FBL 1: The College Years

[GiantBoxTV]

(Writers Note: This is the NCAA League going alongside my PB 4 league, Florida Basketball League 1. Go read that as well if you want, it will give a little insight into why it's written in this style. I'm using Outlaw77, or Valadrix, mod which has the real teams and logos and conferences but none of the history. It's always funner to write your own )

July 25, 2000
Good Morning, Sweet World!!! How's it going everybody, I'm Ben Chang and we have another exciting college basketball season upon us. There's something different this time though, something special. There's a pro league!!! These kids have something more to play for, something a little more enticing. It's something I didn't have when I played college ball back in the day. These kids get to play for the chance to make a living off of this incredible sport. We've already seen some pretty important guys jump ship and go to the Florida Basketball League 1. I can understand that, the have a gigillionaire commish/league owner who's pumping tons of money to bring a high level of pro basketball to the masses. He also happens to be my boss, as I'm the chief editor of the FBL 1 magazine, watch out for that on your local newsstands pretty soon. Like I said, we've seen some guys that would've been huge cogs to contending teams this year like Scott Lyde out of Louisville and Joe Kamara out of Florida who were both players on preseason top 25 teams, who had plenty of college eligibility left but decided to jump ship for monetary reasons. It will be interesting to see how that new option will affect our beloved NCAA. The FBL 1 has done what they can to not ruin the college game altogether by putting a stipulation on draft eligibility. The player in question must be at least one year removed from the graduation of their high school graduation class to be draft eligible. Which means you better enjoy the super freshman while they are in college, cause chances are you won't see them here for very long.
Enough about that, we are here to talk about college ball! let's take a look at a tidbit of the top 25, we'll check out the top five teams in the preseason poll and their projected starting 5's;

1. Kansas Jayhawks
PG Cedric Raher JR, 6'0" 191 lbs. Southeast, Lincoln, NE
SG Chris Williams SO, 6'0" 192 lbs. Arkansas City, Arkansas City, KS (Arkansas City... Really Kansas?)
SF Eric Hayden SO, 6'6" 199 lbs. North, Wichita, KS
PF Gerald Winn FR, 6'6" 213 lbs. Columbus, Columbus, KS
C Michael Polybank SO, 6'9" 260 lbs. Central Heights, Richmond, KS

The first thing I see is just how small this team is. They have a ridiculous amount of skill but when they come up against the bigger and stronger teams I'm not sure how they will fair.

2. Michigan St. Spartans
PG Marco Masiello SR, 5'10" 162 lbs. Beaufort, Beaufort, SC
SG Cleveland Gunder SR, 6'2" 192 lbs. Sault Area, Sault Ste. Marie, MI
SF Antoine Payne SR, 6'7" 219 lbs. Rugby, Rugby, ND (Shout out to the high school basketball powerhouse, the state of North Dakota )
PF Kareem Kurtz JR, 6'9" 244 lbs. Warwick Veterans, Warwick, RI
C Vince Thomas FR, 6'10" 252 lbs. Harrison, Farmington Hills, MI

I see a lot of experience, something that's going to help during tournament time. I also see Vince Thomas, by far my top guy in this incoming crop of freshman.

3. Duke Blue Devils
PG Jacob Coffee SR, 6'1" 170 lbs. North Iredell, Olin, NC
SG Clayton Herring JR, 6'0" 196 lbs. Weber, North Ogden, UT
SF Chris Barrett FR, 6'7" 237 lbs. West Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
PF Edem Borman FR, 6'6" 207 lbs. West Brunswick, Shallotte, NC
C Chris Quinn FR, 6'10" 256 lbs. Freedom, Oakley, CA

Young, young team. Some really talented kids in their recruiting class though. I heard personally from Chris Barrett about how hard it was to leave Charlotte, apparently he loves it there.

4. UCLA Bruins
PG Anthony Willis SR, 6'5" 182 lbs. Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA
SG Brenden Brand FR, 6'4" 214 lbs. Yucca Valley, Yucca Valley, CA
SF Josh Darby SR, 6'3" 233 lbs. Brentwood, Los Angeles, CA
PF Billy Curtis SR, 6'7" 220 lbs. Riverside, Greer, SC
C Willie Davis JR, 6'8" 274 lbs. El Capitan, Lakeside, CA

I see a lot of experience and a lot of homegrown talent that most definitely want to "win one for the gipper" if you know what I mean.

