Louisville received probation, and former coaches Rick Pitino and Chris Mack were not penalized in a case of allegations of NCAA violations stemming from the pay-to-play scandal that rocked college basketball in 2018.

Louisville could have faced a multiyear ban on postseason play. Instead, the decision of the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP), released Thursday, was to place the program on two years’ probation, reduce the number of recruiting days and levy a fine of $5,000.

The probation will end Nov. 3, 2024.

Both Pitino and Mack were charged with a Level II violation of coaching responsibility and could have been suspended for as long as a season, but both were found to be not at fault.

The allegations against Pitino were linked specifically to the recruitment of Brian Bowen. According to the NCAA panel, employees of Adidas, representing the interests of the university, made an offer of $100,000 to the player and paid $25,000 to Bowen’s father.

A pair of former Louisville assistant coaches also were accused of taking part in pay-to-play conduct. The coaches, Kenny Johnson and Jordan Fair, will receive two-year show-cause penalties. Johnson now is an assistant coach of Rhode Island and won’t be allowed to do any recruiting during that span.

Pitino now is the head coach at Iona. Louisville negotiated a buyout with Mack in January after the Cardinals started 11-9.

–Field Level Media

For the second consecutive season, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner opens the campaign having lost an acclaimed star. He does, however, return most of his supporting pieces as eight players return for the Yellow Jackets, who open Monday against Division II Clayton State in Atlanta.

Georgia Tech bid farewell to leading scorer and All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer Michael Devoe and his 17.9 points per game at the end of last season. The Yellow Jackets saw Jose Alvarado and Moses Wright depart a year prior.

After posting a 12-20 record in 2021-22, the worst mark in Pastner’s six seasons on the job, the Yellow Jackets face more question marks.

Georgia Tech will be led by senior guard Kyle Sturdivant and senior center Rodney Howard.

Howard averaged 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season while facing repeated foul trouble. Sturdivant was Georgia Tech’s third-leading scorer at 7.6 points per game. Jordan Usher, who averaged 14.8 points per game, also departed.

“We have eight guys back, but we are really reliant on these two guys (Howard and Sturdivant) to have a really good year for us and for our team to be successful,” Pastner said at ACC Media Day. “These guys have to be good and it does not have to be about scoring, but it has to be the little things that’s about winning.

“The star of the team is the team.”

Clayton State, predicted to finish fifth in the Peach Belt Conference, is coming off of an 8-20 campaign. The Lakers label their opener against Georgia Tech as an exhibition.

Senior forward Jalen Shaw is a preseason All-Conference selection. Shaw led the team with 13.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season, and he wound up second in the conference in rebounding and in field-goal percentage (62.7 percent).

The team’s third-leading scorer, Ricardo Saams Jr., is back for his senior season after contributing 9.3 points per game in 2021-22.

Coach Vince Alexander is entering his second season in charge of the Lakers. He joined Clayton State after a stint as an assistant at Rice. He previously was the head coach at Mansfield, USC Aiken and St. Leo, producing a 349-270 record overall.

–Field Level Media

Plenty of college basketball programs would be quite satisfied with a 20-win season.

At Oregon, where winning and making runs in the NCAA Tournament have been regular occurrences under coach Dana Altman, last season’s 20-15 mark could only be considered a disappointment.

The 21st-ranked Ducks hope to get back to March Madness this season after bowing out in the second round of the NIT last season. The 2022-23 campaign opens at home in Eugene, Ore., against Florida A&M on Monday night.

Guard Will Richardson leads Oregon into the new season as the program’s longest-tenured player. Richardson, who is using his fifth year of eligibility, was named to the preseason All-Pac-12 first team after averaging a career high 14.1 points per game last season.

Richardson had 22 double-digit outings in 2021-22, including seven 20-point performances. Though his 3-point shooting percentage was a little down from previous seasons, he hit four or more threes in seven games.

“He needs to take leadership,” Altman said. “He knows what we’re trying to do. He knows what got us conference championships and Sweet Sixteen teams and he’s also seen the other side of it, what hasn’t worked. So I’m depending on that leadership. And he’s been great to work with over the course of his career.

“I’m glad he’s back. I think he can have a tremendous year for us.”

Also back for the Ducks this season are forward Quincy Guerrier and center N’Faly Dante. Guerrier averaged 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game as a starter last season in his first year in Eugene after two seasons with Syracuse.

Oregon lost a handful of players in the transfer portal over the offseason, but its recruiting class includes touted freshman Kel’el Ware, a 7-foot five-star recruit from North Little Rock, Ark.

Former Colorado guard Keeshawn Barthelemy and former South Carolina guard Jermaine Couisnard were added via the transfer portal. Couisnard, who on Monday had knee surgery and will miss the start of the season, scored in double figures last season, as did Barthelemy.

