Teitel Title Update

For today’s UTR Game of the Day and Hoops HD Daily Rundown – CLICK HERE

Your daily update on who has clinched a regular season title and who is close to doing so:

AAC: Houston has clinched
A-10: VCU is 2 ahead of everyone in loss column with 2 to play
America East: Vermont has clinched
Atlantic Sun: Liberty/Kennesaw State both finished season 15-3 in league play
Big East: Marquette is 2 ahead of everyone in loss column with 2 to play
Big Sky: Eastern Washington has clinched
Big South: UNC-Asheville has clinched
Big 10: Purdue is 2 ahead of everyone in loss column with 2 to play
CAA: Charleston/Hofstra both finished season 16-2 in league play
C-USA: Florida Atlantic is 2 ahead of everyone in loss column with 2 to play
Horizon: Youngstown State has clinched
Ivy: Penn/Princeton/Yale are each 9-4 in league play with regular season finale on Saturday
MAAC: Iona has clinched
MVC: Bradley has clinched
MWC: San Diego State is 2 ahead of everyone in loss column with 2 to play
NEC: Merrimack has clinched
OVC: Morehead State has clinched
Pac-12: UCLA has clinched
Patriot: Colgate has clinched
SEC: Alabama is 2 ahead of everyone in loss column with 2 to play
SoCon: Furman/Samford both finished season 15-3 in league play
Southland: Texas AM-Corpus Christi is 1 ahead of everyone in loss column with 1 to play
Summit: Oral Roberts has clinched
Sun Belt: Southern Miss has clinched
WCC: St. Mary’s/Gonzaga both finished season 14-2 in league play

Posted in News and Notes | Comments Off on Teitel Title Update

Under The Radar Game of the Day (and the Hoops HD Daily Rundown)- Monday, February 27th

-For our CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK VIDEO NOTEBOOK – DAY 0 – CLICK HERE

Montana State (21-9, 14-3) at Eastern Washington (22-8, 16-1) – 9:00 PM ET (ESPN+)

Tonight’s UTR Game of the Day takes us to Cheney, Washington for a potential preview of the Big Sky Championship Game to be played next week; the Montana State Bobcats visit the Eagles of Eastern Washington. EWU missed their shot at perfection in conference play with a weekend loss at Idaho State; this now means that Oral Roberts will be the only team in the country to finish perfect in conference play during the regular season. Steele Venters leads the Eagles with 14.9 points a game.

Montana State enters tonight assured of 2nd place in the upcoming Big Sky Tournament. In the first matchup played at home, the Bobcats had a narrow 70-67 loss against Eastern Washington. As of right now, MSU has won 9 out of their last 10 games; the only slip-up was a 73-63 loss at Weber State. RaeQuan Battle averages 17.1 points a game for the Bobcats.

 

HOOPS HD DAILY RUNDOWN (from The Puppet):

-After nearly picking up a big road win at Illinois a few days ago, Northwestern was beaten rather handily on the road at Maryland 75-59.  Both teams are safely in the field, and while I personally don’t like Maryland’s profile as much as most people because of how poorly they’ve played away from home, they have been outstanding on their home court this year.

-Illinois, who is still solidly in the field, had a bit of a setback yesterday when they lost 72-60 to an Ohio State team that’s been absolutely atrocious since Christmas.

-Michigan picked up a nice(ish) win against Wisconsin at home 87-79.  These two teams are heading in complete opposite directions.  Wisconsin appeared to be safely in the field but has now fallen outside the bubble, whereas Michigan has strung together a few nice wins and can perhaps land inside the bubble if they keep it up.

-Rutgers was getting blown off the floor at Penn State early in the second half, but came all the way back to win on the road 59-56.  This game was a microcosm of Penn State’s season.  It started off really good, but in the last 1/3rd of it they just fell completely apart.

SURVIVAL BOARD UPDATE: Florida A&M will be eliminated from being able to qualify for the SWAC Tournament with either a loss tonight (home vs Southern) or wins by both Texas Southern (at Alcorn State) and Bethune-Cookman (home vs Grambling).