5. Syracuse Orange
PG Sharone Runyan JR, 6'4" 203 lbs. East Webster, Maben, MS
SG Herb Darden FR, 6'6" 214 lbs. Midlakes, Clifton Springs, NY
SF Todd Murphy FR, 6'6" 218 lbs. Stissing Mountain, Pine Plains, NY
PF Marlon Myers SO, 6'6" 227 lbs. Holy Name Central Catholic, Worcester, MA
C Neil Gurley JR, 7'0" 250 lbs. Newfane, Newfane, NY

Syracuse looks to be a fun team just like they always are. Some nice young players in that starting lineup plus Neil Gurley who is hoping to turn himself into a pro prospect. Build up a little more muscle there buddy and you just might be.

The last thing I want to do before I run out of time is check out who some of the top high school prospects are. With recruiting offically about to begin tomorrow, let's see who some of the kids that all of the schools will be throwing the kitchen sink at are.

1. Throton Barnes PF
6'7" 230 lbs. Brooks County, Quitman, GA
Previous Season Stats- 26.8 ppg 4.8 apg 15 rpg 2.3 spg 6.4 bpg

2. Paul Irvin PG
6'3" 205 lbs. Woodruff, Woodruff, SC
Previous Season Stats- 25 ppg 13.1 apg 8.7 rbg 4.2 spg 1.4 bpg

3. Kenyon Holmes SG
6'0" 187 lbs. Grayson County, Independence, VA
Previous Season Stats- 31.4 ppg 2.6 apg 7.2 rbg 2.7 spg 1.2 bpg

4. Eddy Smith PF
6'6" 217 lbs. Isabella, Maplesville, AL
Previous Season Stats- 24.2 ppg 3.5 apg 21.3 rbg 7 spg 1.5 bpg

5. Edmond Gilbert SG
6'2" 200 lbs. Indian River, Chesapeake, VA
Previous Season Stats- 25.1 ppg 3 apg 7 rpg 6.6 spg .8 bpg

All I have to say about that is that Eddy Smith looks like an absolute stud, a real game changer, one man championship type of player. That's all I've got for you for now, next time you hear from me it will be an update before the season starts in October. The last thing I'll say is give a shout out to my very good friend and former teammate at Yale, Henry Johnson, who recently got hired to his first head coaching gig here at Tennessee. He was coaching in Israel before this for Maccabi Tel Aviv. He wanted to bring one of the assistant coaches over to coach Tennessee with him, I think he said his name was David Blatt but I'm not so sure on that, either way he wouldn't budge so it doesn't matter. I'll be rooting for you man. This is Ben, signing off.

[PointGuard]

Good start.

[GiantBoxTV]

October 25, 2000
What's up guys? Welcome back, I'm your awesome and most gracious host Ben in case you forgot. The college basketball season is right around the corner and if you are just like me, you are just itching for the first ball to be tossed into the air. To see the Cinderellas, the David vs. Goliath, the absolute insanity that is NCAA basketball. This is going to be brief, a little update on recruiting and the full rankings. We even have an interview with one high profile recruit who will be giving his decision LIVE, right here on this show. Let's jump into it and give you the full preseason rankings, the top 25 teams in the country before the first tip off.

