According to the Washington Post, former associate head coach “James Johnson will be named Virginia Tech’s next head men’s basketball coach, according to a person in the athletic department with direct knowledge of the situation.” Athletic director Jim Weaver would not confirm the hire, but pointed to a press conference to be scheduled early this week.

James Johnson To Be Named Virginia Tech's Next Head Coach (photo credit: Mark Dolejs, US Presswire)

When Virginia Tech fired Seth Greenberg last week, my two primary issues with the move were the timing and lack of available candidates. Since the firing, I’ve done an about-face on my opinion: Now I believe Greenberg’s staff turnover and recent stagnation left Weaver with no other options. Half of coaching college basketball is recruiting players and keeping players around — assistant coaches are absolutely critical to that process. Without consistency on the coaching staff, it’s up to the head coach to make close relationships with all potential recruits and current players. That’s just not feasible. Additionally, high level assistants like Johnson take on large coaching responsibilities like defensive scouting.

The reason I was so against dismissing Greenberg was the timing made a slim crop of candidates even slimmer, which made it more likely that the replacement coach would be a step down from Greenberg. The only real in-house candidate was Johnson, who had just departed for Clemson. Based on the timing of Greenberg’s firing, Johnson’s departure was at least the straw that broke the camel’s back. Monday’s report supports this hypothesis. If the reports are true, I love the hire. Johnson knows the area, having grown up in Virginia and coached in Blacksburg. This should have the short-term advantage in re-committing top prospect Montrezl Harrell and keeping all of the current players on the roster. Johnson is definitely a risk — as all first-time head coaches are — but I’d rather see a school take a risk than fall back on a recycled coach.

1. Orlando Sentinel:  Florida State, despite winning the regular season conference title, remains something of an enigma for the coming season. Last year’s run was largely the product of a veteran, senior-laden team. With the graduation of so many players, the Seminoles’ ability to defend their season title is in question. Fortunately for fans in Tallahassee, Leonard Hamilton and his assistants have been hitting the recruiting trail hard. With the recent recruiting coup of 7’3″ Boris Bojanovsky, FSU adds some much needed size to the roster.
2. CBS Sports: Former Duke wing Michael Gbinije will land at Syracuse. In his single year at Duke, Gbinije was rarely utilized. At Syracuse, the talented but unproven player will get an odd opportunity. ACC bylaws prevent players from transferring to other in-conference schools. Yet, Gbinije will get plenty of chances to go against his former team because of the imminence of conference realignment. Though slated to eventually come to the ACC, Syracuse currently remains a Big East school, and because of the NCAA’s required one year waiting period for transfers, there’s a chance that Gbinije won’t play a game in any conference but the ACC.
3. Washington Post: After Seth Greenberg’s surprising dismissal earlier this month, the Virginia Tech coaching search has been moving pretty quickly. Despite unrealistic targets like Shaka Smart and Jay Wright, the search now seems to be zeroing in on some more reasonable candidates, most notably North Carolina State associate head coach Bobby Lutz. Lutz has had previous success in a head coaching position, putting together twelve pretty successful seasons at UNC-Charlotte. Interestingly, North Carolina assistant Steve Robinson has also expressed strong interest in the job, though it’s unclear if Virginia Tech reciprocates the interest.
4. Daily Press:  One serious consequence of Seth Greenberg’s firing is how understaffed it has left Virginia Tech in the interim. With the diaspora of disgruntled former assistants, last season’s video coordinator John Janovsky has been the only Hokie representative currently on the recruiting trail. With a school that has had a tough time landing top recruits in the past, this current lapse stands to set back the Hokies significantly. Virginia Tech needs a coaching staff sooner rather than later.
5. The Diamondback: Maryland guard Pe’Shon Howard was arrested for disorderly conduct late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. There’s no indication that Howard did more than taunt and “instigate,” but we’re sure Mark Turgeon will be less than pleased to see one of his players making the papers for the wrong reasons.

The ACC Microsite is back after a brief hiatus. It’s been a busy couple of weeks with NBA Draft announcements and the like. We’ll be cranking out season recaps and scouting reports over the next few weeks, but to get things started, here’s five stories from this week.

