Starting this thread for the year with some of the first outside news of the preseason that would be of interest to us.

First, Oscar Tschiebwe is apparently having a "minor" knee procedure. We all know that anything involving knees can be a lingering issue, so here's hoping it actually is minor and one of the game's brightest stars will be good to go this season (even if he does play for the bad guys, it's really hard not to like Oscar).

In potentially a longer term issue, Nova's star freshman Cam Whitmore had thumb surgery. Whitmore will supposedly be "reevaluated" in November, and that language tends to imply the timetable has the earliest possible return at a few weeks after that "reevaluation." Whitmore has rocketed up draft boards of late and is seen as a potential Top 5 pick... so for those who always think top prospects should "shut it down" at any sign of injury, this could be a situation to watch.