Florida A&M finished 13-17 overall last season, 11-7 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Rattlers have a long road trip to the Pacific Northwest to open this season with three games in five days, starting at Oregon, north to play the University of Portland on Wednesday, and back down south to face Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., two days later.

Oregon has won both previous meetings with Florida A&M, an 88-67 home win over the Rattlers in December 2020 and a 71-64 win in December 2018, also in Eugene.

Florida A&M will have to replace its top seven scorers from last year. The leading scoring among the returnees is guard Dimingus Stevens, who put up just 4.2 points per game.

Coach Robert McCullum is entered his sixth season in charge at Florida A&M, where he has a 54-88 record.

“I’m excited for the 2022-23 season and the opportunity to play prestigious college basketball programs during the nonconference season,” McCullum said. “The season opener at Oregon will be a tremendous challenge for us. … The eight Power-5 games we play will greatly prepare us for the SWAC competition as we want to improve on our fourth-place finish last season.”

–Field Level Media

No. 14 TCU begins the season with a roster full of returning players and heightened expectations based on its highest preseason ranking ever when it hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday in the opener for both teams in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Horned Frogs return all five starters from last season’s team that went 21-13 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 35 seasons. Among them are Big 12 preseason player of the year Mike Miles Jr. (junior guard) and preseason all-conference honorable mention Emanuel Miller (senior forward).

Yet all the lofty preseason rankings still put TCU as the fourth-best team as voted on by conference coaches, behind Baylor, Kansas and Texas. The Horned Frogs have never finished a season above .500 in conference play while a member of the Big 12.

“We’re good. We believe we’re good,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “But our league’s really good. And so we need to do the things that good teams do. We need to do those every day in practice. We need to do those off the floor. We need to do that as a program.

“So we’re not trying to shoot down expectations. We’re not trying to lower them. This is a place we needed to raise expectations. There were none. There was no bar. We’re not going to stop now.”

Miles was the only Big 12 player last season to finish in the top six in scoring (15.4) and assists (3.8) per contest, racking up eight 20-point games in the process.

Another bright spot for the Horned Frogs is the return of Shahada Wells, who played in only seven games last season because of a knee injury. Playing for Texas-Arlington in 2020-21, he averaged 16.8 points (ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference) and shot nearly 40 percent from 3-point range.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff heads to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex after finishing last season 7-24 and losing five of its final six games to end up 11th in the 12-team Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The Golden Lions are picked to finish in the same spot this season, the second under the direction of coach Solomon Bozeman. Bozeman, who took the job just prior to last season, has infused the team with 11 newcomers — six transfers and five freshmen.

“I thought it was very important that our staff come in and recruit, you know, the players that fit our system and our style of play,” Bozeman said. “We feel good about our guys. We feel good about his group. We’ve got a young group and we got some mix with some veteran guys. So we just want to continue to get these guys better each and every day.”

The Golden Lions will be led by Shaun Doss Jr., who transferred back to Pine Bluff after spending his first three seasons with the team before transferring to Southern Illinois University-Evansville for last season. Doss is joined in the backcourt by Chris Greene, a graduate transfer from Cleveland State.

–Field Level Media

For the first time since Feb. 17, 2001, Thad Matta will be prowling the Hinkle Fieldhouse sideline as Butler’s head coach when the Bulldogs open the season Monday night vs. New Orleans.

Matta, who hasn’t coached since he and Ohio State parted ways in May 2017, has raised expectations at Butler since returning to his alma mater in April. He succeeded LaVall Jordan, his former shooting guard who led the Bulldogs to just one NCAA Tournament in five seasons.

“I love what this place stands for,” Matta said at the Big East media day, “and I look at this place as a great opportunity to come in and try to rebuild something that Butler deserves.”

In the wake of Butler’s 14-19 season, Matta boosted the team’s roster with some serious shopping in the transfer portal: North Carolina State center Manny Bates, Purdue point guard Eric Hunter Jr., Akron wing Ali Ali and Georgia State power forward Jalen Thomas. Nonetheless, the Big East coaches pegged the Bulldogs to finish eighth in the 11-team conference.

Butler won its exhibition game against Division II Tiffin by just 10 points, but Matta didn’t have the services of Ali and Thomas. Ali, who averaged a team-high 13.9 points last year for Akron’s NCAA Tournament squad, has missed time due to a concussion and a broken nose.

New Orleans posted an 18-14 record last year but lost its pair of high-scoring, all-conference guards to graduation — Derek St. Hilaire (20.1 points per game) and Troy Green (16.6 ppg). But 12th-year coach Mark Slessinger and the Privateers have enough back to earn the No. 3 spot in the Southland Conference’s preseason poll.

