Tommy Brenton hopes to lead Stony Brook to its first-ever NCAA bid (US Presswire)

As Stony Brook basketball standout Tommy Brenton watched his school's baseball team make a stunning run to the College World Series last June, the senior forward experienced a wide range of emotions.

Pride that friends of his were gracing SportsCenter and the back pages of the New York tabloids. Motivation to reach his first NCAA tournament next March and perhaps make a similar run. And yes, even a hint of envy that it was the baseball team and not the basketball program tasting postseason glory.

"What they did is what we want to do," Brenton said. "So there was a little bit of jealousy involved, but overall I was really proud of them and happy for them. Seeing them make the run they did, it's inspiring to know that we could do the same thing."

To capture the nation's attention, Stony Brook basketball will first have to make the NCAA tournament, a goal that has proven elusive since the Seawolves transitioned to Division I in 1999. Twice in the past two seasons Stony Brook has been one win away from the NCAA tournament only to fall in the title game of the America East tournament, last year as the No. 1 seed playing on its home floor.

In an America East conference severely weakened by transfers, Stony Brook appears capable of winning the league again this season and making another run at an NCAA bid. The graduation of guard Bryan Dougher and forward Dallis Joyner deprives the Seawolves of their leading scorer and one of their top rebounders from last season, but enough talent returns that anything short of an NCAA bid would be a disappointment to Brenton and his teammates.

"We definitely talk about what it would be like — the hotels, the pregame and the atmosphere in that arena," Brenton said. "I've had a good career but to make it a great career, I have to get to the NCAA tournament. NITs are great, but there's nothing like an NCAA tournament."

Jake O'Brien, Four McGlynn and Gerardo Suero are three key players who left the America East (AP)

Yahoo! Sports is breaking down each league for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 31 to No. 1. Here's a look at our No. 29 league, the America East.

In a college basketball offseason that featured more transfers than ever before, no conference lost more talent than the America East.

Four McGlynn, rookie of the year in the league at Vermont last season, left for Towson University to play in a more high-profile league. Jake O'Brien, Boston University's all-league big man, bolted for Temple once the Terriers learned they would be ineligible for postseason play. Albany lost two of its top three players within days of one-another when first team all-league guard Gerardo Suero left early to pursue a pro career and backcourt mate Logan Aronhalt transferred to Maryland. And already-woeful Binghamton got even worse when three of its top five scorers last season left in April.

As a result of that talent drain, the America East appears headed for a down season even by the standards of a league that finished 28th and 29th in the RPI the past two seasons. Every team has holes to fill, including those unaffected by the transfer epidemic.

Defending regular season champ Stony Brook graduated three of its top four scorers and conference tournament winner Vermont lost its two top scorers, but the Seawolves and Catamounts may be the class of the league again anyway.

For Stony Brook to finally make the NCAA tournament after falling in the America East title game three straight years, do-it-all forward Tommy Brenton must look more for his own shot, speedy point guard Dave Coley needs to make better decisions with the ball in his hands and a talented freshman class has to contribute immediately. For Vermont to topple the Seawolves, the Catamounts need underclassmen who played complementary roles last season to shoulder a greater load this season.

Roy Williams (Getty Images)Six days after Roy Williams underwent surgery to have a tumor removed from his right kidney, the North Carolina coach received some good news.

An analysis of the tumor by doctors showed it was benign and will not spread.

Williams will undergo a biopsy next week on the tumor on his left kidney. Assuming that tumor is also benign, doctors believe he will not require a second surgery and will be able to return to everyday team activities soon.

"I want to express how overwhelmed I have been by the outpouring of support, concern and good wishes by everyone, especially members of the Carolina Basketball family," Williams said in a statement Tuesday. "I've just been blown away by the calls, cards, prayers and well-wishes from people all around the world in and out of the basketball community. My family and I are thankful to all that have expressed your concerns.

"I also want thank the entire medical team and staff at UNC Health Care.  The treatment and care were exceptional. My family and I also deeply appreciate the support shown to us."

Williams reportedly hasn't been cleared to travel yet, but he has been in the basketball office to visit with players and staff. Doctors said last week they expect Williams to not only be on the bench for North Carolina's season opener but also "to coach this season and for years come."

Kuran Iverson (photo via Rivals.com)The most significant aspect of Kuran Iverson's decision to attend Memphis on Tuesday isn't that he's the Tigers' fourth elite commitment for the class of 2013 or even that he's former NBA all-star Allen Iverson's cousin.

What matters most is where he's from.

Iverson is a native of Hartford, Conn., not exactly a traditional recruiting hotbed for a program like Memphis. Now that the Tigers are a year away from making their Big East debut, however, it has enabled coach Josh Pastner to recruit the Northeast in a way he couldn't before.

Landing Iverson is a coup for Memphis even though his game hardly resembles his famous cousin's.

Iverson is a gifted 6-foot-8 forward who creates matchup problems for opponents with his ability to handle the ball on the perimeter and make plays for his teammates. He has yo-yoed up and down recruiting rankings, starting as a top 10 prospect because of his talent, plummeting when analysts questioned his effort and attitude and now rising again back to No. 24 in the Rivals 150 after an improved performance this past summer.

Memphis out-dueled the likes of Florida and Connecticut to land Iverson, who will spend his final year of high school at Fishburne Military Academy (Va.). Iverson joins three other top 100 prospects in the Tigers' Class of 2013: Nick King (No. 37), Markel Crawford (No. 50) and Rashawn Powell (No. 98).

Kyle O'Quinn and Brandon Wheeless celebrate Norfolk State's win over Missouri (Getty Images)

Before his team's stunning 86-84 upset of second-seeded Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last March, Norfolk State coach Anthony Evans often received puzzled stares from recruits he approached for the first time.

