Part 2

ACC – Big Ten Challenge Preview: Part 2 of 3

Editor’s Note: With this week’s ACC – Big Ten Challenge featuring a number of top-ranked teams, we’ve asked our resident experts to prognosticate the nine games that will take place over the next two days. As they did in yesterday’s Part 1, Mark McGrath, our Big Ten staff writer, and Bill Thayer, our resident ACC expert will analyze Wednesday’s games. We will break down the final results in Part 3 of this feature later in the week. Enjoy!

WISCONSIN AT GEORGIA TECH

Bill Thayer: Let’s see what has happened to each other since they lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament (Wisconsin to Georgia State, Tech to St. Joseph’s). Wisconsin let head coach Brad Soderberg leave, replacing him with Division 3 icon Bo Ryan, and lost Andy Kowskie, Mark Vershaw, Maurice Linton, Roy Boone, Mike Kelly and Ricky Bower. This only represents about 73 % of their offense from a year ago.

Mark McGrath: Granted, Wisconsin lost considerable talent, but both teams come into this game with only a few players that have any experience. Don’t forget Tech lost their lone inside presence of the last four years in Alvin Jones. The one difference between the Badgers and the Yellowjackets is that Georgia Tech’s Paul Hewitt was able to bring in a class of talented freshmen.

BT: So far, each team
has their own reason to panic after taking a loss to a lower tiered team this season (Wisconsin to Weber State and Georgia Tech to Penn). I think it’s going to take time for the Badgers to find their new identity. You can’t take away the number of players from a team, as well as their coach, and expect immediate success.

MM: One player to watch for Tech is Tony Akins. He’ll thrive as he scores twenty and distributes the ball to a much more talented team.

BT: He’s the team’s floor leader and has a solid supporting cast that includes Halston Lane and Marvin Lewis. There is no reason Georgia Tech shouldn’t be competing for an NCAA tournament bid this season. Georgia Tech rebounds from the Penn loss and wins this one. Georgia Tech 78, Wisconsin 71

MM: I agree. Although they may struggle as they attempt to find a team chemistry once the ACC schedule begins, Tech will have no trouble disposing of the Badgers. Georgia Tech 62, Wisconsin 50

MICHIGAN STATE VS VIRGINIA (in Richmond)

MM: It appears that the party may be over at Michigan State. Coach Tom Izzo lost the core of last year’s Final Four team and although they are still loaded with talent, they will struggle to stay near the top of the Big Ten.

BT: Yes, Michigan State fans are beginning to remember what the term “growing pains” means as they begin the 2001-02 campaign. After years of relying on players such as Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, Andre Hutson, Charlie Bell and Jason Richardson, they are going through a rebuilding stage around players, while as talented as those mentioned earlier, much less experienced than past Spartan teams.

MM: Meanwhile, the Cavaliers are expected to challenge Duke and Maryland for the ACC championship with a team loaded with experience.

BT: Virginia’s season was dealt a difficult hand when they learned point guard Majestic Mapp would miss his second straight season due to a knee injury. Mapp’s quickness and ability to dish would have created havoc on the floor
for opponents. Roger Mason Jr., who made a name for himself nationally by scoring 30 points in the Cavs’ first round tournament loss to Gonzaga a year ago, slides over to handle point guard duties while high flying Adam Hall fills the role of off-guard.

MM: Similarly, Izzo has discussed the possibility of moving point guard Marcus Taylor to shooting guard where he would get more shots. This almost looks like an act of desperation by the Spartan coach.

BT: Still, he will have this young squad competing late in the season. But what Michigan State has shown so far is while they are very talented, they still have much learning to do. The experienced Cavs will win easily. Virginia 88, Michigan State 70

MM: Getting Taylor hot in a hurry will make the difference, as State will win easily. Michigan State 70, Virginia 58

CLEMSON AT PENN STATE

BT: Remember last year’s Penn State team that shocked the world and made it to the Sweet 16? Well forget them, because this year’s Nittany Lions team is a whole different squad.

MM: While both of these two teams were hit especially hard by the loss of key players, Penn State was left with virtually nothing. . Both Crispin brothers are now gone, and only one starter from a year ago remains. No one in State College are exactly sure where their points will come from.

BT: Right. The focus of their offense last year, Gyasi Cline-Heard and Titus Ivory, have vanished, and apparently Jerry Dunn has yet to figure out who will fill their voids. The Lions already have a loss to Yale (at home) to their credit.

MM: Speaking of offensive losses, although Clemson returns most of their starters from a 12-19 season, the departure of Will Solomon to the NBA Draft has left a huge hole in the Tiger’s scoring ability.

BT: Tiger fans refused to panic, even when sophomore scorer Tony Stockman went down to injury. Edward Scott moves to the point and the Tigers will still sneak up on some teams in the ACC. Undersized big man Chris Hobbs has played well so far this season and will need to pick up even more of the scoring slack now that Stockman is out.

MM: My advice? Do not have your young ones tune into this game for its instructional benefits. It’s not going to be pretty. Clemson 60 Penn State 52

BT: The Tigers will win this one, and clinch the Challenge for the ACC. Clemson 71, Penn State 64

INDIANA AT NORTH CAROLINA

BT: Oh how the mighty have fallen. As the old saying goes, “things are going to get worse before they get better.” I don’t think the saying figured in losses to Hampton and Davidson though. Everybody knew this would be a difficult season for the Tar Heels, but nobody imagined this.

MM: If the Tar Heels fall behind early in this one, how soon will it be before the Carolina faithful turn against their beloved team? This is not what Matt Doherty bargained for when he applied for the supposedly illustrious job. An 0-2 start? To Hampton and Davidson? What next? To lose them both at home? Losing three at home to open the season is an inexcusable sin for those bleeding Carolina blue.

BT: Kris Lang has been the only player to step up this season, but he is not the type of player to build around. Jason Capel has become a shell of his former self. Apparently he can only score when he is the third option on the court. The point guard situation is horrendous, and I refuse to believe that Ronald Curry is the answer to all of the Tar Heel woes. Capel will need to step up defensively in this game if the Tar Heels expect to have any chance to win.

MM: Indiana’s Dane Fife will shut down any talent the Heels can throw out on the floor, and I’m liking Jared Jeffries as well.

BT: Jeffries has been playing well in this young season. He has filled the scoring void left by Kirk Haston’s departure to the NBA. This will be a solid Hoosier win. Indiana 76, North Carolina 68

MM: Look for people to start calling for Doherty’s head as the more balanced Hoosiers prevail in an emotional and intense environment. Indiana 72 North Carolina 68

FLORIDA STATE AT NORTHWESTERN

BT: This looks more like it should be played on the gridiron than the hardwood. Florida State’s Michael Joiner is the best player in the ACC that nobody knows.

MM: Backing him up, the Seminoles have a strong group of returning starters, and Steve Robinson’s incredible recruiting class. Meanwhile, Northwestern has been mired in the bottom of the Big Ten for so long that it has become almost customary for its star players to transfer to other schools.

BT: Well that star player this year is Jitim Young, an up and comer in the Big Ten. I liked what Bill Carmody did at Princeton and I have a feeling he’ll have the Wildcats competing in the next five years.

MM: I agree. This year is different. The ‘Cats return four starters from last year and look to be improved from an 11-19 record.

BT: Steve Robinson’s squad is tough to watch. They lack team quickness and turn the ball over too much, something the disciplined Cats will make them pay for, as Northwestern pulls this one out. Northwestern 65, Florida State 60

MM: While talented, Northwestern doesn’t have the talent to match up with Florida State’s experience. This one won’t be close. Florida State 75, Northwestern 58

We will break down Mark and Bill’s predictions and analyze all of the action tomorrow in Part 3 of the ACC – Big Ten Challenge Preview.

Part 1

ACC – Big Ten Challenge Preview: Part 1 of 3

Editor’s Note: With this week’s ACC – Big Ten Challenge featuring a number of top-ranked teams, we’ve asked our resident experts to prognosticate the nine games that will take place over the next two days. Mark McGrath, our Big Ten staff writer, and Bill Thayer, our resident ACC expert will analyze Tuesday’s games. They’ll be predicting Wednesday’ games in this space tomorrow, and we’ll breakdown the final results in Part 3 of this feature later in the week. Enjoy!

ILLINOIS AT MARYLAND

Bill Thayer: This is a great way to kick off the Challenge. I think
these are the most exciting teams in each conference. Maryland is seeking
to avenge last year’s loss to the Fighting Illini in the Maui Invitational,
while protecting a home non-conference winning streak that dates back to
1989. The tempo will be fast and furious, as each team loves to spread the
court and run as much as possible.

Mark McGrath: Forget Duke, this is the tournament’s marquee match-up. The thing to look for is the huge battle between two of the nation’s top backcourts. The Illini’s Frank Williams and Corey Bradford will attempt to neutralize the Terp’s tandem of Steven Blake and Juan Dixon.

BT: I think Frank Williams, who is truly the focus of the Illinois offense, will have his hands full with Steve Blake. While Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon get most of the publicity for the Terrapins, Blake may be the
most important player on that team. Remember how well Blake did defensively
against Jason Williams last season. He has quick hands and is good at
stopping penatration. However, Blake can’t gamble too often while pressing,
as he tends to get burned while attempting to do so.

MM: However, Maryland’s big frontline could be the difference in this physical game, but I don’t think it’s going to happen Tuesday.

BT: For Illinois, Brian Cook and Robert Archibold will need to stay out of foul trouble or else
Baxter could have a big day. This will be one of those games where the
winner will be whoever has the ball last.

MM: The call? Look for Williams to explode and for Illinois to squeak by in a relatively conservative game. Illinois 70 Maryland 67

BT: Not so much. Look for Dixon and a sold-out Cole Field House to be the difference as the Terrapins knock off the Illini. Maryland 93, Illinois 89

NORTH CAROLINA STATE AT OHIO STATE

BT: This is the type of game the Wolfpack
has lost in recent years. In the Herb Sendek era, the Wolfpack have had
many games where they have less talent than their opponent and somehow put
up a fight before losing. They have also had many games where they have had as
much, if not more talent than their opponent, and still find a way to lose.
There may be no team with as much depth on the wings in the ACC than NC
State.

