All-Access at the ACC Tournament: Semifinal Friday

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Jon Teitel

Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The ACC Tournament is taking place this week in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of articles in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage with a recap of the ACC semifinal doubleheader on Friday.

I am running out of new food stands to try so I am reduced to getting different items at places I have already eaten at: mini chicken corndogs and cheese curds.

GAME #1: Pitt-North Carolina
UNC star Armando Bacot did his usual damage inside during the 1st half with a series of layups/dunks but did not get much help from his supporting cast. In contrast, while Pitt G Jaland Lowe was able to make a few shots at the rim, his 7’ teammate Guillermo Diaz Graham knocked down back-to-back threes, and FR Carlton Carrington scored from everywhere (finishing with 16 PTS in the 1st 20 minutes). Pitt headed to halftime with a 35-33 and visions of the NCAA tourney dancing in their head. Carrington cooled off in the 2nd half but Lowe was soaring high with a 3 from the top of the key, and several tough shots in the lane. Pitt hung around for the 1st 30 minutes and then the 2 Tar Heel studs took over. Bacot kept making a bunch of shots inside, highlighted by a gorgeous spin out of a double team that led to a reverse layup. ACC POY RJ Davis had a quiet 1st half but went off in the 2nd half with a trio of trifectas and an old-fashioned and-1, as UNC won it 72-65 and booked a spot in the ACC title game for the 1st time since 2018.

The winning team is often-but-not-always the 1st to appear at the postgame press conference, but tonight Pitt had the honor. As you may be aware, I try to summarize both my question and the person’s answer, but since Pitt coach Jeff Capel decided to take my question and run with it for a few minutes I will present the Q&A in their entirety from the transcript:

Q. If you do not hear your name called on Sunday, do you think it will be due to your non-conference strength of schedule, and if so, will you change your scheduling approach next year?

A: Interesting question. If you look at a lot of the Big 12 teams, they have a lot worse schedules than us. If you look at some of the Big 10 teams that they have projected, their strength of schedule is where ours is or less. Again, coming into this game, us and North Carolina were 12-3 over the last 15 games since January 20th, so I think that shows that we were the 2 best teams in this league over that stretch when we figured things out. Before tonight we had won our last 4 or 5 by an average of 15 points. I don’t look at them (the metrics), but people tell me our metrics are better than they were last year. Our NET, the KenPom stuff, whatever that stuff means, it is better than it was last year. I think our league is better than it was last year. Last year the thing that we heard was that North Carolina and Duke weren’t “North Carolina” and “Duke”. Well, you are talking about a team today in North Carolina that probably is going to be a 1-seed, and Duke will be a 2 or 3-seed. Those teams were top-10 for most of the season, so I do not understand all of it. I do not think it will be because of that, but I do not know. I am not a bracketologist, I am not an expert: I am a basketball coach. I try to worry about my team and I know we have gotten better. I know if you look over the past — since January 20th, I think we have played as well as anyone in college basketball. Last year I remember hearing, well, the early stuff does not count because we had an unbelievable win last year against Northwestern at Northwestern. We beat them by 28 points on the road: they ended up 2nd in the Big 10, so that is a Quad 1 win. We heard, well, that was November or December so it does not matter. Now all I am hearing is our Missouri loss: that was early December. Again, we thought we had a good schedule. We did not know West Virginia would turn out like they did: they were picked high in the Big 12. We did not know that Missouri would not win a game. When we played them, they were pretty good. We did not know they would not win a game in the SEC. We will schedule the way we feel will put us in the best position to win and to get to the NCAA Tournament just like we did this year.

GAME #2: Virginia-NC State
I am sure that it was a great game but I had to finish a few interviews so that is a wrap for tonight, check back tomorrow for the title game as UNC tries to clinch a #1 seed on Selection Sunday.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Green Bay JR G Callie Genke

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Jon Teitel

Last Tuesday Green Bay beat Cleveland State 64-40 in the Horizon women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Phoenix owned this league for most of this century, making 14 NCAA tourneys in a 17-year stretch from 2002-2018, but had missed out since then until breaking the streak this week. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Green Bay JR G Callie Genke about her team doing some damage during non-conference play.

