Until the season tips off, we’re going to be taking weekly trips to the ACC and NCAA Vaults to look at classic ACC games of yore.

Tim Duncan is Arguably the Greatest Power Forward of All Time

This game goes out to two fan bases that will probably be down on basketball (but are having quite successful football seasons so far): Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. The year was 1996 and the Demon Deacons finished ninth in the final AP poll with Georgia Tech coming in slightly behind at #13. This was also NPOY Marcus Camby’s dominant season with Massachusetts, where John Calipari’s team Refused to Lose all the way to the national semifinals before falling to a fantastic Kentucky team.

But back to the ACC… Wake was led by all-time great Tim Duncan, who was averaging a ludicrous 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks a game. On the other side of the court Stephon Marbury and Matt Harpring anchored the Yellow Jackets’ offense by combining to average 37.5 points and 11.2 rebounds a game. It’s the ACC Tournament Championship game in Greensboro and WFU is the defending ACC Tournament champion.

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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.

Despite a minor kerfuffle over Andy Glockner dinging Duke‘s schedule for not playing “true” road games, I think that we can all agree that non-conference road games are a thing of beauty. While old conference rivalries are their own distinct joy, and an on-going series between non-conference foes can be reliably entertaining (Kentucky vs. North Carolina, for example), there is something special when a team goes somewhere it has never been before and takes on the challenge of playing in hostile territory. And while prime time showdowns between two big schools in power conferences are entertaining, it is almost always better when Goliath comes to visit David.

This season, we have more than a few of these lopsided showdowns in the ACC. And, again, apologies to schools who scheduled great games at semi-neutral sites, but we will be focusing on the “true” road games.  Sorry, Duke. It is great that you are playing Temple, but it’s a shame that it is at the Wells Fargo center. Sorry, Maryland. It’s even cooler that you are taking on Temple at the Palestra, but for now, let us give credit to teams that are willing to go head first into the belly of the (mid-to-low-major) beast.

Coming Off A NCAA Tournament Appearance, UNC Asheville Will Take On North Carolina at Home

After last season’s atrocious showing, a loss to just about anyone would not be too surprising for Wake Forest. That said, the showdown with neighboring High Point University in High Point could spell trouble if the Panthers smell weakness and decide to go for the weakened Deacons’ collective jugular. Fellow ACC basement-dweller Georgia Tech has scheduled a whole host of road games on hostile courts. While they should be able to take on the not-so-terrifying lineup of Tulane, Savannah State, and Fordham, a loss to any one of these teams could put an end to any modicum of momentum Georgia Tech might hope to carry into the conference season. The Citadel gets points for sheer chutzpah by scheduling Clemson for their home opener, and Clemson gets kudos for accepting. Getting the most dominant basketball school in South Carolina to come to your house to open the season is a bold move. There is no doubt that the Bulldogs and their fans will be amped for this game, and the Citadel will certainly give Clemson their best.

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1. Boston Globe – Conference realignment gets old really quickly, but the Globe’s piece on the politicking that went on related to the addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse is a must-read. We’ll certainly have more analysis up on the piece later in the day, but suffice it to say Boston College’s Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo went out of his way to shoot Connecticut down, and even has a quote about ESPN being behind everything. Conspiracy theorists unite!
2. Charlotte Observer – Unfortunately, the rumors are true and Michael Jordan will not be North Carolina’s honorary captain for the Carrier Classic. However, Jordan’s college teammate James Worthy will be joining fellow Laker great Magic Johnson to celebrate their respective alma maters in the first of what is to become an annual event. Jordan told Roy Williams he has a personal conflict he can’t escape, but Worthy is certainly a fine replacement. He played on the 1982 championship squad with Jordan before having his jersey retired to the rafters of the Dean Dome. The game is set for November 11 in San Diego.
3. Raleigh News and Observer – Speaking of conference realignment, Scott Fowler got hold of ACC Commissioner John Swofford to talk about the recent alignment news. An interesting tidbit from the article is that while Swofford was playing football for North Carolina, South Carolina dropped out of the ACC, leaving the conference with only seven members. With the additions of Pitt and Syracuse, the conference is up to a whopping 14 members and still maintains the intentionally ambiguous assertion that the ACC “is not philosophically opposed to going to 16 [teams].” Let’s just hope that the conference may not be philosophically opposed but is opposed in practice, as 16 teams would make college basketball scheduling a lopsided disaster.
4. Winston Salem Journal – Jeff Bzdelik is doing his best to restore enthusiasm for Wake Forest‘s program. This year for Black and Gold Madness he’s tapping into the rich resources of basketball alumni like Chris Paul, Randolph Childress, Tim Duncan and Josh Howard to play in an alumni game with Duncan and Howard coaching. “We invited everybody who ever wore a uniform,” Bzdelik said to emphasize the importance of all Wake Forest alumni. The Demon Deacons have already picked up one recruit this month. Hopefully events like this will help refill the talent over the next couple of years in Winston-Salem.
5. The Chronicle – Duke‘s student paper is the latest to do an in-depth look at the school’s compliance staff, leading me to believe college students are reading each other’s newspapers (relatively unlikely) or compliance staff members are easy interviews to get. All joking aside, this is another valuable look at the people behind one of the most critical parts of an athletic department that usually only brings bad news to fans.Author’s Note: the above link is for the fourth and final part of the series, but has links to the other three parts.

