Amile Jefferson (Rivals)In the midst of a discouraging offseason featuring early defections, unfounded transfer rumors and a flurry of misses on high-profile recruits, Duke finally received some badly needed good news.

The Blue Devils landed power forward Amile Jefferson, the lone unsigned consensus top 40 recruit in the class of 2012.

Jefferson, a 6-foot-7 McDonald's All-American from Philadelphia, chose Duke over ACC rival NC State, Kentucky, Villanova and Ohio State. Duke made him a priority after the early signing period and put on a full-court press after fellow elite power forward Tony Parker chose UCLA over the Blue Devils.

[Pat Forde: Leading U.S. Olympic team a thankless job for Coach K]

What Jefferson provides Duke next season is a perfect frontcourt complement off the bench to starters Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly. Whereas Plumlee is a traditional back-to-the-basket big man and Kelly is a spot-up shooter, Jefferson brings athleticism, length and an ability to score off the dribble that is largely missing from Duke's roster.

The addition of Jefferson to a recruiting class that previously included only guard Rasheed Sulaimon is both a talent and morale boost for Duke. On the heels of an already disappointing first-round exit against Lehigh, the Blue Devils lost Austin Rivers to the NBA draft, learned Andre Dawkins may redshirt the season and failed to land Parker, Shabazz Muhammad and transfer Jordan Clarkson, among others.

[Mike Huguenin: Elite eight ACC newcomers for 2012-13 season]

While North Carolina or NC State is probably still the favorite in what may be a down season in the ACC, Jefferson's presence figures to ensure the Blue Devils remain a contender at the very least.

Shaka Smart and VCU are bound for the Atlantic 10 next year (Getty Images)

For anyone either unable or unwilling to endure the 20 minutes of administrative blather that accompanied VCU's announcement it's headed to the Atlantic 10, here's the gist of school president Michael Rao's justification for the decision.

He believes VCU has outgrown the CAA. He thinks VCU is prepared for a major step up in competition. And he expects the money generated by longterm success in the Atlantic 10 to outweigh the short-term costs of making the switch.

Ultimately that's the gamble the Rams are taking by making the leap next fall to the league generally considered to be the nation's best outside the power six.

Yes, they're forfeiting about $5 million in revenue from their 2011 Final Four appearance.  Yes, they must pay $250,000 exit fee to the CAA and a $700,000 entrance fee to the A-10. Yes, they're driving up annual travel costs about $150,000 by trading a regional league for one with farther-flung programs. But those expenditures eventually will be worthwhile as long as the Atlantic 10's soon-to-be-negotiated TV deal is lucrative and VCU thrives in its new league the way Rao believes it can.

"Sometimes you have to focus on what's in the longterm best interest of your university," Rao said. "One of the things you have to consider is ... how much faith do you have in your ability to win? My faith is very, very high. I believe we will win, and therefore we will be able to do well. The expected returns are far greater than the short-term losses."

VCU will begin competing in the Atlantic 10 in the 2012-13 school year, a decision made out of concern that the CAA would render the Rams ineligible to participate in conference tournaments during their lame-duck season.

What the Atlantic 10 provides VCU basketball that the CAA can't is a league formidable enough to annually earn three or four NCAA tournament bids per year. The CAA has been on an upswing since George Mason's 2006 Final Four run, yet it's only received four at-large bids since 2000 and its league champ, Drexel, missed the NCAA tournament last season despite a gaudy 16-2 conference record.

Graduating from the Louisville School of Dentistry wasn't the most exciting moment of Taraneh Momeni's weekend.

In fact, it was a distant second.

As Momeni walked across the stage after receiving her diploma, Louisville senior guard Kyle Kuric ran up to the podium under the guise that he wanted to snap some photos of his longtime girlfriend's big moment. Instead, Kuric grabbed the microphone and launched into a concise speech, telling the audience, "Sorry to interrupt, but me and her have been dating for about 2 1/2 years. I love her more than anything and I definitely want to be with her for the rest of my life."

