West Virginia daily

New Bedford native Marshall Strickland is guarded by Indianapolis' Scott Strahm during the second half in an exhibition game Thursday in Bloomington, Ind. Indiana won, 96-49. With the college basketball season officially kicking off on television tonight, it only seems appropriate to offer a quick-hitting, chest-bumping, knee-slapping, high-fiving, "94 Feet of Hell" preview.

This space isn't large enough to allow for 94 tidbits of information, so I decided on 23 -- of course, representative of the jersey number worn by the greatest college basketball player of all-time. That 6-foot-6 guard from south of the Mason-Dixon Line that no one could stop.

No, not that bald dude from North Carolina. We're talking about that shaggy-haired, floppy-sock wearing God of Bourbon Street, "Pistol" Pete Maravich. He averaged 44.2 points per game for three years without a three-point line while at LSU in the late '60s.

If you didn't already know this, you really should. Especially since St. Peter's senior guard Keydren Clark is trying to do something this season that only Maravich and Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson have accomplished – three straight NCAA individual scoring championships.

Clark, despite standing just 5-9, has averaged a nation's-best 26.7 and 25.8 points per game the last two years. He's off to a horrible start this year, though, having shot a combined 8-for-39 from the field in two games against Florida and Oakland for a 13.5 ppg mark.

-- Jersey number of Texas junior forward P.J. Tucker. When Tucker -- who was averaging 13 points and eight rebounds per game at the time -- vanished from the team for the second semester last season for failing to maintain a high enough GPA, so too vanished the Longhorns' chances at the Final Four. Tucker's eligible again, though, as he's maintained a GPA of at least, you guessed it, 2.0.

-- Three weeks ago, the NCAA said it will continue to experiment with a three-point line pushed back one foot -- to 20 feet, six inches -- and a lane widened by 18 inches. The Maui Invitational is one of the tournaments where these dimensions will be tried out.

-- The number of first-place votes 2005 Final Four participant Michigan State received in the Associated Press pre-season poll. The Spartans, ranked No. 4 to start the season, returns four starters from last year's team.

-- It's really been 13 years since a starting lineup of five freshmen reached the National Championship game? Wow. But while Michigan's "Fab Five" couldn't complete the job, Ohio State will try to change that with what is being dubbed the "Thad Five" in reference to the recruiting class put together by coach Thad Matta. Remember the names Greg Oden, Mike Conley, David Lighty, Othello Hunter and Daequan Cook, because you'll be hearing plenty about them in 2006.

-- The number of blocks per game (technically 5.5) averaged by the nation's leader last year, Deng Gai of Fairfield. Northeastern sophomore forward Shawn James was actually second in the country as a freshman, swatting 5.4 per game.

-- The number of ACC players taken in the first round of this year's NBA Draft. National champion North Carolina lost the most -- four in the opening 14 picks -- and had such a facelift, the Tar Heels aren't ranked in the top 25 of any pre-season poll.

-- The number of assists per game averaged by Connecticut point guard and national leader, Marcus Williams, last year. UConn is ranked second in the ESPN/USA Today poll and third in the Associated Press poll even though Williams won't return to the team until after New Year's Day for stealing laptop computers over the summer.

-- The Associated Press pre-season ranking for the Kentucky Wildcats, who are still awaiting the NCAA's decision on center Randolph Morris' eligibility. Morris came out early for the NBA Draft, but later withdrew his name.

-- The ten players listed on Scout.com's Pre-Season All-American teams. First Team: Duke forward Shelden Williams and guard J.J. Redick, Boston College forward Craig Smith, UConn forward Rudy Gay and Illinois guard Dee Brown. Second Team: Michigan State center Paul Davis, Oklahoma forward Taj Gray, Gonzaga forward Adam Morrison, Louisville guard Taquan Dean and Texas guard Daniel Gibson.

-- Jersey number worn by two of the greatest championship-winning point guards of all-time, Indiana's Isiah Thomas ('81) and Duke's Bobby Hurley ('91, '92).

-- Number of rebounds grabbed per game each of the last two years by the nation's leader, Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech, who still has two more years left to play.

-- Jersey number of guard Allan Ray of Villanova, who have their best team since they won it all 20 years ago. Their Final Four hopes may be in grave danger, however, following the re-injuring of forward Curtis Sumpter's knee three weeks ago.

-- The number of teams in the Big East after the additions of South Florida, DePaul, Cincinnati, Marquette, and Louisville offset the loss of some school in Boston to the ACC.

-- The age of Ohio prep school phenom O.J. Mayo, who just turned it two weeks ago. Entering his junior season, he was the state's Mr. Basketball last year and was a standout at the USA Youth Development Festival this summer.

-- Number of years since Maryland star Len Bias died two days after being drafted No. 2 by the Celtics. This is also the number of years since Boston's last championship, easily eclipsing the former longest drought -- five years.

-- Jersey number of West Virginia guard Mike Gansey. One of the darlings of the Mountaineers' run to the Elite Eight last year, he and center Kevin Pittsnogle have given West Virginia national visibility for the first time since Jerry West went there in 1608 B.C.

-- Jersey number of Indiana senior point guard Marshall Strickland, who grew up playing ball at the Boys and Girls Club of New Bedford. He had 15 points in the Hoosiers' 96-49 crushing of Indianapolis in an exhibition game last week, feeding the high expectations in Bloomington for an IU team ranked in the top 25 of most national polls.

-- Jersey number of New Bedford's Nick Pontes at Bryant. The freshman forward had six points, two rebounds, two blocks and four fouls in 13 minutes of play against UNLV in an 81-63 exhibition loss last week.

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