Matt Norlander spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Alabama for the SEC's 2026 college basketball media days. He interviewed nearly 20 coaches and players — all of which you can watch on the Eye on College Basketball YouTube page. A few of those conversations are embedded below in this elongated notebook of takeaways, starting with the biggest talking point on the ground at the league's annual press event ...
MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. — The biggest story of 2026 SEC basketball media days was the school, and the coach, that never showed up.
"Dense fog" Tuesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, precluded LSU's men's and women's teams from taking off in a timely fashion — and led to a Tigers no-show. The school's private jet was, effectively, ineligible for takeoff. (This plot twist came under expected skepticism, but meteorologists in Louisiana were ready to provide viable evidence for the ground stop.) With an exhibition game awaiting Wednesday night for Will Wade's program, adjusting the interview schedule was evidently too difficult for LSU and the SEC to find a quick workaround, despite the approximate 25-minute flight from Baton Rouge to Birmingham.
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So, Wade no-showed and eventually hopped on a Zoom call with a handful of reporters as a make-good, then proceeded to get into a verbal clash with one of the reporters on said call, and ultimately left LSU's situation no more clear than it was heading into the week.
Oh, and there's still a contentious lawsuit between LSU and the SEC that looms over the conference, with expulsion of LSU from the league still simmering as an extremely unlikely backdrop threat. Nothing like a federal lawsuit to cozy up the vibes before the holiday season, right? Commissioner Greg Sankey spoke before assembled media on Wednesday and predictably sidestepped the questions he got about the litigation, about LSU, about what his conversations with Will Wade have been like.
"I'd like to not be in court, but as I said, those legal filings speaking for themselves," Sankey said from the dais when pressed on the matter.
Sankey later agreed to a sit-down with CBS Sports, but there was a condition: He would not, and could not, speak on the still-unresolved case. The lawyers have asked him to zip it, and he's happy to oblige.
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But I can offer a bit more, even without Sankey's assistance. We're less than three weeks away from LSU officially submitting its roster to the SEC for its Nov. 3 game against LSU New Orleans. It seems Wade wants to take suspense that right up until the deadline ... just like Lane Kiffin did before ultimately bowing to the SEC's rules about not rostering post-enrollment players who materially and definitively pursued a professional career before trying to double back for an additional year in college.
In talking to sources, and even judging by Wade's lack of action and his own choice of words on Tuesday and Wednesday, it's clear he wants to and is determined to somehow find a way to roster and play soon-to-be 24-year-old RJ Luis, who we last saw in college basketball with St. John's in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
"We're going to follow all the SEC protocols with him," Wade said Tuesday. "I think it's been pretty clear what the SEC protocols are on all that. He didn't travel with us to McNeese, and he hasn't been rostered."
But Wade has continually stopped short of saying Luis won't be on the Tigers' roster. There's a reason for that. Wade is still not ready to give up the fight. On Wednesday night, LSU skirted past UCF in an exhibition game. Six guys played. It was bizarre, but this is all Wade's doing. A few players who were on the game day roster — most notably 2025 NBA Draft pick Saliou Niang, whose eligibility is also under scrutiny — did not dress.
Wade has been outspoken and insistent for months behind the scenes in his optimism over getting most, if not all, of the controversial additions onto the floor for this season. But LSU's had two exhibitions and not a single player whose eligibility has been in dispute was allowed to step onto the floor and compete in LSU colors. If it was up to Wade, he'd have played them by now. His bosses are keeping him in check because that lawsuit threatens to create a terrible mess for LSU if Wade can't litigate his way to a competent roster.
The SEC has some of the most well-compensated lawyers in American sports for a reason. To this point, the league is winning its fight. Wade is still in search of his first victory in his return back to his old job on the Bayou.
Iowa loss spurred Gators' star to return — with a vow win it all again
I loved my sit-down on Wednesday morning with Florida's Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu. Haugh is a preseason First Team All-American who turned down being a likely top-20 pick in order to come back and be the highest-paid player in college basketball. Chinyelu was last year's Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Those two along with frontcourt mate Alex Condon comprise the best big-man trio in college basketball.
