This team preview is part of the RTC ACC microsite’s preseason coverage. You will find a list with links to all the team previews on the ACC Microsite Preview Page, located here.

Can Brian Gregory survive another losing ACC season?

During the offseason, one of the favorite media activities is formulation of the preseason “Coaches on the Hot Seat” list. Going into this season, Georgia Tech’s Brian Gregory is the one ACC coach who seems to show up on all of those lists. On this list put out by Athlon Sports, it’s interesting to see that Gregory is joined in the fire pit with a few former ACC head coaches like Oliver Purnell and Mark Turgeon. So what kind of year will it take for Gregory to avoid joining that group of former ACC head coaches?

Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory may not survive another losing ACC season. (Icon Sports Media)

While no two situations are exactly the same, the best way to examine this issue is to review recent ACC coaches who were in similar circumstances going into their fourth year at the helm of their particular school. By similar circumstance we mean a coach who has a losing record in ACC games in each of his first three years on the job. Below we show four coaches who entered their fourth year at the helm under those conditions.

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1. More than two dozen dignitaries from throughout Kansas‘ long history of basketball returned to Lawrence on Monday for a gala celebrating the 60th anniversary of Allen Fieldhouse. The team’s four living head coaches (Bill Self, Roy Williams, Larry Brown and Ted Owens) dating back 50 years shared anecdotes and former players including Danny Manning and Billy Thomas took some trips down memory lane as well. Williams, whose 2003 departure for North Carolina sent shockwaves through college basketball, received a nearly minute-long standing ovation and the event raised over $450,000 for charity. A trip to “The Phog,” one of the loudest venues and best atmospheres in all of sports, is an absolute must for any college hoops fan with a bucket list.
2. The controversial news of Skal Labissiere attending a prep school that nobody is sure even exists has some Big 12 relevance, as Baylor is one of the final five suitors in the running for the services of the 6’11” blue-chip prospect. The development marks a new outpost in the overlapping worlds of recruiting and eligibility. Labissere still plans on attending classes and graduating from Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, a much more legit institution, but he’s ineligible to play basketball there since he transferred from a different school in Memphis. The reaction by the NCAA, the coaches recruiting Labissiere, and where he goes from here will be very interesting to track throughout the rest of the academic year.
3. Ken Pomeroy released his first rankings of the 2014-15 season. Like all preseason polls, KenPom’s rankings are an educated guess to be taken with a grain of salt, but they’re interesting to examine nonetheless. All in all, there aren’t any real surprises. The Big 12 boasts six teams among the top 30, with Kansas (4) and Texas (19) leading the way. Seeing Oklahoma State positioned above Iowa State, Oklahoma and Kansas State is noteworthy at this juncture, as RTC contributor Brian Goodman believes an optimistic forecast for the Cowboys still leaves them in the dogfight among the league’s middle tier.
4. Sports Illustrated‘s Joan Niesen asked Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg and forward Georges Niang how the team deals with the public’s frequent speculation on Hoiberg’s future. Trust between The Mayor and the team is a big factor for both parties; The players see the rumors and Hoiberg knows his team sees them, but both are able to block them out and do what matters most: produce. Of course, Hoiberg being in possession of a contract that pays him $2.6 million annually to coach in a town where he’s beloved by everyone helps, but three straight NCAA Tournament trips (all including at least one win) speak to the team’s ability to maintain focus as well.
5. Speaking of SI, Brian Hamilton gave a comprehensive overview of the Big 12 on Monday, with the help of analytical experts Luke Winn and Dann Hanner. The most noteworthy thing about their projections are that they don’t see the chase for the Big 12 title the same way others seem to. While we agree that Kansas should win its staggering 12th straight conference title, SI predicts a margin of three games, which seems very generous and would be almost unprecedented. Throughout the Jayhawks’ reign at the top, they’ve won the conference by more than two games just once, in 2010, when they finished four games ahead of Baylor. While no credible prognosticators deny that Kansas should be the favorite in the Big 12, they have enough questions that a domination of the league in such fashion should be considered pretty bullish.