1. The Pitt News: Pittsburgh‘s student newspaper gives Panther fans a snark-filled rundown of what they can expect from ACC member schools. Highlights include: “The most recent U.S. News & World Report ranked Duke’s undergraduate program No. 10 in the nation, which is also the lowest Dick Vitale has ever ranked the basketball program,” or “Wake Forest admits students who correctly complete the analogy “Demon Deacon basketball is to _______ as DePaul basketball is to the Big East.” Really all of the descriptions are gold, though NC State’s The Hangover reference left me wondering whether Greg Trietley knows that Zach Galifianakis actually attended NC State…
2. CBSSports.com: Jeff Goodman managed to catch up with North Carolina alumnus Sean May in Europe and ask him about Gary Parrish’s recent post claiming this might be Roy Williams‘ best team at UNC. It suffices to say, May was not convinced: “It’s not even close […] Overall, talent-wise, I think we were better.” While his initial assessment is a slight overstatement, May does provide pretty solid evidence for his squad, though I’ll still stick with the 2008-09 team for most dominant (if not most talented).
3. ESPNHS: Senior Mitch McGary is the second rated prospect for 2012 according to ESPNU, and he’s cut his list to five including three ACC schools. The obvious leaders appear to be Michigan, Duke and North Carolina, which are the only schools McGary officially visited. McGary wrote a blog post for ESPN talking about his top schools in addition to reviewing Jay-Z and Kanye’s album “Watch the Throne” and J. Cole’s new album “Cole World: the Sideline Story.” For what it’s worth, recruiting guru Dave Telep thinks McGary is probably leaning towards Michigan, but I wouldn’t count Roy Williams or Mike Krzyzewski out just yet.
4. The Diamondback – Terrapin Trail: Maryland‘s student newspaper sat down with new basketball coach Mark Turgeon and talked everything recruiting. Turgeon also noted the transition to working at Maryland has been easier than when he first started at Texas A&M. The observant Maryland reporter also spotted Curtis Malone, the president of DC Assault, talking up one of Turgeon’s assistants. One thing that got under Maryland fans’ collective skins–especially late in his career–was Gary Williams‘ lack of interest in dealing with AAU coaches.
5. The Daily Orange: Syracuse‘s student newspaper dredged up a little bad blood the school has with Virginia politics in a very good piece about the Orange’s first invite to join the ACC back in 2003. Eventually the invitation was rescinded, as Virginia threatened to leave the ACC if Virginia Tech wasn’t one of the new teams. While I certainly don’t advocate reneging on one’s word, it’s tough to argue with Virginia Tech’s selection (they’ve been consistently competitive in football and basketball). Regardless, it’s an interesting piece that may have the seeds of a new conference rivalry.

