Hoops HD

Horizon League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 27, 2023 by David Griggs

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HORIZON LEAGUE MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

Northern Kentucky
Milwaukee
Wright State
Cleveland State
Youngstown State
Oakland
Robert Morris
Purdue Fort Wayne
Detroit Mercy
IUPUI
Green Bay

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE 1ST TEAM:

-Tristan Enaruna – Cleveland State
-BJ Freeman – Milwaukee
-Marques Warrick -Northern Kentucky
-Trey Townsend – Oakland
-Trey Calvin – Wright State

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE 2ND TEAM:

-Jlynn Counter – IUPUI
-Sam Vinson – Northern Kentucky
-Tanner Holden – Wright State
-Brandon Noel – Wright State
-Brandon Rush – Youngstown State

COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:

-Northern Kentucky is, understandably, the preseason favorites to win the league. They won the HL Tournament last year after finishing just one game out of first, and Marques Warrick (who led the conference in scoring last year) is back along with two other starters. Cade Meyer is also transferring in from Green Bay, who was a double-digit scorer a year ago and knows this league. The Norse clearly look like the team to beat this year.

-Milwaukee is another team with four starters returning including BJ Freeman, who averaged over 18ppg. This is another team that could be dangerous: they would have actually tied for first place last year had they not inexplicably lost to Green Bay, who was just 3-29 on the season. In fact, a lot of their league losses came against some of the weaker teams. If they can just be more consistent this year they should be able to keep pace with the Norse.

-We are used to seeing Wright State at or near the top of the standings but they were just 10-10 in league play a year ago and finished down in 6th place. They do have two really strong players in Trey Calvin and Brandon Noel (who was a standout freshman last year). Two other guys also received preseason all-conference honors. As talented as they are, and as much as they appear to be able to score, they struggled last year (especially during the final few weeks of the season). Hopefully their experience will result in more consistent play and they can be in the hunt for first place this year.

-Cleveland State has won 20+ games the last two years and has three starters back from a year ago so they are not a team that should be overlooked. Daniyal Robinson had a great year in his first year as head coach, and Tristan Enaruna/Tae Williams make up one of the stronger frontcourts in the conference. Where they may struggle, and what probably gives a lot of people pause, is the backcourt. They do not appear to have any proven guards and that could be an issue when competing against the top of the league.

-If you did not have Penguin Fever last year then you simply are not a college basketball fan!! Youngstown State, who had never really been relevant in the conference in recent memory, was 15-5 in conference play last year, finished 1st in the standings and won 24 total games: it was incredible!! The problem is that just one starter is back so the Penguins appear to be at the bottom of their talent cycle right now. Brandon Rush is the lone returning starter and a solid player, plus they have some guys transferring in who were key players at D1 programs last year, so I do not think the Penguins will fall all the way back down to the bottom, but I do not think we are going to see them near the top either.

-Oakland struggled last year going just 12-19 overall, and while three starters are back it looks as though they may struggle again this year. Greg Kampe is a fantastic coach and Tre Townsend is a fantastic player, but the rest of the roster will need to step up if the Grizz are going to improve from a season ago.

-Robert Morris was a modest 16-17 overall last year, and while they return three starters their top-two scorers are gone. This was a team that was inconsistent for much of the season last year but they did look strong down the stretch. The question is whether or not they have enough talent/experience to carry that momentum into this year and make a big improvement.

-After two years of failing to win ten games, Purdue Fort Wayne was noticeably improved last year with a 15-15 record against D1. They were really bad in the last few weeks of conference play, but I guess that does not matter because all five starters are gone so Coach Jon Coffman is looking to rebuild the roster.

-Detroit Mercy Coach Mike Davis has certainly seen a lot of success in his career but has had trouble getting the Titans turned around. Last year the story was not so much their wins but rather the play of Antoine Davis, who was on pace throughout much of the season to become the all-time leading NCAA scorer. This year they are having to completely rebuild the roster. No starters are back so it could be another year of frustration for UDM.