And they're all back to try and win a second national title in three years. Chinyelu not only believes it will happen, he essentially laid down a guarantee when I asked what Florida needed to do in order to capture a second national title in a three-season span.
Florida will win the national title if ______ ? "What 'if'? We're winning it." — Rueben Chinyelu. Gauntlet officially thrown 🐊 pic.twitter.com/1cAYuZWcRZ
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) October 14, 2026
I love this kind of straight-face confidence. Check out the full interview here.
I also caught up with Gators coach Todd Golden, who earned a sizable contract bump in the offseason that puts him near the top of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball. Golden said that had Florida gone on to make the Elite Eight or Final Four, he doesn't believe Haugh, Chinyelu and Condon all would have come back. Maybe none of them would have. But the upset against ninth-seeded Iowa in the second round left such a sour taste, it wound up catalyzing them all to stick around and run it back.
And now Golden's got one of the best rosters heading into a season of any team in the past 15 years. Unlike last season, when Florida got off to a 5-4 start, Golden knows this group won't be taking a fourth loss until 2027 at the earliest.
Mark Pope cooking up new offense with two PGs at Kentucky
Kentucky fans are loving life at the moment thanks to first-year football coach Will Stein, who has the Wildcats ranked and looks like he could be the next hot thing in that sport.
But basketball is forever king in Lexington, so attention and anxiety is ratcheting up with Year 3 on tap for Mark Pope at his alma mater. The Wildcats have made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments as a No. 3 and 7 seed, totaling three Big Dance wins, but ugly exits and some second-year injury-affected inconsistencies have warmed the seat on Pope.
The offseason was a roller coaster, with Kentucky missing out on a variety of targets before ultimately landing a portal class that could prove to be one of the five best, led by Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic, whose NIL deal is believed to be in the neighborhood of $6 million. Momcilovic was the best 3-point shooter in the sport last season. If he can duplicate that, Pope's offense will be humming ... so long as his ploy to play two on-ball point guards works out.
Watch our conversation below for the full context, but Pope revealed on EOCBB that he'll be using sophomore point guard Alex Wilkins (who came from Furman) as the point guard in transition offense, while junior point guard Zoom Diallo (from Washington) will run the sets in the halfcourt. This tactic might prove risky, and the success of that backcourt is going to be the barometer for how well Kentucky fares in a league that seems fated to send at least 10 teams to the NCAAs.
"We're making such immense progress," Pope said. "I walk into this building more confident than I was a year ago, way more confident than I was two years ago. I love our trajectory right now."
Kentucky's first big game is Nov. 10 against Kansas in the Champions Classic. Pope will scheme against star KU freshman Tyran Stokes, who turned down UK for KU in what amounted to Pope's biggest offseason miss.
Calipari stumps for PCSA, says he wants to coach Hogs for 15 years
On Wednesday night at close to 6 p.m. local time, John Calipari's media responsibilities were almost up. Then he walked into the third-floor bar of the Hotel Wildemont (where the EOCBB podcast was set up) and an interview that was supposed to go for 15 minutes lasted 33 — multiple digressions included. Calipari also brought plenty of substance as well, including his explanations for why he's given so much of his time and energy to trying to get the Protect College Sports Act passed.
Calipari's efforts to bring regulations to college sports have been met with open arms by college executives and many politicians alike, but the PCSA is still no sure thing to pass in the House, even after getting 77 votes and flying through the Senate.
Calipari's decision to be the leading basketball voice on this topic (he's not the only one, but he's been the most prominent for sure) over the past year has been an interesting late-career character arc. During his younger years, Calipari could sometimes alienate himself from many other coaches. Now he's taken on a new reputation. This endeavor has become something significant, no matter what happens in the weeks/months to come, that will be part of his legacy.
"I've been very selfish, I'm doing this for my son, Brad," Calipari said. By that he means: Whenever he retires — be it next year or in 12 years — he really wants it to happen under circumstances that are less unruly than where college basketball has found itself in the past four years.
