Tuesday was Basketball Media Day for the CAA. They announced the preseason polls for both the women and men's basketball leagues, as well as predicted their preseason players of the year, the preseason all CAA first teams for men and women, and most importantly, the CAA announced the TV schedules for both men and women.
The men's TV schedule is particularly impressive. Yes, there are the 26 games on the various World Wide Leader (ESPN) channels plus a few other games on Fox College Sports. But every other game is on some CAA team's internet site, whether it's Monarch TV, Mason All Access, GoHofstra.com or Hawkvision, just to name a few. And if your CAA team is playing a non conference game on the road, chances are you can watch them on Buffalobulls.com (when Towson plays at Buffalo) or Bobcat TV-ohiobobcats.com (when Delaware travels to Ohio U.) or Orange All Access (suathletics.com) when William and Mary travel to the Cuse.
You can say that there are a lot of bad things or wacky things about the Internet (click here for the link of the Rent is Too Damn High Party web site). However the ability to be able to watch your team playing on the road from your computer at home (or wherever) is a beautiful thing. Yes, you will mostly like have to probably pay to view online your favorite CAA team play on the road, and you may even get a team's live feed site that isn't very good (memo to the folks at GoZips.com - It's called "Play by Play"). But you can tell your friends how hardcore of a fan you really are!
As for those twenty six games on ESPN and three games on FCS, many of them feature defending CAA champ and NCAA 2010 Tournament First Round winner ODU. Between the WWL and FCS, the Monarchs will have eight nationally televised games. But Old Dominion is not the only CAA team in the national spotlight. George Mason has seven games and VCU has six games respectively on the WWL family of networks.
Of course CAA Media Day is not just about TV schedules. It's about the preseason poll or hearing the coaches speak. With my real full time job, I didn't have chance to listen to the live feed from CAASports.com, but thankfully some folks wrote their usual good takes about the day. Brian Mull gives you his usual good nuggets of information. And of course, Mr. CAA himself, Mike Litos has some great quotes from the coaches. The really insightful ones I thought came from Hofstra coach Mo Cassara. I'll let you read the article and judge for yourself.
As for the preseason poll, no shock that ODU is picked to repeat. With four starters returning from a team that won the regular season and postseason titles, then knocked off Notre Dame in the first round of the tourney, I have the Monarchs as the favorite for the CAA too. And not surprised by the usual suspects of Mason and VCU as the next two in the poll. Then comes James Madison, and that's no surprise really, given the ton of talent on that team. Meshing it together, well that remains to be seen.
And despite losing two starters to transfer, you can certainly see Hofstra being picked fifth simply due to the fact that the reigning CAA Player of the Year and Preseason Player of the Year, Charles Jenkins is back for another season of havoc. However, there appears to be a major dropoff on the rest of the league due to teams losing players to bad conduct (Drexel with Jamie Harris), significant graduation (see William and Mary and Northeastern) or injury (Delaware with Brian Johnson still hurt).
As for the CAA Preseason First Team, no surprise that Jenkins leads it. The others listed are Denzel Bowles (defiinitely by far, the biggest threat to Jenkins for winning CAA Player of the Year), VCU's Joey Rodriguez, Northeastern's Chaisson Allen and Mason's Cam Long. The Preseason Second Team has ODU's Kent Bazemore and Ben Finney, James Madison's Julius Wells, William and Mary's Quinn McDowell and Delaware's Jawan Carter.
But I am going to give you a little sneak peek of my CAA Season Preview article and tell you five players you need to know about that are not on either the preseason first team or second team.
James Madison's Devon Moore. Moore is returning from injury and will be the key to how successful the Dukes are this season. I think he is much more first team material than Cam Long.
Hofstra's Mike Moore. Transfer from Fordham who Mo Cassara notes as having an "uncanny ability to score in different ways". If he lives up to his billing, Hofstra could have a deadly one-two punch they have been missing since the Stokes-Agudio days.
Old Dominion's Frank Hassell. When you are the second leading scorer from last season's team, you shoot 54 percent from the field and the leading scorer graduates, Blaine Taylor will be looking for you to score more.
VCU's Brandon Burgess. Burgess is capable of lighting it up. In his first two seasons, Burgess has shot 48 percent from the field. Shaka Smart needs a new scoring option with Larry Sanders gone, so look for Burgess to blossom.
George Mason's Ryan Pearson. Look at the end of last season. When Cam Long was basically a cast member on the TV show "Lost", Pearson was the Patriots' go to guy in the CAA Tournament. With Gerald Lee and Sanders gone, Pearson might be the best post player in the CAA.
What really happens this upcoming season, well for the most part, it's anybody's guess. No one predicted last season that William and Mary would finish third in the conference and knock off teams like Maryland, Wake Forest and Richmond. Nobody had any idea how good Denzel Bowles would be or that Larry Sanders would be taken with the 15th pick in the first round of the NBA draft.
There are a few things for certain though this upcoming season. First, the basketball in the CAA will again be good, especially with three veteran teams at the top of the league. Second, without fail, recent history has shown that one of the four top regular season teams in the CAA will win the CAA Tournament. And finally, once again, I will be having my share of Aunt Sarah's pancakes while in town for the CAA Tournament in Richmond in March. As much as many things change, some things stay the same.
If you are a Yankee fan or like me, someone who loves baseball and has gone to their fair share of Yankee games over the years, chances are you ran into the man above, "Freddy Sez". Fred Schuman was a long long time Yankee fan who would bring a sign, his trademark frying pan and his banging spoon to the game. He would be regularly banging out a "Let's Go Yankees" chant, or let his fellow fans bang the pan for him. He was at every Yankee game that I can remember going to over the past 15 years. My brother and I are convinced that the retired Bronx upholstery shop owner was a millionaire who was able to afford to be at every Yankee game for the last 20 years.
Sadly, Freddy Schuman passed away Sunday afternoon after a heart attack at the age of 85. Schuman was such a revered Yankee icon that at tonight's Yankee game, they had a moment of silence for Freddy Sez. Schuman has one of his trademark frying pans at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY as well as the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair, NJ.
So what does Freddy Sez' passing have to do with college basketball? Well, as this NY Daily News article notes, a lot. Freddy was a "die hard booster" of Fordham and Manhattan men's college basketball. And sure enough, Tieff and I saw Freddy three times at Fordham and Manhattan games the past couple of years. The most recent time was when we went to see Hofstra travel to Draddy Gymnasium to watch the Pride take on the Jaspers in 2008. And there was Freddy with his trademark pan, spoon and a sign rooting the Jaspers on. I told Tieff of my brother's and my philosophy of Freddy being a millionaire, and Tieff agreed. I even took a picture of Freddy and his trademark pan at the game. Alas, I can't find the picture of him.
Freddy will be sorely missed by many people. He added a unique and fun element to Yankee and college basketball games. More importantly, he was a dedicated fan to two great sports. Somewhere in heaven, Freddy is banging away at his pans, encouraging his teams on from above.
Lots of things are going on in the College Hardwood. Some are well known. Some, not so. So let's start in the "Under the Radar" category (thus the love for "Radar Love"!), last week James Madison found out that junior transfer Anthony Hitchens will be eligible this season to play for the Dukes. Hitchens, who was a member of the all MAC freshman team with the Zips, had the fourth best assistant to turnover ratio in the MAC last season at 1.84, averaging 8.5 points and 3 assists per game. Hitchens was granted a waiver to play this season by the NCAA.
With the addition of Hitchens, this may mean that coach Matt Brady will move Devon Moore to the two guard position. This would give the Dukes a formidable lineup of Hitchens, Moore, Andrey Semenov, Julius Wells and the one man double-double wrecking crew, Denzel Bowles. Moore and Semenov were out for most of last season due to injury. If Moore and Semenov stay healthy, the Dukes should contend for the CAA title. The addition of Hitchens moves Madison up to third on my preseason poll for the CAA.
Also last week, In the "I Don't Think That's Quite Enough Punishment for the NCAA's Liking" category, the University of Connecticut admitted that the men's basketball program committed "Major" violations and put the team on a two year probation. The men's basketball team will lose one scholarship for each of the next two seasons. However, the University did not find enough evidence to find that Coach Jim Calhoun had "failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance".
