Inspired by today’s BuzzFeed post, The 90 Best Twitter Accounts of 2011, I present the 80 best college basketball twitter accounts you should be following. Non-humans and Twitter abusers weren’t included, sorry @NCAA and @DickieV, and tweeters with an eye towards “smart” (read: tempo-free) analysis were given preference.
I personally guarantee that even the most discerning college basketball enthusiast isn’t following every name on this list. There are some real diamonds in the rough.
Mark Titus (@clubtrillion)
Titus was a walk-on at THE Ohio State and founded the now-infamous Club Trillion, a blog all about D-I players that can go a whole season with zeros in every stat column. Now he writes for Grantland.
Sample tweet: “Just not same team w/o #0. Still worth trip. If you haven’t already, you must see a game in Phog Allen. Best bball atmosphere I’ve ever seen”
Alex Bozich (@insidethehall)
Bozich is a believer in the “four factors,” and he’s the best source out there for that little team from Indiana that just upset Kentucky.
Sample tweet: “In regards to profane chants, I’m told those can lead to a technical on the home team. Just something to keep in mind. #iubb”
Drew Cannon (@drewcannon1)
Cannon has been writing for Basketball Prospectus, one of the most respected tempo-free blogs around, since 2010.
Sample tweet: “After a quick KenPom player stats rundown, I’ll be paying more attention to Davidson’s De’Mon Brooks and Utah’s Josh Watkins.”
J. Riddell (@themikandrill)
Riddell runs The Mikan Drill, a blog that breaks down the plays that matter with analysis in picture form. I learn a lot reading his stuff.
Sample tweet: “Still having hard time believing that if LBSU beats X and fails to win Big West tourney, they get an at arge. Dont think 2 wins makes resume”
John Templon (@nybuckets)
Templon once covered the five D-I teams in Chicago. Now he’s the only tempo-free blogger writing about all 11 teams in the New York City area. He also tweets about all kinds of CBB stuff. The guy is a workaholic.
Sample tweet: “Tulane has played 5 teams with KenPom >330, 3 others 250-300, and a non-DI. They should be 11-1.”
Nicole Auerbach (@nicoleauerbach)
Auerbach covers college hoops for USA Today, and is an insightful tweeter on all kinds of topics and teams. Quality news source.
Sample tweet: “Cincy AD Whit Babcock: “No decision has been made about the game.” i.e. neutral site, normal home game, discontinue series w/ Xavier.”
Hoopniks (@hoopniks)
Solid, nationwide college basketball recruiting news and updates.
Sample tweet: “It was a good weekend for 2013 wing Stanford Robinson as he picked up scholarship offers from Marquette and Wake Forest per @PVIHoops.”
Corey Schmidt (@SummitMadness)
Schmidt is the only source for tempo-free Summit League analysis. His work was even included in the latest edition of Basketball Prospectus.
Sample tweet: “@RedZoneIUPUI Talent abounds. Can’t write off the Dons. Winners of 3 straight, including a W over Valpo. Should win next 2 as well.”
Steve Megargee (@stevemegargee)
Megargee covers national hoops for Rivals, and he does it well.
Sample tweet: “The Yahoo Sports/Rivals staff debates whether #UCLA basketball can turn its season around.”
Vin Parise (@vinparise)
Parise primarily covers NYC hoops for CBS, but his opinions are always fun to read.
Sample tweet: “URI’s problems thus far have been Defense & Turnovers. Baron’s team can fix mistakes, but effort has to be there -32 pt loss is unacceptable”
Steven Jung (@StevenJung)
Jung writes on a mixed bag of college basketball topics at his blog, The Basket-Blog.
Sample tweet: “Keith Bogans has had a higher wins shared/48 minutes than Hamilton for the last 3 years. Both were horrendously below average too.”
HoopDirt.com (@HoopDirt)
Although not a human in most regards, Hoop Dirt is one of the best sources for college basketball coaching news. Moves, milestones, promotions, that kind of stuff.
Sample tweet: “Majerus gets 500th win http://www.hoopdirt.com/news/6e6ff4cc/majerus-gets-500th-win/“
Brett Edgerton (@EditorEdge)
Edgerton is the men’s college basketball editor at ESPN, so he has a lot of quality content to share.
Sample tweet: “From @ESPNGameDayJMac: Kendall Marshall 4th career game w/ at least 15 asts. Only other guy in last 15 yrs with 4 such games? @GottliebShow!”
Chris Dobbertean (@Dobber_BtB_SBN)
Dobbertean runs Blogging the Bracket at SB Nation, and has some funny things to say.
Sample tweet: “Murray State is having the season I thought they might last year. Release the @RedLineUpsets bot!”
Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi)
Biancardi is a former Wright State head coach that writes about CBB recruiting for ESPN. His tweets are insightful re: game tactics.
Sample tweet: “#WVU #KState A battle between two hard playing trams. Watch the rebouding . WVU plays 1-3-1 during crutch time- How do you attack?”
Dan Wolken (@DanWolken)
Wolken writes for the daily, and has opinions on everything college hoops related.
Sample tweet: “We all saw the video, Mick. We all watched your presser. And Gates will be back by Big East play? Those things don’t match up.”
Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi)
Lunardi isn’t a prolific tweeter, but he is an insightful one. Covering all matter of college hoops for ESPN.
Sample tweet: “Hung out at Creighton’s practice for tomorrow’s game at Saint Joseph’s. The Blue Jays’ offensive numbers are outrageously good.”
Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein)
Rothstein is a CBS writer that occasionally pays some mind to mid-major teams. Also, lots of Big East analysis.
Sample tweet: “Still in awe of Herb Pope’s performance last night. It’s a minor miracle Seton Hall was able to get a kid of this caliber. BE POY candidate.”
Mike Miller (@MikeMillerNBC)
Miller writes about national hoops for NBC’s Beyond the Arc blog. He’s pretty darn prolific.
Sample tweet: “Kansas will miss Tyshawn Taylor’s toughness for at least 3 weeks. But he earned a rest: http://beyondthearc.nbcsports.com/2011/12/12/kansas-will-miss-taylors-toughness-for-at-least-3-weeks/“
John Gasaway (@JohnGasaway)
The man, the myth, the tempo-free hero tweets.
Sample tweet: “If you’d told me a month ago that Sacramento State will have a better winning pct than Butler I would have been surprised.”
Evan Daniels (@EvanDanielscout)
Daniels is the top recruiting analyst over at Scout.com.
Sample tweet: “2013 PF Jack Whitman just scored a scholarship offer from Duquesne, per Lexington Catholic coach Brandon Salsman.”
Jerry Palm (@jppalm)
Palm tweets about pretty much everything, and he’s usual pretty responsive to questions. He’s a CBS guy.
Sample tweet: “Gates should get more than six games. Of course, the Big East could step in. Doesn’t sound like it will though.”
Troy Machir (@BIAHTroyMachir)
Machir is part of the Ballin is a Habit team, and is a great hoops resource.
Sample tweet: “The 3rd Edition of the B.I.A.H Emery Board: A weekly look at the unbeatens (and beatens) – ht.ly/7WRep“
Rob Dauster (@ballinisahabit)
Dauster is the other half of BIAH, and he writes for NBC as well.
Sample tweet: “What the hell is Sean Miller doing commenting on the X-UC fight? That’s the kind of thing you say to your boys at the bar, not the papers.”
Brad Winton (@JucoRecruiting)
Winton tweets about junior college D-I recruits, and writes for Slam Magazine.
Sample tweet: “Heading back to Cleveland for a few weeks to check out Cleveland HS basketball as well as JC’s throughout the Midwest”
Scott Phillips (@sphillipshoops)
Phillips is a Chicago-based recruiting analyst, and tweets on a variety of topics.
Sample tweet: “Catching a little bit of Loyola – Fordham. The renovated Gentile Center looks really nice.”
Jason King (@JasonKingESPN)
King is an ESPN college hoops reporter, tweeting things you’d expect him to tweet.
Sample tweet: “A few minutes later, when asked if Sullinger would’ve played had this been an NCAA Tournament game: ‘Oh yeah, Absolutely.'”
Eric Bossi (@ebosshoops)
Bossi is a Kansas City-based hoops analyst writing for Rivals.
Sample tweet: “One more basketball note. Grace Prep junior forward Jordan Mickey has been oustanding all season. Has athleticism, energy and skill.”
Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla)
You know who he is. Not a bad social media user, either.
Sample tweet: “Friars’ Ed Cooley utilizing old BC magic and stealing one out of Michigan. Frosh forward Ladontae Henton grabs 2nd straight Rookie of Week!”
Raphielle Johnson (@raphiellej)
Johnson is a big part of collegehoops.net, and has an incredible 66k tweets, mostly concerning college hoops.
Sample tweet: “BC playing a lot better today than they did at Providence. Look to be sure of themselves out there.”
Kyle Nagel (@KyleNagelDDN)
Nagel is pretty much the only traditional print journalist covering the entire Horizon League, and he does it for the Dayton Daily News.
Sample tweet: “Week 5 Dayton Daily News Horizon League Power Rankings: Top 3 are 1. Cleveland State 2. Milwaukee 3. Valparaiso: http://bit.ly/ryteLT“
Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander)
Norlander is one of many CBS hoops columnists, and he’s pretty witty too.
Sample tweet: “I still can’t get over Tom Crean’s gobsmacked face. I’ll imitate him after every Christmas present I open this year.”
Eamonn Brennan (@eamonnbrennan)
Brennan is an ESPN writer that is pretty much there to share his (good) work.
Sample tweet: “Poll Thoughts: Syracuse becomes third No. 1 – http://es.pn/teAtGr“
Michael DeCourcy (@tsnmike)
DeCourcy is on the college hoops beat for The Sporting News. You get about what you’d expect from his tweets.
Sample tweet: “Whit Babcock is right: L. Blount’s punch not comparable to Cincy-Xavier brawl. Says comparable would have been punch in handshake line.”
Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops)
Yeah, he’s there.
Sample tweet: “I am jealous of college students 50 weeks out of the year. This week is Final Week. Y’all can have that.”
Andy Katz (@ESPNAndyKatz)
He’s there too, and he’s not very interactive either.
Sample tweet: “Nice to see Murray State get the deserving mention in the AP poll, but at No. 24. A bit higher maybe?”
Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy)
This is where the list gets better. What’s not to love about Pomeroy? Professor of meteorology, Utah citizen, and KING of all things tempo-free. Pretty darn accessible too.
Sample tweet: “Based on last season’s PBP’s, there are an average of 2.7 starters/team playing at the 11:00 mark of the 1st half. Lowest at any point.”
Jeff BPredict (@BPredict)
A tempo-free influenced attempt at predicting D-I matchups.
Sample tweet: “Tulane quietly rolls on to 11-1. They need at least one quality win for me to start listing them as a potential bubble team, though.”
Michael Litos (@caahoops)
Litos is the source for CAA hoops analysis and updates.
Sample tweet: “With his three against Richmond, VCUs Darius Theus has already surpassed last season’s output. (Theus was 4-28 last year).”
Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress)
Go to Givony for news and updates on college hoopers that are professional-bound. He tweets about college hoops in general too.
Sample tweet: “Love how Tom Crean is working the matchups in this game. Always attacking the weakest defender on the floor. That’s called coaching, folks.”
Sebastian Pruiti (@SebastianPruiti)
Pruiti is an NBA writer for Basketball Prospectus, but his opinions often wander onto the college side of things.
Sample tweet: “Writing about Eric Gordon, Tyson Chandler and the Knicks, Odom and the Mavs, and possibly Missouri this week…should be a fun one…”
Dan Hanner (@DanHanner)
Hanner is a long-time hoops blogger that is just getting his start on twitter. He has a lot of knowledge to share.
Sample tweet: “Wow, VMI vs Longwood is the best game on the schedule tonight, that’s a tough night. http://kenpom.com/fanmatch.php?d=2011-12-12“
Friar Blog (@friarblog)
The top source for Providence Friars updates, but also a good source for Big East news in general.
Sample tweet: “LaDontae Henton (@HentonBuckets23) is BIG EAST Rookie of the Week for 2nd straight week. #pcbb #teambuckets”
Shane Ryan (@TobaccoRdBlues)
Ryan is a Grantland writer with some interesting ideas.
Sample tweet: “You’ve already won me overrrrrr, Mason Plumlee, so don’t be surprise if I falllll head over feet. #AlanisPlumleesette“
Sean Keeley (@nunesmagician)
Keeley writes about Syracuse for SB Nation, but his blog is an excellent source for Big East analysis.
Sample tweet: “No mention of Syracuse’s No. 1 ranking on @BigEastConf‘s website. So…that’s how we’re gonna do this? Prison rules, eh?”
Doug Haller (@DougHaller)
Haller covers Pac-12 hoops out of Arizona. He’s the best source for that stuff on Twitter.
Sample tweet: “Washington State forward Brock Motum is the Pac-12 Player of the Week. Motum averaged 19.5 points, shooting 61.9%, in two games last week.”
Jameson Fleming (@JamesonFleming)
Fleming writes and tweets for CBS Sports, and he has a lot of opinions on a lot of hoops topics.
Sample tweet: “I agree w/OSU & UK at 2/3, wonder though how long a team can go undefeated and remain behind them if they stay at one loss.”
Andy Glockner (@AndyGlockner)
It’s impossible for something to happen in college basketball without Andy Glockner adding his excellent insight. He writes for SI.
Sample tweet: “Murray State won at Memphis? I’d love to be surprised by that, but I’m not.”
Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel)
Wetzel is a national Yahoo sports columnist, and an excellent resource. He tweets about pretty much whatever sporting event is going on.
Sample tweet: “New Big East is silly, but for Boise, having schools in TX and CA, which they recruit heavily, is valuable”
Rush the Court (@rushthecourt)
If you don’t know RTC then you should. Great list of writers looking to make a name. Mid-majors are welcome here.
Sample tweet: “Ron Morris of The State (Columbia, SC) has Xavier unranked. No other voter had them below #13.”
Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS)
Goodman is now a staple of the CBS column crew. He changes his avatar weekly in honor of a player that did big things.
Sample tweet: “Before we start anointing this IU team as “back”, let’s still wait and see how Hoosiers do in Big Ten play. Extremely impressed against UK.”
Luke Winn (@lukewinn)
The prodigal leader of advanced basketball metrics.
Sample tweet: “Power Rankings! A look at Mizzou’s spacing + how Tu Holloway is the master of getting to the FT line: bit.ly/sYRWtg”
Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello)
Borzello too writes for CBS, and he tweets about college hoops a whole lot.
Sample tweet: “Kris Jenkins uses versatility to his advantage: http://bit.ly/tjaehC 2013 prospect has offers from Rutgers, Xavier, Miami, GW & Penn State.”
Angela Lento (@collegeinsider)
Lento tweets about the mids, and posts the weekly link to the College Insider Weekly Top 25.
Sample tweet: “Love the Detroit Titans throwback jerseys. They will wear them for Dec. 5 game vs. St. John’s”
Dave Telep (@DaveTelep)
Telep does a lot of work for ESPN Insider. If you don’t know of him, you should.
Sample tweet “Glad I got to see Stanford Robinson a second time this weekend. Won me over. Versatile guy and feel better about his game. Stepped up late”
Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS)
Another CBS columnist, Parrish is an entertaining tweeter.
Sample tweet: “Yancy says he was “the highlighted guy” on replays b/c of “who he is.” Actually, it’s b/c of what he did — sucker-punched a dude on TV.”
Jeff Eisenberg (@JeffEisenberg)
Eisenberg is a Rivals blogger.
Sample tweet: “Heck of a win for Murray State. What the Racers need to do now is keep winning and root like heck for Memphis, Dayton & Southern Miss.”
N.D. Kendrick (@NDKendrick_RR)
Kendrick is the national scouting director for RecruitRecon.com. Some real inside recruits tweets and updates.
Sameple tweet: “2014 6-2 PG/SG Omega Harris Putnam City West (OK) received new interest from Xavier and Minnesota today.
Big Ten Geeks (@bigtengeeks)
These guys attempt to go inside the Big Ten’s big numbers. Big ups for helping bring tempo-free into the mainstream.
Sample tweet: “Another B10 defensive oddity: 3 teams in top 10 in defensive efficiency, and none are Purdue or Illinois (the best 2 last year).”
The Mid-Majority (@midmajority)
Kyle Whelliston’s Mid-Majority is going open-source this year as part of their 800 Games Project. Read gamers and masterpieces from some of the greatest bloggers in the business, but no high-major vs. high-major games make the cut.
Sample tweet: “[POST by @mcareyTU] Game 8-000: You Can Stand Us Up at the Gates of the Big East, But We Won’t Back Down | http://tmm8.me/ppy #TMM8 @800GP“
The Only Colors (@theonlycolors)
TOC is one of the pioneers in bringing tempo-free stats to the masses, but they primarily cover Michigan State and Big Ten hoops.
Sample tweet: “New TOC! Dueling Postgame Celebration Thread of Victory! MSU beats Gonzaga and Michigan!”
Cracked Sidewalks (@CrackedSidewlks)
Cracked Sidewalks is a Marquetter basketball blog that delves into the dark recesses of advanced metrics including tempo-free analysis.
Sample tweet: “good – 1H def eFG% of 41%. bad – 1H def eFG% of 53%. good – #mubb offensive eFG% of 61% in the 2H. bad – only 1.02 ppp overall. #wardle?”
Matt Jones (@MattJonesCBB)
Jones has valuable opinions on lots of things. Kentucky basketball is one of them.
Sample tweet: “Most disappointing part of this game is that Jones and Miller have totally disappeared. Lamb and Gilchrist only ones who want the ball”
Reggie Rankin (@ReggieRankin)
Rankin has a ridiculous amount of recruiting and coaching experience. Now he’s at ESPN and well worth your follow.
Sample tweet: “Breakdown of a Recruiting Meeting, ESPN Recruiting Nation, National Blog http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncbrecruitingnational/post?id=968“
Walker Beeken (@WalkerBeeken)
Beeken breaks down player like nobody else can. He’s a scout for DraftExpress.com.
Sample tweet: “Watching Duke-Wash from yesterday. I’m a sucker for guys who can pass & I like Tony Wroten but some of the plays he tries to make are absurd”
Nathan Walker (@bbstats)
A true must-follow. Walker believes the truth is in the numbers.
Sample tweet: “Virginia’s Mike Scott takes the honor of highest offensive impact (per possession) at +8.2 per 100. (ORTG of 121.4 on 27.2% usage).”
Joel Francisco (@JoelFranESPN)
Francisco is a high school recruiting scout for ESPN.
Sample tweet: “Chaminade, West Hills, Ca has a major D1 prospect in 6-7 soph Jack Williams…Face up with touch…plays hard, pursues rebounds/ runs hard”
Alex Schwartz (@NorthstarBball)
Schwartz is a great source for recruiting and other college hoops scoops.
Sample tweet: “Am I the only person who is mentioning that Verdell Jones traveled on last play for IU? Doesnt really matter, ppl just usually mention that.”
Brian Snow (@BSnowScout)
Snow is a Yancy Gates-defender and a writer for Fox Sports. Also, he has lot of opinions to share.
Sample tweet: “I keep hearing the word remorse. I am a journalist, who am I to judge another human beings level of remorse? I simply do not get that”
Patrick Marshall (@wildjays)
With Creighton representing the MVC in the Top 25, Marhall of the White and Blue Review deserves a follow.
Sample tweet: “People may be excited about Murray St. at 10-0, but they played 3 games against non-D1 competition. Not the way to schedule.”
Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria)
Zagoria, based in NYC, tweets updates, news and analysis on the Big East.
Sample tweet: “Big East Player of the Week is West Virginia guard Truck Bryant (25.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg in wins against Kansas State and Miami (Fla.))”
Jay Bilas (@JayBilas)
I … I know.
Sample tweet: “I cannot imagine the suspension if Tim Abromaitis had eaten a bagel with cream cheese at halftime of the exhibition games. Oh, the humanity!”
Greg Shaheen (@gashaheen)
Gonna be honest, not totally sure what’s going on here.
Sample tweet: “Go figure: <100 days til NCAA Selection Wknd. Every W matters along The Road to 37 at-larges. Greater transparency TBA..."
Michael LaPlante (@hoopsconnection)
LaPlante is a a basketball recruiting coordinator for ESPN.
Sample tweet: “Dallas Kimball’s Keith Frazier showing why the entire state of Texas along with most of the blue bloods are hard after him…smooth!”
Andy Bottoms (@AndyBottoms)
Bottoms is a Midwest sportswriter with a tempo-free bend. That’s why he writes for Run The Floor.
Sample tweet: “Iona with a solid comeback win at Denver. Love the Gaels, and look for Denver to win the Sun Belt. Already have W’s over Saint Mary’s & USM.”
Michael Rogner (@RunTheFloor)
In addition to running the floor, Rogner runs things around here. His passion: ACC hoops.
Sample tweet: “10 teams turn it over more than the #noles. Combined, they’re 14-65 against Division I opponents”
Daniel Bonsall (@SpiderBandwagon)
Richmond and A-10 hoops, with a tempo-free kick.
Sample tweet: “Now @runthefloor: VCU and Richmond rebuild, renew rivalry after tourney runs”
You can even follow me over at @HLHoops.