1. ESPN: two (and a half) ACC schools will be represented during ESPNU’s coverage of college basketball’s Midnight Madness on October 14. Coverage starts at 9 PM EDT. ESPNU will cover eleven schools’ official season kickoff, including Duke, North Carolina, (future ACC member) Syracuse and defending national champion Connecticut. Stuart Scott will be holding down the fort at the Dean Dome, while Lou Canellis and announcing legend Bill Raftery will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium. My one disappointment is Raftery won’t be joined by rap aficionado and Duke alumnus Jay Bilas, which would truly make for must-see TV.
2. The Collegiate Times: Virginia Tech‘s student newspaper takes an in-depth look at the university’s dynamic duo of compliance, Tim Parker and Bert Locklin. The Hokie journalists also manage to throw in a couple of warranted jabs at conference rivals Miami and North Carolina for their respective compliance struggles. The article is a great look at the men behind the curtain who normally only make the news when there’s been a major violation.
3. Palmetto Sports: Clemson has an official visit scheduled with point guard Adonis Filer of Chicago.  According to Rivals.com, the 6’3″ Filer is a top 150 player who already has offers from Baylor and Oregon State, but definitely hasn’t made a decision. He noted his final decision “will come down to where I feel comfortable and the amount of playing time I’m going to be looking at my first year.” My guess is Filer would see a good bit of playing time right away with the Tigers.
4. Washington Post – Terrapins Insider: Maryland basketball legend and subject of ESPN’s 30 for 30 “Without Bias” (a must-watch for any hoops fan), Len Bias is being inducted into the Washington Metropolitan Basketball Hall of Fame along with Maryland announcer Johnny Holliday on November 9. Bias’ tragic cocaine overdose, immediately following being taken second overall in the NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, forced the country to come to terms with the drug’s rampant use amongst athletes in the mid-to-late 1980s.
5. Winston Salem Journal: Wake Forest baseball player Kevin Jordan is back in practice. In one of the most amazing stories you’ll ever hear about in sports, Demon Deacon coach Tom Walter donated a kidney to Jordan last year. On seeing Jordan back in action, Walter exclaimed: “This is the best day of my coaching career […] I mean by far. Just to see him back out here doing what he loves to do.” This stands in stark contrast with all of the cut-throat recruiting, oversigning and general dishonesty so often reported in college sports.

A couple of weeks ago, Andy Glockner called out Duke in a column discussing teams that had easy non-conference schedules. The main thrust of his problem with Duke’s schedule was this:

There’s nothing wrong with the slate, per se. I just hate that Duke is only willing to play “road” games (outside of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge) if the game is moved to a pro arena in the opponent’s city.

This is almost a fair point. Sure, it seems a bit hypocritical for Duke to get so much mileage out of their home court while refusing to play on the home floors of their opponents, but I’m not sure I’d put Duke in the “Honorable Mentions” of a column about the teams with the easiest non-conference schedules.

Despite Duke's Tough Home Court Should the Devils Be Criticized For Not Playing Enough True Road Games?

I’m not the only one who thinks this either.  Dana O’Neil, breaking down the non-conference schedules for every ACC team, ultimately gave Duke the top rating for the toughest schedule in the conference. Considering that Duke is playing Ohio State in Columbus,  and Michigan State, Washington, and probably UCLA or Kansas on neutral courts, I think this is more than fair. Sure neutral court wins are less impressive than true road wins, but that’s still a hell of a murderer’s row that Duke will be facing this year.

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Some afternoons, we’re going to do our best to point you to the developing stories and thoughtful writing from all over the ACC that has turned up during the course of the day.  So without further ado, here’s your Afternoon Delight.

Barnes And Three Teammates Set Wooden Award Record

• Four players from North Carolina have been named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list. Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller all made the cut for consideration of the most prestigious individual award in college basketball. Four guys picked from one school is the record in the history of the list, which is impressive for UNC, but less impressive for the rest of the conference; outside of the Carolina four, not a single other ACC player was tabbed. Who do you think should have made the cut? Matt’s got some thoughts that he’d like to share with you tomorrow.
• Jeff Borzello, of course, has the recruiting scoop for this weekend. While NC State had the big score landing Rodney Purvis, Wake Forest took an important step forward after last year’s disastrous season by landing 6’6″ small forward, Arnaud Adala-Moto. Likewise, North Carolina finally closed the deal on the big 6’10” Joel James. Both are nice gets, but Adala-Moto’s recruitment is an incredible sign for the Wake Forest faithful that Jeff Bzdelik might just be able to turn this thing around.
• Unfortunately, things seem increasingly dire at Maryland, with a mounting school-wide budget problem being compounded by an athletic department that has been operating with monetary losses for the past few years. While there has been movement to look for answers, it seems like so far there’s been little action. In late September, the Washington Post reported on a forum, open to the public, where ideas on how to fix the budget problem were solicited.  Sadly, the most widely suggested idea was that excessive profanity in the Comcast Center has been keeping families from taking in Maryland basketball games.
• A student paper for Boston College, The Heights, weighs in on expansion. For BC, the glass is half-empty and Matt Ulrich lays out the case for why the addition of Syracuse and Pittsburgh will hurt the Eagles in recruiting and league play. Boston College, positioned as a league middleweight, can’t help but see two to four extra losses in ACC play and tournament dreams that will now be even harder to achieve.