Now let's take a look at UConn's "punishment". First, losing one scholarship each season, meaning 12 scholarships instead of 13, really means that Jim Calhoun can't get that third backup point guard (who is probably better off being the starter at say Northeastern anyhow). That doesn't seem like much like a punishment to me. It's like telling a bank robber, "Ok, I caught you robbing the bank, but I am going to give you one month jail time."
Second, when the school acknowledges that the team's coaching staff exchanged 1,400 calls and 1,100 text messages during an over three year period with agent/business manager Josh Nochimson, who was a former team manager for UConn, folks that's not an atmosphere of compliance by Coach Calhoun. Think about that. That's like three calls and 2 texts a day. Hell I am lucky if I call my wife once a day (and she doesn't text).
Finally, Nochimson is certainly not a boy scout. He is being sued by former UConn and current Detroit Piston star Richard "Rip" Hamilton of stealing $1 million during Nochimson's tenure as Hamilton's business manager. Nochimson was "representing" former UConn player Nate Miles who was expelled from UConn after being arresting for violating a restraining order for abusing a female student. Nochimson has been accused of providing lodging, transportation and meals to Miles. Since Nochimson was a former employee and an alumnus of UConn, he is considered "a representative of the institution's athletic interests" and thus would be in violation of NCAA rules for doing so.
So one scholarship each season and two years probation? After the Josh Luchs' revelations, similar to what's going on with Enes Kanter, the NCAA is not going to look very kindly to this and I think they will impose harsher sanctions.
Now, mind you I haven't thought this all the way through, but if I were responsible for imposing the sanctions, here's what I would do. I would make it at least three scholarships for the next three seasons, one for each year of 300 plus calls and 200 plus texts.
But I wouldn't stop there. For the next three seasons (starting this season would be too difficult), UConn can not play a home non conference game and can not be paid for taking a road game. What would that mean? Well for example, if it started this season, instead of playing Vermont or New Hampshire at Gampel or even Tennessee at the XL center in Hartford, the Huskies would have to travel to Vermont, New Hampshire and play Tennessee in Knoxville. It's less money for the school and also makes season ticket holders very upset. Perhaps they will be "Howling Huskies."
There has to be a serious enough punishment and denying ticket holders the right to see several games, thus upsetting the school's fan base might be a good start. Like I said, I haven't thought this through, but I think it would at least be interesting, especially for Vermont and New Hampshire fans who get to see a quality home game.
As for Calhoun and company, they are meeting with the NCAA today in Indianapolis to see if the school imposed punishment is enough. Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall for that meeting?
Finally, give St John's coach Steve Lavin some props. He has already signed three top 100 prospects for the 2011-12 season. And yesterday, Lavin got St John's to hire his former mentor, former Purdue coach Gene Keady as an advisor. Keady is a terrific coach who led Purdue to 22 postseason appearances in 25 years. Pretty damn impressive. Keady will advise Lavin on practices and staff meetings.
It's a great move by Lavin to get an experienced X's and O's coach involved. With at least five new NYC metro area coaches - Lavin at St John's, Tim Cluess at Iona, Mo Cassara at Hofstra, Dan Hurley at Wagner and Tom Pecora now at Fordham, all of whom seemingly have talented current teams or teams with talented future recruits coming in. Perhaps city basketball is back on the rise and thus why I am in a New York State of Mind.
While cursing myself and my netbook for not saving my "Plan Your Road Trips" article (memo to self - "Mr IT guy, make sure you have set your Word 2007 automatic backup for 2 minutes"), I decided to start my regular run of articles with "Questions and Answers". I will have the "Plan Your Road Trips" article this weekend.
The questions are entirely mine, but I like to think many people might be thinking the same questions. As for the answers, their mine too, but are they right? As Asia would sing "Only Time Will Tell". Hey, any excuse to get a great 80's song via Youtube into the mix. And yes, I went with an Asia with Greg Lake 83 Tour version.
Question - Is Butler on the verge of being "The New Gonzaga"?
Answer - Folks, they already are.
I submit to you the following, Butler's record for the past nine years as evidence.
2001-02 - 24-6 - NIT Second Round
2002-03 - 27-6 - NCAA Sweet 16 (defeated #21 Miss State and #13 Louisville, lost to Oklahoma)
2003-04 -16-14 - No Postseason
2004-05 - 13-15 - No Postseason
2005-06 - 20-12 - NIT Second Round
2006-07 - 29-7 - NCAA Sweet 16 (defeated ODU and #22 Maryland, lost to Florida)
2007-08 - 30-4 - NCAA Second Round (defeated South Alabama, lost to #6 Tennessee in a ridiculous seeding arrangement )
2008-09 - 26-6 NCAA First Round (lost to #20 LSU)
2009-10 - 33-5 NCAA Finals (defeated #25 UTEP, Murray State, #8 Syracuse,#7 Kansas State and #4 Michigan State lost to #1 Duke in final)
Overall Record Last Nine Years- 218-75 (74.4% Winning Percentage). Five NCAA tournaments, one NIT. One Second Round appearance, Two Sweet 16 appearances and one NCAA Finals appearance. A postseason record of 11-6 during that span (10-5 in NCAA Tournament games). Overall Butler has made ten NCAA appearances with an overall record of 13-10.
Now, take a look at the other Bulldog mid-major darling, Gonzaga, during that same time.
2001-02 - 28-3 - NCAA first round (lost to Wyoming)
2002-03 - 24-9 - NCAA Second Round (defeated Cincinnati, lost to #2 Arizona).
2003-04 - 28-3 - NCAA Second Round (defeated Valpo, lost to Nevada)
2004-05 - 26-5 - NCAA Second Round (defeated Winthrop, lost to Texas Tech)
2005-06 - 29-4 - NCAA Sweet 16 (defeated Xavier and Indiana, lost to UCLA)
2006-07 - 23-11 - NCAA First Round (lost to Indiana)
2007-08 - 25-8 - NCAA First Round (lost to #23 Davidson - I was there for that game).
2008-09 - 28-6 - NCAA Sweet 16 (defeated Akron and Western Kentucky, lost to eventual national champion North Carolina)
2009-10 - 27-7 - NCAA Second Round (defeated Florida State, lost to #8 Syracuse)
Overall Record Last Nine Years - 238-56 (81% winning percentage). Nine straight NCAA appearances. Four NCAA second round appearances, Two Sweet 16 Appearances. A NCAA postseason record of 8-9 during that time. Overall, Gonzaga has made 13 NCAA appearances with a 15-13 record.
Though Gonzaga has a better overall record and made four more NCAA appearances than Butler during that same nine year period, the Hinkle Fieldhouse Bulldogs actually have the better NCAA postseason record during that time. Also if you look at the last four seasons, Butler's overall record of 118-22 compares quite favorably with Gonzaga's record of 103-32.
If that's not enough proof that Butler has reached the Gonzaga stratosphere, take a look at the ESPN Bracketbusters list of teams. Notice a glaring omission from that list. Yup, Butler. Butler was the major attraction the last two Bracketbusters, winning a home game vs. Siena last season, and winning on the road vs Stephen Curry and Davidson in 2009. In fact Butler had been in the past four Bracketbusters.
Finally, I submit to you the piece de resistance to my argument that Butler is on par with Gonzaga. December 4th, Izod Center, Meadowlands. The rematch vs. Duke on ESPN. Then, there's another nationally televised game on December 18 at home vs. Stanford (and yes, there is the annual matchup vs. Xavier, this year a road game on December 9). Finally, Butler heads to the Diamond Head Classic, where they get Utah in the first round, and potentially matchups with Florida State, Baylor or San Diego State, all NCAA tournament teams from last season.
Despite the loss of Gordon Hayward, the Bulldogs still have Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard and Ronald Nored back, plus a talented highly recruited freshman in Khyle Marshall, so they are still a very talented team. And with a highly touted 2011 class coming in next year, plus the great coaching of Brad Stevens, the Bulldogs should be good for years to come. But Butler will no longer sneak up on anyone thanks to their incredible run that was one Gordon Hayward bank shot away from winning it all. The spotlight is firmly square on these Hoosiers, along with a tough schedule this season, to live up to the standard the other Bulldogs from Gonzaga have set for a longer period of time.
Question - Excluding Butler and Gonzaga, (and since we at the College Hardwood don't include A-10 teams as mid-majors), what other mid major teams that made the NCAA tournament last season are most likely to give us an Sweet 16 encore this season?
