Tip-off '09: Playboy's college basketball preview

WILL ANYONE BEAT THE TAR HEELS? THE NATIONAI CHAMPIONSHIP. S NORTHS':

: Carolina's jo lose__:

Long before we hear the season, and the team returns all five starters and

first screech of rubber on a gym floor this college hoops season, every media outlet In America and every pontif Icator will have agreed that the best team Is North Carolina. The sports talk shows may as well broadcast dead air. There's nothing to argue about. The Tar Heels are so favored that anything but a national championship will be a letdown for coach Roy Williams and his squad of lanky super­stars. UNC won 36 games against three losses last

Its top six scorers. Ty Lawson is the quickest point guard In America. Forward Tyler Hansbrough is the best big man in the college game since Tim Duncan. We sports fans love powerhouses. They make for brilliant story lines. They don't just win; they humili­ate. They are feared, or they flop with a sonorous thud, like the Pats In Super Bowl XLII. One way or another, this college basketball season will be riv­eting. Enjoy our primer.

1

Girlie Rction 1

Finally, it's halftime!

Here's our final four of NCAA cheeriead- * Ing hotness: university of Florida, use, I Arizona stats University and UCLA. The I

Qator girls are master pom-pom shakers. ' exhibiting extraordinary subtlety and nuance. The Trojan mamas can hurl one another across the arena like WWE Divas. The Sun Devllettes? Ouch, that's hotl But there's nothing like the Bruin Daties in action. Judges? Tenl Tenl Ten!

The Long and Shoi of It

Good things come in all sixes

The tallest player in NCAA Division I hoops is Kenny George, at seven feet seven inches and 370 pounds. A center at UNC Asheville, he is believed to have the biggest feet of any basketball player in the world, with a size 28. He can dunk the ball without leaving the ground. The shortest player in Division I ball is Eric Bell, at five feet three inches and 150 pounds. A guard at Stephen F. Austin State University, this little guy can handle the rock. If you play his jump shot-bam-he'sbyyou in a flash. If you try to defend against his dribble drive-boom-he drops a jumper in your face.

IIUinillllllllllMHMIIIIinillMIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIMIIIIIIMMI

MIIIUMMUUIIIMIIMIM|_

The five toughest (

plates to play j

"Phog" Allen Fleldhouse, University of Kansas

Take a sniff: You can smell Wilt Chamberlain's sweat in here—and Danny Manning's and Paul Pierce's. Kansas was undefeated

(19-0) at home last year and has gone 35-2 over the past two seasons. Between 1994 and 1998 the Jayhawks won 62 consecutive games in Allen Fieldhouse. The banner on the north wall says it all: pay hud, au who enter: beware of "the phog."

MtArthur Court, University of Oregon

McArthur is one of those old-school gyms (built in 1926) that are loaded with character and tradition. When the Pit Crew (as the Ducks' ravenous courtside student sec­tion is called) gets rowdy, the maple floor liter­ally shakes under the players' feet. __

Kohl Center, Unbrertlty of W!s<ontln

The student section of this arena, spanning three decks and 2,100 seats, is called the Grateful Red. It's named for the rock band, but these fans are louder than the Dead ever was. At the end of the 2007-2008 season, the Badgers had a 143-19 record at the Kohl Center, with only five losses in the past five seasons.

Hlnkle fleldhoute, Butler University

There are reasons Hoosiers was filmed In Indiana's basketball cathedral. The red bricks ooie history and heroism. Hinkle is the most famous hoops venue in the heartland of basketball fandom. The field house was built during Prohibition (first game: Butler 21, Notre Dame 13 in overtime). Get a courtside seat (S999) and hold on to your teeth.

Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University

A trip to Cameron may be the toughest road game in any sport any­where. It's like going to Brownsville to fight Tyson. The Cameron Crazies are frenzied; coach Mike Krzyzewski patrols 5 the sideline like Yoda . in a tie. Oppos-ing teams leave as roadkill.

Eight must-see maHhups \

Clash of the titans: We'd start with arguably the greatest rivalry in all of sports. North Carolina travels eight miles to Duke on February 11, and Duke hits Chapel Hill on March 8. Tall boys: UConn's seven-foot-three, 263-pound center Hasheem Thabeet goes mano a mano with Pitt's six-foot-seven, 265-pound bruiser DeJuan Blair at UConn on February 16 and at Pittsburgh on March 7. Close encounters: Xavier and Cincinnati (December 13 at Cincinnati) are three miles apart Fights have followed games, and coaches have refused to shake hands. Cincinnati leads the series 47-28, but Xavier has won six of the past nine. Not curry: The star of last year's NCAA j0i tourney was Davidsonls Stephen Curry. The Carn­al eron Crazies will be, well, crazy when Curry takes on Duke on January 7. Conference- rival: Memphis hasn't lost a conference

game since 2006, when the team succumbed to the University of Alabama at Birmingham on the road The team travels back to Birmingham on February 26 to face possibly the best UAB team ever. David vs. Goliath: Out-of-nowtiere star Lester Hudson of little University of Tennessee at Martin had the first quadruple double in men's NCAA Division I history last season. He faces his only ranked opponent Ten­nessee, on the road on November 18. Freddy vs. Jason: Slashers James Harden of Arizona State and Chase Budinger of Arizona battle for Zona bragging rights in Tucson on January 21 and in Tempe a month later. Poultry, anyone? Kansas State students toss live chickens onto the court at the Fred Bram-lage Coliseum when the team plays archrival Kansas (whose mascot is, of course, the Jayhawk). The birds land on February 14. PETA on line two!

