Hoops Haven

Even though most experts predict a down year in ‘09-’10, I argue that the Atlantic Coast Conference will have one of it’s strongest ever with as many as 8-9 teams up for NCAA bids. For the past decade, or 2 decades for that matter, the ACC Champion usually comes from Tobacco Road. This season will be no different since Duke and UNC share the conference’s preseason #1 ranking.

Fresh off of a National Championship and losing 4 players to the NBA, UNC will be in rebuilding mode,……….scratch that, the Tarheels don’t rebuild, they reload. Led by lottery bound Ed Davis and Deon Thompson in the frontcourt, the Heels could still be a Top 10 team come March. Reinforcements arrive in the form of a Top 5 recruiting class highlighted by 6-10 John Henson, the 6-10 Wear twins, along with two impressive backcourt players in Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald, who will learn behind Marcus Ginyard and Larry Drew in the backcourt. Most Duke teams have historically been guard heavy, but this year’s version has one of the best frontcourts in the conference. Tyler Zeller, Zoubek, and Miles Plumlee will be joined by Miles’ little brother Mason Plumlee(update: injured) and Ryan Kelly in the freshman class frontcourt. They get backcourt help from freshman early entry Andre Dawkins for help in the backcourt to play alongside Nolan Smith and John Scheyer. Wooden Award Candidate Kyle Singler returns and should lead the team in scoring as the Blue Devils should once again be among the Madness of March.

Maryland returns one of the most exciting players in the country in Greivis Vasquez, who may be the conferences best player. Adrian Bowie is a second scorer and Sean Mosely, huge afro and all, is an excellent defender. Georgia Tech, behind a mixture of experience and youth, could be a force once their Top 5 recruiting class, led by PF Derick Favors, gets accustomed to NCAA style of play. Clemson has one of the conference’s best players in Trevor Booker, as well as one of the nation’s better recruiting classes, but always seem to fade late in the year. Wake Forest, who are led by double double machine Al-Farouq Aminu and Ishmael Smith at the point should be good enough to be a postseason participant.

Boston College and Virginia Tech should be once again on the bubble. Florida State and Miami have both lost players to the NBA and may pull off a couple of upsets that we are now used to but probably won’t have enough to go to the Dance. NC State can’t wait for next season’s talented freshmen recruits while Virginia is doomed to settle into last place. With the conference so deep, expect many of the middle of the pack teams to help boost their resumes with improbable upsets.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1) UNC

2) Duke

3) Maryland

4) Georgia Tech

5) Clemson

6) Boston College

7) Wake Forest

Virginia Tech

9) Florida State

10) Miami

11) NC State

12) Virginia

Teams On the Rise:

Maryland, Duke, Boston College

Teams On the Decline:

NC State, Florida State, Virginia

Coach of the Year Candidates:

G. Williams, Maryland       R. Williams, UNC         Coach K, Duke

Player of the Year Candidates:

Singler, Duke       Davis, UNC        Vasquez, Maryland

Other ACC Players To Watch For:

Deon Thompson, UNC

Nolan Smith, Duke

Trevor Booker, Clemson

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest

Giani Lawal, GT

Freshman of the Year Candidates:

Derick Favors, GT

John Henson, UNC

Mfon Udofia, GT

Andre Dawkins, Duke

Milton Jennings, Clemson

Last season, the Big 12 Conference was arguably the 2nd best conference behind the Big East with 7 teams making the NCAA Tournament field and with Baylor, making a deep run in the NIT. The Big 12 will again undoubtedly be among the top 2 conferences in the nation with Kansas and Texas being legitimate title contenders.

The NCAA ‘07 Champion Kansas Jayhawks enter the season as everyone’s pre season #1, behind possibly the nation’s deepest roster headlined by 2 Wooden Award Candidates in Sr. Sherron Collins and Jr. Cole Aldrich. Both are NBA lottery bound following the season. Adding one of the top recruiting class in the nation, led by Top 5 recruit Xavier Henry to a great group of talented role players won’t hurt.  Texas is equally primed for a National Title run. Possessing one of the nation’s most imposing frontcourts, led by Sr. Damion James, Gary Johnson, and Dexter Pittman, along with the nation’s #3 recruiting class, should make the Longhorns a Top 5 team all season. Freshmen Avery Bradley and Jordan Hamilton could start by midseason. Oklahoma is probably the third best squad in the conference because of Coach Capel’s impressive job of bringing in some talented recruits to try and replace last season’s NCAA POY Blake Griffin. “Tiny” Gallon, at 6-9 and 300 lbs, will be a force in the paint as Tommy Mason Griffin should start at the point, freeing up super soph, Willie Warren to do what he does best, score the rock. Kansas State will make their 3rd straight Tourney appearance behind their superb backcourt led by Sr. point guard Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen. They will get help from UConn transfer Curtis Kelly and one of the top freshmen in the country, Wally Judge, who is a Beasley clone.