Answer - Old Dominion and Murray State
The Monarchs won at Georgetown, then won the very competitive CAA regular season and the CAA Tournament, coming from behind to knock off VCU in overtime in the semifinals, then ending the NCAA posteason hopes of William and Mary in the final. Then as icing on the cake, ODU came out and knocked off Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, before losing to Elite Eight member Baylor in the second round.
Four of the five starters from that team return - guards Kent Bazemore and Darius James, guard/forward Ben Finney and forward Frank Hassell. They did lose their best player, All CAA First Team, Gerald Lee. But super sixth man, Keyon Carter now joins the starting lineup. The Monarchs always have a deep team, with usually eight players averaging about 10 minutes or more per game.
Plus they have one of the best in game tacticians in Blaine Taylor, perhaps one of the most underrated coaches in the NCAA. Under Taylor, the Monarchs have made the NCAA Tournament three times in the past six seasons. The Monarchs have won 20 or more games in five of the past six seasons, with an overall record of 148-60 (71 percent winning percentage). If Hassell can step up and fill the scoring void of Lee (Hassell did shoot 54 percent from the field last season), then the Monarchs have a legitimate chance of not only making the NCAA Tournament, but doing serious damage in it. The home games vs. Richmond and Dayton, plus a road game at Missouri will be good indicators of how good this team is.
Meanwhile, Murray State last season nearly ran the table in the Ohio Valley with a 17-1 record. They followed that up by winning the OVC Tournament. Despite a 30-4 record, the No Clue At All gave the Racers a #13 seed which they took out on #4 seed Vandy, beating the Commodores on a Danero Thomas buzzer beater. Then Murray State gave Butler its toughest test of the tournament, outside of the loss to Duke (sorry Cuse, K- State and Michigan State fans, it's true - Murray State played them better than your teams). The Bulldogs had to rally late to knock off the Racers 54-52.
And here's the scary thought for the Racers' opponents. Ten players averaged ten minutes or more per game for Murray State last season. EIGHT of those ten players are returning, including their three top scorers - B.J. Jenkins, Isaiah Canaan, and Ivan Aska, each of whom scored over ten points per game. But it's not just balanced offense. The Racers led the OVC last season in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, three-point percentage defense and blocked shots.
The Racers and college basketball fans are going to find out very quickly how legit they are. A road game vs. Mississippi followed later with three games in the 76 Classic. In the first round of the 76 Classic, the Racers face Stanford, followed by potential games vs. UNLV, Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech or Tulsa. Just one thing to note - Another mid major team cut their teeth in the 76 Classic last season before making a major NCAA Tournament run. That team was the Butler Bulldogs. Coincidence? Well, I am just saying...
By the way, both Old Dominion and Murray State are again in the Bracketbusters game. Both know you can never have enough exposure for that wonderful NCAA Tournament Committee.
Question - How does the Kanter Situation Play Out?
Answer - There is a good chance Kanter never sees the light of day with Kentucky and declares for the NBA Draft in 2011.
If you don't know by now, Kentucky and The Antichrist, John Calipari, recruited Enes Kanter, the #3 rated center prospect in the country who is originally from Turkey but played prep school basketball in California. He originally committed to Washington, then reopened his recruitment in February 2010 and two months later he signed a national letter of intent with the Ashley Judds. Now if only Kanter had just played prep basketball in California.
Based on several news articles, we know with certainty that Kanter played in nine games for the Turkish team Fenerbahce Ulker in the 2008-09 season, four in Euroleague play, and five in the Turkish league. In fact, my guess is that this was the reason why he had to leave two other prep schools - Findlay Prep in Nevada and Mountain State in West Virginia, because the other prep schools in the league refused to play them if Kanter was on those teams.
Now by current NCAA rules, if you play for a professional league, though you weren't paid, you have to sit 2 games for every one game you played (see the Brad Kelleher saga for details). That means Kanter would sit 18 games, or a good part of his freshman season.
But if it were just that, then Kanter would be able to eventually play with Kentucky. But whenever the Antichrist is involved, you know it's more than just that. The general manager of Fenerbahce Ulker, Nedim Karakas, said the club had given banking and housing records to the N.C.A.A.that show Kanter "received more than $100,000 in cash and benefits over three years from the professional team." But if that was not enough, Kanter has been "advised" by Max Ergel, who was described by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article as "the agent" for former Milwaukee Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova.
Of course the Antichrist has been defending his signing of Kanter. He is quoted as saying the following in a Sporting News article;
“You can’t have a contract before 18. You can’t be professional — you’re not allowed to be unless they’re violating FIBA rules,” Calipari said. “We know that, as in any other club, he received apparel. But there was no money, from what we’re seeing, what the kid is saying and the family, and what Nike is saying. There’s a lot of misinformation out there. You’ve got people talking about it that don’t know, just heard a rumor.”
I guess the Antichrist considers Karakas a rumormonger. But it sure seems like the club's banking records are not just for "apparel". Also, if several prep school teams won't play teams that had Kanter on them, chances are those schools knew something fishy about Kanter's background. And those prep school coaches do their homework on foreign kids.
The reason I think that Kanter won't see the light of day with Kentucky is that the last thing the NCAA needs is bad press about them ruling lightly on this situation. Especially after the news came out about Josh Luchs' story on how he paid several college players a significant amount of money over several years. In light of this, the NCAA has to crack down on anything suspicious and someone is going to pay the price for that. Thus I think the NCAA will declare Kanter ineligible and he declares for the NBA draft in 2011. Anything less and the NCAA will be hammered on this.
And in sort of fitting end to this last story, the Antichrist stated on Tuesday that he figures his team will lose a lot of games early in the season. Needless to say that, outside of the Kentucky Blue fan base, no one will be shedding a tear for that. Especially John Chaney. However, Ashley, if you need a shoulder to cry on, I am sure plenty of guys, including Pat Forde are available. Me? Hey, my wife reads this column.
Hofstra University is celebrating it's 75th anniversary this weekend. Since Hofstra is the home base of the College Hardwood, why not have an article entirely made up of Hofstra basketball as our first post of the fall?!
It was a rough few off season months with the hiring/then firing of Tim Welsh due to his DWI arrest. Then the transfers of Hofstra's two best freshmen (more on that in a second). And unfortunately, the news does not get any better for Hofstra basketball fans. The NCAA has ruled that Hofstra guard Brad Kelleher is now ineligible for the first eight games of this season, after he was ruled ineligible for the entire 2009-10 season. Mike Litos has written an absolutely terrific article about the Kelleher incident.
Litos goes into detail why Kelleher was declared ineligible for both last season (signing a professional "agreement" or "contract" based on the NCAA's definition of a contract) and the first eight games of this season (having played four games in the Australian professional league, thus 2 games ineligible for each game played).
Now what's amazing is what the NCAA considered as the "contract" that Kelleher signed. The Australian NBL considers it "an application", it even states it on the form as an application. Litos goes further stating the general manager of the NBL, Chuck Harmison, testified to the NCAA that it is strictly a registration form and the actual contract a player would sign is a forty page form.
If that's not a bad enough indictment of how moronic the NCAA is, consider this. Litos states that Hofstra requested that two of Kelleher's eight suspended games should include their two exhibition games vs. Dowling and Farmingdale. The NCAA disallowed this, even thought they allowed Kentucky's John Wall's suspension to include an exhibition game vs. Campbellsville. If you remember, Wall took money from an agent. Kelleher never took any money from the NBL. And if you read Litos' article in detail, it discusses the inconsistent penalties that other school's players got for similar infractions.
There are reasons why I have stated so many times on this site that the NCAA stands for the "No Clue At All", and you have just seen two more of them. First, the NCAA doesn't even know the difference between an application and a contract. Second and more importantly, the NCAA is incredibly inconsistent in its penalties. The NCAA's punishment of Wall allowed for exhibition games to be included, while Kelleher's did not. Something has to be done with the NCAA review process, because right now it's not fair. Period.
So now new coach Mo Cassara will have one less player for the first eight games and it may be two. Senior guard Nathaniel Lester seriously hurt his thigh over the summer and it's questionable whether Lester will be able to play this season, let alone start the season. That might mean only five returning players for Hofstra - CAA Player of the Year senior Charles Jenkins, sophomore guard Yves Jules, sophomore walk-on Matt Grogan, sophomore forward David Imes and senior forward Greg Washington.
