Steve Alford (Getty Images)

Once Steve Alford completed his opening monologue during his introductory press conference at UCLA nine days ago, it didn't take long for the topic of conversation to turn to the darkest chapter of his coaching career.

A reporter from the Orange County Register asked Alford about his vehement defense of Pierre Pierce in 2002 after the Iowa standout was accused of sexual assault. Alford came under fire for repeatedly declaring his player innocent, especially after Pierce pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and later was thrown off the Iowa team after another incident involving a woman.

Had Alford responded with tact and humility by noting his instinct was to defend his players but he made a mistake in that instance that he has since learned from, he could have quickly diffused the situation and put it behind him again. Instead he kept it in the news cycle with a defiant response in which he seemed to reject the notion that he made it more difficult for Pierce's accuser.

[Also: NBA-bound Michael Carter-Williams: I can go No. 1 overall]

"All I can tell you with that situation is that I followed everything that the University of Iowa administration, the lawyers that were hired – I did everything I was supposed to do at the University of Iowa in that situation," Alford said. "I followed everything I was told to do."

The result of Alford's response has been that coverage of the first nine days of his tenure has focused as much on an incident from 11 years ago as it has on his efforts to rejuvenate the UCLA program.

A Chicago writer penned a column about the coach's comments under the headline "Alford already lying at UCLA." A reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen revealed that his niece felt threatened by Pierce during a 2002 run-in but both Alford and other school officials ignored the complaint he filed. And UCLA fans, some of whom were already skeptical of the Alford hire, used the controversy to further question if he was the appropriate choice to replace Ben Howland.

Nik Stauskas and Russ Smith (Getty Images)

The Dagger continues its season-in-review series this week with a look back at the best games of the 2012-13 college basketball season. Let us know which ones we missed via Twitter or in the comments below.

1. Louisville captures national title

Why it was memorable: Very few national championship games turn out to be must-see, but this one was scintillating from start to finish. Little-known freshman Spike Albrecht came off the bench to torch Louisville for 17 first-half points. Fellow reserve Luke Hancock brought the Cardinals back from a 12-point deficit with four 3-pointers in a two-minute stretch. And despite Trey Burke's heroics to keep Michigan competitive in the second half, the trio of Peyton Siva, Gorgui Dieng and Chane Behanan each made enough big plays to help Louisville pull away for an 82-76 victory.

2. Notre Dame outlasts Louisville in 5OTs

Why it was memorable: A mundane Big East battle that appeared destined to be forgotten suddenly became captivating when Notre Dame's Jerian Grant scored 12 points in 31 seconds to rally the Irish from an eight-point deficit with less than a minute to go. One overtime turned to two, two turned to three ... and pretty soon the two teams were playing deep into the night. Nine players fouled out in Notre Dame's 104-101 five-overtime victory, and the hero of the game didn't play a minute in regulation. Garrick Sherman entered the game in the first overtime and hardly left the court thereafter, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds.

3. The birth of Dunk City

Why it was memorable: The reason Florida Gulf Coast's upset of Georgetown is so high on this list isn't because the Eagles became only the seventh No. 15 seed ever to topple a No. 2 seed. It was the way they did it that resonated. Bombing threes, throwing lobs and attacking in transition at every opportunity, FGCU extended a two-point halftime lead to as many as 19 points and never let the Hoyas any closer than four points down the stretch. The Eagles rode the momentum from their first upset to a victory over San Diego State in the next round, becoming the first No. 15 seed ever to reach a Sweet 16.

Russ Smith speaks to Louisville fans on Wednesday (Getty Images)When Russ Smith stepped to the podium to address the fans during Louisville's victory party on Wednesday evening, the near-capacity crowd at the Yum! Center greeted the junior guard with chants of "one more year."

One day later, it appears there's still hope Cardinals fans may get their wish.

Even though Smith's father told reporters after the national title game Monday night that his son was definitely turning pro, coach Rick Pitino told Sports Radio 790 in Louisville on Thursday morning that the all-conference guard is wavering. Pitino had Smith request feedback from NBA vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson and a few scouts to help make the decision easier.

[Also: Top recruits say they would beat Michael Jordan one-on-one in his prime]

"Russ, I think, is 50-50," Pitino said. "He's a very confused young man in terms of his decision right now. He didn't want his dad to say that about him coming out. He wanted time to think a bit. I talked to him yesterday and I said whatever decision you make, I want you to pray on it, but I'm behind it 100 percent.

"I give him fatherly advice. I'm not telling him to stay. I'm not telling him to leave. I give him facts of what it's all about."

It's easy to see why Smith would be torn about his future plans because there are pros and cons to whichever decision he makes.

Kentucky-bound Andrew Harrison (Getty Images)Maybe they're not old enough to remember how ridiculously good Michael Jordan was. Maybe they misunderstood the question. Maybe they were just joking around and it didn't come through in print.

Regardless, the answers some of the class 0f 2013's top high school prospects gave USA Today when asked how they'd fare in a game of one-on-one against Jordan in his prime are just plain bizarre.

Three of the eight players polled actually predicted they would defeat Jordan, though the comments by Duke-bound Matt Jones have enough false bravado to them that it appears he's kidding. There's no such obvious nuance to the quotes attributed to Kentucky-bound recruits Dakari Johnson and Andrew Harrison.

Said Johnson: "I’m taking him to the post every time. He’d stop me a couple of times, but I’d just keep going back down there. I’d just contest his jump shots and pray that he’d miss. I think in the end, I’d get him though. I’m too big down there."