1. Hampton Roads Daily Press: Virginia Tech got some bad news earlier when James Johnson, the Hokies’ associate head coach, resigned to take a position at Clemson. According to Johnson’s discussion with David Teel, the move wasn’t about money as much as it was about opportunity. That said, the biggest differences in Johnson’s new job at Clemson and his old job at Virginia Tech are his boss and his salary (which went up 33%).
2. Washington Post: The biggest news came yesterday when Virginia Tech announced Seth Greenberg‘s termination. The news wasn’t hugely surprising, though it came at a horrible time and totally out of thin air. My biggest issue with the firing was the timing. The Hokies’ season was over six weeks ago — why wait this long to pull the trigger? The answer seems to lie in the above article. Jim Weaver cited staff turnover as the primary reason for letting Greenberg go, though that seems to point to Greenberg’s prickly persona — which almost certainly alienated members of his staff and the athletic department — as the culprit.
3. Fox Sports Carolinas: CJ Leslie made a great decision to come back to NC State. Not only does his return make the Wolfpack the “on paper” team to beat in the ACC, but he wasn’t a first-round draft lock by any means. Not to say that earning a contract in summer league is something to be ashamed of, but it’s not the guaranteed money that he easily could be looking at with another strong season behind him.
4. Washington Post: Speaking of retaining assistants, Maryland shelled out quite a bit of money to keep Mark Turgeon’s staff intact. Turgeon’s staff collectively made just shy of $860,000 last year. The assistants’ collective salary is more than the budget of seven of the eight athletic teams the Maryland athletic department decided to cut to help balance the budget this past year.
5. MassLive.com: Former Duke star Chris Carrawell will be sitting on the bench for the New Jersey Nets during the team’s last week of regular season action. Carrawell spent the season as an assistant coach on the Nets D-League team, the Springfield Armour. It looked like Carrawell was heading towards a spot on Duke’s coaching staff until Jeff Capel rejoined about a year ago, pushing everyone back a peg.

The Washington Post‘s Hokies Journal tweeted on Monday:”Two sources have confirmed that Seth Greenberg has been fired as Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach. Got the news 2 hours ago.” The news was confirmed by an online presser held by the athletic department at 4 PM. Based on the size and prominence of the story on the athletic department website, Jim Weaver isn’t having any second thoughts either. But he probably should.

Seth Greenberg Out At Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech firing Seth Greenberg is a stupid idea — especially considered in light of the late April timing of Greenberg’s dismissal. Unless the Hokies have a candidate lined up for the job, they’re very likely to get stuck with a new hire worse than Greenberg. I understand the frustration of constantly sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble; I understand no fan base wants to be told “you should be happy with mediocrity” (see: Herb Sendek); and I understand getting better is about taking chances from time to time. But now was not the right time for two major reasons.

1. Greenberg significantly improved Virginia Tech during his nine-year tenure. Since taking over the helm in Blacksburg, Virginia Tech earned 20-win seasons in four of its last six seasons. Before Greenberg showed up for the 2003-04 season, the Hokies had owned one winning record since Bill Foster left in 1997. The nine years before Greenberg showed up, the Hokies were 132-133 (0.498); he boasted a 167-117 record (0.588) during his tenure.
2. It’s April 23. Nearly all good coaches looking for jobs already have them, and almost all of the attractive candidates have re-upped with their old schools. Signing period is almost over. Now is not a good time to find a basketball coach.

There’s still a chance this could work out, but without any high-level assistants available to promote, it’s not going to be easy. The Hokies’ associate head coach, James Johnson, left for Clemson last week. I’m not sure who Virginia Tech will hire, but I’ll be surprised if he’s as good a coach as Seth Greenberg.

1. ACC Sports Journal: We know he’s coming back, but Jim Young took a look at the pros and cons of James Michael McAdoo‘s decision whether or not to return to Chapel Hill for his sophomore campaign. The strongest argument, in my opinion, is building his confidence through collegiate success. It’s a way for a guy like McAdoo, who looked like a late lottery pick based on most draft projections, to sneak into the top five (where he’d get a much nicer contract), and also make it more likely for him to succeed. That said, I think it’s a little risky (see: Harrison Barnes).
2. Tar Heel Blog: With the roster pretty much set, Brian Barbour went to work trying to guess North Carolina‘s lineup for next year. I would only add a couple of things: (1) I think Dexter Stickland will be hugely important to next year’s team; (2) I think North Carolina may play small a good amount of the time, possibly putting Reggie Bullock at the four and McAdoo at the five to create mismatches.
3. Testudo Times: Speaking about potential ACC transfers, Maryland is getting serious about Evan Smotrycz, inviting the Michigan transfer on a visit this week. I agree that while Smotrycz isn’t the perfect player, he brings a valuable skill set to the Terrapins. This is especially true for a team that currently really struggles scoring, so having a stretch four could make a very big difference.
4. Duke Basketball Report: I feel like I’ve mentioned this several times (albeit looking at Duke big men from a little further back), but this article goes straight at the oft-repeated knock against Duke coming from high-profile recruits that the Blue Devils can’t coach bigs (namely, Mitch McGary and Tony Parker). One piece of ammunition — ironically for both sides of the argument — is Lance Thomas. I think the real question comes from the article’s final “proviso that what anyone does in high school is irrelevant to the college game.” Obviously, to some extent that’s true (especially of big men), but that’s the gap current recruits see between Mason Plumlee‘s high school dominance and freshman and sophomore year incompetence.
5. Staunton News-Leader: I agree with this article in all but one respect. I think Duke fans (and logical North Carolina fans) will be pulling for NC State next year. This isn’t to say they’ll put the Wolfpack ahead of their own teams, but it’s good for the ACC when the whole conference is up, and that means having another national contender outside of the usual suspects. Assuming Florida State can keep playing at a high level and that Maryland improves significantly, the ACC could be almost wide open depending on Duke’s last-ditch recruiting.

