College Basketball Capsules: Gillispie pleads guilty to DUI charge in Ky.

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. — Former University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie pleaded guilty Monday to driving under the influence of alcohol and apologized for what he called a mistake.

Gillispie, wearing a dark suit and yellow tie at the hearing in Anderson County District Court, accepted a plea bargain, which included fines and court costs of more than $1,000, a 30-day suspension of his driver’s license and an agreement to complete an Alcohol Drivers Education Program.

During the brief hearing, Gillispie gave one-word answers to questions from Judge Linda Armstrong about whether he understood his rights and the consequences of the plea.

Gillispie filled out paperwork in an undisclosed location in the courthouse, then made no comment to reporters as he darted out the side entrance and got into a car carrying his attorney, William Patrick.

Patrick said Gillispie had left the state by midday but otherwise declined to comment beyond a statement, which included Gillispie’s apology and pointed out the coach had received the maximum fine for a first-time DUI offender in Kentucky.

"I made a mistake and admitted my mistake today to Judge Armstrong, and I accept the penalty she has imposed," Gillispie said in the statement. "I want to apologize to the people of Kentucky, my family and friends, and I want to thank all of those who have reached out to me over the past several months with kind words of encouragement and support."

Anderson County Attorney Bobbi Jo Lewis declined to comment after the hearing, instead issuing a statement in which she called the penalty "fair and equitable."

"Mr. Gillispie has been treated the same as any other person who appears before the Anderson District Court charged as he was — no better and no worse," Lewis said.

Gillispie’s plea came the same day his successor, John Calipari, was preparing to lead the No. 4 Wildcats in their season-opening exhibition game against Campbellsville.

Gillispie was fired this year after a rocky two-year tenure with the Wildcats. He was arrested Aug. 27 in Lawrenceburg and charged with DUI after refusing sobriety tests during a traffic stop in which officers said they smelled alcohol on his breath.

Patrick had said previously that Gillispie checked himself into the John Lucas Athletes After Care Program in Texas for alcohol rehabilitation, but it was unclear how long he spent there.

The arrest marks at least the third time Gillispie has been accused of driving under the influence, but this was the first resulting in a plea of guilty to DUI.

In 1999, Gillispie was arrested on two charges: driving while intoxicated and improper use of a lane in Tulsa, Okla., where he was an assistant coach under Bill Self.

He eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless driving. The other charges were dismissed.

In 2003, in his first year as head coach at the University of Texas-El Paso, he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. The charges eventually were dismissed after a specially appointed prosecutor decided that there was not enough evidence to suggest that Gillispie was drunk. The coach, then 43, maintained his innocence through that process.

Gillispie addressed his mistakes during his introductory press conference at Kentucky in April 2007, saying he wasn’t "proud of some of things that I’ve done."

Harangody leads AP preseason All-America team

Luke Harangody should get used to being on top of lists.

The senior forward from Notre Dame was the leading vote-getter Monday on The Associated Press’ preseason All-America team, and if he has the type of season he usually does, he will become the leader for his school and conference in scoring and rebounding.

The 6-foot-8 Harangody received 57 votes from the 65-member national media panel and was followed in the balloting by Kansas teammates Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins. They are the sixth set of teammates selected for the preseason team, which began in 1986-87, and the second from Kansas, joining Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce in 1997-98.

Aldrich, a 6-11 junior who recorded a triple-double in the NCAA tournament, received 49 votes, 10 more than Collins, a senior point guard.

Junior forwards Patrick Patterson of Kentucky, who had 35 votes, and Kyle Singler of Duke, who had 30, rounded out the team announced Monday.

Harangody averaged 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds last season, the only player to rank in the top 10 nationally in both categories. He was a preseason All-American in 2008-09 and was selected to the second team after the season.

He enters this season with 1,823 points — 738 away from Austin Carr as Notre Dame’s career leader. He needs 370 rebounds to pass Tom Hawkins as the Fighting Irish’s career rebound leader, and averaging 20.6 points and 9.0 rebounds this season would make him the Big East’s career leader in both categories, passing Syracuse’s Lawrence Moten and Derrick Coleman, respectively.

Harangody decided to return to Notre Dame for his senior season after exploring his options for entering the NBA draft.

"It was a good experience for Luke to go through the process he did last summer," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "He’s even more confident at moving around to different spots on the floor. We’re going to have him open up in transition much like he did at the end of last season and run him off a screen for 15- and 18-foot jump shots.

"He’ll be our main threat in the low post because that is his bread and butter, but we’re going to have him step out along the perimeter which should add another dimension to his game."

Aldrich’s stock rose all last season and it culminated with the first official triple-double in Kansas history when he had 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocks in a second-round NCAA win over Dayton.

He averaged 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds, joining national player of the year Blake Griffin of Oklahoma as the only players in the Big 12 to average a double-double last season.

Collins didn’t become a full-time starter until last season when he averaged 18.9 points and 5.0 assists in earning third-team All-American honors. He and Aldrich are the stars of a deep Kansas team picked No. 1 in the preseason Top 25.

"I do think we return the best guard in the country and the best big man in the country," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "I think if you’re going to start a team, why not have an anchor and why not have a guard?"