-IUPUI has struggled mightily these past two years. Two years ago they only had five available players for their last game and won just three games all season. Last year was not much better as they posted just five total wins. Four starters return for this year: Jlynn Counter is a standout player and they have some other guys who can score as well. While IUPUI certainly will not be in the top half of the league, this is hopefully a year where they can take a big step forward and maybe finish closer to the middle than to the bottom. I am not going to call them my dark horse…but I think they will do better than 10th this year.

-Green Bay won just three games a year ago and was amongst the worst teams in all of D1. Just one starter is back and perhaps an overhaul of the roster is what they needed. I think they will win more than three this year but it is still going to be a long year for the Phoenix.

Posted in Conference Preview, News and Notes | Tagged HL, Horizon League, Milwaukee, NKU, Northern Kentucky, Wright State | Comments Off

Ivy League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 27, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

IVY LEAGUE MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

Yale
Princeton
Cornell
Brown
Penn
Harvard
Dartmouth
Columbia

COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:

Something I like about the Ivy League, especially now in the current climate of college athletics, is that it will seemingly always remain unchanged by all the conference realignment, and the rivalries/excitement/quality of play are as good now as it has ever been. In the days of the portal and in all of the conferences shuffling their lineup every year the Ivy League is still the Ivy League. Most schools (although not all) were able to retain their key players that have yet to graduate…and last year we saw Princeton make the Sweet Sixteen! It can still collectively compete at the same level it always has.

-Yale is this year’s preseason favorite, and understandably so. They tied for 1st place last year, earned a bid to the NIT after coming up just short of making the NCAA Tournament, and played a good game against Vanderbilt. With four starters back from a year ago, all of whom can seemingly shoot/distribute the ball/defend, this is going to be a very fun/dangerous team to watch this year. They are good enough to not just get to the Round of 64 but to really make someone sweat: we may even see them make a run at the bubble. Princeton was a Sweet Sixteen team a year ago, and while Yale lost to them in the Ivy League Championship game they beat them twice during the regular season, so this is a team that can play! Speaking of Princeton…

-Princeton was in the race for 1st place all last year and got it done in the conference tournament, but the real surprise came in the NCAA Tournament where they knocked off Arizona/Missouri to advance to the Sweet Sixteen as a 15-seed. They only have two starters back, and while the Tigers should be good this year I do not think they’re quite on the same level as Yale. Matt Allocco is back and is a really good outside shooter so the Tigers will be depending on him quite a bit. Regardless of who is in the lineup this is a fun team to watch, especially on offense as they still run a lot backdoor cuts and also work to create open shots from beyond the arc.

-Cornell has four starters back from a team that went 7-7 in the league a year ago, and with that experience come some raised expectations. Like a lot of Ivy League teams the Big Red are fun to watch! They have a fast-paced style, which is very unique to this conference, and they got off to a very impressive-looking 12-2 start last year. They did sort of fall apart down the stretch, and I can understand how that would give people some pause in picking them to finish ahead of either Princeton/Yale.

-Brown is another team that has a lot of experience returning. They were also 7-7 in the Ivy League last year, and with four starters back the expectations have been raised a little bit. They did lose three of their last four games, but two of those losses were to Princeton/Yale, who were the class of the league, so I would not read too much into that. Only four teams make the Ivy League Tournament and Brown just missed it a year ago, so they are hoping to at least finish in the top-four this year.

-Penn lost their top player (Jordan Dingle) to the transfer portal, and with just two starters coming back it is going to be hard for them to repeat their 3rd-place finish from a year ago. They do appear to be in a little bit of a rebuild mode this year.

-Harvard is a team that we are used to seeing at or near the top of the standings, and going into the COVID year they looked to be exceptionally good. Unfortunately no one in the Ivy League played that season, and since then Harvard has not managed an overall winning record. It will be a struggle again this year with just two starters back from a team that went just 5-9 in league play. Tommy Amaker is a really good coach who has had some outstanding seasons with the Crimson. I think he will get them back to the top of the mountain some day…but not this year.

-Dartmouth got off to a fairly decent start to Ivy League play a year ago but was not good at all down the stretch and is understandably picked to finish toward the bottom again this year.

-It seems rare that Columbia ever wins more than ten total games and they are often at the bottom of the Ivy League standings. They do have all five starters back and Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa is a really good guard. Hopefully with that experience they are able to manage a few more wins this year…but the expectations are still very low.

