INDEPENDENTS

EAST: For the past three seasons the Friars of PROVIDENCE have been among the seven top defensive teams in the country and they are again a ball-hawking, shot-blocking group this year. Len Wilkens is gone, but Jim Hadnot, a superb rebounder, and the spectacular John Egan are back. So are Tim Moyanahan, Dennis Guimares, Richard Holzheimer, Richard Leonard and Thomas Nyire. Sophomores—four excellent ones—are also going to help tremendously. Vinnie Ernst, George Zalucki, Carl Spencer and Ray Flynn all averaged 11 points or better on a frosh team that had an 18-1 record. For the past two years ST. JOHN'S has produced rumbles of thunder but very little lightning. The personnel seemed far superior to performance. This season Coach Joe Lapchick's Redmen get an early chance for national honors, meeting Kansas first and then Providence in the opening round of the Holiday Festival. All-America Tony Jackson (21.2 average) should get more help this year from Willie Hall, LeRoy Ellis and Ivan Kovacs, all of whom were erratic last winter. Kevin Loughery, a Boston College transfer, and Donny Burks, who averaged 24.2 points a game for the frosh, should help. ST. BONAVENTURE has lost playmaker Sam Stith but retains his sharpshooter brother Tom, the first All-America in Bonnie history. Last season he was the country's second-leading scorer, with a 31.5-point average. Fred Crawford, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, is Coach Ed Donovan's candidate to replace Sam Stith. Crawford broke all of the school's frosh scoring records last year with a 32-point average. Whitey Martin, Orrie Jirele and Tom Hannon are the strongest returnees. If Bob McCully, a 6-foot-9 center, comes through, Stith will be able to work from a corner. At SETON HALL new Coach Richie Regan will concentrate on establishing screens to set up his outside shooters. Hank Gunter, who hit on 57% of his attempts last year, Art Hicks, the club's top scorer with 393 points, and Ken Walker should put this program into action. Jim Burkhardt and Dom Klein, both ineligible in 1959-60, might break into the starting lineup. Bill Brooks and Mike Murray are fine outside shooters. The Pirates have their toughest schedule ever, meet Ohio State in the opening round of the Holiday Festival, VILLANOVA jumped off to a 17-1 record last year but sputtered near the end of the season. Hubie White again will lead them and probably improve on his 19-point average. Jim Huggard, Dick Kaminski and newcomer Tom Galia should all do well if 6-foot-9 soph Center Tom Hoover can get the ball off the backboards. Coach Al Severance believes Galia has the best offensive potential of any member of the squad. Bob Liberatore, Tom Samulewicz, Dave Severance and Joe Walsh are the other vets. At HOLY CROSS Jack Foley (591 points last year) has a good chance of joining the exclusive 1,000-point club, whose membership is limited to Tom Heinsohn, Bob Cousy, Togo Palazzi, George Kaftan and Earle Markey. The Crusaders need height and brawn under the boards, probably are the best-shooting team in New England. Co-Captains and Guards George Blaney and Tim Shea were second and third in team scoring, and both are back. So are Spencer Thompson, John Connors and Dave Slattery. Pete O'Connor, Tom Palace, Bob Foley, Anthony Capo and John Hennessey move up from a frosh club with a so-so 13-6 record. At NYU no less than four players—Al Barden, Al Filardi, Frank Turpin and Bobby Williams—are trying to earn the pivot position that Tom Sanders held last season. The Violets take on the best this year—Southern Cal and UCLA in California, and five teams ranked in the top 20. Led by flashy Ray Paprocky and coached by clever Lou Rossini, they should be among the best themselves. Turpin, Williams and Tom Boose come from a frosh team whose record was 18-0. ARMY probably has its best team in the last three years. The two top scorers are Stu Sherard, a guard with a 19.1 average who hit with 45.9% of his shots, and Lee Sager, a forward who had 18.6 and 255 rebounds in 22 games. Bob Foley moves up from the plebes, where he averaged 20 a game. Lee Anderson and Bob Strauss, both 6 feet 6, alternate at center. Ron Hannon, who missed half of last season with a shoulder separation, is at the other guard, with speedy junior Al De Jardin and plebe Gordon Arbogast in reserve, BOSTON COLLEGE will surprise some of its opponents this year. Lacking a really big man, B.C. still has balance, speed, experience and depth. Bill Donovan and Bill Foley are a proved backcourt combination, while Frank Quinn and Jim Hooley are scrappers under the boards. Gerry Ward and Jerry Power are the best of the sophs, and Charlie Chevalier returns after a year's absence. Dave Reynolds, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, may develop into a topflight rebounder by midseason. MANHATTAN will present a pattern offense with the emphasis on speed, a quantity that Coach Ken Norton has not been blessed with in the past few campaigns. The top four scorers have departed, and much depends on returning Center Tom Leder, who has a fine (48%) field-goal average. Other returnees are Larry Byrnes, Alex Osowick, Kevin Haggerty, John O'Conner and Doug Rutnik. Ron Petro, John Powers and Paul Costello will be the sophs moving forward, but none are expected to start, PENN STATE has only eight home games, with 11 on the road, not including the Charlotte and Evansville tournaments, both in December. Mark DuMars, the 5-foot-10 guard, is the highest-scoring little man in State history, averaging 16.8 as a soph and 21.3 as a junior. Jack Trueblood, Gene Harris and John Phillips are returning starters, and soph John Mitchell, a forward, may be a front-liner. NIAGARA functioned without Coach Taps Gallagher, who returns this year after recuperating from an operation. Al Butler was sixth-best scorer in the nation last season with a 28.6 average. Newcomer Joe Maddrey, only 6 feet 4, is the pivot man. Don Jones and Len Whelan start again, along with either Ed Ladley or soph Kenneth Glenn. There is no really big man. but the average size is fair, CANISIUS needs plenty of backboard help from sophomores Bill O'Connor and Tom Chester to meet a difficult schedule. Captain Larry Sarafinas is the tallest member of the club at 6 feet 6. With him as starters are Joe Loturco and Richard McCann. There are five other experienced players, but the sophs will have to make Canisius go. FORDHAM was jolted when Frank Cipriani took a $35,000 bonus from the Kansas City Athletics. Pleasant, talented Coach Johnny Bach may not get his team organized until well after the middle of the season, when lithe Sylvester Coalmon becomes eligible. Dee Maynard and the top scorer and rebounder from the freshman team, Bob Melvin, are up front, while Bill Sheridan and Ray McGovern are the guards. John Coalmon, 6 feet 4, is at center. Joe Dempsey, who started well last year, also will see a lot of action. BOSTON UNIVERSITY probably will be the underdog in three-fourths of its games. A weak freshman team yielded only starter Mike Cotton. Dick O'Connell plays either the post or a corner, while Larry Isenburg is most effective at corner position. Tom Chamberlain, a 5-foot-8 guard, is the third returning starter. Dawes Hamilt and John Capavella give reserve strength in the backcourt, while Paul Power and John Reardon back up the forwards, DUQUESNE will carry only an eight-man squad this year and two of the eight, Paul Benec and Bill Stromple, play with injuries. Benec has knee trouble, Stromple has back trouble and Coach John Manning has speed and depth troubles. Soph Mike Rice should help Ned Twyman, Clyde Arnold and soph Terry Malloy. PITTSBURGH has John Fridley and Dick Falenski, who led the scorers in 14 of 25 games, but the Panthers still need a big man. Bob Sankey, Bob Lazor and Don Steinhart have game experience, and Ben Jinks, a 6-foot-3 guard, may help this club's fast break. There is ample speed here and some good defensive players but not enough rebounding strength. SYRACUSE'S hopes for a .500 season rest with high scorer Pete Chudy (15.5) and soph Loren James, a good boardman at 6 feet 5. Steve Berkenfeld, Sandy Salz, Fred Machemer, Steve Dodge and Terrence Quigley also are back. ST. FRANCIS of Loretto, Pa. is switching from a give-and-go offense this season to a more controlled attack—due to lack of height. Ed Winters, Cal Fowler and Tom Muriceak are all under 6 feet 3. Bob Hall, a 6-foot-7 junior-college transfer, sophomores Mike Ferrick and Chris Carey, plus Frank Libonati, Tom Connors and Paul Martin, all experienced, should help but probably not enough to pick up the slack under the boards. COLGATE'S six returning regulars promise a return to winning ways if the team's good offense can compensate for an inconsistent defense. Bob Duffy, a 21-plus scorer, and John Doyle return at guard. Ken Norum, Bill Salisbury and Mel Watkins open in front; sophs Jack Brown and Danny Raabe are reserves.

SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST: The University of MIAMI was the second-best offensive team in the country last year, with 89.9 points a game. However, the Hurricanes yielded 81.2 at the same time, and not all of the competition was major-college caliber. The school is in the Florida Intercollegiate Conference but is included here because that is still a small-college league. Five starters return: small (5 feet 6) but potent (22.1 average) Dick Hickox, Julie Cohen, Harry Manushaw, Ron Godfrey and Bruce Applegate. Two lanky sophomores also move up: 7-foot-1 Mike McCoy and 6-foot-9 Lou Alix. GEORGETOWN, weak on defense last year, should improve, if only because of experience. The probable starting lineup of Puddy Sheehan, Tom Matan, Bob Sharpenter and Paul Tagliabue also has adequate height and speed. Jim Carrino, Vince Wolfington, Ray Ohlmuller, John Kraljic and Don Slattery provide good reserve strength. New Coach Tom O'Keefe has yet to settle on an offensive pattern, will experiment for a few games. At the University of LOUISVILLE Coach Peck Hickman is moving towering Fred Sawyer out to a corner to increase the scoring potential. This is largely a veteran crew and should improve on last year's disappointing record. Roger Tieman, Bud Olsen, Ron Rubenstein, John Turner and Buddy Leathers are back. Sophomore Guards Dick Peloff and Jadie Frazier will help. At OKLAHOMA CITY Abe Lemons relies heavily on newcomer Gary Hill, a 20-point man with the frosh last year. Up front are veterans Harry Vines and Fred Moses; at guard is Larry Jones. Two junior-college transfers, Gary Duncan and Gary Karr, have a good chance of sticking, and there is better than average height in reserve, NAVY lacks experience, height and depth but Coach Ben Carnevale always gets his team into top physical condition and condition can win ball games. Only Guards Allan Hughes and Dave Tremaine return as starters, and the 1959-60 plebe squad was weak. Tom White and Tony Lazzaretti, the latter 6 feet 5, are the other holdovers. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY has had fine freshman squads in the past two years and Coach Bud Kennedy is ready to cash in. David Fedor, Jack Davis and Ray Swain are returning starters, and Charles Long, Dale Ricketts and Clyde Eads the promising sophs, LOYOLA OF NEW ORLEANS hopes for better defense and more aggressive rebounding from Larry Trunk, Jack Flynn and Jim Monahan. Len Nalty, Darryl Tschirn and Bob Weber are the backcourt possibilities. MEMPHIS STATE has a tough early-season schedule on the road, but four starters from the NIT team return. Skip Wolfe and Gene Wilfong are in the backcourt, Lowery Kirk and Frank Snyder up front. Center is the problem. If 6-foot-8 Wayne Yates doesn't come through, sophomore Jim Ingold is ready to try.

