Big losses leave big chances for game's little guys.(college basketball)(Brief Article)

All at once, the college game is bidding farewell to Loren Woods, Brendan Haywood, Alvin Jones and Ken Johnson, and it is being deprived of the opportunity to welcome Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler and DeSagana Diop. That's a long list of tall basketball players the NCAA will miss next season. Which means there never might be a better time to be in the guard business.

This is great news for Kansas and Illinois, which are blessed with top backcourt players Kirk Hinrich and Frank Williams but lack experienced low-post scorers. It is even better for St. Joseph's, which features perhaps the best guard combination in the country in point Jameer Nelson and wing Marvin O'Connor but does not enjoy the same level of frontcourt talent as the Jayhawks and Illini.

"I've always liked dribble penetration, attacking the basket," St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli says. "I've always thought the guy dribbling straight at you--that guy is hard to guard. Playing hard--all that does is make you even with everybody else. You have to score to win, and right now we're blessed with gifted players at those positions."

Of course, you have heard for years that college basketball is a guard's game. It sounded nice--especially coming from an authority such as Hall of Famer Denny Crum--and there was a little truth to it. But only a little.

In the past four years, few Final Four teams did not possess NBA-caliber power players. Wisconsin's 2000 team didn't, but those Badgers were an unusual, system-driven team that didn't have NBA-caliber guards, either. Michigan State might become another of those Final Four teams, depending on the fate of current draft prospect Andre Hutson.

On the other hand, Stanford made it in 1998 without a future pro at either guard. Ohio State's 1999 team also might fall into that category, though it's premature to make a determination until we're sure senior-to-be Brian Brown won't play in the league. The past four Final Fours have, by rough estimate, been home to more future pros at the two post positions than the two backcourt spots.

But the departure of a significant group of senior big men and the draft entry of so many prime prep prospects leaves the colleges thin up front. The best center in the country may be playing at a mid-major: Western Kentucky's Chris Marcus. Only six inside players 6-10 or taller (Kansas' Nick Collison, Illinois' Brian Cook, Fresno State's Melvin Ely, Maryland's Tahj Holden and Memphis' Earl Barron and Kelly Wise) will attend this weekend's USA Basketball national team trials. Though Holden and Barron are compelling prospects, neither was a double-figure scorer last season.