Posted in Conference Preview, News and Notes | Tagged ivy league, Princeton, Yale | Comments Off

Hoops HD Preview: Chicago State

Posted on October 26, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

No program in all of college athletics faces the challenges that Chicago State currently faces. Its’ not just their basketball program, but their entire athletic department. They are the only D1 college basketball Independent. Without the benefit of a built in conference schedule it makes scheduling and playing games in the second half of the season extremely challenging, and perhaps damn near impossible. Being an Independent probably also makes recruiting exceptionally challenging. While Chicago State isn’t on probation like the transitional schools are, they also don’t have the opportunity that literally EVERY OTHER DI1 PROGRAM HAS of playing in a conference who’s champion automatically qualifies for the NCAA Tournament and who’s first place team automatically qualifies for the NIT.

You know what, though? Having said all that, the value of this program has been growing since the arrival of Head Coach Gerald Gillon two years ago. In the season prior to Gillon’s arrival, they won zero games, and they had not won more than 6 since the 2013-2014 season. An 11-20 overall record may not seem that exciting, but for a program that I would have ranked at the very bottom of all of D1 just 24 months ago AND who has to face challenges that no other D1 program has to face, that’s actually a REMARKABLE improvement. They don’t get to play many home games, they have to front-load their schedule because teams aren’t available once conference play gets going, but despite all that they’ve been able to improve. They were a top 300 team in the metrics last year. That means they outperformed over 60 programs who two years ago were better than they were and that have far bigger advantages than they do.

As for this year’s team, three starters are back! That’s a good retention rate for a team in their situation! Wesley Cardet averaged over 16ppg and is a good outside shooter. Jahsean Corbett was also a double digit scorer. Matt Bewley and Ryan Bewley are twins who make up a pretty solid frontcourt. This is a program that is getting noticeably better and whose expectations are getting noticeably higher!!! We will likely see more improvement from them this year!!

So let me step up onto my soapbox for a second…

When you look at the Under the Radar conferences that are in their geographic area, I would argue that Chicago State would be an asset to anyone who would invite them to join. They’re a D1 program in the Chicago market. They’re a D1 program that has improved over 60 spots in the KenPom metrics and in the NET over the past two years, and is giving every indication that they will continue to improve. The Summit League, the Ohio Valley, the Horizon League, and even the Missouri Valley ALL have MULTIPLE teams that Chicago State is currently outperforming. To say that they would be an anchor that would bring down the overall level of play in the conference would be incorrect. Perhaps that was the case two years ago, but it is NOT the case anymore!! They would be an ASSET to those conferences, especially the OVC, Summit, and Horizon Leagues. I hope they get the chance to become members of an AQ conference.

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged Chicago State | Comments Off

WAC Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 26, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

The WAC did not have an official Media Day, but they did release a preseason poll and preseason conference honors.

WAC PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL:

Grand Canyon
Stephen F. Austin
Seattle U
Utah Valley
Abilene Christian
Tarleton State
Cal Baptist
UT Arlington
Southern Utah
UTRGV
Utah Tech

PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM:

-Ray Harrison – JR, G – Grand Canyon (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Gabe McGlothan – SR, F – Grand Canyon
-Cameron Tyson – SR, G – Seattle U
-Sadaidriene Hall – JR, F – Stephen F. Austin
-Drake Allen – JR, G – Utah Valley

COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS

-With New Mexico State moving on to Conference USA, Grant Canyon appears to be next in line to carry the flag for the conference and they are the near unanimous pick to win it this year. They’ve won 20+ games the last two years and I fully expect them to do that on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. Ray Harrison is an amazing player who averages just under 18ppg. He returns along with Jovan Blacksher, who missed much of last year with an injury but who appears to be back and is hopefully healthy. Also joining the Lopes is Collin Moore, who averaged over 14ppg last year at Georgia State. The Lopes are loaded with talent, they have a fantastic fanbase and home court, and are working toward becoming the type of program that cannot just make it to the NCAA Tournament but win games in the Round of 64.

