Sights, sounds from first practices

Ah, the first day. Everyone’s unbeaten, most everyone’s healthy, excited and ready to go. It’s a day when you’re just excited to see what’s out there.

So let’s have a peek.

1. Sights for hoops eyes

If you saw a college hoops fan on Monday, they were probably smiling at the thought of this.

Not every school officially opened its practice facilities (some start later, depending on their summer schedules), but it was enough to deliver quite a few photos and videos from the first day. So there’s no need for me to waste words on all of it.

Good to see Tyler Kolek is already feeling it.

There was a small bit of news. Bronny James is “doing very well” but did not practice with USC on Monday. There’s still no timetable for his return.

Most of the videos were quick snippets. North Carolina posted essentially four Vines. USC’s was meh, especially compared to the action in Arizona’s.

Miami only used audio from practice. The best one I saw? Boston College. That’s a solid sizzle reel.

Anyway, that’s just a sampling. I could be here all day, but that’s what X/Twitter is for.

2. Kansas snags its PG of the future

Dajuan Harris has run Kansas’ offense the last two seasons. He’s perhaps college basketball’s best pass-first point guard (his ARate was 31.2 last season) and one of its best defenders. With his additional COVID year, he’ll be running the show through the 2024-25 season.

Probably.

Labaron Philon, the No. 34 overall prospect in the 2024 class, per the 247 Sports composite, committed to Kansas on Monday. The 6-4 Alabama native chose the Jayhawks over the Tide, Ole Miss and Cincinnati. He’s Kansas’ second ‘24 recruit, joining big man Flory Bidunga.

Philon (originally an Auburn commit) is viewed as a competitive two-way guard who can create for others, defend, and is a three-level scorer. He’s basically Harris, but a little bigger and more athletic.

It’s unlikely he’d displace Harris as a freshman — Harris is Bill Self’s guy; a guard who runs the offense, and doesn’t turn the ball over — but playing alongside Harris makes sense, as would running the show in small doses. Plus, it’s important depth for the Hawks.

In other 2024 recruiting news:

• Styles Phipps, a 4-star combo guard, is headed to Grand Canyon.

• Colorado State added guard Jaden Steppe.

THE ESSENTIAL COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW

What do these three men have in common?

Winning smiles? Good tailors? An unerring sense of when to call timeout?

They’re all highlighted in one of The Almanac’s more interesting national features: “Jump seat” coaches for 2023-24. Yes, Mike Morrell, Matt Langel and Takayo Siddle all might be primed for jobs at bigger schools after this season. But if you want to know why, you’ll have to buy. Just $20.

3. K-State shows some love to Jerome Tang

Jerome Tang coached high school hoops. He spent nearly 20 years as an assistant coach. His first year as a D-I head coach, he lead Kansas State to 26 wins and an Elite Eight.

K-State would like some more.

Tang signed an extension that’ll keep him in the Little Apple through the 2029-30 season, the school announced Monday. It adds two years onto his original deal and bumps his pay to $3 million annually with retention bonuses. By the end of the contract, he’ll make $3.6 million annually.

More importantly, it now includes a heftier buyout clause if he were to leave for another school. After next season, it’s $6 million, and decreases by $1 million each year. (There’s also a termination without cause payout, but one would assume Tang isn’t running afoul of anything.)

Those numbers aren’t quite so steep to deter some of the sport’s wealthiest programs that might have an opening after this season, but it’s a smart move by the school to build it in. And even better for Tang. He’s earned it.

4. Fairfield’s big addition still rehabbing

If Fairfield’s going to make a run at the MAAC title this season (we’ve slotted them 2nd in The Almanac), it’ll need to be healthy. And that means avoiding the nagging injuries that derailed their 2022-23 season — and hoping transfer Alexis Yetna can actually play this season.

The 6-8 senior played three seasons at Seton Hall. His best was the 2018-19 campaign where he posted 12.3 ppg, 9.6 rpg, and shot 54% from the field in 30 minutes an outing. Injuries derailed his sophomore season and ended his time with the Pirates after three seasons.

If he gets on the court for Fairfield, it’s huge boost considering his defense and experience. As coach Jay Young told Brian Rauf, “even on one leg, he can be dominant.”

Now it’s just a matter of if either leg works.

News emerged yesterday that Yetna’s availability, originally slated for November or December, is now more like Dec. 30 against Le Moyne. That’ll still give the Stags a full conference slate with Yetna, but acclimating him to the team and playing him for extended stretches will be an issue.

(OK, the biggest issue is actually making shots. The Stags only made 28.6% of their 3s last season. Part of me wonders if it’s the sight line in their new arena and the bright red ads usually visible behind the basket. Anyway.)

5. A Skywalker for Reynolds Coliseum

This isn’t the type of story that usually warrants its own headline, but too bad. I’ll take any excuse to write about David Thompson.

NC State announced Monday that the legendary guard and three-time All-American will get his own statue outside Reynolds Coliseum this season. It’ll be unveiled on Dec. 6.

A statue to honor a player like Thompson is an easy decision. He could do anything on a court, whether that was beating a peak UCLA team in the NCAA Tournament, or averaging nearly 30 points a game during peak ACC times. The hard part must have been deciding on the pose.

I mean, just look at this guy. This photo alone would make for an ideal statue.

Or maybe him jumping over Bill Walton. Or nearly hitting his head on the rim trying to avoid dunking. Or any of the “did you see that?! moments from his NC State career. Just watch this highlight reel. Any of Thompson’s NBA highlights contain his many, many dunks, and rightly so. But I think watching him at NC State might be even more impressive given he was just 6-4 and wasn’t allowed to dunk, per NCAA rules. So he spent his time contorting his body, hovering above the rim and dropping the ball through the rim, his hands even higher than that of 7-3 teammate Tom Burleson.

I mean, Thompson is the guy that inspired Michael Jordan, and later was Jordan’s presenter at the Hall of Fame. That alone is enough to be in awe of him. He’ll need a statue to match.

Is T.O. crazy? Or crazy like a fox?

Look. Terrence Oglesby has never been shy with an opinion. He’s an honest, insightful college hoops analyst who’s been known to be right about more than a few things. So when he says expanding the NCAA Tournament is a good thing, it’s smart to listen to the man. (Plus, I happen to agree with him, so there’s that.)

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Links as you see the Kevin James photo in your timeline for the 3,292nd time.

• Gonzaga added a late addition to the 2023-24 roster: Pavle Stosic.

• Alabama coach Nate Oats said he only wants “high character” players on the roster.

• How’s Shaheen Holloway feeling about his team?

• Robbie Hummel is reportedly leaving ESPN for NBC Sports and Fox Sports (so he can continue calling Big Ten games).

• Score one for college sports: Fox Sports opted for more instead of WWE.

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