Leonard Hamilton has made Florida State an elite program

During the ACC Tournament, Leonard Hamilton spoke of trying to become a program of significance in the ACC, and by extension, nationally. When the Florida State mentor was asked if his program had reached that point, he deferred to those in the media.

“We don’t determine that,” said Hamilton with a smile. “You guys do.”

In that vein, I offer you this: Florida State has become a program of significance both in the ACC and nationally. That was the case even before they won the ACC Tournament on Sunday, but that certainly doesn’t hurt.

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Initial NCAA Tournament Thoughts

The NCAA Tournament field is set, and as usual a lot of chatter was happening as it was revealed and right after it. As the start of the tournament approaches with Tuesday’s First Four games, here are some initial thoughts on the field and early matchups:

• It’s hard to come up with teams that could really say they were snubbed, although there may be some teams that have slightly better cases than others who made it. There wasn’t a single team that was like the Missouri State team of 2005-06 or Drexel a year later. Rather, there are many teams that ought to be thankful they made the field. … Continue Reading

Behind Leslie, North Carolina State progresses when it comes to big games

ATLANTA – Even before Mark Gottfried said it on Friday, you could see it: North Carolina State is now more ready to win the games it needs to. They weren’t ready early in the season, when they had some opportunities, but they showed this weekend at the ACC Tournament that they are in a better place now and at a good time. That remains the case despite a tough 69-67 loss to North Carolina in the semifinals on Saturday.

“Early in the year, we played a great schedule, but we just sometimes weren’t good enough,” said Gottfried after the Wolfpack knocked off Virginia. “I think now, this team is learning how to execute their offense in late-game, tough situations, get a defensive stop at a tough time.”

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Boston College has reasons to be confident next year will be better

ATLANTA – Let’s give Steve Donahue credit for what he did get out of this young Boston College team. The youth of this team has been well-chronicled. It was pretty much a given that wins were going to be hard to come by, and they were. The big question now that the season is over is just what there is to build on for next season.

Certainly the Eagles will bring back most of the team. None of the four seniors played significant minutes, although John Cahill wasn’t just a bit player and was important as someone with some Division I experience for the freshmen. But will the Eagles bring back a few guys who don’t have winning experience, or some players you can build around?

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2012 ACC Tournament – First Round Notes

ATLANTA – The first day of the ACC Tournament is in the books. The seeds held to form in the afternoon with a pair of double-digit games, then we had the first upset right away in the evening as Virginia Tech held off Clemson after breaking a 52-52 tie with nine unanswered points.  Miami finished the night by knocking off Georgia Tech.

We’ve got more coming on a few of the teams. For now, some quick hitters on the day. … Continue Reading

Not a season to remember for Wake Forest

ATLANTA – Although it wasn’t quite as bad as last season, this was hardly one for the books for Wake Forest. After an 82-60 blowout loss against Maryland on Thursday, the Demon Deacons finished 13-18 overall. That doesn’t seem so bad, and a few teams had worse records, but look deeper and you see a team that, quite simply, was not good.

Wake Forest, which has now lost six straight ACC Tournament games, was one of four teams that finished 4-12 in the ACC and tied for last place. Because of tie-breakers, the Demon Deacons snagged the No. 9 seed. They beat Boston College twice and Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech once each. All three of those teams also finished 4-12, so Wake Forest didn’t manage to knock off a team ahead of them in the standings all season. They also went 3-8 in true road games and 1-3 at neutral sites, so they didn’t fare well away from Joel Coliseum.

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How I voted for All-District 1 and All-America in 2012

In addition to covering the CAA Tournament last weekend, I had to submit my ballot for the U.S. Basketball Writers Association postseason awards by midnight Sunday night. This consists of All-District and All-America teams, and Player of the Year and Coach of the Year for both and a National Freshman of the Year. Every member votes for ten players on the two teams, and let’s just say that this year was a little tougher. It was also tougher for a couple of the awards, although the national Coach of the Year tends to never be easy.

As I am based in metropolitan Boston, my district is District 1, which consists of the six New England states. With that established, here is a look at how I voted and what went into it, just like I did last week with the CAA postseason awards. The All-District teams and award winners were announced by the USBWA on Tuesday, and All-America will be announced next Monday. The national award winners will be honored at the Final Four.

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Ron Hunter a wonderful addition to the CAA coaching ranks

Ron Hunter is a terrific addition to the Colonial Athletic Association coaching ranks. That could have been said before the season given his track record and the positive energy he showed talking about his Georgia State team on Media Day in October, but after the CAA Tournament it bears repeating because it was so obvious.

Hunter was already well-known for the winning he did at IUPUI, and perhaps even more for the organization he partners with and serves on the board of advisors for, Samaritan’s Feet. Hunter has coached a game barefoot every year for several years, has taken a team at IUPUI and will take a team from Georgia State overseas to see the difference receiving a pair of shoes can make in someone’s life, and he can run off the important numbers about it quite easily as it helps him keep a lot in perspective.

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Young players could take a lesson from Kent Bazemore

Kent Bazemore is someone young basketball players could stand to learn from. The Old Dominion guard’s career is almost over, as his team has been eliminated from the CAA Tournament but postseason play should be in his team’s future. As that comes about, looking at his evolution as a player is a nice exercise, as it’s been enjoyable to watch him go from a player who needed to redshirt as a freshman to one of the conference’s best players.

Bazemore knew he needed to redshirt when he first got to Norfolk. He needed to get stronger and develop his offensive game, and it was a new world to him as he came from Kelford, N.C., a small town well to the northeast of Raleigh. As a freshman, he showed promise, and got more minutes as a sophomore. By then, he had established some versatility, as the Monarchs felt they could play him at any of the perimeter positions with some minutes at the point in a pinch. Still, on what had been veteran teams, he wasn’t putting up eye-popping numbers or being thought of as an all-CAA player, although his defense got noticed as he was selected to the conference’s All-Defensive team.

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Bruiser Flint won’t be stressing out the next few days

RICHMOND, Va. – In theory, the next six days should be quite stressful for Drexel and head coach Bruiser Flint. After losing in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game on Monday night, the Dragons must wait to find out which tournament they will be playing in. As the regular season champions of the CAA, they are guaranteed a bid to the NIT, but naturally hope the NCAA Tournament comes calling. Flint doesn’t seem stressed at all about it, however, and his experience is a key factor in that.

Drexel was in a similar position in 2007. The big difference is in the NCAA Tournament profiles of the two teams, as the one in 2007 was better than this one. A look at the numbers doesn’t help Drexel: their strength of schedule entering Monday was 259, and their non-conference SOS is 228. Their best non-conference win is probably their win over Princeton at home, and the Tigers will finish third in the Ivy League.

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