John Calipari and Kentucky rule the spring signing period. But is it ever going to translate into a Final Four or an NCAA tournament title?

Another stellar recruiting class is headed to Lexington – and that class still isn't complete – yet some think Kentucky's merely spinning its wheels by being a holding ground for one-and-done players who have their eyes on the NBA. Does that benefit teams like Michigan State and Duke that are merely adding talent and not re-loading entire rosters?

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John Calipari has proven he can win no matter who's on the roster.

Can you win a title with new teams every season? Hold that thought.

Kentucky may have a sense of déjà vu next season – talented freshmen, high expectations – but what else is Calipari supposed to do? Pass on the best recruits out there because they might not stay in school? Nonsense.

Let's recap: The 'Cats, headed by freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and junior Patrick Patterson, finished 35-3 this season, swept the SEC regular-season and conference titles and reached the Elite Eight.

What aspect of that season didn't work? Didn't we all decide Kentucky was one of the nation's best teams?

The 'Cats were one win shy of the Final Four. Last I checked, Kansas, Syracuse, Villanova and Ohio State also fell short and none of those teams relied on freshmen to carry the load. Stuff happens in the tournament and the best teams sometimes falter, regardless of whether they're loaded with freshmen.  

So we're writing off any future Calipari teams because his first year at Kentucky didn't result in a title or a Final Four? Crazy talk. Perhaps Kentucky won't win 35 games next season with Brandon Knight, Enes Kanter and Stacey Poole new to the roster, but that's a group still capable of reaching the Final Four. 

Calipari entered the season with several goals and nearly met them all. Rule the SEC? Check. Advance in the tournament? Check. Re-establish Kentucky as one of the premier programs? Check.

Re-read that last one again. Kentucky's the place nearly everyone wants to play. And as long as that talent keeps flowing into Lexington, we'd be foolish to write off the Wildcats as contenders.

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Editor's note: March Madness is too much for any one person to handle, so I'm adding help. The guys behind Ballin' Is a Habit, Rob Dauster and Troy Machir, will be contributing throughout March and into the Final Four, both with content from their Web site and original articles for us. This post originally appeared at BIAH.

By Rob Dauster

The great thing about social media and the internet is that we can get a chance to see who some of the players we root so hard for really are.

The guys at DraftExpress were in Columbus for the McDonald's All-American festivities, and they caught up with Reggie Bullock, Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes, and Kyrie Irving. Irving is headed to Duke, while the other three are all going to UNC.

DX was able to get them on camera in a trash-talking session. Twice.

Check it out:

You can find more of Rob's writing at Ballin' is a Habit and follow him on Twitter @ballinishabit.

DeMarcus Cousins scores like Shaq. He rebounds like Shaq. He even gets hacked like Shaq.

Best of all? Kentucky's freshman forward even speaks his mind like Shaq.

Cousins, the SEC freshman of the year, was refreshingly candid about his feelings regarding the SEC player of the year (teammate John Wall), senior Patrick Patterson and the SEC coach of the year, Kevin Stallings. Or, as Cousins thinks of him, "Who?"

Hey, cut the guy a break. He's supposed to know the opposing players, not coaches.

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Let the national accolades begin for Kentucky's talented freshmen. They're earned it.

John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were both named to Sporting News' all-freshman team, along with Kansas' Xavier Henry, Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors and Arizona's Derrick Williams.

Wall (16.8 points, 6.2 assists a game) and Cousins (15.6 points, 10.1 rebounds a game) are the Wildcats' top two scorers and offensive threats. As freshmen for a 29-2 team that's one of the favorites to win the national title, that's no mean feat.

And though Cousins is the more efficient player, Wall received freshman of the year honors from SN. Apparently, it was an easy choice because of the things Wall does that doesn't show up in the box score.

He's the game's most explosive sight, capable of jaw-dropping moves that other players simply can't do. They don't have his physical gifts, or his flair for the dramatic. Wall's hit game-winning shots, notched double-doubles in points-rebounds and points-assists and become the face of a program with tradition second-to-none.

Then, there's praise like this

Reggie Hanson and Mike Pratt, both members of UK's 1,000-point club, say he's the best player to wear Kentucky blue since Jamal Mashburn. "He's able to take over when he wants, and, at the same time, make everyone around him better," said Hanson, now an assistant coach at South Florida.

(whistles)

That includes guys like Ron Mercer, Tony Delk and Derek Anderson, no slouches themselves.