EXTRA: The UConn Blog – There’s a little unrest in Storrs, as Alex Oriakhi‘s dad publicly called for reprimands towards Jim Calhoun by saying, “I have no qualm in calling on the [AD] to relieve Calhoun of this position.” Wow. Not exactly going out with a whimper. Mr. Oriakhi may want to wait for his son to pick a school before ripping into the Huskies’ legend, as Connecticut could ultimately make his son’s transfer much more difficult.

1. Duke Basketball Report: The other day I pointed out the tunnel vision for Charles Bloom‘s national championship stat. Barry Jacobs took it several steps further, charting national titles since 1990 and 1980. Duke and North Carolina own more championships than any other conference since either date (seven since 1990 and eight since 1980). Even more impressive, the pair own more Final Four appearances than any other conference since 1990 (each school has as many semifinal showings as the Pac-12 over that span).
2. NBCSports.com: Boston College’s second leading scorer Matt Humphrey is hitting the road for the second time, transferring away from the Eagles after just one year, as Humphrey had already transferred from Oregon. Because Humphrey is graduating from Boston College, so he’ll be able to play immediately wherever he ends up. Despite his inefficiency, Humphrey did average more than 10 points per game on this year’s team. Look for Patrick Heckmann to pick up the slack once he fully recovers from mononucleosis.
3. Wilmington Star-News: James Michael McAdoo decided to come back to North Carolina for his sophomore year despite many projecting he’d go in the lottery of this year’s NBA Draft. His decision was well-received by the Tar Heel faithful, as it closed the “on-paper” gap between them and NC State. However, with stories like Harrison Barnes’, Jared Sullinger’s and Jeremy Lamb’s, it’s tough not to wonder if McAdoo is making the right financial decision for his future.
4. Gobbler Country: Here are individual report cards for all of the players on Virginia Tech’s roster. My one issue is that Cadarian Raines only got a B. Sure Raines wasn’t exactly a world-beater the whole season, but he looked terrific down the stretch. He’s strong, appears fine on the court for extended stretches, and knows how to get deep position (which is virtually unstoppable). I’m not sure how anyone could have expected more. It will be interesting to see if the Hokies try to feed him more down low next year. I expect them to make a pretty big leap forward with nearly all of their key pieces coming back (minus Dorenzo Hudson and Victor Davila). Dorian Finney-Smith and CJ Barksdale should be very good players to compliment Erick Green.
5. Seminoles.com: In an award selection less surprising than Anthony Davis winning player of the year, Bernard James won the USBWA’s Most Courageous award. I don’t need to tell you James’ story, which was even more in the spotlight with Florida State’s success. The other recipient this year was Tennessee women’s head basketball coach Pat Summit.