-NORTH CAROLINA AT FLORIDA STATE (ACC).  Both teams are coming off big wins.  UNC beat Virginia at home, which is a win they desperately needed for their NCAA Tournament chances, and Florida State is coming off a surprising road upset at Miami FL.  UNC is still squarely on the bubble and needs this one as well.

-BAYLOR AT OKLAHOMA STATE (Big 12).  Baylor appears to have a protected seed all but sewn up.  It’s just a matter of where on the seedlist they end up.  Oklahoma State has lost four straight and has fallen back onto the bubble.  They could really use this one tonight because they need a few more big wins to secure them a spot in the field.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT IOWA STATE (Big 12).  West Virginia is coming off a near upset win at Kansas, which would have been huge for their NCAA Tournament chances.  They’ve got another shot at a big win tonight, but it won’t be easy.  Having said that, Iowa State has lost five of their last six and while they are still safely in the field they are sliding down the seedlist.  A win could help them get things turned back around.

-NEVADA AT WYOMING (Mountain West).  Nevada is hovering around the bubble, so every game for them is a big game.  This is one that they should be able to win on the road, but at the same time they can’t totally sleepwalk through.

Posted in CBB on TV, Daily Rundown, News and Notes, Under the Radar | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Championship Week Video Notebook – Day 0

WELCOME SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS!!!  We are here to help!!  We are here to tell you everything you should be doing!!

CLICK HERE for the HOOPS HD SURVIVAL BOARD, which shows who is a lock, who is on the bubble, and who needs the auto-bid

CLICK HERE for our CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT INFO PAGE, which has brackets, times, and viewing information for all 32 conference tourney

CLICK HERE for our most recent BRACKET PROJECTIONS

Championship Week officially gets underway tomorrow with the Opening Round of the Atlantic Sun Tournament!!  The Survive and Advance portion of the season is officially here!!  We’ve got a FULL PANEL to break down the two opening round Atlantic Sun games tomorrow because when it comes to the opening round of the ASun, we at Hoops HD DO NOT MESS AROUND!!!

ATLANTIC SUN OPENING ROUND:

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

Posted in Championship Week Video Notebook, Podcasts, Videocasts | Tagged | 2 Comments

Handing out the Hardware: All-conference awards of the year (Part 1 of 2)

The end of the regular season means that it is time to recognize the best players/coaches in college basketball this season. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has reviewed all of the numbers and is ready to announce his picks for the 5 best players from each conference based on their all-around stats. Players are listed in a traditional 5-position lineup (G-G-F-F-C) whenever possible with several exceptions, plus special awards for each conference’s Player of the Year (POY), Rookie of the Year (ROY), Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), 6th Man of the Year (6TH), and Coach of the Year (COY). If you think he has overlooked anyone then feel free to tweet us your comments, and check back next week for the rest of the conferences in Part 2.

America East
G: Jacob Falko (Binghamton)
G: Kellen Tynes (Maine)
G: Charles Pride (Bryant)
F: Clarence Daniels II (New Hampshire)
F: Gerald Drumgoole Jr. (UAlbany)
POY: Clarence Daniels II (New Hampshire)
ROY: Jonathan Beagle (UAlbany)
DPOY: Kellen Tynes (Maine)
6TH: Aaron Deloney (Vermont)
COY: Pat Duquette (UMass-Lowell)

Atlantic Sun
G: Camren Hunter (Central Arkansas)
G: Kenny Dye (Queens)
F: Devontae Blanton (Eastern Kentucky)
F: Carter Hendricksen (North Florida)
C: Elijah Hutchins-Everett (Austin Peay)
POY: Kenny Dye (Queens)
ROY: Jacari Laine (North Alabama)
DPOY: Isaiah Cozart (Eastern Kentucky)
6TH: Jacari Laine (North Alabama)
COY: Amir Abdur-Rahim (Kennesaw State)

Big Sky
G: Cameron Parker (Portland State)
G: Dalton Knecht (Northern Colorado)
F: Isaac Jones (Idaho)
F: Dillon Jones (Weber State)
C: Callum McRae (Sacramento State)
POY: Isaac Jones (Idaho)
ROY: Nigel Burris (Idaho)
DPOY: Darius Brown II (Montana State)
6TH: Great Osobor (Montana State)
COY: David Riley (Eastern Washington)