"Quite often we'd be asked if we were Division I or Division II," Evans recalled. "I think people know who we are now."

Indeed, Norfolk State no longer is such an unfamiliar name in basketball circles since it became one of only six No. 15 seeds to win an NCAA tournament game. Between SportsCenter highlights, TV and radio appearances and coverage in newspapers across the nation, the Spartans received such a rush of publicity after that victory that numerous facets of the university have benefited.

Undergraduate applications to Norfolk State have spiked. Donations from alumni and attendance at athletic pep rallies and home football games have too. And Evans received a longterm contract extension, an invite to the ESPYs and a greater appreciation for how life-changing one victory can be.

When Evans was in New Orleans last April for the Final Four, everyone from fellow coaches, to administrators to everyday basketball fans approached him to offer congratulations on the landmark upset. Athletic director Marty Miller experienced the same phenomenon traveling throughout the country this summer.

"If someone saw me with my Norfolk State apparel on at a hotel, they'd come up to me and say they saw that game," Miller said. "That's when it started hitting me the tremendous impact it had not just for our fans but for people throughout the country. I even had people in the military say they watched that game. So evidently, not only was it locally or nationally, it was internationally."

Deric Rudolph and Savannah State hope to repeat as MEAC champs (AP)

Yahoo! Sports is breaking down each league for the upcoming college basketball season working backward from No. 31 to No. 1. Here's a look at our No. 30 league, the MEAC.

Norfolk State's stunning win over Missouri in the NCAA tournament was so memorable that it's easy to forget the Spartans didn't win last year's regular season MEAC crown.
The team that edged them was Savannah State.

A Tigers team that went 0-28 the year before Horace Broadnax took over as coach in 2005 and 2-28 in his first season on the job won 21 games last season and went 14-2 in the MEAC. Falling to Hampton in the MEAC quarterfinals prevented Savannah State from making its first NCAA tournament appearance, but the Tigers will have a great chance to avenge that loss this March.

All five starters return for Savannah State this season including three of the MEAC's best players: forward Rashad Hassan and guards Preston Blackman and Deric Rudolph. Hassan is a skilled interior scorer, Blackman is the league's most efficient playmaker and Rudolph is a dangerous outside shooter.

Savannah State enters the season as a clear favorite to repeat as MEAC champs, but the teams with the best chance to unseat the Tigers are some of the same ones that finished near the top of the standings last year.

Delaware State, which returns four starters from a team that went 12-4 in league play last season, will again contend if it can successfully replace point guard Jay Threatt, the conference's leader in assists. Norfolk State will turn to guard Pendarvis Williams as its go-to scorer after the graduation of center Kyle O'Quinn. And North Carolina Central has the talent to be dangerous if its returners can collectively replace Dominique Sutton's scoring and rebounding.

Reggie Moore and Ken Bone (Getty Images)Whatever chance Washington State had of contending for a postseason berth next season has all but vanished in the past month.

First came the August 27 announcement that top freshman, Demarquise "Que" Johnson, has been ruled a partial qualifier and will not play next season. Then came Monday's news that senior point guard Reggie Moore has been dismissed from the program for an undisclosed team rules violation.

The result is a threadbare backcourt incapable of providing all-conference big man Brock Motum the support he needs to turn Washington State into a winner next season.

The top perimeter players for the Cougars next season are probably senior Mike Ladd, sophomore DaVonte Lacy and Kansas transfer Royce Woolridge. Ladd defends capably, Lacy is a decent shooter and Woolridge was once highly recruited, but that's hardly a trio that will inspire fear in opposing defenses.

The absence of Johnson deprives Washington State of a promising 6-foot-5 scoring wing who chose the Cougars over Washington, UNLV and Gonzaga last year. The loss of Moore is even worse because he was the lone guard on the roster capable of creating for himself and his teammates off the dribble.

Even though Moore was a much better player his freshman year than as a sophomore or junior, he was more vital to next year's Washington State team than any player besides Motum. The Cougars' best hope of exceeding expectations was that he'd finally improve on his stats from freshman year when he averaged 12.7 points and 4.2 assists and shot a respectable percentage from the floor.

Arsalan Kazemi (US Presswire)Oregon had only three players taller than 6-foot-6 on its 2012-13 roster as recently as a month ago.

Now frontcourt depth could go from one of the Ducks' glaring weaknesses to one of their greatest strengths.

Two weeks after promising 6-foot-11 junior college transfer Waverly Austin transferred to Oregon after he couldn't get academically eligible at South Florida, the Ducks have also reportedly landed Rice transfer Arsalan Kazemi. The 6-foot-7 senior has been one of Conference USA's top interior players the past two years, averaging 15.2 points and 11 rebounds as a sophomore and 12.1 points and 10.3 rebounds last season.

Kazemi reportedly will petition for a waiver to play right away next season rather than sitting out the customary one year penalty. It seems like a long shot the NCAA would grant that waiver request unless there's compelling evidence not publicly available yet, but the possibility of having Kazemi next season certainly is intriguing for the Ducks.

Add Kazemi to next season's roster, and the Ducks could have a formidable frontcourt foursome featuring him and returning star E.J. Singler at power forward and Austin and former Wake Forest transfer Tony Woods at center. Singler would also be able to slide down to small forward at times, which is probably his more natural position.

Even if Kazemi can't get eligible this season, he and Austin would make a strong starting duo in 2013-14. Austin was rated as the fifth-best prospect among junior college players last season by JucoRecruiting.com after averaging 14.8 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots for Palm Beach State College.