You were born/raised in Wisconsin: what made you choose Green Bay? It was close to home and I grew up going to games here. I just wanted to be a part of their culture/community.

Your entire roster is from Minnesota or Wisconsin: did you play with or against any of your current teammates during high school? I played AAU ball with a couple of them and 1 was a high school rival. It is fun that we get to play again in college.

You play for Coach Kevin Borseth: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He really cares about us and lets us put a lot of input into the decisions. While winning is important, he really emphasizes that we are here to have fun/get an education.

You are majoring in Business Management and Marketing: what is the post-graduation plan? I plan to attend grad school but do not have many further plans than that.

You faced 2 teams this year ranked in the top-25 (Creighton/Washington State) and beat both: does that give you the confidence that you can compete against whatever power-conference opponent you face next week? Our non-conference schedule was definitely tough and we proved that we can beat the top teams: it will give us a lot of confidence going into next week.

Last November you scored a career-high 24 PTS/5-9 3PM in 24 minutes in a win over Illinois State: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? Yeah: my shot felt good and my teammates kept feeding me.

You started 18 games last year but were named conference co-6th Player of the Year after getting 0 starts this year: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I did not expect anything like that: I will come off the bench and do whatever is necessary to get us the win.

You are 1 of 8 juniors on a roster that has 1 grad student and no seniors: did you think that your team was 1 year away from being a serious contender? We had quite a few returners from last year so we had high expectations and our goal all season was to make the NCAA tourney.

You have had the same 5 starters for almost every single game: how crucial has that consistency been to your team’s success this year? We talk about consistency a lot in practice/games and just being who we are. The 1st group knows what they have to do but everyone on the bench is ready as well.

What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I am the person on the team that looks at that the least, but I have heard estimates of a 9-12 seed. We proved that we can beat top-25 teams and will come out ready no matter who we play.

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Bracketology 2024: March Madness Predictions (Version 10.5)

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for our latest CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK VIDEO NOTEBOOK

We are only 2 days away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2023 tourney with 65 of his 67 within 1 spot of their actual seed, including 53 right on the money. He will spend the upcoming days predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 17th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how he stacks up with other websites (ranked 11th out of 174 entries over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com

SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Purdue (Big 10)
1: Connecticut (Big East)
1: Houston (Big 12)
1: Tennessee (SEC)

2: North Carolina (ACC)
2: Arizona (Pac-12)
2: Marquette (Big East)
2: Iowa State (Big 12)

3: Baylor (Big 12)
3: Creighton (Big East)
3: Kentucky (SEC)
3: Duke (ACC)

4: Kansas (Big 12)
4: Illinois (Big 10)
4: Alabama (SEC)
4: Auburn (SEC)

5: South Carolina (SEC)
5: BYU (Big 12)
5: San Diego State (MWC)
5: Utah State (MWC)

6: Texas Tech (Big 12)
6: Wisconsin (Big 10)
6: Clemson (ACC)
6: Nevada (MWC)

7: St. Mary’s (WCC): AUTO-BID
7: Washington State (Pac-12)
7: Gonzaga (WCC)
7: Dayton (A-10)

8: Boise State (MWC)
8: Florida (SEC)
8: Texas (Big 12)
8: Northwestern (Big 10)

9: Colorado State (MWC)
9: Nebraska (Big 10)
9: TCU (Big 12)
9: FAU (AAC)

10: Michigan State (Big 10)
10: Oklahoma (Big 12)
10: Mississippi State (SEC)
10: Seton Hall (Big East)

11: Colorado (Pac-12)
11: Virginia (ACC)
11: St. John’s (Big East)
11: New Mexico (MWC)
11: Drake (MVC): AUTO-BID
11: Princeton (Ivy)

