Mike Dunlap did an admirable job leading St. John’s as its unexpected interim coach last season to a 6-12 record in the Big East with an extremely young roster. Starting five freshmen for much of the conference season, Dunlap never complained about the tumultuous situation surrounding his team that lost coach Steve Lavin to health issues as well as several players to ineligibility or transfer. He was considered a major asset in the young players’ developments last season and heading into next year, but it was a major shock when Dunlap was announced on Monday as the new head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats. NBA analysts were completely caught off guard, immediately pointing out that Dunlap has never been a head coach at the Division I college level or in the NBA. The detractors should consider his previous history in challenging situations such as the one he will face with the Bobcats, a team that just finished 7-59 for the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Dunlap has twice before stepped into tough spots as an interim head coach and got young players to buy in. He did it first in 2008-09 at Arizona when Lute Olson stepped down early and then last season with St. John’s. Highly regarded in terms of player development and game strategy, Dunlap is a better fit than some other big names despite his lack of professional experience.

Mike Dunlap has impressed everywhere he’s worked as an assistant in the past (Getty Images/M. Layton)

After a decade coaching Division II Metro State, a stint that included two National Titles, Dunlap has bounced around several notable teams as a highly-regarded top assistant, including with the Denver Nuggets from 2006-08 under George Karl. And Karl, the future Hall of Famer, shared some terrific praise of Dunlap when he heard his former assistant got the Bobcats job. “[He’s] probably the most intelligent guy I ever talk to about the game of basketball,” said Karl. “Mike provides insight that I’ve never had anybody deliver. When you talk to him off the court, he could be Socrates. On the court, he’s an intense, competitive SOB.” It’s these kinds of recommendations from his prior stops that got Dunlap on Charlotte’s short list. For a team that struggled so badly and doesn’t have much talent or ego to deal with, the Bobcats needed someone willing to work endlessly in search of developing young talent. “To hire a guy of knowledge and character and service more than spin and perception is something that makes me feel great,” added Karl. When you think about it that way, Dunlap seems like a progressive hire by the Bobcats, a team that’s made such a mistake with these moves in the past.

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1. There are many coaching hires where the logical process makes normal and complete sense to everyone – a longtime assistant is promoted to the top job; a big personality moves on to a school to match his ego; a mid-major guy is looking for more resources and talent. Occasionally, though, a random hire has everyone around the industry scratching his head wondering what they missed. It’s not very often that you’ll see a career assistant coach — mostly at the collegiate level, at that — make the jump to NBA head coach, but that’s exactly what St. John’s assistant Mike Dunlap did this week. Other than a handful of games when head coach Steve Lavin was out with prostate cancer last season, Dunlap has spent the last six seasons as an assistant, and the extent of his head coaching experience came at Division II Metro State from 1997-2006. Dunlap reportedly beat out more prominent names such as Jerry Sloan, Brian Shaw, and Quin Snyder for the position, and although according to Jeff Goodman everyone knows he can coach, this is a real gamble on the part of the GOAT as part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats.
2. If a player only sets foot on your campus for the better part of eight months, is it OK for an alumnus to claim that star as one of his own? That’s the question posed by Grantland’s Bryan Curtis as a Longhorn considering the provenance of one Kevin Durant, one of the NBA’s brightest stars but a player who probably wasn’t around Austin long enough to even witness the bats on Congress Avenue Bridge. Curtis ultimately settles on the answer “yes,” – shocking, we know – but he actually digs up some thoughtful and relevant examples of other prominent Texas grads who were early entries into the work force well before it was fashionable. A couple of those names? Walter Cronkite and Michael Dell.
3. Stop the presses, but Fab Melo has decided to speak about his suspensions last season at Syracuse. If you recall, the Big East DPOY was suspended twice during the season, including a devastating NCAA Tournament suspension that essentially killed the Orange’s realistic chances at a national title. The reason: (drum roll) academics. Melo is touring around the country in an effort to improve his draft stock, and he decided to talk about his time away from Jim Boeheim’s team during his sophomore year this week. To wit, “They ask, I explain (what) happened — that I came from another country and until four years ago didn’t even speak English.” This is all fine and well, but if we were an NBA scout, we might be willing to look past one indiscretion — but dropping the ball during the most important month of his collegiate career is an altogether different story. Did he forget how to stay eligible between the first part of his sophomore year and his second? Or did he realize he was going to be a millionaire soon and decided to stop caring about classes? That’s the question that should be asked — whether the answer is relevant to his future prospects as a ball player isn’t for us to decide.
4. With all the bad blood surrounding conference realignment, we’re actually surprised that we haven’t seen what the CAA has decided to do more often. The league announced on Tuesday that departing members Old Dominion and Georgia State – both of which will remain in the league in 2012-13 – will not be eligible to compete for conference championships next year. The CAA’s Council of Presidents voted unanimously to uphold a longstanding rule meant to dissuade schools from jumping ship. VCU, which will join the Atlantic 10 next month, will obviously not be impacted, but this goes to show that conference realignment at its core is something of a bloodsport, and memories of such influential people at the highest levels tend to not easily erase.
5. We sorta love it when in-state rivalries are exacerbated through the local media, and NC State is only the latest and greatest to use the old standbys — billboards and television ads — to make declarations of grandeur based on nothing more than marketing, spit, and perhaps a little duct tape. Whether you measure it by success or fans, there’s virtually no possible way to justify an assertion that the great state of North Carolina belongs to NC State, but hey, whatever gets the juices running (and it’s still funny). Of course, even if NC State has won the last 10,000 football games against UNC, Duke, and Wake Forest combined, that’s still not what matters in the Tar Heel State any more than Auburn beating Alabama in basketball matters a lick. Kudos to NC State for giving it a shot, but nobody is fooled.