There'll be some who think Cousins was the more deserving candidate, but Wall's the correct choice. Yes, he had a rough few weeks that probably cost him national player of the year awards, but the guy's been brilliant. He simply does things on the court I never knew were possible.

How do you side against that?

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Kevin Laue's been featured the last year or so in various publications for obvious reasons: He's a one-armed basketball player, and he's playing Division I hoops. It's good stuff.

Laue hasn't played much during his freshman season at Manhattan, but now that March is here, you'll see more national news stories about college basketball than usual.

This NBC Nightly News feature doesn't break new ground, but it does offer the requisite "reporter over-matched by a D-I athlete" segment. And that's always entertaining. Have a look.

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When one team has guards like John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, it's easy to forget just how hard college hoops is on freshmen guards.

Take this year's class. UMHoops did a breakdown of guards among the Top 100 prospects (using the RSCI, Rivals and Scout), complete with a nifty statistical comparison chart of the top point guards. The ones who's done well? Wall, Bledsoe, Oklahoma's Tommy Mason-Griffin and Missouri's Michael Dixon. That's it.

(Syracuse's Brandon Triche should probably be on the table, but UMHoops discount a lot of his production as a factor of playing with Andy Rautins.)

The chart's also a good reminder that it's usually hard for freshmen, period.

A handful of NCAA tournament-caliber teams feature impact freshmen. Kentucky (DeMarcus Cousins), Georgia Tech (Derrick Favors), Kansas (Xavier Henry), Gonzaga (Elias Harris) and BYU (Tyler Haws) are on that short list. But even that's no guarantee of no hiccups.

Kentucky's star backcourt combines for 27.3 points and 9.3 assists a game, and has helped the Wildcats (28-2) establish themselves as one of the true NCAA title contenders. They also combine for 7.3 turnovers a game.

Hey, even the best guards can struggle. It's all part of the game.

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DeMarcus Cousins truly is the center of attention. Mississippi State fans made sure of that.

Kentucky's star freshman was barraged by phone calls and texts from Bulldog fans – the number apparently was on display – some of whom resorted to cussing and other other nasty comments, all in the name of supporting their team.

But hey, Cousins sounds like he rolled with as best he could, and even had some fun with some of the callers. Check out the video below for more.

Sounds like how Shaq would handle things…

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Kentucky freshman DeMarcus Cousins is used to being the center of attention. That happens when you're 6-11, 260 pounds.

Along with fellow freshman John Wall, Cousins is one of the big reasons why the Wildcats (21-1) are back among the hoops elite. His stats (16.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 54 percent shooting) aren't gaudy because he only plays about 21 minutes a game, but he's one of the country's most efficient players.

Everyone's noticing. Vandy doubled teamed Cousins constantly during their 85-72 loss on Saturday, but he still notched 21 and 10.

"A lot has been made about John Wall, because he is a terrific player, and deservedly so," said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. "But Cousins, even though at a different position, is just as much a factor right now for their team."

It's enough to draw comparisons to Shaquille O'Neal. But not because of the production – because of the attention. And all the fouls.

Rick Bozich from the Louisville Courier-Journal has great video of Cousins talking about the sheer number of fouls that aren't called on him and the physical way opponents are handling the big guy.

That's the way it goes when you're Cousins' size. Everyone wants a piece of you.

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It's not just freshmen. Upperclassmen make mistakes too. Even talented ones.

Case in point: Purdue.

The Boilermakers (14-3) have lost three straight games, all of them Big Ten games. The mini-skid has put a sizable crimp in their conference title hopes and is trying to turn Matt Painter's hair into a slicked-back gray streak. And he never thought his upperclassmen would be the reason why.

Nam Y. Huh

Matt Painter hates his team's effort during the last three games.

"I never thought I'd be in this position with this team," Painter told the Indianapolis Star. "Some guys have taken poor shots and you can correct some of those things, but I never thought I'd have to coach effort with these guys.

"We have seniors who are not quick to the basketball, not making good decisions down the stretch. You talk about getting this corrected, and you have to start at square one in this game, you have to out hustle your opponent."

Purdue starts three juniors (Robbie Hummel, E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson) and two seniors (Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer), all of whom have played the bulk of the team's minutes the last two seasons. And it sounds like everyone but Hummel is driving Painter crazy, and he may muck with the lineup a bit until everything sorts itself out.

