Williams says Allen best barn

North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams has cast a vote for Allen Fieldhouse – not UNC’s Smith Center – as the best basketball palace in the country.

“To me, and I’m not trying to make anybody mad, I think that Allen Fieldhouse was the best homecourt advantage that I ever had the experience of coaching in, either as a home coach or the visiting coach,” Williams, third-year University of North Carolina coach, told the Durham Herald-Sun in an article published Wednesday.

“People took pride in driving seven hours from western Kansas to get to a game and then turn around and drive back that night. It wasn’t anything like, ‘Well, the traffic is bad for a 7 o’clock game,’ or, ‘A 9 o’clock game makes it tougher to get to bed,’ or all that garbage.

“The people in the buildings are what make the buildings,” Williams added. “I’m being very honest there. It was nothing for those people to get in a car and drive from western Kansas to see a Tuesday night game at 9 o’clock and turn around and drive back. They took pride in doing that.”

Williams did tell the Herald-Sun that the loudest he had heard a crowd was last season at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., when Marvin Williams scored and was fouled with 17 seconds remaining to lift UNC to a 75-73 victory over Duke.

¢ Collins scores 32: KU point-guard signee Sherron Collins of Chicago’s Crane High scored 32 points in a 70-65 victory over Farragut on Tuesday night. Crane is 14-3 overall and 4-1 in the Public League.

¢ Singler’s team rolls: Kyle Singler, a 6-foot-8 junior from South Medford (Ore.) High, scored 12 points with KU coach Bill Self in the stands in a 83-34 win over Eagle Point on Tuesday night. Singler is considering KU, Duke, Arizona, North Carolina and others.

¢ KU on Arkansan: KU is recruiting Michael Sanchez, a 6-8 forward from Springdale, Ark. Sanchez, Rivals.com’s No. 65-ranked player, is considering KU, Wisconsin, Florida, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Maryland and others.

“Kansas is still interested in Michael, and they are still recruiting him,” Sanchez’s dad told rivals.com. “They have already received a commitment from Cole Aldrich, and I believe the staff has a lot of interest in a player (Kyle Singler) from Oregon. Michael does have a lot of interest in Kansas, but the coaching staff doesn’t know if there will be an opportunity to bring him in because of their scholarship situation. We will just see how things end up and then go from there.”

¢ RPI talk: KU, at 9-6 overall, has an RPI rating of 116, with a strength-of-schedule rating of 169.

Here’s the RPI of teams KU has lost to: Arizona (19), Nevada (45), Kansas State (48), Arkansas (67), St. Joe’s (73) and Missouri (84). The records of those teams: Arizona (10-6), Nevada (12-3), Kansas State (10-4), Arkansas (10-4), St. Joe’s (6-8) and Missouri (10-5).

KU’s best victories have come against Kentucky (11-6, 42 RPI), Colorado (11-3, 76 RPI) and Cal (9-5, 102).

RPI of all teams are available at the Web site kenpom.com. RPI is a formula used to gauge strength of teams based on multiple components.

¢ Roy recruits in Burlington: Former KU coach Williams watched Burlington High junior Tyrel Reed score 29 points and grab 10 rebounds in Burlington’s 98-53 victory over Iola on Tuesday in Burlington. Reed, a 6-3 junior, is considering KU, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Stanford and many others.