The One-and-Done Rule is claiming another victim today as University of Cincinnati Freshman and Brooklyn native Lance Stephenson has reversed earlier pledge to return for his sophomore year and turn pro.  Stephenson, who averaged 12 pts/game, states that he needs to enter early to take care of his young daughter.

An admirable thing to do.  However, the better long term means to take care of his family would be to enhance his skills with another year of college ball and perhaps a few business classes to learn how not to squander his money.  There's no question that some team in the NBA will role the dice on Stephenson.  They've done worse.  And his is a raw talent.  However, only if selected as a lottery selection will he receive a guaranteed 3 year contract.  Otherwise he may find that taking a foreign language class may serve him well.  Should he actually defy the odds and hang on, and we certainly hope he does, then and only then will he be able to earn the type of money that will actually take care of his daughter for the long term.

Unfortunately for Stephenson the odds are against him to stick in the NBA.  It has little to do with his talent, more to do with his maturity and understanding that he is entering a business.  Should he find that he cannot compete or get they playing time he will need to develop, he will find his stay in the NBA to be as short as the vast majority of those that enter the NBA Draft early.

Balance or mediocrity? That is a question that has been asked by many observers of the men's college basketball tournament that just concluded last night with Duke the victor. "Little" Butler was within 3 inches of living an NCAA version of Hoosiers. But what is "little"?

Butler is no different than any other of the 300-odd Division 1 programs. They all have to have a number of required teams that compete in the Division 1 sports. Obviously they do. When all of these sportswriters for the past three weeks have been trying to create a dramatic story, they have been looking to Butler's enrollment size, that is, it's student population.

Well. last we looked, each basketball team has 15 members. Whether that represents the full student population or is a micro-fraction of their enrollment, it has nothing to do with the quality of the skills of the student-athletes. Coach Brad Stevens has done a tremendous job in finding the right players to fit his system. And whether they represent a student population of 5,000 or 50,000, they represented well and proud throughout this whole tournament.

So does last evenings game now demonstrate that Mid-Major Conferences have caught up to the Super Conferences such as the ACC, Big East, ets. in terms of competition?  They have been there for a while, this was just the largest expression of the equal playing field.  Sure, the Duke's, Kentucky's, and Kansas's will get the vast majority of the McDonald's All-American's, but its what you do with that talent, what they learn (and for some, within a shorten stay), that will determine the success of a program in the crap-shoot of a one-and-done tournament.  And frankly, watching the "big boys" battle it out one more time is getting old.

The championship Duke team is, quite frankly, mediocre.  Now that's not to say they didn't achieve a championship.  They played great.  But if measured against past champions, and against many that fell short, they may have been found lacking.  And that shows balance too.  You win by defeating the opponent across from you, not against history.

The local New York metropolitan area carousel is spinning faster and faster.  Kevin Willard is the new man heading up a troubled Seton Hall program, Steve Lavin has taken over at St. John's and is rumored to be hiring John Wooden and Red Auerbach as assistants, former St. John's head coach Fran Fraschilla is rumored to be taking over for Willard at Iona College, Tim Welsh is taking over at Hofstra, Tom Pecora started the merry-go-round by taking over A-10 doormat Fordham.  And this just may be the beginning. 

A lot more shuffling has to be done to complete the largest one-time musical chairs in local history.  Assistant coaches have to be found and with all the concerns about local recruiting, a plum job right now would be in one of those positions - highest bidder gets the #1 recruit in the area.  All these coaches will be measured against each other, regardless of their conference affiliation.  It will be their responsibility to bring in the recruits and transform that into NCAA appearances.  Though that may not be too hard anymore as the NCAA is seriously considering a 96 team tournament next year.  But for the Hofstra's, Iona's, and Fordham's, their pat is just a little easier into the Dance than that of St. John's and Seton Hall.

No sooner did we report here that St. John's should be looking another way to fill its head coaching vacancy than did they do just that.  Today Steve Lavin, former UCLA coach and current ESPN college basketball analyst is having lunch with St. John's legendary coach Lou Carnesseca after dining last evening with St. John's AD Chris Monasch.  Reports have the deal all but dotted "i's" and crossed "t's".

We suggested that St. John's cannot be held hostage by the AAU coaches, an underworld of powerbrokers that can manipulate the decisions of 17 year olds.  Former St. John's coach Mike Jarvis tried to do just that, and was successful in reaching great heights in the NCAA Tournament with players like Ron Artest and Erick Barkley.  Though critizied by those same AAU coaches as being "out of touch", Jarvis was not allowing the tag to wag the dog.

Lavin, if he accepts the job, is rumored to be bringing in two very high profiled NYC recruiters.  Lavin's staff choices allows the California native to bring in coaches that know the lay of the land while keeping arms length from the AAU coaches.  It will allow him to sell the players on the school and his achievements at the most successful college basketball school, UCLA, and what he brings to St. John's.

It is a bold move on the part of St. John's.  And if Lavin can pull off the first of these manuvers he has a great chance of bring St. John's back to the heights it has enjoyed in the past and making going to the Garden jun again.

