Ben Howland addresses his team at baggage claim at LAX on Wednesday night (via UCLA athletics)

At the end of a week-long trip to China that featured as much sight-seeing as basketball, UCLA players returned to Los Angeles Wednesday night satisfied with what they gained.

UCLA players did some shopping between flights (via UCLA athletics)They saw the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and other famous Chinese landmarks. They garnered a new appreciation for Chinese food and culture. And got a jumpstart on what will be a pivotal season for a program that has missed the NCAA tournament two of the past three years.

Even though top recruit Shabazz Muhammad remained in Los Angeles as a result of an NCAA investigation into his eligibility, fellow freshmen Kyle Anderson, Tony Parker and Jordan Adams were able to bond with the returning players. Anderson and Adams also made an impact on the court, the former posting double-doubles in two of UCLA's three games and the latter shaking off a poor shooting night in the first game to average 19 points per game in the final two.

It's difficult to gain very much insight about a team from three August exhibition games against sometimes suspect competition, but the preliminary results were a bit more mixed among the veterans.

Center Joshua Smith overwhelmed opposing big men with his size, but he doesn't appear much closer to being in good shape than he did last season. Point guard Larry Drew III had a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio for the trip, but the North Carolina transfer made minimal impact as a scorer. And while ultra-athletic sophomore Norman Powell showed flashes of promise and junior wing Tyler Lamb was solid, neither demonstrated they're ready for a breakout season yet either.

All in all, though, the Bruins left China satisfied with the progress they made on the court and thrilled with their experience off of it. Powell provides the final UCLA in China diary entry with his summary of the trip.

UNO's athletic facilities sustained only minimal damage as a result of Hurricane Isaac (US Presswire)

When University of New Orleans basketball coach Mark Slessinger informed his players they needed to evacuate the city Monday before Hurricane Isaac hit land the next night, he did it with trademark optimism.

Mark Slessinger (US Presswire)"I told them we live in the greatest city in America," Slessinger recalled late Wednesday night. "You can't have paradise 52 weeks out of the year. You have to have a little bit of inconvenience."

Thankfully for a UNO athletic department still trying to find firm footing seven years after Katrina, Hurricane Isaac indeed turned out to be more of a minor hassle than a crippling setback.

UNO's Lakefront Arena, so battered after Katrina that it closed for nearly three years, weathered Isaac with no water damage. The athletic department building that houses the student-athlete computer lab also seems fine. In fact, aside from a wind-ravaged scoreboard at the school's baseball field and a few downed fences at the baseball field and tennis center, none of UNO's athletic facilities appear to be any worse for wear.

"We were really blessed we didn't have any major problems," Slessinger said. "We had some wind damage, but everything was dry. That was the biggest thing."

The lack of damage was a huge relief for UNO athletic officials because the school has yet to fully recover from the financial strain Katrina caused.

Of all the walk-ons who will play Division I basketball next season, none is more likely to become an instant campus cult hero than the 6-10 yarmulke-wearing freshman Northwestern just added to its roster.

Aaron Liberman attended an 86-student Jewish high school near Los Angeles with no basketball gym on campus. He passed up interest from USC, Boston College and several mid-majors to be part of the Northwestern program. And his highlight videos feature so many dunks and blocked shots against small-school opposition that one website christened him the "Jewish Dwight Howard."

"If he has a good career there, you could see all the student section wearing yarmulkes to the game," chuckled Robert Icart, who coached Liberman as a senior at Valley Torah High School in Valley Village, Calif. "Can you imagine? That would be an amazing opportunity for him to impact the basketball community."

It's unlikely the 220-pound Liberman will have immediate success against brawny Big Ten forwards, but he still is an intriguing, risk-free addition for coach Bill Carmody.

Northwestern is revamping its frontcourt with a handful of raw but talented recruits who should someday help the Wildcats improve their notoriously poor interior defense and rebounding. And while Liberman may not see playing time initially, his skill level and work ethic give him a chance to carve out a niche if he can continue to add muscle.

Dez Wells (Getty Images)

Once a grand jury decided Tuesday there was insufficient evidence to indict Dez Wells on charges of sexual assault, the former Xavier standout received support from a highly unlikely source.

Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters urged the university to "revisit" its decision to expel Wells for what Xavier deemed last week "a serious violation of the Code of Student Conduct." He also told WLW-AM 700 in Cincinnati that it was "fundamentally unfair" that Xavier expelled Wells August 3 and denied his appeal August 14 without allowing the legal process to first play out.

A defense attorney standing up for a client wouldn't raise any eyebrows, but it's certainly more unusual for a prosecutor to take such a stance. As a result, it has raised questions as to whether Xavier officials may have overreacted in expelling Wells in an effort to protect the image of a basketball program still recovering from the brawl with crosstown rival Cincinnati last December.

Xavier defended itself Tuesday with a statement noting it cannot cede matters of student conduct to the criminal justice system and it must instead rely on the "preponderance of evidence" standard. As if that wording alone didn't make it clear won't be back at Xavier, the statement also reiterated the expulsion is "final."

Wells' expulsion has inspired emotional responses from the Xavier fan base.

Some have praised Xavier for taking a zero-tolerance attitude in incidents of this nature and for valuing ethics above basketball success. Others are outraged administrators would expel the Musketeers' top returning player when prosecutors couldn't even gather enough evidence to press charges, let alone get a conviction.

