College Basketball Capsules: Carter and Dunn trying to fill in for Baylor

WACO — Hanging on the wall in the Baylor basketball office are framed brackets from last spring’s NIT and Big 12 tournaments.

The brackets are almost filled out, listing every victory that got the Bears to the championship games of each tournament. Unfilled are the outcomes of the final games, both Baylor losses.

"Well, we stop (filling it out) when we have to stop (playing)," coach Scott Drew said, with a smile.

While the Bears ended up with runner-up trophies in both tournaments, making its first Big 12 title game as a No. 9 seed and then ending the season with a 69-63 loss to Penn State at Madison Square Garden, the March surge provided an extended ending for a trio of senior starters.

It also serves as motivation for the returning players from a team that finished 24-15, one victory short of matching the school record.

"It’s something you look back on and say if I did this and that, we probably could have won the game," said guard Tweety Carter, one of only two seniors this season. "You lose your last game of your season and you still have got that taste in your mouth."

Now the Bears, coming off consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time ever, have to move forward without Curtis Jerrells, Kevin Rogers and Henry Dugat, the trio that accounted for 50 percent of Baylor’s s offense during their four seasons.

"Basically that group that graduated were our staple for the last several seasons," Drew said. "It’s a great opportunity for the returning players now to have bigger roles. ... Now they can step into their own."

Primarily Carter and junior guard LaceDarius Dunn.

"You have to be a good follower before you can be a leader, and I think both of them have done that," Drew said.

Dunn, who was a two-time Louisiana high school player of the year, has averaged 15 points a game his first two seasons at Baylor, often scoring in spurts. Carter was the top-scoring prep basketball player in U.S. history, and has averaged 10 points a game for the Bears.

"Jerrells, he was so special for us, he won some games for us," Carter said. "This year is me and Lace coming back at the guard spot. Everybody knows he can score, and everybody knows I can score. It’s just a matter of us putting it all together. Not doing it individually, but doing it together."

Dunn knows they will have to score more for Baylor to be successful again — and maybe be able to fill in more brackets.

"I’m going to really have to turn it up a notch," Dunn said. "I understand that I had seniors in front of me. ... I waited my turn and I’ve been patient. Now it’s my turn and I’ve got to make the best of it."

The Bears also return sophomore Quincy Acy, who made a quick splash by making the first 20 field goal attempts of his college career. He ended the season averaging 5.4 points and 3.6 rebounds a game.

Baylor has a highly touted class of seven true freshmen, and adds 6-foot-10, 240-pound post player Ekpe Udoh to the lineup. He sat out last season following his transfer from Michigan, where he had 159 blocked shots in 67 games over two seasons.

"We’ve been good offensively but maybe haven’t been as sound on the defensive end," Drew said. "The presence that Ekpe brings on the defensive end really helps with that. He can make up for a multitude of errors. Someone gets beat off the dribble, he’s there to help out."

Experienced Kansas St could make waves in Big 12

MANHATTAN, Kan. — In his first two years as Kansas State coach, Frank Martin had just about everything except experience.

His first year, he had Michael Beasley, arguably the most talented player in school history. His second year, he had determination and flair and one of the quickest guards in the nation in Denis Clemente.

He no longer has Beasley. But the Wildcats still have Clemente. And they finally are blessed with experience, that vital ingredient they’ve always lacked.

With three seniors and three juniors to go along with a talented newcomer, the Wildcats could make serious noise in the Big 12 this year.

Back for his junior season is point guard Jacob Pullen. The super-quick Clemente, who tied the Big 12 record last year with 44 points at Texas, is a senior, as is 6-foot-10 Luis Colon. Also back are forward Jamar Samuels, a sophomore, and junior swingman Dominique Sutton.

Also in the mix is one of the Big 12’s most intriguing transfers, 6-foot-8 Curtis Kelly, and 6-foot-9 freshman Wally Judge, rated by Rivals.com as the No. 18 recruit in the nation.

The Wildcats were 22-12 last year, 9-7 in the Big 12. Picked for a fourth-place finish this season, they may have what it takes to go even higher.

"You work really hard to try and get the guys that you recruit to fit your style of play and personality, and have them grow within that," said Martin, 43-24 in two seasons.

"That is what we are starting to see with the guys — Jacob, Denis, Luis, Chris (Merriewether), Jamar and Dominique. Those guys have been with us for at least three years, and are starting to see who we are as a coaching staff."

Martin got the job when Bob Huggins suddenly bolted for West Virginia before the 2007-08 season. He had Beasley and little else other than Bill Walker, another touted freshman who also was one-and-done.

But finally, the program is feeling like it is his own.

