Purdue coach Matt Painter was hoping his veteran guys would step up so far and establish themselves against a group of high-touted freshmen.

It hasn't happened.

The freshman class has more than held its own, which has Painter ecstatic on one hand and nervous on another.

"To this point, they've really surpassed my expectations," Painter said of the frosh. "We needed the guys with experience to dominate early in practice and make the freshmen have a tough adjustment, but those guys have been able to compete right away."

Look for three of the four freshmen - combo guard E'Twaun Moore, forwards Scott Martin and Robbie Hummel and athletic big man JaJuan Johnson - to start on Nov. 15 when the Boilermakers open against Bethune Cookman.

All four are Indiana natives who played together in the spring and summer with the SYF Players outfit out of Indiana. So chemistry hasn't been an issue at all.

"These guys are so unselfish and just want to win," said Painter, whose team is coming off a 22-12 season that ended with a loss to eventual national champion Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament. "They are the type that spoil you. They are on time, go to class and try hard. Normally the guys that have those kinds of attributes are the ones setting screens."

Painter realizes living up to high expectations won't be easy - especially since he's lost four of his top five starters from last year's team. Carl Landry (18.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and David Teague (14.3 ppg) both graduated, Chris Lutz transferred and Painter had to toss Gordon Watt off the team for a DWI earlier this month.

That'll give plenty of opportunities for the young kids to learn on the job.

Sophomore guard Chris Kramer is the captain and will start in the backcourt - probably alongside Moore, a smooth combo guard who can really score the ball. Sophomore Keaton Grant, who has been suspended for three games for being in the car with Watt, should battle for a starting spot when he returns. Senior Tarrance Crump will also get minutes.

Johnson, Martin, Hummel and junior college transfer Nemanja Calasan should all battle for minutes up front.

"It's fun to have a lot of pieces and to have a lot of skilled guys that can dribble, pass and shoot," Painter said.

BELMONT BOOM

Belmont coach Rick Byrd and his Bruins will have a different look this year without big men Boomer Herndon and Andrew Preston.

Belmont, which has made the NCAA tournament each of the last two years after winning the Atlantic Sun tournament, will now be more perimeter-oriented.

Senior guard Justin Hare returns after leading the team a year ago at 14.3 points per game. Byrd said that former Murray State shooter Shane Dansby should benefit as much as anyone by this year's change in playing style.

The Bruins should also get immediate help from freshman wing Jordan Campbell, a teammate of Eric Gordon's at North Central (Ind.). Also, one-time Tennessee signee Matthew Dotson, a 6-foot-8 junior, should be ready to take the next step after starting and averaging 7.0 points a year ago.

Byrd's group isn't all that different off the court this year. They are as low-maintenance as ever.

Belmont has been in the Atlantic Sun for six years and one of its players has earned A-Sun Student-Athlete of the Year honors four of the six years. The team has boasted a 3.0 GPA or higher for seven consecutive seasons.

"It's a culture on our team and has really been about upholding our academic tradition," Byrd said. "I don't really know all the headaches that many coaches talk about because I don't have to deal with it."

"The character on our team makes it easy," he added. "It doesn't mean you won't ever read about us in the newspaper, but I like our chances."

COACHES POLL

The coaches' poll was released this morning and there weren't all that many surprises. North Carolina got the nod at No. 1, but a case can certainly be made for No. 2 UCLA or No. 3 Memphis.

The biggest surprise to me was Texas being so high at No. 16 in the post-Kevin Durant Era. I'm a huge fan of D.J. Augustin, but this is still a young team that lost the nation's best player.

USC is another team that I would refrain from putting near the top just yet. I know they aren't a household name, but how can a Butler team that won the Preseason NIT, went to the Sweet 16 and returns its top two players - guards A.J. Graves and Mike Green - not be somewhere in the Top 25. Another team that should be been in there somewhere is Xavier, the top team in a loaded A-10 conference.

HARVARD, GEORGE MASON GET KEY ADDITIONS

How about Harvard's Tommy Amaker getting it done quickly on the recruiting trail.

The Crimson got word that their top remaining target, Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) skilled 6-foot-10 forward Andrew Van Nest, chose Harvard over Davidson and a host of other Ivy League schools on Friday.

``The parity in the Ivy is at an all-time high right now," NMH coach John Carroll said. "A player like Andrew can really put them over the top."

Not bad for Amaker, who also got another big man, Frank Ben-Eze, over Marquette recently.

The Crimson weren't the only ones who picked up a potential program-changer out of the prep ranks.

James Madison's Dean Keener had to be all smiles after picking up 6-foot-8 senior Rodrigo Peggau from the Patterson School (N.C.).

``He's a difference-maker," Patterson coach Chris Chaney said. "He's got tremendous work ethic and passion for the game. His best days are definitely ahead of him and he's a guy who could have gone high-major if he waited until the spring, but he loved the campus and the staff at James Madison."

RANDOM NOTES: New Ball State coach Billy Taylor got his first commitment since taking the job when Maurice Hubbard, a 6-foot-6 senior power forward who played with Boo Williams this past summer, pledged earlier this week. Hubbard is the son of current NBA assistant coach Phil Hubbard. ... Baylor junior big man Mamadou Diene will be out for a couple months after surgery for a stress fracture in his ankle. Diene averaged 4.8 points, 4.7 boards and 1.6 blocks last season. ... Ralph Sampson, a 6-foot-10 senior out of Duluth Northview High (Ga.) who is the son of the former NBA player with the same name, chose to play for Tubby Smith and Minnesota. He also considered Georgia Tech, Clemson and Maryland. ... One more thing: All the headlines read "Pitt top recruit Dodson ineligible". This is incorrect. Darnell Dodson is a quality player, but he's hardly the Panthers' top recruit. The 6-foot-6 wing shooter, who will head to Miami Dade College in the juco ranks, wouldn't have gotten in Jamie Dixon's rotation this year with the plethora of guards that Pitt boasts. Big man DeJuan Blair was the Panthers' top freshman. ... Tiki Mayben, who is at Hudson Valley Community College after leaving UMass, will head to Binghamton, according to sources close to the situation. The 6-foot-3 point guard, who was once considered one of the top players in the country coming out of Troy High (N.Y.), averaged 2.9 points and 4.1 assists in 31 games last season.