AP Preseason Top 25
1. Kansas Jayhawks
2. Michigan St. Spartans
3. Duke Blue Devils
4. UCLA Bruins
5. Syracuse Orange
6. Pittsburgh Panthers
7. Oregon Ducks
8. Kentucky Wildcats
9. Michigan Wolverines
10. North Carolina Tar Heals
11. Arizona Wildcats
12. Louisville Cardinals
13. Indiana Hoosiers
14. Gonzaga Bulldogs
15. Ohio St. Buckeyes
16. Iowa St. Cyclones
17. Connecticut Huskies
18. Illinois Fighting Illini
19. Maryland Terrapins
20. NC State Wolfpack
21. Wake Forrest Demon Deacans
22. Georgetown Hoyas
23. Florida Gators
24. Oklahoma St. Cowboys (:eek: are you for serious!?)
25. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Gosh, the ACC and the Big Ten are going to be tough this year. Those two conferences make up 6 of the top ten teams and 13 of the top 25 teams. You have your perennials like UCLA and Kansas in the top 25, but overall I don't think there are more well rounded conferences from top to bottom than the ACC and the Big Ten this year. I'm going to get bold and say that the champion of this year is going to be from one of those two conferences. Gun to my head I'd give the edge to the Big Ten, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them take up 4 or 5 of the teams in the Sweet Sixteen.

Let's jump into some recruiting news. You can never stop thinking about the future, especially with the FBL 1 giving these college players a reason to leave the cozy confines of places like The Bob of UD or Rupp Arena down there in Lexington, Kentucky. We have on the phone one of those top recruits that all the big names in college basketball have been pinning over, Eddy Smith. Eddy is not only a physical specimen but has a knack for being at the right place at the right time. He's like a vacuum on the boards. Let's talk to him now, hey Eddy how are you doing man?
Eddy Smith: I'm good man, thanks for having me.
Ben: No problem, glad to have you. You've been heralded as one of the top five in this incoming class of guys, and you've been looked at by some of the top schools for a while now. how has all of this attention and hype surrounding you affected the way you play or conduct yourself?
Eddy Smith: It's been crazy. I'm from a small town in Alabama and I've had scouts and reporters hounding me for the past few years. It's just something that we aren't used to around here. I've always tried to stay humble and keep my eyes on the prize. I was told at an early age by my first basketball coach that basketball could open up a lot of doors for me. It has, I'll be able to attend whatever school I want. I try to stay humble, I try to stay hungry. I want to keep that fire going and keep perfecting my craft. I think the only time I let the ego get the better of me is when I'm playing one-on-one with my dad because he use to be big time and he taught me a lot of what I know now. We give a little trash talk here and there, I dunk on him and call him an old man you know how it goes (laughs)
Ben: (laughs) Yeah I know how that goes. What are your goals for this coming season? It's your senior year, any special plans?
Eddy Smith: Yeah, I want a state championship under my belt. We got so close last year but lost in the semis. I had a bad night that night and I'm ready to not let that happen again. For a personal goal I want to average 25, 25, and either 10 blocks or steals. I just want to really cement myself as "the guy". The one that some teams will regret not recruiting, not throwing the kitchen sink at. I thought I deserved something like that, especially from Alabama and Auburn the two schools I wanted to go to. I got nothing from them, I don't know if it's they thought they couldn't get me or if they actually didn't want me, but I want them to regret for not trying.
Ben: Speaking of schools, I've heard you decided. I wanted you to commit on this show, and surprisingly you agreed. So, Eddy Smith, what school do you plan to attend and bring your basketball talents to for the foreseeable future?
Eddy Smith: I thought about it long and hard. But ultimately, it was Coach Evans who convinced me that if I went to Duke, we would be an unstoppable team that would win multiple national titles. Next year, I'll be playing for the Duke University Blue Devils.
Ben: Duke is a lucky team to get a talent like you. I'm going to let you go, I'm sure you have a lot of things left to do.
Eddy Smith: Alright, later Ben and thanks again for having me.

There you have it, one of the top players in all of high school basketball commits to Duke. Let's see where his other top ten recruits have decided to play college ball:

1. PF Thorton Barnes - Kentucky
2. PG Paul Irvin - Kentucky
3. SG Kenyon Holmes Connecticut
4. PF Kenny Smith - Duke
5. SG Edmond Gilbert - Syracuse
6. PF Justin Maybin - UCLA
7. SG Jamar Johnson - Illinois
8. PF Jamie Miller - Stanford
9. PF Andre Hart - Duke
10. SF Will Johnson - Connecticut

As you can see there, UConn, Duke, and Kentucky are going to be infused with a lot of young talent next year. Well that's all the time I have here, I'll catch you guys in December after we've been able to see some of these teams in action. This is Ben, signing off.