1. Northwestern surprised many people last season with the transformation it made halfway through conference play, leading to road wins against Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Drew Crawford was the most important player on that team, so it should be shocking to no one that head coach Chris Collins is still trying to figure out how the Wildcats are going to replace him. Two likely candidates are JerShon Cobb and freshman Vic Law. Cobb topped 20 or more points four times as a junior, while Law is one of the most gifted players coming into the program in quite a while. Northwestern has more depth than last season, but whether the Wildcats can collectively replace one of the best players in the Big Ten is worth watching.
2. Purdue received its first Class of 2016 pledge on Tuesday, as Indianapolis Tech point guard CJ Walker chose the Boilermakers over Butler and Cincinnati. Walker won a class 4A championship as a sophomore, where he shot 51 percent from the field and averaged 3.2 assists per game. Walker should join Bryson Scott and fellow Indianapolis native PJ Thompson at the point guard spot for the 2016-17 campaign.
3. Illinois and head coach John Groce have gotten some highly-rated players from Chicago and elsewhere in the state of Illinois. Kendrick Nunn, Jaylon Tate and Malcom Hill are three that come to mind, for example, from his first recruiting class. But one former Illini great thinks that Groce has more work to do. Deon Thomas — the school’s all-time leading scorer and the state’s Mr. Basketball in 1989 from Chicago’s Simeon High School — says that talents like Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander would have stayed home and played for Illinois in the past. He cites AAU culture as a leading factor for Chicago kids choosing to play outside the state. Groce has made some nice headway with in-state kids, but it will take a top-15 type of player from Chicago staying close to home for many Illini fans to truly believe in his recruiting abilities.
4. Ken Pomeroy released his preseason rankings to the masses on Sunday night and the Big Ten put 13 of its 14 teams among the top 80 in the country. One theme in the ratings is how balanced and equal teams #2 through #11 in the standings could be this season. As an example of how tight things are, Michigan State comes in at second in the league and 12th nationally while Purdue is 11th in the conference but 40th nationally. Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, Minnesota and Illinois are all ranked between #32-#38 in the nation. The equality of the teams in the middle of the pack makes predicting the Big Ten race largely a guessing game, and the first set of Pomeroy numbers seem to show that, outside of Wisconsin, he feels that the rest of the league is wide open.
5. Tis the season for lists and preseason superlatives, and the Big Ten was well represented in SBNation‘s list of the top 100 college basketball players. Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky (#8) and Michigan’s Caris LeVert (#9) both cracked the top 10 nationally, while Nebraska’s Terran Petteway (#15) and Michigan State’s Branden Dawson (#26) made it into the top 30. All told, 15 B1G players made the cut, which left the league tied for second among power conferences with the Big 12. The SEC had the most players on this list with 16, six of whom play for Kentucky alone. The post also listed 50 more players who just missed the cut, which included Penn State senior guard DJ Newbill and Wisconsin sophomore Nigel Hayes.

