Barkley

WASHINGTON - Former NBA great Charles Barkley hinted last night that he might be willing to come out of retirement next season and play for the Washington Wizards. Speaking at halftime of an NBA telecast on TNT, Barkley, who retired last season with the Houston Rockets, said he was considering leaving broadcasting and returning to the court, possibly in Washington, provided he can get back into playing shape. "If I get myself in great shape and I feel good physically, I am going to play next year - but only if I can help a team," said Barkley, 38, who played 16 seasons with Philadelphia, Phoenix and Houston.

With his sneakers now safely resting in a closet, marking the end of a storied 16-year career, Charles Barkley is free to share his thoughts with the basketball-watching public on Turner's NBA coverage as a studio analyst. And if you've followed Barkley through the years, you'd know that he has no problem expressing precisely what's on his mind. For instance, when asked the other day what he thought of getting higher ratings, Barkley said, "Someone asked me last week about ratings. Man, I don't care about ratings."

Going to Indianapolis: Despite its off-court problems with the NCAA involving point guard Erick Barkley, the Red Storm has won 11 of its past 12 games. St. John's gets solid inside play and relies on Barkley and senior Bootsy Thornton (Dunbar) from the perimeter. Team on the rise: It has been a season-long comeback for LSU, which has returned from a virtual NCAA death penalty under third-year coach John Brady and stars Stromile Swift and Jabari Smith. Team on the decline: Purdue lost its regular season finale to Indiana, then helped Wisconsin get into the NCAA tournament by losing to the Badgers in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.

Erick Barkley, St. John's. Jamal Crawford, Michigan. JaRon Rush, UCLA. Kareem Rush, Missouri. Andre Williams, Oklahoma State. Call them the NCAA Five, not the Fab Five. And also know they are victims of a sinful system and an organization that has less heart than the Tin Man. Barkley and Crawford are serving suspensions handed down by the NCAA. So is JaRon Rush. His brother, Kareem, and Williams are finished serving time in the NCAA penalty box. Here are their "crimes: " Barkley traded cars with a friend.

NEW YORK -- St. John's University benched star point guard Erick Barkley for yesterday's game against Boston College for violating an NCAA rule, school officials said. Coach Mike Jarvis and athletic director Ed Manetta wouldn't say what prompted the suspension. But they did say they were forced to discipline the fast-rising sophomore because the NCAA inaccurately interpreted a rule, quashing Barkley's rights in the process. "You are guilty until proven innocent," Jarvis said after the Red Storm's 59-58 win over Boston College at Alumni Hall.

With the NBA season opening last night, it's time to get some predictions on the record.Only, because this is the NBA, the league that common sense forgot, predictions can't stop at the normal rundown of who is going to win, blah, blah, blah.There are other, equally interesting issues to speculate about, such as how long it will take the Knicks to regret signing Latrell Sprewell to a $61.9 million contract just weeks after he blew off training camp and took a cross country drive in one of his 11 cars without calling the team.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- They are too big a school with too rich a tradition to be called the only Cinderella team left in the NCAA tournament.Just call Ohio State a turnaround team, the most remarkable in recent college basketball history.The Buckeyes continued their astounding climb from the bottom of the Big Ten last season to the heights of the school's first Final Four appearance in 31 years last night with a thrilling 77-74 victory over St. John's in the NCAA South Regional final at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Erick Barkley had all the flash, style and prime time moves of a typical New York City high school point guard when he came out of renowned Christ the King in Queens nearly two years ago.But the freshman St. John's point guard didn't have the kind of polish and maturity to prompt a respected coach like Mike Jarvis to hand a top-notch Big East team over to his leadership.That smooth finish was applied by coach Max Good last season at Maine Central Institute prep school.Now the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Barkley will be making most of the decisions for the third-seeded Red Storm (27-8)

With the season reaching its one-month mark on Friday, scoring is down, play has been sloppy and the most surprising story is the Philadelphia 76ers' start.Before Friday's 89-78 loss to the Miami Heat, Philadelphia was on a six-game winning streak (the team's best since 1991), had a 10-5 record and was third in the Atlantic Division.Credit the maturation of guard Allen Iverson for the team's strong start. Since he entered the league launching shots at every opportunity -- a byproduct of his two years at Georgetown when he always had the green light -- Iverson has developed into a team player.

With the recent acquisition of Scottie Pippen, more than a few basketball prognosticators are picking the Houston Rockets as the team to beat in the Western Conference of the NBA this season. While the move certainly puts Charles Barkley in position to win his first championship, he knows better than to get too excited about what people are predicting."You don't go out with a woman on the first date and say you're going to marry her, do you?" Barkley said. "I'm not going to do that with this team.