Junior forward Tyson Jackson (8.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and senior forward Simeon Kirkland (8.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) received second-team preseason all-league honors. They join senior guard Daniel Sackey (6.6 ppg, 2.8 apg) as New Orleans’ returning starters.

“It is an incredible honor to open up the season at the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse against Butler on national TV,” Slessinger said. “We have a very deep and talented team, and I’m excited to see them compete on Monday.”

–Field Level Media

No. 17 Arizona, which lost three players to the NBA draft, is looking to reload around a strong junior core as it opens the season Monday night against Nicholls State in Tucson, Ariz.

The Wildcats have returning starters in point guard Kerr Kriisa and power forward Azuolas Tubelis, and two other key juniors — wing Pelle Larsson and center Oumar Ballo — will move into the starting lineup.

Combined with a strong group of newcomers, Arizona looks talented and deep, which is why it was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 behind UCLA in a vote of league media.

Second-year Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd figures to experiment with new combinations against a Nicholls team that went 21-12 last season and won the 2022 Southland Conference regular-season title.

Lloyd will be without his projected fifth starter. Texas transfer guard Courtney Ramey will miss the first three games due to an NCAA suspension for participating in the Portsmouth Invitational, an NBA draft showcase, in April.

“I’m not a guy that sits around at night and gets out my protractor and a ruler and three different colored pens and says, ‘Well, if you play him 16.4 minutes, he can play,'” Lloyd said. “I don’t do that. I coach off gut. I coach off instinct. I coach off what my eyes are telling me.

“I think we’ve got good, talented young players and I want them to fight for it a little bit, but I’m hopeful they can all help us.”

Ramey’s absence could open more time for sophomore Adama Bal, an 18-year-old still scratching the surface of his ability. He scored 15 points in 15 minutes in a 91-61 exhibition win over Western Oregon on Nov. 1.

Newcomers to watch include Campbell transfer wing Cedric Henderson Jr. and Estonian freshman big man Henri Veesaar.

Nicholls is led by Latrell Jones, who averaged 11.9 points per game last season and was selected preseason first-team all-conference last month. Other key returning players are Pierce Spencer (9.0 ppg) and Manny Littles (8.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg).

The Colonels lost Southland Player of the Year Ty Gordon but hope to continue momentum created by 32-year-old coach Austin Claunch, who is entering his fifth season.

“It’s been an exciting time,” Claunch said. “We want to continue to be that program that is always in contention and that is always competing for championships.”

Lloyd went 17-0 at McKale Center last season and is promising more of the attacking style the Wildcats displayed on both ends last season.

The Wildcats were third nationally in scoring last season (84 points per game), but must replace the 17.7 points per game from lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin. Arizona also shows a lot of energy on defense and a willingness to jump into passing lanes.

“Of course, we’re going to be aggressive defensively,” Lloyd said. “I mean, you saw us play last year, right?

“I’m not going to be conservative. Conservative ain’t my nature. We play an aggressive style no matter who we have. If we were playing zone, we’d play it aggressive. … You can be aggressive and solid. Those two things can go together.”

–Field Level Media

Jim Boeheim is coming off his first losing season in 46 years as Syracuse head coach, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to him this week.

“We’re going to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Boeheim said after Tuesday’s practice in Syracuse. “This is the best team we’ve had in a while.”

Boeheim’s confidence will be put to the test Monday against visiting Lehigh in both teams’ season opener.

The Orange will attempt to bounce back from a 16-17 campaign in which they lost five of their final six games to miss the postseason entirely. Three of their top four scorers, including two of Boeheim’s sons, have moved to the professional ranks. But from Boeheim’s seat, they left plenty of talent behind.

The top returning scorer, Joe Girard III, shifts from point guard to shooting guard for his senior season. After averaging 13.8 points and 4.2 assists last season, Girard moves to make way for freshman Judah Mintz, a top-50 recruit.

“He’s as explosive a point guard as we’ve had here in a long time” Boeheim said of Mintz. “He’s like Jonny Flynn, but he’s much bigger. I think he can get 14 to 15 points every game and he could get 25 some nights.”

The other returning starter for the Orange is senior center Jesse Edwards, who took a big step forward last season by averaging 12 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.

Sophomore forward Benny Williams is among the youngsters who need to step up if Syracuse is going to return to its winning form.

“He has to get 10 to 11 points and six rebounds for us,” Boeheim said of Williams, who averaged 1.9 points and 1.4 rebounds last season.

Lehigh lost 10 of its first 11 games last season en route to a 13-19 campaign. This season, the Mountain Hawks are picked to finish third in the Patriot League behind the strength of senior guard Evan Taylor, who averaged a team-high 13 points a season ago.

“Especially since it’s the beginning of the year, it is a great way for us to test how good we are and see what we can learn from, especially since we are playing teams like Syracuse and Virginia Tech, back-to-back,” Taylor said.

–Field Level Media