On Sunday afternoon I had the chance to chat with Sacramento Kings head coach Paul Westphal about when he realized Tyreke Evans would be a special player in the NBA, his thoughts on Kevin Martin and Evans playing together and what he’s enjoyed about his return to coaching in the NBA.

Just a day after the NFL season ended, college hoops is set to roll out its most exciting week of action yet. Honestly, look at the schedule:

Villanova-West Virginia and Texas-Kansas on Monday.

Purdue-Michigan State and Tennessee-Vanderbilt on Tuesday

On Wednesday, you’ve got Syracuse-UConn, Duke-North Carolina and New Mexico-UNLV (the totally underrated game of the entire slate)

West Virginia-Pittsburgh on Friday.

And a whole two days of wall to wall excitement on Saturday and Sunday.

If this week doesn’t get you into college basketball season, I’m not sure anything will.

1. Kansas (22-1, 8-0): It wasn’t the prettiest week for the Jayhawks, but they did what they needed to do to beat Colorado and Nebraska and stay atop the Power Rankings. Things will quickly get tricky though, starting with a mega-showdown with Texas on Monday night.

2. Syracuse (23-1, 10-1): Add two more double-digit wins to the resume of college basketball’s hottest team, after Syracuse dominated both Providence College and Cincinnati in the last 10 days. As hard as it may be to believe, after 30 years in business, and over 600 wins to his credit, this is Jim Boeheim’s best coaching job yet.

3. Kentucky (22-1, 7-1): Question: With DeMarcus Cousins recording his sixth straight double-double, and 15th straight game with double figures in scoring, is it time to start talking about Kentucky’s other freshman for the SEC Player of the Year?

4. Villanova (20-2, 9-1): Villanova’s 11 game win streak had to end at some point, but few expected it to come to the screeching halt it did Saturday at Georgetown. With Monday’s trip to West Virginia, can a team who hadn’t lost in close to six weeks now lose twice in a row?

5. West Virginia (19-3, 8-2): To steal a line from the movie Major League, with Syracuse and Villanova ahead of them in the Big East standings, West Virginia is just, “lying in the weeds.” To gain the national respect that the Mountaineers crave, they’ll need a home win against Villanova Monday night.

6. Purdue (19-3, 7-3): Remember a few weeks back when Purdue had lost three in a row and we were wondering what the heck was wrong with the Boilermakers? Well after five straight wins, Purdue is playing fast and loose, but will having their biggest test of the season, Tuesday at Michigan State.

7. Georgetown (17-5, 7-4): Yes, the Hoyas lost to South Florida in the middle of last week, but if Saturday’s win against Villanova proved anything, it’s that this team can beat anyone in the country. They should continue to roll, with two winnable games against Providence and Rutgers this week.

8. Duke (19-4, 7-2): Well, well, well, looks like the Blue Devils might not be left for dead after all. While this team has its deficiencies, Thursday’s win over Georgia Tech proved that Duke might be mentally tougher then we give them credit for.

9. Kansas State (19-4, 6-3): Let’s give some praise to K-State. It’s never easy to win on the road in the Big XII, which is exactly what they did twice last week, with wins at Nebraska and Iowa State. And with Colorado and Nebraska at home coming up, look for them to continue to creep higher in these rankings.

10. Wisconsin (18-5, 6-3): The Badgers once again proved that the Kohl Center is a house of horrors for Big 10 opposition, as Michigan State lost their first conference game of the season last Tuesday in Madison. Once again, Bo Ryan has his team peaking at just the right time.

11. Tennessee (18-4, 6-2): Here’s the good news if you’re a fan of Tennessee basketball: Your team just won two more games, and welcomed back Brian Williams after a month’s suspension. Here’s the bad news: You’ve got trips to Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the next seven days…Uh oh…

12. Michigan State (19-5, 9-2): The Big 10 schedule makers did the Spartans no favors with back to back road trips to Wisconsin and Illinois last week, games that both ended in losses. Although Michigan State will be back at the Breslin Center Tuesday night, it doesn’t get any easier, as No. 6 Purdue comes to town.