MM: While the wings may be deep in Raleigh, both teams suffered numerous losses to their frontcourts in the offseason. As a result, both the Buckeyes and Wolfpack will depend largely on their guards to provide scoring. I really like freshman Julius Hodge, a McDonald’s All American last year. He may provide that extra spark necessary to cover an inexperienced frontcourt.

BT: Right, along with Hodge, the Pack have tried Archie
Miller, Clifford Crawford, Scooter Sherrill and Anthony Grundy at the point, and none of them have answered the
question of who can play inside.

MM: How about the Buckeyes’ depth? Brian Brown is one of the most underrated players in the Big Ten, finally
breaking out of the shadow of Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn last year to help
the Buckeyes reach the NCAA Tournament.

BT: Sure, Brown can play either guard
position, which helps when you also have players like Brent Darby, Boban
Savovic, Sean Connolly and Brandon Fuss-Cheatham on your squad. I think the Wolfpack need this game more to jump start their season, a season that will make or break Sendek’s era in Raleigh, but Jim O’Brien’s Buckeye squad will be
too much and win. Ohio State 88, NC State 84

MM: Although the Buckeyes will pressure the perimeter with tough defense, the Pack has the benefit of depth at the guard position to overcome their Ohio hosts. North Carolina State 65, Ohio State 55

DUKE VS IOWA (in Chicago)

MM: In the “other” marquee match up, Iowa returns to the site of last year’s Big Ten championship, the United Center, where they surprised everyone by sweeping through the tournament.

BT: Hold on, here. Neutral court? It’s ridiculous that Duke won’t play on the road
in this tournament. Somehow they avoid a tough home game (see Illinois
last season) to get a neutral court war. First off, the Blue Devils are not
the world beaters some people may have you believing. They are a very
talented squad, but they will miss Shane Battier’s interior defense and size
too much.

MM: You don’t think Jason Williams dominance on the perimeter will make up for Battier’s departure?

BT: Look, here is no other player I would want on my
team in the clutch than Jason Williams, and I’m guessing Iowa’s point guard-by-committee of
Chauncey Leslie, Pierre Pierce and Brody Boyd will be overmatched against
Williams. Iowa will have to do everything in their power from turning this
into a track meet.

MM: For my money, Carlos Boozer is one of the better performers in the paint, and only gets better with every game. As long as he can avoid foul trouble, he’ll provide the interior presence necessary for grabbing boards against Iowa’s Dan Evans.

BT: If Williams and Chris Duhon can turn up the tempo, they
will run the Hawkeyes off the court. While I like Boozer and the development of his game, with only he and Casey Sanders
inside, Reggie Evans could turn easily in a 20-20 game.
Duke needs to hit their open shots, as they will have a difficult time
getting second and third attempts due to Evans’ presence on the glass.

MM: Duke’s lack of depth on the bench could spell trouble for the nation’s number one team. Look for Luke Recker to outperform Jason Williams, but it will be Iowa’s bench that will be the key in the Blue Devils’ first loss of the year.
Iowa 68, Duke 66

BT: Luke Recker against Mike Dunleavy will provide the game’s most interesting match up. Both are
smooth on the perimeter and can knock down the open shot. I like Duke’s big
game experience. Blue Devils win another tight battle. Duke 85, Iowa 76

MINNESOTA AT WAKE FOREST

BT: This is the sleeper game of the two days. Wake
Forest showed the nation that they are still very good in their run in the
Preseason NIT.

MM: Sleeper? This is the “no fluke” game, as Wake Forest will attempt to prove that their run in the preseason NIT was not a fluke against an improving Gopher team. And I believe the Deacons may be for real.

BT: As do I. Josh Howard is an exciting small forward who is flourishing
in Skip Prosser’s wide open offense. Darius Songaila finds a way to score,
mostly with second and third attempts. And very few players in the ACC are as
good on the offensive glass as Songaila.

MM: Songaila will have an interesting matchup against Minnesota’s talented freshman Rick Rickert. After the trials (both figurative and literal) of the Gopher hoops program, their 15-3 start last year, plus the recruiting of Rickert for their frontcourt, Minnesota looks to regain some of the national respect they lost in the Clem Haskins aftermath.

BT: I haven’t had a chance to see Rickert play yet, but from everything I’ve heard, he’s a versatile big man who can
step outside if needed. If that’s true, he’ll need to take Songaila away
from the basket, which would allow Jerry Holman and Dusty Rychart control
the glass.

MM: I like the Demon Deacons however, and I think they’ll build on the surprising promise they showed in the NIT, and will beat the Gophers unless the foul-prone Songaila and Howard get into trouble early. Wake Forest 55, Minnesota 48

BT: This will be a game where the team that controls the tempo will
control the game. I like the Gophers size as they win in the mild upset. Minnesota 77, Wake Forest 73

Mark and Bill will preview Wednesday’s games tomorrow in Part 2 of the ACC – Big Ten Challenge Preview.

Big East Preview

2001-02 Big East Conference Preview

by Brian Seymour

Syracuse and Georgetown picked to be at the top of the Big East? It’s like the mid-1980s – heaven for hoops nostalgics.

Of course, you have to expect some shockwaves now and then – the question is which team will provide the shocks as Boston College did to a surprising Big East title last season. Pittsburgh? West Virginia? Miami? All three teams are remarkably improved.

What should remain constant in the Big East is that the division winners won’t run roughshod through the conference schedule – don’t expect either division winner to have three losses or less in the league.

EAST DIVISION

1. Boston College: The element of surprise will be lost for Boston College. The Eagles surprised the nation en route to the Big East Championship last season, but were tabbed to win the East by media this year.

To be sure, the Eagles will still be quite talented, but if they’ll be able to conquer a very improved conference remains to be seen.

Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney could end up being among the best backcourts in the country. Both are averaging near 20 points per game, but Sidney’s early consistency bodes well for continued success in Beantown. The sophomore scored 26 in a victory over Penn State, but added eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.

2. Connecticut: Could this be the year UConn returns to the national elite? Only two years removed from the national title, the Huskies are a very, very young team, but no one in the Big East has as much raw talent.

Coach Jim Calhoun, who notched his 600th win already early in the season, has quite a coaching job ahead of him.

A pair of sophomores are the only returning starters from last year’s team. Caron Butler, a 6-foot-7 forward led the team in scoring (15.3 points per game) and rebounding (7.6 per game) last season. Point guard Taliek Brown also returns and look for his consistency and growth to have a lot to do with UConn’s success.

3. Miami (Fla.): A twist on an old riddle – If a tree fell in the middle of the Miami Arena during a Hurricanes basketball game, would there be anyone in the arena to hear it?

Miami has long been a laughingstock around the country, mostly because for much of the past 20 years, it hasn’t been any good. Now that the Hurricanes are starting to put together a pretty decent program, the question becomes – when are the fans going to show up?

To be sure, Florida is a football state, but to draw 1,600 people in a 16,000-seat arena, as the Hurricanes did for their season opener is pathetic. In any event, everyone loves a winner and Miami is starting to win – more often and against better teams.

In winning the season-opening Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament, the Hurricanes were led by guard John Salmons, who averaged just over 17 points per game for the three contests. Sophomore forward Darius Rice is starting to live up the promise shown as one of the nation’s top recruits last year and averaged 22 points for the first two games before struggling in the championship. Still, with more seasoning, he’ll be among the most dominant big men in the conference by the end of the season.

4. St. John’s: The good news is the Red Storm have four starters returning from last year’s squad. The bad news is that team was 14-15. But coach Mike Jarvis is pinning his hopes for a better campaign this time around on senior Anthony Glover and some newcomers.

Glover, a 6-foot-6 forward, averaged 13.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game last year. Sophomore Willie Shaw started last year as a freshman and will be joined in the backcourt by freshman Tristan Smith and junior college transfer Marcus Hatten.

5. Providence: The Friars have a tough act to follow after ringing up a school-record 11 wins in conference play last season, helping the Friars to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997.

This season, they’ll likely go as far as senior guard John Linehan can take them. Linehan, only 5-foot-9, was the Big East’s Defensive Player of the Year last year and scored 10.7 points per game. His backcourt mate, Abdul Mills, will be the other key player for the Friars.

6. Villanova: The loss of center Michael Bradley to the NBA is going to hurt Villanova a great deal, especially early in the season. New coach Jay Wright starts over after building a mid-major program at Hofstra and has a young team led by senior center Brooks Sales.

Sales averaged more than 10 rebounds a game in two exhibition games and will be the Wildcats’ main weapon in the paint. Wright will also likely start a pair of sophomores from Baltimore in the backcourt – Derrick Snowden and Reggie Bryant.

7. Virginia Tech: About the nicest thing you can say about Virginia Tech is that they have a nice football program, but their second season as a member of the Big East will likely be as difficult as the first.

Still, the Hokies will look to turn things around this season with all five starters returning. Mibindo Dongo, a senior center from Zaire, has only four years of basketball experience, but has been progessing rapidly and could be a presence down low for Virginia Tech.

WEST DIVISION

1. Syracuse: Expectations were raised a great deal in upstate New York when the Orangemen stormed to the Preseason NIT championship. Unranked in the preseason polls, Syracuse has now vaulted toward the top ten and has to be considered a front-runner for the Big East title.

Much of the credit for Syracuse rapid ascent has to go to the Big Three of DeShaun Williams, Preston Shumpert and Kueth Duany. The trio is averaging almost 60 points a game and keeping defenses off-balance. Shumpert was named the Big East’s Most Improved Player last season and will be among the candidates for Player of the Year this season.

2. Georgetown: A pair of John Wooden Award candidates lead the Hoyas, who were selected by media in the preseason to win the West Division title.

Senior point guard Kevin Braswell needs only 87 steals to become the NCAA’s all-time leader and can light up the scoreboard when he needs to, scoring 40 in a game last season against Virginia.

Sophomore forward Michael Sweetney scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in an early-season contest and should continue to light up opposing defenses.

3. Notre Dame: No Troy Murphy means no repeat of their West Division championship for the Fighting Irish this season, but they’ll still have an imposing team, as their championship in the Hawaii Pacific Tournament proves.

Ryan Humphrey takes over the scoring reins for Notre Dame and will Murphy gone will likely improve on his 14.1 points and nine rebounds per game from a year ago.

Freshman Chris Thomas has seen significant playing time and will contend for Newcomer of the Year honors in the conference.

