From news to commentary to recruiting to numbers, these accounts will keep you up to date
College basketball can be a tough sport to follow, even for die-hard fans. Nearly 350 teams, more than 30 conferences, games everyday of the week make college hoops a great sport, but also difficult to get a comprehensive handle on.
But there’s also recruiting gurus and a new wave a statistic-loving experts who can make college basketball fandom an exhaustive affair.
If you’re on Twitter, here are the 40-plus folks to follow who can offer numbers, news, insight and humor.
THE MARCH MUST-FOLLOW
March Madness TV @MarchMadnessTV
Quiet during the regular season, CBS' account for March Madness ramps it up around the conference tournaments and into the NCAA Tournament. Want to know immediately who's in the field, where to watch the key games and best action and other factoids? This is a must-follow.
And we have ten! Congrats to @icgaels on winning the @maacsports championship and being the tenth team to punch a ticket to the Big Dance.
— March Madness TV (@MarchMadnessTV) March 12, 2013
THE BIG NAMES
Andy Katz @ESPNAndyKatz
If you follow college basketball, you probably know ESPN.com’s lead reporter on the sport already. His feed is a one-stop shop for news, comments and retweets of the college basketball media from ESPN and elsewhere.
Kentucky says PG Ryan Harrow returns to practice after being ill & tending to family matter meanwhile UCLA says Tyler Lamb is transferring.
— Andy Katz (@ESPNAndyKatz) November 25, 2012
Seth Davis @SethDavisHoops
You can’t escape him on television as basketball season takes over on CBS on Saturday. He’ll Tweet his SI.com Hoop Thoughts, views he’s gleaned scouts on key players and his own opinions. He’s a big name for sure, but he takes questions from Twitter every week in Twenty for Tuesday.
Rasheed Sulaimon. Mad skills, no fear. RT @jasonedwardsv2: ACC Rookie of the year so far?
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) November 27, 2012
Jay Bilas @JayBilas
ESPN’s best color and in-studio basketball analyst is also one of the most interesting voices on Twitter. His insight is valuable and witty, but perhaps his best quality is his unfiltered take on the NCAA. He also has a follower-to-following ratio in excess of 400,000-to-0.
Player commits a felony, school decides if he plays. Player treads near NCAA eligibility rule, NCAA decides, and takes its sweet time, too.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) November 26, 2012
The CBSSports.com team
Jeff Borzello @JeffBorzello
Jeff Goodman @GoodmanCBS
Matt Norlander @MattNorlander
Gary Parrish @GaryParrishCBS
Want a lesson in newsroom chemistry? The CBSSports.com college basketball team is it. Parrish is an ace columnist. Goodman seems to know every roster and assistant from North Carolina to North Carolina A&T. Borzello is the recruiting expert. Norlander curates the blog and the podcast. The banter and non-basketball Tweets, though, make them worth following as a group as they poke at Goodman’s obsessiveness, Parrish’s fashion choices, Norlander’s affinity for tempo-free stats.
In an unrelated note, I made it to Indianapolis with three computers but no credit cards. And no glasses. So this trip will be interesting.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) November 27, 2012
The Bracket Experts
Joe Lunardi @ESPNLunardi
Jerry Palm @jppalmCBS
Face it: By February and March you’ll have only a handful of questions about your team. 1. Is my team in the NCAA Tournament or on the bubble? 2. Where is my team seeded? 3. What if X beats Y and Y beats Z? Lunardi and Palm have your answers. And they seem to take the constant questions and occasional criticism in stride.
Not really a bad bracket loss, because Jays should be comfortably "in" the field regardless. “@eshew9: @espnlunardi What about Creighton?”
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) November 29, 2012
Michael DeCourcy @tsnmike
Let’s step away from this ESPN/CBS dominance for a bit with DeCourcy, a staple from The Sporting News and now the Big Ten Network. He’ll be kind, critical but also unafraid to challenge the prevailing wisdom.
Can't figure out why Memphis starts over in the same place every year. And they start over at the same place every game. No carryover.
— Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike) November 23, 2012
Pat Forde @YahooForde
You may have to wait until after the BCS Championship Game for Yahoo Sports’ dual-threat to move over to basketball where he'll offer in-game notes and opinion on the most prominent teams. Cue the Kentucky fans: He’s from Louisville but gives both teams a fair shake.
Love a perfect alley-oop. Money pass by Cook, fluid catch/flush by Plumlee, made it look easy.
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) November 29, 2012
Dick Vitale @DickieV
We’ve poked fun at Vitale, but the ESPN institution has taken to Twitter well. His enthusiasm for being on the road at college basketball’s best sites translates to social media, too. We’ll sum it up this way: If you like Vitale on air, you’ll like him on Twitter even in CAPS LOCK.