"Well, here we are a couple years later," Martin said. "Now we’ve got a core of guys that have been together. We’ve got some things in place now."

They also have some intriguing newcomers who could make an immediate impact.

Kelly, a New York native, was a two-year letterman at Connecticut who sat out last year. Judge is the most highly touted recruit Martin has signed since becoming head coach. The Washington, D.C., native had double-doubles in 30 of 32 games while averaging 18.5 points.

Besides their talent, the newcomers have also impressed Martin with their willingness to work.

"When they practice, they play their hearts out," he said. "I have got nothing but positive things to say about how hard those freshmen are trying, but there is a discrepancy there between them and the upperclassmen. That is not a bad thing, it is a good thing. That tells me that those upperclassmen are doing those things that I talked about earlier. They understand that urgency, that daily commitment and that burning desire that you have to have in order to be good."

-- Doug Tucker

Tar Heels hold recent edge on rival Blue Devils

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — For years, everything Duke and North Carolina achieved — the conference championships, Final Four trips and national titles — has been connected in a back-and-forth game of one-upmanship.

These days the Tar Heels have the upper hand.

Since shortly after Roy Williams returned to his alma mater, the Tar Heels have outperformed Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils in the long-running race between college basketball’s fiercest rivals. North Carolina has two NCAA championships in the five seasons since Duke last reached the Final Four. The Tar Heels have also dominated the recent series, including four straight wins at the Blue Devils’ Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Of course both sides say they focus on themselves, but they can’t ignore what’s going on a short drive down the U.S. 15-501 highway linking Chapel Hill and Durham, either. As North Carolina fifth-year senior Marcus Ginyard put it, "There’s no question we want to be better than them."

"I think both programs have been very good for the other one," Williams said. "We do what we want to do because we think it’s best, and Mike does for his program what they want to do because he thinks it’s best. But also, I do believe there is something where their success makes us want it a little more and our success perhaps makes them want it a little more."

Right now, the Blue Devils are the ones left wanting.

North Carolina has won 86 percent of its games in the past five seasons, with two Atlantic Coast Conference titles, three Final Fours, and NCAA titles in 2005 and 2009. The Tar Heels have failed to reach the NCAA’s round of eight just once and are coming off a dominating NCAA run that ended with a romp over Michigan State in Detroit.

Things are rolling so well that North Carolina is ranked sixth despite losing four-year star Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green.

The ninth-ranked Blue Devils remain among the nation’s elite, yet haven’t had the same success as the Tar Heels — or past Duke teams under Krzyzewski, for that matter. They’ve won 80 percent of their games in that same span, but they haven’t advanced past the NCAA round of 16 and have twice been eliminated in the tournament’s opening weekend.

Last year, Duke won its third ACC championship in five seasons, but lost in the regional semifinals to Villanova by 23 points, its most lopsided NCAA exit since the 103-73 loss to UNLV in the 1990 final.

While most programs pray for the Blue Devils’ recent success, it just doesn’t feel quite, well, Duke-like. Krzyzewski has three NCAA titles in 29 seasons there, though the last of his 10 Final Fours came in 2004 — coincidentally Williams’ first season in Chapel Hill.

Not to mention North Carolina has won six of the past seven meetings.

"As far as our motivation, we don’t need North Carolina or Maryland or anybody else to motivate us," Krzyzewski said. "We’re motivated by trying to win a championship.

"Last year, Carolina had great team ego and great team talent. (When) you get that, that’s tough, that’s the ultimate. And we’ve had that here, so I understand how they feel. But it doesn’t last forever. And that’s why they play each season. They start it over and they don’t bring any records along with it."

Krzyzewski has been on the other side, too.

His program pushed ahead of Dean Smith’s Tar Heels in the late 1980s with six Final Fours in seven seasons — including NCAA titles in 1991 and 1992 — and three ACC crowns while the Tar Heels had two ACC titles and one Final Four trip.

It’s the ebb and flow of the rivalry, said Jay Bilas, an ESPN analyst and a player on Krzyzewski’s first Final Four squad in 1986. And neither program can afford to get caught up in comparisons.

"The thing in the Duke-Carolina rivalry is it’s inescapable," Bilas said. "Whatever team wins, their fans get to crow and celebrate and have a good time, but the players have to get up and go to practice. They’ve got another game after that.

"Neither school has a banner hanging in their gym saying what their record is against the other. They don’t hang banners for that stuff."

Recruiting explains some of the current gap. Williams has nabbed several players like one-and-done talents Marvin Williams and Brandan Wright, and eventual NBA first-round draft picks Lawson and Ellington, who stayed in school longer than many anticipated. Then there’s Hansbrough, who graduated as the ACC’s all-time leading scorer and North Carolina’s top rebounder.