4. Pittsburgh: Pitt could surprise some people this season and posted an impressive performance in the University Hoops Classic to prove it. The Panthers placed second in the tournament, losing a close final to a good South Florida team. The tournament featured several good teams and will help Pitt with some early-season momentum and RPI points.

More impressively, the Panthers are young and should improve throughout the season. Lithuanian Donatas Zavackas has averaged more 14 points and seven rebounds and point guard Brandin Knight is also playing well.

5. West Virginia: The Mountaineers are also playing well early in the season, led by freshman Jonathan Hargett’s 19 points per game. He led West Virginia to a 88-85 upset of New Mexico at the Pit, never an easy task. Don’t expect it to be the last upset of the season for the plucky Mountaineers.

6. Seton Hall: With coach Tommy Amaker off to try and revive Michigan’s basketball program, the Pirates are left with a new coach and a few question marks, despite some outstanding recruiting classes.

The Pirates looked good in a narrow Maui Classic loss to top-ranked Duke, but were pounded by Kansas in one of the consolation games.

Seniors Darius Lane and Ty Shine will lead what is generally a very young team.

7. Rutgers: Good old Rutgers. You can always count on the Scarlet Knights to play the patsy to the rest of the Big East, but those days may be at an end with new coach Gary Waters. Waters built a powerhouse at Kent State and if he can convince kids to go to Kent, Ohio, getting them to go to New Jersey ought to be a breeze.

There will be growing pains, but Waters is counting on junior guard Jerome Coleman to lead the team to upsets like the early season win over Auburn. A few more of those type wins ought to make the rebuilding project go much faster.

CONFERENCE NOTES

NCAA Tournament teams: You can more or less pencil in Syracuse, Georgetown and Boston College already. I also like UConn and Miami to get bids. West Virginia, St. John’s, Providence, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will get bids to the NIT.

Best player: I like Preston Shumpert of Syracuse. He’s not flashy, but he gets the job done. When Syracuse stays in the top ten all season, his name will be thrown around for All-America consideration.

Only 400 calories per seat: Providence plays its home games in the newly renamed Dunkin’ Donuts Center (The Building Formerly Known As The Providence Civic Center). What’s next, the Krispy Kreme Koliseum?

On the hot seat: Strangely enough, I doubt any Big East coaches are going to lose their jobs this year. The programs most likely to struggle this season all have new coaches and the established programs should do well enough to keep any heat off their coaches. Only a total meltdown at a place like Providence (Tim Welsh) or Pittsburgh (Ben Howland) would be enough for a coach to get pink slipped.

A guarantee: No matter how good the Orangemen do this season, they won’t be placed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse University is hosting the regional finals at the Carrier Dome.

Attendance woes: Not only is attendance pitiful at Miami, but several other schools are not doing well at the gate early in the season. BC is averaging 5,528 per game in a 8,600-seat arena, Virginia Tech is averaging 1,528 per game in a 10,000-seat arena and West Virginia drew 8,735 for their season opener in the 14,000-seat WVU Coliseum.

Mid-American Preview

2001-02 Mid-American Conference Preview

by Brian Seymour

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years or living in the obviously under-oxygeniated hotel room where the NCAA selection committee annually selects schools for the 64-team tournament, you know that the Mid-American Conference plays some great basketball.

To illustrate the example, Ball State upset No. 4 Kansas and No. 3 UCLA on back-to-back evenings during the Maui Classic. What perhaps makes those upsets more impressive is, coming into the season, many experts thought Ball State was probably the fourth or fifth best team in the MAC.

This is a deep, talented conference, but year after year as the upsets pile up, both in non-conference and NCAA Tournament play, getting more than one team in the Big Dance is an annual exercise in teeth-pulling.

Some MAC coaches are getting tired of this annual dance with the dentist — they’re throwing down the gauntlet.

Central Michigan coach Jay Smith told ESPN.com that the top MAC teams could compete with the second or third best team in the Big Ten, especially on a neutral floor. From Smith, those aren’t just empty words — he was an assistant on two national finalist teams at Michigan.

The problem isn’t all perception – lots of media and officials know MAC basketball is legit – some of the problem is that the MAC is TOO good. Or at least too deep. The regular season conference champion generally has four or five conference losses, which drags down their RPI, which is the god that the tournament committee seems to worship these days.

To that end, most of the best MAC schools have spent lots of effort in upgrading their non-conference schedules (which preseason tournaments like the Maui Classic also help improve).

But there’s not a lot of upside for a team like Duke or Kentucky to play Marshall or Kent. If they win, it doesn’t help their profile at all, but if they lose, it could be the difference between a 1 and a 2 seed. (And if you don’t believe me, watch the debate over where Kansas and UCLA should be seeded in early March. Their losses to Ball State will be listed under the column for “key losses”.)

So, for now, watch for a dozen or so “upsets” by MAC teams in the non-conference season, lots of RPI watching later in the season and perhaps more giant-killing in the Big Dance.

WEST DIVISION

1. Ball State: If the Cardinals were planning to sneak up on anyone in the MAC this season, they have more or less blown their cover. Beating the third and fourth ranked teams in the nation on successive nights tends to do that.

But even if the rest of the conference will be gunning for the Cardinals now, they gave themselves more of a cushion in the quest for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it comes to that.

Like most of the other teams in the MAC, Ball State generally doesn’t out-recruit the bigger schools – they find diamonds in the rough and polish them, trying to find athletes who can be molded into a system. This worked in Ball State’s favor in the Maui Classic, as the smaller, but quicker Cardinals ran through and around Kansas and UCLA, just as they’ll try to do to the rest of the MAC. On a given night, watching a Ball State game could be as close as you’ll come to the running and gunning glory days of the 1980s (unless you can find a TCU game on cable).

Theron Smith is as good a player as Ball State has ever produced and that includes a guy by the name of Bonzi Wells, who now works for the Portland TrailBlazers. The 6-foot-8 forward is quick, has a nice jump shot out to 20 feet and can outmuscle larger players on the boards. He averaged almost 17 points a game last season and had ten double-doubles. It would be surprising if he didn’t average about 20 points and 10 boards a game this season.

The Cardinals also have four of five starters back from a pretty good team last year (18-11), but they won’t be getting starting guard Billy Lynch back until Ball State’s football season is over.

2. Central Michigan: The Chippewas were the media’s pick to repeat as West Division champions, but with Ball State raising the bar a bit, it’ll be interesting to see how Central responds. It’ll also be interesting to see how coach Jay Smith and his experienced team cope with success. Last season, the Chippewas had the second best single-season turnaround in the nation and ninth best in history, improving by 14.5 games. This year, they’re expected to beat people.

Four starters return from a 20-8 team that won the MAC’s regular season championship, but wasn’t even invited to the NIT. To that end, the Chippewas have significantly upgraded their non-conference slate and will face five teams which made the postseason, including NCAA teams Oklahoma and Georgia State.

Leading the Chippewas is David Webber, last season’s MAC player of the year and a preseason pick to repeat. The younger brother of NBA star Chris Webber, David’s game is nothing like his brother’s. David Webber is a 6-foot-2 guard with excellent moves both with and away from the ball. Not only did he average 18.4 points per game last season, but is also one of the best defenders in the league.

Sophomore seven-footer Chris Kaman is one of the more promising big men in the league and will be looking to improve on his 10 points and 5 rebounds per game average from last season.

3. Toledo: Coming off an NIT season last year, the Rockets are hoping to use their team speed and three-guard lineup to keep opposing teams off balance again this year.

Sophomore guard Terry Reynolds was the MAC’s Freshman of the Year last year and will be joined by Nick Moore in the backcourt, which is among the league’s best.

The problem for Toledo is a general lack of experience, especially in the frontcourt, where all three starters were lost. If sophomore A.J. Shellabarger and junior Milo Kirsh can step in and contribute, the Rockets may be able to make another date with postseason play.

4. Western Michigan: The Broncos are in the “Turning The Corner” phase of their rebuilding project under second-year coach Robert McCullum. The struggles of a young team last season will likely bear fruit this year as Western should be much improved.

But the MAC is too talented and too deep for the Broncos to make too much of a mark this year, despite have an exciting playmaker in junior guard Robby Collum. Collum will singlehandedly win a couple games for Western this year. Freshman guard Ben Reed is among one of the most hyped recruits in the league and should make an immediate impact.

5. Northern Illinois: Senior Leon Rodgers was one of the bright spots in an abysmal 2000-2001 season for the Huskies. The 6-foot-6 forward established himself as one of the top players in the MAC, scoring 16.6 points per game, even more impressive since he faced frequent double teams.

New coach Rob Judson has a very young team that is still a year or two away from making any major noise in the league.

6. Eastern Michigan: The Eagles are far removed from the glory days of NCAA Tournament upsets under former coach Ben Braun (now at Cal). It’s hard to imagine that this program is only five years removed from beating Duke in the first round of the Big Dance, but Eastern slumped to a 3-25 mark last season and figure to only be marginally improved this season.

Sophomore guard Ricky Cottrill will shoot early, often and with success, as he did in averaging over 22 points per game in an early season tournament, but with six freshmen and three sophomores, Eastern will likely be too young to challenge the more experienced teams in the MAC.

EAST DIVISION

1. Kent State: How do the Golden Flashes follow-up a season which saw them win the MAC conference tournament and upset Indiana in the first round of the NCAA Tournament? (By the way, don’t think that knocking off a Big Ten team in the Big Dance wasn’t especially sweet for a MAC school).

How about being picked by media to repeat as league champs and a preseason ranking of 15th in the nation by Sports Illustrated?

Kent has seen some of its early season thunder stolen by Ball State, but make no mistake – the Golden Flashes are the team to beat in the MAC this year. Start with senior guard Trevor Huffman, one of the top scores in school history and a preseason all-conference selection. Huffman, who averaged 16.8 points per game last year, will challenge Theron Smith of Ball State and David Webber of Central Michigan for player of the year honors in the conference.

Fellow seniors Andrew Mitchell and Demetric Shaw add balance to the lineup and John Edwards, a seven-foot sophomore is one of the most promising big men in the league. Throw in the intangible advantage of Kent being within an hour of the postseason tournament in Cleveland and it’ll be hard for anyone to dethrone the Golden Flashes.

2. Marshall: The Thundering Herd are a trendy pick to win their first-ever MAC title and they certainly have the talent to get there.