MIDWEST: One of college sport's most versatile athletes is Dave DeBusschere of DETROIT, who shoots golf in the 70s, pitches well enough to have nearly every major league club after him and whose scoring and rebounding this season should make Detroit one of the most powerful teams in the nation. Ninth in the country in scoring (25.6) and second in rebounding (20), DeBusschere works with Charlie North (19.8 points and 14.2 rebounds) to give the Titans a fine one-two punch up front. In addition, junior-college transfer John Morgan is an excellent rebounder and shooter. Coach Bob Calihan also has his starting guards back, Frank Chickowski and Larry Hughes. Three other veterans—John Parker, Russ Schoenherr and Bob Wright—give Detroit adequate bench strength. At DAYTON Coach Tom Blackburn welcomes four returning starters and has an 11-player roster that averages over 6 feet 4. Garry Roggenburk, newcomers Ron Anello and Bill Westerkamp, and Guards Stan Greenberg and Tom Hatton will start. The Flyers seem to have everything but a floor leader to take Frank Case's place. Hopes are also high at XAVIER where the entire first five returns with a 17-9 record. Five of those losses were to four teams good enough to win postseason tournament invitations. The five first-stringers had a composite .436 shooting average, and they are backed up by the best reserves that Coach Jim McCafferty has ever had. Jack Thobe is the pivot, Jim Haffner and Ron Nicolai are the forwards, Bill Kirvin and Jim Enright the guards. In reserve are 6-foot-10 Center Peter Schmeling and Forwards Frank Pinchback and Ed Tepe. Last season at MARQUETTE Coach Eddie Hickey spent a good deal of his time watching the freshmen and wishing they were his varsity. There were eight players 6 feet 5 or over, and some of them will get the chance to start this year with returning high scorer Don Kojis (6 feet 5), who needs only 430 points to set a new school record. Best of the newcomers are Leonard Jefferson, Bob Hornak, Ron Glasser, Dick Nixon and Lee Borowski. Veterans include Ed Carter, Joe Scanlon, Pat Below and Jerry Keidel. Inexperience may hurt Marquette early in the season. At DE PAUL, for the first time in quite a while, Coach Ray Meyer has some height and some bench strength. Guards Howie Carl and Bill Haig are both excellent scorers and ball handlers. The key to success, however, is the development of 6-foot-9 sophomore Center Bill Debes. Jim Flemming returns as a starting forward, but sophomores M. C. Thompson and Dick Cook will be pressing him all year, NOTRE DAME may forget some of its football woes if another tall sophomore, 6-foot-8 Bill Kurz, comes through for Johnny Jordan, best tenor in the coaching profession. Jordan also has his third-leading scorer from last year, John Dearie, Guards Bill Crosby and Eddie Schnurr, and reserves Bill Noonan, Armand Reo and John Tully. BUTLER lacks size and experience. The only front-line veterans are Ken Freeman (6 feet 1) and Dick Haslam (5 feet 9). Don Kaufman, Larry Ramey, Jess Blackwell and Bob Bottorff return but newcomers Tom Bowman, Gerald Williams and Mike Blue will see a lot of action, LOYOLA OF CHICAGO faces a heavy schedule that includes Ohio State, Detroit, St. John's and Xavier. Coach George Ireland has two returning starters, Guard James Mini and Center Clarence Red, will play two sophomores at forward, Jerald Harkness and Jim Reardon. Either Mike Gavin or Jerry Verwey will get the other backcourt position alongside Mini. The AIR FORCE ACADEMY, which was bumped out of the opening round of the NCAA playoffs last season, has a much tougher schedule this time. Five of last year's six top scorers return to Coach (Major) Bob Spear. John Stover, Jim Ulm, Bob Schaumberg, Terry Norris and Butch Viccelio are back. Three fine sophomores—Roger Zeller, Ray Lundquist and Jim Diffendorfer—add to the Falcons' already strong defense and good height.