There is this perception amongst New Yorkers, New Yorkers who honestly haven't paid attention to college sports since they, well, went to college, that St. John's basketball needs a New York "guy".  And they wonder why St. John's has become such an afterthought, not just on the back page or at the Garden, not just in the Big East or ESPN, but in all of college basketball.

Since Norm Roberts was released from his contract two weeks ago St. John's has been on a holy mission, to find the right "New Yorker", one that the AAU coaches could respect and funnel their players to.  Talk about having things backward.

These modern day pimps of basketball flesh have no official status in any capacity other than being backroom paid shills for sneaker companies and the like by being surrogate fathers and teachers of the game to young men and women.  While it may appear that a broad brush is being used to describe all AAU coaches, there are those that are honorable and volunteer their time and take an honest interest in their players, helping learn and grow, assist them in decision making that will set them on a college experience that will grant them the opportunity for a career of their choice.  But they are the exceptions, the ones that assist and not direct or manipulate their charges so that they can become power brokers, making a name for themsleves.  And with the right talented young man, negotiate a package deal with a desperate college coach for a position on his coaching staff.

And here is St. John's, first turning to Billy Donovan, then Rick Pitino, for name recognition and star power, partially because they can break the ugly cycle of having to cowtow to AAU coaches.  These coaches can recruit based on who they are and what they can offer a young man - the opportunity to learn from one of the best with a chance to make it to the NBA.  They are the trump card.  Neither was interested or were just for show. 

Next came Paul Hewitt, a New Yorker who walks in both worlds, having made the NCAA's consistantly in the tough ACC and place 10 players in the NBA.  And it was reported his family wanted to stay in Atlanta.  But it also may be that he just wasn't up for acting like a politician, kissing babies to get what he needs. 

There are some good coaches out there that would fill the needs of St. John's that aren't already tied to a job, such as Pete Gillen and Steve Lappas.  Both are big time coaches, Lappas having big connections to the area, having won a state championship with Truman High School before moving onto college coaching, including as Head Coach of Villanova, a Big East rival. 

St. John's would do well to think outside the box.  Student athletes need to go to St. John's because its the right place for them, not because it's okay with their AAU coach.  Who runs the program anyway?  With this thinking, why not just hire the AAU coach as the next St. John's coach?

And so the carousel begins.  This time of season is truly March Madness as coaches begin the annual mating ritual of dumping-the-one-your-with for trading-up model.  Its the economics of the industry and prestige factor.

If coaches are hired to educate the youth at the University (and granted its a very select group of youths), how many college professors move on as a matter of doing business?  After all, just like other professions, don't we all look for a good job and then want to settle down in that area and raise our family?  What is it about being a coach?

Today Tom Pecora has said good bye to Hofstra University and taken the LIE west to into New York City and up to Fordham University.  Why?  Prestige and money.  After all, he is hired to teach the game of basketball, and students/athletes are the same where ever you go (we are not discussing talent level but the need to be educated).  Fordham Univ. desperately needs to re-image itself and Pecora has the skill set to do so.  But what of the student-athletes at his former job, the one he held as of yesterday?  Somehow Pecora will be replaced by another equally capable educator.  And if so, then why all the movement?  Money and prestige.  But you better get the moving vans as well.

Today, during Day Two of the NCAA tournament, St. John's University announced that it was letting 6 year coach Norm Roberts go.  It was stated that it was an exceptionally difficult decision to make.  Maybe it was, but the result puts a good coach and individual out looking for a new job.  Unlike the controversial Bobby Gonzalez who was let go earlier in the week by Seton Hall, Roberts is well respected for the turn-around he orchestrated for the once floundering program.

The balancing act that schools talk about, graduation and self controlled programs versus winning (read: money-making NCAA tournament appearance) is a difficult one.  However, as programs tighten the belt more and more, they come to rely upon the yearly stipend of their basketball team's NCAA trip.  So what is more important to St. John's?  A well run program with no scandals or NCAA berths that bring prestige and money to the school.  Apparently, as far as Norm Roberts is concerned, is money.

Roberts did not do so badly, bringing the program back to respectability.  But winning is the ultimate goal and that was accomplished regularly under his tenure.  Hope St. John's can find the next winning coach who can also lead in a manner that is equal to that of Roberts.

In one of the most exciting day one's in recent memories, 5 double-digit seeded teams won their games, perhaps no more shocking than no. 14 Ohio University beating a unorganized no. 3 Georgetown team.  The first round used to produce a lot of upsets during the first weekend.  Somehow the past 15 years the seeds would hold true and few upsets would occur.

Was it due to a form of talent parity?  Better coaching?  Global warming?  What ever the cause, or causes, upsets made the tournament what it is - a wild ride to find the survivor.  Jimmy Valvano used to say that he broke the tournament down to three "little" tournaments, survivor moves on, loses goes home.  But selecting your brackets that past few years got to be boring, actually being able to follow the chalk.

Well, welcome to the madness.  How many of you were hurt in your brackets when Notre Dame lost?  Marquette? Vanderbilt?  Well, you get the idea.  It's fun again.  And why?  Perhaps in no time in recent memory has the field been so balanced, with no one team that far above the rest.  Syracuse?  Not killers.  Kansas?  There are weaknesses. Kentucky?  Young.

So sit back, be sure to have plenty of snacks on hand, and watch what is sure to be the best tournament in years.