1. TheACC.com: Coaches and players from all 15 ACC schools will meet the media in Charlotte for a full day of ACC Operation Basketball, and our own RTC ACC microsite correspondent Lathan Wells will be on hand to take in the entire proceedings. It’s sure to be an eventful day with so many developing stories heading into the season. We have a loaded Louisville team led by legendary coach Rick Pitino joining the league; the nation’s top recruiting class arriving at Duke; a strong defending champ returning many key pieces at Virginia; and, of course, the big-time off the court issues. It will be interesting to hear Commissioner John Swofford’s commentary about the academic scandal at his alma mater North Carolina, as well as the ongoing NCAA investigation into Syracuse’s program. Follow Lathan @rtcACC for frequent live reports throughout the day.
2. ESPN: Virginia hopes to be more than a one-hit wonder after sweeping both the ACC regular season and tournament titles last season. This ESPN.com article reveals a Tony Bennett who is focused on not letting last year’s success create too big a sense of accomplishment, and with good reason — Virginia became only the fourth school not named Duke or North Carolina to win the ACC Tournament in the last 18 years. In each of the other three instances — which includes Miami and Florida State from the previous two seasons as well as the 2004 Maryland squad — the subsequent year did not include a winning conference record. That shouldn’t happen this year, though, with the Cavaliers returning a solid nucleus.
3. Notre Dame Media: This is a really neat video that features Mike Brey and his recent foray in a US Navy Blue Angels fighter jet. Fighting Irish Digital Media along with the Blue Angels take you right into the seat with the Notre Dame coach in what he called a “trip of a lifetime, and an honor.” Perhaps all the abrupt twists and turns will prepare Brey for a better second go-round in the ACC, where up and down seasons can come easily.
4. Andy Katz: In a recent 3-Point Shot segment, ESPN‘s Andy Katz talks about a couple of ACC topics. First of all, he reviews comments from Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory concerning some of the newcomers that he will need to come through in a big way. Many think that this could be Gregory’s last season in Atlanta if he doesn’t produce an NCAA Tournament team. Katz also brings up an interesting possible fallout issue from the North Carolina scandal that has to do with academic performance incentives in college coaches’ contracts. It’s worth a viewing.
5. TheState.com: New Boston College coach Jim Christian is preaching a fast paced offense, as many coaches do when taking over a listless program that needs an infusion of energy. It remains to be seen if his words translate to reality when the Eagles take the floor this season — and speaking of “floor,” the head coach won’t be the only thing new this year, as the playing court in Conte Forum will have a new look as well.

1. With all of the talk about scholarship reform and of power conferences moving towards creating a separate division the news that the Pac-12 has passed a measure that would lead to significant reforms in scholarships is certainly noteworthy. Beginning with next season, all athletes receiving scholarships will be guaranteed four-year scholarship, be able to return to complete their degree if they do not graduate in four years, increased medical support, removing many of the restrictions on intra-conference transfers, and increased representation in conference governance. The conference also stated that it intends to provide cost of attendance stipends, which are expected to range between $2,000 and $5,000 per athlete. While we will need to see this in action to fully embrace it as reality, it appears to be a significant step towards scholarship reform and might lead other major conferences to follow suit.
2. We are less than three weeks away from the college basketball season starting, but Central Connecticut State might have suffered a big blow with the news that Kyle Vinales had been suspended indefinitely following his arrest on Friday for disorderly conduct and third-degree assault. According to reports, Vinales is accused of hitting his girlfriend in the head as he was exiting her car slightly before midnight. Vinales was the team’s leading scorer last season at 17.3 points per game, which was actually a career low. While we normally brush off these indefinite suspensions the fact that Vinales is not due in court until December 5 could indicate that he could be sitting for at least the first three weeks of the season.
3. At this point we are not sure how much further we can go with this recruiting announcement culture. On Monday night, Skal Labisserie, a five-star recruit in the class of 2015, announced that he would be attending Reach Your Dream Prep, a school that does not even exist yet, for his senior year. Labisserie’s story is a little more complex than committing to a non-existent school this late in the academic year. He will actually be attending Memphis’ Lausanne Collegiate School, but he was declared ineligible by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. Now Labisserie and his legal guardian are trying to circumvent the system. While this might work to get him to play high school basketball we are not sure that it will fly with the NCAA.
4. One of the things we have been looking forward to this season is how John Calipari would implement his idea of creating “platoons” for his deep Kentucky roster. On Monday, Calipari revealed his first draft of the platoons prior to the team’s annual Blue-White scrimmage with one group consisting of he Harrison twins, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Derek Willis and the other made up of Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Alex Poythress, Marcus Lee, Dakari Johnson, and Dominique Hawkins. At this stage it appears that the former is well ahead of the latter as that group won the scrimmage 94-66. Although these groups intuitively make sense as the starting and second lines we would expect them to be dynamic as Calipari tinkers with them to make them more effective.
5. Every year the NCAA’s report on the graduation rates of student-athletes are picked apart by many analysts eager to criticize the organization. This year is no different especially with several schools dealing with very public academic scandals. The headline numbers in the NCAA’s latest release show that student-athlete graduation rates have increased from 82% graduating in six years to 84% doing so (full searchable database here). The men’s college basketball numbers are less impressive with just 74% graduating, which is actually up by one percent from last year and a record for the sport. As critics point out these numbers just scratch the surface as some of these athletes who graduate are just kept eligible so they can produce for the university and sometimes are able to graduate without getting an education. Now an argument can be made that the diploma itself has some value as a signal mechanism that goes beyond just an education.