13. Ohio State (18-6, 8-3): It seemed like just another ho-hum week for the Buckeyes, as they notched two more wins, both by double-figures. And oh by the way, Evan Turner averaged 29.5 points in those two victories. Can someone say National Player of the Year?

14. Texas (19-4, 5-3): And juuuuust when we were ready to jump back on the Longhorns bandwagon, they got embarrassed Saturday afternoon, by an embarrassing Oklahoma team in its own right. Texas is still looking to regain their early season mojo. Needless to say, a win over No.1 ranked Kansas on Monday night would do just the trick.

15. Gonzaga (17-4, 7-1): I’ve got to admit, as recently as a week ago, nobody was more weary of Gonzaga than I was. But for the Zags to come out on Thursday night, dominate a good Portland team, then fly across country and beat Memphis 36 hours later, I now know that while some teams may have more talent than Gonzaga, no one has more heart.

16. Northern Iowa (21-2, 12-1): It’s still hard to say what exactly we should make of Northern Iowa, as they won two games last week by a combined six points, with both games at home. Then again, dating back to November 21, the Panthers have won 20 of their last 21 games. Maybe we shouldn’t be questioning them at all.

17. New Mexico (21-3, 7-2): If you remember back a few weeks, the Lobos were a fixture in these Power Rankings, until a surprising two game slide in early January. Well, they’ve now won seven games in a row, and could be here to stay. Well, if they can get a win at UNLV on Wednesday night anyway.

18. Butler (20-4, 13-0): Guess who’s baaaaack? After some early season struggles, the Bulldogs are making their usual mid-season romp through the Horizon standings, and have now won 12 in a row. No one in college basketball is hotter right now.

19. Georgia Tech (17-6, 5-4): Some days, Georgia Tech sure looks like they can beat anyone in the country. Last Thursday was not one of those days, as they got run out of the gym at Duke. It’ll be very curious to see what this talented (but young) team does with road trips to Miami and Wake Forest this week.

20. BYU (22-3, 7-2): After getting as high as No. 14 in these rankings two weeks ago, BYU has now lost two of their last four games. While it’s hard to blame the Cougars for losses at New Mexico and UNLV, it is easy to blame their effort on Saturday, as they gave up 56 first half points in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the 88-74 final score might indicate.

New to the Power Rankings: Northern Iowa, New Mexico, Butler

Dropping Out: Baylor, Vanderbilt, Temple

After a big win against Sacramento, Toronto forward Hedo Turkoglu talked with the media about playing with a mask this afternoon,Toronto’s recent strong play in the fourth quarter, the improved chemistry between himself and Chris Bosh and how going 4-6 from the field in the first quarter helped to build his confidence.

In this eighth edition of the Hoops Addict Podcast, Rashad and Ryan discuss:

• Who did and did not deserve to make the 2010 All-Star game
• The MVP candidates
• The best  and most disappointing teams so far this season
• The best coach so far
• The rookie of the year

Click here to download the MP3 of this podcast.

Fortunately, Hoops Addict has been keeping tabs on all the top college prospects and will be in attendance at NBA pre-draft workouts in Toronto and Washington in July to put it all in perspective. While there is a lot up in the air, this is our best attempt to get through all the speculation and give you some insight into who the top 30 prospects are.

Make sure you keep checking back for updated rankings over the next few months. Then, once the NBA Draft order is announced on May 18, we’ll start adapting these rankings to reflect specific team needs and what we’re hearing specific NBA teams will do.

