Each new morning at Mississippi State brings more of the same. "We're all anxiously waiting," sophomore Dee Bost says. "We want him. We need him."

Jai Lucas may be the most talented walk-on in America. Last December the former McDonald's All-American transferred from Florida, where in 2007--08 he started 36 games and made the All-SEC freshman team but became...

This was a summer of discontent for the Hoyas, who started last season 12--3 and were ranked as high as No. 9 but went into a death spiral, finishing 4--12, missing the NCAA tournament and losing in the first round...

In April 2008 Villanova coach Jay Wright went to an AAU tournament to scout Talib Zanna, a 6'9" forward from Nigeria. Wright's Wildcats were due to lose three senior forwards after the 2008--09 season, and they'd...

Siena's recipe for mid-major success begins in an actual kitchen in Loudonville, N.Y. There Margaret McCaffery cooks her famous desserts—most notably French apple cobbler with caramel sauce—while fostering the warmth...

The bout of walking pneumonia and mononucleosis that forward Raymar Morgan suffered last season should yield a few benefits this year. For one, "I had no idea how much I could endure," says Morgan, who also broke his...

When Patrick Christopher decided last April not to declare for the NBA draft, he called Jerome Randle, his backcourtmate at Cal, and arranged to meet him at a Bay Area restaurant. "He was excited when I told him,"...

The recruiting classes of 2006 and '07 brought forth a bumper crop of point guards: Nine—Ty Lawson, Javaris Crittenton, Mike Conley Jr., D.J. Augustin, Stephen Curry, O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose, Jonny Flynn and Jeff...

SI's TOP 20

In addition to the top 20, SI predicts which teams will complete the NCAA field on Selection Sunday