Hofstra brings in seven new players - Kelleher (after his eight game suspension), junior transfer guard/forward Mike Moore (formerly of Fordham), JUCO transfer guard Dwan McMillan, redshirt freshman forward Paul Bilbo and three freshman - guard Shemiye McLendon, forward Roland Brown and forward Stephen Nwaukoni.
The reason that there are seven new players instead of five is that two of Hofstra's All CAA Freshmen, guard Chaz Williams and forward Halil Kanacevic transferred after former coach Tom Pecora left for Fordham. Williams transferred to UMass and Kanacevic transferred to St Joseph's. Credit has to be given to Pecora, because often players transfer to lesser programs. In Williams and Kanacevic's cases, both transferred up a level to the Atlantic 10. Since both have to sit out a year, it remains to be seen if these transfers were the right things to do.
As for Pecora, Dana O' Neill wrote an interesting article about Pecora's move to Fordham. O'Neill talks about how Pecora gave up a "cruise-control" job for Fordham. The article goes over familiar territory - Pecora desperately wanted Hofstra to leave the CAA for the Atlantic-10. But for the forseeable future, that was not going to happen. So the lure of coaching an A10 team (plus a $600,000 a year salary for the next five years) brought Pecora to Fordham.
What is interesting about this article is that Pecora said the following about Hofstra
"I could have stayed there and won 20 games, but I don’t think I’m built to sit around. So what the heck? Let’s roll the dice a little bit and have some fun with this thing."
Sit around at Hofstra? Now, I give Pecora a lot of credit for bringing in very good players like Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Charles Jenkins. But if you asked Hofstra fans if Hofstra was "sailing along" as O'Neill puts it, well you would get serious disagreement from them and certainly me. Yes, Pecora's teams won 20 games four times and reached the NIT three seasons in a row (and yes, one of those NIT's, 2006, should have been a NCAA Berth).
But in the nine years Pecora was coach of Hofstra, the Pride only made the CAA Tourmanent semifinals three times (including Pecora's first season) and made the CAA Finals once (2006). The Pride had not made it past the CAA quarterfinals since 2006. His last Hofstra team won 19 games last season and should be credited for finishing 10-8 in conference after starting 2-7 in CAA play. However, only TWO of those nineteen wins came against teams above .500 and his conference record vs. the top six teams in the CAA was a horrid 2-8. The year before, Hofstra's record against teams above .500 in the CAA was only slightly better at 4-8.
So if you ask Hofstra fans, the team was on anything but "cruise control" since the 2006-07 season. And Pecora's handling of a lead late in the game, otherwise called by me as "Pulling a Hofstra" is well known among Hofstra fans. The term "cruise control" certainly would not apply in those late game situations.
Well the Rams' fans can now get to sweat and squirm at those late game situations (should I call it now "Pulling a Fordham"?). As for Hofstra, Mo Cassara now runs the ship. From what I have heard from several people, he is a very nice down to earth guy. What I also like is he is getting Hofstra out in the community. Hofstra will hold a basketball clinic at the Town of Hempstead Family Festival by the Sea this weekend, September 25 and 26 in Point Lookout. Finally there will be a Season Holder Ticket Reception on September 30 at the David Mack Hall. Yours truly has RSVP'd and I will fill you in on some details after the reception.
And Cassara doesn't waste any time trying to improve Hofstra. Already for the 2011-12 season, Cassara has brought in transfer point guard Steve Mejia from Rhode Island (who had a nearly 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio). Cassara has received a verbal commitment also from 6 foot 6 forward Jordan Allen of Bay Shore who chose the Pride over George Mason.
He will have a tough test for himself this season. Seven new players, Lester potentially out for a significant period of time and the first game of the season is North Carolina at the Puerto Rico Shootout (with the second game either vs. the winner or loser of Minnesota - Western Kentucky). After that it's a relatively easy non conference schedule with the most difficult game being a road game at Iona, my preseason pick to win the MAAC this season. The first conference game is a home game against Towson.
As for the rest of conference, two home and home games with old America East foes Drexel, Delaware and Northeastern (along with the second road game vs. Towson). Plus two home and home games each with Mason, UNCW and the Mary (yes Tieff's name for William and Mary is back). The rest of the games in conference are home games with ODU and James Madison and road games vs. Georgia State and VCU (that game at Spiegel Center never turns out well for the Pride).
So on this 75th Birthday weekend for Hofstra, there is a lot of uncertainty with the basketball program. Well at least we can finally put to rest "Pulling a Hofstra" (at least I hope). And yes, the Pride would have been a prohibitive favorite for the CAA had Williams and Kanacevic stayed. But who says they can't win without them? There is still the great Charles Jenkins, a talented transfer in Mike Moore (when you put up nearly 30 on Xavier, that's pretty good), a lot of freshman to develop, and a coach hungry to prove himself. Is it too much to ask for a NCAA Tournament berth as a belated 75th birthday present?
That's why they play the games on the College Hardwood. Happy 75th Hofstra!
On Monday, the NCAA announced the format of the now 68 team tournament. Four first round games will be played. Two games will be played by the lowest seeds, the lowest four "automatic qualifiers", and two games will be played by the last four at large teams. The two winners of the lowest automatic qualifier games will be the #16 seeds in their respective region, similar to the play in game for the past several seasons. Meanwhile, the two winners of the at large games will be either a number 12, 11, or possibly even a 10 seed depending on how the regions are seeded with automatic qualifiers. However, both those teams will have the same seeding. The NCAA has already come up with the marketing name for these four play-in games - "First Four".
The games will be played either on Tuesday or Wednesday, with Dayton the likely destination for this year's game. The NCAA did say they would look at other sites in the future.
I guess you could say the NCAA went for middle ground on this. Though the idea had been floated about, mainly by Andy Katz, the most likely scenarios had either been the last eight automatic qualifiers playing the "First Four" play-in games. Or the other most likely scenario was the last eight at large seeds playing for the lowest at large seed in each region, the scenario I preferred.
The reaction from the college basketball writing community was decidedly as mixed as the First Four format.
Jay "Hit or Miss" Bilas stated on his blog - "If it is to be 68 teams (which makes no sense out of the gate), it will be inequitable on some level unless the last eight automatic qualifiers play for the right to play the four No. 1 seeds." Another miss for Bilas. He really hates mid major teams, doesn't he.
Pat Forde had a decidedly different and I believe correct take - "But here’s what I would have liked more: The last eight at-large teams playing for four spots. That would produce either a reasonably interesting quadrupleheader, or a pair of reasonably interesting doubleheaders. And it would have removed the small-conference champions completely from playing in the Stepchild Round." X gets the square, Pat.
Andy Glockner had an interesting take on the decision - "By choosing a model that involves a pair of play-in games between the final four at-large teams in addition to two others involving the four worst auto-bid winners, the NCAA chose the solution that causes the least amount of change. The net impact on the main 64-team bracket is almost nil. After the "First Four" is over, we'll have one additional at-large team making it at the expense of one auto qualifier."
Gary Parrish will not be making any new friends in the SWAC or Big South with his comment - "... the First Four will include the final four at-large teams, which isn't exactly what I wanted, but I'm willing to compromise. I wanted the final eight at-large teams to battle it out in Dayton for the right to enter the conventional 64-team bracket because I would like to be interested in what are unofficially play-in games. That just hasn't been the case in the past because I couldn't care less about watching the SWAC champion and Big South champion play for the right to be murdered by the ACC champion." As Richard Belzer would say "Ouch, babe."
Kyle Whelliston wasn't happy with the decision (Kyle wanted the four automatic qualifier PIGs due to win shares - ie money for the winning conference team and their conference) and had two classic quotes via his Mid Majority Twitter account -
1) "Can YOU think of a simple thing needlessly complicated by design-by-committee? (BCS doesn't count!)"
2) " The "First Four" is a "compromise"? The committee could definitely have tried harder to please everybody, e.g. by giving out free puppies." Well I do like puppies, Kyle.
Joe Lunardi was the happiest with the hybrid model - "...the hybrid model of "First Four" games involving automatic qualifiers vs. automatic qualifiers and at-large selections vs. at-large selections is a fair way to recognize the importance of conference champions while at the same time adding overdue sizzle to the former opening-round games."
