Rush The Court

We attended ACC Operation Basketball in Charlotte this week (links to the coaches’ and players’ press conferences can be found here). In addition to hearing from coaches and players from all 15 league schools, ACC commissioner John Swofford delivered his annual state of the league address. In this post we present some of the primary takeaways and interesting quotes we observed and heard over the course of the day. At the bottom of the post we also present the preseason award results as voted on by participating media.

LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS TO COLLEGE BASKETBALL’S PROBLEMS

Swofford spent much of his 45-minute forum on Wednesday discussing the current state of college basketball in light of the recent FBI probe into the sport. The longtime commissioner has always been cautious and guarded with his words in public venues, and accordingly — instead of offering headline grabbing suggestions to fix the college game — he opted to take the position of gathering more information before taking a stance. Swofford correspondingly announced that the league is forming a five-member task force to be headed by former Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage. The goal of the group will be to make recommendations to the recently formed NCAA commission, chaired by Condoleezza Rice, that is tasked with finding solutions to the myriad problems exposed by the federal investigation.

When asked for his personal opinion on two low-hanging fruits regarding immediate change, Swofford indicated that he would like to see the one-and-done rule disappear and would be interested in exploring something similar to the college baseball model that forces a decision on professional or collegiate tracks coming out of high school. Both proposals would do little to fix the problems facing college basketball right now — if the top 15 high school seniors went straight to the NBA, then the players ranked #16 through #30 would then become the prime targets for rogue shoe company representatives and agents. So, what’s the difference? As for considering the college baseball model, why don’t we instead worry about creating something that works specifically for college basketball? From the monumental amounts of money involved to the way the entire recruiting structure works, there’s very little in common between those two sports.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM LOUISVILLE THIS YEAR

When it came time to vote on the preseason predicted order of finish, we were most perplexed in trying to predict Louisville’s place in the league pecking order — for obvious reasons. Without their Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino around — replaced by an unproven David Padgett — it’s hard to say how the talented Cardinals will respond. According to the Louisville players in attendance (seniors Quentin Snider and Anas Mahmoud), practices are much more enjoyable now that the notoriously demanding Pitino is no longer in charge. Padgett himself acknowledged that the looser environment was part of his plan to make sure the players still “enjoy basketball.” We certainly understand that approach, but there is a legitimate risk in the short term that the team will lose some of the competitive edge that recent Cardinals’ squads have been known for. For now, Padgett is putting the players first and they may ultimately reward him by developing a successful chip on the shoulder mentality. Regardless of all the off-court issues, the media decided to place Louisville fifth in the preseason poll (as we did). Even though the Cards probably have top-two ACC talent, the sudden coaching change and any subsequent fallout is likely to have a significant impact.

COACHES DISCUSS THEIR STAR PLAYERS

The coaches held court in the main interview room during the afternoon session, and many were asked to discuss their star players. Some of the most insightful comments of the day were made by coaches of the four returning ACC players who were selected to the Preseason All-ACC First Team.

• Mike Brey on what makes Bonzie Colson special: “Well, I think he’s just a great story in college basketball. You know, he’s a throwback, a guy that’s gotten better every year. He’s added something to his game each year. I think he wanted to come back with his teammates. They have a chance to do some things as a team, and he has a chance to do some things individually that very few have done at Notre Dame. So he’s a joy to be around. It’s been neat to watch him grow. He’s still a humble, chip-on-the-shoulder guy, even though he’s earned a lot of respect in college hoops.”
• Mike Krzyzewski on Grayson Allen’s leadership role: “He also knows what the spotlight does for you when things are going good. And he knows what the spotlight does for you when they’re not going good. So probably no other kid in college basketball has been through that myriad of experiences. And they’re all in some respects very, very good experiences. And hopefully what he’s learned from all of them will benefit the guys that he has a chance to lead this year.”
• Roy Williams on Joel Berry (who broke his hand after losing a video game). “But you’ve got to remember that Joel Berry played in the NCAA Final Four last year with two really bad ankles, swollen, didn’t feel good, discolored. He couldn’t play his regular game. And yet he was extremely successful because he’s such a tough kid. And winning is extremely important to him. He made a mistake here because winning is very important to him. And he’s so competitive and so silly. And his greatest characteristic is that drive to win, and sometimes you’ve got to peel it back a little bit.”
• Josh Pastner on what Ben Lammers means to the team. “Ben Lammers doesn’t talk a lot. So he’s not going to be mentoring anybody. Because he rarely talks. He’s a mechanical engineer. Everything he does is — he’s very introverted in that way. He shot the ball well. He can pass it. He can block shots. But he’s got to score better around the basket for us. That’s got to be a big thing. And mentoring, like I said, he doesn’t really talk a lot. So his mentoring is just going to have to be through his play and his ability. And he does such a nice job in practice, like, he just does what we tell him to do. He’s zero maintenance, really, which is a player at that level to have zero maintenance, you rarely find that. He’s not low maintenance; he’s zero maintenance, zero.”

PRESEASON AWARDS

ACC Operation Basketball 2017-18 Preseason Poll

Team & Points

1. Duke (57) – 1020
2. North Carolina (7) – 921
3. Notre Dame (4) – 852
4. Miami (1)- 809
5. Louisville – 733
6. Virginia – 690
7. Virginia Tech – 549
8. Florida State – 519
9. Georgia Tech – 468
10. Syracuse – 420
11. Wake Forest – 378
12. NC State – 310
13. Clemson – 289
14. Boston College – 181
15. Pittsburgh – 141

2017-18 Preseason All-ACC Team

First Team

• Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame (64) 
• Grayson Allen, Duke (60)
• Joel Berry II, North Carolina (58)
• Marvin Bagley III, Duke (26)
• Ben Lammers, Georgia Tech (25)

Second Team

• Bruce Brown Jr., Miami (22)
• Quentin Snider, Louisville (12)
• Deng Adel, Louisville (12)
• Josh Okogie, Georgia Tech (11)
• Jerome Robinson, Boston College (11)

ACC Preseason Player of the Year

• Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame (49)
• Grayson Allen, Duke (9)
• Joel Berry II, North Carolina (9)
• Bruce Brown, Miami (1)
• Jerome Robinson, Boston College (1)

ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year

• Marvin Bagley III, Duke (58)
• Lonnie Walker IV, Miami (3)
• Levar Batts Jr. NC State (2)
• M.J. Walker, Florida State (2)