Big South
G: Taijon Jones (UNC-Asheville)
G: Ricky Clemons (Campbell)
F: Drew Pember (UNC-Asheville)
F: Kelton Talford (Winthrop)
F: Zack Austin (High Point)
POY: Drew Pember (UNC-Asheville)
ROY: Anthony Dell’Orso (Campbell)
DPOY: Drew Pember (UNC-Asheville)
6TH: Justin Bailey (USC Upstate)
COY: Mike Morrell (UNC-Asheville)

CAA
G: Aaron Estrada (Hofstra)
G: Jameer Nelson Jr. (Delaware)
G: Kam Woods (North Carolina A&T)
F: Jyare Davis (Delaware)
F: Jordan Nesbitt (Hampton)
POY: Jameer Nelson Jr. (Delaware)
ROY: Max Mackinnon (Elon)
DPOY: Amari Williams (Drexel)
6TH: Pat Robinson (Charleston)
COY: Pat Kelsey (Charleston)

Horizon
G: Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy)
G: Trey Calvin (Wright State)
G: Jalen Moore (Oakland)
F: Trey Townsend (Oakland)
F: Kahliel Spear (Robert Morris)
POY: Antoine Davis (Detroit Mercy)
ROY: Brandon Noel (Wright State)
DPOY: Enoch Cheeks (Robert Morris)
6TH: Trevon Faulkner (Northern Kentucky)
COY: Bart Lundy (Milwaukee)

MVC
G: Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
G: Jace Carter (Illinois-Chicago)
G: Tucker DeVries (Drake)
F: Marcus Domask (Southern Illinois)
F: Ben Krikke (Valparaiso)
POY: Ben Sheppard (Belmont)
ROY: Cade Tyson (Belmont)
DPOY: Malevy Leons (Bradley)
6TH: Chance Moore (Missouri State)
COY: Josh Schertz (Indiana State)

NEC
G: Demetre Roberts (Fairleigh Dickinson)
G: Grant Singleton (Fairleigh Dickinson)
F: Jordan Minor (Merrimack)
F: Nico Galette (Sacred Heart)
F: Josh Cohen (St. Francis PA)
POY: Josh Cohen (St. Francis PA)
ROY: RJ Greene (LIU)
DPOY: Jordan Minor (Merrimack)
6TH: Zion Bethea (St. Francis NY)
COY: Chris Kraus (Stonehill)

OVC
G: Phillip Russell (Southeast Missouri State)
G: Jr. Clay (Tennessee State)
G: Isaiah Swope (Southern Indiana)
F: Jacob Polakovich (Southern Indiana)
F: Jaylen Sebree (Tennessee Tech)
POY: Jr. Clay (Tennessee State)
ROY: Cameron Haffner (Eastern Illinois)
DPOY: Cam Burrell (Lindenwood)
6TH: Branden Maughmer (Morehead State)
COY: Ryan Ridder (Tennessee-Martin)

Patriot
G: Tucker Richardson (Colgate)
G: Jalen Rucker (Army)
F: Gerrale Gates (Holy Cross)
F: Walter Whyte (Boston University)
C: Alex Timmerman (Bucknell)
POY: Gerrale Gates (Holy Cross)
ROY: Braeden Smith (Colgate)
DPOY: Gerrale Gates (Holy Cross)
6TH: Jeff Woodward (Colgate)
COY: Brett Reed (Lehigh)

SoCon
G: Mike Bothwell (Furman)
G: Vonterius Woolbright (Western Carolina)
F: BJ Mack (Wofford)
F: Stephen Clark (Citadel)
F: Jalen Slawson (Furman)
POY: Mike Bothwell (Furman)
ROY: Jackson Paveletzke (Wofford)
DPOY: Jalen Slawson (Furman)
6TH: Mikeal Brown-Jones (UNC-Greensboro)
COY: Bucky McMillan (Samford)

