1. The hardest part is over for Kevin Ollie, who escaped Gampel Pavilion with a win in his first game –– however unofficial –– as UConn’s head coach. The Huskies rallied to beat American International College 78-63 on Thursday, but the final score doesn’t reflect how uncertain the game was for the first 20 minutes. Ollie’s team missed 10 of its first 11 shot attempts and AIC quickly opened up a 12-2 lead, to the dismay of the 5,349 fans on hand. “When you go 1-for-[11], I’m like, ‘Man, this might be my only time out here,’” Ollie joked afterward to the New Haven Register. UConn never led before halftime, but prodigal freshman guard Omar Calhoun keyed a furious comeback after intermission with his 24 points on 8-14 shooting (including 3-6 from beyond the arc). Ryan Boatright woke up in the second half, finishing with 14 points, and Shabazz Napier added 11 from the two-guard spot. The Huskies have an opportunity to regroup and work out some kinks on Sunday against UMass-Lowell, before an abrupt uptick in competition when they face Michigan State in Germany on November 9.
2. Louisville enjoyed a more emphatic win in its first exhibition of 2012, thumping Pikeville 93-57 in the KFC Yum! Center after hanging the university’s ninth Final Four banner from the rafters. Before the game, former point guard Elisha Justice received a warm welcome from the crowd of 20,277 on hand when Pitino presented him with his Final Four ring. Once things got underway, the ceremonies didn’t seem to pose a distraction for the Cardinals. Sophomores Chane Behanan and Kevin Ware were glued to the bench after being suspended for the game by Rick Pitino, but their absence was undetectable, thanks in part to a breakout debut from freshman forward Montrezl Harrell. Harrell ended with a team-high 19 points and game-high 13 rebounds, and made a variety of unrelentingly energetic plays. His performance was impressive enough that he’ll have an opportunity to compete for the starting power forward position once Behanan returns for the official opener against Manhattan.
3. Syracuse handled its business by an eerily identical 36-point margin, dismantling an overwhelmed Pace squad, 99-63. It was a concerted effort for the Orange, as eight players logged 17 minutes or more and five ended up scoring double figures. Everything went according to plan for Jim Boeheim, who acknowledged after the game, “I’m not experimenting. We’re going to play nine guys.” Pace’s undersized frontcourt (whose tallest player is 6’6″) was no match for the freakish length of Boeheim’s big men, and it manifested in a Space Jam-esque block fest: the Orange logged six blocks in the first 10 minutes, and finished with 14. Freshman big man Dajuan Coleman got the start at center, and began his college career with 11 points and three blocks. But it was steady anchor James Southerland (18 points) and promising returner Michael Carter-Williams (16 points, seven assists) who keyed the offensive effort. The Orange open the season on the road at San Diego State on November 9, where they’ll get a chance to test their nine-man rotation against stiffer competition.
4. Friarblog digs up an awesome New York Times piece by Pete Thamel from 2004, which recounts a late-night gas station rendezvous between Ed Cooley, at the time an assistant coach at Boston College, and former Providence assistant Bob Walsh, as their respective teams prepared for the NCAA tournament. While it “looked like a scene from a bad crime movie,” the coaches were exchanging game film on each other’s first round opponents. The PC staff was acutely aware of the difficulty of finding tape for opponents with few televised games: a recording blunder caused Walsh to accidently tape “Body by Jake” on public access in lieu of the Big West championship game. What makes this kind of story so compelling is that it humanizes the two coaches and gives fans a rare glimpse into the more mundane experiences of their profession. Walsh and Cooley will have an opportunity to catch up on Saturday when Walsh’s Rhode Island College squad visits the Dunk for an exhibition game.
5. Lastly, South Florida blog Voodoo Five put together a very nuanced appraisal of the Bulls’ chances to succeed playing a smaller lineup this year after the departure of Gus Gilchrist and Ron Anderson Jr. Writer Collin Sherwin points out that Stan Heath’s roster lacks the outside shooting to space the floor with three point shooting: USF finished last year ranked 280th in the country in three-point shooting percentage, and facilitator Anthony Collins shot a dreadful 7-24 on the season. It will be interesting to see how Heath tailors his offense to his team’s strengths. We’ll get our first real glimpse on November 10, when USF hosts its I-4 rival, UCF.

