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http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/8979276
Ten for Tuesday: Just a few reasons to tune in
Oct. 18, 2005
By Gregg Doyel
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer
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Don't you go into each season with a handful of players you simply cannot wait to watch? You don't? Then get out of here. This is a place for real fans, people with a childlike passion for basketball. And also for people on their lunch break.
Anyway, here's my list. It's Ten for Tuesday.
Will Rekalin Sims be Tubby Smith's next prodigy? (Getty Images) 1. Cem Dinc, Indiana: Remember that Sports Illustrated hoax, Sidd Finch, who threw 168 mph according to a piece from April Fool's Day, 1985? Gem Dinc comes across similarly, only he's real. We think. On the other hand, how can a 6-foot-10, 250-pound Turkish-German who runs 100 meters in 10.8 seconds be so completely unknown in this information age? Indiana signed him in mid-August, and Dinc was telling reporters he plans to play shooting guard. Shooting guard!
2. Sylvester Mayes, Ohio State: You can never tell with junior college transfers. Sometimes they turn out to be Larry Johnson. And sometimes they're just Aaron Pettway. At Redlands (Okla.) Community College, Mayes scored more than 1,000 points in two seasons. He's 6-2 and said to be able to play either backcourt position. Then again, the same was said last preseason of Cincinnati's Jihad Muhammad, who can play neither.
3. Rekalin Sims, Kentucky: He's as close to a sure thing as you'll find in a juco transfer, considering he was a two-time All-American and conference player of the year at Salt Lake Community College. Sims interests me because, regardless of the Randolph Morris denouement, Kentucky's biggest loss from last season was power forward Chuck Hayes -- and Sims ought to replace him. If not, that means he's been beaten out by Bobby Perry or Sheray Thomas, in which case I've totally lost interest.
4. Nate Carter, Oklahoma: The Sooners won 25 games last season, and OU coach Kelvin Sampson says Carter would have started on that team. As it was, he redshirted as a transfer from California-Riverside, where in two seasons he averaged 16 points and six rebounds. We hear the 6-6, 220-pound Carter plays like former Oklahoma State All-American Joey Graham, albeit not quite that good.
5. David Padgett, Louisville: Before he was a redshirting transfer, before he was a disappointing freshman, Padgett was supposed to be one of the best centers in the high school class of 2003. Better than Chris Taft, who's now in the NBA. Better than Jackie Butler, who's now in the NBA. Padgett averaged 6.5 points and 4.5 rebounds for Bill Self as a Kansas freshman in 2003-04, but he'd signed to play with Roy Williams, so he left. Padgett chose Louisville, then sat out last season. Let's see how good he got.
6. Antwi Atuahene, Arizona State: This former Rutgers signee played just one season in junior college, where he recorded eight triple-doubles. All told, the 6-2 Atuahene averaged 17 ppg and 10 assists last season at Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College, then chose Arizona State over Illinois. If he's a bust, I'll be shocked. And Rob Evans will be fired.
7. Mario Boggan, Oklahoma State: Boggan is fascinating on all kinds of levels. For one thing, he already washed out at two schools (Florida and St. Bonaventure). For another, the 6-7 Boggan has remade his body from his days as a 300-pound freshman to a 240-pound junior. And for another, he had a mysterious stretch this spring where he stopped going to class at Chipola (Fla.) junior college to prepare for the 2005 NBA Draft, which he never entered. He got eligible anyway. Name a great juco player who doesn't.
8. Marcus Arnold, Illinois: From a national perspective, it was not a big deal in June 2004 when Arnold transferred from Illinois State. Sixteen months later Illinois is the defending national runner-up, and with three starters gone, Arnold is one of the most important newcomers in college basketball. If he can't fill in admirably for Roger Powell, the Illini will struggle to reach the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Considering he averaged 12.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg and 1.2 blocks as an ISU sophomore, Arnold should do just fine.
9. Craig Austrie, UConn: Austrie will run the UConn offense until suspended Marcus Williams returns, assuming he ever returns (safe assumption). Austrie lacks the typical UConn pedigree, considering he originally committed to Massachusetts before Steve Lappas was fired, but he's a winner. His high school team went 103-6 and played in four state title games -- winning two -- with him at guard.
10. Stefon Jackson, UTEP: Miners coach Doc Sadler told me earlier this summer that Jackson, a 6-3 freshman, "might be the best pure scorer I've ever coached." Keep in mind that just last season, Sadler coached Omar Thomas -- who scored nearly 3,000 points in four overall years of junior college and Division I.
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