Seniors J.R. VanHoose and Tamar Slay make a potent 1-2 punch for opposing teams to defend and both were picked to the preseason All-MAC team. VanHoose, a 6-foot-10 forward, scored 16.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per game and Slay, a 6-foot-9 guard averaged 17.3 points per game.

The major question about the Herd is if the rest of the team can step up if Slay or VanHoose has an off night.

3. Ohio: It’s been a while since a Gary Trent-led Ohio team ran roughshod through the league in the mid-1990′s, but the Bobcats are building toward returning to prominence in the conference.

Brandon Hunter, a 6-foot-7 junior forward is probably among the most underlooked players in the conference, but on any given night, he can be the best player in the MAC. He averaged 18.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last year and first year coach Tim O’Shea is hoping to ride Hunter to what would be a somewhat surprising conference title.

A promising recruiting class including Zach Kiekow and James Bridgewater means Ohio could be about a year away from being among the top teams in the league.

4. Bowling Green: The Falcons started the season off with an exclamation, upsetting Mississippi and finishing third at the Top of the World Tournament in Fairbanks, Alaska. The win over Ole Miss, a Sweet 16 team last year, should give Bowling Green some serious momentum throughout a nonconference schedule which includes a home game against Michigan.

The win could also reap dividends in the MAC, where the Falcons are among a handful of teams that could win 11-14 games and challenge for the league title. Eight of the nine top scorers from a 15-14 team last season return, led by guard Keith McLeon, who averaged 18 points a game last year and was among the league leaders in assists and steals.

5. Miami (Ohio): Traditionally among the league’s best teams, this year’s RedHawk team could fall on somewhat hard times because of the level of talent around the conference.

A pair of seniors should provide most of the offense for Miami – forward Alex Shorts and guard Doug Davis. Shorts scored 15.7 points per game last year and Davis has averaged 15 a game in two early season contests. Danny Horace, a promising freshman, managed a double-double in his first-ever college game against UNC-Wilmington.

6. Akron: Coach Dan Hipsher has eight new players on his roster, which means the Zips having some catching up to do if they’re going to compete with Kent, Marshall and the other top teams in the East.

It’s a family affair in Akron, as sons Andy and Bryan Hipsher both play for their father. Andy scored 21 points in a season-opening upset of Iona.

7. Buffalo: There’s been growing pains and then some for the Bulls, who moved to the MAC from the Mid-Continent Conference in 1998. But seniors Robert Brown (15.3 scoring average last year) and Louis Campbell (13.6) return for what should be a better season than last year’s 4-24 mark.

OTHER NOTES:

NCAA Tournament teams: This is tougher than usual to predict, since a team can peak late and sweep to the conference title as Ball State did in 1999. I’m guessing Kent will take the MAC’s automatic berth and Ball State will be awarded an at-large berth. Here’s hoping the selection committee does the right thing and rewards a 22 or 23 win regular season for the best MAC team left out of the mix. Toledo and Central Michigan should both earn spots in the NIT.

Best player: Trevor Huffman of Kent has nights where he is electric and can’t miss and those nights should be more common this season. Theron Smith of Ball State, David Webber of Central Michigan and Tamar Slay of Marshall are very close.

NBA potential: Theron Smith probably has the best package of skills for any player in the league. If he stays in school next season and stays healthy, he could be a first-round pick in 2003. David Webber might not be selected in next year’s draft, but there’s always a place on NBA rosters for players who can play insane defense and slash to the basket. Plus, he’s been playing against pros in the offseason for years.

Non-conference game to watch: Kent vs. Kentucky (at Cincinnati), Nov. 28. A pumped-up Kent team facing Kentucky on a neutral floor. Could be another major upset against the Wildcats.

Conference games to watch: Kent at Central Michigan, Feb. 9. The only game of the year between the two teams (unless they meet in the conference tourney). If Central’s home-court winning streak of 12 games coming into the season hasn’t been broken yet, this could be the game.

Bowling Green at Toledo, Feb. 18. A huge rivalry game that will have implications on the conference title and postseason hopes for both teams.

For the record: NCAA tournament upsets by MAC teams in the past 11 years:

Home court advantage: Marshall’s Cam Henderson Center and Central Michigan’s Rose Arena are among the toughest places to play in the country. Both teams were 13-1 at home last year and both teams have rabid fans who love to make a difference in the game. Opposing teams shot 23 percent worse at the free throw line last season when shooting toward the “Rose Rowdies” section at Rose Arena.

Coolest logo/mascot: No question. The Buffalo Bulls and “Victor E. Bull”, who appears in a pair of ESPN commercials.

On the hot seat: Dan Hipsher of Akron is the dean of MAC coaches, but is coming off a 12-16 mark and has a young team this year. It’s easy to wonder how much patience the athletic department at Akron will have if a similar record is in the works this year.

Movin’ on up: They don’t call the MAC the “Cradle of Coaches” for nothing. Central Michigan’s Jay Smith is the most likely candidate to move up to a major school if the Chippewas have a good a season as they’re expected to. His reclamation job at Central is nothing short of amazing and he has the right credentials, which include help in the recruitment of the Fab Five at Michigan.

Metro Atlantic Preview

2001-02 Metro Atlantic Conference Preview

by Adam Shandler

The NCAA selection committee might take some pity on the MAAC this year and toss them an extra bid to the tourney. But they’ve got to earn it. In the early going, it’s hard not to like Iona but Canisius, Manhattan, Niagara or Rider could slip into the field of 64 with a 20-plus win season.

The MAAC. Call it the Little East. Good, competitive ball that no one comes to see. Talented undersized players that can compete. They have an identity crisis though. With all these mid-major conferences in the Northeast, they compete for cable-market share with the Northeast, America East, Patriot and Ivy.

Projected Champ: Iona
Dark Horse: Rider
There’s always next year: Loyola

1. Iona: The Gaels have lost their three most prolific starters and their best free-throw shooter. So it’s only natural that I pick them to win their 3rd straight conference title. Oh, the MAAC, you are one kooky bird, you! Iona’s got power up front, and that should be enough to win this league. Greg Jenkins (senior center) should consistently record double-doubles.

2. Manhattan: The Jaspers (not a barber shop quartet, but a mascot) are slowly getting back to where they were when Fran Fraschilla coached the club. Senior point guard Von Damien Green, the MAAC’s most fun player to watch, can score as well as he can pass and 6-7 forward Dave Holmes is mature beyond his sophmoreness.

3. Niagara: Another ready contender in the Medieval Times-tournament known as the MAAC. The offense relies heavily on senior point guard Daryl Greene, but he was hurt most of last season so the jury is still out. Still, he had 20 points in each of his first two games this season, so it looks like he’s ready to rock for the Purple Eagles. (Never seen one of those. Must be an endangered species.)

4. Rider: Good scheduling move by the Broncs this year. No major powers on the docket and their out-of-conference schedule is plugged in with schools from MAAC-comparable leagues. This is how you get the 20-plus wins the tournament folks seem to love. Rider returns leading the conference’s leading scorer, forward Mario Porter.

5. Canisius: The Golden Gryffs won 20 games last year and could repeat that success in 2001-02. Canisius is a team that likes to shoot, and they shoot well. Brian Dux is an all-around leader. 6-3 forward Hodari Mallory had a good first game against Cornell before fouling out.

6. Marist: Sean Kennedy finished third among all Division I assisters last year. He could grab to honors in 2001-02. Coach Dave Magarity will miss forward Drew Samuels 15.9 points per game, but has every right to expect sophomore center Steve Castleberry and F-C Matt Tullis to do good things. Any finish above sixth place is overachieving for this club.

7. Siena: 2001-02 could have been a real disaster if the Saints didn’t retain big guard Dwayne Archbold (15.9 points per last year) and backcourt partner Isaiah Stewart. Had a share of the league title last year but the loss of 3-point assassin Scott Knapp hurts.

8. Fairfield: Syracuse-transfer Sam Spann adjusted well to MAAC life last year. This year, a fellow Big East defector, Uconn’s Ajou Deng, brings his 6-11 presence to the new Arena at Harbor Yards. The Stags need at least another year before anything happens.

9. St. Peter’s: The Peacocks lost five of its most productive players due to graduation. This is another “rebuilding on our rebuilding” year. My colleague Lon Samuelson tells me that the Yanitelli Center is the only D-I arena in the country that does not charge admission to games. So at least they’ve got that going for them, which is nice.

10. Loyola: Seven new players for the Greyhounds. So how ’bout that lacrosse team?

Horizon League Preview

2001-02 Horizon League Preview

by Brian Seymour

While doing research on the Internet, I had to jump through dozens of hoops — no pun intended — to get information about the Horizon League, which is evidence of a conference with a serious identity problem.

Of course, part of the identity crisis could be from the ever-evolving name of the conference. For those keeping score at home, the league began as the Midwestern City Conference in 1979, featured a revolving door lineup of schools until ultimately being renamed the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, then in June 2001 changing again to the Horizon League.

In the long term, changing the name is probably a good move. No longer will the league get confused with the Midwestern City Conference or the Mid-American Conference. In the short term — well, it’s a bit of an annoyance, as my web experience demonstrated.

It’s too bad really, because some pretty good hoops are played in the Midwestern — oops, Horizon League. To wit:

Exhibit A: Butler upset Wake Forest in the 2001 NCAA tournament and should have probably beaten Florida in the first round of the 2000 tournament. Only a last-second driving prayer from Mike Miller saved the Gators. You might remember Florida went on to lose in the national title game to Michigan State that year.

Exhibit B: Detroit Mercy has also done damage in the tournament recently, defeating St. John’s in 1998 and UCLA in 1999. They also made the Final Four of the NIT last season.

Exhibit C: Wright State handed eventual national champion Michigan State a loss in 2000.

The rest of the league isn’t rubbish either. Cleveland State had their famous upset over Indiana in 1986 and is pretty good this year. Wisconsin-Green Bay always scares the bejeezus out of the big schools with their aggressive defense and patient, Princeton-like offense. Illinois-Chicago usually checks in with a yearly upset over a “major” school and Horizon newcomer Youngstown State is in Youngstown. Who wants to make that road trip?

In the respect department, not helping matters is the location of Horizon schools — in bustling urban centers. I’ll put it this way — if you live in Chicago (or Milwaukee or Detroit or Cleveland or Indianapolis) there’s a lot of competition for your entertainment dollar. Mid-major college basketball is pretty far down on the list for many people and the newspapers in those towns have bigger fish to fry.