Finally, if you didn't see my support for Mr. Forde's comments, look at the end of my article here for what I would have wanted. Also, as for the marketing name, First Four? Sounds like a undercooked variation of the Frozen Four in NCAA Hockey. Ugh.
By the way, in a poll this week by SportsNation, 55 percent of the people wanted the final eight at large teams to play the four play in games, aka the First Four. So much for giving the people what they want.
Thus, outside of Joe Lunardi, no one got what they really wanted. So for the NCAA, affectionately known here as the No Clue At All, this next Youtube clip is for you all (especially for Dan Guerrero and Greg Shaheen).
The bright side to all this - at least it's not "The First Forty Eight", which is what it would have been had the NCAA expanded to 96 teams. At least everyone universally agrees that would have been a horrible idea. Ricky Nelson could have sung to that Garden Party.
It's good to finally be able to write an article again as things have finally calmed down. First, I would be remiss without making some kind of comment about the passing of John Wooden. I have a friend who is a big fan of Wooden and who has read several of his books. My friend always talked about how Wooden truly believed and talked about preparation. Wooden's belief was that if his teams were prepared, no matter what the other team did, his teams would be successful. Obviously, his UCLA teams were very successful, winning 10 national championships and posting an .808 winning percentage (in conference play, the Bruins had an .825 winning percentage).
As I read many articles online that discussed Wooden's passing or his coaching history, one NY Times article in particular highlighted Wooden's belief in preparation. Some of Wooden's players asked him one day if they could miss practice to stage an antiwar protest.
“He asked us if this reflected our convictions,” one player, Steve Patterson, told Sports Illustrated in 1989, “and we told him it did. He told us he had his convictions, too, and if we missed practice it would be the end of our careers at U.C.L.A.”
That quote reinforces Wooden's belief in preparation. The NY Times article also talked about Wooden's three main ideals around his coaching philosophy - his teams had to be in the best possible condition, they had to have "quickness" in that his players, no matter what position had to be quicker than their opponent, and finally, his team "...better play together as a team or you sit."
One last thing on Wooden. I was reading a Newsday article on the Sunday after he passed and one of his quotes became my signature line on my e-mail messages at work.
"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."
Words to live by.
Last week looked like armageddon in the college conference world. Colorado accepted an invitation to join the PAC-10. Nebraska joined the Big 10. Boise State then joined the Mountain West. And to top all that, the PAC-10 was in serious negotiation to bring Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State into the fold. In fact, last Saturday, it looked like a done deal. It apparently signaled the demise of the Big 12, with the Mountain West poised to sweep up the remnants of the Big 12 such as Kansas and Missouri. It also looked like it would set off a chain reaction that would affect other conferences in the country.
Then, an eleven hour reprieve occurred on Monday. Apparently a group of "influential people" banded together and helped broker a deal that would keep Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the Big 12, The deal would enable Texas to get $20-25 million annually from a new league TV deal and allow them to create their own TV network. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would also get more revenue from the new TV deal as well.
So what does this all mean now that Texas and company are staying put in the Big 12, or whatever it's called now (They can't use the Big Ten, it's already taken)? Well, let's look under Winners and Losers.
Winners
Big 12 or whatever it will be called - Hey, whatever you call it, the conference still exists and you could say it's now stronger than ever. A larger TV deal and a streamlined conference for both football and basketball. Now in the Big 12, each team will play each other twice in the basketball season and each other once in football season. They may lose the football conference title game since they are only ten teams now, but that makes the regular season matter more.
Dan Beebe - Only a few days ago, it looked like the Big 12 Commissioner was going to be presiding over the demise of his conference, which would have no doubt put his name in infamy. Now Beebe stands tall, having fended off the PAC-10's advances on the core of their teams and made more money for the conference schools in general. Nice.
NCAA - A few days ago, when it looked like there would be major conference realignment throughout the land, there was the talk of the BCS super conferences joining together and how they might form their own league, change the landscape of college sports and force out the NCAA. Well, mind you this is speculation, but I really honestly think the NCAA got involved in saving the Big 12. With the Big 12 remaining intact, the landscape of college sports remains basically same (sans the aforementioned three schools moving and likely now Utah as well). No Super PAC-16 and the Big Ten remains twelve teams for now. Sure there is still the possibility of the Big Ten going after some Big East teams, but it looks less likely now.
Losers
PAC-10 and Larry Scott - Only a few days ago, the PAC-10 was on the verge of becoming a major superconference. PAC-10 Commissioner Scott promised the PAC-10 schools significant revenue when the Texas- Oklahoma schools contingent came aboard. Well all that is left is Colorado and now likely Utah. Instead of the PAC-16, we have the PAC-12. Not quite the significant revenue boost the PAC-10 was looking for.
Colorado - The Buffaloes were figuring that their move would be the starting point for the core of the Big 12 to follow to the PAC-10. Oops. Now the Buffaloes are the eleventh team in the apparently soon to be PAC-12. Don't see how this move helps them, except if they think they can get more conference wins in basketball.
Mountain West - The MWC added Boise State and looked poised to grab Kansas and Missouri with the seemingly certain demise of the Big 12. If the Big 12 demise had occurred, the Mountain West was the likely choice to replace the Big 12 in the BCS. Hello huge payday! Now, the Mountain West continues to be on the outside looking in as far as the BCS. And to make matters worse, there is a good chance the Pac-10 will even out their league as they have invited Utah to join their conference.
Here at the College Hardwood, we try to move on in life and in basketball. We try to talk about subjects at most a couple of times, then move on and refer back to them only when the basketball news of the day warrants us to do so. So hopefully for the final time, I am going to comment about the expansion to 68 teams and the new four play-in games, only because recent news warrants me to do so.
A few weeks ago, Jay Bilas wrote an article on ESPN called "Play-in teams Will Be Stigmatized? Please." It was based on a comment by Northeast Conference (NEC) Commisioner Noreen Morris who said the following about the play in game.
"I think if you find yourself in that game every year, it becomes a bit of a stigma and it can be used in negative recruiting and just an overall branding problem for our conference.
Morris went on further to say "you don't want the same conferences in those opening rounds every year."
Well Bilas, to put it bluntly, went off on Morris' statements.
"First, a team doesn't "find itself" in the play-in game. It earns its way there by its record, its play and its standing in the game. You don't "find yourself" in the play-in game, just as you don't "find yourself" in the Final Four.
Second, and most importantly, how can one use the term "stigmatize" with regard to the earned honor of playing for the national championship? Stigmatize is defined as "to set some mark of infamy or disgrace upon." So playing for the national championship as one of the lower-seeded teams is stigmatizing, or a mark of infamy or disgrace?
By that logic, expansion is a mark of dishonor on the teams that are at the end of the line. Perhaps we should contract the field and take it back to 32 teams. After all, we wouldn't want to brand anyone as a disgrace."
Now I find Jay Bilas to be a very good in game analyst. But I often find his commentary on his blog to be hit or miss. This is a big time miss. First, I grant you that NEC Commissioner Morris should not have used the word "stigma." Not the correct word I would have chosen. The word I would have chosen is "unfair".
First, if you are one of the few, the proud, my regular readers, you know how I have talked a couple of times about the original play-in game to be the most unfair game in the NCAA Tournament. The most recent article was this past March. Two teams that have received "automatic bids", meaning they EARNED their right to make the NCAA tournament, have to "play-in" to the Round of 64.
So now with expansion to 68 teams, there will be now four play-in games. And there are only two scenarios for this. 1) The lowest eight automatic bid conferences will be in the play-in games or 2) the last eight at large teams will be in the play in games.
If it is scenario #1, then Commissioner Morris has a legitimate beef stating that you will see the "same conferences in those opening rounds every year". And here is her proof. Below is the list of conferences and the number of times their teams have played in the ten play-in games.
SWAC 5, MEAC 4, Big South 3, MAAC 2, NEC 2, Ohio Valley 1, Patriot League 1, Southland 1, Summit 1
The SWAC and MEAC have combined for NINE of the twenty teams that have played in the play-in game. And notice, there are only nine conferences that have played in the play in game. So, based on STATISTICS, Commissioner Morris is right, if you have make the four play in games with the eight lowest seeded automatic bid qualifiers, you will likely see the same conferences in the play in game every year.
Here's what Bilas had to say further about Morris' comment.