1. Rick Pitino’s highly touted Louisville squad took the court for the first time in the annual Red/White Scrimmage on Saturday. It’s obviously hard to derive any significant conclusions from this sort of event, but the scrimmage provided Cardinal fans with their first glimpse of newcomer Montrezl Harrell. The former Virginia Tech commitment –– who’s earned the title “Baby Chane”  — did not disappoint, posing 17 points and 12 rebounds in his first public performance as a Cardinal. His performance substantiated the notion that that 6’8″, 235-pound Harrell can replace the departed Jared Swopshire and Rakeem Buckles as a serviceable backup to both Chane Behanan and Gorgui Dieng. Louisville’s frontcourt rotation suddenly appears more talented than even the 2009 team, which featured future NBA players Earl Clark and Samardo Samuels in the post.
2. It’s already been covered at length by both the sports and general news media, but the stabbing incident that cut short Syracuse’s Orange Madness event last Friday bears mentioning in light of new developments. The victim was identified as 25-year-old Shoquinn Benton, someone who was unaffiliated with the university, uncooperative with police, and subsequently seems to have discharged himself from the hospital with little fanfare. Athletic Director Daryl Gross indicated that while this was an isolated incident at an otherwise positive event, the school will take steps to avoid the environment that fostered multiple fights at last weekend’s Orange Madness: “What we’re going to do is make sure that we ensure that you can’t even get that storm together again… Obviously, we’re going to be meeting a lot about this.” Sean Keeley at Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician speculates that those meetings may result in measures like charging admission to the event for non-students and non-ticket holders.
3. Speaking of Syracuse, last Friday we noted that not only does this season mark the 37^th year of Jim Boeheim’s head coaching tenure there, but also the 50^th anniversary of the coach’s matriculation to Syracuse as a college freshman. For his part, Boeheim isn’t eager to celebrate the occasion: “Nobody knew about it. I shouldn’t have told anybody.” He’s 67 years old and non-committal about retirement (saying “it’s getting close”), but he doesn’t hesitate to gush over his squad’s preparation heading into the season. Given Jim Calhoun’s recent retirement, Boeheim’s equivocation about hanging up the towel, and recent comments from Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich, it’s entirely possible that Rick Pitino could enter the 2013-14 season as the only Big East coach with a national title.
4. This week is a big one for Georgetown recruiting. Notable Big East recruit Roddy Peters will make his college decision this morning at 9 AM ET. The Suitland, Maryland, point guard will reportedly decide between Georgetown, Rutgers, Maryland and Xavier. Another Georgetown target and consensus top-50 recruit, Johnathan Williams III, will also decide later this week between the Hoyas, Michigan State, Tennessee and Missouri.
5. According to Friar Blog, Providence is appealing the NCAA to have Ricky Ledo eligible to play in the second semester. Ledo had been declared a partial qualifier in September, making him eligible to practice but not to play in the upcoming season. Even getting the precocious freshman eligible for a handful of Big East games would be a huge lift for Ed Cooley and Providence fans eager to see what he can do. Complemented by heralded freshman point guard Kris Dunn, PC would immediately have one of the most talented backcourts in the conference. This is certainly a storyline worth watching as we head into the winter months.

While most relish the onset of Summer, college basketball junkies do not. Most of the news surrounding the sport is recruiting rumors and commitments or injuries and transfer news. In order to help keep folks up-to-date on what their teams are doing during the summer, we put together these summer capsules for each team in the conference. Next up is Louisville.

1. The rotating door was busy this summer, and some folks don’t like it.

Is Pitino Running Lesser Players Out Of Town To Make Room For New Ones?

Cardinals coach Rick Pitino is no stranger to controversy and criticism, and this summer was no different as a multitude of injury-laden reserves left the program raising concerns about Pitino’s roster management strategy and questions about whether he is cutting ties with less important players to make room for new ones. Before the end of last season news broke that reserve forward Jared Swopshire would transfer so he could play right away in his final collegiate season. Then, just two days after highly touted recruit Montrezl Harrell signed with the Cardinals and people began to wonder where the extra scholarship would come from, backup and injury-prone big man Stephan Van Treese announced he was leaving also only to reverse course later that month. That reversal came just a week after another injury-prone reserve, Rakeem Buckles, announced he would transfer to Florida International, once again freeing up a scholarship that Van Treese happily took back.  There is absolutely no evidence that Pitino forced any of these players out and it’s entirely possible these players saw the writing on the wall and transferred to a place where they could find more playing time. But perception is also a big deal, and if recruits perceive that Pitino is jettisoning lesser talents to make room for younger players, it will certainly make them think twice before they sign on with Louisville.