But that’s no reason to disregard the Horizon. You can bet whichever school draws the Horizon champion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be sweating a little bit.

Speaking of which, on with the preview (in projected order of finish):

1. Butler: The Bulldogs knocked off Radford, Delaware and Washington to win the Top of the World preseason tournament in Fairbanks, Alaska, their first regular season tournament championship in 53 years. If that ain’t an omen, I don’t know what is.

They’ll be the class of the Horizon this season, thanks to Thomas Jackson, voted preseason player of the year by the media. Not to get off the subject, but is there a dumber award anywhere than picking a player of the year BEFORE a minute is played? Jackson, a 5-foot-9 point guard, has had a stellar career at Butler, having led the league in assist/turnover ratio for each of the past two seasons. He also continues the Horizon’s streak of having the best “little man” in the country, taking over for Detroit Mercy’s Rashad Phillips.

Add the experience of senior forward Rylan Hainje and junior forward Joel Cornette — who both started every game with Jackson last season — and the Bulldogs have chemistry which can’t be matched by any team in the conference.

Something else to watch for will be the performance of new coach Todd Lickliter, Butler’s third coach in three years (truly the sign of an impressive mid-major program). Lickliter replaces Thad Matta, who moved to Xavier in the offseason.

2. Detroit Mercy: The Titans and the Bulldogs have quite the Coke-Pepsi rivalry going and this year shouldn’t be any different. If any team has the ability to dethrone Butler, it’s Detroit Mercy.

Detroit’s all-time leading scorer Rashad Phillips is gone to the NBA, but four other starters return, including Willie Green, a 6-foot-4 junior guard with playmaking ability. Chemistry is also going to be key to any success for the Titans. Four of the five projected starters are from Detroit and all five are from metro Detroit.

Coach Perry Watson is going be counting on Green and junior forward Terrell Riggs to pick up the scoring load from Phillips’ graduation.

The Titans have the third-longest home winning streak in the nation at 31 games, trailing only Michigan State and Iowa State. Their last loss? Butler, in January 1999. The streak will be in jeopardy early in the season with home games against Wyoming and Toledo in December, then Butler for the conference home opener on Jan. 10, 2002.

3. Cleveland State: Head coach Rollie Massimino has reestablished his contacts in Pennsylvania recruiting, giving this year’s Cleveland State squad a definite Keystone State flavor. Seven Vikings hail from Pennsylvania, including junior center Tahric Gosley, a specialist at blocking shots. Look for him to be near the nation’s leaders in blocks.

But the key player for Massimino’s hopes of returning Cleveland State to the glory days of the mid-80s is Theo Dixon, a 6-foot-6 senior who can play either shooting guard or small forward. Dixon will need to score 20-plus points a game and contribute defensively to give the Vikings a chance to ascend past the Horizon’s Big Two of Butler and Detroit Mercy.

4. Illinois Chicago: This could be a watershed year for coach Jimmy Collins. The Flames have been knocking at the door of the conference frontrunners for some time and this year, they have a nice blend of returning talent and fresh recruits.

The top returnees are forward Joe Scott and Jon-Pierre Mitchom, a senior guard, both of whom averaged just over 10 points a game last season.

Collins is also high on sophomores Martell Bailey, Cedrick Banks and Armond Williams, all of whom sat out last season because of eligibility requirements. They’ll make rookie mistakes, but expect the Flames to be a dangerous team come conference tourney time.

5. Wisconsin-Milwaukee: New coach Bruce Pearl has the wildcard team in the Horizon League. The Panthers have the talent to finish near the top of the league, but will they be able to adjust to a new coach and keep up with the strides made by the rest of the teams in the league.

Junior guard Clay Tucker was a first-team preseason all-conference selection after averaging 13.9 points per game last season. Four of the five starters return from last year’s 15-13 team.

6. Wright State: The Raiders are overshadowed nationally by Dayton, Cincinnati and Xavier in their own area, but it’ll be hard for Horizon teams to overlook them. The Raiders play a tough non-conference schedule which includes Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio) and Santa Clara and will be battle-tested for the conference season.

Junior guard Vernard Hollins averaged 19 points and 12.5 rebounds in Wright State’s two exhibition contests. Six-foot-seven senior forward Cain Doliboa is the top big man for a small Raiders team.

7. Wisconsin-Green Bay: The offseason didn’t treat the Phoenix very kindly as reserve freshman Calix N’daiye was suspended eight games for playing with a Norweigan professional team while a high schooler. The decision will only exacerbate a general lack of depth for UWGB, which saw three players go down with injuries early in the season. All are expected back in time for conference play.

Senior guard DeVante Blanks shoots anything but, having gone 8-of-12 from three-point range in the Phoenix’ two preseason contests.

8. Loyola Chicago: If the Ramblers climb out of the Horizon League basement, you can bet it will have something to do with David Bailey.

Bailey, a 5-foot-8 point guard, flew under a lot of radar screens last season en route to 17.3 points, 6.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. I repeat, a 5-foot-8 point guard who averaged 4.3 rebounds a game. The team surrounding Bailey is very generally young and unpolished, but it’ll be hard to overlook them towards the end of the season.

9. Youngstown State: The Penguins are celebrating their first season in the Horizon League and it’s hard to predict how they’ll do. YSU finished 19-12 overall and 11-5 last season in the Mid-Continent Conference, which is generally weaker than the Horizon.

One point in the Penguins favor is a starting lineup which includes four seniors. Guards Ryan Patton and Rafael Cruz both averaged just over 10 points a game last season. Another player to watch is freshman Doug Underwood, who scored 30 points in an exhibition contest against Argentina Select (no, not exactly Duke). Underwood is one of the few Horizon freshmen expected to get extensive playing time early in the season.

OTHER NOTES

Predicted NCAA Tournament team: I’m going with Butler, but don’t count out Detroit Mercy or Cleveland State. Butler could build up the RPI to get an at-large berth if they stumble in the Horizon tournament. The rest of the teams likely won’t have that luxury.

Best player: Another neck and neck race between Butler and Detroit Mercy. Butler’s Thomas Jackson and Detroit’s Willie Green are the two most-hyped players in the league, but I think Theo Dixon from Cleveland State is going to have a breakout season. He could take the Vikings on his back in the conference tournament and lead them to the Big Dance.

Games of the year: Detroit at Butler on Feb. 7. It’ll be the second meeting between the two teams and will likely determine which team gets the top seed for the conference tournament. Don’t be surprised if there’s a third matchup later in the year.

Cleveland State at Florida State, Dec. 19. Granted, the Seminoles — to be somewhat charitable — suck. But they’re still an ACC team. Don’t be surprised if Cleveland State pulls off the upset.

Most underrated coach: Perry Watson of Detroit Mercy. No question. All this guy has done in his coaching career is win 90 percent of his games as a high school coach, help land and tutor the Fab Five at Michigan and build a more or less dormant program at Detroit Mercy into one of the top mid-majors in the country. Watson is a native Detroiter and may not want to move to a bigger program, but it’s a shame that he’s not mentioned for openings when they come up.

Least-likely coach to win another national title: Rollie Massimino of Cleveland State. No disrespect to the Vikings, they’ll challenge for Horizon title, but Rollie won’t be adding to the national title he won in 1985 with Villanova. Steve Fisher of San Diego State and Bob Knight of Texas Tech are close runners-up in this contest.

Coincidentally, with the hiring of Knight at Texas Tech and Rick Pitino at Louisville, the number of conferences with an active national championship coach is 10. That’s got to be an all-time record.

Go ahead and add them up — WAC (Jerry Tarkanian), Mountain West (Steve Fisher), Horizon (Rollie Massimino), Big 12 (Bob Knight), Conference USA (Rick Pitino), Big Ten (Tom Izzo), Big East (Jim Calhoun), SEC (Jim Harrick, Nolan Richardson and Tubby Smith), ACC (Mike Krzyzewski) and Pac 10 (Lute Olson).

More evidence that parity exists in college basketball.

Growing pains award: Youngstown State. The Penguins (and is there a cooler nickname than that in college hoops? — pun sort-of intended) were 19-11 in the Mid-Continent Conference, but this isn’t the Mid-Continent Conference. They won’t be beating up on the likes of UMKC, IUPUI and other alphabet soup retreads anymore. There won’t be gimmes for anyone in the conference — Butler included.

On the hot seat: Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Mike Heideman. The Phoenix are coming off two losing seasons and have been tabbed to finish seventh out of nine teams this year. With so much recent success, will another losing season be accepted in Green Bay? And if the Packers make it to the NFL playoffs, will anyone care? Heideman is in his seventh year, but the first few he was working with recruits from legendary coach Dick Bennett. He needs a strong campaign this season and a better than seventh place finish to keep the naysayers at bay.

Ivy League Preview

2001-02 Ivy League Preview

by Adam Shandler

Attention Ivy Leaguers: Anybody? Anybody? Anybody other than Princeton and Penn?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you want me to say Penn or Princeton is going to win the Ivy and then move on with “yada yada” reports about the also-rans. Can’t say I blame you. Not since 1988 has a team other than Princeton or Penn made the NCAA tournament. (Useless trivia: that team was Cornell.)

The Tigers and Quakers remain the class of the league, but this year, clubs like Brown, Yale and Columbia just might have a shot at stealing the title. Now won’t that be a hoot?

Projected Champ: Princeton
Dark Horse: Columbia
Better off Studying: Dartmouth

1. Princeton: I pick them only because they were last season’s champ, they’re deep and they have a lot of leadership. So sue me! The backdoors will be opened by F Mike Bechtold and Freshman C Dominick Martin. Last year’s Ivy Rookie of the Year Konrad Wysocki could be Player of the Year this season.

2. Brown: Yeah, you read right. I picked Brown. Not just to be controversial but because I think that this team has the talent. Enough talent to unseat Penn at second place. The Bears return league-leading scorer Earl Hunt, who averaged an Ivy-unheard-of 19.7 points per game last season.

3. Pennsylvania: Fran Dunphy, if he puts together the cohesive unit we’ve come to know, could lead the Quakers to a league title and a reconsideration from me. Their success hinges on 6-8 junior forward Ugonna Onyekwe, but the big-man must behave himself or he will be ridin’ pine.

