Neighborhood Watch: The Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament

Hello, friends. I hope you're well. You look terrific. That's a very nice sweater. And also matching hat. And cane. Yes, it's really quite an ensemble. I could never pull off something like that. So kudos. If you're like me, friends, you just enjoy college basketball. It doesn't necessarily have to be just UK basketball. If it's an off-night for the cats and, say, Stanford and Syracuse are playing, you'll watch it. Or even one of those one-off Thursday night games with teams you have no earthly interest in. It's all fun to watch. That's exactly why tourneys like the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament are always pretty fun. If nothing else, it puts the Cats in the company of teams whose paths they'd never normally cross. And as such, it's an opportunity to at least have a few outside-the-norm schools on our radar, even if for a weekend. So in the interest of getting to know our fellow NCAA comrades, we thought it might be fun today to look at the schools of the HOF Tourney this weekend in piece we're calling Neighborhood Watch. Maybe we'll learn a thing or two we didn't know before about a teams we'd normally not know anything about -- after all, just because we may not play some of these teams doesn't mean we can't get to know 'em. So enjoy the first half of these teams, friends, and I'll be back to catch you up on Friday. Until then, and as always, have a wonderful Wednesday. University of Vermont Location: Burlington, Vermont Coach: John Becker What You Should Know: Losing last year's standout forward Evan Fjeld (who turned 45 over the summer! Lookin' good, Evan!) hurt the Catamounts, but they're still returning four starters and they're going to need some production from backup guard Four McGlynn, whose name is actually Four, and starting guard Sandro Carissimo, who runs Cloud City but can't be trusted. Brian Voelkel is a name you're likely to hear often, as Voelkel is likely the strongest of the returning crew, and head coach John Becker (portayed by Emmy-winning television actor Ted Danson) is pretty confident in this 2011 team. He has good reason to be, as this is roughly the same team which won the America East tournament Championship last year -- though it should be noted that the America East Tournament Championship trophy is plastic and filled with candy, so you can take that for whatever it's worth. Interesting Fact: No fewer than five of this year's Catamount roster players are majoring in "Sorghum." Old Dominion Location: Norfolk, Virginia Coach: Blaine Taylor What You Should Know: Old Dominion's certainly no stranger to the KSR crew, as you may remember from our colleague Drew Franklin's Pulitzer-winning expose of Blaine Taylor's mustache in 2010. And let's give credit where it's due: it's certainly no slouch of a team that can bring down both Barton College and Elizabeth City State back-to-back in pre-season play. So we know they're really, really good. The Monarchs are coming off their second consecutive CAA title, though they've only returned two senior starters in guard Kent Bazemore and forward Chris Cooper, and you can always count on head coach Blaine Taylor always has some tricks up his mustache sleeve. You might expect the Copenhagen, Denmark-born seven-foot center Anton Larson to provide some substance, but it's widely known that he's only kept around to help the assistant coaches put IKEA furniture together. With all accounted for, count on Old Dominion to be only a minor contender. Interesting Fact: Taylor will stop at nothing to bring down Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Princess Peach. Then all of Mario Land will belong to him! Long Island University Location: Brooklyn, New York and Brookville, New York Coach: Jim Ferry What You Should Know: The Blackbirds might not be as much of a pushover as you might think. The duo of Julian Boyd and Jamal Olaseware have oft been referred to by New York newspapers as "The Julian and Jamal Show" (also, coincidentally, the name of the show they hosted on Nickelodeon from 2002-2004). The combined size and strengh of the pair has led many pundits -- at least those pundits with so little going on in their lives that they dedicate time to doing things like, say, trying to predict the outcome of the NEC -- to believe the Blackbirds will finish first in the conference. The school's motto may be "Long Island University -- Hey! I'm Walkin' Here!" but the team stands to be fairly speedy when it comes down to the wire. Keep an eye on them, so you can say you saw them play once this season while you're watching them play their one game in the NCAA Tournament. Interesting Fact: One time at Karma night club, point guard Jason Brickman was dancing all up on this grenade and you could totally see her kuka. Marist College Location: Poughkeepsie, New York Coach: Chuck Martin What You Should Know: You guys look familiar. Hmm. Weren't you the squad we beat by fifty points a few days ago? Good to see you again! Ah, Marist. What can you say about a team where two of the three leading scorers from last year transferred to colleges like Mount St. Mary's and Vermont? Chuck Martin has his work cut out for him, to be sure; he's not going to be able to rely on Isaiah Morton and Dorvell Carter forever. They're probably looking at a last place finish in the MAAC. But hey, at the end of the day, they get to go back to beautiful...Poughkeepsie, New York. So they have that going for them. I guess. Still, they could pull off an upset if they can just stop looking forward to that big game against Colgate on November 26. One game at a time, guys! Interesting Fact: Head coach and former John Calipari assistant Chuck Martin stepped in as head coach in 2008 when former coach Matt Brady moved on to be head coach of James Madison University. So that gives you some sort of idea what kind of career trajectory being a coach at Marist gives you. Don't mess this up, Chuck, or you'll never fulfill that dream of coaching at Hofstra.