FAR WEST: SEATTLE Coach Vin Cazzetta has a deep, speedy squad of hot shooters who look like the class of the Coast. Dave Mills, a 6-foot-5 forward, averages 17.7; Eddie Miles moves up from the frosh; Sy Blye, who played for the New York Tuck Tapers last season, gives Seattle 6 feet 5 of heft under the boards. Ray Butler, a junior-college transfer, and Richie Brennan, a red-shirt, both are tall and capable, and 6-foot-7 John Tresvant becomes eligible in January. Tom Shaules and Dan Stautz are experienced guards, GONZAGA'S Frank Burgess was the fifth-leading scorer in the nation last year with a 28.9 average, and he has nine lettermen back with him. John Gambee and John Rickman are 6-foot-4 forwards, sophomores Hans Albertsson (6 feet 8) and George Trontzos (7 feet) are battling over the center post with 6-foot-5 transfer student Bob Hunt. There is plenty of backcourt material, led by Dan Hansen, Mike Kelly, Gene Bolz and Bob Rodriguez. The Pilots of PORTLAND move into the 13,000-seat Memorial Coliseum for 13 of their 25 games. Coach Al Negratti has nine returnees and plenty of height. Bill Garner (6 feet 9), Jim Altenhofen (6 feet 5), Art Easterly (6 feet 6) and Chuck Rogers (6 feet 7) provide the rebounding. Guards Mike Doherty, Frank Bosone, Gary Gray and Doug Stewart will run the give-and-go offense. At MONTANA STATE COLLEGE, Coach Dobbie Lambert relies on inexperienced transfer students to blend with his known resources. John Bryant, Gordon Haugen, Jim Murphy and Tom Sawyer were all starters last year, FRESNO STATE'S new Coach Harry Miller has a lot of catching up to do. He didn't get his job until August, thus lost valuable recruiting time. Mike McFerson, the team's leading scorer with a 12.7 average, and Vern Crissman, its top rebounder, return with Ray McCarty and George Sarantos. Two sophomore guards—Carl Wallace and Forbes Lapp—are being brought up to the varsity.

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ILLUSTRATION

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PRACTICING FAST BREAK is highly rated St. John's lineup which includes Ivan Kovacs (33), Kevin Loughery (4), LeRoy Ellis (25), Willie Hall (20), Tony Jackson.

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JOHN EGAN IS PROVIDENCE PLAYMAKER

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DAVE DE BUSSCHERE STARS FOR DETROIT

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DAVE MILLS TOPS SEATTLE REBOUNDERS