"If it passes, which I believe it will, then these commissioners have to come together and tie up loose ends so we can make it work," Calipari said, alluding to some increased power and purported protection from certain lawsuits when it comes to player eligibility. "And I think within two to three years, we'll say, 'Thank god we didn't go down that other path.'"
And if the PCSA doesn't pass?
"I'll never speak on it again in my life," he said. "I'll go raise more money for my teams than anyone else and we'll go about our business and pay whatever I've got to pay."
Calipari said he wants to coach at Arkansas for 15 years. (I don't believe that number. He'd be 80!)
Beyond the PCSA talk, there's also a lot in here on star incoming freshman Jordan Smith Jr. Calipari offered up an intriguing and unexpected player comp: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. We also covered Calipari's "I must've have been on crack" quote about his nonconference schedule and his reasoning for why he was too scared to approach Taylor Swift at the NBA Finals. Highest recommendation 👇
Other quickies from SEC Media Days
- One spoiler for my preseason Top 100 And 1 teams list, which will publish at the end of this month: Texas is going to be no lower than No. 6. The Longhorns are the preseason No. 2 team in the league poll, behind Florida, and after talking to Sean Miller, I get the sense he believes this could be a top-three talented team he's ever coached. Mikey Lewis, who transferred from Saint Mary's, will be back in December and rejoin what I think will prove to be a top-three portal class of 2026.
- Tennessee won't be far behind Texas if everyone remains healthy and Rick Barnes can scheme up his best offensive team across 11 seasons in Knoxville. The Volunteers — and a few other teams in the league — ranked among the highest spenders in the sport in 2026. Barnes has made three straight Elite Eights and is burning to break through to a second Final Four (his first being with Texas in 2003). (The loss to Xavier on Thursday was unexpected, but I don't take much stock into exhibitions and never have.)
- Something I didn't know, but a fact Nate Oats is obviously all too aware of: Alabama's two regular-season SEC championships in 2023 and 2021 came after the Tide was picked fifth in the preseason poll. Alabama's preseason SEC rank? No. 5. Amari Allen is going to be the Tide's best player. Oats told me Aden Holloway is essentially on a zero-tolerance policy after he had to work his way back onto the team following his arrest for felony-level marijuana possession in March.
- I think Dennis Gates' Missouri Tigers will be not just one of the most interesting teams in the conference, I expect M-I-Z to rank near the top of the must-watch teams list across college hoops. Gates has two McDonald's All-Americans on his roster, and as he first revealed on EOCBB, Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant will both be starting. Crowe might lead all freshmen in scoring. Gates is waiting on two five-for-five eligibility cases (Mark Mitchell's looms in a big way in terms of Mizzou's hopes of being a top-15 team). This season brings the most anticipation for Missouri since Michael Porter Jr.'s star-crossed one-and-done year almost a decade ago.
- Two teams that may prove to be underrated now vs. where they sit in early March: Oklahoma and Auburn. Neither expected to be top six or seven, but both Porter Moser and Steven Pearl have the benefit of returning their point guards, both of whom are all-league level talents (Xzayvier Brown at OU, Tahaad Pettiford at Auburn).
Final thought: The SEC is probably going to be college basketball's best league again, and that was the biggest reason why I wanted to get to the league's media days this year. In 2024-25, it put up the single most successful impressive season in the sport's history when it sent 14 of its 16 teams to a 68-school NCAA Tournament, setting a record for most bids, most schools in the Sweet 16, two No. 1 seeds in the Final Four and, of course, Florida winning the national championship.
Last season wasn't at that level (how could it be?), but the league still had 10 bids in the final 68-team NCAA Tournament.
I think 2026-27 will be better than last season but a notch below 2024-25, which probably never gets matched again.
This offseason saw the league easily spend more on its portal gets and retention efforts than any conference in college basketball. From Wade's drama to Florida's hype to Texas and Tennessee's talent to Kentucky's pressure-packed season and beyond, I expect this to be the most captivating conference over the next five months.
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