Five Tiny Tidbits On: The Atlantic Coast Conference

Thought we were done previewing things? How could you think that, with your NCAA Basketball Tournament office pool a mere five months away? You've got to start studying now if you want to crush all who laughed at your picks last year. So who's with me? Let's Gooo! Please send contributions to [email protected].

• 1. The Straw That, Um, Never Mind. Maryland senior guard D.J. Strawberry is Darryl Strawberry's son. This is great because 1) D.J. is really Darryl Jr. but changed his name to D.J. for unknown reasons, and 2) This is a campus where allegedly coke and basketball are notoriously related (in a Maxim interview after they won the National championship, Gary WIlliams said he tells his players to go out and have fun "but if they walk into a room and see a pile of coke, they should turn and walk away." Totally.) — (Thanks to Alejandro de los Rios).

• 2. High School Confidential. At LC Bird High in Richmond, Va., current Boston College guard Tyrese Rice broke JJ Redick's all-time scoring and three-point shooting records. — (Thanks to Chilitown).

• 3. The Blue Devils' X-Box Factor. Duke freshman guard Gerald Henderson's father, Gerald Sr., won two NBA Championships (1981 and 1984) with the Boston Celtics. Gerald Jr.'s favorite hobby is playing video games.

• 4. Longer Than War And Peace. The Florida State athletic web site player profiles are perhaps the longest in all of college basketball, as demonstrated by this small passage in the voluminous entry on junior guard Isaiah Swann: "Pulled the Seminoles to within six at 39-33 as he hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3:48 left in the first half ..."

• 5. We Meet Again, Mr. Anderson.Georgia Tech freshman guard Ty Anderson is the grandson of college basketball coach Charles "Lefty" Driesell, who retired in 2003 after 41 years as a head coach at Davidson, Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State.