4. Yale: I’d like to say the Bulldogs have reached Brown-style contender status. In the early going, they’re showing flickers of decency. They beat Penn State at State College (small victories are still victories, y’know!) and forward Paul Vitelli and freshman Edwin Draughan could be a lethal tandem.

5. Columbia: If you’re passing through Harlem with nothing to do, head over to the Levien Gym. 6-6 Craig Austin is versatile for a swingman – a quality all-around player who is fun to watch. If the backcourt shows up, Columbia could be the nicest surprise of the league.

6. Cornell: A team that needs a little more time. How ’bout another decade? No, I kid because I love. Coach Steve Donahue brought a slew of rookies to Ithaca, including Chris Vandenburg, who was just named to the Canadian National Junior Team. The Big Red only managed 25 points in an early-season 30-point loss to Notre Dame. More like a scrimmage.

7. Harvard: Wicked prahblems in Cambridge. All backcourt (a three-guard alignment makes the Crimson tick) and no front. The Ivy League is getting better at getting bigger but Harvard lacks the size upfront to compete. An early win over Fairfield kicked off the season right with point guard Patrick Harvey netting 19 points and 6 assists.

8. Dartmouth: Since there are only eight teams in this league I can’t rank the Green Wave (what is it with the Ivy League and these colorful names?) any lower. Point guard Flinder Boyd is a playmaker, but he has no one else to make plays for. 17 Dartmouth turnovers resulted in an opening season loss to Division I newcomer Binghamton.

Conference USA Preview

2001-02 Conference USA Preview

by Brian Seymour

Dajuan Wagner. Dajuan Wagner. Dajuan Wagner. Dajuan Wagner. Dajuan Wagner. Dajuan Wagner. And possibly even Dajuan Wagner.

There. Just thought we’d get that out of the way early in the season. Might as well get used to it, though. That name is going to be drilled in the heads of hoops fans everywhere for the next five months.

The circus Formerly Known as The Lamar Odom Show has come to the South and it promises to be an interesting season in Conference USA. What else could overshadow Rick Pitino’s return to the college coaching ranks at Louisville?

Dajuan Wagner has been hyped as — depending how close to Memphis you live — the best freshman basketball player in the nation, the second coming of Elvis and Pete Maravich rolled into one, or a walking, talking time bomb that is going to eventually blow up in Memphis coach John Calipari’s face.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but you can bet the fine NCAA compliance folks in Kansas City are going to be making the short drive to Memphis several times this year to sniff around the Tigers’ program because…well, Calipari didn’t exactly win friends with the NCAA while he was at U-Mass.

Start with hiring of Wagner’s father, former Louisville star Milt Wagner, as one of Memphis’ assistant coaches. There’s no hint of impropriety there. Why not just make him chancellor of the university?

Also, reports have been widespread that Wagner is planning on playing at Memphis only one year before jumping to the NBA. Anyone have an over-under on the number of days after Memphis’ elimination from the NCAA Tournament before Dajuan is seen driving a 2002 Cadillac Escalade down Beale Street? Two? How about the numbers of classes he attends in March and April?

In any event, the move is brilliant for Calipari, looking to return Memphis (and himself) to the national spotlight. If he can keep things together for the season, lead the Tigers to a deep run toward the national title and keep the circus from spinning out of control, the program should be able to continue to load up on recruits after Wagner has moved on to the NBA.

If not…well, when was the last time you heard of the Rhode Island basketball program?

AMERICAN DIVISION

1. Cincinnati: Year in and year out, the Bearcats are the class of Conference USA, but something always seems to stand in their way of making the jump to one of the nation’s elite teams — in a class with Duke, Arizona, Kentucky, etc. Don’t laugh, because if Kenyon Martin doesn’t break his leg in the C-USA tournament two years ago, we might be talking about Cincinnati trying to recapture the national title.

As it is, the Bearcats are going to be very, very good, but aren’t on a plain where they can compete with the Duke’s, Maryland’s and Kentucky’s. What they can do and probably will do is scare the living crap out of them in the middle rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Steve Logan may be the best basketball player in the nation who isn’t a household name — yet. The senior guard scored 17.6 per game last year and will be joined by the other four of Cincinnati’s top five scorers. The Bearcats have rebuilt quickly and they’ll be dangerous, especially late in the season.

2. Charlotte: Ah, what if? If Rodney White had stayed at Charlotte, instead of opting to leave school and become a lottery pick in the NBA, the 49ers would be a Top 15 team. Instead, they’re a very, very good team.

Senior Jobey Thomas is back though and the guard will again be the focal point for an efficient offense. Thomas is already C-USA’s all-time leader in made three-pointers and he rarely misses from the free-throw line (90.9 percent last season). It’ll be hard for teams to catch up to the 49ers late in games.

A pair of sophomores who will be finalists for our Hoopville “all-name” team should all be key to Charlotte’s success — forward Butter Johnson and guard Demon Brown.

3. Marquette: Five of the top six scorers and the top four rebounders return from a team that started to come into its own late last season. If they can continue to improve, an NCAA bid is not impossible. Helping or hindering in that effort is a demanding non-conference schedule. In addition to contests against Wisconsin and Wake Forest, the Golden Eagles will compete in the Great Alaska Shooutout, drawing Tennessee in the opening round.

Senior guard Cordell Henry was like a lot of his teammates last season — much better in conference play. He averaged 12.6 points per game for the season, but almost 15 per game in C-USA. He also shot 87 percent from the free throw line in the conference, but 72 percent for the whole season.

He’s joined by a crop of five freshmen who were ranked among the top 25 recruiting classes by some experts. It could be a breakout season in Milwaukee.

4. Louisville: It would be foolhardy to suggest that Rick Pitino won’t rehabilitate the Cardinals, who for decades were among the top teams in the nation. More conference and national championship banners could be in Freedom Hall’s future. Pitino’s successes as a college coach are indisputable.

But this year will be a painful one for Louisville fans, who are no doubt anxious for the future to begin today. Despite losing only two players from last year’s team, the talent level doesn’t match the rest of C-USA’s top clubs — yet. But Pitino doesn’t have an empty cupboard to work with.

Junior guard Reece Gaines is one of the top sharpshooters in the conference, hitting 42.6 percent from the three-point line last season and averaging 13.9 points per game. Pitino will be working in freshmen Carlos Hurt and Larry O’Bannon into what is already a very young team. The Cardinals will be a scary team in the C-USA tournament, but you likely won’t be able to spell Pitino without NIT this year.

5. DePaul: The pressure is on DePaul coach Pat Kennedy. The Blue Demons slumped to a 12-18 record last season and this year’s performance will go a long way to determining his future in Chicago.

Senior guard Rashon Burno is as strong a leader as a coach could want. He’s the first player in DePaul history to serve as captain for three seasons and is an exciting playmaker on the point. Kennedy nabbed a good recruiting class last season and they’ll need to mature in a hurry to keep firing rumors at bay.

6. Saint Louis: The rebuilding continues in Saint Louis. To call the Billikens young would be a bit of an understatement. In fact, there isn’t a single senior on scholarship.

Amidst the possible struggles are some bright spots. Junior guard Marque Perry can shoot out the lights on occasion and could single-handedly deliver some big nights and upsets throughout the season. He scored 29 in the season opening loss against Southern Illinois.

7. East Carolina: It’s a big step up from the Colonial Athletic Association to Conference USA, but a step the Pirates are going to have to make. Sophomore Erroyl Bing had seven double-doubles last season as a freshman and will certainly add to that total this year. Still, the Pirates would have to consider four or five conference wins a success this year.

NATIONAL DIVISION

1. Memphis: Dajuan Wagner looms large in minds of opposing coaches and players. He’s likely to be guarded with vigor and game-planned around by those who are tired of the hype around the talented freshman. Despite that, he has still managed to average more than 25 points a game through the Tigers’ early-season contests.

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the conference title doesn’t somehow go through Memphis this season. Either the Tigers are going to win it or the team that does win it is going to have to take care of them.

It’s not a one-man team either. The Tigers are deep and have experience at key positions, such as senior forward Kelly Wise, who is capable of scoring 20 points a night. Coach John Calipari has been to the Final Four before with U-Mass and knows what it takes.

But it will be interesting to see how the Tigers perform against some of the better teams in the country and if Calipari can keep expectations in control until the NCAA Tournament.

2. South Florida: The Bulls aren’t one of the first teams to pop in the heads of college hoops fans when kicking around the top teams in C-USA, but make no mistake — the Big Dance could be in South Florida’s future this season, even if they don’t pull off a deep run in the C-USA tournament. The Bulls are smarting from being snubbed from any postseason action last year, despite a 18-13 mark and several upset wins.

Returning are the formidable twosome of senior forwards Altron Jackson and BB Waldon. The pair combined to average 36 points per game last season and they’ll need to maintain that output throughout the season.

The Bulls’ non-conference schedule includes Florida, Syracuse, California and Florida State. Wins in at least two of those games and a strong conference record will be key in their postseason fate.

3. UAB: The Blazers are C-USA’s official Wild Card™ team, a squad that could win 20-22 games and get invited to the NCAA Tournament or a team that could go in the tank and get their coach (Murry Bartow, son of legendary UCLA and UAB coach Gene Bartow) fired. Early season results, including a win over Miami (Fla.) seem to indicate that the former is more likely.

There’s a lot of experience in the starting five and senior Eric Batchelor is as good a sixth man as you’ll find in the conference. He averaged 11.5 points per game last season and is a clutch free throw shooter to boot. Senior P.J. Arnold will provide much of the scoring and Will Campbell is an excellent rebounder, averaging almost 10 per game in conference action last season.

4. Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles put together a fantastic season last year, going 22-9 and 11-5 in the conference, but were snubbed by the NCAA selection committee. It could happen again this season. An anemic non-conference schedule includes the likes of Alcorn State, Morris Brown (what, Morris Day and the Time wasn’t available?) and Millsaps. Cupcake scheduling is alive and well in Hattiesburg, Miss.

USM doesn’t really need the help either, because this year’s team would appear to be as talented as last year. Seniors Brad Richardson and Elvin Mims are back and will provide scoring punch.

5. TCU: Billy Tubbs announced this season — TCU’s first in Conference USA — will be his last as coach of the Horned Frogs, leaving the program at a bit of a crossroads. TCU has tasted some success in the WAC, but will find the going quite bumpy in the tougher C-USA.

