Notes From Wonderland 01/02

So how does one close out New Years Day? Why write a "Notes From Wonderland" while watching Dr. Who. Sadly, my New Years night is more exciting than my New Years Eve, where I was writing a column while listening to my neighborhood sound like a war zone with all of the gun shots and fireworks.

With Kameron Rooks off the board, all eyes are on Aaron Gordon.

Kameron Rooks has committed to Cal. The 7-footer announced his decision via Twitter and it leaves the Wildcats with just one recruit they appear to be actively pursuing The move makes a lot of sense for Rooks. Although his father played for the Wildcats, it looks like immediate playing time will not be available in Tucson. As of now it does not appear any of the freshmen bigs will be leaving for the pros and the Wildcats will add redshirt junior Matt Korcheck to the mix.

Even if the Wildcats had added Rooks, they still would have pursued Aaron Gordon and had they landed him, Rooks might have been the seventh big man on the roster. At Cal, he may be an immediate contributor.

As of now the Wildcats do not seem to be recruiting anyone other than Gordon, though that could change as the Wildcats continue to evaluate prospects during the high school season...

UConn signed interim coach Kevin Ollie to a long-term contract, in essence, stripping him of his interim title and making him the official successor to Jim Calhoun. This news may actually be very important for Arizona. I have been told by some sources that UConn is one job that Sean Miller has always kind of had his eye on as being one of his dream jobs. Of course, I was also told that about Maryland. The signing of Ollie means that we won't find out anytime soon if Miller really does thin that highly of the Husky job...

I was in Phoenix over the weekend and was listening to the ASU basketball radio broadcast and had to laugh. They were saying that they expected a "great" crowd for the Pac-12 opener against Utah, but were also hoping to have 2-3,000 more fans than they did for that game against Coppin State. The "great" crowd they were hoping to draw was 7-8,000. 8,000 would be considered a disastrous at Arizona...

1290 KCUB in Tucson chose to re-broadcast the New Mexico Bowl and the Florida basketball game on New Years Day. How dramatic were those games? My wife was listening to the end of the basketball game and was yelling at the radio despite obviously knowing the outcome...

The Pac-12 has just one New Years bowl tie-in, thanks in large part to former commissioner Tom Hansen. Hansen believed that it was a bad idea to have other Pac-12 teams "competing" with the Rose Bowl. Well, the Big-10 had five teams playing on New Years Day, including four at the same time. Explain to me how that is bad for the league? While New Years does not hold the cache it once did, it still seems more big time than a random day in mid-December. Hopefully over the next few year new Commissioner Larry Scott can improve the bowl ties...

After their loss to Cal Poly a lot of people were burying UCLA. That was likely a mistake. After their win over Missouri, the Bruins head into Pac-12 play at 10-3. The Poly loss was awful, to be sure, but their two other losses were to one-loss Georgetown and two-loss San Diego State. They are still an oddly constructed team, but they are getting great play from their freshmen wings and Larry Drew has become a pass-first point guard who is averaging over eight assists a game. Since a 65-63 win over Texas the Bruins have opened up the offense and the team has responded...

Speaking of the Bruins, I'd say them, Arizona, Colorado and Oregon are the clear favorites in the league and should all make the NCAA Tournament. Cal, ASU and Stanford are probably all fighting for a final tournament bid and I'd give the Bears the nod if the Pac-12 actually gets five bids.