If he makes changes before Tuesday's game against Illinois, then you'll know it's serious.

"I'd like to start E'Twaun Moore, E'Twaun Moore, Robbie Hummel, Robbie Hummel and Robbie Hummel. No one else deserves to start, but with that being said, E'Twaun Moore needs to get some rebounds.

"I'd like to get 10 guys that deserve to start and I thought we were moving in that direction with six or seven guys that are starters. Right now, we have a different type of problem. We're going to find out a lot about our team right now."

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How have the ACC's prize freshmen fared this season? Anyone looking for a clear-cut answer isn't going to get one.

And don't expect Wednesday's Clemson-North Carolina game to provide a definitive answer.

Yes, Milton Jennings and John Henson haven't torn it up – neither are starting or playing a chunk of minutes – but as Robbi Pickeral from the Raleigh News & Observer points out, both are starting to improve.

"If you look at the so-called McDonald's All-Americans in our league, other than one or two of them, none of them are making a huge impact in the first semester of [their] freshman year," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell told the paper. "But [Milton's] coming along, I think he's going to be a tremendous player, and I think he's going to be important to us as the ACC season progresses."

Other five-star recruits are feeling similar growing pains. Duke's Mason Plumlee is starting to come on after an early injury, but Ryan Kelly isn't a factor. Florida State's Michael Snaer is coming off the bench and playing a bunch of minutes, but his offensive efficiency is pretty poor (92. ORrg).

The only two five-star guys who are killing it are Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors (11.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg and among the nation's best in rebounding percentage) and Miami's Durand Scott (8.1 ppg, 4.4 apg, and an efficiency rating right behind Favors).

Then again, not all freshmen all struggling. Some of the non-hyped guys are doing just fine.

Take Maryland's Jordan Williams. He isn't playing the minutes Favors is, but his numbers (7.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg and a rebounding percentage spot on to Favors') are awfully close. That's with ¾ the hype.

And who knows? Maybe Williams will stick around College Park for 3 or 4 seasons. Then he'd cement himself as more valuable than Favors.

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Sports Illustrated's regional covers drive me crazy.

When the college basketball preview arrives every fall, it's always a Pac-10 theme that arrives in my Seattle mailbox. This year, it was Washington's Isaiah Thomas. Arizona State's James Harden and Briann January were the year before.

What happened to the national cover? Pick a team and stick with it. It doesn't even have to be No. 1.

Why the complaints? Instead of seeing a college hoops cover with Kentucky's John Wall in the second week of January, I'll get the Dallas Cowboys and an NFL playoff preview. The article inside is still the same (Grant Wahl, terrific as always, closes with Wall's 3.2 GPA; take that NBA), but there's something about having it on the cover.

(Sighs)

Can't blame 'em, I suppose. The Cowboys sell magazines, and college hoops doesn't – at least until March.

Maybe it'll make Kenny Colston at the Kentucky Kernal feel better about the SI cover jinx. The jinx doesn't apply when it's not national. I think.

Not that it ever slowed down Michael Jordan…

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Turns out freshmen are all the rage again.

The nation loves John Wall, Kentucky's fleet point guard. Xavier Henry leads No. 1 Kansas in scoring, and captured Seth Davis' attention.

And our very own Ken Davis takes a look at the rest of the class, including Texas Avery Bradley, whose Longhorns take on North Carolina on Saturday.

It's enough to produce a feature from the AP on how the 2009 could be the best since the remarkable 2007 class, which featured players like Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley. Or maybe it's the 2006 class that produced guys like Kevin Durant, Greg Oden.

I'll leave the "which is better?" argument alone and circle back to that 2006 class.

Would it astound you to know that 26 guys from that class are already in the NBA? Players who would normally be seniors this season are cashing NBA paychecks instead, as Gary Parrish pointed out in his blog. It's not meant to bemoan guys leaving early. It's merely meant to say "Wow."

Sixteen of the top 25 prospects from that class are currently in the NBA. Eight are still in school. Oddly enough, only one of the top 30 isn't playing in college or the NBA right now.

That would be the 10^th-rated prospect from Scout.com's 2006 class, Paul Harris.

Just think. Harris – drafted by the Maine Red Claws in the NBDL – could be playing with the unbeaten Orange right now.

Mike Miller is not the Mike Miller who played at Florida. If you followed him on Twitter (@BeyndArcMMiller), you'd already know that.