Tubbs is also a cupcake fan with Lenoir-Rhyne, Arkansas-Monticello, Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe on the plate for the non-conference schedule. More Hoopville all-name candidates — sophomore guard Nucleus Smith and junior forward Bingo Merriex.

6. Houston: Welcome to Year Two of the post-Clyde Drexler era at Houston. Ray McCallum is doing a fine job cleaning up the mess, but the Cougars are still a year or so away from respectability. Senior Patrick Okafor has been impressive early in the season though, averaging 20 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Senior guard Dominic Smith is one of the best defensive players in the league and will almost certainly be among the league leaders in assists and steals.

7. Tulane: Two Brandons will be the focal point of the Green Wave this season — juniors Brandon Spann and Brandon Brown. The pair combined for 36 in a season-opening win over Loyola. Other than them, the team is incredibly young — five freshmen and five sophomores dot the lineup. These Waves are a couple years away from cresting.

OTHER NOTES

NCAA Tournament teams: Memphis, Cincinnati, Charlotte and Marquette. Memphis and Cincinnati are more or less no-brainers, only injuries to key players could sabotage what should be good to excellent seasons for both teams. Charlotte is smarting a little from the loss of NBA lottery pick Rodney White, but don’t count out the 49ers just yet. They’ll start slow, make a late season run and probably easily pick up an at-large berth. Marquette will likely be one of the last four teams in or out of the field.

Louisville will probably make the NIT — anything .500 or better will get a Rick Pitino-led team into the Little Dance. Southern Miss, UAB and South Florida are also likely looking at NIT berths unless they can string together 20 or more wins in the regular season to get strong looks from the NCAA Tournament Committee.

Conference game to watch: Louisville at Memphis, Jan. 30.

With Rick Pitino in Louisville, C-USA arguably now has the four whiniest coaches in college hoops (to join Cincinnati’s Bob Huggins, Memphis’ John Calipari and TCU’s Billy Tubbs. Why can’t we find a place for Bob Knight in this conference?).

This game ought to be quite popular when referee assignments are handed out in the league office.

“Um, Charlie, you sure you don’t want to trade me for that UAB-South Florida game in Tampa?”

(long pause)

“Why are you laughing?”

Non-conference game to watch: Louisville at Kentucky, Dec. 29. Duh.

Best player: I’m resisting the temptation to use Dajuan Wagner’s name for the 17th time in this preview, but you can’t argue with his skills. It was a fine sense of self-promotion to put up 100 points on some hapless high school team, but he’s going to be getting some serious attention from opposing defenses because of all the hype around him.

Cincinnati’s Steve Logan is pretty good too (though don’t get him confused with East Carolina football coach Steve Logan…East Carolina is joining C-USA this year by the way. Oops. Too late, I’m confused. My head hurts.).

By the way, my pick is Logan.

Nickname game: Just curious, but shouldn’t it be illegal for two teams in the same conference to have the same nickname? Marquette and Southern Mississippi have the distinction of sharing a moniker, the Golden Eagles. I have a suggestion for Southern Miss if they ever decide to rethink their position on Golden Eagles…the Po’Boys.

Movin’ on up: Marquette head coach Tom Crean will be on the short list of a lot of major job openings after this season. If he wants to, he’ll probably be moving on to the Big Time.

For the geographically challenged: The University of South Florida is located in Tampa, Fla., about 70 miles west of Orlando, where the University of Central Florida is located. Good thing there’s not a University of Really, Really South Florida in Miami.

Best preseason rumor to watch throughout the season: That Marshall University will be asked to join Conference USA soon. The move would be primarily for football, since it would give C-USA 12 football teams and a lucrative playoff game, but the Thundering Herd are no slouches on the court either. They’ll contend for the Mid-American Conference title and would help C-USA’s depth. If C-USA adds Marshall as a 15th team, look for it to try and add a 16th school who doesn’t have a major football program.

Speaking of that hypothetical 16th team: Dayton or Xavier from the Atlantic 10 (which uses the Big Ten’s version of fuzzy math and has 12 teams). Both are natural rivals with Cincinnati, especially Xavier, which has a very, very heated rivalry with the Bearcats. The A-10′s fortunes are on the downswing and the conference is about two more years from entering “mid-majorland”. Plus, both schools are in fairly large media markets, lest we forget what drives major college basketball in the 21st century.

Northeast Preview

2001-02 Northeast Conference Preview

by Lon Samuelson

Also known as “The NCAA sacrificial lamb” the other (Big East) other (A-10) other (MAAC) conference based in the New York / New Jersey Metro area is the Northeast Conference. One of the few conferences to have never won an NCAA tournament game (0-20) one team looks to be rid of that proverbial “monkey off their back”.

1. Monmouth: Pulling off one off the most impressive comebacks in the NEC tournament final (a 20 point deficit to St. Francis) to win a trip to the Big Dance highlighted the Hawks conference championship run. Falling prey to National Champion Duke in the first round did not. The Hawks look to build off last season’s effort. NEC Player-of-the-Year senior point guard Rashaan Johnson has the potential to repeat his post-season success and get Coach Calloway’s team back to the dance.

2. Wagner: Back in 1983 guard Dereck Whittenburg played a vital role in NC State’s winning of the national title. In 2001-02 Coach Whittenburg hopes to play an equally vital role in getting the Seahawks into the Round of 64. Junior forward Jermaine Hall is the centerpiece of a solid group of upperclassmen that should be in the NEC title game.

3. Long Island: From the category “size doesn’t matter” we bring you the LIU Blackbirds, who do not have a player taller then 6’8 on their roster. With that said coach Ray Martin will rely heavily on one of the best backcourts in the conference in 6-0 junior point guard Maurice Yearwood and 6-0 senior guard Antawn Dobie to get the Blackbirds back to their perch atop the NEC.

4. Mount St. Mary’s: Forget about Cats and Cal Ripken for career longevity. How bout Coach Jim Phelan? The Mountaineers’ main man embarks on his 48th season in Emmitsburg. He may have a surprise in store for the NEC with the return of 6-10 junior center Melvin Whitaker. Add in a solid crew around the big fella and the dancing scene may be in the cards.

5. Maryland-Baltimore County: The youth movement will be in action down in Baltimore for Coach Tom Sullivan, who is without a senior on his roster. Don’t worry about experience for the Retrievers with the 2001 NEC Rookie-of-the-year Peter Mulligan on the perimeter and 2001 NEC All-rookie team center Will McClurkin on the inside.

6. Central Connecticut State: Not to be mistaken with the Blue Devils from Durham, these Blue Devils will have a tough time getting the opportunity to play basketball in mid-March. NEC first-teamer senior Corlsey Edwards will lead Coach Howie Dickeman’s team.

7. Fairleigh Dickinson: Transition is in the air for Coach Tom Green and the Knights. One starter, 6-10 senior center James Felton, returns from last year’s disappointing 13-15 campaign. Newcomers 6-9 junior Doug Whitler and 6-5 freshman Ryshaun Sunkins look to revitalize this NEC power.

8. Robert Morris: Another year another new coach for the Colonials. Mark Schmidt takes the reigns from Danny Nee (Duquesne) out in Western Pennsylvania. Senior forward Wesley Fluellen will be the go-to guy for a team that hopes to qualify for this year’s conference tournament.

9. St. Francis (New York): It was a difficult season finale, to say the least, for Ron Ganulin’s troops. The Terriers had a 20 point lead disintegrate as Monmouth came back to win the NEC crown. Bouncing back will be difficult with the loss of 4 starters from last year’s regular season championship team. Senior forward Cliff Strong is the lone returning starter.

10. Quinnipiac: Coach Joe DeSantis’ Braves have been on a roller coaster ride of sorts since joining the NEC from the D-2 ranks in 1999. A fourth place finish in 1999-2000 was followed by the last place finish in 2000-2001. Seniors Jared Grasso and Bill Romano will provide the firepower.

11. Sacred Heart: Yet another recent D-2 alum, the Pioneers finished in 11th place last year. Coach Dave Bike has 7-2 center Mading Mading to lean on as they try to move up in the conference standings.

12. St. Francis (Pennsylvania): The basement of the NEC could be in the future for the Red Flash. Coach Bobby Jones will have to rebuild with 5 freshmen to avoid the dubious distinction of being last in the NEC. Freshman guard Darshan Luckey will be at the front of this group.

The only thing consistent about the NEC is that it’s inconsistent. Since 1997 a different team has represented the conference in the Tournament. Monmouth should stop that streak, though Wagner and LIU will have something to say about it. The conference tournament allows one more participant this year (from 7 to 8) so four teams will be left in the cold.

Colonial Preview

2001-02 Colonial Athletic Ass’n Preview

by Adam Shandler

So, anyway, I’ve been asked by my editor-on-high to write up a nice little preview for the Colonial Athletic Conference.

Don’t think I didn’t see you roll your eyes!

Hey, don’t sleep on the mid-majors. This conference has at least 2 teams that might make some noise come March. A few of them might even make you go “Aha!” or “Oh!” or even “Wowie!” but I won’t get ahead of myself.

Okay, here’s how I do it. I tell you who I think will win the Colonial because I know you wanna know. I also offer up a Dark Horse (because I love the horsies) as well as a team that I think will lose it all. Dead last. Complete Crapola. (Hey, anyone can pick the contenders, but only a real man can forecast futility.)

Submitted for your approval — or disapproval. I don’t really care — my musings on the Colonial Athletic Association – College Basketball’s Revolving Door Conference.

Three schools say goodbye to the Colonial this year. 2000-2001 regular season champ Richmond ascended to the Atlantic 10, American fled to the Patriot League and East Carolina, like its football team, is now a member of C-USA.

So that means that UNC-Wilmington should run away with the league title, right? Hold it right there, Skippy! The CAA welcomes 4 new teams: Delware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson — all defectors from the America East conference. The off-season additions just might mean multiple post-season bids for the Colonial.

Projected Champ: UNC-Wilmington
Dark Horse: Virginia Commonwealth
Mmmm…Not so much: William and Mary

1.UNC-Wilmington: Opened up the season with a 1-pt., NIT loss to Wake Forest. Stifled Miami, OH (50-42 in Game 2). You’ll get no kitschy weather jokes from me about Brett Blizzard, just know that he’ll average about 25 points a game.

2. Hofstra: Lost four starters and their head coach. But not much will change for the back-to-back America East Champ. Former assistant and new coach Tom Pecora is a recruiting machine. Among the four rookies he’s brought in, Top 50-recruit Kenny Adeleke could be the CAA newcomer of the year.

3. Virginia Commonwealth: Mack McCarthy might have his best season yet. In the early going, hassled Northwestern in a 5-point loss. Thumped Rutgers, Prarie View in BCA invitational. 6-10 C L.F. Likcholitov (no, that is not one of the names Bart Simpson uses in his phone pranks) is easily the best center in the conference.

4. George Mason: Like you, I’m gonna miss Gulf War veteran George Evans, and so will GMU. But take heart, Northern Virginia, 8 Patriots return including Jr. forwards Jon Larranga and Jesse Young. And you’ll have reason to cheer Freshman point-man Lamar Butler.

5. Delaware: This seems to be a team that recovers well from senior losses. 2nd year coach Dave Henderson will have to fill the production void left by Ajmal Basit and his 15.2 pts and 9.6 rebounds/game. Juinor forward Maurice Sessoms will step up and Ryan Iverson, while no Allen, is a versatile 2-guard with a masseuse’s touch from long-range. The Hens started off with all-around efforts in wins against Wichita St. and Radford.

6. Drexel: “In like Flint”. (Damn you, evil catch phrase! I have succumbed to thee!) Yes, indeed, embattled UMass coach Bruiser Flint must inherit a Dragons team that loses two guys who averaged over 17 points/game (F Mike Kouser and C Joe Linderman). Their early season loss to Marist was yeccch, but new starters Robert Battle (C) and Jamil Moore (SG) were respectable.

7. Old Dominion: Blaine Taylor, former Stanford assistant, comes to Norfolk. That much was a victory for the Monarchs this year. Guard Pierre Green will be a highlight this season and swingman Rasheed Wright should help him out. All four newcomers are freshmen forwards. So…are you saying you’ve got rebounding issues, Blaine?

8. James Madison: A team in need of sensible shoes. Foot injuries turned a promising season into a disaster but the Dukes could be good this year if healthy. JMU lost nary a starter last year and frontcourters Ian Caskill, David Fanning (both 6-10) and Tim Lyle could frustrate foes in the paint.

9. Towson: First-year head coach Michael Hunt has every right to expect G Tamir Goodman to develop at the point. Gerald Weatherspoon is a 2-guard that can create and it’s hard to player-hate (street term) JUCO transfer Clavin Dotson. Sam Sutton leads the frontcourt but he’s all alone up there and counterparts will key on him defensively.

10. William and Mary: Huzzah to Rick Boyages and the Tribe. Their brave out-of-conference schedule features battles against Texas Tech (L 75-55) Purdue and Maryland. I still think they’ll finish last. They’ve got balance, but not a lot of guys who can take over a game. Sr. 2-G Cody Carbaugh is probably the best asset to the team but he needs to score more.

America East Preview

2001-02 America East Preview

by Lon Samuelson

Just last March the America East Conference was working its way up the Conference RPI ratings by hovering around 17. Unfortunately, all hopes were dashed this past summer when a mass exodus occurred, leaving the conference with 3 newcomers and 4 strong teams departing for greener pastures.

With Hofstra, Delaware, Drexel and Towson St leaving and Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook arriving the conference takes on a whole new look but not for the better. Loyalists like Boston University and Maine hope to carry on the tradition created by former A-East champs like Delaware and Hofstra by representing the conference well in the Big Dance.

1. Maine: “Always a brides maid never a bride”. This seems to be the feeling in Orono. The Black Bears have been on the brink of A-East stardom but have always fallen short. Coach John Giannini looks to take advantage of the conference remodeling with Senior guard Huggy Dye leading the attack.

2. Boston University: The Terriers are the last team to make it to the tourney (1997) of the remaining A-East squads. Coach Dennis Wolff looks to keep it that way with 11 letter winners returning. Sophomore forward Ryan Butt, junior guard Billy Collins, and A-East Rookie-of-the-Year sophomore Paul Seymour should form a dominant trio as BU strives to be a contender for the A-East title.

3. Vermont: Life after Tony Orciari (Two time All A-East first teamer) will not be easy in Burlington. Senior forward Trevor Gaines and sophomore guard TJ Sorrentine will be relied upon heavily by coach Tom Brennan to make it a three-way battle for conference supremacy.

4. Northeastern: First year head coach Ron Everhart looks to turn things around in Beantown, where the Huskies went 10-19 last season. The backcourt of Charles Cranford and Jean Bain will be the foundation for a fairly new team, which includes 8 first year Huskies.

5. Stony Brook: After years of wallowing as an anonymous Independent, the Seawolves have finally joined a conference. Coming off a solid 17-11 campaign last season, Coach Nick Macarchuk’s team could a sleeper over the next 2 seasons. One player to watch is junior guard (and St.Joe’s transfer) Larry Jennings. He will be returning from a stress fracture in December.

6. Hartford: The Hawks haven’t been the same since Vin Baker left (and that was quite some time ago). Second year coach Larry Harrison hopes to improve on his first year record of 4-24 with the likes of five newcomers. Freshman guard Shaun Swan (high school stats of 31.7ppg, 8.2apg ) will be asked to score early and often.

7. Albany: The New York state capital has a D-1 team and it’s the . . Great Danes. This is only their third year in D-1 play and their first in the A-East. Second-year head coach Scott Beeten will have some height in 6-10 freshman Jan van den Berg and 6-8 Janis Pipkis. Keep any eye on 5-7 JuCo transfer Earv Opong from Brooklyn (who goes by the street moniker of “I’ll be right back”.)

8. New Hampshire: Coach Phil Rowe’s Wildcats will count on experience as they return a number of upperclassmen from last season’s 7-21 campaign. Senior forward Austin Ganly’s shooting prowess will be the driving force up in Durham.

9. Binghamton: It’s a daily double for the Bearcats as the 2001-02 season will be the maiden voyage in Division 1 and the A-East. Coach Al Walker’s team could be in for a tough transition from the D-2 ranks. 2001 Alaska high school player of the year, 7-0 Nick Billings, may be the lone bright spot.

The conference looks to be a doormat for other teams and a possible play-in team(64 v. 65) for the NCAA selection committee. Expect Huggy Dye and the Black Bears to take advantage of the lackluster talent in what many consider a hockey conference that happens to play basketball.

Atlantic 10 Preview

2001-02 Atlantic 10 Conference Preview

by Lon Samuelson

Many may mistake the Atlantic-10 (once the A-11, and now the A-12 w/former Colonial power Richmond) for a revolving door in coaching ranks. More then half of the league has someone new at the helm (LaSalle, GWU, URI, Saint Bonaventure, Duquesne, Xavier, and Massachusetts). With all the infusion of new blood, it’s the mainstays (St. Joe’s Phil Martelli and Temple’s John Chaney) that will continue their dominance.

East
1. St. Joseph’s: Despite being upset versus Eastern Washington in the opening game of the 2001 tournament, Phil Martelli’s Hawks are led by one of the best backcourts in the nation. Marvin O’Connor and Jameer Nelson and are primed to win the A-10. Projected to be a Final Four sleeper.

2.Temple: Coach Chaney’s teams continue to play the hardest schedule in the nation as shown by their two losses in the IKON Classic to Top 10 teams Florida and Maryland. The senior leadership of center Kevin Lyde and Lynn Greer will keep them in the hunt for the A-10 crown and make them a tough opponent in the Big Dance.

3. Massachusetts: The Minutemen look to be revitalized by former Villanova coach Steve Lapas after posting a 15-15 campaign last year. The frontcourt duo of 6-10 Kitwana Rhymer and 6-11 Micah Brand could propel them back to at least an NIT bid.

4. Fordham: Da boys from da Bronx will have a new backcourt in Providence transfer Mark Jarrel-Wright and JuCo transfer “Smoosh” Parker. Coupled with a solid front line tandem of senior center Duke Freeman-McKinney and sophomore PF Jeff McMillian, Bob Hills’ guys are a dark horse to win the A-10 title.

5. St. Bonaventure: Coach Jan Van Breda Kolff leaves Pepperdine (located in lovely Malibu, California) for snowy Olean, New York. Senior guard JR Bremer leads the Bonnies as they hope to get back to post-season play after a first-round lost in last year’s NIT.

6. Rhode Island: Meet the new coach; he’s the same as the old coach – from St. Bonaventure, that is. Coach Jim Barron takes over a Ram program that lost 2 key players to poor grades (Zach Marbury and Tavoris Bell) and has not been the same since Lamar Odom entered the NBA draft. A big overhaul is expected over the next few seasons as senior guard Dinno Daniels looks to keep the team competitive.

West
1. Xavier: The Musketeers new head coach Thad Matta comes into a good situation in Cincy with one of the top power forwards in the nation, junior David West. Combined with the solid guard play of Romain Sato, look for the X-men to battle for the A-10 title and avenge last year’s first-round tourney loss.

2. Dayton: Coach Oliver Parnell loses only one starter, Tony Stanley, from a squad that fell short of the NIT Final Four. Sophomore center Keith Waleskowski will be looked upon to help the Flyers return to a post-season tournament.

3. LaSalle: The Explorers bid adieu to long-time head coach Speedy Morris and say hello to former Maryland assistant Billy Hahn. Sr. Rasul Butler will contend for the national scoring title and A-10 Conference player-of-the-year award. A .500 record could be within reach.

4. Richmond: The Spiders, A-10 newcomers formerly of the Colonial Conference, could have a tough go at it in their inaugural season. Coach John Beilein’s squad is lead by senior. forward Scott Ungere and junior guard Reggie Brown.

5. Duquesne: Former Nebraska and Robert Morris head coach Danny Nee will try to get the Dukes out of the A-10 basement. 6-10 Freshman Simplice Njoya could be a very “Njoyable” player and an A-10 rookie-of-the-year candidate.

6. George Washington: The Colonials will start anew without leading scorer Val Brown (applied early for NBA, undrafted) and with former UConn assistant coach Karl Hobbs manning the sidelines. Junior guard Chris Monroe will counted on heavily for scoring and leadership, being the only returnee from last years’ team.

The backcourt of Nelson and O’Connor has what it takes to help the St. Joseph’s Hawks make another strong run in the NCAA Tourney. O’connor is the pick for A-10 player of the year and Xavier’s David West is a close second. Look for Fordham to be on the way up and UMass to struggle under Coach Lappas.