2. Just how good can Louisville’s frontcourt become?

Read the rest of this entry »

Over the next four weeks we’ll be taking a step back and looking at each team in the ACC to assess where each program — and the conference as a whole — stands before we totally turn our attention to the 2013-14 season later this fall. Today’s target: Virginia Tech.

Where They Stand Now

Virginia Tech surprised most people last year. The Hokies were picked in the middle of the pack by pretty much everyone. It was supposed to be a “down year” in the sense that people expected Seth Greenberg‘s perennial bubble team to not be one of the last teams out on Selection Sunday. Non-conference play went as expected: the Hokies lost all three games they played against tough competition and won the other 11. Then the ACC slate hit like a dump truck.

Virginia Tech started 1-6 in conference play with losses to league cellar dwellers Boston College and Wake Forest. Until beating Clemson by five in their final regular season match-up, the Hokies’ three wins came by a total of five points. No conference team played opponents as consistently close (Virginia Tech saw all but four of its conference games decided by single figures), but no team saw fewer conference wins either. It was the last straw for the athletic department brass, which waited until April 23 to let Greenberg go.

Erick Green Has First Team All-ACC Potential this Season.

In his stead is last year’s Assistant Head Coach, James Johnson. Johnson is a great choice for the job, though he failed his first assignments. Top recruit Montrezl Harrell de-committed from the program to go to Louisville, and rising star Dorian Finney-Smith transferred to Florida. Still, Johnson knows the Virginia Tech team well and he knows the program.

Who’s Leaving

Long story short: a lot of people. The Hokies lose Dorenzo Hudson and Victor Davila to graduation; they lose Allan Chaney and Finney-Smith to transfer; and they lost Harrell’s commitment along with their head coach Greenberg.

Hudson and Davila were the team’s second and fourth-leading scorers, respectively. They combined to average 18.4 points and 7.0 rebounds a game. While Finney-Smith was still very raw offensively, he contributed a lot on defense and by crashing the glass. He was highly rated coming out of high school (#18 by ESPN, #27 by Scout and #31 by Rivals), largely thanks to his potential.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. It has been a while since we have checked in with some recent news from everybody’s favorite basketball conference that is slowly falling apart, and for that we apologize. We have real jobs (womp womp) and occasionally it can be difficult to find time to recap the week’s Big East news. That said, we recognize our recent shortcomings and will make amends starting now. Weekly Fives will come out on Tuesday morning, and barring some minor catastrophe, they will become a regular staple again. So rejoice, and enjoy some much belated news.
2. Maybe Villanova isn’t going to lose center Markus Kennedy after all. The rising sophomore made the understandable announcement that he was transferring two weeks ago, presumably because there weren’t a lot of minutes to go around next season. Well now he appears to be reconsidering that decision, although it is still unknown whether coach Jay Wright would even take him back. Kennedy had an unremarkable freshman campaign, but did look like someone who could develop into a quality contributor down the road. The question now becomes whether he is good enough to continue to take up a scholarship Wright could give to a more talented recruit in the next year or two.
3. The frontcourt that Rick Pitino has assembled at Louisville for next season will be very talented and very deep, but that didn’t stop the Cardinals from adding to the mix as they landed one of the last 2012 Top 100 recruits left unsigned in Montrezl Harrell. Harrell asked for his release from Virginia Tech when the Hokies fired Seth Greenberg, and now the undersized but rugged power forward — who also was recently named to the US Men’s U-18 national team — will be headed to the Bluegrass State. Considering the depth the Cardinals already boast in the paint, it will be tough for Harrell to crack the rotation and find consistent minutes as a freshman, and the addition also forces Louisville to play the always fun game of musical scholarships, but the late signing is still quite a coup.
4. Like so many others who cover the conference, we were guilty of doubting Steve Lavin’s ability to recruit talent to St. John’s given the doubts about his long term future with the Red Storm. Well, consider us properly shamed, as not only has Lavin continued to make progress health-wise, but the program’s recruiting continues to flourish under the leadership of their charismatic coach. First, Lavin convinced Jakarr Sampson to recommit, and most recently, Top 100 big man Christopher Obekpa committed too, giving the Red Storm another talented class highlighted by big men. Given the well-publicized transfers, recruiting defeats, and early departures that marked the Red Storm’s season, this recruiting class is huge from a momentum standpoint. With Lavin’s health improving, he is set to return to the bench next season, and it looks like St. John’s has successfully avoided a catastrophe and continues to move in the right direction.
5. Two Big East teams made news this week thanks to transfer decisions, although the teams made news for opposite reasons. First, former Providence combo guard Gerard Coleman is officially transferring to Gonzaga, where his ability to score and rebound will make a huge impact in Spokane once he sits out a year. It is never a good thing to lose a player of Coleman’s caliber, but the Friars’ backcourt is already so crowded, it at least gives coach Ed Cooley one less headache to worry about. The second transfer involves Huggy Bear and his West Virginia squad, who landed well-traveled forward Matt Humphrey. The 6-foot-5 forward has already made stops at Oregon and Boston College and will be eligible to play immediately because he earned his degree from BC last year. He will have one year of eligibility remaining and after an impact season in Chestnut Hill, Humphrey should give Huggins an experienced and multi-faceted swing player who can step out and knock down the three-pointer as well as defend multiple positions. At the very least it should help the Mountaineers recover from the loss of its Mr. Everything, Kevin Jones.

Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Lead Story: Top-30 Senior Devonta Pollard Commits To Alabama

McDonald's All-American Devonta Pollard Is A Huge Pick-up For Alabama. (Photo Credit: Kelly Kline)

Small Forward Is Lone Crimson Tide Commit. Class of 2012 small forward Devonta Pollard (#27) was the top unsigned prospect left in the senior class going in to Friday, but the Mississippi native became the latest top 75 player to come off the board when he committed to Alabama. The McDonald’s All-American chose the Crimson Tide over Georgetown, Missouri and Texas and is a guy with great athleticism and length and is a terrific finisher. He is very good in transition and is great above the rim. He is also able to finish with both hands and has a good pull-up jumper in the mid-range game. Pollard is a great shot-blocker as well for a wing and impacts the game on the defensive end. However, one of the biggest things he can improve on is his perimeter shooting. He can develop better range from beyond the three-point line and become more consistent from outside too. The 6’8, 192-pound wing is the lone commitment in the Class of 2012 for Alabama head coach Anthony Grant.

What They’re Saying

• Standout senior Savon Goodman‘s high school coach, Rob Moore, on who leads for his prized player: “Looks like SMU and UNLV are leading the pack. He loved [SMU head] coach [Larry] Brown. This late in the game he could commit at any time.” Read the rest of this entry »

1. Kentucky missed out on a pair of the blue-chip forwards left in the recruiting period, Anthony Bennett and Amile Jefferson so now it appears that they will attempt to land Montrezl Harrell, who will be leaving Virginia Tech before even playing a game. Harrell committed to the Hokies before they let go of Seth Greenberg. Despite attempts by the school to change Harrell’s mind and keep him with the program, they eventually granted Harrell his release allowing him to explore his options.
2. Additionally on the Kentucky revolving-door roster situation, earlier in the week, the Wildcats landed one-year transfer Julius Mays from Wright State. May started his career at North Carolina State, where he averaged around five points per game over his two seasons. In one year at Wright State, he averaged 14.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Mays will be able to play for the Wildcats next season as he is set to graduate from Wright State after the Spring semester and will enroll in a graduate program at Kentucky.
3. Kentucky maintained its place atop the college basketball attendance figures, leading the nation in average attendance for the seventh straight year (and 16th time in the previous 17 years). From the CBSSports.com article on the achievement, “Kentucky also set an single-season record for overall fans-per-game, as the team’s 22,148 number for its 40 games came out to a total of 885,953 fans. The previous record? Held by Syracuse, of course. The Orangemen saw 855,053 fans flock to their games back in 1989.”
4. Mike Anderson bolstered Arkansas’s non-conference slate as the Razorbacks will be part of the 2012 Las Vegas Invitational. The field includes Wisconsin, Arizona State, and Creighton. While Arizona State probably will still continue to struggle, the other two members of the field will be solid even if they are adjusting to the loss of some significant senior leadership in their backcourt.
5. With most of the uncommitted recruits making their decisions in the past week, some SEC schools still hold out hope they may land the top available prospect, Devonta Pollard from DeKalb, Mississippi. According to The Sporting News, three SEC schools remain in the mix as “he is believed to be down to Texas and Alabama but hasn’t ruled out Mississippi State, Missouri or Georgetown.”

