1. I am willing to bet most of the country doesn’t read The Hour, a century-old newspaper based in Norwalk, Connecticut. But the fortunate folks who do regularly read the paper were treated to a neat story from columnist John Nash about Los Angeles natives Kevin Ollie and forward DeAndre Daniels.  The sophomore forward was highly touted as a freshman but struggled to adjust to life on the opposite coast and thus struggled on the court. But Ollie, who went through exactly what Daniels was going through when he arrived in Storrs, helped the freshman through the season, and now the duo need each other as both are out to prove themselves. If the Huskies are going to win games this season, they will need Daniels to make serious strides on both ends of the floor which, at least for now, seems to be in progress.
2. File this under problems most coaches would kill to have but apparently Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon isn’t done talking (read: bragging) about tinkering with his starting lineup. Pittsburgh brought in an excellent recruiting class led by New Zealand big man Steven Adams and got clearance to play for accomplished transfer Trey Ziegler, so Dixon’s inability to decide on a starting lineup shouldn’t elicit much sympathy from anyone. What the topic does illustrate well is that Pittsburgh is poised to rebound very quickly from last season’s losing debacle. While successful programs like St. John’s and Villanova remain mired in mediocrity, Dixon has his Panthers again ready to challenge for the Big East crown if everything falls into place.
3. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim was able to convince another long, athletic, big man to play basketball for him, although it may be a little while before we see this one in actino. Bronx native — by way of the Salisbury School and Brewster Academy — Chris McCullough is a five-star talent in the class of 2014 who committed to Syracuse yesterday (hat tip on the reporting to our very own Dan Lyons). This is a big get for the Orange who still have a number of very high profile targets left on the board in that class and McCullough himself is no slouch. I watched the highlight videos from the link from beginning to end, which I rarely do, and what I saw was an athletic big man with exceptional range, touch, and footwork. McCullough will fit nicely in the back of that zone defense where his length and inherent defensive talents will not be kind to opposing shooters. Don’t look now, but 2014 is shaping up to be a monster recruiting year for the Orange.
4. The Villanova Wildcats have not looked good in the preseason and are staring down another rebuilding season as they try to rebuild the depth and talent that made them a perennial contender for the second half of the last decade. One way the rebuilding project can be expedited is if redshirt sophomore forward JayVaughn Pinkston fulfills some of the potential he showed in spurts last season and becomes a go-to scorer for a team who desperately needs a playmaker who can create his own shot. The good news is that Pinkston, who always seemed too short to play power forward and too heavy to run with small forwards, has lost 25 pounds and apparently has put his past transgressions behind him. He was a breakout star for the Wildcats during parts of conference play last year and he will need to become an offensive leader for this young and inexperienced team. Jay Wright seems to have righted the ship and the Wildcats should be better than last season, but how much better may depend on whether Pinkston really has put some of those troubles and conditioning issues behind him.
5. I admit, this story is old, but I would be remiss if I didn’t occasionally throw some love towards the oft-forgotten members of the conference, so Rutgers and its head coach Mike Rice deserve our attention. The article itself is pretty straightforward. The Scarlet Knights have one new scholarship player this season and he is junior college transfer Vince Garrett. He is raw, but very, very athletic, and he will be counted on to add a scoring punch on the wing. He is struggling with the nuances of the D-I game right now, but Rice is confident he will pick it up and eventually become a key contributor. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Rice is building himself some excellent depth in the backcourt for this season.

mlemaire (324 Posts)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 6th, 2012 at 5:45 am by mlemaire and is filed under big east, microsites, morning 5. Tagged: brewster academy, chris mcCullough, deandre daniels, jamie dixon, jay wright, Jayvaughn Pinkston, jim boeheim, kevin ollie, mike rice, rutgers, st johns, steven adams, syracuse, Trey Ziegler, villanova, vince garrett. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.