Said Harrison: "I think he’d get a couple buckets here and there, but then I’d start to lock him down and give him buckets. Yeah, I think I’d get him."

A couple buckets here and there?! Seriously?!

Phil Pressey (Getty Images)

If the goal for most NBA prospects is to enter the draft when their stock is highest, then Phil Pressey missed the mark a bit.

The Missouri point guard announced Wednesday that he's forgoing his senior season and turning pro even though he was much more consistent as a sophomore than he was as a junior.

In leading Missouri to a Big 12 tournament title and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament during the 2011-12 season, Pressey showcased an ability to blow by his defender, get in the lane and finish himself or create for his teammates. The pass-first point guard averaged 10.3 points per game and boasted an excellent assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 3-to-1.

[Also: Top recruits say they would beat Michael Jordan one-on-one in his prime]

Pressey began his junior season as the SEC's preseason player of the year, but he could not duplicate the consistency he displayed as a sophomore. The dismissal of combo guard Michael Dixon early this season forced Pressey to initiate the offense in almost every late-clock situations, a season-long burden he did not appear ready to shoulder by himself.

Though he increased his scoring average to 11.9 points per game, his shooting percentage dropped from 42.9 as a sophomore to 37.6 as a junior and his jump shot remained erratic at best. A constant problem for Missouri was Pressey's exasperating decision-making down the stretch in close games, whether it was taking ill-advised shots early in the clock or trying to thread passes to teammates through traffic.

Pressey still has enough quickness and court vision to at least intrigue NBA scouts, but at this point he is projected to be just a mid-to-late second-round pick. A point guard who's generously listed at 5-11 and and hasn't shown the ability to hit outside shots consistently needs to be more polished than Pressey was this past season in other facets of his game to have much chance of being a first-round pick.

The Dagger begins its season-in-review series this week with a look back at the best dunks of the 2012-13 college basketball season. Let us know which ones we missed via Twitter or in the comments below.

1. Jamaal Franklin's alley-oop to himself at Fresno State

Comment: A very small percentage of college basketball players could pull off the dunk San Diego State's Jamaal Franklin unleashed in January against Fresno State. An even smaller percentage would dare to attempt it — in the second half of a close game, no less.

Louisville celebrates its Final Four win over Cal (Getty Images)

The only time the same school captured national titles in men's and women's hoops in one season, UConn accomplished that feat in 2004 behind the brilliance of Emeka Okafor and Diana Taurasi.

Louisville is hoping to match that Tuesday night, at the expense of the Huskies no less.

One night after the Louisville men survived Michigan's upset bid and cut down the nets at the Georgia Dome, the Cardinal women will try to topple mighty UConn in the women's title game and bring another trophy to the Derby City. Should the Cardinals do it, it would only be the latest moment of athletic glory for Louisville in a 2012-13 school year that also included the football team winning 11 games and stunning heavily favored Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

"We're all huge supporters of each other," Louisville women's basketball coach Jeff Walz said. "Our athletic director came to me [Sunday] and said, hey, the men's team was in the hotel lobby jumping up and down and cheering for us. I've gotten a text from Rick already congratulating us and telling me to tell the players what an unbelievable job they did. And it's special. I'm very fortunate, very fortunate to have a men's coach, as high profile as he is, to really genuinely care about the women's program. It speaks volumes for him, speaks volumes for his program."

[Related: Pitino family fights through strife to share championship moment]

Whereas the Louisville men brought back the core of last year's Final Four team and began the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, Walz's team is as a rare underdog story in women's basketball. The Cardinals are only the second No. 5 seed to make the women's Final Four and first team seeded fifth or higher to win a national semifinal, accomplishments made all the more remarkable by the fact their draw was anything but favorable.

Louisville's 2013-14 title hopes took a hit when Russ Smith announced he's turning pro. (Getty Images)

All the confetti on the floor at the Georgia Dome hadn't even been picked up yet Monday night when speculation about next year's college basketball season began.

Will Kentucky go from the NIT to preseason No. 1? Can Louisville defend its title? How good can Arizona and Marquette be?

It's too early to answer most of those questions since some top recruits haven't chosen a school, transfer season is only beginning and we don't know which NBA draft prospects are staying in school and which will leave. Nonetheless, based on my best guesses for who's staying and who's going, here's a look at a very early top 10 for the 2013-14 season, along with 15 others worth watching.

1. KENTUCKY
Key losses: G Julius Mays (graduating), G Ryan Harrow (transferring), C Nerlens Noel (projected to enter NBA draft), G Archie Goodwin (entering NBA draft)
Key returners: F Alex Poythress, C Willie Cauley-Stein, F Kyle Wiltjer
Notable newcomers: F Julius Randle, G Andrew Harrison, G Aaron Harrison, F James Young, C Dakari Johnson, F Marcus Lee
Why they're too high: If the 2011-12 Wildcats proved it was possible to win a championship with a freshman-heavy roster, then the 2012-13 version also showed talent won't translate into victories if the chemistry, work ethic and willingness to sacrifice isn't also there. Next season's Kentucky team has all the talent needed to contend for a championship, but they'll have to jell in a way this season's team never did.
Why they're too low: Well, Kentucky can't start the season any higher than preseason No. 1, but its roster can get deeper and better if No. 1 overall recruit Andrew Wiggins selects the Wildcats over Florida State, Kansas and North Carolina. That would give the Wildcats the No. 1 player at every position in the Class of 2013 to go with a couple other key recruits and three talented returners.