June is often considered a fallow period in men's college basketball, but there are always a few stories that could impact teams' chances to win their conference or even affect their current odds to make a run at a national title.
The
following is a look at this week’s most interesting news and notes from the
world of college basketball.
Andre Dawkins is redshirted for the
2012/2013 season
Duke head
coach Mike Krzyzewski is busy these days preparing once again to try to coach
the USA’s men’s basketball team to a gold medal in this summer’s Olympic Games
in London, but he did take time out the other day to confirm that senior guard
Andre Dawkins will redshirt this season for the Blue Devils. It has been
reported that Dawkins is still dealing with the affects of losing his sister in
2009 after she died in a car accident on the way to one of his games.
The
6-foot-4, 200 pounder from Chesapeake, Virginia, has averaged over 20 minutes and
eight points a game for Duke over the past two seasons while shooting 40
percent from the floor and 39.2 percent from three-point range last year.
New NCAA academic requirements take
their toll
The 2010
national champion Connecticut Huskies will begin serving a one-year ban from
postseason play next season due to academic violations, but they are not the
only Division I men’s basketball program that have been dealt a one-year ban
for failing to meet the new academic standards that have been set by the NCAA.
The NCAA has
established a mandated cut line of 900 for a school’s four-year scores in its
Academic Progress Rate, which measures the classroom performance of every
Division I team. Connecticut is the only team from the six major basketball
conferences to fall short on its recent scores, but nine other D-I men’s
basketball programs will also suffer the same fate next season including
Arkansas-Pine Buff, Jacksonville State, Mississippi Valley State, North
Carolina-Wilmington, Toledo, and Towson. Cal State Bakersfield is also on the
list, but the data in the case is currently under review.
North Carolina State’s Lorenzo Brown
to have surgery on right knee
Junior guard
Lorenzo Brown is scheduled to have exploratory surgery performed on his right
knee this Tuesday to try and address the chronic discomfort he has been
experiencing this offseason. The surgery is considered minor, but there is no
timetable for his return to the court.
Brown was instrumental in the Wolfpacks’ 24-13
record last season and run to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and expected
to play an even bigger role next season. The 6-foot-5, 189 pound junior was
second on the team in scoring with 12.7 points a game and first in assists with
an average of 6.4 a game. NC State has been opened by Bovada at 22/1 to win the
national title for the 2012/ 2013 season.