Hoops with a human touch.(Brief Article)

If you are a reader of sportingnews.com and a college basketball fan, the name Jeff D'Alessio will click with you right away. If you haven't discovered the wonder of cybersports, you'll be introduced to Jeff's work in his story celebrating the "Best of" college basketball on page 8.

Jeff is an associate editor who concentrates most of his work on our website and who writes the most entertaining Q&A column I have ever read. (There's an example on page 14.) He has a wonderful knack for getting right to the essence of his subjects. He mixes questions about the intricacies of basketball with those about the vitality of young life.

So, when we wanted an irreverent look at college basketball, we had only to go as far as Jeff's desk for an author.

"My dad brought me up on college basketball," Jeff says. "I remember going to Syracuse games at the old Manley Field House, and we had season tickets since the Career Dome opened. I remember when Syracuse-Georgetown was the game of the year, when Derrick Coleman was good and when Jim Boeheim ...