Aldrich and Cole are the first teammates chosen to the preseason team since J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams of Duke in 2005-06.

The 6-9 Patterson averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds for the Wildcats last season and he’s expected to be more of an inside presence this season with the addition of freshman point guard John Wall to new coach John Calipari’s offense.

Singler averaged 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds last season for the Blue Devils but his role should change to more of a perimeter one this season.

-- Jim O’Connell

Calhoun looks to run more this season

STORRS, Conn. — Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun doesn’t know if he has a better team than the one he took to the Final Four last season, but he’s confident it will be more athletic.

"I like our quickness," Calhoun said. "I think we’re going to play together. I think the ball will move better. But we won’t, I don’t think, be able to stop the ball with blocked shots quite the way we have in the past."

Connecticut, ranked No. 12 in The Associated Press preseason poll, has led the nation in blocks for eight consecutive years. But 7-foot-3 Hasheem Thabeet, who averaged 4 blocks per game, Jeff Adrien and guards Craig Austrie and A.J. Price are all gone.

It’s UConn’s biggest loss of talent since 2006, when it sent four players to the NBA, then won just 17 games and missed the 2007 postseason.

Stanley Robinson, who was a freshman on that team, said he doesn’t think this year’s Huskies, which include five freshmen, will have the same growing pains.

"We’re very athletic, and we just have a great chemistry," Robinson said. "We have all the right parts. We just need to put it together. I’m a senior this year, so I’ve got to be the one to show them what it’s about. You have to walk out on that floor with a certain swagger, and let people know that you can’t be beat."

Calhoun says the 6-9 small forward could be UConn’s best player but must be consistent. Robinson has been known to make some jaw-dropping dunks and some head-scratching turnovers. Last season, he made just 3 of 23 shots from 3-point range.

"You’ll see a better Stanley, a more improved Stanley," Robinson promised.

He is joined by what is expected to be one of the nation’s top backcourts. Senior sharpshooter Jerome Dyson, who led UConn to a 22-1 start last year, is back from the knee injury that kept him out of the Huskies postseason run. Kemba Walker, whose job was to come off the bench and speed up the pace of games, moves into a starting role at the point, with highly touted freshman Darius Smith as his backup.

"I think we’re going to be a lot faster," Walker said. "We got a lot of guys willing to run, and that’s the type of team we are. We all want to run."

The biggest question marks will be in the frontcourt, where 6-10 senior Gavin Edwards and 6-9 freshman center Alex Oriakhi are expected to start. Ater Majok, a 6-11 forward with an outside shot, becomes eligible in December.

Oriakhi said he knows people are going to try to compare him to Thabeet or Adrien, and expect him to keep the team’s shot-blocking streak alive.

"I know it’s unfair, but I’m always a defensive-minded player," he said. "So I’m just going to rebound and block shots and do what I’ve been doing. I don’t feel I have to live up to Hasheem or Jeff."

Calhoun isn’t predicting another shot-blocking title, 31-win season or a return to the Final Four. But he’s not ruling it out, either.

"To have a better record would be really a stretch, but to have a really good record, and be really good by February would not be a stretch," he said. "We could be really, really good when it’s all said and done."

-- Pat Eaton-Robb

Gophers’ Mbakwe can’t play until cleared in court

MINNEAPOLIS — Junior forward Trevor Mbakwe, one of Minnesota’s touted new recruits, will not be allowed to play for the 25th-ranked Gophers until his pending court case on a felony aggravated battery charge is cleared up.

Athletics director Joel Maturi announced Monday his decision on Mbakwe, who faces a December trial for an alleged attack on a woman in Miami in April. His attorney, Gregory Samms, told the Star Tribune newspaper this summer that his client was mistakenly identified. Samms didn’t return messages Monday left by The Associated Press.

Mbakwe can attend classes, practice and participate in team functions, but Maturi said he can’t play until the legal matter "has been resolved in a satisfactory manner." Mbakwe also can’t suit up for home games or travel with the team.

Maturi said he has spent the past several weeks speaking "to as many people as he possibly could" before making what he called a difficult decision about Mbakwe, who transferred to Minnesota for this season.

"There’s not a person who knows him who didn’t respond to me telling me what great character he has. Everybody said what a wonderful young man he is, not that we would feel any differently," Maturi said. "The decision is not at all based on whether I feel he is innocent or guilty. It’s an educational decision that I feel will allow Trevor to learn from."

If the situation drags out and causes Mbakwe to miss several games, he could take a redshirt season and still have two years of eligibility left. Neither coach Tubby Smith nor Mbakwe were available for comment Monday.

"I think he’s very understanding of the situation," Maturi said of Smith. "He cares for Trevor. He recruited Trevor."

Mbakwe appeared in 11 games during an injury-plagued freshman season at Marquette after playing for two Twin Cities area high schools — Henry Sibley in Mendota Heights and St. Bernard’s in St. Paul. He transferred to a junior college in Miami last year before deciding to return to Minnesota.

If he’s allowed to play, Mbakwe will give the Gophers some needed bulk at the power forward position. He’s part of a nationally lauded recruiting class that includes freshmen Royce White, Rodney Williams and Justin Cobbs.

