the infection during Pete Newells famous Big Man Camp in Las Vegas over the summer. According to the report, the senior underwent at least two surgeries and other procedures to fight the infection. It is unknown when the amputation took place.

According to ESPN.com, the infection was MRSA, a potentially life-threatening staph infection that is resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is contracted from skin-to-skin contact through cuts or openings in the skin.

Although the 22-year-olds condition is unknown, Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach hinted in a statement to the Citizen-Times that Georges playing career could be over.

This is a really terrible setback for Kenny, Biedenbach said. He worked so hard to get into the situation where he could play last year and was working hard to be ready for this season.

To have basketball taken away from him seemingly isnt fair.

Gaining national attention two years ago due to size, George emerged as an impact big man last year. Despite playing just under 20 minutes a game, the nations tallest player averaged 12.4 points and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds as the Bulldogs recorded a school-record 23 wins.

George led the nation in field-goal percentage at 69.6 percent and set a school record with 93 blocks.

While he may never play again, Biedenbach told the paper that he does expected George to return to school.

We are looking forward to having Kenny back at UNC Asheville in the near future and finishing his education, he said. We look forward to watching Kenny walk across the stage and get his degree.

Terps launch hoop season with Maryland Madness
The spirit squad wore tank-tops with the No. 20 on both sides and the name “Williams” on the back. Maryland Madness began with a “Gary Williams Look-Alike” contest, and the highlight of the show was the arrival of the main man in an armored military vehicle.

The players, the starting time and even the name of the event has changed over the years. But for the past two decades, the coach has remained the same.

Gary Williams opened his 20th season at Maryland by unveiling the 2008-09 men’s basketball team Friday night. Before the Terrapins got down to serious business with their first formal practice Saturday morning, they were given the opportunity to show off for students, alumni and season ticket-holders at the packed Comcast Center.

“I’m looking forward to just coming out in front of the fans and having a little bit of fun,” freshman guard Sean Mosley said before the festivities. “It’s a different experience for me.”

There were broad smiles, smoke and spotlights during introductions, and the brief scrimmage didn’t stress the tight defense that usually defines one of Williams’ teams. That type of stuff will begin in earnest Saturday.

The Madness began at Maryland in the 1970s under coach Lefty Driesell. Back then, it was called Midnight Madness, and the Terrapins didn’t take the court until the stroke of midnight - the first minute of the first official day of practice.

The NCAA relaxed the rules a few years ago, so Friday night’s show began at the civil hour of 7:20 p.m.

After four guys paraded around the court doing their best impression of Maryland’s fiery, gray-haired coach, there was an alumni game that ended in a tie. The biggest cheer during introductions was for Byron Mouton, a small forward on the 2002 national championship team.

Soon after the final buzzer, the women’s team went through a dance routine dressed in camouflage pants, black shirts and white masks. The men’s team also put on a choreographed show, displaying funky moves they definitely won’t be displaying against Atlantic Coast Conference competition this winter.

Later, each player walked down the aisle from the concourse level onto the court. Many dunks ensued, some fancier than others.

Mosley, as planned, kept it elementary.

“I’m doing a simple dunk. A regular, basic dunk,” he said.

Then came the arrival of Williams, a former player, the winningest basketball coach in school history and overseer of Maryland’s only national champion. The truck had flashing red and blue lights, and Williams popped out of a porthole at the top.

“This is my 20th year. It’s been a great 20 years personally for me,” he told the crowd. “But the only thing that matters is this season. Our pledge to you is to come out every night and play as hard as we can, representing the University of Maryland and the student body.”

Back to work for Coach K, Duke. They treat Greg Paulus like he’s the voice of experience at Duke, and rightfully so. The senior point guard is one of the few Blue Devils who knows what it’s like to reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament.

At nearly any other point during Mike Krzyzewski’s previous 28 seasons in Durham, that wouldn’t seem like much of an accomplishment. But the Blue Devils’ last two postseasons ended during the first weekend of March Madness, so they opened practice Friday once again hoping to shake the lingering disappointment of another early NCAA exit.

“I don’t think you get over things - when you want to achieve something and you come up a little bit short, it keeps you going,” Paulus said. “I know it kept hunger in everybody, and as a result, everybody’s gotten better since last season. We definitely haven’t forgotten about it, and that’s why it’s so exciting to get going, for it to be the first day and kind of start the journey.”

It was another long summer for the Blue Devils, who enter this season having lost three of five during a 28-6 finish that was tainted by yet another late-season tournament collapse, and the Hall of Fame coach at least partly attributes it to the pressure of Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick and the other ghosts of Duke’s past who helped Coach K rack up three national titles and 10 Final Fours.

The No. 2-seeded Blue Devils’ one-point win over Belmont was followed by a 73-67 loss to West Virginia that kept them out of the regional semifinals for the second straight year.

“Obviously, some of it is Xs and Os, but some of it is just being in that time, and not being able to compete against one team, but try to carry on something, and people throw that at you,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m OK with them throwing it at me, but that’s the first time for these guys that it’s thrown at them, and I shouldn’t allow that, if I can. … I didn’t really realize it until it was over, that that may be a part of it - where you end up, your own success beating you.”

Ever since leading the Americans to the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, Krzyzewski urged his team to greet its victories with more appreciation and less relief. As practice started, he maintained that message, stressing that “we’re playing for right now.”

