College Basketball Preview 2013-14: Mitch McGary’s Injury Status and Other Important Notes

The health of Mitch McGary is crucial to Michigan’s chances this season. (Flickr.com photo/Adam Glanzman)

The college basketball season is near. In one week’s time, the hypothetical becomes a reality and the previews will no longer be needed. Some of the best athletes will step onto the court and every team in the country has the same goal: a national championship.

Until we get to that point, however, there a few stories across the nation to take note of. Some of them have to deal with injuries, others with suspensions and some more silly NCAA violations. Prepare yourselves because soon the 2013-14 previews of the college basketball season will be no more.

Mitch McGary’s Injury Status for Michigan

Michigan sophomore standout Mitch McGary has been dealing with a lower back issue that has limited him at practice. McGary, as you may remember, burst onto the scene for the Wolverines during their run to the national championship game against Louisville during the 2013 NCAA tournament. He elevated his overall production on the court and dominated opposing posts throughout the tournament.

Coach John Beilein says McGary is currently day-to-day but hopes to have him back sooner rather than later. Michigan is already trying to find replacements for Tim Hardaway Jr. and last year’s National Player of the Year, Trey Burke, so the timing of the injury isn’t ideal. Having McGary, along with fellow stud Glenn Robinson III, makes the Wolverines another national contender and one of the top teams in the country heading into this season.

Getting McGary healthy is a priority for the Wolverines but it is not their top priority. Michigan also returns Jon Horford and Jordan Morgan, the two posts that started the majority of the regular season for Michigan before McGary’s breakout campaign. Michigan’s first two games come against UMass Lowell and South Carolina State, two teams the Wolverines should have no problem handling even without McGary on the floor. The hope is to have him back before the Nov. 17 game at Iowa State as that begins a stretch of games against quality, first-tier opponents including Duke (Dec.3) and Arizona (Dec.14).

Kansas’ Naadir Tharpe Suspended One Basketball Game For Playing a Basketball Game

The issues with the NCAA and their infractions committee can be discussed at length about how poorly they handle situations and why certain punishments do/don’t fit the crimes as a collective whole. But we won’t do that here. No, we’ll leave that to Jay Bilas on Twitter since he’s making more strides than anybody with the NCAA these days.

Instead we’ll talk about one certain case in particular: the suspension of Kansas Jayhawks’ starting point guard Naadir Tharpe. It was announced on Tuesday that Tharpe would be suspended for the opening game of Kansas’ schedule against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 8. Why is he suspended? Because a basketball player decided to play a basketball game. Who would’ve thought, right?

Kansas itself reported the infraction to the NCAA and suspended Tharpe instead of hoping to get away with it. First off, kudos to Kansas for not trying to hide something this silly and possibly suffering a harsher penalty later down the line. Secondly, the infraction occurred because Tharpe played an unsanctioned game in Chicago. As the rules state, no player is allowed to play an unauthorized summer game unless it is located in their home area or where they went to school.

Tharpe is being punished because he didn’t seek permission to play in the game from the NCAA, a request that wouldn’t have been accepted anyway because of the previously mentioned rule. The decision by Bill Self is essentially one game-for-one game, which is fitting, but it shouldn’t be that way in the first place.

How are basketball players suppose to get better during the summer unless they play against other competition? Sure, you can play against your own teammates, but how long before that becomes mundane and overplayed? It’s the reason why some training camps get so physical: players get sick of playing against the same guys every day and with an April to October layoff, what are these guys suppose to do?

Memphis freshman Kuran Iverson suffered a similar fate because of the skewed summer league playing rules. He is also suspended for the first game on Memphis’ schedule against Austin Peay.

Suspending Tharpe was the right call for Bill Self and Kansas as a basketball program, but the rules need to be changed.

Transfers Could Decide the National Championship Picture Instead of Freshmen

With so much talk being centered around the incoming freshmen for the upcoming college basketball season, people often forget there is another recruitment tool that could play just as big of a role in deciding the national landscape: transfers.

The advantage of having transfers come in instead of a slew of freshmen every season (i.e. Kentucky) is that those players already have experience playing at the Division-I level. While Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle get all the headlines, it’s players such as Duke’s Rodney Hood (formerly of Mississippi State), Iowa State’s DeAndre Kane (formerly of Marshall) and Oregon’s Mike Moser (formerly of UNLV) that could have the biggest impacts this season.

Experience can be one of the biggest contributions a player can bring. Freshmen are exciting but there’s a reason few teams win a National Championship with a freshmen-heavy rotation. Having that experience playing at the high level of D-I basketball can take a team from mediocrity to the national spotlight very quickly. Just look at what “The Mayor” Fred Hoiberg has done for the Iowa State Cyclones.

P.J. Hairston Suspension Update For North Carolina Tar Heels

Probably the biggest story from this offseason has been North Carolina’s P.J. Hairston and his numerous run-ins with the law. Roy Williams suspended Hairston indefinitely but the rest is up to the NCAA.

Since this summer there has been no movement on Hairston’s future for this season. All that is known at this point is that Hairston will miss regular season games. How many games is up to the NCAA and their decision making process, which at this point is like being able to build the colorful ring tower that toddlers play with.

UNC is slated to open their season Nov.8 against Oakland and Williams says the NCAA’s decision will come before that. He may have to wait longer than that. After all, it did take the NCAA about 10 years (or so it felt like it) to decide on punishment for Miami and their infractions.

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