-SFA was having a pretty good season last year, but fell apart at the start of March and lost their last two regular season games, then were upset by a really bad Utah Tech team in the WAC tournament. Four starters are back, including two double-digit scorers in Day Day Hall and Latrell Jossell, and they should be improved this year, and perhaps good enough to challenge the Lopes for 1st place.

-Chris Victor has won 20+ games in his first two seasons as head coach at Seattle U and appears to be set up to do it again. This program has taken some pretty big steps forward in recent years and with three starters back including Cameron Tyson (who is one of the best players in the conference), this team has a fair amount of talent/experience and should continue their improvement. I think they are a dark horse candidate to win the league this year.

-Utah Valley had an amazing season last year where they won 28 games, flirted with the NCAA Tournament bubble, and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT. The bad news is that they are now starting completely over. No starters are back and they have a new head coach in Todd Phillips. He is tasked with rebuilding the roster and they have gone into the portal to try and get some guys who can step in and contribute, but it feels like they just lost too much to repeat the success of last year.

-After four straight 20+ win seasons Abilene Christian won just 13 games a year ago, which was a major step back from what we had been seeing. They are looking to rebuild things this year, but they return just two starters and when you look at their roster it is hard to see anybody who is proven and can step up/contribute in a big way for them.

-Tarleton State is continuing their transitional phase and will likely struggle to finish in the top half of the league.

-Cal Baptist had a decent year last year with 17 total wins, but finished just 8th in the conference and now have a revamped roster after having to replace four starters. None of the returning players really stand out, but they are adding some JUCO transfers that really look like standout players, so this team can probably hang with a lot of the other teams in the league outside of the top two/three.

-UT Arlington has a new coach in KT Turner and he has his work cut out for him as it has been a while since they have…well…not stunk. They were playing better in the latter part of the season last year, or…perhaps a better way of putting it was that they were not playing as bad. They do have some promising-looking freshmen coming in so maybe they can take a step forward and start to build their program back up.

-Southern Utah has had a great run since being one of the worst teams in all of D1 a short time ago. They have had three straight 20+ win seasons, finished 3rd in the conference last year, and had 24 overall wins. The problem is that everybody is gone: not a single starter is back. Rob Jeter takes over as head coach and he has had some success in his career so hopefully he can start to build them back…but this is just a complete reset/rebuilding mode for the Thunderbirds.

-UTRGV has three starters back from a team that won just 5 conference games a year ago, but the program has been improving since Matt Figger took over as head coach. I do not think this team will finish near the top of the standings, but I think they will do better than where they have been picked to finish. They have a couple of notable JUCO transfers coming in to go along with the three returning starters, and I think they will be able to finish closer to the middle than to the very bottom.

-As for Utah Tech: yeah, it is going to be a long year for them.

Posted in Conference Preview | Tagged GCU, Grand Canyon, SeattleU, SFA, Stephen F Austin, WAC | Comments Off

Big West Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 26, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

There was no official Big West Media Day, but there were preseason polls, awards, and honors

BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL:

UC Santa Barbara
Long Beach State
Hawaii
UC Irvine
UC Davis
Call State Fullerton
UC Riverside
Cal State Bakersfield
UC San Diego
Cal State Northridge
Cal Poly

PRESEASON ALL BIG WEST TEAM:

-JoVon McClanahan – SR, G – Hawaii
-Ajay Mitchell – JR, G – UC Santa Barbara
-Elijah Pepper – SR, G UC Davis
-Bryce Pope – SR, G – UC San Diego
-Aboubacar Traore – JR, F – Long Beach State
-Lassina Traore – JR, F – Long Beach State

COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:

I love this conference except for one thing: it causes me to lose quite a bit of sleep!!! This year it appears to be very wide open. I think there are as many as six different teams that have a chance to win it.

-UC Santa Barbara tied for first place last year, won 27 total games, and won the conference tournament. They are the preseason favorites to repeat as league champions this year, but they are losing three key starters including Miles Norris, who was their best player. Ajay Mitchell is back, who averaged over 16ppg last year and is one of the best guards in the conference. They do return a lot of their bench but do not look quite as strong as they were a year ago. I do think they will be at or near the top of the standings…but repeating the 27 total wins is a tall order.