“No matter what else other people are counting - number of victories, number of NCAA titles, counting how many times we did go to the Sweet 16 and it wasn’t that big, and we didn’t (get there) and now it is big. Don’t go along with that,” Krzyzewski said. “Just … play. Just do it, and that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

Even if Coach K isn’t counting anymore, the Blue Devils who took the court at Cameron Indoor Stadium had the look of a team that could add to those lofty totals.

Nine members of last year’s 10-man rotation are back, and so are four double-figure scorers - including ACC rookie of the year Kyle Singler and Paulus, a 42-percent shooter from 3-point range whose Redick-like lightning-rod personality has made him one of the most polarizing players in college basketball.

He joins David McClure as the two seniors on scholarship, and that’s an improvement - during the past two seasons combined, the Blue Devils had just one.

They’re complemented by a three-man freshman class that includes five-star guard Elliot Williams and big-bodied forwards Olek Czyz and Miles Plumlee.

Czyz and Plumlee will be counted upon to bolster the size and depth of a team that last season was criticized for being undersized in the low post and too dependent on its perimeter game. While the Blue Devils showed few weaknesses during a 22-1 start that included a No. 2 national ranking and a victory over rival North Carolina in a 2-vs.-3 matchup, they were exposed in a loss at Wake Forest and lost five of their last 11 games.

“We did have a great year last year, up until the end where we lost a few games (and) I think we lost confidence in ourselves,” guard Jon Scheyer said. “One thing that’s important is, guys on the team individually and as a team, you have an ego. You believe you’re good. For us, we’re not missing any pieces, and I think this year we have all the pieces to do what we want to do, and that’s what makes us feel confident.”

Never before have the Marquette Golden Eagles so eagerlyanticipated the official open of practice. Although their initial session at 5 p.m. today will bring themthat much closer to the start of what’s expected to be a fourthstraight NCAA tournament run, it also leaves a new, grueling twistto pre-season workouts in the rear-view mirror.

“Boot Camp 2008,” one of many changes within the MU programinstituted by new coach Buzz Williams, was a twice-dailyconditioning regimen that concluded Tuesday. It left evenexperienced seniors like Jerel McNeal, Dominic James and Wesley Matthews shaking their heads and the team’s handful of newcomerswondering what the heck they’d gotten themselves into.

“That was the longest (10) days of my life,” junior forward Lazar Hayward said Thursday during MU’s annual media day. “We’re in reallygreat shape right now. The things that we were doing wereunbearable. But it was good for us.”

Williams’ boot camp workouts didn’t require basketballs or X’sand O’s, instead focusing strictly on players running a timed seriesof sprints in groups. If one player didn’t make the standard,neither did the rest of the members of his group, necessitating theyall run again until each made the time.

“It’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,without question,” said graduate manager Jamie McNeilly, who wentthrough boot camp himself while playing for Williams at New Orleansin 2006-’07. “But you learn about your teammates. There’s still someguys I’m not too close to because they kind of revealed who they arethrough boot camp.”

Williams said the boot-camp concept was created by Bill Self whenhe was coaching at Oral Roberts. From there Self took it with him toTulsa, Illinois and then Kansas, where he won the national title inApril.

“I don’t believe in running our guys from a conditioning basisfrom the first day of school to the first day of practice,” Williamssaid. “So what it is from a physical standpoint is it’s a veryconcentrated yet condensed version of conditioning.

“There’s not a ball, so they have to rely on one another –whether it’s a slow guy, fast guy, a young guy, returning guy — andthey have to learn to communicate with one another. They wereentering into a situation every single session where they didn’tknow what they were entering into, so they had to rely on oneanother.”

Added strength and conditioning coach Todd Smith, “I was proud ofthem, and I don’t say that very often.”

Once the Golden Eagles wrapped their boot camp up on Tuesday,Williams awarded each player with the requisite camouflage shirt.The workouts not only helped form the conditioning foundation for ateam that will seek to speed up the pace of play to offset a hugesize disparity, but also gave Williams a good handle on the team’smental makeup.

Cubillan recovering: His availability for the start of theregular season in question earlier this summer after double-shoulder surgery, junior guard David Cubillan now appears to be inline to take part in the Golden Eagles’ opener Nov. 14.

Cubillan, who knocked down 42.5% of his three-pointers as afreshman, saw that number drop to 33.6% last season as he battledpain in both shoulders. With the three-point arc moving back a fullfoot this season, Cubillan’s presence figures to be big.

Even still, Williams will take it slow with him to ensure he’llbe fully healthy by the open of Big East play.

“Three minutes before I walked in, one of his doctors had justgiven him clearance for contact; limited contact,” Williams said.”He can practice. He’s not cleared to play; when that will happen, Ithink the final answer is going to be related to the pain.

“But he’s ahead of schedule probably 26 to 28 days. We need him.”

Shooting around: The Golden Eagles will spend the opening weekendof practice in the Chicago area. They took part in a tip-off dinnerThursday night, and this morning they’ll spend time with a group ofSpecial Olympians before practicing at the University of Chicago. .. .

MU will travel to Nebraska to scrimmage the Cornhuskers on Nov.2. That takes the place of one of the Eagles’ exhibition games. . ..

All but one of MU’s regular-season games will be televised, with12 scheduled for national TV.

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