Welcome to the first ACC Edition of the Morning Five. Every weekday morning we’ll highlight links from local and student papers concerning ACC hoops.

1. Raleigh News and Observer: new NC State head coach Mark Gottfried spent time last week selling his program to the Raleigh Sports Club. Gottfried discussed NC State’s illustrious basketball past as well as his plan for revitalizing the program’s future. Gottfried was pretty succinct and bluntly honest about the present. As for concrete evidence for his vision of the future, Gottfried mentioned scheduling a home-and-home series with Kansas. He even managed to send a jab back at one of the future members of the ACC: “Jim Boeheim popping off up there that he thinks it needs to be in New York. He needs to get in the league first, before he starts making demands on the league.”
2. Baltimore Sun – Recruiting Report: with Maryland‘s depleted roster the Terrapins will rely heavily on returning players like Sean Mosely to minimize Jordan Williams’ departure. While he’s only 6’4″, new coach Mark Turgeon expects Mosely to see time at power forward this year. Mosely is Maryland born and Maryland bred, a truly historic player at the state high school level. He was expected to be Williams’ sidekick last season on a Maryland team that never lived up to preseason expectations, but his numbers declined significantly from a strong sophomore campaign. This year Turgeon will need Mosely more than ever to help sophomore stud Terrell Stoglin carry the scoring load for the team.
3. Durham Herald Sun: North Carolina is looking to replace athletic director Dick Baddour (who is set to step down following the NCAA Committee of Infractions meeting later this month), and the selection committee is looking for experience in hiring coaches and demonstrated NCAA compliance. Both qualifications make sense, as the Tar Heels are currently searching for a new football coach, and the university wants to both have a strong arm to deal with compliance–not to mention sending a message to the NCAA that the university is serious about it.
4. The Chronicle (Duke‘s student newspaper): “The NCAA is broken.” Duke student Andy Moore checks in on a topic of much recent debate largely spawned Taylor Branch’s Atlantic piece. The most interesting quote from the piece comes from Duke’s Charles T. Clotfelter, Z. Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy: “What is happening now gives everyone the benefit from the market except the athletes […] They’re kept out because the universities have made a deal not to pay them. In economics, we call that a cartel.” Moore also attacks the pettier NCAA rules, using two examples of recent NCAA violations which hurt Duke basketball over the past couple of years including Mike Krzyzewski‘s overblown summer recruiting violation and Nolan Smith‘s suspension for playing in a game not approved by the NCAA.
5. The Old Gold and Black (Wake Forest‘s student newspaper) and The Collegiate Times (Virginia Tech‘s student newspaper): ACC expansion has been a hot topic lately with the additions of Syracuse and Pittsburgh from the Big East. Many college football reporters scoffed at the move, saying it dilutes an already weak product. However, ACC basketball fans salivate at the prospect of seeing Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone and Pitt’s offensive rebounding prowess grace the courts of the ACC (ignoring for the moment any instability it causes the Big East). Wake Forest’s Evan Quinn notes that the move will only make it harder for a struggling Demon Deacon team to compete in the conference. Virginia Tech’s Alex Koma wants the conference to look at West Virginia and Connecticutto fill out the ACC at 16 members.Author’s Note: for the record, I disagree. I think the ACC should hold tight on expansion unless a jackpot team (i.e. Notre Dame) comes to its doorstep looking for a home.