Congrats to John Groce Illinois @ 8-0 best start ever 4 ILLINI - bet Orange Krush love it baby! @dshulman_espn @jl23tv
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) November 29, 2012
Luke Winn @lukewinn
Sports Illustrated’s top basketball writer puts out must-read power rankings as the season moves along. @AndyGlockner and @RobDauster are also key follows from the SI team for nationwide info. Winn's work is rich in data, charts and visual aids. For example:
Could McAdoo play a bigger role in UNC's offense than Hansbrough or May ever did? A breakdown: bit.ly/WWjg1P
— Luke Winn (@lukewinn) November 27, 2012
The rest of the ESPN team
Dana O’Neil @ESPNDanaONeil
Jason King @JasonKingESPN
Eamonn Brennan @eamonnbrennan
Myron Medcalf @MedcalfByESPN
Fran Fraschilla @franfraschilla
Jimmy Dykes @JimmyDykesLive
No one has more boots on the ground than ESPN, especially covering college basketball full-time. From the great feature writers (O’Neil and King) to the blog network (Brennan and Medcalf) and the on-air guys (Fraschilla and Dykes), you won’t starve for information.
GOING DEEPER
USA Today Voices
Eric Prisbell @EricPrisbell
Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbach
Dan Wolken @DanWolken
USA Today recently expanded its online sports coverage. Prisbell reports and investigates, which means he may report some things you’ll hate to hear about your team and love to hear about your rivals. Auerbach covers the nationwide blog and curates a chat with Prisbell. Wolken is by trade a college football writer, but the former Memphis newspaper columnist has some biting basketball takes, too.
Silly media. We all thought Larry Brown would bail on SMU because they were so bad. At this rate, he'll bail for the UCLA job (again)
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 29, 2012
Ken Pomeroy @kenpomeroy
Remember when baseball statistics like OPS and BABIP and WAR started making the rounds? Tempo-free basketball stats are kind of like that. Ken Pomeroy and his ilk wants to be able to compare an up-tempo team like North Carolina to a low-tempo team like Wisconsin on an even playing field. You’ll have to visit his site and pay the subscription to get all the advanced stats, but Pomeroy brings a quirky sense of humor to Twitter.
— Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) November 18, 2012
The sixth man gets disproportionate publicity. I'm determined to create a 7th man award this season.
The Recruiting Gurus
Eric Bossi @ebosshoops
Jerry Meyer @jerrymeyer247
Brian Snow @BSnowScout
Dave Telep @DaveTelep
Want to know who’s next up for your team or what coach is watching what recruit? Basketball recruiting hasn’t blown up quite like football on national signing day, but veteran recruiting reporters Eric Bossi, Jerry Meyer, Brian Snow and Dave Telep know their way around the AAU circuit.
Difficult to feel that Josh Smith was ever committed to basketball and eager to compete at UCLA. Saw a dip in effort after junior hs season.
— Jerry Meyer (@jerrymeyer247) November 28, 2012
The Independent Voices
Rush the Court @rushthecourt
Michael Rogner @RunTheFloor
Looking for a different take away from the big multimedia companies, try these two blogs to shuffle things up. Both gather links from around the web, create their own content and analysis and share opinions, especially live on game day.
How did Brent Musburger do that interview with Mason Plumlee without mentioning that free throw at the end of the game?
— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) November 29, 2012
The Coaches
Chris Mack @CoachChrisMack
Eric Reveno @CoachReveno
Admit it: Most coach Twitter accounts are boring, especially if he’s not the coach of your favorite team. Many accounts aren’t even run by the coach himself. We applaud Xavier coach Chris Mack and Portland coach Eric Reveno for sharing the coach experience with their followers. Both have occasionally self-deprecating senses of humor, especially when it comes to parenting and travel. But they also take on more heady issues. Reveno, in particular, Tweets about the tough job of a coach and offers suggestions to the NCAA.
Thought I'd be able to smuggle in this Bic lighter to the Hollywood Wax Museum. No go..
— Chris Mack (@CoachChrisMack) November 26, 2012
Check Your Local Listings
Most of these on the list are national names. We couldn’t possibly go through the long list of great beat writers and local columnists out there. Some of our favorites for top teams this year including @RickBozich and @ericcrawford for Louisville, @JerryTipton and @kysportsradio for Kentucky, @insidethehall and @indystar_hutch for Indiana and @ACCSports, @DavidTeelatDP and @bylinerp for all things Duke, North Carolina and ACC.
