Earl Clark News

Old faces with new and expanded roles figure to play a big role in the successes or disappointments of this season.

At the College Basketball Roundtable each week, we ask each member of the college basketball coverage staff for his opinion about a topic in the sport.

On what otherwise might have been a smug, self-satisfied train ride back to Philadelphia after his team was picked to win this season's Big East Conference title, Villanova basketball Coach Jay Wright spoke to his players about toughness and leadership.

The Big East earned three No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament last season. This season, I don't believe there will be any.

Last week, the University of Louisville men's basketball team came from behind to put away the Tigers of Georgetown College, in their first exhibition game of the season.

Louisvillea s Peyton Siva, left, attempts to get the ball from Georgetowna s Johonne Hamilton during the second half Wednesday at Freedom Hall.

Rick Pitino can always count on his neighbors at Georgetown College to give him a good barometer of where his team is early in the year.

The meeting was running long, as tends to happen when Louisville coach Rick Pitino and his staff get together.

The Big East isn't such a beast this season. One year after it record-breaking season of NCAA men's basketball dominance, the mega-conference is just one of the guys.

NEW YORK - The Big East Conference men's basketball heavyweights of a year ago are gone, but Wednesday in Madison Square Garden, league members touted the wealth of contenders lurking in the middleweight ranks.

Rick Pitino has been through the gauntlet before. After three decades of pacing the sidelines the Louisville Cardinals coach has developed some pretty thick skin.

Rick Pitino arrived at the Big East Conference's annual media day here at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday with his blinkers on.

At 6' 10" Earl Clark is the second tallest player on the Suns roster and maybe the most versatile .

The only loudspeaker booming at the University of Louisville's first men's basketball practice projected the voice of coach Rick Pitino around the Yum! Center court.

Coach: Rick Pitino . Last season's record: 31-6 overall, 16-2 in Big East Postseason: Lost in NCAA tournament Midwest Region final to Michigan State Final regular-season RPI: 4th.

In the Suns' win against the Portland Trailblazers Steve Nash showed that he can still play the game with the best of them.

U of L players felt the absence of Earl Clark, Terrence Williams and Andre McGee during pickup games this summer - and that is good, according to sophomore forward Jared Swopshire.

There was the usual string of Rick Pitino one-liners. He chided his University of Louisville basketball players for thanking fans for attending the Cardinal Tipoff Luncheon "tonight" even though it was actually 1 o'clock Thursday afternoon.

Gordon Williams, Gleaner Writer It's no problem for Samardo Samuels to concede he is not the big man from Trelawny.

PHOENIX a ' Preseason is a warm-up for the regular season. For the Suns, Tuesday night was a warm-up for the preseason.