I Bleed Blue and White

Most of you probably know this already, but Notre Dame transfer Scott Martin tore his ACL during a workout on Thursday and will miss the entire season.  After a disappointing year for the Fighting Irish, some hope was restored with Luke Harangody announcing his return for a senior year.  In addition, the infusion of transfers Martin (Purdue) and Ben Hansbrough (Mississippi) into Notre Dame’s rotation was supposed to be a big lift.  Now, with Martin out, Harangody will have to shoulder much of the load down low yet again.  Martin put up decent numbers at Purdue in his sophomore season, averaging over 8 points and almost 4 rebounds a game, so don’t underestimate the impact of this injury in the rugged Big East. 

Just a quick note on Dante Cunningham and the Portland Trailblazers.  They, along with the rest of NBA teams, opened up camps this past week in preparation for the start of the season in about a month.  The coverage on the Trailblazers website is very in-depth, with numerous blogs, videos, pictures, daily recaps, and much more.  Definitely check it out to keep up to date on Dante and the rest of his new teammates.

Rivals.com has updated their Top 25 Rankings for next season, now taking into account the underclassmen who have entered the NBA Draft.  Villanova comes in at #5, behind Kansas, Michigan State, Purdue, and Texas, respectively.  According to Rivals,

Villanova still is waiting to hear whether Scottie Reynolds stays in the draft, but the Wildcats are loaded in the backcourt with or without him.  The Wildcats also are bringing in three of the top 30 prospects in the 2009 recruiting class.

Additionally, Mike Kern of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote an article today about Villanova reflecting on the recent Final 4 run, but the challenge that lies ahead to get back there.  There are a ton of quotes in the article, mostly from Jay Wright, and it certainly is a great read.