Saint Marys coach Randy Bennett offered Adam Caporn a scholarship in the summer of 2001 having never taken a recruiting trip to Australia or seen him play in person.Caporn accepted having never stepped ft on the campus in Moraga, California.And so it started.In every season since, the Gaels have had at least one Australian player on their roster. That list includes?Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova, two of Australias most revered national team players, who both have carved out NBA careers through Saint Marys.An unorthodox beginning has blossomed into more than Bennett or Caporn ever envisioned. A program-high seven Aussies will suit up for the Gaels this season.Its the 15th year in a row weve had a kid from Australia on our team, Bennett said. So whatever that is -- a pipeline, a partnership -- its a big part of our program.The Gaels wouldnt have their first ever preseason top-25 ranking (No. 19 in Thursdays coaches poll) without them. Saint Marys returned every player of note, including senior forward Dane Pineau, a Melbourne native who led the team with 8.1 rebounds per game; and junior guard Emmett Naar, a Sydney native who led the team in scoring (14.0) and assists (6.4) and was named to the all-West Coast Conference first team last season.Pineaus father, Brad, is from the States and played collegiately at Hawaii before playing professionally in Australia. Pineau knew he wanted to play college basketball in the U.S. like his father and early on, he focused in on Saint Marys because of the success Australian players had there.Theres a gd chance that if [other Australian players] didnt do well guys like me wouldnt have got a chance to come over, Dane Pineau said.The Gaels Australian players didnt assimilate to American culture. They brought their own, and others in the program learned to embrace it.McKeon Pavilion, the Gaels home venue, proudly displays an Australian flag. Saint Marys students respond to big plays with Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oy, oy, oy, chants during games. The Bmers even made singing in the locker rm cl. After wins, the entire team sings a song, although gd luck trying to get any of their players to reveal the lyrics. They protect their celebration songs like a state secret. Pineau would only say that it was similar to a song they would sing at the Australian Institute of Sport.Winning is fun, but when you can do something with the team in locker after that, it makes the team closer, Naar said. We tried to add stuff like that. ... Im sure the Americans have more fun now that were here. It rubs off.Well, not quite everything rubs off.Caporn waited until a second Aussie, Daniel Kickert, joined him on the roster before introducing Vegemite to the team. The popular brand of yeast extract spread over toast is considered a normal part of breakfast in Australia. Caporn told ESPN.com via email that his Saint Marys teammates were always in shock that we were eating that stuff.The salty flavor never picked up among their American-born teammates. Try as they might, Naar said most of the Saint Marys students who attempt to speak with an Australian accent never quite picked that up either.Theyre terrible, it sounds British and stuff like that, Naar said. A lot of peoples understanding comes from [Outback Steakhouse] ads. Thats not quite an accurate [representation] of what were like.Bennett said it wasnt some master plan to corner the market on Australian talent.When he was hired in 2001, Bennett needed players in the way just about every newly hired coach with a late start on recruiting scrambles to assemble a roster.It was getting late in the recruiting calendar and Bennett still had two available scholarships. He wasnt to the point of desperation, but he wasnt about to ignore free advice.Russ Pennell, who is currently the head coach at Central Arkansas, was an assistant coach at Arizona State, and the Sun Devils had just completed a foreign tour in Australia.Caporn was the one player in particular who made an impression on Pennell. It wasnt enough to pique the Sun Devils interest, but Caporn did just enough to earn a referral.I never saw him play, I never met him or anything, Bennett said. I watched a video, tk some peoples word on it and tk him. We kind of lucked into that, then it kind of went from there.Marty Clarke, who coached Caporn at the Australia Institute of Sport, said the timing couldnt have been better for both parties.If it was somebody different, he might have hated it and the word gets back out in Australia, Dont go to Saint Marys, said Clarke, now a Gaels assistant coach. It wasnt like that. He loved it here. He thrived in it.So much so that Caporn believed his 6-ft-10 best friend would love it t. He suggested Bennett recruit Kickert, who went on to become the schls all-time leading scorer until Dellavedova surpassed him.Theres no need for luck or happenstance now.Saint Marys track record is well established within Australian basketball circles, and it keeps the Bmers coming.It certainly helps that Caporn, who after serving a stint as an assistant coach under Bennett, returned to Australia as an associate coach at the Centre of Excellence. Its essentially the rebranded AIS and it is the Australian equivalent to an American playing for USA Basketballs youth teams.His presence helps, but Caporn said Aussies continue to want to play at Saint Marys for other reasons t.The schl and community embraced us wholeheartedly from Day 1, Caporn told ESPN.com via email. Secondly, I think Coach Bennett and the leadership at Saint Marys have similar values that Aussie athletes and teams have -- such as team-first and toughness. This meant that the Aussie imprint was not only embraced but reinforced.Its difficult to distinguish what had more influence, Bennetts preferred playing style or the Australian players blending in the system. The Gaels are suited for international play -- lots of ball screens, and ball movement that puts a premium on gd passing and gd shting.It suits the Australian kids strength, Clarke said. We can play to their strength, which is not their out-and-out athleticism. Its not high-powered, one-on-one basketball.It is, however, gd enough for Saint Marys to continue to seek out more Australian players in the future.Everyone who has come over -- I think were on our 18th right now -- theyve had gd careers, Bennett said. Theyre not all pros like Delly and Patty, but they all fit. They had a lot to do with the culture of our program, which is pretty gd right now. Theyve had their fingerprints all over that. Cheap Shoes Clearance . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Cheap Shoes Wholesale . The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Lions have not announced the hiring, which was first reported by ESPN. Lombardi, the grandson of former Green Bay Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, has been an offensive assistant on Sean Paytons New Orleans staff since 2007. http://www.saleshoesuk.com/ . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Wholesale Shoes Uk . Numbers Game lks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Cheap Shoes Wholesale Free Shipping . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. MADISON, Wis. -- The first key to executing a successful jet sweep at No. 6 Wisconsin can be summarized in two words by receivers coach Ted Gilmore.Run scared, Gilmore said Wednesday.Speed to beat defenders to the edge and vision to find the right hole help, t. The eighth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2, No. 7 CFP) will be watching for the sweep when they face the Badgers (10-2, No. 6 CFP) on Saturday night in Indianapolis in the Big Ten Championship game.The first thing that goes through my head is get up field and get whatever you can, Wisconsin receiver Jazz Peavy said. When you see a lot of green grass like that its just run, run, run.Just like last week in the 31-17 win over Minnesota .Peavy went 71 yards down the right sideline to the Gophers 11. Two plays later, tailback Corey Clement barreled into the end zone from 2 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 6:42 left.It happens so fast you cant really think about it, Peavy said.The jet sweep has been a tl at Wisconsin in the past, spanning coaching staffs. But it was really dusted off this year on Oct. 15 in the 30-23 loss in overtime to No. 2 Ohio State. Peavy, a junior who has emerged as a key offensive weapon, gashed the Buckeyes for 70 yards rushing on six carries.Peavy has reached a point where he belongs and he can make those plays, Gilmore said. I tell him all the time to trust himself.The receiver has left such an impression that the play has a new nickname: the Jazz sweep.Whatever its called, the Nittany Lions want to put a stop to it.A defense reinforced by the midseason returns of linebackers Brandon Bell and Jason Cabinda from injuries has helped hold opponents to less than 47 yards rushing in three of the last five games. But the Nittany Lions got gashed by sweeps, shovel passes and play-action in a 42-39 loss to Pittsburgh in September. Cabinda, the starting middle linebacker, didnt play in that game.Its something we kind of plan on happening, cornerback John Reid said Wednesday when asked if Penn State would be brushing up on defending the sweep.The sweep is just one of a series of tweaks that coach Paul Chryst -- a former Wisconsin offensive crdinator -- has made since middseason, when the running game became more productive.ddddddddddddWith Wisconsin coming off a bye week, Ohio State didnt lk prepared for Peavy running the sweep. The next week, Chryst started using senior Bart Houston again at quarterback. The former starter began taking a few series each game, alternating with Alex Hornibrk, the redshirt freshman who tk his job.Houston has embraced his role, often giving the offense a spark. A former option quarterback in high schl, the right-handed senior has more mobility and presents defenses a different lk from Hornibrk, a left-handed pocket passer.With Hornibrk listed as questionable with a head injury, Houston may get the call again to start against Penn State.After rotating offensive linemen for much of the first half of the season, Wisconsins front five has more stability. Clement remains Wisconsins go-to back and best breakaway threat, though speedy freshman Bradrick Shaw has taken more carries later in the season.The Badgers lead the FBS in time of possession (35:12). The ball-control offense sets the tempo, and keeps a big-play defense fresh.What you cant allow this type of offense to do is ball control, eat up the clock, just grind you down with three- and four-yard plays down the field, Penn State coach James Franklin said.Its all part of the coaching chess match that will play out on Saturday.The jet sweep isnt necessarily an integral part of the playbk each week, but just the act of Peavy running from his wideout position toward the quarterback before the snap could cause a distraction to the defense -- enough so that a handoff up the middle to Clement inflicts just as much damage.It really opens up and spreads out the offense, Clement said. Whether its a phony or its going to be given to Jazz, it keeps defenses on their toes.---AP freelance writer Travis Johnson in State College, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.---More AP college ftball: tball.ap.org" target="_blank">www.collegeftball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25---Follow Genaro Armas at: https://twitter.com/GArmasAP ' ' '