-- Dave Campbell

Special prosecutor ordered in Ark. rape claim

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A special prosecutor will review a rape claim against three Arkansas basketball players after local authorities declined to file charges.

Washington County Circuit Judge William A. Storey filed an order Monday asking the state’s prosecutor coordinator to recommend someone to take over the case. A lawyer representing the accuser requested a special prosecutor last week, and local prosecutor John Threet filed his own motion Monday asking for one.

"While I stand by the decision that there is insufficient evidence to file charges against any of the young men, I have requested and received an order appointing a special prosecutor," Threet said in a statement. "The complaining witness’ private attorney has questioned the ethics and integrity of this office. This office does not take such accusations lightly."

John D. Bass, who represents the accuser, noted in last week’s brief that Threet is the son-in-law of former Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles, and the brother-in-law of an athletic department spokesman.

A university freshman named three basketball players in the complaint, saying she was raped at a fraternity house in late August. Threet announced in September he wouldn’t bring charges.

Bass said Monday’s order would save time and expense.

"The victim and her family are hopeful that a thorough and unbiased investigation will be conducted and we will be concentrating our efforts on that," Bass said in a statement.

Threet said he wanted to speed up the process of appointing a special prosecutor because "this needs to be an end to this."

"I have stated from the beginning that I am not opposed to the court appointing a special prosecutor," Threet said. "If I can do anything that speeds this process along for the sake of all of the young people involved, I will do it."

-- Noah Trister

Sidorakis, Akol sidelined for Oklahoma State

STILLWATER, Okla. — Reserves Nick Sidorakis and Teeng Akol have been sidelined with injuries as Oklahoma State prepares for its first exhibition game.

Sidorakis says he expects to be out only about a week with a right knee injury, but coach Travis Ford indicated that the evaluation process was still ongoing. Sidorakis was on crutches and didn’t participate during practice Monday.

Akol is out with a broken right wrist. He also didn’t go through practice.

"Before these guys got hurt, I was very solid with nine guys. If you have those two out, now it looks like I’m solid with maybe seven, which you need other guys to play and this is their opportunity," Ford said during the team’s annual media day.

"They’re not ready. That’s for sure. They’re not ready, but they’re going to be thrown into some situations and they better perform."

The Cowboys play their first exhibition game Saturday night against Central Oklahoma, then open the regular season a week later against Seattle.

UNO’s Humphrey sidelined by knee surgery

NEW ORLEANS — Billy Humphrey, a senior guard who transferred to New Orleans from Georgia last year, is expected to be sidelined two to four weeks because of recent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

UNO coach Joe Pasternack says Humphrey’s recovery may force him miss UNO’s season opener against his old team, the Bulldogs, at Georgia on Nov. 13.

Pasternack says the 6-foot-2 Humphrey was operated on last week.

Humphrey averaged 12.2 points per game for Georgia in 2007-08 but was kicked off the team in June of 2008 following an arrest on charges of drunk driving and underage purchase of alcohol, which was his third arrest in a year.

Women

Summitt says No. 8 Tennessee may be overrated

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Pat Summitt says while she isn’t sure Tennessee deserves to be picked to win the Southeastern Conference, the Lady Vols coach expects her team to work to live up to the annual expectations.

Summitt admits she was expecting her Lady Volunteers to be picked third or fourth in the league when she recently traveled to the SEC’s annual media day. Instead Tennessee was picked to win it, as the Lady Vols have done 14 times under Summitt.

"I don’t know that we belong there, but that’s where we want to get to," Summitt said Monday during the team’s media day. "We want to have the best team in the league, but there’s a lot of great teams right now."

Despite returning nearly the same team from Tennessee’s worst finish in the NCAA tournament last season, the Lady Vols grabbed the No. 8 spot in the preseason Top 25.

If the players themselves are paying attention to the preseason hype, they’re not letting on.

"It doesn’t matter what the rankings say. It just matters that we go out there and show that we can be the best team that we can," sophomore center Kelley Cain said.

With a tough schedule that includes games against 10 other currently ranked opponents and an improved SEC, Summitt knows it will take a lot to prove the Lady Vols belong among the best teams in women’s basketball.

A loss in the opening round of last season’s NCAA tournament to Ball State stuck with the Lady Vols during their offseason.

They spent plenty of time during the summer in the gym with strength and conditioning coach Heather Mason, who said she hasn’t seen a Tennessee team do more during their time off as this team has done.

They’ll get their first test immediately when they host No. 7 and top recruit Brittney Griner on Nov. 15. The rest of their November will be spent traveling to Texas Tech, No. 14 Virginia and No. 24 Middle Tennessee.

"I think they really get it," Summitt said. "With the schedule we have we have to get it, and we have to get it early."

Last year’s Lady Vols squad was the youngest the Hall of Fame coach had ever instructed, and this year’s squad has three freshmen, six sophomores and three juniors — but no seniors.

Summitt said having a young team will never cause her to lower the standards she’s set for players.

"I’m not going to lower my standards because of that, not at all. My thought is we have to raise the bar," she said.

-- Beth Rucker