12: James Madison (Sun Belt): AUTO-BID
12: Grand Canyon (WAC)
12: South Florida (AAC)
12: VCU (A-10)

13: McNeese (Southland): AUTO-BID
13: Samford (SoCon): AUTO-BID
13: UC-Irvine (Big West)
13: Vermont (America East)

14: Charleston (CAA): AUTO-BID
14: Akron (MAC)
14: Oakland (Horizon): AUTO-BID
14: Morehead State (OVC): AUTO-BID

15: Sam Houston (C-USA)
15: Colgate (Patriot): AUTO-BID
15: South Dakota State (Summit): AUTO-BID
15: Quinnipiac (MAAC)

16: Montana State (Big Sky): AUTO-BID
16: Longwood (Big South): AUTO-BID
16: Stetson (Atlantic Sun): AUTO-BID
16: Norfolk State (MEAC)
16: Wagner (NEC): AUTO-BID
16: Grambling (SWAC)

1ST 4 OUT
Indiana State (MVC)
Providence (Big East)
Texas A&M (SEC)
Villanova (Big East)

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Portland G Maisie Burnham

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Jon Teitel

Last Tuesday Portland beat Gonzaga 67-66 in the WCC women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Pilots did not make the NCAA tourney from 1998-2022 but have now made it back there for the 2nd year in a row. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Portland G Maisie Burnham about avenging a 50-PT loss to the Zags.

You began your college career at Eastern Washington, where you set a school freshman record with 14.3 PPG and were named 2021 Big Sky ROY: how were you able to make such a smooth transition from high school to college? I was just feeling it out and my coaches/teammates gave me a lot of opportunities.

Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Portland? There was a lot of uncertainty at Eastern at the time due to a coaching change and some other players leaving so I decided it would be the best time for me to leave as well. Portland is a good academic school and I am interested in accounting. The entire coaching staff valued me as both a player/person so it made the most sense.

You play for Coach Michael Meek: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? He has an impressive track record and has the program trending in the right direction. He values team chemistry and wants all his players to have a great experience. Mike is a good/smart coach but what separates him from everyone else is how he values his players. He tries to recruit players who fit our program, which is really underrated: we have a great culture outside of basketball, which makes playing basketball more fun.

In the 2023 NCAA tourney you scored 8 PTS in a loss to Oklahoma: what did you learn from that loss that you think will help you this time around? Last year we were all excited, especially the players who did not get to make it in 2020 due to COVID, but there were a lot of nerves as well. We returned a good amount of people who played in that game last March so we will just go out and play hard and enjoy the moment because we know what to expect.

Last December you scored 3 PTS in a loss at Stanford: where does Cameron Brink (23 PTS/15 REB/4 BLK) rank among the greatest players that you have ever faced? She is very talented. You never want to match up with her and she is 1 of the best that I have ever played against.

This year you were named All-WCC 2nd-team after finishing in the top-20 in both PTS/SPG: how are you able to balance your offense with your defense? I am still working on my defense but since our team is defensive-heavy I have become more confident in our system, which leads to more activity on that end of the court.

Last month Gonzaga beat you by 50 PTS: how on earth were you able to beat them by 1-PT in the WCC tourney title game rematch last Tuesday?! Coming off a loss like that we were disappointed with our showing but we know that we had plenty of room to grow. It was big for us to make some adjustments as a group to make a run or just compete at the tourney. Playing together as a team helped us bounce back: playing fearless can create a lot of confidence.

You have 7 players on your roster from Australia/New Zealand: have you noticed a biggest difference between American players and foreign players? Not really. It is fun to have such diversity in that aspect. I am constantly learning about their home countries/experiences and they are all great people/teammates.

Your father Blaze/brother Chase/brother Match all played college basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? They will hate me for saying this but I would say it is me! I am thankful for all the examples they set so I could follow in their footsteps.