The NBA tips off its regular season tonight, which for most college basketball fans means little more than just another sign that the college hoops season is imminent. But it is always nice to keep an eye on former college players that we grew to know and love way back when. With that in mind, we’ll take a quick spin around the Pac-12 today and briefly touch on what can be expected of each of their 62 former players currently on NBA rosters, as well as a handful who you won’t find. We’ll group these guys by their former schools, starting with UCLA — which has 15 alums playing in the league — down to the five teams in the conference with just two pros. One big question going forward: When will Arizona catch UCLA on this list. The Wildcats seem to be in the habit of transitioning several players on their roster right into the NBA, but with veterans like Jason Terry and Richard Jefferson playing on their last legs, it looks like UCLA can hold them off for a few more years considering that the Bruins have their own future NBA prospects to be excited about.

UCLA (15)

• Jordan Adams (Memphis) – After a last-minute decision to leave UCLA, Adams’ decision proved to be a good one as he was taken with the 22nd pick in the NBA Draft. He’s looking up the depth chart at vets like Courtney Lee and Tony Allen, but he’s been impressive enough that he could wind up stealing some minutes early.
• Arron Afflalo (Denver) – Last year, Afflalo knocked in 42.7 percent of his threes on the way to a career-high 18.2 PPG in talent-starved Orlando. This year he won’t score that much, but he has a chance to maybe help the Nuggets compete for a playoff spot.
• Kyle Anderson (San Antonio) – His role will fluctuate over the season on a roster filled with smart veterans, but expect Gregg Popovich to get this most out of this unique talent.
• Trevor Ariza (Houston) – He’s changed teams eight times in his now 11-year career, following the money around the league. But after winning a title with the Lakers, he’s finally back on a team with title aspirations again.
• Matt Barnes (LA Clippers) – Now starting his 12th season in the league, Barnes has made a name for himself as a tough, scrappy trouble-maker, the kind of guy you like if he’s on your team and hate if he’s on your rival.
• Darren Collison (Sacramento) – It seems like he’s been around the NBA for a lot longer than five seasons, and it seems like he’s played on more than just four teams. But, now on his fifth team in six years and fighting with Ramon Sessions for a starting spot: “Oh lord, stuck in Lodi again.”
• Jordan Farmar (LA Clippers) – A career backup, expect to see Farmar’s minutes dwindle even further this year as he sits behind MVP candidate Chris Paul.
• Jrue Holiday (New Orleans) – His first five seasons have been solid (14.3 PPG and 7.9 APG last year was considered a disappointment), but he hasn’t been to the postseason since 2012. Looking up the West standings at all those loaded teams makes it likely that he’ll miss out again. Who ever said New Orleans was in the West anyway?

Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis Give Pelican Fans Reason For Excitement, But They’re In A Crowded West (Chris Szagola/Associated Press)

• Ryan Hollins (Sacramento) – Now starting his ninth NBA season, the seven-footer has made a nice career for himself as a spot-player off the bench.
• Zach LaVine (Minnesota) – The Wolves envision LaVine as a future point guard, but man, he’s got a lot of work to do. The good news is that Minnesota will be patient because the Wolves have no big plans to be competitive this season.
• Kevin Love (Cleveland) – After six years of excellence in obscurity in Minnesota, Love is now on the big stage playing alongside LeBron James with what looks to be a clear path to the NBA Finals. I can’t wait to watch Kevin Love make outlet passes in meaningful games again.
• Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (Philadelphia) – Entering his seventh NBA season, he seems to be on the downside of his career with injuries becoming more and more a part of his story over the last three years.
• Shabazz Muhammad (Minnesota) – Muhammad averaged 7.8 minutes per game in the 37 games in which he appeared last season (eight steals and six assists in a grand total of 289 minutes). The good news is that he’s on a team with little more to accomplish this season than to see if it has any players worth keeping, so Muhammad should see plenty of opportunities.
• Travis Wear (New York) – I looked up and down 30 NBA rosters and no name surprised me more than this one, but good on Travis. He’s 6’10”, can shoot the ball a little bit, and is a good fundamental player. Clearly Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher see something worth investigating here.
• Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City) – With Kevin Durant on the shelf for a month or two, the Thunder are Westbrook’s team for the time being. If he can stay healthy while carrying the load, his career-high scoring average of 23.6 PPG could be in jeopardy.

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This team preview is part of the ACC microsite’s preseason coverage. You will find a list with links to all the team previews on the ACC Microsite Preview Page, located here.

Will the Irish get enough production from their big men?

Notre Dame’s inaugural season in the ACC was a rough one, as the Irish snapped a seven-year streak of 20-win seasons and instead finished with the first losing season of Mike Brey’s coaching tenure in South Bend (the six ACC wins were also a conference low for one of his Notre Dame teams). A big reason for the fall was the December suspension of the team’s best player, guard Jerian Grant, for academic reasons. Grant returns for his senior year, a huge addition, but the Irish must also find a way to replace the inside production of the graduated Garrick Sherman.

Is Junior Zach Auguste Ready to Step Up his Production? (Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune)

In each of the last seven seasons, Notre Dame has had a big man who averaged over 13 points per game. In all but one of those years, that post player also pulled down at least seven rebounds per game. When Brey looks at his returning roster, he only sees two bigs with any collegiate experience. With no incoming post players to count on, the 14-year Notre Dame coach has to hope one of his veterans can make a big jump in production. The most logical choice is 6’10” junior Zach Auguste, who averaged 16 minutes per contest last year. One thing in his favor is the recent history of Irish big men developing to provide big jumps in production. The table below shows that Auguste’s two post predecessors came through with solid years when they received a corresponding increase in minutes. The other semi-experienced returning big man is junior Austin Burgett, who averaged 15 MPG in 28 games, but was not very productive (3.0 PPG, 1.8 RPG) when on the floor. Perhaps 6’9″ freshman Martin Geben can have an impact. According to scouts, he has a reputation of being physical and fundamentally sound, and may be ready to contribute right away. Read the rest of this entry »

Here we go… headfirst into another season heralded by our 2014-15 edition of Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball, our annual compendium of YouTube clips from the previous season completely guaranteed to make you wish games were starting tonight rather than 30 days from now. Over the next month you’ll get one reason per day until we reach the new season on November 14. We’ve captured what we believe were the 30 most compelling moments from last season, some of which will bring back goosebumps and others of which will leave you shaking your head in astonishment. For all of this year’s released posts, click here. 

#18 – Where The Impossible Happens.

We also encourage you to re-visit the entire archive of this feature from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 preseasons.

The college basketball season is fewer than three weeks away, but more importantly, the college basketball preview season is in full swing. There are literally dozens of excellent previews out there for your consumption, so rather than duplicate the tried-and-true method for season previews, we just figured we would answer a bunch of questions that people may or may not want to know the answer to. There will of course be more focused content published here over the next few weeks, but we figured it best to start with a primer.

1. The conference looks different from last season, what the heck is going on?

An Old Familiar School Returns, But Where’s Everybody Else? (USAT)

The final fumes of football-related conference realignment are responsible for all of this coming and going, and unfortunately, it has hurt the AAC from a basketball standpoint. Louisville, arguably the conference’s premier program from a prestige and attention view of the world, has decamped for the ACC, and Rutgers has also left for the Big Ten. The conference replaced those two programs with three programs from Conference USA – East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa – primarily known for their successes on the football field. The good news is that Tulsa looks to be excellent this year and could even compete for the conference crown, but the Pirates and the Green Wave do nothing to lift the impression of the conference from a basketball standpoint. Although it looks as if conferences are generally done shifting pieces, it would be naïve to set that in stone, especially since programs like UConn and Cincinnati were actively campaigning for new homes over the last two years.

2. Who is the best team in the conference?

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