This silliness is really just confirmation of something we already knew. The "play-in" game is not and never has been a part of the "real NCAA tournament." Otherwise, why would anyone attach the word "stigma" to it?
Here is an idea: If you want to avoid the "play-in" games, play well, win your games and get seeded in the top 60. Every conference has the same opportunity to win, so win -- especially when you have the chance against quality nonconfernce opponents -- and you won't have to worry about it.
And if you find yourself in one of the four "play-in" games, then be pleased that a team ranked outside of the top 60 in the nation gets a chance to compete for the national title.
Bilas has never been fond of small mid major conferences. He has in the past actually stated several times that the automatic bid qualifier should be removed and that the NCAA Tournament should be the best 64 teams.
The fact of the matter is that ever should happen, you will have very few mid major teams in the NCAA Tournament and the NCAA Tournament will look like the NIT on steroids, meaning that you will have lots of mediocre power conference teams with .500 and sub .500 conference records in the tournament.
What Bilas doesn't understand is that the beauty of the NCAA Tournament is that small and mid major conferences get to play on the same large stage together in a single elimination tournament. But obviously it's not just the tournament that small conference teams play power conference teams. Obviously teams like Duke, Kansas, and UConn for example offer small conference teams large sums of money to play regular season non conference games on the big conference teams' home sites. If Bilas has his way, why bother with those games? Why would it matter for a small conference team to play Kansas other than to make money?
Let's face it, the MEAC, SWAC, Big South, NEC etc are small colleges and universities who simply don't have the budget/endowment to compete with the Dukes, UConns, and UCLAs of the world. But the NCAA saw it fit that those conferences are DIVISION I conferences thus they can compete on the same level as the power conference teams.
If Bilas had his way, then the great upsets of the past, #15 Coppin State over #2 South Carolina, #15 Hampton over Iowa State, or #14 Weber State over North Carolina never happen. And that's what makes the NCAA Tournament so much better than the BCS or the College Bowl games. You don't get upsets of that magnitude occurring in a BCS game or the College Bowl system.
As for Bilas' comment of " If you want to avoid the "play-in" games, play well, win your games and get seeded in the top 60", I want to give you a case in point of a team that did everything it could this past season but still got put in the play in game.
Arkansas Pine Bluff finished second in the SWAC with a very solid 14-4 conference record. In non conference they went out a play a brutal non conference road schedule with losses to Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, Missouri, UTEP and Kansas State - all NCAA Tournament Teams (also lost at NIT participant Arizona State). In fact their non conference schedule was ranked the eighth toughest non conference schedule in the country this past season. They won their conference tournament and "automatically" qualified for the NCAA Tournament. They EARNED their way into the NCAA Tournament.Yet, because they play in the lowly SWAC conference, they get to play in the qualifier, which they won over Winthrop.
But if Bilas had it his way, the Golden Lions wouldn't see the light of day in the NCAA Tournament and a team like Virginia Tech that had a non conference strength of schedule ranking of 307 and couldn't even make it out of the ACC tournament quarterfinals would make the tournament. Tell me that's earning a spot in the tournament. Tell me that the Hokies were one of the 64 best teams in the country.
If we want the truly best 64 teams in the tournament like Bilas wants, well first, make the play in games the last eight at large teams in the tournament, which are often power conference teams that either played .500 in conference during the season ( examples over the past few years - Minnesota, Arizona. Maryland) or stumbled their way into the NCAA Tournament by losing in their conference quarterfinals (see Wake Forest). Make them EARN their way into the tournament. And the even better second step, require that teams eligible for at large berths to the NCAA tournament MUST have an above .500 record in conference. No more rewarding regular season mediocrity.
Bilas finished his article with "The truth is, there are not enough quality teams that can compete favorably for a national championship right now, so there was certainly no urgency to expand the field for competitive reasons." Bilas is misguided. It's not the small conferences that wanted tournament expansion. It's the power conferences that wanted expansion.
If you want expansion to 68 teams that's fine with me (sure beats 96). But if you want to be in that round of 64, make the at large teams earn their way in. Don't do at the expense of teams that "automatically qualified" to be in the tournament like Arkansas Pine Bluff and other low conference automatic qualifiers. They did "earn" their way in.
Hey guys. I know this is my first post in three weeks. Been really a busy time. This month I have been administering exams, preparing summer projects, dealing with family stuff and I am here in Chicago for certification training. I will be also busy for the next week or so. I will write more in June once things calm down.
Here's your homework assignment. Read Jerry Beach's article from yesterday about Hofstra softball. And follow it up with my December 2009 article on supporting Hofstra basketball. Jerry's right on target. That softball team, which has been one of the most dominant softball programs at its level in the country, and Hofstra sports in general deserves Hofstra fans support next season. I have been guilty as much as anyone by not going to see them play. I won't make that same mistake next season.
Let's never ever again give our school a reason to take away a major sport from their collegiate program. Show up and attend softball games next season. And don't forget to show up and attend Hofstra basketball games this season to see the best player in the local region and one of the best players in the country - Charles Jenkins.
And here's a scary thing. Basically the entire softball team returns next season. How scary good will they be?
Give Jack Hayes credit. He didn't waste any time. Barely 48 hours after Tim Welsh resigned as head coach, Hofstra hired his assistant, Mo Cassara, as the new head coach of the Pride. It was a surprising move in that there was the mindset that Hayes would want no remnants of the Welsh regime around.
And after Welsh "resigned", I spoke with several Hofstra basketball fans who thought the program might have been set back a couple of years due to this incident. They wondered where Hofstra would turn to next for their coach. Would any recruit want to go to a program where they would have their third coach in a little more than a month? Would the assistants stay under a completely different coach? There was also the NY Post article about Al Skinner being a candidate and that was after I wrote my previous article comparing Hofstra's program to Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Couldn't Stand the Weather".
But Hofstra made the right move by hiring Cassara. First, it brings stability to the program. Apparently in the span of a month, the current coaching staff has worked very hard to bond with the players in hopes of keeping everyone together (still, Halil Kanacevic requested and received his release - more on that in a second). Second, the staff has already spent a month recruiting. By hiring Cassara and keeping the current coaching staff of Steve DeMeo and Allen Griffin, it shows potential recruits that Hofstra has a long term commitment to this staff and program.
Plus I am hearing from several people that Cassara has a very engaging personality and is winning over people quickly. He certainly impressed Hayes and President Rabinowitz. Hofstra certainly could use a dynamic presence in their basketball program. Here's wishing him well.
As for Kanacevic, he has enrolled at St Joseph's and will be sitting out the year for the Hawks. It's a nice pickup for Phil Martelli's program. It happened so quickly that one has to wonder if someone from St Joe's immediately reached out to him (I am sure they did). He now jumps up a level in class by going to the A10. But I think he has the ability to certainly play on that level and I think he will be very good. As we were driving back to our hotel room from the game against Kansas, we listened to the Kansas post game news conference. Bill Self singled out Kanacevic,"15" as he called him, for his play against his big men.
Also I want to give an update to something I stated in my previous article about the Hofstra signed recruits for 2010-11 which mentioned Devon McMillan and Marvin Dominique. McMillan was let out of his signed agreement early in this past basketball season. I do not know about Marvin Dominique at this time.
Yesterday was the deadline for players who didn't hire an agent to withdraw their names from the NBA draft. A good number of players who might have been drafted such as Jimmer Fredette, E'Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Malcolm Delaney withdrew their names. Players who likely weren't going to be drafted also withdrew their names. The one that comes to my mind is Rico Pickett. Wise choice, Rico.
And then you have some that stayed in the draft, with the biggest name that comes to mind being Gordon Hayward. Hayward announced on Friday that he was hiring an agent and officially staying in the draft. And he will be likely picked in the 15-20 area in the first round of the NBA draft. He certainly has the talent and game to be picked in the first round of the NBA draft. It was interesting reading the columns of writers who were in favor of Hayward going, like Gary Parrish's article and those who were against Hayward leaving, such as Doug Gottlieb. Unfortunately, Gottlieb's article is on ESPN insider. But a quick snippet on that article - Gottlieb basically says that Hayward needs another year and a half in the weight room and the gym.
I understand fully that there are several reasons for Hayward leaving for the draft. One, that this is the last draft before the likely NBA lockout. And the result of the new agreement from that lockout will be less money for NBA draft picks. Two, there is the mind set that Hayward's draft stock is at its highest point and if he stays in school, he may risk losing stock, similar to what Craig Brackins did by staying in school another season.