1. Are we on the verge of the conference realignment free-for-all that we thought was going to happen last summer?  Texas A&M’s insistence on leaving the Big 12 presumably for the greener pastures of the SEC to the east, has the rest of the league running for cover.  Reports over the weekend suggested that once again Texas and Oklahoma are in backroom discussions with the Pac-12 to join the burgeoning west coast league, and like great white sharks in the Pacific, the other four major conferences are circling the remaining schools in hopes of divvying up the rest.  Conventional wisdom is that if Oklahoma bails on the Big 12, the league is effectively finished, but it is the school in Austin who holds the trump card.  One of the sticking points is what the Pac-12 would require UT to do with its Longhorn Sports Network — would it become one of the Pac-12’s new regional networks instead of a ‘national’ channel?  Or will Texas leverage its channel into another sweetheart deal, as suggested as possible on Monday when rumors of an ACC overture to the Longhorns were revealed?  ACC commissioner John Swofford denied that report Monday night, but the possibility of a 16-team basketball league containing Duke, UNC, Maryland, Texas, Syracuse and UConn seems absolutely ridiculous.  In a good way.  The one thing we know from conference realignment madness is that nothing should surprise anyone.  More news on this topic as it merits coverage, but for a comprehensive breakdown of the facts and rumors swirling right now, check out MrSEC’s wrapup from Monday.
2. Dallas Mavericks owner and entrepreneurial success story (twice over) Mark Cuban has never been one to hold his tongue on an issue he cares about, and his post on Blog Maverick over the weekend is no different.  Bucking conventional wisdom to a certain extent, Cuban argues that the headfirst plunge by several schools into a group of a few superconferences will turn out to be a “huge mistake.”  He lists several intriguing reasons to support his argument, but the most compelling from our viewpoint was his discussion of how adding schools to a conference will not increase the value of the television contracts of the bigger league.  There must be some exceptions to this ‘rule,’ as in an example where Texas joins any other conference, but Cuban has forgotten more about media rights and deal-making than we’ll ever know so we’re generally inclined to figure he knows what he’s talking about here.
3. Regardless of how the conference realignment mess ultimately settles out, the development and existence of Texas’ Longhorn Network has led to an arms race among individual schools seeking to reach their fans in the most direct way.  Over the weekend, another Big 12 school announced its response, as the University of Missouri is set to launch Internet-based The Mizzou Network on December 1.  The mostly free channel will broadcast games and competitions from non-revenue sports in addition to ‘behind the scenes’ glimpses at Tiger football and basketball, but it’s clear that the Texas/ESPN deal has put the pressure on athletic departments around the nation to progress or get left behind.  It’s yet to be determined whether a cable television model in the mold of LHN (currently having trouble getting traction with national carriers) or a fully digital network in the mold of Missouri’s (which can reach all of its fans directly) produces better outcomes for the school, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the biggest winners will be fans with team-specific content available to them 24/7.
4. Now that schools are back in session for the fall semester almost everywhere, this is the time of year we start to see players with too much free time on their hands getting into trouble prior to returning to full-time practice in six weeks.  Over the weekend, Wake Forest sophomore guard JT Terrell was discovered asleep at the wheel of his car and charged with a DWI for a blood alcohol level above the legal limit.  Terrell, a promising freshman last season who averaged 11.1 PPG for the Demon Deacons, has since withdrawn from the school and is reported to be suffering from a “serious medical condition.”  Terrell represents the fourth WFU player to leave the school under difficult circumstances in the year-plus since head coach Jeff Bzdelik arrived. Wake also announced that senior center Ty Walker will not become eligible to join the team until after the fall semester, stemming from a suspension placed upon him in July.
5. Moving over the Missouri Valley Conference, Drake also announced that two of its players including its leading returning scorer, Rayvonte Rice, will be suspended effective immediately for their alleged role in a petty shoplifting incident.  He and teammate Kurt Alexander, a senior guard, are accused of putting two packages of athletic socks into a bag and exiting a Finish Line store without paying for them.  Rice had one of the best freshman seasons in the history of Drake basketball last year, averaging 13.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG and also leading the team in blocks and steals.  He was a member of the MVC all-freshman and all-newcomer teams and was expected to become an all-MVC performer this year.  The two players told the police officer on the scene that they were “young and dumb” to explain their actions, and to that comment we can do nothing more than shake our heads.  Young and dumb, indeed.