UConn will not participate in the 2012-13 postseason (Getty Images)

Inadequate classroom performance will keep one of college basketball's heavyweights from participating in the NCAA tournament next season.

As expected UConn was among the 10 men's college basketball teams banned from next year's postseason on Wednesday as a result of four-year Academic Progress Rate scores that fell below a 900. The Huskies scored 909, 844 and 826 during a three-year period from 2007-10 as a result of a flurry of players transferring or leaving early for the NBA without being in good academic standing.

The nine other men's basketball programs ineligible for the postseason next year are all lightweights compared to UConn. They are Cal State Bakersfield, Jacksonville State, Mississippi Valley State, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Towson, Arkansas Pine Bluff, UC Riverside, UNC-Wilmington and Toledo.

The APR, now in its ninth year, measures eligibility and retention, rewarding programs for keeping players in school and on track to graduate. The premise is well-intentioned yet flawed since it doesn't do a sufficient job taking into account players who turn pro and often penalizes coaches or kids who weren't around during the academic issues that took place years earlier.

In the case of UConn, however, this appears to be an example of the APR making a positive impact.

As detailed here thoroughly by The UConn Blog, Connecticut suffered during a three-year period from transfers and early defections but also did a poor job adjusting to the new rules and making sure players were passing classes. In the past two years, the Huskies have corrected that problem and placed a greater emphasis on academic compliance but it was too late to avoid scholarship reduction penalties and ultimately a postseason ban.

What has to be frustrating for UConn is the penalties are taking effect after the Huskies appear to have solved the problem. It's not Ryan Boatright, Shabazz Napier or DeAndre Daniels who are at fault here, yet they will not play in the Big East tournament or in the NCAA tournament next season because of their predecessors.

A rendering of Maryland's new basketball uniforms (via Testudo Times)

One year after Maryland's football program made a splash nationally with its controversial jerseys modeled after the state flag, it appears the Terrapins basketball program is ready to follow suit.

Second-year Maryland coach Mark Turgeon confirmed in an interview with WNST-Radio in Baltimore last week that the basketball team would be unveiling a "Pride" jersey similar to the football ones next season. And now, via Testudo Times, a preliminary rendering of the new basketball jerseys has surfaced.

Maryland spokesman Doug Dull confirmed via email that the designs circulating on Wednesday are "draft renderings" of the jerseys, but he also emphasized they're not the finished product.

"Maryland Athletics and Under Armour will make sure our fans know when we launch Pride for Maryland Basketball," he wrote.

What's most striking about these jerseys are they're a bit less gaudy than their football counterparts. Under Armour made the color scheme, patterns and numerals in the same style, yet something about the the look is more subtle without athletic arm sleeves and a two-tone football helmet.

When Maryland's football team unveiled its state flag jerseys on national TV against Miami last September in College Park, part of the reason for the backlash was the shock value of seeing them for the first time.

Expect a far more muted response whenever the basketball team pulls these out of the closet.

Fab Melo (Getty Images)

Fab Melo finally spoke publicly Tuesday about the suspension that kept him from playing in the NCAA tournament last March, but the former Syracuse center's responses probably didn't win over any of his critics.

He didn't detail what he failed to accomplish in the classroom that led to Syracuse declaring him ineligible. He didn't shoulder any blame for not putting forth maximum effort in his studies. And he didn't apologize for letting down his teammates and Syracuse fans.

Asked by the The Associated Press after a workout with the Indiana Pacers what led to his suspension, Melo only confirmed it was "academic" in nature. He said NBA executives are "comfortable" with that explanation, no surprise considering pro teams are more worried about his ability to pass a basketball than a math class.

''They ask, I explain (what) happened — that I came from another country and until four years ago didn't even speak English," Melo said.

"It was very difficult not to be able to play. But that's something I couldn't do anything about."

The suspension of Melo just two days before Syracuse's opening-round NCAA tournament game against UNC-Asheville diminished the top-seeded Orange's chances of making the Final Four for the first time since 2003. They missed Melo's defensive presence in the middle of their trademark two-three zone, falling to Ohio State in the Elite Eight without the Big East defensive player of the year. 

Old Dominion will be ineligible for the 2012-13 CAA tournament

It shouldn't be difficult for players at Old Dominion and Georgia State to figure out who's to blame next March when they're sitting on their couches during championship week rather than participating in a conference tournament.

Point the finger at the administrators at their respective schools.

Both schools knew one of the consequences of leaving the Colonial Athletic Association was their exclusion from the 2013 conference tournament, which determines the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nonetheless, both decided to bolt anyway, banking on the CAA to show leniency and grant them a reprieve from the longstanding by-law prohibiting departing members from participating in league tournaments.

The CAA instead stood its ground, announcing Tuesday that it has denied formal requests from ODU and Georgia State to remain eligible to compete in conference championships during the 2012-13 season. As a result, neither of them can make the NCAA tournament next season unless they earn an at-large bid.

"The conferences Bylaws were well understood and evaluated when the institutions made their decision to withdraw from the conference," CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said in a statement. "While we respect an institution's decision to withdraw, it is not without consequences that the institution must accept."

There's no question the CAA could have eliminated a petty rule that denies athletes the right to compete for a championship, but every school knew the league was unlikely to do that. The league acted in the interest of its remaining members in 2001, applying the same rule to American University, East Carolina and Richmond following their withdrawal from the CAA. 

Billy Baron (AP)Trey Zeigler already received a waiver to play immediately at Pittsburgh next season after he transferred there when Central Michigan fired his father.