Missouri won’t be as good as last season, but will still cause fits because of superior talent and coach Anderson’s helter skelter system. DeMarre Carroll is in the NBA, so the Tigers will look to Seniors JT Tiller and Zaire Taylor along with soph Kim English and freshman Mike Dixon to lead. With their two leaders departed(Carter and Elonu), Texas A&M wil be led by Sr. Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis. Freshman Naji Hibbert is the real deal. Oklahoma State brings in 4 Top 100 recruits to help big time scorer James Anderson offset the loss of Byron Eaton, who was one of the program’s best All time players. Just like last season, the Baylor Bears will surprise a lot of teams led by LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter. The Bears also have recruited well by picking up big man Cory Jefferson, Mark McLaughlin from Nevada, and Nolan Dennis, who was formerly commited to Memphis.

Iowa State has hopes of making the Tournament behind Craig Brackins, who returns for his Junior season after withdrawing from the NBA Draft. They will get a boost from Marquette transfer Scott Christopherson and freshman Chris Colvin. Texas Tech under Pat or Bob Knight just hasn’t been able to keep up on the recruiting trail with the other top teams in the conference. They return leading scorer Roberson but they won’t have enough to compete against teams like Texas and Kansas. Nebraska has to be in worse shape than last season considering they lost 4 of their top 5 scorers. Colorado will fight the Cornhuskers for last place in the conference.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1) Kansas

2) Texas

3) Oklahoma

4) Kansas State

5) Oklahoma State

6) Missouri

7) Baylor

Texas A&M

9) Iowa State

10) Texas Tech

11) Nebraska

12) Colorado

Teams On the Rise:

Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State

Teams On the Decline:

Missouri, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Coach of the Year Candidates:

Frank Martin, K State, Capel, OU, Barnes, Texas

Player of the Year Candidates:

Sheron Collins, Kansas

Damion James, Texas

Willie Warren, Oklahoma

Cole Aldrich, Kansas

Other Players To Watch:

Dexter Pittman, Texas

Denis Clemente, K State

James Anderson, OK State

Craig Brackins, Iowa St

LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor

Freshman Of the Year Candidates:

Avery Bradley, Texas

Xavier Henry, Kansas

Keith “Tiny” Gallon, Oklahoma

Tommy Mason-Griffin, Oklahoma

Wally Judge, K State

Jordan Hamilton, Texas

After one of the most successful seasons in conference history which saw 5 teams in the Elite Eight and 2 teams in the Final Four, the Big East has emerged as the marquee conference in the nation. While they may not have as many elite level teams, the bottom of the conference is catching up to the top, creating much more depth. This year’s competition should again be fierce and fun to watch.

Villanova returns probably the best backcourt in the nation. Scottie Reynolds has been brilliant as Jay Wright’s QB, and Corey Fisher could emerge as one the best shooting guards in the country. Their weakness has been post play, or lack of it. Bringing in 2 Top 50 frontcourt players should help that. Some nights the 3’s don’t go down. If they can be more consistant with inside-outside play, the Cats will be back in the Final Four. UConn lost Hasheem Thabeet and A.J. Price to the NBA, but Jim Calhoun is well acquainted with McDonald’s and I don’t mean hamburgers (All-Americans). They return super shooting guard Jerome Dyson, sophmore point Kemba Walker, and smooth small forward Stanley Robinson. Jim Calhoun is one of the best in the business and will have the Huskies in the hunt. West Virginia’s coach Bob Huggins, welcomes back a tough veteran group which includes Devin Ebanks (6’9 F, 15.2 ppg) and DaSean Butler(11.2ppg) to lead a potential Final Four team in 2010. The fiery and volatile Huggins, who left Cincinnati in turmoil, would relish a Big East championship as answer to his critics. Louisville lost its top two players in Earl Clark and Terrence Williams. The Cardinal completed an impossible double play last year winning the regular season and the conference tournament titles . Guard Edgar Sosa and forward Samardo Samuels will once again lead a talented, athletic group. Newcomer guard Peyton Siva is the real deal, and Rick Pitino is a master at mixing and matching the right combinations. Cinncinnati may very well be a contender after two consecutive 8-10 campaigns. Look for the Bearcats to join the upper echelon of the Big East. Deonnta Vaughn and Yancy Gates are all-conference, and newcomer Lance Stephenson might be the best freshman in the country. If the Bearcats can steal a few on the road, they will be in the hunt for a NCAA berth.

Georgetown was a huge disappointment a year ago. Losing close games in the last 5 minutes, the Hoyas are still a very dangerous group. 6’11 Greg Monroe, who is a future NBA player and star defender, is back and watch out for a major turnaround from John Thompson Jr. and company.  Syracuse lost All-American Johnny Flynn(17.4 ppg) and Eric Devendorf (15.7 ppg), but Andy Rautins is an excellent player and 6’7 Wesley Johnson, an Iowa State transfer, will be an impact player for the Orange . Coach Jim Boeheim, like Calhoun, regularly visits McDonald’s. The problem is he sometimes coaches like Ronald McDonald. Notre Dame spent the early part of last season in the Top 10 before disappearing. They have, All-American Luke Harangody(23.6 ppg), who will keep them in most games, but they need to play much better defense under overrated coach Mike Brey. Pitt lost 4 starters from an Elite 8 team. Coach Jamie Dixon won’t be down for long, since he has proven that he knows how to win(the last six years in the top 20). Jermaine Dixon will lead a young and inexperienced team that welcomes highly recruited 6’9 Dante Taylor as a replacement for Dejuan Blair in the paint. Seton Hall has all league selection Jeremy Hazell(22.7 ppg) along with a cast Bobby Gonzalez calls his most talented. The Pirates were 15th out of 16 in scoring defense, which is not acceptable in this high-powered league. This year is critical for Gonzalez, who is on the hot seat

St John’s once proud program has spent the 21st century at the bottom of the conference. Coach Norm Robert’s starts the year with his best player injured(Anthony Mason Jr), and unless a miracle occurs, the Red Storm will fire him in the spring. Marquette’s coach Buzz Williams had an awesome 1st year in the league, but most of former coch Tom Crean’s players have departed. Now we shall see if Buzz can handle the big stage. Providence finished 10-8 in the league, on their way to their first winning season in 6 years under 1st year coach Keno Davis, but loses their starting five. They return only 3 scholarship players, which will leave them on the wrong side of many blowouts. Rutgers is 8-44 in coach Fred Hill’s 3 years in Big East play. The Scarlet Knights were near the bottom in almost every statistical category(not exactly a recipe for success). Hill will pound the final nails in his coaching coffin at Rutgers in 2010. South Florida is still overmatched on a nightly basis in the country’s premier league. DePaul was 0-18 last year in conference play. Put it this way,………it can’t get any worse!

Predicted Order of Finish:

1) Villanova

2) West Virginia

3) UConn

4) Louisville

5)Cinncinnati

6) Georgetown

7) Syracuse

Notre Dame

9) Seton Hall

10) Pitt

11) St John’s

12) Marquette

13) Providence

14) Rutgers

15) South Florida

16) DePaul

Teams on the Rise:

Cincinnati,    Georgetown,    Seton Hall

Teams on the Decline:

Pitt,    Marquette,    St. John’s

Coach of the Year Candidates:

Huggins, WV      Thompson, G-Town      Wright, Villanova

Player of the Year Candidates:

Scottie Reynolds, Villanova      Luke Harangody, ND      Devin Ebanks, WV

Other Big East Players to Watch For:

Deonta Vaughn, Cincinnati

Jerome Dyson, Connecticut

Samuardo Samuels, Louisville

Jeremy Hazell, Seton Hall

Corey Fisher, Villanova

Greg Monroe, G-Town

DaSean Butler, WV

Freshman of the Year Candidates:

Lance Stephenson, Cinncinnati

Dante Taylor, Pitt

Dominick Cheek, Villanova

Mouph Yarou, Villanova

Peyton Siva, Louisville

Alex Oriachi, UConn

Top Transfers:

Wesley Johnson, Syracuse from Iowa St

Taylor King, Villanova from Duke

As a mid major conference, the Atlantic 10 saw three teams advancing to the big dance last season, with Temple going as conference champ, and with Xavier and Dayton receiving at large bids. This year the conference is again loaded with strong balance, and is poised for another very competitive season.

Dayton is the obvious favorite with 10 of their 11 top scorers returning from a team which won a round in last season’s NCAA Tourney. They are anchored by Wooden Award candidate Chris Wright who is a lock for the NBA someday. Look for the Flyers to knock off Xavier’s streak of 3 consecutive regular season crowns. Duquesne returns four starters from an extremely athletic team that was a couple of Dionte Christmas bombs away from an NCAA bid. Coach Ron Everhart’s “10 men for 40 minutes” gives teams fits, with it’s ball hawking defense. LaSalle is poised for its best season since the early 90’s. Coach Giannini’s group is led by Rodney Green(17.8 ppg) and Ruben Guillandeaux, who was the conference’s 3rd leading scorer and 2nd in assists last season. The most exciting addition is newcomer, 6’10 Aaric Murray, who was a Top 50 recruit and gives the Explorers a powerful post presence. Xavier is one 9 teams in the nation to have 25 or more wins in each of the past 3 seasons. The Musketeers, like Dayton , rarely lose on their home court. However, they lost head coach Sean Miller to Arizona, and 3 seniors who combined for 37 ppg. Under new coach Chris Mack, Xavier will be hard pressed to duplicate the last 3 seasons. Richmond’s point guard Kevin Anderson, is one of the best in the country. Losing only one player to graduation, the Spiders could be a dark horse to win the conference. They must find a way to win on the road, which has proven to be (their Achilles heal) under Philadelphia native Chris Mooney. Temple lost leading scorer Dionte Christmas, Sergio Olmos, and guard Smardge Inge. Lavoy Allen returns, and he may be the best big man in the conference. Fran Dunphy’s teams always play tough defense, but desperately need scoring other than Allen. TU also had a sub par recruiting year. Charlotte returns preseason 2nd team selection point guard Dijuan Harris who is excellent. The 49ers are young and deep. Massachusetts had the best recruiting year in the A-10. Highly touted 6’5 guard Fred Riley and 6’7 Terrell Vinson were both pursued by Big East and ACC teams. The Minutemen only return one starter, but if the frosh develop………….lookout!  St. Joseph’s lost all world Ahmad Nivins, last year’s MVP of the conference and their only true scorer, to the NBA. The cupboard looks bare for 2010.  St. Louis’ two best players from 2009, Tommy Lindell and Kevin Lisch have departed. The Billikens always play excellent defense under Rick Majerus, but need offense desperately. George Washington has struggled under Coach Karl Hobbs. After last year’s 10-18 season, his job could be on the line. Fordham and St. Bonaventure have been buried at the bottom of the standings seemingly forever, and this year will be no exception.

Predicted Order of Finish:

1) Dayton

2) Duquesne

3) LaSalle

4) Xavier

5) Richmond

6) Temple

7) Charlotte

UMass

9) Rhode Island

10) St Joe’s

11) St Louis

12) George Washington

13) St Bonaventure

14) Fordham

Teams On the Rise

LaSalle, Duquesne, UMass

Teams On the Decline

St.Joe’s, St. Louis, Xavier

Coach of the Year Candidates

Giannini, LaSalle      Everhart,Duquesne      Kellogg, UMass

Player of the Year Candidates

Lavoy Allen, Temple      Chris Wright, Dayton      Kevin Anderson, Richmond

Other A-10 Players to Watch For:

Rodney Green, LaSalle

Rickey Harris, UMASS

Andrew Nicholson, St Bonaventure

Damian Saunders, Duquesne

Kenny Frease, Xavier

Freshman of the Year Candidates

Terrelle Vinson, Massachusetts

Fred Riley, Massachusetts

Aaric Murray, LaSalle

Chris Gaston, Fordham

Chris Braswell, Charlotte

After getting 7 NCAA Tournament bids, netting the national runner up in Michigan State, and with Penn State winning the NIT, one would think that we have seen the best of the conference for a few years. Not true………. The Big 10 could possibly get even better this year with most coaches returning virtually their entire rosters from last season. The team with possibly the biggest holes to fill is the Spartans since they lost center Goran Sutan and conference Defensive Player of the Year Travis Walton. Surely other teams like Purdue and Ohio State, as conference contenders, hope those key losses will keep them a little closer to Coach Izzo’s squad than the 4 games which State won last year. Tubby Smith helped to put the Golden Gophers back on the national scene and will only get better. Michigan could again be a sleeper since they return 7 players from last season’s NCAA Tourney squad. Bruce Weber has one of the top recruiting classes in the nation to help the Illini contend for another tournament berth. Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Penn State all have major holes to fill, while it will be interesting to see how quick Tom Crean can rebuild the once proud Indiana Hoosiers once he has his own recruits. Unfortunately, Coach Lickliter at Iowa may be on the way out since they were 11-25 in the conference the last two seasons and things don’t look good for this year.

Predicted Order of Finish

1) Michigan State

2) Purdue

3) Ohio State

4)Minnesota

5) Michigan

6) Illinois

7) Wisconsin

Northwestern

9) Penn State

10) Indiana

11) Iowa

Teams On the Rise

Michigan, Illinois, Indiana

Teams On the Decline

Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa

Player of the Year Candidates

Evan Turner – Ohio St, Kalin Lucas – Michigan St, Robbie Hummel – Purdue

Other Big 10 Players To Watch For

Manny Harris, Jr. Michigan

Talor Battle, Jr. Penn St

Mike Davis, Jr. Illinois

Jajuan Johnson, Jr. Purdue

Kevin Coble, Jr. Northwestern

Freshmen of the Year Candidates

DJ Richardson – Illinois, Christian Watford – Indiana, Royce White – Minnesota