Here are my responses to both those arguments. First, if you are a good enough player, you will make your money in the NBA, whether there is a lockout/new agreement. Lottery picks will still be lottery picks and make a lot of money. And even a non lottery first round pick who turns out to be pretty good in the NBA will make his money in the long run.
Second, who says that Hayward's stock for sure will fall if he had stayed in school? Unlike Brackins, who was a one man show on an at best mediocre Iowa State team, Hayward was the star player on a Butler team that made the NCAA Championship game. Had Hayward stayed, he would have been one of the four starters returning for next season. A team that likely would be favored to return to the NCAA Final Four and no doubt a top five team in the country.
Plus Hayward's stock is not at his highest. His three point shooting percentage went significantly down this season - 28.6 percent as opposed to 44.8 percent in his freshman season. So he could have come back and improved on that. And here's the scary thing, he still shot 46 percent overall this season. Imagine what he could shoot from the field with an improved three point shot.
And I will give you an example of someone who was in a similar circumstance but opted to return from his junior season. Stephen Curry. Curry had an even greater NCAA Tournament performance than Hayward and I got to witness in person his awesome display at the Raleigh Regional in 2008. He could have left for the NBA Draft right then and no one would have blamed him. He was certainly first round material right at that moment.
Yet, what did Curry do? He returned for his junior season so he could work on his point guard skills. Sure enough, he nearly doubled his assists per game average from the previous season, while still averaging more points per game than the previous season (and yes, despite his FG and three point FG percentages slightly declining). His team didn't even make the NCAA Tournament in his junior season, yet it all worked out for Curry. He was taken sixth overall in the NBA draft, one spot short of the Knicks, whose fans were dying to have Curry selected for the Garden faithful.
Plus, there is that little discussed issue known as a college degree. Also on ESPN insider, Jay Bilas wrote a very good article about how it's ridiculous to say you "limit" a college player by telling him to stay in school and not going into the draft. As Bilas notes, a student who played four years and gets his degree has more options in the business world and in the coaching world once his playing career is over, as opposed to the student that leaves early for the draft and never gets that degree.
That's why I literally cringed when Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart announced he had started talks on with John Calipari on a new deal in light of the report on the Wildcats GPA for the fall semester. Perhaps Barnhart hadn't talked yet to senior associate athletic director Sandy Bell who noted "It's not something we're happy with, I'll tell you that." Will Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton among others eventually get their degrees? I don't know about that. But I do know one thing - we got confirmation of what really matters in Kentucky.
In conclusion, Hayward could have stayed and improved on one skill he needs to be a successful NBA player, outside shooting and probably increased his draft stock. I believe that if you are guaranteed lottery material, you should go. John Wall, Evan Turner, can't disagree with their choices. But if NBA draft prognosticators are talking about you being selected in the 15-20 range right now, then you might want to go back to school and work on improving your stock. Especially if you are coming back to a really good team like Hayward would have at Butler.
But more importantly, Hayward, an engineering major, could have got a year closer to his degree at one of the better liberal arts schools in the country. Certainly an engineering degree won't "limit" Hayward in his future options.
For every Craig Brackins, there is a Stephen Curry. Unfortunately we won't find that out about Gordon Hayward. But here's hoping he makes it in the NBA and has a nice long career in the NBA. Here's also hoping he gets his degree “in the near future" as he puts it.
Something tells me he eventually could have a great career in the coaching world. But you need that degree son.
I thought this song was very appropriate for what's going on in the Hofstra basketball world. Plus a little Stevie Ray always helps a bad situation.
Well as you all know by now, Tim Welsh resigned today as head coach of Hofstra. Welsh put himself in a no win situation by being arrested for DWI early Friday morning and registering a .18 blood alcohol level two hours after he was arrested, more than double the legal limit. Chances are he would have been likely fired if he didn't resign, and Brian Mull tweeted that he was "forced to resign".
And if that was indeed the case, that Welsh was forced to resign, Hofstra did the right thing. Yes, there was a lot of bad press surrounding the Welsh arrest. It was the top headline on ESPN since the arrest occurred Friday morning. And this morning, as I drove into work, Boomer and Carton on the FAN discussed the matter, both noting that Welsh had to be fired due to that high blood alcohol level (more on that in a second).
But it wasn't just the bad press that was a deciding factor in Welsh's resignation. Welsh had been at the position 33 days. He had no years of good will vested in the position where a mistake, even huge as this one, might have been looked at with a lenient light.
Then there was the matter of the university finding out through news reports that he had been arrested instead of being contacted by Welsh directly. That notes a serious lack of responsibility on Welsh's part. And finally, the .18 blood alcohol level is not the characteristic of someone not realizing they had one too many drinks that night. Had it been .09, then perhaps (and that's a slight perhaps), you could maybe have some leniency towards Welsh. The fact that it was .18 denotes a hardcore drinker, or at least a hardcore drinking night. It really is amazing that he didn't end up hurting or killing someone when the police found him asleep at the wheel.
Welsh still has to face the DWI charge. Whether he accepts a plea deal or has his day in court, his career for now is ruined. And he has no one to blame for this but himself.
Now Jack Hayes has the unenviable position of having to decide whether to start from scratch and hire a new coach or perhaps let one of the already hired Welsh assistants, Steve DeMeo or Mo Cassara have a chance at the job on an interim basis. Hayes may very well decide that's its best to have no remnants of the Welsh regime at Hofstra and bring someone new in. He could also go back and hire Van Macon to bring stability to the program. Names such as former St John's coach Norm Roberts and West Virginia assistant coach Larry Harrison are being bandied about as well.
As for the Pride players, they will soon have their third coach in the span of two plus months. For seniors, Charles Jenkins, Greg Washington and Nathaniel Lester, along with now eligible Brad Kelleher and Fordham transfer Mike Moore, there is likely nowhere to go and they will stay. However, Chaz Williams couldn't be blamed if he decided to seek another home, along with the other underclassmen such as Yves Jules and David Imes. Halil Kanacevic had already received his release prior and Branden Frazier decided to follow Pecora to Fordham.
And then there are the incoming freshmen as well Marvin Dominique and Devon McMillan. What will they decide to do? And with apparently two scholarship openings remaining, will anyone want to come here now to fill them (Josh Elbaum is probably now off the radar)?
The program is truly at a crossroads and it's not a good thing for the players or the fan base the school is trying to increase. What seemed like such promise a month ago with an established coach in Welsh with a seemingly talented senior laden team, is now up in the air with fans openly concerned (and rightfully so). One man's incredibly poor judgement not just ruined his career but may have set the program back at least a year, maybe two, maybe even more.
How this all plays out in the next several weeks is anybody's guess. For Hofstra basketball fans it seems grim. And I can't tell you it's not. As I noted in my previous post, the rough times started weeks ago and hit a real bad point the last few days with the Welsh DWI and subsequent "resignation". As bad as it seems, it may actually get worse before it gets better.
As Stevie Ray once sang, "Understand, it's time to get ready for the storm."
If you are a Hofstra men's basketball fan, the last few weeks have been various types of punches to the chin. You could say that it all started in late March when long time coach Tom Pecora left Hofstra to go to Fordham. It was a haymaker from Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, but you braced yourself enough, knowing that it was coming. It wobbled you but you got yourself righted and sort of delivered a haymaker of your own, which could describe at least how I felt when Hofstra hired Tim Welsh as their new head coach.
But it really started two weeks ago with Branden Frazier following Pecora to Fordham. That was kind of like making a stupid comment to your wife, then she slaps you in the face. Based on your actions, you knew it was coming. Yes it stings, but you shake it off in a few minutes...and then go back for more :-) . Frazier had originally given a verbal agreement to come to Hofstra, but that was when Pecora was head coach. So no surprise that Frazier would go to Fordham once Pecora and the entire Hofstra staff followed suit.
Then last week, Halil Kanacevic delivered a Sugar Ray Leonard right hand to the chin when it was announced that he asked for and received his release from Hofstra. It was definitely a punch you hadn't seen coming, which resulted in knocking you down for a five count. You eventually get up, but you remember the punch for a while and do anything you can to avoid another one.