1. ESPN: Andy Katz has a report with details about next season’s new conference schedule.  With each team set to now play 18 conference games while the conference membership stays at 12, the 2012-13 schedule will be fairly unique. Each team will play a home-and-home series with seven teams, while playing the four other teams only once. According to associate commissioner Karl Hicks, the schedule will be designed explicitly for balance in the coming season, with no plans to set a rotation for future years. Frankly, as a fan: This is great. Unbalanced schedules aren’t a particularly fun part about college basketball yet they have played a big role in shaping tournament seeding in recent years. More conference games and more balance? All for it, assuming Hicks does a good job.
2. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Money, money, money. The ACC renegotiated its television contract with ESPN to extend to 2026-27. The deal is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.6 billion dollars and essentially means a 33% increase in revenue to each of the anticipated 14 member schools. The deal was brokered to factor in the new additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, both expected to participate in ACC play by the 2013-14 season. It’s refreshing to see that money is being kept out of amateur athletics and that the ideal of the student-athlete remains untainted by commercial interests.
3. USA Today: Of course, not everyone is happy about the deal. Florida State, defending ACC Tournament champion, former football powerhouse and currently cash-strapped institution, has been muttering discontentedly over the recent television deal. Granted, a lot of the muttering appears to stem from misconceptions or misunderstandings, but the fact remains that the Seminoles want (and need) more money. While the new television deal is expected to bring in $17 million dollars a year, the current year’s athletic department budget has a projected shortfall of $2.4 million dollars. The temptation in Tallahassee is to seek membership with the Big 12 Conference, a league currently in negotiations for a contract that would deliver well over $20 million per year (particularly with the added draw of Florida State). While the school currently remains committed to the ACC, it’s hard to see a world where the Seminoles wouldn’t be thinking long and hard about this move.
4. The Daily Press: James Johnson might well remember why he left Virginia Tech in the first place. The new Hokies head coach finds himself with a problem as VT continues to take big hits from transfers. Dorian Finney-Smith, an all-freshman team selection as well as perhaps the biggest recruit in Virginia Tech history, is requesting a transfer (Memphis or Florida seem to be the likely destinations). On top of losing Finney-Smith, incoming freshman Montrezl Harrell won’t be coming in after all — the top-100 recruit has requested a release to attend a different school.
5. The News and Advance: On a positive note, Virginia coach Tony Bennett has survived the Wahoos’ rash of transfers to secure a more permanent place for himself in Charlottesville, earning a five-year extension at the school. In the turnover-wracked conference, it’s nice to see a guy putting down some roots. Bennett led the Cavaliers to one of its best seasons in a long time in 2011-12. The rest of the ACC can look forward to facing the tough and cramped pack line defense for years to come!

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.

Who’s Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what’s going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. If you have any suggestions as to areas we are missing or different things you would like to see, please let us know at rushthecourt@yahoo.com.

Lead Story: Tony Parker Joins Adams, Anderson and Muhammad at UCLA

Parker Choose UCLA Over Duke, Georgia And Ohio State. (Photo: Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Tony Parker Gives UCLA Top Recruiting Class.  Class of 2012 power forward Tony Parker committed to UCLA Monday over Duke, Georgia and Ohio State, joining point guard Kyle Anderson and small forwards Jordan Adams and Shabazz Muhammad in head coach Ben Howland’s stellar 2012 recruiting class. Parker brings a tremendous inside presence to Westwood and is someone who will be able to rebound as soon as he steps onto campus. He is an elite big man with a great skill set in the low post and has the ability to score through a variety of moves in the paint. He can make a hook over both shoulders and is able to play facing the basket, although he’s at his best with his back to the basket. The biggest knock on Parker has always been the same — that he’s out of shape and lacks stamina. However, the Georgia native has worked hard to dispel that notion and although he can still improve his conditioning, he’s definitely gotten better at running the court and has an improved motor. Once Parker gets to UCLA, he’ll join a crowded frontcourt that already includes sophomore power forwards David and Travis Wear and sophomore center Josh Smith. Every single person in the UCLA’s 2012 recruiting class worked hard on recruiting Parker and Adams even predicted back in December that the Bruins would land him. UCLA fans should remain cautiously optimistic, though, because as we’ve pointed out at RTC, having a highly ranked recruiting class doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, borne out by UCLA’s 2008 recruiting class. Although, there are some differences between this year’s recruiting class and the one four years ago.

What They’re Saying

• Senior Marshall Wood on asking for a release from Virginia Tech: “I need to get my release so I can review all my options. If somebody gets the job at Tech that recruited me or something and I have a really good relationship with [him], I possibly could still go back. But right now I just want to get the release so I can have more options to look at.” Read the rest of this entry »