The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Kendall Marshall

School: North Carolina

Height/Weight: 6’4” / 195 lbs.

NBA Position: Point Guard

Projected Draft Range: Late Lottery / Mid-First Round

Kendall Marshall was the best passer in college basketball (Getty Images/K. Cox)

Overview: Kendall Marshall was the best passer in college basketball by a wide margin during his two seasons at North Carolina; only Iona’s Scott Machado came close to Marshall as a distributor. Marshall has elite floor awareness as well as a special ability to read defenses, and his pass-first mentality led to tremendous assist numbers playing alongside several great players at UNC. His 9.8 assists per game, 44.5% assist percentage, and 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore all ranked second in the country. He led the Tar Heels to a #1 NCAA Tournament seed and was the team’s most indispensable player. After he broke his wrist late in a round of 32 win against Creighton, the Marshall-less Heels barely hung on to beat #13-seed Ohio in overtime in the Sweet Sixteen before falling to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Some people view Marshall as a ‘one-trick pony’ because he doesn’t do much else well besides passing the ball (8.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG). He also lacks the explosiveness that most NBA point guards have these days, and he really struggles defensively with limited lateral quickness. But his athletic demise seems exaggerated, as Marshall has great size (6’4”) and a strong body for a point guard and actually displayed some interesting driving and finishing ability at the rim. He wasn’t asked to create his own offense at UNC and didn’t look comfortable when he did so; he didn’t shoot the ball with confidence and simply preferred to pass to teammates in all situations. But he came on strong at the end of the season and showed some scoring prowess, plus he had decent season-long shooting numbers (46.7% from the field, 35.4% from three, 69.6% from the line). There’s untapped scoring potential in Marshall if he works hard in that area.

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The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Dion Waiters

School: Syracuse

Height/Weight: 6’4” / 215 lbs.

NBA Position: Shooting Guard

Projected Draft Range: Mid-First Round

Dion Waiters Shows No Fear on the Floor, Which Should Help Him in the NBA (AP Photo/K. Rivoli)

Overview: Dion Waiters’ disappointing first year at Syracuse included a falling out with Jim Boeheim and contemplations about whether to leave the program. But the former top 20 recruit came back a completely different player in year two, where he was arguably the best and most impactful player on an elite Syracuse team. Waiters didn’t start a single game as a sophomore but was a game-changing reserve who could score points in bunches (12.6 PPG) and cause havoc with his perimeter defense (1.8 SPG). A player whom Boeheim said after his first year “played no defense last year – none” turned into the leading catalyst of the nation’s top team in steals. Waiters is a bully at 6’4” and 215 pounds who overpowered weaker defenders on his drives to the basket, leading to an impressive highlight reel of explosive dunks. His physicality also allows him to create space on the perimeter to get his shot off, where he shot 36.3% from three-point range. Waiters is extremely efficient in transition, and he is difficult to stop once he gains steam towards the basket. He also thrived in the pick-and-roll as a threat to shoot, drive, or create for his teammates. His shot selection was questionable at times, but he still recorded a strong 47.6% field-goal percentage, and he turned the ball over just 1.3 times per game in 24 minutes. Despite his strength, Waiters is a bit undersized for a two-guard and he’ll be facing much stronger and athletic players at his position at the next level.