1. Backing The Pack: One of the best posts of the year is back for its sixth edition. That’s right it’s time for @akulawolf”s postseason awards. Not only do the awards make you laugh, they’re also informative. For instance, did you know DeShawn Painter sported a smooth 37.6% effective field goal percentage this year? I don’t know how many times I told myself, “He’s really developed that 15-17 footer this year.” Well, apparently it was all a mirage.
2. WxMoose: Speaking of informative and ironic, I did a double-take when I read this analysis of way-too-early rankings. No, it wasn’t NC State‘s frequent top-10 rating (CBS was the only early Top 25 to rank the Wolfpack in double figures). It was CollegeHoops.net ranking Duke number one. Yeah, their rankings are from before the NCAA tournament finished (and Austin Rivers declared), but number one?! By the way, these rankings are your ACC basketball reminders of the Mayan calendar: NC State is ranked above its Tobacco Road foes in all but two of the polls.
3. Tar Heel Blog: With the news that North Carolina recruit Marcus Paige has already joined the list of Tar Heel injuries, Brian Barbour took the time to list all of the injuries during the Roy Williams era. It’s safe to say the last three years haven’t been kind, with 15 UNC players missing a total of 122 games.
4. Run The Floor: ESPN reported that Pittsburgh and Syracuse won’t be at Big East meetings this summer; rather, the two schools will join the ACC proceedings. The strange thing is that neither team is slated to join the ACC until after the Big East bylaw-mandated 27-month waiting period. My guess is this is a sign that things are moving more quickly than anticipated (the Big East already replaced the departed schools).
5. Baltimore Sun: Obi Enechionyia (I have no idea how this is pronounced, but it could be epic) is interested in Maryland. He’s only a rising junior, but he’s already on local schools’ radars, notably Maryland, Virginia and Virginia Tech. He really came out of nowhere this year to average 18/13 as a sophomore. If he improves again over the next year, you should expect to start seeing bigger names on that list. Mark Turgeon and his staff should have an advantage for getting into the recruiting race early.

EXTRA: This is real.

1. Raleigh News & Observer: Want to know every NCAA tournament game refereed by an ACC official? Well Luke DeCock is your man. He tracked the top 14 conference officials with all of their games from the Big Dance. Les Jones and Jamie Luckie both made it to New Orleans (Roger Ayers was an alternate). The NCAA Tournament is also a tournament for officials, with the league trimming down the officials each round. For the record Karl Hess made it all the way through the Phoenix regional.
2. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Tony Parker is a bit of a mystery. Every time it seems like Duke is out of the mix, Mike Krzyzewski will go out of his way to go see Parker and another school will take a step back. This time it’s Kansas moving backwards, as Danny Manning (Parker’s primary recruiter) is going to Tulsa. Thad Matta also missed on an opportunity to go see Parker because he was coaching in the Elite 8. Coach K may be able to overcome Parker’s knock (that Duke struggles to develop big men) by process of elimination and sheer resilience.
3. Wilmington Star-News: It’s a photo gracing more and more articles on Wake Forest basketball. What should have been a very promising offseason took a turn for the worse as the Jeff Bzdelik era transfer count climbed to eight with Tony Chennault, Carson Desrosiers and Anthony Fields announcing their intentions to leave Winston-Salem. I don’t need to tell you that Bzdelik should be on a short leash. He’s got a promising class coming in. But if he’s in the bottom tier of the ACC again, he may not get a chance to develop those guys.
4. ACC Sports Journal: Barry Jacobs looks at the ACC season through some numbers, highlighting everything from declining scoring margin and Kendall Marshall‘s assists amongst other topics. This was the first time in the past 15 years the ACC wasn’t significantly above the national scoring average (the conference scored 68.5 points a game compared to the nation’s 68 points). Obviously some of this decline is a part of the national trend, some is a fundamental change of style, and some reflects conference expansion and coaching turnover. How much? Who knows?
5. Raleigh News & Observer: Wisely, CJ Leslie is seeking a report from the NBA’s “draft advisory committee.” I say wisely because Leslie isn’t projecting as a first round lock, so jumping head-first into the NBA draft might be unwise. However, many of the mock drafts predicting Leslie in the second round show him falling behind Mason Plumlee. Having watched both play quite a bit, I’m not sure how a GM could justify that.

EXTRA: Speaking of NC State, The Big Lead is very high on the Wolfpack next year. Jason McIntyre ranked Mark Gottfried’s team fifth, only two spots behind North Carolina (a ranking that required a lot of leaps considering its losses). Still the bigger surprises from the ACC lay further down the rankings, where Maryland comes in at 13 and Duke at 25. I don’t see it with Maryland. Duke should be better than 25, but there are a lot of questions facing the Blue Devils.

1. Hampton Roads Daily Press: Speaking of tall lanky game-changers in college basketball, Ralph Sampson finally was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame. You can blame the delay on his injury-laden NBA career and a combination of Sidney Lowe, Michael Jordan, and Sam Perkins (who kept him from ACC Championships in 1983, 1982 and 1981 respectively). Sampson was truly a once-in-a-generation player. At 7’4″ and athletic, he was comfortable smoking opponents from inside and out. He’s also one of two players to be chosen the consensus national player of the year three times (Bill Walton is the other).
2. Yadkin Valley Sports: This is a great article on Victor Davila, who watched his senior season evaporate from the bench with a groin injury. Davila is a product of Puerto Rico by means of the foothills of North Carolina. Here’s to hoping he finds some basketball success overseas before having to get a real job.
3. Durham Herald-Sun: Steve Wiseman checks in with questions facing Duke in the offseason. I will try to answer them. Will Mason Plumlee return? No idea. Will Rasheed Sulaimon make an impact as a freshman? Yes. He’s a great shooter and looks like a solid defender (albeit in the McDonald’s All-American game). Will Duke pick up any transfers? I think Alex Oriakhi comes if Plumlee leaves; Trey Zeigler seems more likely. Strengths? Definitely scoring, though the defense should get better with the addition of Alex Murphy. Speaking of Murphy I think he will start next year, and Marshall Plumlee will get decent minutes off the bench (to commit fouls if nothing else).
4. Fox Sports: Here’s Andrew Jones with Florida State‘s final report card for the season. I think he’s a little harsh on the Seminoles’ offense, though their nonconference play certainly merits a harsh rating. The real question is what Leonard Hamilton can put together losing so many players. The team was so deep last year that he’ll still have plenty of players coming back with experience, but things will look very different in Tallahassee next year (Michael Snaer is the difference to me).
5. NC State Technician: While part of me agrees that CJ Leslie should stick around for another year (namely, he’s not a first round lock), I abhor these types of articles. Players know fans want them to come back. I think the jump Leslie made between last year and this year was the difference between a flame out career and sticking around in the NBA. He matured a ton between last year and this year. If Leslie comes back, he’s definitely preseason first team All-ACC and should be in the running for conference player of the year (on a team that might be picked on top of the league).

Today in Carefully-Framed Stats:

Since 1993, the #SEC has won six NCAA men’s hoops titles, tied with the ACC for most during that time.

— Charles Bloom (@SECPRGuy) April 3, 2012

(That would be ignoring the ACC’s three consecutive championships from 1991-1993.)

1. Draft Express: This is a very good breakdown of Kendall Marshall‘s game from Joseph Treutlein. The short version is pretty straight forward: Marshall is an elite passer and game manager, but he doesn’t look for his own offense and is a defensive liability. I don’t think Marshall will ever be a good defender, but Ricky Rubio definitely made him some money this year with his passable perimeter defense. Trerutlein’s points about Marshall looking for his own offense more definitely paint an optimistic picture (though I expect he’ll need to rely far more on his jumper than driving at the next level). The bottom line is Marshall is a very good point guard in a draft nearly empty of NBA-ready point guards.
2. Washington Post: This is a cool look back at Maryland’s national championship and the expectations of that season ten years ago. In a way, it’s reminiscent of Duke’s crushing beatdown from UNLV in 1990, the way the Terrapins rebounded from a crushing loss to Duke (after they held a 22-point lead) in 2001. Only two members of that Maryland team are still in the NBA (Steve Blake and Chris Wilcox), but don’t let that make you think the team has forgotten. It sounds like one man off the roster, from Gary Williams to Juan Dixon, could recount that season from start to finish.
3. ACC Sports Journal: Andrew Skwara doesn’t mince words as he grades six ACC seasons. So far Florida State leads the way with an A with Duke tailing with a B thanks to the Blue Devils’ embarrassing loss to Lehigh. I think the second half of the conference (alphabetically speaking) is a little more interesting to evaluate: What grade for NC State after a disappointing regular season and terrific postseason run? What about Miami? Were Wake Forest’s improvements good enough to earn a decent mark?
4. South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Good news for Coral Gables, as Kenny Kadji announced he will return to Miami for his senior season. Kadji will be critical for the Hurricanes’ success because he gives Jim Larranga a stretch four to help open up the paint for Reggie Johnson and Durand Scott. Johnson will still be the biggest piece: if he comes back and gets in shape, Miami could contend for a top three or four conference finish. If he doesn’t, the Hurricanes are looking at the middle of the pack.
5. Yahoo!: Duke stayed America’s favorite college basketball team this year, edging out Kentucky and North Carolina. I would like to see more poll numbers, but Duke’s national brand certainly plays a huge role in a study like this (my guess is Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky are fairly close, but even other blue-bloods lack the national audience to maintain their relevance. However, with Duke taking what looks to be a step backwards next year, could the Wildcats and Tar Heels may overtake the Blue Devils.