In an interview on Defiantly Dutch, Kanacevic talked about how he may have signed up with Hofstra but he had really signed up for Pecora and his coaching staff. Strangely, when he met with Welsh, he originally told him he wasn't leaving. But he explains in further detail what his thought process was during that time
Kanacevic said his biggest regret was telling Welsh earlier this month that he wasn’t thinking about transferring. “Someone gave me a little advice, talk to the coach, reassure him you’re not leaving,” Kanacevic said. “I was like ‘All right.’ I did that. I probably never should have done that, because I kind of lied to the coach [and gave him] the wrong impression [saying] ‘I’m not going anywhere’ as far as the rumors.
“He brought it up, when I had a meeting with coach Welsh, and I basically told him ‘Man, that was a mistake I made and I shouldn’t have done that to you. I misled you.’ He asked if there was a reason and it was the reason I told you—not the situation I signed up for.”
No doubt that Welsh got a Marvin Hagler hook to the chin. He never saw that coming (as did I and numerous other Hofstra fans). It's really a strange decision. First, if he transfers to another DI school, he must sit out a year. Also noted in Beach's article is that AD Jack Hayes gave Kanacevic a conditional release, where he can not go to ten teams. No doubt Fordham is one of them. Most of them are probably other local teams (St John's Manhattan, Iona, Stony Brook to name a few though no verification on that). And he certainly won't go to any other CAA teams, because the rule in the CAA is that you have to sit out TWO seasons, not the mandatory one the NCAA rule mandates.
So if Kanacevic is looking locally, his choices are probably limited. And really, it's a mistake. He had a very good freshman season where he made the CAA All Rookie Team. He certainly showed he is a CAA level quality forward and would only likely get better. Also, had he stayed, Kanacevic had a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament with Jenkins, Washington, Chaz Williams and him back. Throw in Fordham transfer Mike Moore and a now eligible Brad Kelleher and there was much hope. Plus he was apparently well liked by the new coach. So it all doesn't make sense.
After spending a week shaking off the Sugar Ray Leonard right hand, I thought, well at least Welsh's recruiting skills will now be put to the test. And I heard through the grapevine that Hofstra was looking at an up and coming prospect in Josh Elbaum. Elbaum actually came to Hofstra for a visit (Siena also has interest in him).
Then late yesterday morning, I was checking my e-mail from my IPod when I received a message from my good friend Tieff. It was also addressed to our friend Mal as well. So that usually means it's either Hofstra related, since we have Pride season Tickets, or Jets related
since we have season tickets for them. The e-mail said the following;
Immediately, my heart sank. I had a truly bad feeling it was Hofstra related and I knew that the link was about Tim Welsh. And then my finger pressed the link and the WINS story appeared, complete with his mugshot. My worst fear had been confirmed. Welsh had been arrested for a DWI and shortly after was suspended by Hofstra University pending an investigation.
I felt like I had got hit by the big one, a right cross from Mike Tyson in his prime. Out on the canvas for the ten count, in a state where you need to be scraped up with a spatchula. A blow that it will take weeks to recover from. For a Hofstra fan, who had such high hopes on April 1st watching the Welsh press conference streaming live on my computer, it's utterly demoralizing.
First and most importantly, it's fortunate no one got hurt. He was very lucky in that regard. Second, it was incredibly stunningly poor judgment on his part. Why would you risk losing a five year, three million dollar contract in such a way? Especially after your second part of your interview with Beach where you state the following about an incident at Providence where several Friars basketball players were dismissed from the team.
Five years later, I showed the videotape of that to a team, I think, of how it was exposed locally on the news. We took all the articles that came out from it and handed them out to our team.Basically put it on them that you’ve got a lot to be responsible for, but the main thing is how embarrassing it is to your family. You get your players [to think about] your mother and father—what would they think if they picked up the paper and saw you in handcuffs? How devastating would that be?
It's truly mind numbing that someone gives an interview like that (which is published the morning of his arrest), which should be fresh in his mind, yet goes out and gets arrested yesterday morning. It may be the most damming evidence for Welsh when AD Jack Hayes reviews the situation. Welsh states in the above how important it is to conduct yourself, then he is on news web sites with his mugshot.
And yesterday, I did a stupid thing. For maybe the last time, I reviewed the Hofstra CAA Zone Board just to see what Hofstra fans' reactions were to the arrest. There were several people who did try to offer support and talked with reason about the situation. But then, I also read on the site someone calling the hiring of Welsh to be a mistake.
Mistake? No, it was not a mistake. Many major college coaches thought the hiring of Welsh was a home run (Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun among others). Jack Hayes contacted Jay Wright for advice on hiring a new coach. And Wright advised Welsh about Hofstra and thought it was a great move. So to say it was a mistake? Sorry, no way.
And it's not like Welsh has a history of trouble. When Hofstra hired Welsh, Welsh had just finished his second year of working for both ESPN and SNY. I am sure they did their background checks as well on Welsh. This seems to be one truly bad case of judgment on Welsh's part.
But I could live with someone saying it was a mistake. As I read further on in the discussion on the Hofstra CAA Zone, you had one person, who names himself after a John Candy character, gloating and I mean gloating about what happened.
Excuse me, but what rock did you crawl out of?
First, no one and I mean no one, should be gloating about this. Again, someone could have been seriously hurt. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Second, a man's career may be ruined as a result of this. How can someone gloat about this? Seriously?
Then this genius has as his signature line about how the administration killed Hofstra football. Ok, this begins a tangent.
I have said this before in an article in December and I will say this even more bluntly this time, the Hofstra fans, student body and the community in general is to blame for the loss of Hofstra football by not supporting it enough. And I will put myself in that group. We all could have tried showing up to games and rallying support. We had a good program, but the stadium was two thirds empty at least for most games I went to.
And as I noted in my aforementioned article and as Jerry Beach notes in his article today, that even the basketball program "struggles to draw fans even in the best of times". It's sadly a malaise that Hofstra has had since at least I have first been on the campus in 1984. So you certainly can't blame that on the current administration.
I was there on November 10, 2001 when Villanova with Brian Westbrook traveled to now Shuart Stadium to face Hofstra with Marques Colston. The game was for first place in the A10 (which is now the CAA in football). Westbrook had over 300 all purpose yards as the Wildcats defeated the Pride 54-34. It was really a great game to watch.
And I remember getting there right before kickoff time and still getting good seats. Why? Because the stadium was a third full, that's why! And this would be the second season in a row that Hofstra would make the I-AA playoffs in football. So it was not like Hofstra football was an unknown quantity. And it was like that even in the late 80's when Hofstra was still Division III and I went to a playoff home game vs. Fordham on an extremely cold day. The stadium again was a third full.
And again, it's not like Hofstra was the only team to end it's football program. Iona did it a few years ago and Northeastern did as well last season. They understood the economics and how a football I AA program (sorry that's how I still look at the Football subdivision) with poor attendance is such a drain on the program. Kyle Whelliston talks about this in his article about Xavier basketball. Xavier did that back in 1973 and never looked back. Worked out pretty well on the basketball front for the Musketeers I would say.
Yes, there are two facebook groups that have "Save Hofstra Football" and the two groups combined are 2000 people. And that's great to see that support, but the total members combined are less than 1/5 the size of Shuart Stadium.
Hofstra said it was not taking the money spent on football away from the athletics budget. And it went out and spent money on a CBI home game, which turned out to be a mistake, but at least they tried. And then Hofstra went out and got a top notch men's basketball coach.
And yet you have a yahoo like the John Candy named character on CAA Zone gloating about Welsh's arrest because it's somehow karma for the administration for killing the football program. I have one thing to say to this guy.
This hurts all Hofstra fans and has nothing to do with football. Get over it and get a life.
Now back to Welsh. I don' t have any idea how this is going to play out and nor am I going to speculate. Currently, though it seems Steve DeMeo, Mo Cassara and Allen Griffin were all hired by Hofstra, there is no formal recognition of them being hired. I don't know where that leaves them, though they have been recruiting apparently.
All I know is this. What seemed like a glorious second chance for Tim Welsh a month ago, came crashing down in one month due to a very poor decision. All he can do is admit his wrong doing. Be up front about it. As recent history has shown, people will respect someone if they admit they did wrong and are remorseful for it. And as a result, people often will give that person a second chance.
Here's hoping Welsh will do the right thing. And maybe he will get a second chance.
