College Hoops Countdown, Part Uno

At 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Friday, college basketball teams across the country can kick their practices into high gear. Right now, teams can work together 2 hours a week...but that jumps to 20 hours per week when the official NCAA season starts on Friday.

To try to capture this excitement, we'll take sneak peeks at our local hoops squads one or two at a time.

Let's start with the Northwestern Wildcats, who can (and will) go nowhere but up after finishing 8-22 and 1-17 in the Big Ten last year. Chatted with Bill Carmody on Monday and here are a few of his observations (mixed in with mine from when I saw the squad have one of their unofficial runs a few weeks ago).

Biggest surprise to date?: Freshman forward Davide Curletti. When I saw him, he was finishing strong at the hoop with the left and right hands...but he also stepped out above the top of the key and had a nice, tight spin on his 3-point shot. Carmody sees him in the mix for the other forward spot opposite junior Kevin Coble.

Most improved?: Though Carmody was leery to suggest a name here because he has worked just 7 hours with his guys as a group, this could go to sophomore forward Mike Capocci, the Glenbard East product who never seemed to quite get up to speed in his freshman year. Said Carmody: "He seems more than a year older to me."

Starting lineup? Sophomore PG Juice Thompson, senior SG Craig Moore and junior F Kevin Coble are locks. In fact, they make Northwestern one of two teams in the Big Ten (along with Purdue) to return three guys who averaged double figures last year.

The freshman combo of Luka Mirkovic and Kyle Rowley will share the center spot, while freshman John Shurna, Curletti, Capocci, sophomore Ivan Peljusic, junior Jeff Ryan and senior Sterling Williams all have a shot at the other forward spot. My take? Shurna has the diverse skills and desire to get the first call.

Tune in soon for a look at Bruce Weber's Illini...

LW