-Long Beach State is getting a lot of preseason love. They had a rather ‘meh’ season a year ago, but with four starters back including Marcus Tsohonis (who averaged over 14ppg last year) and Lassina/Aboubacar Traore (who both received preseason all-conference honors), this is a team that is both talented/experienced. I also really like Dan Monson as a coach. Having said that, while they should be really good this year, I felt they should have been really good last year and…well…they were not. They have the pieces of a team that should win a lot but…will they?

-Hawaii has a solid backcourt with Noel Coleman/JoVon McClanahan. They are not quite as strong in the frontcourt but they are not bad either. Three starters are back from a team that won 21 D1 games last season, and while they did not look particularly strong at home in their exhibition game against Saint Mary’s a few days ago, it was just an exhibition game. I like this Rainbows team. I like how they finished the season last year, I like their guard play, and I like what they have coming back. I think they can actually win the Big West.

-I am a little surprised that UC Irvine was picked this low…but only a little. They did lose their top-two scorers from last year and the teams that are picked to finish ahead of them are good. Still, three starters are back from a team that won 23 games and made the NIT a year ago, and the Eaters are a team that typically goes deep into their bench so they have guys that can step up. They also added some pretty solid looking freshmen and transfers so I expect that the Eaters will be in the mix like they usually are.

-UC Davis is coming off their best season in a while and with three starters back it will be interesting to see if they can continue that momentum into this year. Elijah Pepper is an outstanding guard and one of the best players in the conference and Ty Johnson gives them a big presence underneath. They did kind of slump off in the second half of conference play last year and I can see why that would give some people some pause, but this is a talented team with a quality coach in Jim Les. I think they can make a lot more noise this year than what we are used to seeing them make.

-Cal State Fullerton has had back-to-back 20+win seasons and with three starters back from a year ago including Max Jones (who was a double-digit scorer), they may be poised for another big season. I am a little surprised they are not picked a little higher than this. They finished 4th last year, made it to the championship game of the conference tournament, won 20 games, have some good experience coming back, and appear to be adding some nice pieces to their roster.

-Coach Mike Magpayo has done a truly amazing job at UC Riverside. For a program that had not had much success at any point in their history before he arrived, they won 22 games last year and the expectations are now higher. They will be rebuilding somewhat this year with just two starters back and hoping some guys can step up and play bigger roles this year. I do not see them winning 20 games again this season, but I do think their program is heading in the right direction.

-Cal State Bakersfield has struggled the last two years and won just 11 games a season ago. Part of the reason they struggled was due to injuries, but even when they were healthy they struggled. Kaleb Higgins is a quality player and if he can stay healthy this year we should see some improvement, but I still think they will end up in the bottom half of the standings.

-UC San Diego is struggling as a transitional team and will likely struggle even more this year. I do think the long-term prognosis is pretty good but I also think they are entering the hardest period of their transitional phase.

-Andy Newman takes over as head coach at CSUN and he has his work cut out for him. This team has won fewer than ten games for the last three years and could be in for another long/frustrating year this year.

-It has been a while since Cal Poly won as many as ten games. They were the last place team a year ago, and while their roster is being overhauled the overall outlook for them this season is…well…not good.

Posted in Conference Preview, News and Notes | Tagged Big West, Hawaii, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCSB | Comments Off

The Hoops HD Report: AAC, A10, MWC, and WCC Previews

Posted on October 25, 2023 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

Tonight, we have four conference previews in one post. It’s the four conferences that don’t quite fall into the category of being power conferences from top to bottom, but still send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament every year. Last year, half of the Final Four came out of these four conferences in Florida Atlantic and San Diego State, and Gonzaga also ended up making the Elite Eight. This year, we feel that FAU, who is now in the American, could once again end up as a protected seed and maybe even get back to the Final Four. The Atlantic 10 was collectively disappointing last year as they failed to get any teams inside the bubble, but this year most of the panel seems to think Dayton can land inside the bubble, and that we may see a second team end up in The Dance. The Mountain West has some pretty good teams in San Diego State, Boise State, and New Mexico all looking pretty strong. In the West Coast, it looks like a two-horse race between Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, both of whom appear to be Solid top 25 teams. We discuss all that, and more in the four videos below.

AMERICAN ATHLETIC: