Rush The Court

Welcome to the first ACC Edition of the Morning Five. Every weekday morning we’ll highlight links from local and student papers concerning ACC hoops.

1. Raleigh News and Observer: new NC State head coach Mark Gottfried spent time last week selling his program to the Raleigh Sports Club. Gottfried discussed NC State’s illustrious basketball past as well as his plan for revitalizing the program’s future. Gottfried was pretty succinct and bluntly honest about the present. As for concrete evidence for his vision of the future, Gottfried mentioned scheduling a home-and-home series with Kansas. He even managed to send a jab back at one of the future members of the ACC: “Jim Boeheim popping off up there that he thinks it needs to be in New York. He needs to get in the league first, before he starts making demands on the league.”
2. Baltimore Sun – Recruiting Report: with Maryland‘s depleted roster the Terrapins will rely heavily on returning players like Sean Mosely to minimize Jordan Williams’ departure. While he’s only 6’4″, new coach Mark Turgeon expects Mosely to see time at power forward this year. Mosely is Maryland born and Maryland bred, a truly historic player at the state high school level. He was expected to be Williams’ sidekick last season on a Maryland team that never lived up to preseason expectations, but his numbers declined significantly from a strong sophomore campaign. This year Turgeon will need Mosely more than ever to help sophomore stud Terrell Stoglin carry the scoring load for the team.
3. Durham Herald Sun: North Carolina is looking to replace athletic director Dick Baddour (who is set to step down following the NCAA Committee of Infractions meeting later this month), and the selection committee is looking for experience in hiring coaches and demonstrated NCAA compliance. Both qualifications make sense, as the Tar Heels are currently searching for a new football coach, and the university wants to both have a strong arm to deal with compliance–not to mention sending a message to the NCAA that the university is serious about it.
4. The Chronicle (Duke‘s student newspaper): “The NCAA is broken.” Duke student Andy Moore checks in on a topic of much recent debate largely spawned Taylor Branch’s Atlantic piece. The most interesting quote from the piece comes from Duke’s Charles T. Clotfelter, Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy: “What is happening now gives everyone the benefit from the market except the athletes […] They’re kept out because the universities have made a deal not to pay them. In economics, we call that a cartel.” Moore also attacks the pettier NCAA rules, using two examples of recent NCAA violations which hurt Duke basketball over the past couple of years including Mike Krzyzewski‘s overblown summer recruiting violation and Nolan Smith‘s suspension for playing in a game not approved by the NCAA.
5. The Old Gold and Black (Wake Forest‘s student newspaper) and The Collegiate Times (Virginia Tech‘s student newspaper): ACC expansion has been a hot topic lately with the additions of Syracuse and Pittsburgh from the Big East. Many college football reporters scoffed at the move, saying it dilutes an already weak product. However, ACC basketball fans salivate at the prospect of seeing Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone and Pitt’s offensive rebounding prowess grace the courts of the ACC (ignoring for the moment any instability it causes the Big East). Wake Forest’s Evan Quinn notes that the move will only make it harder for a struggling Demon Deacon team to compete in the conference. Virginia Tech’s Alex Koma wants the conference to look at West Virginia and Connecticutto fill out the ACC at 16 members.Author’s Note: for the record, I disagree. I think the ACC should hold tight on expansion unless a jackpot team (i.e. Notre Dame) comes to its doorstep looking for a home.