Southland
G: Demarcus Sharp (Northwestern State)
G: Jordan Johnson (New Orleans)
F: Christian Shumate (McNeese State)
F: Isaac Mushila (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
C: Bonke Maring (Houston Christian)
POY: Demarcus Sharp (Northwestern State)
ROY: Nate Calmese (Lamar)
DPOY: Demarcus Sharp (Northwestern State)
6TH: CJ Roberts (Texas A&M-Commerce)
COY: Corey Gipson (Northwestern State)

Summit
G: Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
G: Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State)
G: Trenton Massner (Western Illinois)
F: Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
F: Connor Vanover (Oral Roberts)
POY: Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
ROY: Andrew Rohde (St. Thomas)
DPOY: Connor Vanover (Oral Roberts)
6TH: Paul Bruns (South Dakota)
COY: Paul Mills (Oral Roberts)

Sun Belt
G: Taevion Kinsey (Marshall)
G: Andrew Taylor (Marshall)
F: Jordan Brown (Louisiana)
F: Felipe Haase (Southern Miss)
C: Essam Mostafa (Coastal Carolina)
POY: Taevion Kinsey (Marshall)
ROY: Terrance Ford Jr. (Arkansas State)
DPOY: Micah Handlogten (Marshall)
6TH: Linton Brown (Coastal Carolina)
COY: Jay Ladner (Southern Miss)

WCC
G: Brandin Podziemski (Santa Clara)
G: Cam Shelton (Loyola Marymount)
F: Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
F: Maxwell Lewis (Pepperdine)
C: Mitchell Saxen (St. Mary’s)
POY: Drew Timme (Gonzaga)
ROY: Aidan Mahaney (St. Mary’s)
DPOY: Anton Watson (Gonzaga)
6TH: Rudi Williams (BYU)
COY: Randy Bennett (St. Mary’s)

Posted in CBB | Comments Off on Handing out the Hardware: All-conference awards of the year (Part 1 of 2)

Bracketology 2023: March Madness Predictions (Version 9.0)

For today’s HOOPS HD DAILY RUNDOWN, where we recap all of yesterday’s action and take a look at the big games today – CLICK HERE

We are only 2 weeks 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 2022 tourney and each of his 67 of were within 1 spot of their actual seed, including 49 right on the money. He will spend the upcoming weeks predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 12th. 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 12th out of 148 entries over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com

SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Alabama (SEC)
1: Houston (AAC)
1: Kansas (Big 12)
1: UCLA (Pac-12)

2: Purdue (Big 10)
2: Baylor (Big 12)
2: Texas (Big 12)
2: Kansas State (Big 12)

3: Arizona (Pac-12)
3: Marquette (Big East)
3: Tennessee (SEC)
3: Gonzaga (WCC)

4: Indiana (Big 10)
4: Connecticut (Big East)
4: Virginia (ACC)
4: Xavier (Big East)

5: Iowa State (Big 12)
5: St. Mary’s (WCC)
5: Miami (ACC)
5: San Diego State (MWC)

6: Creighton (Big East)
6: TCU (Big 12)
6: Northwestern (Big 10)
6: Illinois (Big 10)

7: Maryland (Big 10)
7: Providence (Big East)
7: Michigan State (Big 10)
7: Duke (ACC)

8: Texas A&M (SEC)
8: Kentucky (SEC)
8: Iowa (Big 10)
8: Arkansas (SEC)

9: Missouri (SEC)
9: Rutgers (Big 10)
9: NC State (ACC)
9: Auburn (SEC)

10: Nevada (MWC)
10: Florida Atlantic (C-USA)
10: Pittsburgh (ACC)
10: Mississippi State (SEC)

11: Boise State (MWC)
11: Memphis (AAC)
11: West Virginia (Big 12)
11: USC (Pac-12)
11: Oklahoma State (Big 12)
11: North Carolina (ACC)

12: Oral Roberts (Summit)
12: Charleston (CAA)
12: Drake (MVC)
12: VCU (A-10)

13: Liberty (Atlantic Sun)
13: Southern Miss (Sun Belt)
13: Utah Valley (WAC)
13: Toledo (MAC)