With that Kuric, dropped to one knee, unveiled a ring and asked a wobbly-legged Momeni if she'd marry him. She said yes and they shared an embrace, much to the delight of the roaring crowd at the ceremony.

"Well, my entire family was going to be in town and obviously her entire family was going to be in town for this so, we wanted it to be a big family thing," Kuric told WHTV in Louisville. "She had no idea so that just added to it."

Branden Dawson limps off the court after tweaking a knee in the Carrier Classic (AP)When Michigan State's Branden Dawson slipped on the Quicken Loans sticker covering the jump ball circle and tweaked a knee in last year's Carrier Classic, both Tom Izzo and Roy Williams used the moment to rail against the treacherous decals.

Said Williams: "If we want to give somebody some publicity, put it on there on TV only and don't put the kids in danger of slipping and sliding."

Said Izzo: "I'll wear logos to support the people who sponsor us. They can paint me. But we have to get rid of the logos for the safety of the players."

It took longer than it should have, but it appears common sense may finally prevail. The men's and women's basketball rules committees announced Monday they've recommended requiring courts be of a consistent surface, meaning temporary decals would be outlawed by next season if the Playing Rules Oversight Panel approves the rule change next month.

"The safety of our student-athletes has to come before anything else," said St. Peter's coach John Dunne, the chair of the men's basketball rules committee. "We're seeing players slip on the non-consistent parts of the floor too many times."

"Sometimes it takes a high-profile event to make a rules change. But we don't want to sit back and wait for injuries to happen and then pass the rule."

North Carolina and Indiana are meeting for the first time since 2005 (AP)

ESPN announced the schedule for next season's Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Monday. Here's a look at each of the games ranked from 1 to 12.

1. North Carolina at Indiana (Nov. 27): The crown jewel of next year's slate pits a pair of blue bloods who haven't faced each-other since 2005. It's a shame it comes one year late for Tyler and Cody Zeller to face one-another, but this will still be a chance to gauge how viable a title contender North Carolina will be despite the loss of four likely first-round draft picks.

2. NC State at Michigan (Nov. 27): What better opportunity for these two preseason top 10 teams to establish themselves as legitimate Final Four contenders than to play each other in November? Michigan blends a vaunted freshman class with returning stars Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. NC State returns the core of a surprise Sweet 16 team and adds top recruits Rodney Purvis, T.J. Warren and Tyler Lewis.

3. Ohio State at Duke (Nov. 28): The last time Ohio State met Duke, the Buckeyes stormed to an 11-0 lead and never wavered, winning 85-63 in Columbus last November. It probably won't be as lopsided this year with the Buckeyes traveling to Durham and losing Jared Sullinger to the NBA and William Buford to graduation.

4. Minnesota at Florida State (Nov. 27): With Trevor Mbakwe back for a sixth year and Rodney Williams, Austin Hollins and Julian Welch all returning as well, Minnesota may be primed to return to the NCAA tournament next March. Winning at Florida State would be an early confidence booster, but it won't be easy because the Seminoles' always-stingy interior defense will be tough to crack.

5. Michigan State at Miami (Nov. 28): Miami narrowly missed the NCAA tournament last March because it lacked enough quality wins. With guard Durand Scott and big men Reggie Johnson and Kenny Kadji all back for their senior years, the 'Canes will have an opportunity to land a big early win against a Michigan State team headlined by guard Keith Appling and big man Derrick Nix.

6. Virginia at Wisconsin (Nov. 28): What this one will surely lack in points it will make up for with an intriguing storyline. Tony Bennett, who played at Wisconsin Green Bay and began his coaching career under his father at Wisconsin, will return to the Kohl Center sidelines as head coach of Virginia.

