Where have all the superstars gone?
By Mike Duffin
Staff Writer

     Conference USA is in for a major shakeup, and not all of it is good. Just glancing at the names expected to lace it up in the NBA next year may provide a pretty attractive list for Bulls fans to salivate over, but for fans of C-USA basketball these are dismal times. All of C-USA’s teams combined to win just one postseason game in the 1999-2000 season. Next year may be even uglier when looking at the list of quality players going off to the professional level.

     Adios to C-USA stars Quentin Richardson (DePaul), Gee Gervin (Houston), Nate Johnson (Louisville), Justin Love (Saint Louis), Pete Mickeal, DerMarr Johnson and Kenyon Martin (Cincinnati).

     All these players were vital to the conference’s high power rating. They also provided a load of entertainment, whether it was during the conference tournament or when they came to the Allstate Arena and made a game-winning shot-like Dermarr Johnson. And playing Houston no longer seems attractive since coach Clyde Drexler stepped down recently.

     As a fan of college basketball, and not merely a DePaul booster, one must ask what kind of competition will be out on the floor when November rolls around?

     DePaul brings in Imari Sawyer and Andre Brown, two players certain to make headlines for their dazzling play and too-good-to-be-true talent. Sawyer had marvelous statistics at King, but some of his stats may have been inflated. Expect possibly 18 points, 7 assists, 4 steals and 2 rebounds per game, which isn’t bad.

     Marquette still has guard Brian Wardle, who will be a senior next fall. They will also be getting the athletic Dwayne Wade, a 6-foot-4-inch all-stater from Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Ill. Those two guys plus Hillcrest high school recruit Odartey Blankson make the Golden Eagles a serious threat within the conference.

     Cincinnati still has a lot of talent, most notably guard Kenny Satterfield, who might leave after his sophomore season for the NBA. Bob Huggins always gets one of the top recruiting classes annually, but his team might have the Blue Demons’ “inexperience syndrome” for a while.

     Possibly the best player left in the conference is UNC Charlotte’s Jobey Thomas. At 6-4 this soon-to-be junior shooting guard will probably be a leading candidate for C-USA Player of the Year. But don’t be surprised if an underclassman like Sawyer or Satterfield grabs those honors.

     C-USA has made up for its lack of tradition with the talented Martin and Richardson leading the way, but the well has run dry.