Ben Howland chats with Yao Ming (left) and Kyle Anderson dishes to a teammate (right) (via UCLA athletics)

To begin their final full day in China before returning home to Los Angeles on Wednesday, UCLA players toured Shanghai's World Financial Center, the third-tallest building in the world.

The view from the 100th floor observation deck was surely breathtaking, but it wasn't as beautiful a sight to the Bruins as the scoreboard later Tuesday night after their third and final exhibition matchup.

UCLA defeated the host Shanghai Sharks 92-63, capping a trip in which the Bruins won their three games by an average of more than 39 points. Granted the Sharks were without stars Liu Wei or Max Zheng and did not have the two American players the Chinese Basketball Association allows teams to carry on their roster, but this was still a good result for the Bruins against the strongest opponent on the trip.

Versatile freshman Kyle Anderson scored 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists, a performance sure to whet fans' appetites for what's to come in the regular season. Travis Wear had 26 points and eight rebounds, Jordan Adams had 18 points and Tyler Lamb had 15 points and six steals, helping UCLA close the game on a 19-2 run after the Sharks briefly pulled to within 10.

After the final buzzer sounded, UCLA was able to take a few pictures with former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, the co-owner of the Sharks who was seated courtside for the game. In Tuesday's UCLA in China diary entry, Anderson and Lamb both discussed their own performances, how the team responded to better competition and what the Bruins gained from the trip as a whole.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson share a laugh at the 2009 Final Four (Getty Images)

It's no accident the bronze Larry Bird statue Indiana State is erecting outside its basketball arena will be 15-feet tall.

Bill Wolfe (via Bill-Wolfe.com)Sculptor Bill Wolfe chose that height to make sure Bird's statue towers over the 12-foot one of longtime rival Magic Johnson that has stood outside the Breslin Center at Michigan State for the past nine years.

"Knowing the competition they've had over the years, I'm making Larry bigger," Wolfe said with a chuckle. "I figured Larry would appreciate that."

An arms race among sculptors is an amusing yet fitting next step in an iconic basketball rivalry that began in 1979 when Johnson led Michigan State to a victory over Bird's Indiana State team in the national title game. Johnson and Bird subsequently dueled for championships many times in the NBA as members of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics before forging a friendship in retirement.

It's special for Wolfe to be able to honor Bird with a statue because he lived near Indiana State at the height of Bird's popularity in college and has a studio in Terre Haute today. Wolfe has promoted the idea of building a statue for the past eight years, but Indiana State didn't get the funding it needed to do it until recently.

"It's something that's long overdue for Larry," Wolfe said. "He brought national attention to the basketball program and the university itself. I think it will be a nice thing to do for Larry and it will benefit the university too."

Matt Roth (AP)Indiana coach Tom Crean received plenty of criticism Monday over his decision to yank reserve guard Matt Roth's scholarship even though the fifth-year senior still had one year of basketball eligibility remaining.

Rival fans cited it as an example of poor ethics. Reporters questioned if it was fair. Even diehard Indiana supporters were a bit squeamish about it.

Really the only person who apparently didn't understand what all the fuss was about was the player Crean supposedly had slighted.

In an interview with Peegs.com on Monday night, Roth insisted he had no problem with losing his spot on the team so Crean could make room for every member of Indiana's decorated freshman class under the 13 scholarship limit. Furthermore, Roth said Crean had been honest and upfront with him about the unlikelihood of a scholarship being available, refuting stories that suggested the backup guard had been strung along or kept in the dark.

"Coach Crean and the whole coaching staff did a great job of keeping me in the loop, helping me as a person, not just as an athlete," Roth told Peegs.com.

"Obviously, the scholarship situation didn't work out in my favor. Prior to the end of the school year and our meetings, they were very positive. They wanted me to keep building my game and train, even if it was on my own. At the same time, they wanted to help me in any way possible, whether that was play somewhere else or play overseas in a certain league here or there. They did make those options available and offered a lot of support."

Que Johnson (Rivals.com)Washington State's quest to find perimeter scorers to complement all-league forward Brock Motum became a little more challenging Monday.

The Cougars announced that their top freshman, Demarquise "Que" Johnson, has been ruled a partial qualifier and cannot play next season. Johnson, Rivals.com's No. 85 recruit in the class of 2012, will continue to take classes at Washington State in hopes of playing for the Cougars at the start of the 2013-14 season.

Anticipation for Johnson's debut has been high at Washington State since he chose the Cougars over Washington, UNLV and Gonzaga last year. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard played last season at Westwind Prep in Arizona, showcasing an ability to shoot from the perimeter or get to the rim.

[More hoops: There's a new No. 1 in the Rivals150 hoops rankings | The list]

The absence of Johnson next season increases the pressure on the rest of the Washington State backcourt. Senior point guard Reggie Moore is the most accomplished and experienced member of the backcourt, but the wings are all question marks

Combo guard DaVonte Lacy showed promise as a freshman but must improve his ball handling and erratic outside shooting. Oft-injured Mike Ladd scored and rebounded well during the Cougars' Australia trip earlier this month, but he must stay healthy. And Kansas transfer Royce Woolridge must tap into some of the potential that piqued the Jayhawks' interest a couple years ago.

The good news for Washington State is that Motum showed signs he's capable of building on his breakout season a year ago when he scored at least 21 points in all five games in Australia this month. The bad news is it won't matter if the Cougars don't get him enough help, and Johnson could have been a big part of that.