5. This spring it'll be 10 years since the last time St. John's won the Big East. And don't count on it happening this season either. Norm Roberts has struggled to get his players to perform at a high level for 40 minutes a game since he took over five years ago, and his job could very well depend on how the Red Storm respond this season after a disappointing 16-18 campaign, including a 6-12 mark in conference play. Yet in what many are calling a "down year" for the Big East, St. John's may not finish better than 10th in a league could surprisingly still send seven or eight teams to the Big Dance. It's probably a stretch, but nine could even happen. That's how much parity exists in the Big East this season. But for Roberts, living without your best player remains a dangerous situation. That's the kind of impact senior redshirt Anthony Mason Jr. has on the Red Storm. The team's leading scorer and an All-Big East honorable mention two years ago, Mason played in only three games last year due to a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot that required surgery. And now, after originally injuring his hamstring during the team's four-game trip to Canada over Labor Day weekend, he's managed to re-aggravate the muscle at practice last weekend and will now be out four to six more weeks for rehab. Well, there's always the NIT...

4. Some coaches get all the luck. Ben Howland doesn't appear to be one of them. And if he hasn't already considered it, Howland might need to start recruiting a few more players for the upcoming season. At this point, there's a chance that he could be starting a couple of walk-ons when the Bruins open the season Nov. 16 at Pauley Pavilion against Cal State Fullerton. In the first week of practice, Howland has already watched half of his team - with possibly three or four of them being starters - go down. Sophomore big men J'Mison Morgan is the most recent Bruin to join the list, with a swollen knee sidelining him for an indefinite period of time. But the bigger concern for Howland has to be the injuries involving sophomore guards Jerime Anderson (strained groin) and Malcolm Lee (concussion), who should form an athletic and talented backcourt tandem for UCLA. Freshman Matt Moser (lower back) will also play into the rotation for the Bruins, who will be rebuilding in what appears to be an extremely young and unpredictable Pac-10 this year.

3. Up north, Pac-10 rival Washington is having its own set of health problems with the start of practice last weekend. Believe it or not, but it's been a big enough issue that Lorenzo Romar has been forced to cut practices short with seven of the team's 12 players currently diagnosed with the flu. One of those seven players includes senior forward Quincy Pondexter, who will anchor the Huskies' frontline alongside sophomore Darnell Gant, another UW player that's been too ill to practice. "Every time we see the team, someone else has it," Romar said this week. After winning the Pac-10 regular-season championship last year, the Huskies are once again a conference contender despite the departures of big man Jon Brockman and floor leader Justin Dentmon. Though Isaiah Thomas returns as the Huskies' leading scorer from last year, Romar can kiss goodbye any hope of winning a second straight conference title if Washington has to play without Pondexter, Gant, or even Venoy Overton for any extensive period of time.

2. Michael Jordan may not be making headlines in the NBA on a daily basis anymore, but his sons are doing it regularly at the collegiate level. Days after Jordan's oldest son, Jeff, announced that he would be rejoining Illinois' basketball team following his decision to quit four months earlier, Marcus Jordan has let his voice be heard. But unlike Jeff, it's not about his commitment to the game - it's about his commitment to his feet. The 6-foot-3 freshman at Central Florida is refusing to wear the adidas shoes provided to the team, saying that he will only wear his father's Nike Air Jordans due to the special meaning that they hold to his family. But UCF is still in the final year of its five-year contract with adidas, which requires all coaches and athletes to only use the company's apparel and equipment, and is currently negotiating a new deal that could be worth up to three million and last as long as six years. While the school has hope for "a workable situation to a unique situation," it's time for Michael to stand up to his son and tell Marcus that the team means more in the long run than a pair of Jordans.

1. It looks like Mississippi State freshman Renardo Sidney isn't the only one who's dealing with amateurism issues this offseason. Despite being able to work out with his teammates for the past week, Kentucky freshman John Wall, Scout.com's No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2009, has yet to be cleared to play by the NCAA after several reports surfaced over last few days. And while it may seem ridiculous to place Kentucky's national title hopes on a freshman's eligibility, that's what many of the pundits are doing this offseason. Wall, who practiced with the Wildcats again on Friday, has even been projected to be the No. 1 pick in next June's NBA Draft. But if the 6-foot-4 point guard isn't cleared to play this fall because his AAU coach, Brian Clifton, was considered a certified agent from 2007-2008, Wall will have a tough time proving that he's the best pro prospect in the country. And even more, John Calipari's team will have its own trouble just trying to win the SEC without Wall, whose quickness and playmaking abilities have been compared to current Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose.