These stars may not come out

From the For What It's Worth Dept.:

Listen up, Celtics fans: Texas basketball coach Rick Barnes estimates the chances of brilliant freshman Kevin Durant returning for a sophomore season are "50-50."

The 6-foot-9-inch Durant averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds for the Longhorns in what most people assumed would be his one and only season of college basketball.

"We have honestly not had a conversation on the matter," said Barnes, who is in Atlanta to attend the annual National Association of Basketball Coaches convention and serve as a coat-holder for his young star, who is walking off with every conceivable award short of the Nobel Prize.

"He went back home last weekend and he didn't talk about it to anyone back there, either," Barnes insisted. "I've just told him that whenever he's ready to talk, I'll be ready."

Barnes cites as an example of Durant's mind-set the young man's reaction to the news that Los Angeles Clippers' prodigy Shaun Livingston has sustained a serious knee injury.

Most observers feel that development would scare someone like Durant into coming out, reasoning the money must be grabbed while it's sitting there. But Barnes claims Durant came to practice after hearing about Livingston and said, "See? That wouldn't have happened if he'd been in college. He'd be stronger."

Meanwhile, there is no guarantee fellow freshman sensation Greg Oden, the 7-footer from Ohio State, is coming out, either. A source close to the Ohio State program put a "60-40" estimate on it, the 60 being on the stay-in-school side.

So the Celtics might as well win as many games as they can.

Whenever there's an outcry about a so-called "bubble" team failing to make the NCAA Tournament, what usually follows is a debate about expanding the field. The NCAA, however, squashes those arguments, saying it likes the format as constituted.

This year, however, NCAA president Myles Brand opened the tiniest crack of a possible expansion, which could go a long way toward silencing those schools passed over.

"What if we had four play-in games [instead of one]?" Brand asked rhetorically. "Is that a possibility? Do we have more parity so that now [expanding the field] makes sense when it might not have made sense a few years or a little longer ago?"

With three more play-in games, there would be a true first round played on Tuesday, with the winners moving on to second-round games.

Brand said there was no active movement to expand the field to 72 teams but "it may very well take place."

With three additional games, six more spots would open and presumably cut down on bubble teams left out of the tournament. This year Drexel and Syracuse had the biggest gripes about being left out.

"I'd go for that," said Drexel coach Bruiser Flint. "It's getting harder and harder and harder in postseason play. Having four play-in games would work as long as they just didn't use it as a way to get more teams from the major conferences in at the expense of the mid-majors.

"But that's as far as I would expand it."

Brand also talked about the new rule that prevents players from jumping to the NBA in their first year out of high school. "If I had a vote -- and I told you that I don't -- I'd like to see it for more than one year, like two or three years. The football rule [which prevents players from jumping to the NFL until their third year out of high school] works well. We see a good graduation rate in football. Part of that is due to the fact that the young men can't leave for three years." . . . Brand also noted the rising salaries of basketball coaches, with salaries being bumped up each time high-profile openings occur. This year Kentucky and Michigan are the marquee open jobs. But he said there was little the NCAA could do to slow down escalating salaries. "The national office can't do anything about it," said Brand . . . Connecticut assistant Tom Moore was officially introduced as Quinnipiac's new coach . . . Harvard's search for a replacement for Frank Sullivan continues, with a focus on hiring a black coach. Another name surfacing along with those of former Michigan coach Tommy Amaker and former St. John's coach Mike Jarvis is former Arkansas coach Stan Heath, who was fired earlier this week . . . Texas A&M men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie will stick with the Aggies, the school's athletic director told officials at Arkansas, which had sought permission to speak with the coach . . . Kevin McKenna took over the Indiana State program, giving the former NBA player and Creighton assistant his first Division 1 head coaching job. He succeeds Royce Waltman, who was fired this month after the Sycamores finished their sixth straight losing season.

About 200 Duke fans held an on-campus rally last night to show support for women's coach Gail Goestenkors. The coach, who did not make an appearance at the event, said in a statement she planned to take a few days to consider whether to stay at Duke or leave for the coaching vacancy at Texas. "I have spent 15 wonderful years at Duke, love the university and what it stands for," she said. "It has been very flattering to be considered for the Texas job. I have always admired what a great tradition and program head coach Jody Conradt built over the years." Freshman guard Abby Waner said players had not been able to speak in detail with their coach since her trip to Texas Wednesday. "Right now we're just concerned about the team and keeping the morale and getting focused for next year," Waner said, adding her teammates were hopeful Goestenkors would stay at Duke. Goestenkors has built a powerhouse at Duke over the last 15 seasons, with four trips to the Final Four . . . Temple women's coach Dawn Staley agreed to a six-year contract extension that will keep her with the Owls through the 2012-13 season. Staley is 151-67 in seven seasons and has led the Owls to five NCAA Tournaments.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.