COLLEGE HOOPS HEATS UP, OFF THE COURT.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN

Bowl Championship Series got you down? Sour you on the politics of college football and the bureaucracy? Make you wonder if up is down, and down is sideways because the No. 1 team in the country, that would be USC, isn't playing in the so-called national-championship game?

Then, thank goodness for college basketball, which is moving to the forefront for a bit until the bowl season, at least the bowls that really matter, heat up for a day or two in January.

But by college basketball moving out of football's shadows, hope you didn't think we were talking about on the court. In the courts? Maybe. But not on the court.

These wonderful tidbits are a reminder just how obscene the landscape of college athletics has become.

--One-time Missouri future star Ricky Clemons said he and another player were paid by two assistant coaches. The tapes of such conversations were released to newspapers in Missouri, further muddying an ugly situation that has the NCAA investigating.

Furthermore, the tapes came from conversations Clemons had while, you guessed it, in jail. Clemons went on to say he was told to deny ever receiving money if he was asked.

Tigers coach Quin Snyder won't discuss the matter in detail because of the investigation. Athletic Director Mike Alden issued a statement saying, ``Our basketball program has fully cooperated with the investigation and respects the due diligence that has taken place. I am confident in coach Snyder's management of the Mizzou basketball program and I believe that he will address any problem areas that have been identified through this review process.''

Clemons was in jail for two misdemeanor counts from an assault case involving his former girlfriend.

--St. John's senior guard Willie Shaw was thrown off the team for a violation of team rules, which turns out to be his arrest last month on suspicion of marijuana possession. That comes after he was suspended his final four games of his sophomore season for reportedly testing positive for marijuana.

--Former Pepperdine coach Jan van Breda Kolff could be charged by the NCAA for unethical conduct for his role in the scandal at St. Bonaventure last season that led to his firing and the Bonnies deciding not to play their final two games last season after the team had 12 victories taken away because of an eligibility question.

If van Breda Kolff is sanctioned, a return to the college game could be restricted. He is an assistant with the NBA's New Orleans Hornets.

--After what Green Mountain High athletic director Jim Opperman described as out-of-hand media attention, former Baylor coach Dave Bliss resigned as a volunteer coach at the Denver-area school. This is the same Bliss who resigned from Baylor in the wake of the NCAA violations uncovered after Patrick Dennehy, a basketball player at Baylor, was missing for six weeks before his body was found.

--UCLA courts Thompson: Power forward Michael Thompson, who will complete his finals this week at Duke before transferring, is in the process of setting up a visit at UCLA to coincide with the Bruins' game against Michigan State on Dec. 20.

Thompson, who played summer ball with Bruins forward T.J. Cummings, will take his last final Friday. Thompson also is considering Notre Dame and Texas, and he wants to choose a new school by Jan. 1.

``I think it will come down to playing time and need, and how he fits in with the team,'' said Michael's brother, Elgin Thompson, who is advising him in the process. ``Conference and geography make no difference. There is no leader. I think the visits will determine where he goes.''

Thompson, who lives in the Chicago area, is trying to arrange a Dec. 23 visit to Notre Dame and a Dec. 29 trip to Texas.

--Jarvis' job status: St. John's beat St. Francis, N.Y., by six points, so don't think the Mike Jarvis watch isn't on. Jarvis was looking for a contract extension after last season, but the school kept quiet on the matter. The message being he wouldn't get one despite going 108-57 with the Johnnies in his first five seasons.

It's gotten worse as St. John's (2-4) lost to Fairfield and Hofstra, and now there are rumblings out of New York that he could be in trouble after a misleading 21-13 season in 2002-03 in which St. John's won the NIT.

CAPTION(S):

4 boxes

Box:

(1) LEADERS

(2) FAST BREAK

(3) STAT OF THE WEEK

(4) Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS

- Brian Dohn