14: Iona (MAAC)
14: Princeton (Ivy)
14: UC-Irvine (Big West)
14: Eastern Washington (Big Sky)

15: Colgate (Patriot)
15: Vermont (America East)
15: Samford (SoCon)
15: Youngstown State (Horizon)

16: UNC-Asheville (Big South)
16: Morehead State (OVC)
16: Fairleigh Dickinson (NEC)
16: Howard (MEAC)
16: Alcorn State (SWAC)
16: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Southland)

1ST 4 OUT
Arizona State (Pac-12)
Clemson (ACC)
Oklahoma (Big 12)
Wisconsin (Big 10)

Posted in Bracketology | Comments Off on Bracketology 2023: March Madness Predictions (Version 9.0)

Happy Anniversary! HoopsHD interviews Ron Hooper about Eddie Holbrook

Eddie Holbrook was hired as head coach at Gardner-Webb at the tender age of 24 and it turned out to be a good fit for all of the parties involved. He went 344-67 during 14 years on the sideline, won 4 conference titles during his 1st 5 years, and had 5 players make it to the NBA. He later spent 4 years at Furman where he made the 1980 NCAA tourney. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Eddie’s former assistant Ron Hooper about coaching a future Hall of Famer and averaging 100+ PPG. Today marks the 8th anniversary of the school officially dedicating “Eddie Holbrook Court” on February 26, 2015, so we take this time to honor his life/legacy.

How did Eddie 1st get into coaching? After college I think he got a job with a high school in North Carolina. He had coaching in his blood: he did not just fall into it.

His offensive philosophy was based on running a fast break: how did he come up with this strategy, and what made it so successful? When I worked for him we recruited to a double-post offensive system so we always knew that we would have at least 2 really good rebounders. We always went for speed at the PG and wing positions. We just figured that we would press a lot defensively and keep the heat on our opponents. We never walked the ball up the floor and tried to defeat the other team in the 1st half based on our physical conditioning and then have our way with them in the 2nd half.

In the late 1960s he recruited future Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore to Gardner-Webb: how did he do it, and where does Gilmore rank among the best players that you have ever seen? He was recruited the year before I got there. That was a time when you could find lesser-known players before other schools got in on recruiting and Coach Holbrook found him early in the process. We were only a 2-year JC school at the time and Coach just pursued him and convinced him to come there because there would be better things for him down the road. It was a win-win. His transition from a raw product was amazing. I do not think that Artis ever missed a class or was late for practice. He worked as hard as anyone on the floor both at practice and during games. He was a shy person but did the work. He was not just tall: he could run and jump and was a very good athlete. We did not just lob the ball to him down in the low post: he would work aggressively to get in the right position so that he did not have to make a difficult offensive move. He was a smart player and a super athlete. He could rebound the ball, make the outlet pass, and still fill the lane. He had a lot of raw ability but really developed his innate abilities. He dedicated himself to the classroom despite not being pushed academically in high school: I never had a single issue with him.

He oversaw the program’s transition from JC to NAIA: what was the biggest difference between the 2 levels? At that time there was not a whole lot of difference because JC basketball was terrific: we had highly skilled players so it was not a huge transition for our team. Our fast break was organized and orchestrated: find the PG, advance it on the 1st pass, and then everyone was off and running. If we did not have the advantage then we would set up our offense. It affects the other team’s offense because they know that if they miss a shot then they will have to bust their butts back down the floor. We had a 12-man fast break drill that began during the 1st day of practice: we did not stop for 5 straight minutes. When you bring a freshman into that environment and give them a few games like that, they will learn that this is the way to play basketball. Our opponents were often not excited to come back out for the 2nd half!

In 1972 his team averaged more than 109 PPG: how on earth did you ever lose a game?! We did not lose that many! We did not get caught up in statistics that much: we just tried to play the game. I recall 1 year in 1977 when we went 30-3: it would have been nice to go undefeated but a loss can also provide motivation to keep your players focused.