Linda Mashia-Jones and her new car (via @TerrenceJones1)

When ex-Kentucky forward Terrence Jones' mom returned home to Portland on Sunday night after spending the day with her son in Los Angeles, she found a final Mother's Day surprise waiting for her.

Parked in front of Linda Mashia-Jones' house was a new Cadillac SRX Crossover with a giant red bow on it.

Jones tweeted a photo of the car while his mom was still en route to Portland, joking with his followers that none of them should call or text her to ruin the surprise. Apparently Mashia-Jones was quite pleased with her gift because her son later tweeted a photo of her smiling next to the car.

"Loved hearing how happy she was," Jones wrote. "Can't wait to watch the video."

Cynics have already questioned where Jones got the money to purchase a car valued at between $36,000 and $55,000, but there's a relatively obvious explanation. Jones reportedly signed with Arn Tellem of the Wasserman Media Group last week. And agents typically give future lottery picks a hefty advance that the players then pay back once they sign their rookie contracts after the draft.

Regardless, for once, let's just celebrate a generous act rather than scrutinizing it. Many players say they're going to use their first paycheck to buy something nice for a family member who raised them. Jones actually followed through with it.

PLAY night club bouncer Brian McLucas (Photo via Fox19 in Cincinnati)A bouncer's swollen right eye may result in another black eye for Cincinnati basketball program.

Brian McLucas, a bouncer at PLAY nightclub in Cincinnati, filed a police report Sunday claiming several Bearcats punched and kicked him when he tried to remove them from a VIP table the previous night. McLucas told Fox19 in Cincinnati that he asked the players to leave because they were drinking liquor that didn't belong to them from another party's table, but they refused to cooperate.

"I said you guys need to calm down," McLucas told Fox19. "And whenever I did that I looked to the right of me and right as I looked to the right of me I seen the dude take three quick steps and punch me in the eye."

The incident at the night club comes a mere five months after Cincinnati took part in one of the worst brawls in recent college basketball history in the final seconds of a loss to rival Xavier last season. Four players from each team were suspended including Cincinnati's Yancy Gates, whose right hand to the face of an unsuspecting Kenny Frease bloodied the Xavier center.

It's important to note we've only heard one side of the story from Saturday night's incident and we don't know which Cincinnati players (if any) were involved, yet this isn't the sort of publicity the team needs if it turns out to be true.

Coach Mick Cronin and his players helped heal the wound from the brawl last winter with their exemplary behavior and on-court success. Backlash from an incident like this can only undermine some of that progress.

Anthony Bennett (Rivals)Once McDonald's All-American Anthony Bennett announced Saturday that he's headed to UNLV, it didn't take long for the Findlay Prep forward's future point guard to share his reaction to the news.

"Congrats to AB on joining the Rebel Family!!" UNLV's Anthony Marshall tweeted. "I'm excited. So many weapons around me for next year ... It's bout to get ugly!!!!"

Six exclamation points weren't overkill in this case because the addition of the class of 2012's top unsigned recruit raises the Rebels' stock considerably entering next season.

Bennett can overpower smaller defenders in the paint with his strength and explosiveness. He can drain an open 3-pointer if left open on the perimeter. And his rebounding prowess will help UNLV address its deficiencies on the glass.

Add Bennett to the influx of talent joining a UNLV team that won 26 games last season, and it's easy to see why preseason expectations for the Rebels may be higher than any year since the Jerry Tarkanian era. UNLV's blend of talent, depth and experience merits a spot in the preseason top 15 — maybe higher — and its frontcourt may be as deep and versatile as any in the nation.

Junior-to-be Mike Moser will have an opportunity to play more minutes at small forward next year after averaging 14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds last season as a power forward. Bennett will probably fill the hole at power forward, though he too can play both forward positions. And Pittsburgh transfer Khem Birch will likely usurp Carlos Lopez as the starting center once he becomes eligible in mid-December, giving the Rebels an intimidating shot blocker and another formidable rebounder.