My brief vacation begins today. First of all, here's the link to my Winners & Losers of the NBA Draft process - http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9687198/Winners-and-losers-in-this-year's-NBA-Draft

Remember when I said that Lance Stephenson would wind up overseas. Remember I kept saying it.

Well, it looks like the collegiate options are slowly dwindling from the Lincoln High (N.Y.) senior.

Arizona, as I mentioned months ago, wasn't going to take a chance on Stephenson at he end of the day. Florida looked and then ultimately passed because the risk outweighed the reward.

Now the Washington Post is reporting that Maryland is no longer recruiting Stephenson.

I'm guessing that the recent off-the-court headlines from USC and Tim Floyd and Memphis and more than one of its players with questionable test scores has resulted in programs not willing to roll the dice on Stephenson.

Here's an idea: Maybe Stephenson should play with Renardo Sidney down at Mississippi State.

BIG SOUTH OFFSEASON RUNDOWN

Here's a Big South rundown. Please e-mail me at jngoodman@aol.com with any additions or corrections.

Charleston Southern - Will open at Maryland and also play non-conference road games against Auburn and Virginia Tech. Two players transferred out of the program: Tovi Bailey (Lander) and Omar Carter (walk-on at Charlotte). 

Coastal Carolina - Jamie Kachmarik (Appalachian State) and Scott Stapler (Director of Basketball Academy) left and were replaced by associate head coach Don Hogan (West Florida) and Gus Hauser (Louisiana-Monroe). Two players - Anthony Breeze and Darius Steger (Shorter College) have transferred out. Coastal will play in the Duke pod of the Preseason NIT. 

Gardner Webb - Three kids left the program: Nate Blank (University of Indianapolis), Dillon Boggs and Roy Hinson II (Landry University). Rick Scruggs' team will play non-conference games against North Carolina, Texas, Penn State and Charlotte. 

High Point - New coach Scott Cherry hired Kevin Easley (UNCG), Mike Balado (Miami) and Wes Miller (Elon). The Panthers will play non-conference games at Wake Forest (11-18) and Auburn (11-25). Three players left the program: Jacob Iati (Albany), Ibrahim Appiah and Rob Huntington. 

Liberty - New coach Dale Layer, who spent last season as an assistant at Marquette, has put together a staff of Jason Eaker, Myron Guillory, Brian Joyce and Matt Olinger (DBO). The Flames will play in the Chicago Invitational and will play Clemson in a non-conference game. Seth Curry left the program and will transfer to Duke while Armon Jones left and is headed to D-2 Clayton State.

Presbyterian - Assistant Mark Berger was replaced by Sean Dixon. The Blue Hose will be in the Las Vegas tournament from Dec. 27-28 and will also play North Carolina, Clemson, Ohio State, Illinois, Florida and Marquette in the non-conference. Coach Gregg Nibert lost two players to transfer: Walt Allen (Asbury College) and Steven Yien Gatkuoth (Southern Wesleyan). 

Radford - Director of basketball operations Ross Condon left to become a full-time assistant at Boston University and was replaced by former Hargrave assistant Chad Myers. The Highlanders lost two players to transfer - Aaron Austin (Indian Hills JC) and Chris McEachin. Non-conference games include at Duke (11-21), at Kansas (12-9) and on the road against Louisville (12-27). 

UNC Asheville - Donovan Jones has left and is headed to Cameron University and non-conference games include Charlotte, Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee. 

VMI - The Keydets were quiet with no staff changes and transfers, but they do have a non-conference slate that includes George Mason, UNCW, Virginia Tech and Richmond. 

Winthrop - Two players are leaving the program: Marc David Vil (Lincoln Memorial) and Byron Faison (USC Aiken). Randy Peele's team will play non-conference games against N.C. State, Clemson and Cincinnati. 

RANDOM NOTES: BC coach Al Skinner promoted Pat Duquette to associate head coach. ... Cincinnati signed Mick Cronin to a two-year extension. ... Duke sophomore Olek Czyz had surgery on his right knee that will keep him on the mend for 4-6 weeks. ... SMU coach Matt Doherty hired Reggie Brown (UT Arlington) and Reggie Geary (Arizona). ... NC Central has brought in UNCG's Landon Clement as a transfer and also hired former Duke player Robert Brickey on staff. ... Cal State Fullerton has picked up two transfers - Sean Williams from Syracuse and Andre Hardy from ORU. ... USC signee Derrick Williams is the latest to be released from the Trojans.