What are your memories of the 1972 NAIA tourney (he won 3 straight games before losing to eventual runner-up Wisconsin-Eau Claire)? Our tallest player that year (George Adams) was about 6’5” but was a stud who could really run. That was where our defensive and running philosophy really paid off. The glory days of the NAIA were from the late-1960s into the 1980s with some great teams like Georgetown College, Fort Hays State, and Kentucky State. That year Eau Claire was very good. Teams cherished the chance to go to the national tourney: there were 8 games/day in Kansas City. The Chiefs had some great teams back then and some of their players would show up to watch the tourney. Some of the NAIA teams could compete with the NCAA boys: there is no question about it.

After 14 years at Gardner-Webb he became head coach at Furman in 1978: why did he make the change, and did he have any regrets? Furman came after him very hard so it would have been awfully difficult for him to turn them down. I do not think that he has any regrets. He had good teams for his 1st 3 years there before recruiting became much more competitive but he had a good run. He never changed his coaching philosophy but it was very hard to get kids who were as dedicated as the ones we had at Gardner-Webb. That was the start of AAU summer travel teams in high school with the really good players starting to become pampered. It is not all bad but it does not always serve the players well when they play a lot of 1-on-1 basketball: in college you have to fit into a structure of team play.

What are your memories of the 1980 NCAA tourney (Jonathan Moore had 22 PTS/17 REB in a loss to Tennessee)? That game was in Greensboro, NC. We had a freshman named Tobe Jackson who was a terrific shooter but had a rough night (1-5 FG). It was a very competitive game and if we had made a few more buckets then I honestly think that we would have won the game.

His son Chad is head baseball coach at Charleston: why did he choose baseball over basketball, and how much of an influence was his father on his own decision to become a coach? Chad was a really good high school athlete: he was an option QB and may have won a state title or 2. He was also a really good basketball player and a terrific ball-handler. He was a left-handed hitter who could really run: all he had to do was hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield! UNC recruited him as a baseball player and he set a couple of stolen base records while playing 2nd base. His dad might have had a little influence on him becoming a coach but it was a pretty natural transition to become a baseball coach. I used to babysit Chad and his sister Nicole on weekends because I was single and lived in a dorm. Eddie’s late wife Bobbi worked in the PE department and coached the women’s basketball team: we would kid him that his wife was a better coach than him because she was a heck of a coach! You cannot be a good coach unless your family understands the schedule that must be kept so the kids would spend a lot of time at the gym. Bobbi was always ready to help out and there was a lot of family/fan participation, which made it easier to win games. We took teams to Hawaii, Rio, Rome, London, Mexico City, etc. We would offer our fans a chance to fly with us and the ones who signed up knew that they were helping us cover our transportation costs: we would sell out within 1 hour. It was very impactful and a really good recruiting tool. We would go for big kids anywhere we could find them, New York/DC for PGs, and Indiana for shooters. When you recruit a kid from Indiana and then word gets back that he is scoring 25 PPG for us, you can probably go back there in the future to get some more players! I made a point of getting introduced to Howard Garfinkel at a camp in Long Island: he got a kick out of my North Carolina accent and called me “Coach Hoop”. After a couple of years he would know your style of play and knew which kids would be a good fit from both a basketball and attitude standpoint. Howard was not just trying to make money by selling publications: he worked hard at his job and was a very good reporter on high school basketball players. Howard played a role in our success as well.

When people look back on his career, how do you think he should be remembered the most? When the players came through there they did not love him because he just wanted them to do their job. If they missed class or broke the team rules then there was a penalty. I do not recall any practice that was shorter than 3 hours: it was tough. I was a decent athlete but I do not know if I could have done that. However, the court was named for him several years ago. To a man the players had such a high respect for him and said that playing for him changed their lives. He made them do what they did not want to do but it was something that they needed to do. We have some very successful men who used to play for us: IBM employees, high school coaches, etc. He was very demanding and made sure that our team was always the aggressor on both ends of the floor: that philosophy never changed. There was no standing around in practice or games. I have seen a lot of good coaches who tried to change things here and there…but Coach Holbrook never changed.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Happy Anniversary! HoopsHD interviews Ron Hooper about Eddie Holbrook