Facto

' A few words with Michigan State's Tom Izzo. Playboy's preseason coach of the Year

What advice would you give to talented kids hoping to play Division I?

Work on your game. So many kids play games instead of working on their game. Parents get upset because kids travel all over the coun­try to play. Michael Jordan didn't do that: Magic Johnson didnt They worked on their game. Too many kids worry about the frills and forget to bear down and get the grunt work done.

Can a kid play big-time basketball and enjoy the collegiate experience?

Sometimes I run into a police officer or a professor and they tell me what some kid did. I say, "What did you do when you were that age?" Sometimes I feel sorry for these kids. They don't get to be kids. I'm not talk­ing about getting into trouble; I just mean the chance to be regular human beings. There are pluses, but in all honesty there are a lot of negatives. The scrutiny is a little heavier than it should be on a college kid. It's the same thing for you, being a celebrity coach. If you go to dinner and have one beer, the story goes out: Izzo was drinking last night!

That's true. It's funny how that has changed. _j It's a sacrifice you make. At 53 I don't mind making it. But at 19 or 20 it's hard not to be a regular kid. Coaches get paid to make the sac­rifice; kids get opportunities in return. It's more difficult than the average person thinks.

Does Tom Izzo have an iPod, and if so, what's on it?

I do have one. I buy CDs with hits from the 1970s, 1980s. 1990s and J today. I need to stay in touch with myself and my players, and my kids are eight and 14 years old. I have a lot on my iPod.

What's the best place to play? I've been to Kentucky, Texas, Duke, Carolina, UConn and Illinois. Kansas is awesome. I will say this, though: The craziest have to be the Big Ten schools. Duke is great, but....

llllllHIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIf

THE PLHYBOY ZOOB-2OO9 PRESERSON

COLLEGE ALL AMERICA TEAM

GUARDS

JAMES HARDEN-Arizona state, sophomore. 6'4". 218 Pounds

Harden made an immediate impact for tne sun Devils as a fresnman. averaging 17.8 points wltn 110 assists. He earned first-team all-Pac 10 nonors despite being tne youngest player in the conference.

• DARREN collison-ucla. senior. 6'1". 165 Pounds

Colllson was a deadly .525 shooter from the three-point line a year ago. He averaged 14.5 points and 3.8 assists a game.

•TY LAWSON-North Carolina. Junior. 5'ir. 195 Pounds

Lawson's an explosive point guard who runs the floor extremely well and makes everyone around him Detter. as demonstrated by his 5.2 assists a game last year.

Stephen CURRY-Davldson. Junior. 6'2". 185 Pounds

An amazing point producer, curry averaged 25.9 last year while shooting .483 from the floor and .894 from the free-throw line. His father. Dell, was a two-time Playboy All America (1984-1985.1985-1986) from Virginia Tech.

_______________FORWARDS —__________

BLAKE GRIFFIN-Okiahoma. Sophomore, 6'1O". 251 Pounds

He averaged 14.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game In his debut season, the best of any Oklahoma true freshman since Wayman Tlsdale.

TYLER HANSBROUGH-Nortn Carolina, senior. 6'9". 250 Pounds

The leading candidate for national player of the year honors, he's on pace to become North Carolina's all-time leading scorer. His number. 50. will be retired when he graduates.

CHASE BUDINGER-Aflzona. Junior. 67". 218 Pounds "**"

Budinger chose to return to school after initially declaring for the NBA draft. He averaged 17.1 points and 5.4 rebounds last season.

TYLER SMITH-Tennessee. Junior. 67". 215 Pounds

Smith hit game-deciding baskets in the final seconds three times last year for the Vols. He also led the team in rebounding and assists.

___________________C E M T E R S____________

hasheem THABEET-connecticut. Junior, 7*3". 263 Pounds

From Dar es Salaam. Tanzania by way of Cypress Christian School in Houston. Thabeet was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year last season. He averaged 7.9 rebounds and 4.5 blocks a game.

A.J. OGILVY-Vanderbltt. sophomore. 6'11". 250 Pounds

Ogilvy. an Australian, played In several international compe­titions before attending Vandy. He averaged 17 points and 6.7 rebounds In his initial season with the commodores.