1. John Wall PG
19 years old; 6′3″; 175 lbs.
Kentucky, Freshman

2.  Evan Turner SG/SF
21 years old; 6′7″; 205 lbs.
Ohio State, Junior

3. Wesley Johnson SF/PF
22 years old; 6′7″; 195 lbs.
Syracuse, Junior

4. Derrick Favors PF/C
18 years old; 6′9″; 215 lbs.
Georgia Tech, Freshman

5. Al-Farouq Aminu SF/PF
19 years old; 6′8″; 210 lbs.
Wake Forest, Sophomore

6. Ed Davis PF
20 years old; 6′9″; 215 lbs.
North Carolina, Sophomore

7. Cole Aldrich C
21 years old; 6′11″; 250 lbs.
Kansas, Junior

8. Stanley Robinson SF/PF
21 years old; 6′9″; 212 lbs.
Connecticut, Senior

9. Xavier Henry SG
18 years old; 6′6″; 210 lbs.
Kansas, Freshman

10.  Patrick Patterson PF
20 years old; 6′8″; 223 lbs.
Kentucky, Junior

11. Willie Warren SG
20 years old; 6′4″; 200 lbs.
Oklahoma, Sophomore

12. DeMarcus Cousins PF/C
19 years old; 6′10″; 270 lbs.
Kentucky, Freshman

13. Donatas Motiejunas PF/C
19 years old; 7′0″; 215 lbs.
Benetton Treviso, International

14. Avery Bradley PG/SG
19 years old, 6′ 3″ 180lbs.
Texas

15. Jeff Taylor SF
20 years old, 6′ 6″ 200lbs.
Vanderbilt

16. Ekpe Udoh PF
22 years old, 6′ 10″ 240lbs.
Baylor

17. Elias Harris SF/PF
20 years old, 6′ 7″ 220lbs.
Gonzaga

18. Damion James PF
22 years old; 6′7″; 225 lbs.
Texas, Senior

19. Greg Monroe PF/C
19 years old; 6′11″; 240 lbs.
Georgetown, Sophomore

20. Lance Stephenson SG
19 years old; 6′5″; 200 lbs.
Cincinnati, Freshman

21. Devin Ebanks SF/PF
20 years old; 6′8″; 205 lbs.
West Virginia, Sophomore

22. Larry Sanders PF
21 years old, 6′ 9″ 205lbs.
VCU

23. Quincy Pondexter SF/PF
21 years old, 6′ 6″ 220lbs.
Washington

24. Dexter Pittman C
21 years old, 6′ 10″ 310lbs.
Texas

25. Craig Brackins PF/C
22 years old; 6′10″; 230 lbs.
Iowa State, Junior

26. Jerome Jordan C
23 years old; 7′0″; 235 lbs.
Tulsa, Senior

27. Gani Lawal PF/C
21 years old; 6′8″; 233 lbs.
Georgia Tech, Junior

28. Charles Garcia PF/C
21 years old; 6′10″; 230 lbs.
Seattle University, Junior

29. Solomon Alabi C
21 years old, 7′ 1″ 230lbs.
Florida State

30. Kalin Lucas PG
20 years old; 6′0″; 180 lbs.
Michigan State, Junior

Sure, he’s shown flashes of potential in Utah, Toronto and Dallas, but he hasn’t been able to put together a solid string of games to warrant a consistent role in the NBA. Before he landed in New Jersey the highlight of his NBA career came during the 2007-08 season where he averaged 13.2 minutes and 5.7 points while playing for Toronto.

It took a mid-season trade this year which landed him in The Swamp for the gritty forward to finally make his mark in the NBA.

Since he landed in New Jersey he’s averaged an impressive 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 24.0 minutes of burn.

“Kris (Humphries) has been great for us,” interim head coach Kiki Vandeweghe raved to Hoops Addict. “He always plays hard. He plays with force and is a very physical player.  When he’s aggressive doing the dirty work he’s a very, very good player. He’s still young and has a lot to learn, but I like what I see out of him.”

It’s not only the coaching staff that has noticed the hustle and grit Humphries brings to the team. One of the faces of the franchise, Devin Harris, was quick to boast to the media this week about what the talented big man is bringing to the Nets.

This season the Nets rank 28th in the NBA in rebounding so Humphries snagging 11 rebounds while coming off the bench turned some heads of fans and earned the respect of his teammates.

“That was huge,” Harris admitted to Hoops Addict when asked what Humphries’ 11 rebounds meant to the team. “Rebounding is something we’ve had problems with and obviously one of the big reasons we got him is his ability to rebound and go in there and do some of the dirty work.  He’s the kind of player that likes to grind and fight for position and he’s good at it. That’s what we need right now.”

It’s kind of ironic that a guy who became known for his offense in high school and college has been able to remake his image as a gritty, energy guy in The Swamp. But after being stuck behind Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki he’s learned what it takes to see the court.

If Humphries continues to crash the glass and do the dirty works it appears he will have finally found a home in The Swamp.