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Jared Sullinger was one of college basketball’s biggest stars the past two seasons, entering Ohio State as the #2 consensus player in his high school class and consequently producing at an elite level for the Buckeyes from day one. The 6’9″ fundamental machine averaged over 17 PPG and 9 RPG in back-to-back seasons, becoming a First Team All-American in both years. He led OSU to a #1 seed and Sweet Sixteen appearance in his freshman year before igniting the Buckeyes even further in 2011-12 — all the way to the Final Four. Yet Sullinger saw his draft stock slowly drop throughout college, from a potential #1 pick to just borderline top 10 status as of early June’s Draft Combine, due to concerns about his NBA upside stemming from limited athleticism. He failed to impress during Combine measurements and testing, finishing dead last of 52 competitors in the agility and sprint drills while showing up with 10.7% body fat.

Sullinger is now swarmed with obstacles in preparation of the NBA draft (Reuters photo/M. Sullivan)

But things got much worse on Monday, after Sullinger was reportedly red flagged by NBA doctors who have serious concerns about a long term back injury. Team doctors worry that “back issues could shorten his NBA career” and some medical staffs “advised their teams not to draft him in the first round,” according to ESPN’s Chad Ford. This news will make it even more challenging for Sullinger’s professional prospects — somehow, this dominant college big man with consistent professional intrigue may not even get selected as a first round NBA pick. Could Sullinger wind up becoming a late steal (think: DeJuan Blair), or should concerns about his physical condition validate passing on him in this deep draft?

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1. Mike Brey has built Notre Dame into an annual fixture in the Top 25 during his tenure in South Bend, and the three-time Big East COY who has led the Irish to six straight 20-win seasons will be rewarded with long term job security as a result. Reports indicate that the school on Tuesday will announce a 10-year extension to Brey’s contract, ostensibly keeping him at the school well into his 60s (he’s currently 53). It’s a proactive move by Notre Dame brass who are looking to shore up a winning program that has arguably been more successful than its football counterpart over the same period, while also signaling to potential poachers that Brey is going to cost quite a bit of coin to attract him away from northern Indiana.
2. It’s June 19, so what better time than to debate the relative merits for three top contenders for next year’s national title? The gents from CBSSports.com — Jeff Goodman, Gary Parrish, and Matt Norlander — each chose a team on Monday and made their case. Goodman chose Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals; Parrish chose John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats; and Norlander chose Tom Crean’s Indiana Hoosiers. If you believe these guys, the Mesopatamia of college basketball in 2012-13 lies somewhere near Otisco, Indiana.
3. In reading about the way friends, family and even recruiters treated high school star Khadeem Lattin‘s year spent in Spain at Canarias Basketball Academy, we weren’t sure whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity of it all. Despite going to a skills academy run by an American that has sent 41 Europeans to D-I schools over the years, the general consensus stateside was that Lattin was somehow hurting his career by taking the year to hone his skills in a European environment. He was removed from the ESPN rankings altogether per a policy regarding ranking only US players, and his rating was downgraded from four stars to three after a lackluster showing in the spring. And people wonder why the abominable AAU system of prep basketball in the US never improves — they hold all the cards, man.
4. Sometimes we openly wonder whether the hardship waiver transfer rule has gotten completely out of hand, but in the case of Villanova’s Tony Chennault (a transfer from Wake Forest), we understand why the rule exists. The school announced on Monday that the NCAA had approved Chennault’s waiver request, making him eligible to take over a decimated VU backcourt effective in 2012-13. Chennault’s mother suffered some health issues recently, but more tragically than that, he lost his brother, Mike Jay, recently. Villanova is coming off its toughest season under Jay Wright’s stewardship, but with a solid interior crew surrounded by the talented Chennault and another promising player or two, maybe the Wildcats can find their typical game next season with a different cast of characters.
5. Finally this morning, we’re about six weeks removed from the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics and players from around the world are preparing to compete in the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament to earn a spot in London. The Dagger took a look at seven college (or recently graduated) players who will play in that tournament, with a few notable names such as Creighton’s Gregory Echinique (Venezuela), Iowa State’s Melvin Ejim (Nigeria), and Florida State’s Deivydas Dulkys (Lithuania) leading the way. Of course, Kentucky’s Anthony Davis is one of the finalists for the US men’s national team, but his odds of making the final roster remain a long shot at best.

Jabari Parker has been in the news a lot lately, much more so than some other recent top recruits. The consensus #1 player in the 2013 high school class was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in May, in which the magazine dubbed him “the best high school basketball player since LeBron James.” Stories about the 17-year-old have been flooding in ever since, many detailing his devout Mormon faith and whether or not he’ll serve as a missionary when he turns 19 as many LDS members do. He was interviewed recently on Good Morning America and is also the featured star for USA Basketball’s U-17 team, which will compete in the World Championships later this month. But the biggest news of all broke on Sunday, when Parker said that he’ll announce his college decision this November, long before the spring signing period begins. The rising senior from Chicago wants “to do it for me because I want to get it over with before the season starts.” But perhaps he’s also doing it for his father and former NBA forward, Sonny Parker, who recently said, “I think Jabari is the first high school player who has experienced this social media stuff,” and that he’ll limit Jabari’s media availability this summer to let him live like a regular kid. Parker has 14 schools on his list and appears a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, so he’ll presumably have the hard part of recruiting out of the way before his senior season begins.

Top recruit Jabari Parker is unique as a player and a person (AP Photo)

Parker has ‘narrowed’ his college list down to the following 14 schools: BYU, Connecticut, DePaul, Duke, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Missouri, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Washington. It’s anyone’s guess who the top candidates are now, though we’d expect that BYU, Illinois, Northwestern, and DePaul made the cut mainly for show to support his local and religious ties. Recruiting analysts report that he has great relationships with coaches Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Tom Izzo at Michigan State, though Parker himself spoke about his ties to DePaul (his best friend is a walk-on there), Illinois (with its new head coach, John Groce), and Kentucky (hearing from fellow Chicagoan Derrick Rose about John Calipari). He plans on cutting the list down to eight over the summer.

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The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Austin Rivers

School: Duke

Height/Weight: 6’5” / 200 lbs.

NBA Position: Shooting Guard

Projected Draft Range: Late Lottery Pick

Rivers can get by nearly any defender with his driving ability (AP Images)

Overview: Austin Rivers came into college as perhaps the most hyped freshman in the country; the consensus #2 recruit behind Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. The son of Boston Celtics head coach and former longtime NBA point guard Doc Rivers, Austin has been in the spotlight for many years now. His one-year “career” at Duke produced mixed results, as he was a very effective offensive player from day one but also struggled to play within the team concept. Without Rivers, Duke would never have come close to receiving a #2 NCAA Tournament seed. But with him, the Blue Devils couldn’t even defeat Lehigh in the first round. Rivers hurt the team as much as he helped it during certain stretches of games. But overall, there’s no denying his explosive scoring ability. He averaged 15.5 PPG as a consistent producer, reaching double figures in 30 of his 34 games and was capable of going for 20-plus in any game. He put up 29 points on the road at North Carolina, including the game-winning buzzer beater that was one of 2011-12’s greatest moments. That’s the kind of player Rivers is; he has the utmost confidence in his ability and wants to take all the big shots. He has a killer crossover and lightning-quick first step as well as unlimited range on his jumper. But he was not a very efficient player as a frosh – shooting percentages of 43.3% (FG), 36.5% (3FG), and 65.8% (FT) all need improvement. The former two numbers show evidence of his questionable shot selection, and the third was unfortunately low for a player that got to the line with regularity. He averaged more turnovers (2.3) per game than assists (2.1) and doesn’t look like he can play NBA point guard. Rivers remains an elite scoring prospect as an undersized two, but needs work on his decision-making and defensive work ethic.

