ACC Morning Five: 10.14.11 Edition

Posted by mpatton on October 14th, 2011

  1. AP: President Obama will be joining Michigan State and North Carolina for the Carrier Classic this November. Tickets aren’t being sold to the public, as the US Carl Vinson is a working aircraft carrier. Roy Williams is excited, having this to say (in his own Roy Williams way): “This is one of the biggest thrills in my coaching career, to be involved in that kind of game […] It really is as neat of a deal as you can possibly imagine.” Even though Michigan State is in a relative “rebuilding year” and UNC is atop the preseason polls, I expect the game to be a good one. Now the only question is who the President will pull for?
  2. GoUpstate.com: Brad Brownell had a very impressive campaign last year, leading Clemson to its first NCAA victory in over fifteen years. That said, things are about to get real for the second-year coach, who lost much of his core from last year’s team. This year “defense will be Clemson’s identity,” which makes at least two ACC coaches who value the defensive side of the court above all else. If you want my guess though, I think the Tigers will be very much in the thick of things for fourth place in the conference (behind UNC, Duke and Florida State) come March.
  3. Winston-Salem Journal: “Deacons’ [Jeff] Bzdelik says he’s sleeping easier this year” is quite a title, especially coming off of a historically bad season. What the second-year coach means is he’s not worrying about players’ behavior off the court and getting telephone calls in the wee hours. The good news for Wake Forest fans is Bzdelik is very optimistic about this team’s attitude: “Maturity” is the biggest difference between this and last year’s teams. The bad news is the program hemorrhaged players and will still be quite low on talent.
  4. Sports Illustrated: Luke Winn’s 16 Impact Freshmen showcases two ACC newcomers from Tobacco Road. North Carolina’s James McAdoo checks in at #11, though he’d almost certainly be higher if the Tar Heels’ frontcourt wasn’t so loaded this year. Just down the way at Duke Austin Rivers takes the top spot, as he’ll be critical to the Blue Devils’ offense next season. The accompanying slideshow is a good look at some of the bright young stars you should expect to see on college basketball’s stage starting next month.
  5. Charlotte Observer: North Carolina announced that Roy Williams‘ contract has been extended through 2018 along with women’s basketball head coach Sylvia Hatchell. One interesting side note is that Hatchell will actually have a higher base salary than Williams ($360,000 compared to $325,000), though Williams also has somewhere on the order of $1.5 million dollars in supplemental income. In 2018 Williams will be 68 and probably in or at least nearing retirement.

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ACC Morning Five: 10.07.11 Edition

Posted by mpatton on October 7th, 2011

  1. USA Today: Marien Garcia talked with Roy Williams and Tyler Zeller about North Carolina‘s upcoming game on the aircraft carrier against Michigan State. Williams sounded excited about the game, though it definitely sounds like he expects a few early game jitters from the environment. Zeller indirectly supported Williams’ thoughts, wondering how the boat’s movement would affect shooting. Magic Johnson has confirmed his role as honorary captain for the Spartans, while rumor has it that Michael Jordan may be wavering on his commitment to attend on behalf of the Tar Heels.
  2. Raleigh News and Observer – ACC Now: Rejoice NC State fans! Alumnus Sidney Lowe has already landed on his feet (not counting the million dollar check he’ll be receiving from the Wolfpack athletic department). Lowe was hired by the Utah Jazz as an assistant coach. Lowe’s departure was a double-edged sword: on the one hand his team’s performances and lack of NCAA Tournament invitations mandated his dismissal; on the other Lowe has a lot of history with the program, which made the parting more than a little bittersweet.
  3. Baltimore Sun – Recruiting Report: Matt Bracken profiles Syracuse sophomore CJ Fair, focusing on his rollercoaster recruitment. While Fair played a more limited role for the Orange last season, Jim Boeheim expects him to take on more responsibility for this year’s team. But the coach’s praise didn’t stop there: “But he’s on a tremendous path. I think he can be a dominant player before he leaves here.”
  4. Washington Post – Terrapins Insider: Maryland freshman Alex Len still hasn’t been cleared to play by the NCAA. This isn’t very surprising as Len signed very recently (August) and is from overseas. In other news Mark Turgeon expressed his excitement to play Mike Brey and Notre Dame in the BB&T Classic this fall: “Mike was on the staff at Duke when I played in the Final Four [in 1986 with Kansas]. I lost when I played, but we won the next time…”
  5. The Heights: A new student group at Boston College, Donahue’s Disciples, is out to generate more student enthusiasm for Eagle home games. Having attended a couple of games in Conte Forum, Ryan Dunn and his friends have a lot of work to do. Both games sported a half-empty student section, and the only real noise came from the band (for the record one of these games was a crucial NCAA Tournament bubble game against Virginia Tech). Donahue’s Disciples have some good ideas to get students involved: namely, free food and possibly a three-on-three basketball tournament. The official Donahue Disciple twitter account is @BookOfDonahue, which is already up to 189 followers.

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