Now Billy Baron also hopes to take advantage of the precedent the NCAA has set.

Baron, Rhode Island's second leading scorer last season, announced Tuesday he will transfer in the wake of the school firing his father, Jim Baron, more than two months ago. The 6-foot-2 guard will have two years eligibility remaining at whichever school he chooses.

"We wish Billy the best as he continues his college basketball career," new Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley said in a release. "We think the world of him as a player and a person."

Baron's departure from Rhode Island is the latest episode in the sweet-shooting Rhode Island native's promising yet meandering college career. He transferred one semester into his freshman year at Virginia because he wanted to play for his dad only to see Jim Baron get fired this March after a woeful 7-24 season marked by the struggle to replace leading scorer Jamal Wilson.

In 20 games with Rhode Island last season, Baron averaged 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, though he struggled with his consistency from behind the arc. He originally pledged to stay at Rhode Island and play for Hurley, telling the Providence Journal "This is my home. This is where I want to be."

Mike Dunlap (Getty Images)Whereas Steve Lavin often drew criticism at UCLA for hiring assistants with skill sets and backgrounds too similar to his own, the third-year St. John's coach did not make the same mistake in his second gig.

Tony Chiles and Moe Hicks brought the strong ties to New York-area basketball that Lavin initially lacked. Rico Hines excelled as a skill developer yet was young enough to have an older brother relationship with players on the team. And Mike Dunlap served as Lavin's primary tactician and disciplinarian.

There's a void in that formidable staff now thanks to Dunlap's departure Monday night. Dunlap, who had long been searching for a college head coaching job, instead landed an NBA gig, taking over as new coach of the struggling Charlotte Bobcats.

"The Johnnies basketball family is ecstatic for Coach Dunlap's opportunity," Lavin said in a statement Monday night. "Mike's selection as the Charlotte Bobcats' head coach is a well-deserved honor. To make the unprecedented jump from college assistant to NBA head coach is testament to both Mike's abilities as a teacher and our basketball program's marked improvement over the past 27 months."

Filling Dunlap's seat with another stern strategist will be critical to Lavin's efforts to continue to build St. John's into an upper-echelon Big East program.

[Related: Bobcats hire St. John's assistant Mike Dunlap as head coach]

Dunlap built a reputation as one of the elite Xs-and-Os coaches in the nation as a head coach at two-time Division II national champion Metro State and as an assistant at Arizona, Oregon and with the Denver Nuggets. Then last season, he did a very credible job holding an undermanned St. John's team together while Lavin was recuperating from prostate cancer surgery.

Tony Chennault (Getty Images)For a program known for producing elite guards, Villanova appeared to be surprisingly threadbare in the backcourt entering the new season.

Leading scorers Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek both declared for the draft this spring, leaving James Bell as the only returning guard who scored more than five points per game for a team that went 13-19 last year.

Those dire circumstances make the immediate addition of point guard Tony Chennault critical to Villanova. Chennault, a Wake Forest transfer, learned Monday the NCAA will grant his hardship waiver request, enabling him to play right away at Villanova rather than sitting for the customary one year.

"The Chennault family has been dealing with so much this year," Villanova coach Jay Wright said in a release. "Tony's mom has faced health issues and his brother, Mike Jay, died tragically earlier this month. We are grateful that the NCAA has taken these unique circumstances into account and I know Tony is excited about the opportunity to be on the court with us next season."

In an offseason in which the NCAA has been unusually lenient granting hardship waivers, this one was clearly the proper decision. Chennault, a Philadelphia native, now can attend school and play major conference basketball all within a short drive of his family.

Chennault started at point guard for Wake Forest as a sophomore and averaged 9.2 points and 2.8 assists per game before transferring at the conclusion of the spring semester. He'll have two seasons of college eligibility remaining at Villanova, where he'll likely have a good chance to start right away.

Anthony Davis signed with Wasserman Media Group on Friday (Getty Images)

As soon as they finished chopping down the nets, posing for TV cameras and soaking up the atmosphere at the Superdome the night of April 2, members of Kentucky's newly crowned national title team sprinted up into the stands to celebrate with those closest to them.

Among the first to get a hug from many of the confetti-flecked Wildcats was a bald-headed man in a sharp suit leaning over the first row railing.

William Wesley (Getty Images)William Wesley, better known as Worldwide Wes, is a former sneaker salesman turned basketball power broker at the center of many of the conspiracy theories surrounding John Calipari's recruiting mastery. As the story goes, Wesley builds relationships with prospects while they're in high school, funnels them to Calipari and other college coaches he's close to, then reaps the benefit when they sign with the agency he works for once they turn pro.

The sight of Wesley celebrating courtside with the Kentucky players after the national title game lent credence to that narrative, but everything that has occurred since should make conspiracy theorists at least pause and think. Five of Kentucky's six draft hopefuls have signed with agencies other than Creative Arts Agency including future No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis, who on Friday chose Wasserman Media Group's Arn Tellem and Thad Foucher over Wesley's longtime friend at CAA, Leon Rose.

That outcome mirrors what happened Calipari's previous two years at Kentucky. Of the seven first-round picks Calipari produced in 2010 and 2011, only point guard Eric Bledsoe signed with Rose at CAA.

[Related: Y! Sports/DraftExpress 2012 NBA Mock Draft No. 2]

It's foolish to make any rash conclusions in the absence of concrete evidence, but that trend certainly raises some questions.