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California is coming off back-to-back seasons in which it hasn’t qualified for the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament. For a team that is usually always in contention to win the Pac-12, this comes as somewhat of a disappointment to fans in Berkeley. In 2011-12, the Golden Bears looked like they were not only going to make the field of 64, but possibly make it out of the first weekend. Unfortunately, things went drastically wrong for the Bears down the stretch. Sophomore forward Richard Solomon contributed heavily on the glass in the first half of the season, but was lost as an academic casualty midway through January. This didn’t affect Cal immediately, but the strain put on Harper Kamp in the stretch run of the season would cost the Bears, who faced depth issues everywhere. “Over the past few years we’ve lost a lot of depth to transfers (or as an early pro in the case of Max Zhang) – so the players who would’ve been the sixth, seventh, and eighth men (Amandi Omoyke, DJ Seeley, and Zhang) are now playing for Cal State Fullerton or in China,” said “LeonPowe” of California Golden Blogs when RTC talked to him. California would finish its final five games with a record of 1-4, including an embarrassing, not as close as the final score indicated, 65-54 loss against South Florida in the First Four.

Mike Montgomery’s Team Seemed Headed In The Right Direction Going Into The Stretch Run In 2011-12, But A Poor Finish Resulted In A Less Than Favorable Draw In The NCAA Tournament. (credit: Mark J. Terrill)

As people around the program will tell you, however, the floundering finish was a long time in the making. Coach Mike Montgomery seemed to lose trust early in a couple of his players, most notably Brandon Smith. Due to the combination of a poor start by Smith and a hot one by transfer Justin Cobbs, Smith found himself buried on the bench. Even when the team’s top three shooter’s — Allen Crabbe, Jorge Gutierrez, and Cobbs — lost their touch late in the year, Monty decided to ride the sinking ship with them instead of going back into his bench. Smith only saw a combined 13 minutes of action in the final two games of the year, both 11-point losses. He is only one example, though. The already short bench was even shorter by year’s end, as Montgomery settled into a six-man rotation. Against athletic and quick defensive teams like Colorado and USF, the Bears never really had a chance to compete with those teams.

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The 2012 NBA Draft is scheduled for Thursday, June 28, in New York City. As we have done for the last several years, RTC’s team of writers (including Andrew Murawa, Kevin Doyle, Evan Jacoby, Matt Patton, and Danny Spewak) will provide comprehensive breakdowns of each of the 35 collegians most likely to hear his name called by David Stern in the first round on draft night. We’ll work backwards, starting with players who are projected near the end of the first round before getting into the lottery as June progresses. As an added bonus, we’ll also bring you a scouting take from NBADraft.net’s Aran Smith at the bottom of each player evaluation.

Note: Click here for all published 2012 NBA Draft profiles.

Player Name: Moe Harkless

School: St. John’s

Height/Weight: 6’8” / 210 lbs.

NBA Position: Small Forward

Projected Draft Range: Mid-First Round

Moe Harkless is a smooth attacker of the basket (AP Photo)

Overview: Moe Harkless didn’t come into St. John’s as a one-and-done kind of prospect, but the smooth small forward dazzled scouts with his play against Big East competition for a depleted team in a tumultuous situation. Harkless averaged 36.1 minutes per game as an 18-year-old freshman, compiling 15.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.4 blocks per contest on 45.2% shooting from the field. He’s not an explosive leaper but rather a smooth, lengthy forward with a high basketball IQ and above-average athleticism. To quote ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla, he “has a small forward’s body but a power forward’s game,” as he struggles to create shots for himself on the perimeter but has terrific footwork in the post and is a great finisher at the rim. He lacks strength but just turned 19 years old and is sure to develop his wiry frame in coming years. He performed well in the Combine interviews, matching the smarts he shows on the floor by moving well without the ball in space and putting himself in ideal situations to score. His length and instincts helped him excel as a defender in the Red Storm zone defense, putting up terrific steal and block averages. He needs to get stronger and “meaner” in the post to defend NBA players one-on-one, but he has great size (6’8”) for a small forward. Harkless was a fun player to watch grow as a freshman last season, and he seems to have left a great impression on all new evaluators.

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