The Blue Devils have also ranked highly with recruits like NBA lottery pick Gerald Henderson and junior Kyle Singler, the preseason ACC player of the year. But they’ve missed on key names like Kentucky’s John Wall and Patrick Patterson, and Georgetown’s Greg Monroe that could have provided a boost, while the NBA departures of Luol Deng after one season and preps-to-pros guard Shaun Livingston didn’t help, either.

"They’ve had good players in their classes," Dave Telep, national recruiting director for Scout.com, said of Duke. "This is not nearly as much of a conversation if the guys eight miles down the road didn’t do some amazing things with their classes.

"Duke has hit a couple of solo home runs and North Carolina hit a couple of grand slams. Over the course of time, the runs add up."

As for the players there now, they enter this season as co-favorites in the ACC. And what happens this year is what’s most important to Duke’s Jon Scheyer.

"I can only control what I’ve done since I’ve been here and obviously they’ve been more successful," the senior said. "But like I said before, you want to beat them. That’s the main thing: to beat them the next year."

-- Aaron Beard

At Seattle U it’s dad taking orders from son

SEATTLE — About to begin his first Division I head coaching gig, Cameron Dollar is admittedly stealing.

But no one will take issue with the new coach at Seattle University for this type of pillaging. Dollar is simply swiping information from his most knowledgeable assistant coach, who goes by another name: Dad.

"It works great for me because I’m stealing. ... I got a guy that’s my pops and he done did it, did it right and checked it off," Dollar said. "That’s perfect for me. It’s like having Cliff Notes, not even Cliff Notes, a big ol’ thesaurus, an encyclopedia of information that I can tap into and it’s tremendous for our players to have."

Usually it doesn’t work this way. It’s not the son who is assigning duties and making requests of his father. How many images are ingrained of Bob Knight talking to his son Pat on the bench or Dick Bennett and his son Tony before the kids took over for the dads?

But here is the 33-year-old Dollar about to begin his first season at Seattle U with his father, Donald, sitting next to him on the Redhawks bench.

It’s already a unique situation on Seattle’s First Hill.

Once a West Coast power with a history that includes Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor and a national championship game appearance more than 50 years ago, the Redhawks are headed into the second year of transition back to the top level of college athletics after dropping from Division I nearly three decades ago.

This season brings a full schedule against Division I teams with tests against the likes of Oklahoma State, Utah, Oregon State and Washington.

Lingering beneath all that interest in the Seattle program could be the most intriguing dynamic of the Redhawks season: the relationship between the head coach and his assistant father.

"He has gained my respect even more by being around him, and the tasks he tells me to do I don’t have any problem with it," Donald said while the younger, more tech savvy Cameron flips through messages on his phone.

"In fact, I wish he would give me more," Donald added with some emphasis.

Considered one of the rising young assistants in the college ranks, Cameron Dollar was completely content sticking with his gig as Lorenzo Romar’s top assistant across town at Washington.

He liked where he lived. He had job security. He was associated with a winning program. After a few years of seriously entertaining the idea of branching out on his own, Dollar was at peace with the idea of staying an assistant to Romar and enjoying the hard work completed in the first few years to rebuild the Huskies program.

That all changed when the job at Seattle became available. He wouldn’t have to move. His commute would only grow by a few minutes. He could still keep relationships with the kids he recruited to Washington, while at the same time molding the Seattle program into the Huskies city rival.

It was all too good to pass up.

"It moved so fast to where you went from ‘pretty settled,’ to ‘I’m going to have to do this,"’ Dollar said.

And soon after getting the Seattle job, the idea of son and father working together quickly developed into a reality.

Donald Dollar spent more than three decades coaching high school ball in Georgia, winning more than 660 games and a trio of state championships. And always hanging around the gym while he was coaching was Cameron.

"I grew up watching him not only coach but develop men, people, impact families. I remember times we would be out at the grocery store and some dude would come up and be ‘Hey coach Dollar’ and I’d be like ‘who’s that?’ ‘Ah, he played for me in ‘81,"’ Cameron said. "Somewhere else a dude came up to me and said ‘I played for your dad ... I’m a pastor."’ I remember thinking, ‘Look at all these people he’s helping and he’s having fun doing it.’ I was thinking this is big time."

In recent years, Donald Dollar left behind the high school game and moved up to being an assistant at the college level, first at Morehouse College and then West Georgia. Despite his years running the show, Donald said he’s completely comfortable taking direction from someone else. His first assistant job at Morehouse was working for a kid he had coached in high school, almost like working for a family member.

That attitude doesn’t change now, even though it’s his son giving the orders.