What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? There are rumors that we will be a 13-15 seed but we just want to play basketball and are thankful for the opportunity. It does not matter what seed we get: we are just excited to play on that stage.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Charleston SR SG Bryce Butler

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Jon Teitel

Last Tuesday Charleston beat Stony Brook 82-79 in OT in the CAA tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Cougars won 31 games last year and made the NCAA tourney before losing to San Diego State and have now made it back there for the 2nd straight year. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Charleston SR SG Bryce Butler about being the best 6th Man in the conference.

In 2022 you were a member of Team USA at the FIBA Americas U-23 3×3 championship: what did it mean to you to represent your country, and what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? Anytime you can play with your country across your chest it is a cool experience. It was great to go down to the Dominican Republic and compete with my brother.

Last year as a senior at West Liberty you were named 1st-team All-American/1st-team Academic All-American: how are you able to balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? A lot of it is just time-management. After being in college for several years I know how to study, communicate with my teachers, etc. It involves hard work but I try to get everything done on time.

You also led the nation with 829 PTS: what is the secret to being a great scorer? A lot of hard work/repetitions. When you get into the game you fall back on what you practice every day. Having really good teammates helps and I have been fortunate in that they get me the ball in my spots.

In the 2023 D-2 title game you scored a game-high 32 PTS in a 10-PT loss to Nova Southeastern: how close did you come to winning a title? It was a heartbreaking loss as a senior after playing so many games with winning a title as our goal. It was bittersweet: it came down to Nova being a great team that was better than us that day so hats off to them.

Why did you decide to transfer to Charleston? I was fortunate to get the extra year due to COVID. There was no bad blood at all: I just wanted to play in March Madness and Charleston was that place. I knew immediately after my visit…and now it is looking like a great decision!

You do not take a lot of threes (35) but you have made almost ½ of them (16): do you or Coach Pat Kelsey feel that you should take more because you have such a good 3P%? It is just the way the game goes. Last year I shot the ball well from 3-PT land but this year I have a different role. If I have an open shot then I am expected to knock it down but I do not want to force anything.

Earlier this month you were named conference 6th Man of the Year: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I am doing whatever it takes and Coach Kelsey gave me that role so I was happy to do it. I will do whatever it takes to help the team win: I was not trying to win such an award but I am grateful to receive it.

Last Tuesday in the CAA tourney title game you had 6 REB in a 3-PT OT win over Stony Brook: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? Coming from winning a pair of titles at West Liberty, it is a bit of a different feeling because this week we had to win our conference tourney to make the big tourney. It is still surreal but this is the reason I came here and we are excited to compete/advance.

Your father Eric/brother Austin both played D-1 basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? I will have to give it to my mom. She was a swimmer and won a state volleyball title in high school. She takes losing the hardest but the support she gives all of us is amazing.

What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? It could be anywhere from a 12-14 seed depending on how the other games pan out this weekend, but our mindset is to prepare the same way and then go out and compete.

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Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Presbyterian women’s coach Alaura Sharp

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Jon Teitel

Last Sunday Presbyterian beat Radford 60-37 in the Big South women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Blue Hose had never made the NCAA tourney before but now they have made history. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Presbyterian women’s coach Alaura Sharp about winning the biggest trophy at the smallest school.

You were an NJCAA Academic All-American at Fort Scott Community College and graduated magna cum laude from Southwest Minnesota State in 2006: how much importance do you place on academics? Academics are important and I think of our team GPA as a stat just like any other: we want to be top-25 in the country. I also put an emphasis on basketball IQ because I like smart players.

As a senior you led your team with 3.5 SPG: what is the secret to playing great defense? Effort is #1 and communication is #2: you want to hear a good defense before you see a good defense. We have a “truth chart” that looks at our stance and wings, which I stole from Coach Nick Nurse after hearing him on a podcast. We also look at allowing straight line drives vs. forcing people to the baseline. I watched a lot of Coach Donnie Tyndall’s matchup zone during college and have tweaked some things: we have always had a pretty good defensive team.

Prior to your current job you made the WNIT several times as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech/Southern Miss: what did you learn during that time about what it takes to win in March? We lost 2 title games at Southern Miss, which taught me a lot. I worked for Joye Lee-McNelis and saw the creation of a program. In March you really need to trim things back: you should not over-prepare too much. Our staff focused on the other team and I just focused on our team, which I think was good for creating a scheme and cleaning some things up.

Last December you lost to top-ranked South Carolina by 70 PTS: where do the Gamecocks rank among the greatest teams that you have ever faced, and do you think that they will win it all? They are the best team that I have ever coached against. They have been the hardest to scheme for: if you take away the post then they will shoot it from outside, which is really challenging. We played South Carolina State the previous night so I think we could compete better under a normal schedule. They are definitely the favorite for every bracketologist but I just want to put our best foot forward and try to survive and advance.

Due in large part to that game you were outscored this year (1988-1984): is your team capable of winning a high-scoring game or do you need to keep it around 60 PTS to have any chance to survive and advance? No doubt: we must lean into our defense. We broke the school record last year for PPG and brought almost everyone back but had a lot of injuries: we had about 30 PPG sitting in crutches/ACL braces on the bench. When we are successful we keep our opponents in the 40s/50s.

You did not win more than 13 games in any of your 1st 5 years as head coach at Presbyterian: what changed in year #6? Returning all 13 players from last year helped us with maturity/defense. We had to adapt in the middle of the season after losing 4 guards. We changed our offense a lot but the matchup zone defense helped us take the next step.

Presbyterian is the smallest D-1 school in the country: how are you able to compete with much bigger programs? The power of human connection: I got my 1st head coach job at age 24 and had to get a CDL so that I could drive the bus…and I also had to tape the ankles! I am very relational and lead with my heart. You cannot work for me unless you care about the person 1st and the basketball 2nd. They play hard for each other and the more injuries we had the harder everyone else played…which is insane! We have an old gym that literally got air conditioning this fall. For most of our players we were their only D-1 offer. We do a ton of player development, which I saw the benefits of during our tourney run. You cannot overcome all that adversity without that human connection. I am hands on with 1-on-1 film time: I try to watch film with at least 7-8 players each week. They knew I had a vision for them even if they were not getting many minutes. As exhausting as it is for a head coach, I am glad that I did it.

In the 2024 Big South tourney title game you had a 23-PT win over Radford: how big a deal was it to make the 1st NCAA tourney in school history, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? I have a vision box here in my office which has an apple/ticket/net, which represents everything that I came here to do. There will never be another team here that gets to do this for the 1st time: we are leaving our legacy. There is so much other history that we can make so we are excited for that challenge. I was 7-24 during my 1st year but now I am floating. The story is awesome and dates to last year and the spring before when some of our players decided to come back to campus rather than leave via the portal. People kept showing up for us even when we did not have a lot of wins, but I knew that we were on the right track. Now we know that we can do it I finally stopped crying yesterday! There are a lot of emotions from my family to my hometown friends to our boosters: we have a cool story to tell.

Your roster has players from 3 different foreign countries and 9 different US states: what sort of recruiting philosophy do you have? The reason I got hired at Southern Miss is because I had players from all over…which is because I have been all over. When we had to sign a bunch of players 2 springs ago I did not have a budget so I did a lot of recruiting zooms and we filled our roster for a few thousand dollars. That is the JUCO in me: I want a blend of athleticism/skill/maturity so you have to reach into different parts of the country. We play a position-less motion offense so maturity is important.

What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I know that everything is based around the NET ranking, and ours has really dropped due to some poor losses. I do not care what our seed is: I anticipate being in the 1st 4 and am excited for that regardless of the quick turnaround. We will focus on ourselves and put a scheme together. Our players will represent our school the right way and embrace the chance to win a game. We have 20 wins but our conference NET is so low.

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