"Cameron is strong-willed. He’s got his own ideas and then he will ask you things. Whereas if I worked for someone else they just tend to drop everything and tend to be uneasy because I’m around and doing things," Donald said. "He’s strong-willed and knowledgeable, and if you are knowledgeable about the game you don’t care who you discuss the game in front of."

There will be plenty of moments when son leans on father in this first season.

While the incoming talent for the Redhawks is more Division I ready, the core of the team is mostly players who were recruited to a Division II program. That’s going to make for long nights in places like Stillwater, Okla., Corvallis, Ore., and Moscow, Idaho, among other challenges Seattle will face.

All those obstacles are challenges that Cameron Dollar welcomes, and the success that comes from overcoming the expected adversity will be that much sweeter with his dad at his side.

"From time to time I’d dismiss it saying I’d be too old by the time you got a head job," Donald said. "But I started thinking about it being a distinct possibility and the more that I thought about it the more exciting it became to me. I’m looking forward to it."

-- Tom Booth

Dyson, Beverly cleared to play

STORRS, Conn. — Guards Jerome Dyson and Donnell Beverly have been cleared to play this season for No. 12 Connecticut.

The school’s compliance department gave the OK on Friday after going over documents submitted by them as part of a review of the program. The school has not revealed what those documents were, only that they "pertained to their annual eligibility certification."

Dyson, a senior starter, and Beverly, a junior reserve, were held out of the team’s first exhibition game on Wednesday, a 106-67 win over American International.

Jamal Coombs-McDaniel also was held out of the game. The freshman is awaiting clearance by the NCAA, which is reviewing his academic qualifications. He is allowed to practice with the team but cannot play until he receives permission.

Women

NDakota women ranked No. 1 in Great West

GRAND FORKS, N.D — North Dakota women’s basketball has a long tradition of high-scoring post players. This season, with a No. 1 ranking in the preseason poll of Great West Conference coaches, the Sioux are looking for balance.

UND received 42 votes in the preseason poll, including two first-place votes, followed closely by league newcomers Chicago State and Utah Valley with 40 points.

The top four scorers in school history were post players. Whitney Ledger, the likely starter at center this season, is the first to say that she won’t be contributing the scoring numbers of her predecessors.

"My game has always been more about playing good defense," said Ledger, a senior from Bismarck. "I will need to step up on offense more. But I see us as pretty well-balanced when it comes to scoring."

Kierah Kimbrough was the go-to player last season, averaging 20.4 points in finishing as the school’s third-leading scorer behind Jenny Crouse and Ashley Langen. She’s now playing professional basketball in Europe.

The other player lost to graduation from a team that finished 18-11 team was guard Danye Guinn, who was third in scoring and first in assists.

The three returning starters are wings Kayla Bagaason, who averages 10 points per game, Mallory Youngblut, who averages nine, and point guard Jossy Bergan, with a six-point average.

Ledger (9 points) and Alys Seay (5.8 points) played the most minutes off the bench. Bagaason, Youngblut and Bergan each made more than 40 3-pointers.

"This will surely be a different team offensively than we’ve had in a while," UND Coach Gene Roebuck said. "It will be a spread-the-wealth approach on offense. We maybe won’t get 20 points a game from anyone, but if we get some players in the range of 10 to 15 points, we’ll get the job done."

Scoring help is expected from junior transfer Kate Sharkova, a 6-foot-5 center who averaged 15.8 points per game at Lake Region. The freshmen likely to see the most playing time are guard Nicole Smart and 6-foot-2 Shyla Kuehl.

In its second year of transition to NCAA Division I, the Sioux will play only one game against a lower-division school. Last season, North Dakota went 10-11 against Division I schools and 8-0 against the rest.

Although the Sioux aren’t eligible for the NCAA tournament, they could qualify for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament by winning the Great West.

"To have a chance at the WNIT, we need to win a lot of games and we need to start winning them right away," Roebuck said. "Our players are excited. They love the challenge of D-I."

Alma mater to honor Oklahoma’s Sherri Coale

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale is being honored by her alma mater, Oklahoma Christian University.

Coale has been named by Oklahoma Christian as a distinguished alumna and will be honored for her achievements on Friday night during a dinner at the university.

Coale is from Healdton and graduated from Oklahoma Christian in 1987 after playing four seasons for the Lady Eagles. Oklahoma Christian won three Sooner Athletic Conference titles during her career and reached the 1986 NAIA quarterfinals.

After graduation, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Edmond Memorial High School, then became Norman High School’s head coach in 1989. She was hired as Oklahoma’s coach in 1996 and has guided the Sooners to 10 straight NCAA tournament appearances, including two trips to the Final Four.